NaNo No More

Today marks the end of my trek to write 50,000 words in 30 days for National Novel Writing Month. That's right, today I wrote my 50,147th word on the 118th page of my untitled little piece of work. I really thought my brain would melt yesterday (when I was on word 38,000 and I had to write 12,000 words in just three days.) But apparently I'm a total beast, because I finished with a day to spare. Here's to hoping my students' writing is just as fun to read as mine was to write!







Maybe next year you can join me in thirty days and nights of literary abandon (most call it crazy-town). It's been fun.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog posts.

Love,
Vanessa,
Jas Harwode, Wendy, and Slightly (oh wait, they're not real people, just kidding!)

NaNoWriMo

Today marks the beginning of National Novel Writing Month, so for the next 30 days, I won't be blogging much because after all, I have 50,000 words to write! (Wish me luck! Wish me motivation!) 

Happy November!

Love,

Vanessa (and all of her characters)

Saving money, one mouse click at a time!

So as you're all well aware of, we're all about saving money. Over the summer, Stephen's sister Jen mentioned that she buys all her household stuff online, so today we tried checking out drugstore.com for our household cleaning stuff (that is, the stuff we don't make ourselves). We thought you might be interested in seeing our savings:


Buying things at Target (based on what we've payed in the past there):


2 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap: ($3.99 ea.) $7.98

1 Tom's of Main Whole Care with Flouride Natural Toothpaste: $4.25

1 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Room Freshener: $4.99

1 Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid: $4.99

1 Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwashing Detergent: $4.77

1 Organic Wear Duo Eye Shadow: $9.74

1 Seventh Generation Natural Liquid Laundry Detergent: $29.99

Total: $66.71 plus sales tax = $72.05



Buying it at Drugstore.com: 

2 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap: ($2.99 ea.) $5.98 (a $2 saving)

1 Tom's of Main Whole Care Natural Toothpaste: $3.99 (a $0.26 saving)

1 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Room Freshener (instead of febreze): $4.99 (same price)

1 Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid: $2.89 (a $2.10 saving)

1 Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwashing Detergent: $4.39 (a $0.38 saving)

1 Organic Wear Duo Eye Shadow: $6.39 (a $3.35 saving)

1 Seventh Generation Natural Liquid Laundry Detergent: $19.99 (a $10 saving)

And, we got free shipping - hello bonus.

Total: $48.62




And that means that by buying online, we saved $23.43, which in our book is completely and totally awesome. Plus, we got to shop from the comfort of our couch while everything is shipped to our front door, saving energy, time, and gas money. Win.

Do you guys buy anything online? Are you planning on starting? Has anyone switched to organic products lately?

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya 

So Fresh and So Clean Part 5!

This is one of my favorite organic cleaners, because it accomplishes something that I've always desired - germ-and-icky-free food. That's right, this is your recipe for a fruit and vegetable wash.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash #1

1 c. water

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. baking soda

spray on produce; wipe off after five minutes.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash #2

1 c. water

1 c. white vinegar

1 T. baking soda

20 drops grapefruit seed extract

spray on produce; wipe after five minutes.

Combine the ingredients into a spray bottle, spray the cleaner on any fruit or veggie, and let it sit for five minutes before wiping it off. The first time I tried this I almost cried when I saw all the grossness that came off the apples and bananas I was cleaning. It's always disgusted me that I'm just supposed to eat an apple that's been handled by who-knows-how-many people after going through machinery that hasn't been cleaned in who-knows-how-long-if-ever after growing on a tree. So. Much. Nastiness. And then this cleaner was brought to my attention and sweet, sweet relief for a germaphobe like me! Now, whenever we buy veggies and fruit, I wash them with this cleaner before throwing them into our designated "fresh produce" container in the fridge (a colander). We don't keep it in a drawer because we tend to forget about it, resulting in the delicious produce going bad before we use it. This way, we always see it first thing when opening the fridge. :)

Happy (clean and sanitized) Eating!

Love,

Vanessa