Housewifery Tips Pt. 4

Have Products You Love

"Fresh Wave"

I was so thrilled to work together with Fresh Wave on a blog post. I think a pitfall that we can

all slip into, is getting complacent. Wether that is with your job, or your cleaning routine, or even the

products that we buy. As for me, I noticed that even after I was away from my mom's house. I still

bought all of the same products that she did! And never questioned it once! 

So In the last few months I have really tried to be intentional about that products that I buy. Are they

natural? Do I like the way they look? How do the smells go in our house? 

So let's get to it! Here are some thing that i've been trying from Fresh Wave.

 All of the things that were sent to me were specifically to help with pet odor. So I was really curious to

see how it would do in our house. The first thing I tried was their Odor Removing Spray. And I

LOVED this stuff! I sprayed it EVERYWHERE! I sprayed it in our closet, on our rugs, just in the

middle of the room, and I even tried it on the couch! I wish I could send a spray sample through my

computer to all of you. It reminds me of a mix between citrus and essential oils, its soooo good!

There is this little spot of our couch that Copper likes to go and nuzzle into. And because he is so

blasted cute, we let him. But not only does he nuzzle, that also happens to be his bathing area. And

where he takes his treats, AND where he takes his toys to chew on. You get it, it's basically his happy

place. Now of course I clean this cushion constantly, but I am always self conscious that someone is

going to come over and sit on our couch and then leave, and tell whoever they were in the car with,

"Oh my gosh, did you smell their couch?! It smells like Chihuaua butt. "Crazy, I know, but these are

the things I think about. So I tried this stuff on the couch, and to my surprise, it worked! 30min before

we had company arrive, I went and did a few sprays on his 'special' cushion, and it smelled great for

hours! Now I can imagine they left and thought, "Wow, that house smelled just delightful!"

The second thing that I tried was there Odor Removing Gel, I did like this right off because it is small

and easy to conceal, so you don't have to look like you are trying to hard to make your home smell

nice. I mean I love candles, and room spray too guys, but after a certain point, it may just look like your

hiding something. ("Man, those people have like 3 candles in every room, and scent boosters, AND

room spray. Sheesh, they must be dirty.") I tried it in our bedroom and honestly was a little

disappointed, because after the first day, I couldn't even smell it anymore. So I moved it into a smaller

space, aka our small damp hall closet. and it did a great job! The closet within one day went from, "Oh

I hope no one ever opens that door.." to, "I hope no one sees how messy that closet is…but at least it

smells good!"

Thirdly, I tried the Odor Removing Packs! These things are AWESOME! They are so small, you can

literally fit them anywhere. And so inconspicuously! They can go in cars, shoes, backpacks, purses,

and in your drawers! I even gave some to some friends, and everyone really liked them! 

And lastly, the pup shampoo. So I got a great story about this one. Let me set up the scene for you,

wake up on a beautiful Saturday morning. Drink some coffee, do a little Pinterest, have a little down

time, and then have the brilliant idea to give your sweet little Angel Pup a bath. 

Their stuff has such a lovely distinct smell. I can't even explain it! Not to mention, its all natural. So I 

felt more than comfortable putting this on Copper, and my moms dogs. 

(Don't let their faces fool you, I kept the water at a perfect temperature, and sang to them almost the whole time!)

Justin and I were raving to my parents who dropped by with their dogs, how amazing this stuff smelled,

and how we loved that it came in a dog shampoo! So my mom put her pup, Penni in there for a little

spritz as well! About 30 min later we let Copper out for a little morning constitutional, and started in on

our Trader Joes, gluten free pumpkin pancakes. Feeling pretty accomplished, and then I'm stopped by

this really terrible smell…"Justin, do you smell that? What is that?" I look down, and there's the little

Prince, covered head to torso in fresh poop. So. not. kidding. I'm talking, in his ears, all over his face,

his collar, his neck. The whole shebang!

So, guess who got another bath?! 

The funny thing was, my mothers dogs did not have this affect at all! But for whatever reason, Copper

maybe felt like he didn't want to smell like his Sister-Aunts (aka my moms dogs). But after the second

bath, he was perfectly fine. I'd argue to say that he even got some overtime cuddles just for smelling so

dang good! 

Overall, I really liked the Fresh Wave products! I will definitely buy them again. And I really can't wait

to try some other new things they have! And it's even better that they sell their products at Target! Not

to brag, but I pretty much frequent that place on an daily basis. 

What are some of your favorite house products- And why? I'd love to hear!


