Citrusolution - A Review

Ahhhhhh, its that time of year people! Now that the weather is FINALLY nice after all that snow, everyone gets that itch to start their spring cleaning. There's just something about cleaning out the clutter, making several trips to Goodwill, opening up the windows, and freshening up your house that takes me to the beginning of spring!

When we bought our home a couple of years ago, we completely gutted it. So, part of what we had to decide was new carpet. Well, when they give you a big board of 50 samples and you pick one, you honestly don't realize how LIGHT it is until you come home and its in your house! As much as I like it, it is SUPER light, and with two five year olds, and two shedding cats, our carpets already look several years old instead of two.

I was recently approached by Citrusolution to come out and clean my carpets in return for a blog review. If you've read the paragraph above, you will know that I was jumping up and down emphatically said of course!

Im going to show you some pics of my carpet before (yes, I know Im brave!!)

 Just lots of spots and just dingy wear.

I honestly had not heard of Citrusolution, but let me tell you - I was SO PLEASED and impressed! Ed Van Voorhees, the local owner of Citrusolution, couldn't have been nicer or more professional. He bought his small team, who have been with him for years, and they got it done in no time. And it was dry so quickly!

Citrusolution uses an environmentally-friendly, citrus-based cleanser. I liked this part due to the fact I have kids and pets! Its super safe! And I promise I was so pleased it worked!! And it smelled awesome!! The  solution contains citrus acid (like lemon juice) and d-Limonene (extracted oil from citrus rinds). The d-Limonene agent has been proven to fight against dust mites and other household allergens. In addition, this agent is also used in other forms to help support immunity and detoxification. I couldn't believe how great my carpet looked when they were done. They looked brand new! And the best part? The leave an entire bottle of the cleaning solution so you can clean spots yourself using the same solution they used. 

Now here's a BEFORE:

And AFTER!!

I spoke with Ed a little bit on their pricing. They dont do gimicks, they dont do the bait-and-switch, they dont do Groupons. What they do, if offer a very competive, all-inclusive pricing structure with nothing hidden. 

I was really pleasatly impressed with this company, and I absoluetly will give Ed and his company Citrusolution a call the next time I need my carpets cleaned. Im not sure I will go anywhere else! Their contact info is below :) 

Happy Spring Cleaning!

Facebook

www.Citrus4Carpets.com

615-333-8977

Our Christmas Bucket List

It seems like this year flew by. I'm not sure how it happened. I had a "Christmas Bucket List" if you will and tried to add some new things, but honestly we didn't get to some of the things we even do every year! (like the Opryland Hotel)

We did add a couple of new things. We went to a A Very Merry Music City Christmas  - that was fun. They had Olaf, snowsledding, a bounce house, etc. It was fun.

Haha!

We did caroling with our moms group at a local nursing home.

We saw the lights at Jellystone Park this year, and also drove twice around to see the prettiest lights in the city. 

We made cookies and did some Christmas crafts, some better than others. 

Jules' snowman and Josh's "he loves glue" sled. 

Can you guess which one is from Pinterest and was our inspiration?

Josh and Heidi Klum with their Gingerbread houses. 

Josh was DYING to do a popcorn garland this year. So we odd it and put is on the tree in his room. That guy. 

Josh got The Polar Express this year. He's obsessed with the book/movie. At 3 last year he watched it so many times. He kept on saying jokingly "mommy I don't believe" because he was hoping the Polar Express would come get him. That backfired as he had nightmares the next two nights because he was scared a train was going to come take him away. Haha!! 

We went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church, which we haven't done since before the kids were born.

Things I didn't do were the Walkthrough Bethlehem, Opryland Hotel and The Rockettes. Oh well, we can only squeeze so much in, no? Sigh... Still a GREAT GREAT Christmas!! 

Our First Nutcracker "Date"

This will top my list and my memories as one of the very favorite days with my daughter. I decided this year will be the year that Jules and I would try to go see The Nutcracker. They have a "Mini Nutcracker" which I would have preferred, but tickets went soooo fast, so the big girl Nutcracker at TPAC in Nashville would be the way to go! It was a risky move, since tickets were over $100 for the both of us, so it would have been an expensive mistake if she hated it.

She couldn't have been a better girl, and the afternoon was absolutely lovely. We went to lunch downtown beforehand at a place called Demo's. She requested spaghetti, so what better place than Italian? About 50 people stopped us to tell Jules how pretty she was. She was on her very best behavior the entire time.

The show started and she loved it. It was long, yes, and by the end she was ready to go, but she honestly did amazing. I loved every single second of it. Next year I think we'll try to do the Mini Nutcracker again though.

