Homemade Laundry Detergent

Since posting about making it, I have had A LOT of request for the recipe. I wish I could tell you that it is from my own making but it most definitely is not. I snagged it off the Duggars website (the people with 19 kids and counting). The recipe I got made 10 gallons, which is way more than I need right now or want to store. So here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:
-2 cups of hot tap water
-1/2 bar of soap *see below for more about what kind of soap
-1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (Do not use baking soda!)
-1/4 cup of Borax

*The recipe calls for the soap to be Fels-Naptha which you can find in the laundry aisle. You can also use Ivory soap, which is what I use. It is not as strong of a smell as the Fels-Naptha. Also, the Washing Soda and the Borax can be found in the laundry aisle. A box of each is like $3 and will last a really long time. The 2 boxes will end up helping you make a ridiculous amount of laundry detergent.

Directions:
- Grate the bar of soap and add to a saucepan with the 2 cups of hot tap water. Stir over medium-low heat until the soap dissolves.
-Fill a bucket up with 1 and 1/4 gallons of hot tap water. Add the melted soap, 1/2 cup of washing soda, and 1/4 cup of Borax. Stir well until everything is dissolved. Fill the bucket up with 1 and 1/4 gallons of water. Cover and let it sit overnight.

-Whatever container you use, fill it half full with your homemade detergent and will the rest up with water.

Don't fret if your laundry doesn't smell like anything. It's not suppose to. This is gentle enough for sensitive skin.


There you go. Super easy. I used old detergent, fabric softener,and juice containers. This made 5 gallons for me! Use 1/4 cup with each load of laundry.

Derek's Scan Results

The worst part about anything health related is the waiting. I pretty much hate it. Derek did a PET scan on Friday. The PET scan lights up the cancer and tells you how strong the cancer is in the various parts of the body. Derek has Lymphoma so it spreads quick and can be in many parts throughtout the body. Before his 1st transplant he had it in17 different areas! This time, however, Derek and I got through the weekend fine. We felt really good about the results. And boy were we right! Derek's cancer is "nearly in remission"!! In April a scan showed a bunch of different areas. This scan showed that almost all of it has been wiped out! This is great news because if the cancer had not done anything or even grew then that would be it for traditional methods. Derek would have to start trying trial chemos or other weird things. The doctor is hoping to do another transplant, this time with someone else's cells, so gear up to get tested! This transplant would then totally wipe out any left over cancer cells and gives Derek a better chance of being cured. CURED! So this time we are hoping for a transplant. Dr. Polowy could barely contain his happiness and that made it all the better. I can't believe that this could be over soon. 3 long years of cancer and it is almost gone. Heavenly Father has been incredibly kind, continually blessing us and this blessing is a big one! Thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts and prayers sent our way. Keep it up because we can feel them!

Yikes!

Yikes I have been busy! No pictures for this post because 1) I'm on my computer which has no pictures (my computer got wiped out!) and 2) I am WAY too lazy to get up and go to Derek's computer. Derek had to go to the ER on Tuesday, which terrified me. He had to go because when he was at the doctor's office getting chemo they got his blood results back and his platelet level was incredibly, terrifyingly, and scarily low. So they sent him to the ER where he got a platelet transfusion, which is like a blood transfusion but it only had platelets in it. So my neighbors (Josh, Jeff, and Dani) took Camden so I could go down and be with Derek. By this time it was evening and that huge dust storm set in so it was impossible to see more than 10 feet in front of me while I was driving, but I floored it anyways. There is no cure for an irrational woman. Anyways, I got there and he was basically done so we left and now he is fine.

The next day (Wednesday) Derek was driving to the doctors office and realized the car was broken. Now our other car was already broken so we had two broken cars. That same day I was cleaning the wall above the fireplace and the chair I was standing on broke! My ego was extremely bruised since the front 2 legs of the chair snapped off. This was a decently sturdy chair so perhaps this is a wake up call, lol. I hurt both ankles, a knee, elbow, and a wrist. Not the greatest thing when you are trying to train for a half marathon that is less than 2 months away.