***All of these opinions are my own, I have not been paid to post about any of these products. 

Etsy | Instagram | Facebook

Let's Be Real

So, a few months back, I read a blog post by HGTV designer, Emily Henderson (Projects in My Own 

Home). And she basically committed an entire post to detailing all of the things in her house that had

yet to be done. And it was so inspiring! I mean, its so easy to see a picture of someone's house and

 think "ugh, my house will never look like that." But we all have things in our house that will never be

"done". I wish I knew why, either because they are out of sight out of mind, or because we think they

are too time consuming to bother with, whatever it is. I know everyone's homes have them.

Here are some of mine.

So, last week, we decided to switch our joined office and bedroom; which I couldn't be happier about.

However, since we never lived back here we didn't really mind the curtains that have been back here

since we moved in. Well, me trying to be proactive, I measured the windows in my kitchen, imagining

that they were probably the same length as the ones in the back room, and messaged my mom and dad

while they were in Dallas to ask if they could pick me up some Ikea blinds. So when mom and dad got

back with our new blinds, the one on the far right was 10" too small-- pretty significant difference. So

until we make the trek back out to another Ikea, this is what we're dealing with. One black curtain on

half of a curtain rod. I'm shaking my head at myself, believe me.

Please don't ask me why..I wish I knew the reason that the previous owners not only caulked, but freely

painted all over the windows and never scraped it off. IN EVERY ROOM! I've been scraping at them

little by little for months, and it has barely made a dent..Until by happy mistake, I discovered that you

can get some "goof off" from Home Depot, for less than $10, put it on a nasty old sponge and wipe off

your windows, and voila! My mom did the ones in my living room for me, and it took her 8 hours. So

basically, we have not attacked these ones yet..

Now, this you can judge me for. We laid our own vinyl flooring, (a complete mistake..for another

time) and I think we just ran out of gusto by the time it was time to finish all of the thresholds…ick

I'm pretty confident that they will get done one of these days, hopefully.

Oye, the ceiling disaster of 2015.. So about a week after closing, we attacked the interior painting, and

since the ceilings were already white, we decided to not paint them. I mean, if you don't "have" to paint

the ceilings, why would you? Well, day 2 into painting I walk into the living room and my blessed

mother is putting a "test swatch" on the ceiling………….(you're lucky you're my favorite person

mother..) Long story short, we had to paint the entire ceiling. So by the time we got to the bedroom, I

told everyone "We are not painting the ceiling! So be careful when you reach the top of the walls with

your roller." (Of course we could have just taped, but taping is for people with patience, which we are

not.) Well, about a month later when we took down the ceiling fan to replace with our new Urban

Outfitters light, we discovered a beautiful white ring around the base of where the ceiling fan had been.

We have to paint the ceiling.

So here's probably the most hated thing in our house that we haven't finished yet. When deciding on

our flooring, we really wanted a light wood floor. And every other Pergo or real wood was either too

expensive, or not the right shade of wood. So we decided that we would use vinyl! (a whole post

will be dedicated to "Our Vinyl Disaster") Terrible mistake for two reasons:

1. Vinyl is cheap.
2. They discontinued this color before we were finished.

And I am so not kidding. So that is how we got here. This is in front of our bedroom closets. It's like

looking at the middle of a cut onion. You can see all of the layers of failure.
-Cement
             -Old laminate tile
   -Tack strip
      -Ccarpet pad
-Carpet.
*sigh*

Just wait, one of these days i'll blow your socks off with the most clever way to fix this. I haven't

figured it out yet. But it's coming.

And lastly, "The Cabinet Crack Heard 'Round the World."

Did you know that if you offer to remove your old countertops, it saves you money when Home Depot

comes to install your new ones? Well, neither did I, and I'm all about saving a buck or two. So I called

in reinforcements, aka my brother. And as he was ripping off the part of the countertop that goes onto

the wall, he accidentally cracked our cabinet. And for whatever unknown reason, the unbelievably

advanced military grade adhesive they used on these countertops will NOT come off! Apparently they

did not want these removed, ever. Alas, they were hideous, so what's a girl to do?

So after many attempts to sand, dremel, chip, and otherwise curse this blasted adhesive, we've arrived

here.

(look at this pathetic attempt to cover it up, you're fooling no one, cutting board.)

Here's a fun one that greets you the second you walk in the door. Our exposed doorbell cover. It got

taken down the first week we moved in while we were painting, and has never been replaced.  

And many many more. I hope this helps to enlighten you on the realities of owning your own home.

One thing i've learned is, we are all in the same boat. It's not worth it to constantly be bombarding

people with explanations for why your home is not perfect the second they walk into every room. If

anything, it makes people feel more at home to know that our homes, and lives are not as perfect as

they seem on instagram.

What are some things in your home that are waiting to be done? Know, you are not alone!

