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Monday, July 28, 2008

Anniversary, the beach, & early birthday gift...

Wednesday is mine & Chris' 3rd anniversary! It's so hard to believe how fast the 3 years has flown by. It's been wonderful, and I am so thankful to have been blessed with such a wonderful, loving husband.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from our wedding day...


To celebrate our anniversary, Chris is taking me to the beach Saturday. We'll just be there for the day, but that's plenty of time to take in some sun, sand, & a nice dinner. We're looking forward to it!

In preparation for our beach trip Saturday, Chris gave me an early birthday present on behalf of his parents. They had it shipped here probably 3 weeks or more ago, but I was told I couldn't have it...gotta hate that! When Chris told me his beach plans for us, he told me I could open my birthday present from his parents on Sunday before I went to work, so I did & they got me a tripod shelter for the beach. It's perfect! Chris set it up in the backyard overnight to stretch it out a bit & check out how to get it all set up. I think it's going to be perfect to shield some of the sun, but not too much & have a cooler place to chill out in the heat of the day! I can't wait to try it out on Saturday!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

$82...

that's how much I made at the yard sale on Saturday.

I didn't think that was too bad especially since I had nothing big to sell. It was mostly all small stuff. It was little work for me too since I had been setting things aside for a yard sale for quite some time.

I'm just happy to have the stuff off of our hands!

We spruced up the yard a bit Saturday evening & then treated ourselves to a delicious dinner of grilled prime rib, grilled squash/zuchinni/tomato medley, roasted red potatoes, baked beans, and a peach cobbler (with fresh peaches!) for desert. It was so delicious.

I got the bedding put on our guest bed Sunday afternoon. It looks great. I'll have to take some pictures of it to post soon. Now we're just waiting on our next set of company. Sissy, Steve, Benjamin & Jennifer are coming up on August 7th which is just around the corner!

I'm working nights this week. It's a nice change of pace from the last few crazy weeks around here.

More later in the week...

Thursday, July 17, 2008

yard sale & misc. updates

It's been a busy week...
last Saturday night was Tom Petty...it was awesome!
He played for over 2 hours & played all of the hits.
I love going to concerts where you know the words to all of the songs.
We had a great time!
I was in charge M, T, & W at work this week.
I was definitely ready for a few days off.
I had lunch & browsed at the mall with Karen today.
It was nice to be out & about on such a nice day.
Peppes & Pop kindly advanced my birthday check this week so I could buy a comforter set from Linens N Things that I had falled in love with.
I have waited this long to buy a comforter for our guest room because nothing seemed to be exactly what I was looking for...until now!
I bought it today & can't wait to get it on the bed!
What's keeping me from getting the new comforter on the bed???
A ton of stuff piled up in our guest room in prep for a yard sale Saturday a.m.
I've been wanting to have a yard sale for quite some time but didn't feel like I had enough stuff.
A friend of mine mentioned the same thing to me, so we decided to have a multi-household yard sale at another friend's house this Saturday.
I'm looking forward to cleaning out some clutter &hopefully making a little bit of money in the process.
Off to make some dinner...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

stranded...

that is a mild exaggeration, but I stopped by Kroger on my way home from work tonight to get some rice for our stir-fry dinner, milk & a birthday card for a co-worker.
I came out, got in my car & my car wouldn't start...OH NO! I called Chris & he was on his way, so he met me at Kroger & jump started me.
The good news...we made it home fine.
The bad news...my car ran for about 10 minutes after we got home & then died again.
Chris thinks I need a new battery so he's taking mine out now so he can stop & get me a new one tomorrow.
Bummer...hopefully the new battery will solve the problem.
Good night!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

household tips...

Here are 3 of my favorite household tips I've picked up along the way...

*After halving a cantaloupe, scoop out the inside with an ice cream scoop. It's a clean swipe & all of the seeds & goo are gone!

*Never know what to do with grease after cooking...Allow the grease to cool for just a couple of minutes, then take a sandwich baggie, open it & place it inside of a juice glass, pulling the edges of the bag up over the edges of the glass. Pour the grease in. After the grease completely cools you can zip up the baggie & toss it...so convenient!

*After burning a candle down in a jar or a votive holder, place the jar or holder into the freezer for 1-2 hours. This is just long enough to pry the candle's edges off of the candle holder and the remaining piece of candle falls right out, leaving your holder or jar for another candle or use. Chris' grandmother, Boo Boo, passed that trick on to me!

What are your favorite household tips???

Saving $ & earning FREE stuff

These days I think everyone is looking for ways to save money & get FREE stuff. Here are some of my favorite ways...

Right now Kroger has a promotion going on where for each $300 gift card you buy, they had an free $30 to it! We heard about this a couple of months ago & read up on it & decided there really were no strings attached so we did it. I bought 2 more yesterday, totalling $660 but we only paid $600...$60 in free groceries works for me! Check it out, I think the promotion ends at the end of July!

This website is great...www.mypoints.com. Sign up to receive e-mails based on your interests and preferences & for each e-mail you open & 'read' get 5 points. You can also take surveys and earn points for shopping online. After accumulating points you can redeem them for giftcards to popular resturants and stores. I recently redeemed my 6th or 7th reward gift card from them. It's no hoax...it works!

Another great site...www.opinionsquare.com. Here you can take surveys that earn you points which you can then trade in for merchandise or gift cards. I love it!

more later...

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

July 1st...

I can't believe it's already July 1st...time flies!
Chris & I went to Carolina Beach Sunday...
we had a great time despite the heat,
the wind (sand was blowing everywhere),
and the strong currents.
We stopped at a seafood restaurant on the way home for dinner.
I'm off until Friday, so I'm enjoying that,
but it means I have to work the weekend of the 4th...boo.
We're looking forward to next weekend's Tom Petty concert!
Off to do more homework...