We're Here!!

So, long time no post. I know, I'm so sorry!  It was an interesting move for sure.  Lets just say my tray idea didn't pan out like I wanted it too.  The Louisiana heat melted the glue which came unstuck and blew Styrofoam balls all over the car. SO fail! We settled for cheap activity trays from the dollar general and those worked out just fine.   It was a long journey but so worth it.  Some of the most amazing scenery in the world is along the Alcan. :)
We got to do a lot of fun stuff we didn't plan, like check out dinosaur bones and see First nation settlements in Alberta.  Fun stuff we DID plan like spend an entire day at the amusement park at the West Edmonton Mall  and stay in some really interesting places (like the Toad River Lodge.  Their Rueben sandwiches btw are to die for!!)  We arrived in Fairbanks in the middle of July when the weather was fabulous and the sun barely set.  The hotel was fabulous and set us up with a suite and we got to do some exploring before we moved into our new house.

This is my house.  Nice huh?

I do have to say, normally army housing is kind of iffy, and pretty small.  There have been numerous jokes on various pages about army wives not knowing what to do if they had a huge house.  Well now I know.  Army housing at Fort Wainwright is massive, brand new and the most beautiful housing I've ever seen in my life.  We have a five bedroom but even the three bedrooms in the neighborhood run around 2500 square feet.  Wide doorways and halls, spacious layouts, modern design features, they even splurged on bathroom fixtures.  I never want to leave this house.  It does of course mean I needed to make some serious adjustments to my cleaning plan.  More space means more to clean, yet it works out better too.  More space means my house is less cramped and looks less cluttered.  Still adjusting to the upstairs laundry room though.

   This of course means that my cleaning supplies list changed too.  First things first, my caddy wasn't cutting it.  I had a cheap dollar store bathroom caddy that I was using but is now relegated to holding my massive stock of sunlit morning scentsy. (it was being discontinued and is my favorite, so I bought every bar my consultant had!).  So what I did was this:

This is my cleaning kit.  Full Disclosure: I AM a Thirty One consultant (This is Thirty One btw) so I get mine at a 25% discount.  This is the Organizing Tote which I freaking love. I have one for a gym bag, one for cleaning, one for a purse too.  This one I had embroidered with "Sparkle" which is what I want my house to do.  In the outside pockets Ii have pledge, Lysol wipes, rubber gloves, a spray bottle of water/vinegar for glass cleaner AND a spray bottle of Odoban.  What is odoban you ask (do not work for, affiliated with etc Odoban. Just an enthusiast.)

So I'm rolling through Sams club one day and happen across this stuff.  I have a football teams worth of children,(including bedwetters and a son with Encopresis) plus a dog, a cat, and a military husband whose whole job is working with dogs so my house can get bad if not maintained.  Some stuff, like scentsy and febreze will only mask odors.   This stuff does what it says, it ELIMINATES odors.  What else does it do?

It is a Deodorizer, Sanitizer, disinfectant, anti viral, mildewstat.  It will kill bacteria, fungus, the flu, athletes foot and HIV type 1.  No joke.  This stuff is serious business, yet it's safe to use as an air freshener, in laundry, on floors etc.  Child wets the bed?  I spray the mattress with a mixture for Pet Odors ( I think it's a 5:1 ratio), throw the sheets and blankets in the washer and pour 8oz of Odoban into the washers fabric softener dispenser.  I use the same mixture to spray the catbox and to treat the carpet if the dog has an accident inside.  I use another mixture as a febreeze replacement on carpets and couches, I use yet another mixture of it to sanitize my bathrooms and kitchen countertops.  I even use it as a replacement for my Swiffer Wet Jet solution.   Martha Stewart says that a clean house should hold NO smell and that's what this does. It kills the ick that creates the bad smell.  it's safe for use around pets, children, and is a hospital grade cleaner. (Kills bird flu and swine flu too. )  It cleans carpets, the only thing this stuff doesn't do is load my dishwasher and fold my clothes.  So yes, I have like six bottles, all with different concentrations of this stuff.  

how much would you think this product was?  i bet you don't even come close to guessing.  Go ahead, guess. 

Ready?

I paid 9.99 at Sam's club for a giant bottle of concentrate that makes 32 gallons of cleaner.  Yes, read that again.9.99.  YOU WANT THIS STUFF.

Yeah I know, long post raving about this stuff but you have to understand when I get excited about a product, I get EXCITED!   I was really worried about how my house would smell in the winter when I can't open windows and doors to air it out but this did the trick.  I was even more concerned when my Jack Russell Terrier went into heat (thanks fort polk for spaying her like you said you did btw) and how that would effect my husband working dogs, killed the scent of her hormones.

I really do love my new home, so I'm going to leave you with three images. All taken from my back porch.

The sunset from my back porch. :)

The Northern lights from my back porch

My youngest daughter walking to school to get her brother.
The path behind our house cuts through the woods and fall
has already come to Alaska. :)