Etsy | Instagram | Facebook

Housewifery tips Pt. 1

"SAYING NO TO NETFLIX"




Don't worry, I looked it up, Housewifery is a real word.

(Housewifery (house-whif-ery)- The functions or duties of a housewife; housekeeping.)

How ever you would say it. I know it sounds like a fake job.

Most people imagine homemakers to be playing perpetual hooky (which can I just say, is a very easy

trap to fall into). But I'm not here to say what is the right way or wrong way to be a housewife. I'm just

here to tell you the realities of my experience.

So obviously I'm still fairly new to being a housewife. I have been doing it full time now for 6 months,

and i'm going to share my first faux pas of staying home.

T.V.

Ok, so when I first set out to do this, I had already made my mind up that this would be a "job", and

that I would work really hard at it. And that everyday when Justin got home, there would be dinner on

the table, a clean home, and things would be taken care of. And it was! Everyday, he would ask me

what I did, and the answer was pretty much the same, "I did some chores around the house, and

cooked, 3 meals."And he accepted that, because how much more vague could I be?!

 What he didn't know was, I would wake up, do my chores, and then watch Netflix. About until the

time I knew he would be heading home for lunch, then I would turn it off, make lunch, and then, yep!

You guessed it, cleaned up the kitchen and plopped my lazy butt back down until I either needed a

bathroom break, or it was time to prep for dinner.

Now, I always had good intentions, of course. But that really means squat when all your doing is

yelling at Rory Gilmore to not quit Yale (Gilmore Girls). Or watch so much 'Call the Midwife' that you

think you are one. Not kidding. (When you are considering naming your firstborn child after a TV

Show character. It's time to ask for help.)


So here it is, the terrible time I was caught with TV. 

About 4 months ago, I was doing my usual thing, and Justin comes home for lunch, pretty typical. Well

when he left I was pulling out a load of laundry from the dryer, and lying it out on the couch, you

know, "to separate" (ahem, to be closer to the TV). Justin came over, gave me a kiss, and left. Well…I

got about 1/4 of it done and then... next thing I know, "click, click" Confessions of a

Shopaholic is on! Well, it would be rude not to watch it..

*2 hours later*

Guess who comes home early?

 Yep, the ol' Husband. And where am I? SAME. EXACT. SPOT!!

Well, suffice it to say, it wasn't pretty. I pretty much went into major defensive mode about how I work

so hard keeping house, that I was taking a "break", or "day off" of sorts, same as I would do if I were at

an office job. He, of course being the most understanding person in the world, apologized for getting

mad. And dropped it. (Yeah, you can judge me, I kinda judge me too…)

Well, Praise the Lord, a couple of days later, I was laying in bed reading my bible study, and

immediately was overcome with conviction. There it was, the reason projects weren't getting done

around the house, why I wasn't making any Etsy sales, and why everyday I did not have any feeling of

accomplishment.

T.V.

 I mean, for Pete's sake all I was doing was watching fake characters lead great and exciting lives, while

I sat on my couch! Come on Kaylan! So, I sat down with Justin and had a very real "marriage talk", I

told him that I knew was not doing my best work, and that I was sorry for not taking things as seriously

as I should. And I wanted to fast from T.V. for a whole week. So embarrassing as it was, Justin took

the remotes with him to work everyday, and wouldn't bring them home until the evening. Which meant,

if anyone came over and wanted to watch something, I had to be held accountable, and admit that I was

trying to not watch as much TV. It was embarrassing for sure, but oh my gosh, the things I got done

that week! It was amazing!! And you know what, I am so glad I did it, now most of the time I can go

days on end without ever turning it on, and I don't even know the difference. And I can actually say

that I feel so much better about my performance as a housewife!


Thinking of going Cold Turkey on T.V.?
Here are some of my tips! 

- Be honest with yourself. (It may not be TV, maybe it's food, or social media, do you just sit there for hours looking at a screen while everything around you sits undone?)

- I know we all think we can manage with Netflix on "in the background." but come on, who are we really fooling? Every episode of any show has moments where you need to "sit down for just a second" to enjoy!

- Take some time away from it, try just be quiet with yourself. We are never quiet with ourselves anymore! You may be surprised, think of all of the ideas, and creativity just sitting dormant in your brain!

- If it's too tempting for you, try having someone hide the remotes from you, or tell someone close to you about it, so they can keep you accountable.


Look, I know this seems silly, but this is the world we live in.


Now, believe me, it was not easy to put these raw facts about myself out into the world of the internet. But if you have any desire to be a stay-at-home anything. Then my only hope is that maybe this helps you unlock some of that potential you aren't using. And save you some time and embarrassment from someone having "The TV Talk" with you.

Come back again if you like embarrassing anecdotes. Because believe me, I got plenty.

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