So it is Thursday, Derek fixed the car after spending $60 on a part that was only available at the dealership and I will have to miss out on the rest of the week's training. On the bright side, my injury forced me to sit in one spot for a long time and I got my floral blog mostly fixed up and changed. Check it out www.eternityfloral.blogspot.com.

Camden gets his pictures taken today by Ashlee, I am looking forward to this since she did an incredible job last year doing his pictures. When I went to go get the pictures she took last year printed, they made me sign forms saying I had the rights to the pictures! I told them they weren't professional photos but they didn't believe me. That's how good they looked. So I will post the pics when we get them, I am sure they will be amazing.

Tomorrow Derek gets a PET scan and Tuesday we will meet with the doctor to find out the results. This scan will show us if his cancer is going down or what they heck it is doing. It better be going away because I am pretty tired of dealing with it. However, this trial has been greatly lightened by those around us who love and care for us. I know that this is Heavenly Father's doing, he really looks after us.

Also, this Sunday my brother gets the Aaronic Priesthood! How awesome is that?? It's pretty rad if you ask me.

Now stop reading this and go check out my revamped floral blog! www.eternityfloral.blogspot.com

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Oops

In my previous post I mentioned how lame I am at blogging. Well, I still am. I promise to do better. I am going to be revamping both blogs (this one and my floral one). I am hoping to post twice a week but you know how lame I am at stuff. Lots of stuff going on with the Beachs (Beaches? I still don't know). Derek has cancer still. Lately he has been feeling really sick. He gained lots of weight and lost it all within the last week. But you know my Derek, still a happy camper. My Camden is getting huge! He turns 2 next month (can you believe it??). He is the most entertaining child ever. He has a new evil laugh that he does when he does something bad. I seriously can't be mad at a kid who develops his own evil laugh. The picture is of the notorious mad man himself, Sticker Head Boy!

I am still training for my half marathon that is on September 4th. We are making a trip out of it with us and Robin, Caitlin, and Kora. A couple days of Disneyland, having fun, then I will attempt not to vomit everywhere and on everyone while running 13.1 miles. It shall be grand. Have you seen our house? Its beautiful. Pictures to come (maybe, lol). More updates soon.

And the days roll on...

