Bath & Kitchen Towels...STINK??!!

I don't know about you but I HATE....HATE......HATE...the smell of soured towels.  It really grosses me out and I have tried everything to remove it!  I have bleached them over night...put in extra detergent....extra fabric softener...NOTHING was working.  I couldn't figure out how they got this smell.  I never leave them in the dryer very long and I never let them sit very long after being washed.  

I then came across an article in a magazine talking about the sour scent from swimsuits.  I used the same trick with towels and I was more than amazed!!!!! 

Here is what you do:

Wash towels in a cup and a half of vinegar....I added a little more because I threw ALLLLLL the wash cloths and towels in.  Make sure you put NOOO detergent and NOOO fabric softener in.

Do not dry yet! 

Next wash it again with a cup and a half of baking soda.  Make sure again you put NOOO detergent and NOOO fabric softener in.

After they are washed the second time.  Put them straight into the dryer and HELLLLLO brand new fresh towels.

I looked up why this method works and it states that after many washes the towels will build up with detergent and fabric softeners and your towels will not absorb much water and start to smell.  YUCK!

I hope this helped! If you try it please let me know how it worked for you. 

Or if you have another trick, please share!

XOXOXOX,

Brianne

Cook Bacon in the Oven

How to cook bacon in the oven is so easy and the #1 reason why I love it....no mess and easy clean up!

I'm sure several of you have done this! But I found a new way that's even better.

BLT'S are my absolute favorite thing to eat in the summer!  Only in the summer when you have fresh tomatoes from the garden. Typing this is making me hungry.....

Last time I cooked bacon in the oven I noticed all the grease it was cooking in. I always put it on paper towels after I take it out but I knew their had to be another way.  I decided to crinkle the aluminum foil so the grease had small pockets to sit in and that way the bacon is not sitting and cooking in it's own grease.  Here is how the crinkled aluminum foil looks.

Then I un-crinkled it.  Before I put them on the pizza pan I lined it with two regular sheets of foil then put the crinkled aluminum foil on top and lined the bacon on it.

I had to take a picture of my tomatoes the nice neighbor brings me everyday.  These tomatoes are amazing!!!!!!! Look how great they look!!!!

I cook the bacon at 400 degrees for 17 minutes....sometimes longer because I like my bacon a little crispy...just a little! :-)

I also use real mayo...I know it's not good for you but it makes a HUGE difference!!!

Let me know if you try this and what you think?

Also let me know if you have a better way to cook it.

XOXOXO,

Brianne

Too many passwords to remember!!!

Who has

Email?

Facebook?

Twitter?

eBay?

PayPal?

Online bill pay?

Etc.....etc.....etc.....etc....etc....

We all have usernames and passwords to everything we do these days.  How do we keep track and remember everything???  Memory? Password keeper? I'm sure most of us do that but sometimes we forget or looking it up takes forever.  So my friend "Redbird" sent me an email today suggesting a neat

idea.  She suggested this for passwords.....

Email-emailbri1234

eBay-ebaybri1234

PayPal-paypalbri1234

How cool is that?

If u don't want to use your name, you can use your initials or something unique that you can use with all of them.  Keep it consistent!!!  This means you only have one word or name to remember!!!!  When deciding on a username come up with one name and use it for all of them.

Amy just made my life a lot simpler!!!! Thanks!  I love this idea times 10. :-)

What other ways do you use to remember usernames and passwords?

Please let me know.  And if you use this idea, let me know how it works for you!!!!!

XOXOXO

Brianne

Mr. & Mrs. Brent Jokisch

I have had this blog in my drafts since about a week after the wedding and just never got around to finishing it.  This summer has been crazy busy!  My brother Brent and his wife Sara got married in June and had a BEAUTIFUL wedding.  I was part of the big day and wanted to show you some of the great pictures her photographer took.  She was AMAZING!!!  They had an outdoor wedding and it really couldn't have been a more perfect day.  The weather & the location was amazing!  They were only the second people to get married at this location.  It's crazy to think I am the one who introduced them and here they starting their lives together. 

If you missed it...check out my blog where I show you what I made them for their wedding gift! 

http://mommyinheelsontheridge.blogspot.com/2012/06/wedding-seasonmr-mrs-jokisch.html

How CUTE are they?? :-)

I stressed all week about shoes, hair, and jewelry.  I decided I wanted to do my own hair because it was cheaper.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  I went to Claire's to find jewelry and I wasn't about to spend $18.00 on just a necklace. NO THANKS!  I ended up getting my necklace, earrings, and bracelet that all matched for $20.00 because I had a coupon! :-)  My shoes I got for $10.00 because I used Kohl's Cash and got 30% off. 

