Meet My Teacher: Nestork

What is this? More than one blog post in a six month period? Things are getting crazy.

I found this forum with a super smart poster whose screen name is "nestork." He apparently is a science nerd who is also a janitor. He has some very detailed posts about the science behind janitorial work. I'm not sure if all of its true but from what I know about science, it seems legit.

http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?48224-silicone-caulk-is-not-sticking-to-acrylic-tub-surface 

In this forum he writes a SUPER long post with 4 parts:
1. How to remove old Silicone caulk COMPLETELY.
2. What silicone caulk to buy
3. How to place new silicone caulk
4. How to clean mildewed silicone caulk

This post was super helpful in evaluating both of our showers for some caulk replacement and cleaning. Our basement bathroom didn't have any caulk around it and the grout was a little grimy. I wanted to clean it before applying clear silicone caulk so I tried using normal bathroom cleaners and a sponge to remove the grime but had no luck. So I decided to try nestork's cleaning method to see if it worked!

Using the blue scrubby sponge wasn't a good idea, it just left blue stuff
behind on the grout. Wonderful, now we have grimy, blue grout.  : )

These are the supplies needed for the magic cleaning.

Mix a random amount of Borax and Bleach. It should be thoroughly wet
but not runny. I ended up using about twice the amount as shown here. 

Using a plastic spoon, scoop some up and spread it on the
area to be cleaned, using the back of the spoon to press it in.

It needs to sit for about 24 hours so covering it with plastic
wrap and painters tape will  keep it from drying out.

After it sits for 24 hours, take all that cling wrap off. 

I used a scrub brush to take off the Borax&Bleach mix although
 no scrubbing was actually necessary to take the grime off. 

A quick rinse and the grout was super white!

This ended up being very easy. I would recommend this cleaning method for anyone who can't get their caulk or grout easily clean.

The previous owners recently redid the upstairs bathroom. It looks great but the silicone caulk in the shower needed to be replaced.

What I thought was dirty caulk.

When I removed it, what I learned this: Dark gray grout + clear caulk = dirty LOOKING caulk. The caulk really wasn't dirty at all. I knew it would annoy me if I just put clear caulk back over it since it would still look dirty. So one special order at Morris Tile and a week later, my Sterling Silver colored Latasil silicone caulk (that costs 3 times as much as normal clear caulk) came in.

Again, I followed nestork's directions and the caulking turned out really well! 

Follow nestork's advice, he won't lead  you wrong!

Home Sweet Home

After just under a year in Maryland, Ben and I moved into our new house! It was built in 1934 and there are so many things we love about it, quirks and all. 

We had church, school, and Ultimate friends helping us move in and they worked FAST! Of course, I forgot to take any pictures of our friends working hard to move us into our new home but I'd like to thank Toby, Chuck, Barbara, Ryan, Aaron, Danielle, Nathan, and Andrew for all the hard work.

For all the family and friends out there who have been asking for pictures, here is a virtual tour!

Starting at the front door, you can walk straight into the kitchen, make a left and you'll be in our breakfast nook.

From the breakfast nook, you enter the dining room. If you notice, these chairs are from my first post! Just like the table and chairs, my parents also restored the china cabinet. They've been so good to Ben and me! If you're confused about the window valances, they were left by the previous owners. They went really well with the design scheme they had but we're currently deciding what to do with them.

The living room is not even close to being finished so you just get a picture of how it looked when it was empty before we moved in...

Our basement is about 3/4 finished and the other 1/4 is an unfinished workshop type area. The colors of the floor looks weird in these pictures but in person they are a cream, light brown, and bark brown. Random surprise, the floors are HEATED! It definitely was not something that we were looking for in a house but we've excited to try them out this winter! Since these old houses were only built with one bathroom on the 2nd floor, the previous owners installed a full bath downstairs. We're very thankful for more than one bathroom.

Another quirk of a house built in 1934 is that the staircases are small... and that's an issue for a queen mattress and box spring. But we give you the answer to this issue, a pulley system. Nathan guided the mattress from the bottom.

Ben and I were on our balcony with the rope looped around our waists

                                                 

And the finished product!

 As small as our one-bedroom apartment was this past year, we had gotten used to having a walk in closet so that was something that we were looking for in our home. We were very excited when we saw this cedar-lined closet. It is great!

Across the hall, we have a nursery, excuse me, dissertation dungeon. The jungle theme really gets the brain working.

There's an extra bedroom that will have a set of bunk beds thanks to a donation from Ben's family.

So that's most of the house... thanks for taking the tour. We're open for visitors so come on over yall!

P.S. We have a secret passageway but you'll have to come over to find it! Putting a picture on here will ruin the surprise!

Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

2012 has been a year of many different places and faces. The year started in Clemson, SC with B teaching at Clemson University and working on his dissertation. A was working at Palmetto High School teaching Biology to 9th graders.

June marked the end of our time in Clemson and the beginning of our new adventures in Maryland! With a lot of help from gracious friends at our old and new home, we made our bittersweet transition from a quiet 2 bedroom house in a sleepy college town into a 1 bedroom, 3rd floor urban apartment. A made the move with some anxiety. This is her first time living outside of South Carolina and visions of bug-infested apartments, drug dealers, and traffic jams danced in her head. God blessed us with a safe apartment and so far, no bugs!  It’s been a big transition to city life, but God has been gracious and we are quickly adjusting to our new surroundings.

After a yearlong hiatus, B returned to his position at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center as an industrial-organizational psychologist. He returned to the same department he was in previously and he is enjoying his coworkers and job.

B is still working on his dissertation and is looking forward to having it all behind him soon. In January 2012 he was voted onto the Board of Directors for USA Ultimate. He is currently taking a break from coaching and playing but he is excited about his Board of Directors responsibilities. He is grateful to be able to help shape the future of the sport that he loves. 

A is now a middle school life science and physical science teacher at Holy Trinity Episcopal Day School and is enjoying the challenge of younger students and new subjects. This fall, she was selected to be in the New Science Teachers Academy, a fellowship program for 2nd and 3rd year science teachers run by the National Science Teachers Association. She hopes that this program will increase her knowledge of science and improve her teaching skills.

We miss our Clemson friends dearly and are so thankful that we got to spend our first year of marriage at Crosspoint Church and with so many of our college friends! We are now in the process of joining Solid Rock Church. It is down the road from our new apartment in Maryland, and we are enjoying our new friendships. It has been a blessing to have found a church that is solid doctrinally and has such a strong presence in the local community.

We would appreciate your prayer in the following areas of our life…

•     That God will continue to bless and fortify our marriage

•     That B and A will not be distracted from learning more about God and the plans he has for our life

•     B completing his dissertation

•     Looking for a new place to live in June

•     A being able to witness to her students and coworkers

•     Strengthening relationships and forming new ones in the area

Under His grace,

B and A

Romans 12:12 - Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.