As special as it all was, I have discovered in my adult life that I still DO NOT LOVE The Nutcracker. I thought maybe it was because I was just a kid? Nope. Yes, I know, I suck. but I honestly hate it. HA!! Isn't that horrible? It's the most boring this ever. It's like CATS the musical but with no singing. Everybody just gets a ballet solo. But Jules loved, it so I loved it with her. It's one of those mother/daughter tradition things that I've looked forward to since the day she was born. It was incredibly special.

But maybe next year going the "shorter route" will help out this mama. Hehe.

I promise she's excited!

Tried to set the camera up to take our picture. Kind of a fail. Need a tripod!

Phone picture. She got to pose with one of the ballerinas from the show!

My little Eloise at the Plaza.

And don't feel sorry for Josh, he got a super date too. He got to go with his daddy to the Titans game!

First Meeting with Santa 2014, and a Look Back at Years Past

Holy Moly where have the years gone??? As in tradition, we spent the first Saturday in December at the local Brentwood Library for our Breakfast with Santa. You can see years past here and here. We didn't go last year as we went to Disney (WAH! How was THAT a year ago?)

But, we ventured again this year. Brentwood Library does a fun little morning with Santa meetings, letters to Santa, face paintings, food, carolers, and the familiar and sweet magic show by Scott Humston. So fun!!



Snack Time:

Snack time lol!

2011! Seriously how cute is she? 

2012 - We got juice again!

Santa Pics!

And now its time to walk down memory lane.

2011 - Jules refused to sit in his lap. So, she took the stool at his feet. Ha!

2012 - I had to intervene again lol. Jules was so scared.

This year the magic show was magical for this guy!

Seriously, as soon at Scott came out, Josh says: "You know, Mommy, magicians (or however he pronounced it, ha!) always need volunteers. They ALWAYS do"

Well, Scott then came out and said he needed one. Whoever had the biggest smile. Well, the only thing I regret is not snapping a pic of this guy's smile. HYSTERICAL. Needing to say...no one else had a chance. 

Jake and Josh

And a look back at them years ago. Le Sigh...




How, how, HOWWWWWWW have they gotten so big????? So cute, so sweet, and so just yesterday, right?



We then headed down to Downtown Franklin for their Christmas Parade It was so quaint, so easy to see, and so perfect.

Me and my stinkers. Tis the season!

We ended the day with the kids first viewing of Babes in Toyland, with Annette Funicello. A complete classic, one I havent seen in 20 years but I've seen 20 thousand times. Oh the memories.

I'm a giddy person in Christmas season. giddy, giddy giddy. You can't get a smile off my face.

Happy Birthday Week!

Here is it, yet another birthday. How do they happen so fast once you're past 30? Sigh. Anyway, another one has come and gone. Jake and I went out to have some fun in Nashville. I never feel old in Nashville. There are so many 30-40 somethings out and about, and so much to do. So, Jake and I ventured out to a new local hot spot, Acme Feed and Seed. Although the name sounds awful, it's four floors of trend. AND KIDS. I have nothing else to describe it. They were in their early 20's, some might have been younger. Jeez. All college aged, all drunk, all having an absolute ball. I usually never feel old, except for that moment. Dammit. I have never felt so old in my life. Do you ever go to a bar/restaurant where you just KNOW a fight will break out? Yeah, it was one of those places.

I look to old to be here :(

To further show my age, we went out to see one of my favorite shows, Guilty Pleasures, a completely 80's cover band. They are so much fun!!! Seriously, if you haven't been to a show and you are local, please check them out!

I actually was feeling better about my age, until my lovely husband Jake pointed out that this birthday was the 15th anniversary of my 21st birthday. WHAT???? I can hang out with 21 year olds! We are the same me and them! I cannot, no way Jose, be 15 YEARS older than them. I refuse to accept that. So, with that, I decided to do a Throwback Thursday to my 21st birthday party. We rented out the clubhouse at a college apartment complex where we lived in Knoxville at UT. It was a BALL. So many of my friends showed up, new and old. My sister Ginny picked me up that morning, she took me to the rock on Tennessee's campus where she surprised me by painting it! I went to a salon and got my hair done, went shopping for my outfit, and then had a mucho fun par-tay. NO WAY that was 15 years ago. NO FREAKING WAY.

The famous painted rock! And I still own this shirt! Seriously! So see? There's no way it's been fifteen years because there is NO WAY id still have a shirt this long. (Yeah, okay, shut it. It's sad Le sigh- great chambray never goes out of style tho) 

Me and Jake! We were just friends here though :) neighbor buddies. 

Ryan, Amanda and Moi- tiara natch

Me and Jill

Some of the girlsies :)

My sisters and mom came too. Here she is playing a mean pool game.