You still can't see my shoes but they are white with rhinestones and silver studs.  Very elegant and classy!  NOT TO MENTION CHEAP!!!!!

I know your thinking this is just the pillow for the rings but it's so much more than that.  Sara's mom made this for her.  Sara's dad passed away a few years ago.  The flowers were made from a t-shirt of her dads.  How unique and perfect was this idea.

 The Bridesmaids

  The groomsmen...lol

 Wedding Party

 Wedding Party and Parents

When I see this cute little face my heart skips a beat!

Sister, Brother and I

 My cute lil family....Brody trying to grab poppy's camera

My mommy and I

My Daddy and I

My brother and his boys'....I can't get over how big they have gotten and how much Brayden looks just like his dad.

Awww they love each other :-)

They were very happy for their daddy!

and they both love to dance like their daddy 

And they learned from him! HA

 

Love this pic of Bray in the air :-)

Love Sara's face here...Priceless

The place they got married made a brick with their name and the date they were wed on it. They then placed it in the entrance to the outdoor church where they were married.

This is what the brick looked like.



And they lived happily ever after........  :-)

My FAVORITE!! 

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I did.  Her photographer was AMAZING and so much fun!

I wish my brother and Sara many years of happiness.  :-)

XOXOXO,

Brianne

I gave my son a ticket.....

 

Not really but if he was on the roads of Southern Illinois he would have been given one. :-)

Yes.....my 16 month old son was texting on his daddy's phone while DRIVING!!!

I can assure you he did not learn this from me.  I use HeyTell while driving....or I use my text recorder.  That can only mean one thing.....his daddy has been texting and driving!

Right after snapping the first picture I then caught him TALKING on his daddy's phone while driving.  I think I am in big trouble....

Ohhh and we can't forget to take our blankie and have our "putt putt" (pacifier) in our mouth when we get in the car! HA HA 

How precious is he? :-)  Even if he is breaking the law at a very young age!!!!!

XOXOXOX,

Brianne

Green Beans Sparking.....WTH

Soooo.....About 5 months ago I started feeding Brody green beans.  He didn't like them straight out of the can, but he did enjoy them when we had them at supper time.  I thought maybe it's because my green beans are cooked in butter, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Who doesn't like green beans with all the unhealthy stuff. :-)  I decided to try to just heat them up.  Well that's where the story becomes a mystery....

I put a few of Green Giant green beans in a bowl and set the timer for 20 seconds.  They were in there for 5 seconds and I saw flames!  Yes sparks and flames coming off the green beans!  I immediately thought the bowl must not be microwave safe.....but I looked on bottom and it was.  I then thought maybe some of the metal got in the green beans when I opened it so I threw the ones I just cooked out and put new ones in the bowl.  Guess what???  It sparked again!!!! WTH!  I decided to try another can of green beans and a different bowl and it still sparked.  I even tried a paper towel....that was worse because it caught on fire.  My last option was to try a different brand.....which I had.  I used Great Value green beans and the same thing happened AGAIN!  I started to wonder if it was my microwave.  I decided to Google it and sure enough I wasn't the only person wondering about this vegetable mystery!  Their were several other people wondering the same thing.  If you haven't tried it, please do.  You will be shocked!  

This is what I have found so far on Google.....

****

If you've wondered why your green beans cause sparks to fly when you microwave them, blame it on their density. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, dense vegetables such as green beans, carrots, and green peppers have higher amounts of minerals than other food items. The minerals act like tiny pieces of metal and can create arcing effects in a microwave.  While this doesn't harm your veggies, it may prevent them from heating thoroughly.

****

http://www.health24.com/dietnfood/Food_journey/15-2052-2949,27452.asp

I did try putting a little bit of water in a bowl and cooking them and saw no sparks.

I feel better about letting him eat them now, but was worried in the beginning.   :-)

Please tell me if this has happened to you and what your thoughts are?

XOXOXO,

Brianne

My must have Apps

I absolutely love my Droid and love to find cool APPS to download.  I am going to share with you some of the ones I love and need your help as well.  Why do I need your help?  Well because my son loves my phone and loves to play with it and I can't find any cool APPS for him....I know their are some momma's out there that have some fun APPS for their babies.  Brody is 16 months so I need something age appropriate and I would like it to be learning but fun too.

