Welcome to my 250th post! A quarter of a thousand! Woohoo!
Seriously, thanks for reading along with me when I started this blog back in the fall of 2006. A lot of changes were taking place in our lives right then. I got a new job. We bought and renovated our first home. Currently, I am still in that job and loving it, and we are still in our home and loving it (though there are still a few little projects we need to complete). So thanks for reading along!
Monday, February 08, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
only in the biology department
This morning I proctored the LSAT, and I wore these aptly-titled "juror flats", which were a Christmas gift from Steve's parents. Aren't they cute? :)
They are called Giant Microbes, and they have almost every kind that a normal person could imagine, including the black plague, gangrene, and ulcers! Too funny!
Tomorrow I am judging a meet all day and then we are hosting a Super Bowl party right after that. I better get going on preparing the snacks and making our home look presentable!
The test was given in the biology department in the college where I work (a department I never set foot in as a student), and as I was wondering the halls searching for stray LSAT-takers, I came across a glass case filled with the cutest little plush...diseases? Take a look (from left to right: mono (the kissing disease), the common cold, and e coli):
They are called Giant Microbes, and they have almost every kind that a normal person could imagine, including the black plague, gangrene, and ulcers! Too funny!
Tomorrow I am judging a meet all day and then we are hosting a Super Bowl party right after that. I better get going on preparing the snacks and making our home look presentable!
Thursday, February 04, 2010
whew!
We just finished our taxes. It only took us 2 hours to complete (not counting all the organization maintained throughout the year)! I highly recommend TurboTax, which we have used for 7 years in a row. We also use their [free] companion product, Mint.com, to manage our various financial accounts. We both log in almost every day & love it!
Anyway, with Steve now a full-time student and earning less money, our refunds were higher than ever. Now, what to use them on: RothIRA contributions, savings, or a fun trip? :)
Anyway, with Steve now a full-time student and earning less money, our refunds were higher than ever. Now, what to use them on: RothIRA contributions, savings, or a fun trip? :)
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
inspiration
Sherlock Holmes' study, 221b Baker Street, London
My home looks just about as cluttered and worn right now, but I'm trying to view it as comforting rather than triggering compulsive cleaning that my tired self can't currently handle. Just waiting for Steve to come home from class, reading Perelandra, and studying for a gymnastics meet I'm judging this weekend. I hope your week is going well!
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
happy birthday...
to my sister, Courtney, who turned 25 today! In the past year, she has continued to do a great job at work, traveled to the island of Cyprus to help a missionary there make connections with college students, took out the dreads that had been in her hair for 4 years, worked with the middle school girls at her church, taught the toddlers' class in Sunday School, and numerous other ministry-related activities. Unfortunately, she lives in DC now so I don't get to see her as often as I would like, but I am proud of her and enjoy the regular correspondence that we keep up through email and letters. I took this picture of her and her boyfriend, Andrew, this past summer at Barboursville Vineyards in Virginia...enjoying a beautiful day. Happy Birthday, Courtney!May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind always be at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Monday, February 01, 2010
going green
Previously I mentioned that I got a great book for Christmas, Go Green, $ave Green by Nancy Sleeth. I am only partway through the book, but have already gleaned a few useful tips on saving energy and money - two things that very often go hand in hand. Here are 3 things that we have done lately to help reduce our energy usage and lower our utility bills:
1. Turn down your refridgerator temperature. In the book, the Sleeth family tells how they've kept their fridge temperature on the lowest "cold" setting for years without negative affects to their food. With this as a guide, I turned our fridge's temperature dial to 3, which is the lowest "cold" setting (it says that on the dial). We had it on 6 or 7 before. The only negative side of this is that if you have something you really need frozen, such as ice cream, you have to put it in the back of the freezer by the fan so that it will freeze up, not in the door where we previously kept it. Even then, it can still be a little soft. Other than that, the #3 setting keeps everything else perfectly cold or frozen. We only buy ice cream once in a blue moon, anyway.
2. Turn down the temperature on the water heater. Not being handy, we didn't even know this was possible until I read it in the book! Using the book's instructions, we located the temperature knob and turned it down to 120 degrees, which is the lowest "hot" setting. Water heaters are usually set around 160-170 degrees. Our water heater is powered by natural gas, so it saves on the gas bill. I think we're also saving water, because if you stay in the shower too long, the water goes cold faster. :)
The flip side of this is that it's best to take our showers at different times of the day, because otherwise the second person's water will go cold. Fortunately, this is easy for us at this stage of our lives. Also, if you want to run the dishwasher, which we do 2-3 times per week, you certainly can't take a shower or bath for a few hours afterward until the water gets hot again! I usually start the dishwasher around 9 pm, take my shower at 6:45 am, and then Steve takes his in the afternoon after he returns from the gym so there's usually no problem.
3. Let your indoor temperature fluctuate more. We used to keep our home at 70 degrees, year-round, but we've gradually transitioned to 65 degrees in the winter (layer up!) and 73 degrees in the summer. We'll try to move to 75 this summer, but being warm is much more uncomfortable for us than being cold. Next winter, we will try to go to 63 degrees.
When the temperature is in the 40s outside, we can typically turn off our heat altogether for a few hours before the temperature starts to drop; we share two common walls with other condos so the heat stays in fairly well. When we leave the house for more than 2 hours, we always turn off the AC and either turn off the heat or, if it's too cold, turn it down to 62. It only takes half an hour for temperatures to return to normal, and that's quite a bit of energy saved. I also appreciate that our furnace is being used less often; it's 30 years old and we don't want to have to buy a new one anytime soon!
