The Clutter of Life

The Bible Quizzing team at my church is having a yard sale this Saturday, so I'm helping a friend go through all her closets and her toy room to organize and get rid of things. It's amazing how clutter adds up through the years.

I know tonight I'll be going through my own closets. There's one thing we both agreed on...it's difficult to get rid of things you've had for so long. My husband says it's a "woman thing". I don't agree. I know men who hold on to things. One wife I know recently had her husband go through his drawers...he got rid of an entire trash bag full of socks!!!!! That's a lot of socks!!!

I don't know about you, but I tend to hold onto things for memories sake. This item makes me remember when my husband and I were dating, another item makes me remember the summers my siblings and I spent every year in Texas with my grandparents.

All this clutter got me thinking...it's not only our houses that can get cluttered. I believe our minds and our hearts can get cluttered as well. How? Well, I'm glad you asked!

Our minds can get cluttered with schedules. We have to be here by this time, be there by that time. Dinner has to be cooked at this time, get the kids to bed at this time, and on and on and on.

Our hearts can get cluttered with feelings. This person snubbed me. That person lied to me. Another person didn't invite me to their party. This is the sort of clutter I tend to collect, I must admit.

Just as with a room and a closet, loads of clutter hides the beauty of the area. You can have a beautiful room and never know it due to the excessive clutter. Once you clean it out, you're amazed. This is true with our hearts and minds.

How do we clean the clutter of our hearts and minds? We clean it through prayer and meditation. For our minds. we simply pray that God help us focus on things important. Forget the schedule...if your child wants to spend more time gazing at God's handiwork we call nature, let them. Teach them! So what if it means they go to bed a few minutes later than usual? The important thing is, they spent a few extra minutes with you. This will not be forgotten by them.

For our hearts, we pray that God help us get rid of the bad feelings lying on the shelves of our heart and replace them with better, newer ones. There's a particular girl I always had bad feelings for placed on the shelves of my heart. She didn't invite me to her parties, she didn't talk to me (in fact, she'd walk right by me without so much as a hello). My mother taught me to pray that God would bless her because it's hard to have hard feelings for someone you're praying for. I prayed that prayer, and now on my shelves are feelings of "She's such a strong lady", "She's so beautiful", a "She prays with all her heart...I admire that". We are not friends, but we speak to each other and I always have a smile for her.

I have made a pact to check the rooms of my heart and my mind daily and ask God to help declutter them. I would suggest you do to.

Love as always,
Krystan
The Experimental Housewife

Homemade Pound Cake

I like to cook, and I like to bake. I am, however, a recipe gal. I wish I could be a kitchen wizard like my BFF, Hannah, but alas, I've not reached that level yet. 

My gorgeous hubby, Jerry, is an auto-mechanic. 

Here's a pic of my handsome hubby and I at my sister (and his brother's!) wedding (more on that later). 

As I was saying, my hubby is an auto-mechanic. He works at a place run by a wonderful Christian man, and the atmosphere is more like a family business. Jerry's boss feeds his workers breakfast and lunch and he even cuts Jerry's hair! Amazing, I know! 

I like to bake something sweet "for the guys" once a week. This week I thought I'd try an old family pound cake recipe. It's the first time I've not used a box mix, and I must admit, I was a mite nervous. 

It turned out very well!! Here's the recipe: 

Very simple, right? My kind of recipe! (Remember, I'm not a kitchen wizard yet. Anything with more than ten ingredients gets my panic mode rising!) I also made a simple glaze I found on Google. Here's what the finished product looked like: 

Quite pretty, if I do say so myself. Once it cooled, I sliced it up and arranged it real pretty on a plate.

Or, sort of pretty anyway. There was a slice of uh-oh cake. You know uh-oh slices...the ones that "crumble" and "don't look pretty" causing you to, of course, have to eat it yourself. Heehee. I usually have a few of those. Tasting my uh-oh piece, I found it to be wonderfully moist and super fluffy. 

Try it out! Tell me what you think!

Much love,

Krystan

The experimental housewife

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I had a VERY busy day today! I went grocery shopping, made homemade laundry detergent, and made my first homemade pound cake (more on that in a later post). I'm rather proud of myself! ☺️

I found the laundry detergent recipe on Pinterest, but adjusted it just a tad. I'm rather particular about my clothes-I want them to smell good, but more importantly, I want them clean! I've been playing around with various detergents and finally decided to just make something myself. 

These are the ingredients I used: 1 (4 lb) box of baking soda, 1 (4 lb) box of borax, 1 (3 lb) box of washing soda, 1 (3 lb) box of Oxy Clean, 1 (48 oz) container of Purex crystals (whichever scent you prefer- I personally love "Fresh Spring Waters), and 1 (14.4 oz) bar Zote soap. Shred the Zote soap with a cheese grater (the soap is super soft, making it easy to shred). Mix all the ingredients in a large bucket, such as the one pictured here. 

I tried to be dainty and lady like and use a large spoon to mix it, but my patience didn't hold up real well. I used my hands instead and mixed, and mixed, and mixed, and, well, you get the picture. 

It smells amazing!! I haven't been able to use it yet (can you believe in actually anxious to get a load of laundry done?), but as soon as I get a few loads going, I'll put a review post. Here's a close up so you can see how pretty it is. I wish you could smell it!! 

I even put some in small containers for my MIL and sister to try. 

If you decide to make it, let me know how it turns out!!

Much love,

Krystan, the experimental housewife