The APPS I love (in alphabetical order) are:

1. Draw Something....I am not much into playing games but I LOVE THIS! You basically are playing Pictionary with your friends or random people they pick for you.  My friend Julie and I play it quite a bit.  She always sends me a text or HEYTELL (I will explain below) and says HEY DRAW SOMETHING!

I downloaded the free version because I don't like to pay for APPS...I know I am cheap!  If you have it please add me and I will DRAW you SOMETHING!  Hehe

2. Dropbox....I haven't used this very much yet but so far I love it. You simply create an account and it allows you to put pictures, files, videos, etc on the internet that only you or someone with your account info can get into.  When you need them or need someone else to view them just get into your account or let someone else get into your account. My phone will not allow me to send videos thru text messaging because the file is too large and if I record them in a lower resolution they are fuzzy and you can't see anything...BOOO!  This way I can put my videos and pictures in a drop box and let my friends and family view them!  They can download and copy the pictures, videos, and files to their own computer.

3. HeyTell.....Looooooove this and I had it for a long time but nobody else did so I deleted it....well my friend Julie got it and so I decided to download it again!  She HeyTells me ALLLLL the time and now I had my sister get it.  It's basically a walkie talkie.  Well that's what I think.  I love using this when I am driving or if I have a lot to type.  It's also better than leaving a voicemail.  I NEVER EVER check my voicemail so this makes it easier for me to check my HeyTell and then reply back real quick.

4. HP ePrint Home & Biz......this is great if there is a coupon, picture, etc that I would like printed on our home printer.  It sends it directly to the printer and prints.  When I get home its sitting in the tray.  How cool is that?  The only complaint is that it won't let me print emails!  GRRR  I am looking for a wi-fi printing app that will allow this.  If you have a suggestion please let me know!

5.Instagram.....awwww it simply makes me into a professional photographer when everybody knows I am far from it.  It allows you to do so many cool fun things with photos and then save them and post them to Facebook.  I am still learning things everyday with this app but I highly recommend it.   I think of this as a Photoshop for your phone and it's FREE!  SCORE!

6. KFVS12weather.....there is one for news and one for weather.  I love this.  This allows you to type in your zipcode and will give you a digital radar map, 10 day forecast, severe weather alerts, and what the weather is doing hourly.  If there is a storm cell, you can click it and it will tell you the wind speed, direction, and the time it hit.  It will also tell you if it includes tornadic activity, high winds, or hail.  It also gives you an icon at the top on your main page of the current temp.  Make sure if you get this, get the weather version.  The news version has weather but it's not as fancy as the KFVS12weather app.

7. MyFitnessPal....I have already talked about this app in a previous post but I will explain it again.  It allows you to track your calories day by day, meal by meal.  It's very cool if you have a goal set for how many calories you are allowed because it will tell you how many you have left and if you workout it will tell you how many extra calories you can add.  I love how it allows you to track everything.....calories, exercise, water intake, etc.  If you would like to start counting calories this is a MUST.  It's very easy to use.

8. Notepad....I like this silly app because it simply lets me type things so I won't forget them.  When I am laying in bed at night and something pops in my head, I really have no desire to get out of bed to write down something so I type it on my notepad and look at it the next day.  This comes in handy!

9. Pandora.....I find a lot of people either don't have this or don't know what it is.  Well if you don't....... PLEASE get it.  You will LOOOOOVE it.  I plug it into my iHome and listen to it in the shower, or on the boat, or in my car.  You pick an artist, or genre and it randomly selects songs similar to what you picked.  I usually just type in an artist but a few days ago I typed in Old School Hip Hop (bringing back my dance team Indianette days with Tawmi :-(   It saves what channels you previously picked and will be there when you turn it back on.  It has a few commercials but not very long!  :-)  Please download this if you haven't already!

10. SoundHound.....hear a song on the radio and want to know the name of it,who sings it, and when it came out.  Just go to SoundHound and it will listen to the song for about 10 seconds and it will tell you.  You can also humm a song or sing a song yourself and it will tell you.  I have tried singing a song though and it didn't work....probably because I can't sing or carry a tune.  HAHA  Great App!

Those are my favorite 10....please leave me your favorite apps and kid apps.  I love finding cool apps!  Some of these may already come on your phone. 

XOXOXOX,

Brianne