Cleaning the Burners

I feel like I'm carving a niche out for myself as the "stay-at-home-mom-with-no-children" type. I constantly gravitate towards blogs, planners, organization advice, etc like I've got 3 kids to keep track of. I think I just love the system of a well managed home and having kids usually results in that sort of thing. Who could say.

Anyway, it was become increasingly more imperative that I get the burners and drip pans of my stove cleaned. Every single time I cooked something my smoke alarm would go off! Seriously, I boiled a pot of water and it went berzerker. The burnt-on crustiness was becoming kind of a hazard. I saw this amazing idea on Pinterest that suggested putting the pieces in ziplock bags with a little ammonia and letting it set over night. The fumes clean the schmuck and you don't even have to scrub. I was a believer.

Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me. It seemed to work well on my burners, but those weren't terrible to begin with. But my drip pans were atrocious and the fumes just didn't have the punch to really get the job done. Perhaps it's because they were more at the burnt-to-shit level than the really-greasy level. I also suspect that my Aldi-brand ziplock bags didn't have the tightest seal. At any rate, I couldn't just leave them (which is generally my inclination if Plan A doesn't work) because I couldn't stand to hear that damn alarm go off another time.

So, because I've had moderate success with this at-home cleaner, I decided to bust it out. Between that cleaner and my magic eraser, I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Not perfect, but I probably won't set the house on fire!

Before and After:


Not bad! Here's the other side, post cleaning:

Don't even ask me about that little guy down there at the bottom. He is just seriously beyond help. What a little asshole. At any rate, they are clean now (mostly.) I won't say that my methods were even close to being "scrub-free" but they do appear to be effective! 

Sunday

So it's fairly obvious that the mark of a good blogger is a good photographer. The SLR camera bug has bitten me again, but with the budget shake up, I don't think that's going to be in the cards this calendar year. So, in the meantime- you'll have to deal with my shitty iPhone pictures run through an Instagram filter! Cheers to faking it!

I've only had one late morning and one day off with my new work schedule and I'm already pretty sure that Brett and I are going to have to join Overeaters Anonymous from all the baking I'm doing. Yesterday I made these mini apple pies:

and they are basically delicious. Actually, I think they taste better than an actual slice of apple pie. Don't ask me how... it's kitchen magic.

This morning Brett and I decided to watch the Chiefs game and I obviously couldn't let us go hungry, so I whipped up some nachos. Because we are geeks, we don't have cable so we buzzed over to my gran's which meant toting our snacks across town. Luckily I got this totally legit 31 bag from my bestie Kimber at a bridal shower this summers, so it was easy and stylish.

Very important. Anyway, I basically live a Pinterest life now, so if you want to see what I'm up to pretty much anytime of the day, you can check out my boards! 

My first non-wedding project in months...

Blugging

So it's getting to be that time of year again when I think that someone, somewhere might be interested in the things I have to say... So here I am again, blugging. You know- crummy blogging.

I have this thing about consistency. I can't stand that I can't make up my mind about what sort of blog I should have. Have I mentioned this before? I hope so, because at least then I'll have been consistent. Anyway, I'm going to resist the urge to go through the archives and purge any posts that don't fit my current vision and just move forward. Keep typing. Post a while.

Brett and I are knee deep in wedding bonanza right now and while I've tried to stay pretty mum about the process unless directly asked, let me say this about wedding planning. It's like death by snu snu:

Totally wonderful and just exhausting at the same time. We had a vision for a simple, humble farm wedding and yet . . . it still costs so much.  I will just tell you all one thing right now- we're in the wrong business. Unless you are in the wedding business, in which case, onward.

After the honeymoon it will be life as usual, except it won't. I'll be starting a part-time position when I return and it will be a new adventure, both professionally and personally. I'm excited about the idea of having more free time to keep our new family's lives in order, to pursue old hobbies and craft new ones. I'm anxious about living on a reduced budget and making the lifestyle change necessary for the transition.

Being a young adult is just a freaking ride sometimes, isn't it?

On that note, I'll leave you with a philosophy I'm earnestly trying to seek as I move forward:

Rules

Rules That I Have Made Up That I Also Break Regularly:

1) Any cleavage at work is too much cleavage.
2) One should never see the bra straps of grown woman.
3) Don't buy it unless you love it.
4) One $40 sweater is better than two $20 sweaters.

Happiness Sounds

Happiness Sounds

As a child my mother once told me that not only did she not know the lyrics to this song (in particular: "Hey little thing lemme light your candle cus ah, mama, I'm sure hard to handle now, gets around"), but that "no one really knows what they're saying," leading me to believe it was some great mystery.

The City of Atlantis, Bloody Mary, and The Black Crowes. Lies From My Childhood