I am so lame at blogging. I wish I was as good as my wonderful friend Ashlee, but alas, I am not. So from hence forth I will be better. Our lives were just getting boring too...
To begin we have been to Disneyland an asinine amount of times this year. First just Derek and I went in March. It was so nice to be there together. Our trip to Disneyland 2 years before prompted the marriage discussion and viola! Here we are all grown up and stuff.
Here is Derek with Captain Hook comparing mustaches. I missed Camden lots though and decided not to go on vacation without him again. Next we went in April for my birthday. Derek, Camden, Myself, and Talon Jean piled into our car, all of us with the stomach flu and went to Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth, and the cleanest place to dispose of your bodily waste. Just sayin'. Next is July, where my siblings, myself, Derek, and Camden surprised my mother by telling her we were going out to eat the day before her birthday, telling her lie after lie (I mean excuse after excuse) of why none of us would be able to come see her on her real birthday. When we get to her house to take her out for a cheap lunch we surprise her with the information that we are actually taking her to Disneyland for her birthday and she better go pack because we are leaving in 10 minutes. It was so fun hearing sputters of "No, what? Joking?" and us intensely looking at the clock and telling her she only had 8 more minutes before we were leaving her birthday behind-behind. Here is my mother getting to ride Peter Pan with her favorite and only grandchild Camden. Then in October we took the perilous journey to Disneyland with the whole (and by whole I mean most) of the Beach family. We all shared a house in Anaheim, just a few minutes from Disneyland, and spent the next 3 days together. Surprisingly we all survived. No injuries or fatalities, it was a Christmas miracle. So unfortunately we used our yearly miracle on that. Dont't be fooled. This is not all of us. That ends our Disneyland trips for a very long time. I have become the master of trips to Disneyland so these trips really cost us nothing. From a psychological stand point, I think we embarked on all of these trips because it was so nice to be able to actually go on trips and not worry if Derek should be around all of these people or can we afford to go? It was nice to do something for us. We also celebrated our baby's first birthday this year! I can't believe how big he has gotten! Or how curious he is. These days he is fascinated with looking down people's shirts. He's a Beach, no denying that. We also bought a house! Perfect time to buy if you can. We bought our house for half of what it was 2 years ago. Sad for the people before us but we do love our house. It's in Chandler and its older, doesn't look like much from the outside but its a huge lot. 1400 square foot house on an 11,000 square foot lot. Wild, I know. The inside has all tile and was kept up real nicely. Our mortgage is less than what most people I know are paying for rent (not to brag). If you can buy, now is the time. By the way, that hummer in the driveway is not ours, that's our realtor's. I am in school full time at ASU. Its so nice to be back in school. I have a full schedule of upper division English classes. I am so grateful to be back in school that I am giving it all I got. In fact, I have 100% in 2 of my classes, I didn't even think that was possible in college. I also have been working little by little on getting my floral business together. We also celebrated our 2 year anniversary on October 11th! I know, I know, you're looking at that picture wondering who those people are. Trust me, that's us. I'm all thin and Derek looks like he might have a hold on his hairiness. My current state of fluffiness means that we have Camden and that i'm too lazy to get rid any extra there is of me. And Derek thought chemo would take care of removing his hair for him but silly him, the dude didn't lose his hair through 9 months of chemo. Derek is doing okay. His cough has come back which is a problem. I am really sick of competing with cancer for my husband. We thought we were doing good, moving on with our lives but here comes cancer. The tumor in his chest on his windpipe is growing and that is why his cough is back. It's getting worse. We are still fighting insurance to get him back on. I have tried everything I can think of. We can't purchase our own insurance policy because he has a preexisiting condition. The new healthcare reform would have us spend $1000 a month on medical insurance, and AHCCCS says I make too much money, which is laughable. He needs a PET scan and no one will give him one unless we pay for it up front which is thousands of dollars that we just don't have. It's sickening to know that my husband isn't getting the medical care he needs because I make $36 over the income limit. It's also sad that he is getting punished because i'm working. I hate playing into this messed up system but i'm doing what I have to do so that he can get his treatments. I stopped working. The upside is that now my house is clean. Okay not really, but i'm trying. Okay not trying as much as just lifting a pile of paper, complaining that I can't find anything and then putting the papers back down. Our ward has been great and really helpful to us. One of the ladies in my ward who lives across the street was talking with us the other day. She said "I don't know how you guys do it. Whenever you talk about your situation you seem like it doesn't stress you out". We do seem that way sometimes. But its only because if we think about it, the despair is just a bit too consuming. Cancer can eat you up and spit you back out. I apologize for the sudden turn of this blog post. On the bright side we are happy and in love! Lately, I think of the couple of weeks before our wedding when we found out about Derek's cancer. We were heading into the temple to do an endowment session to ease our minds.
"You guys should just get married now?" Rochelle said.
"Want to?" I asked Derek.
"No you will regret it" he replied.
He has never been more wrong.

Hey!!

Sorry all. It has been crazy! I apologize for the neglect but I shall update you if you would like. Just in case you aren't aware we (Derek, Kaela, and Camden Beach) LOVE Disneyland. We have gone 3 times this year.
We bought a house, I will post pictures soon. We are moving in right now so we should be into our house this weekend. I start school next week and I am super excited. I am taking 5 English Lit classes at ASU. Derek is doing great, we went to the doctor and he said that he is doing well and doesn't need to see him for a few months. Camden is getting huge. He turned one last month. I can't believe how fast time flies! Sorry to make this so short but we have alot going on. I will post more later!