Lowering our indoor temperature has helped contribute to the fact that our natural gas bills have been lower this year than last year, even with the gas company raising prices. Our December gas bill was only $38, and the average temperature here in Chicagoland was 32 degrees!
Goals for energy-reduction this year:
One of my goals this year is to make curtains for our 5 windows (& 1 sliding glass door) to help further keep the heat/AC in. I have always hated curtains (vile dust-catchers!), but our blinds alone aren't doing the trick and we sometimes have frost inside our windows. If I make white curtains, maybe they won't make the rooms too dark?
My next goals are to transition to handkerchiefs rather than tissues (I have one, so we're on our way), and cloth pads rather than disposable feminine hygiene products. Theoretically, this will be great for me since I have sensitive skin and hygiene problems often irritate it, anyway. My plan is to try to order one each of several different styles, see which one I prefer, and order a bunch of those. I'll try to remember to write an update on the handkerchiefs and cloth pads in the future!
I highly recommend getting hold of this book somehow, but if you haven't yet, I hope this has been a helpful introduction to tips for going "green" and saving green around the house. I have several other books on living a "green" lifestyle, so if you have questions or want recommendations, feel free to ask me and I'll look up anything you want to know.
1. Turn down your refridgerator temperature. In the book, the Sleeth family tells how they've kept their fridge temperature on the lowest "cold" setting for years without negative affects to their food. With this as a guide, I turned our fridge's temperature dial to 3, which is the lowest "cold" setting (it says that on the dial). We had it on 6 or 7 before. The only negative side of this is that if you have something you really need frozen, such as ice cream, you have to put it in the back of the freezer by the fan so that it will freeze up, not in the door where we previously kept it. Even then, it can still be a little soft. Other than that, the #3 setting keeps everything else perfectly cold or frozen. We only buy ice cream once in a blue moon, anyway.
2. Turn down the temperature on the water heater. Not being handy, we didn't even know this was possible until I read it in the book! Using the book's instructions, we located the temperature knob and turned it down to 120 degrees, which is the lowest "hot" setting. Water heaters are usually set around 160-170 degrees. Our water heater is powered by natural gas, so it saves on the gas bill. I think we're also saving water, because if you stay in the shower too long, the water goes cold faster. :)
The flip side of this is that it's best to take our showers at different times of the day, because otherwise the second person's water will go cold. Fortunately, this is easy for us at this stage of our lives. Also, if you want to run the dishwasher, which we do 2-3 times per week, you certainly can't take a shower or bath for a few hours afterward until the water gets hot again! I usually start the dishwasher around 9 pm, take my shower at 6:45 am, and then Steve takes his in the afternoon after he returns from the gym so there's usually no problem.
3. Let your indoor temperature fluctuate more. We used to keep our home at 70 degrees, year-round, but we've gradually transitioned to 65 degrees in the winter (layer up!) and 73 degrees in the summer. We'll try to move to 75 this summer, but being warm is much more uncomfortable for us than being cold. Next winter, we will try to go to 63 degrees.
When the temperature is in the 40s outside, we can typically turn off our heat altogether for a few hours before the temperature starts to drop; we share two common walls with other condos so the heat stays in fairly well. When we leave the house for more than 2 hours, we always turn off the AC and either turn off the heat or, if it's too cold, turn it down to 62. It only takes half an hour for temperatures to return to normal, and that's quite a bit of energy saved. I also appreciate that our furnace is being used less often; it's 30 years old and we don't want to have to buy a new one anytime soon!
Lowering our indoor temperature has helped contribute to the fact that our natural gas bills have been lower this year than last year, even with the gas company raising prices. Our December gas bill was only $38, and the average temperature here in Chicagoland was 32 degrees!
Goals for energy-reduction this year:
One of my goals this year is to make curtains for our 5 windows (& 1 sliding glass door) to help further keep the heat/AC in. I have always hated curtains (vile dust-catchers!), but our blinds alone aren't doing the trick and we sometimes have frost inside our windows. If I make white curtains, maybe they won't make the rooms too dark?
My next goals are to transition to handkerchiefs rather than tissues (I have one, so we're on our way), and cloth pads rather than disposable feminine hygiene products. Theoretically, this will be great for me since I have sensitive skin and hygiene problems often irritate it, anyway. My plan is to try to order one each of several different styles, see which one I prefer, and order a bunch of those. I'll try to remember to write an update on the handkerchiefs and cloth pads in the future!
I highly recommend getting hold of this book somehow, but if you haven't yet, I hope this has been a helpful introduction to tips for going "green" and saving green around the house. I have several other books on living a "green" lifestyle, so if you have questions or want recommendations, feel free to ask me and I'll look up anything you want to know.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
hooray
The end of January is near; February is almost here! (Thank goodness.)
I should be cleaning the bathrooms right now, but I've already worked 6 days this week, plus did all the laundry yesterday, and plan to vacuum & sweep later this afternoon. I'm trying to tell myself that those things are enough for this weekend. My tired body agrees with me! We have enjoyed a streak of beautiful sunny days this week, but there is NO SUN in the forecast for this week. Maybe I'll get out for a walk while I can. Enjoy this sunny Sunday!
I should be cleaning the bathrooms right now, but I've already worked 6 days this week, plus did all the laundry yesterday, and plan to vacuum & sweep later this afternoon. I'm trying to tell myself that those things are enough for this weekend. My tired body agrees with me! We have enjoyed a streak of beautiful sunny days this week, but there is NO SUN in the forecast for this week. Maybe I'll get out for a walk while I can. Enjoy this sunny Sunday!
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