Christmas on a budget

People to buy for this year: 24 (including our 3 kids and each other)

Budget: $500.00 

Can it be done? 

"SURE!", I said at the start of the year when we decided to set money aside each pay period for Christmas savings. Over the past 4 years we've spent exactly double that each Christmas but I was blithely optimistic that I could cut that in half with a little frugality. 

Of course we counted the 3 paychecks in December into our budgeting equation, all of which come AFTER my black Friday shopping last week (one is even after Christmas - oops), so I was not expecting to finish my shopping that day. Nor was I expecting to only get 10 people bought for, which is what happened, using all of the money we'd saved so far. 

And with that the Christmas budget is down the toilet. 

Well, I say we get an A for effort as far as actually saving all year, right? I mean, that was a first! And I only bought one present for myself while out all day last Friday, which is a vast improvement from years past, so really I feel quite accomplished!

The hardest part was breaking the news to Russell, which occurred at an untimely moment at the dinner table last night. I'm not quite sure how I even let that happen but thankfully the kids were all present so no voices were raised, and after they heard that half of the budget had gone towards them they were clearly on my side of the argument and Russell had nothing left to say except that he was going to spank all of us (or something to that effect) and we all laughed, and then I told the kids that I wasn't afraid of him and gave Russ a wink wink. 

Disaster averted. 

Bottom line: My husband is a SAINT sometimes, and I love him! Also, does anyone know of a .22 rifle (Russ's single Christmas wish) for sale for .99 cents? :)

I ate, and ate, and ate some more

How to recap the past 4 days? So much went on, crazy fun stuff, and now I'm ready to sleep for a week.

So I'm going to be brief. 

Thanksgiving day: There was good food. At BOTH Thanksgiving gatherings we attended. You bet I enjoyed myself!

Thanksgiving #1: Halverson gathering. The pies get an A+ this year - thanks to our lovely friend Danielle who made all three of these beauties. Please note the one on the far left: pumpkin cheesecake. Best. EVER.

Thanksgiving #2: Wilson gathering. Same day, later time. Yes I ate all over again. Calories don't count on major holidays you know.

I'll tell you what, I love our families. Every year there is nothing to look forward to except wonderful fellowship, great food, and just relaxing and enjoying ourselves. I am thankful that we don't ever have any family drama! 

Friday: Shopped online at midnight and got the Walmart 5 am doorbuster deal I was wanting from the comfort of my home and cozy pj's. Then was so jazzed that it actually worked that I couldn't sleep for half an hour. 

Up again at 4 am to meet Tricia for some serious Black Friday shopping. Walmart, Target, Old Navy, Toys R Us, Coastal Farms, JoAnn's, Home Depot. NO SWEAT. Home at 4 pm to crash for a couple of hours and then over to Erik and Tricia's where the guys had been hanging out watching football all day. Tricia and I gabbed on the couch all night because obviously shopping together for 12 hours straight wasn't enough time to catch up :) Also, we may not have wanted to move one single muscle.

the booty

Saturday: honestly, most of it was a blur. I believe I got some things done and some errands run but I was pretty hung over from my lack of sleep the previous day so don't ask me what they were. 

In the evening we went over to our friends the Nof's so Russ and Doug could watch the Oregon Ducks basketball game and we ended up staying till 1 am playing a new board game called...

wait for it... 

Smart A**. 

Yes, that's the name. Sarah picked it up off the shelf in the store because she couldn't believe someone would name a board game that and then after reading the description on the back admitted that it actually looked fun. So she bought it.  And it WAS! We kept playing over and over again - it was addicting.

Sarah always knows the way right to my heart: candy cane kisses - my present when I walked in the door. Love her!

Sunday: dragged ourselves out of bed for the Thanksgiving Extravaganza at church and then attended our final Thanksgiving meal, at some wonderful family friend's. Bob and Tracy have adopted our whole family (my parents, siblings and our respective kids) as their own and wanted to celebrate with us, combining it with Christmas, complete with multiple gifts for the kids and even all of us! It was amazing. We are so blessed to know them!

I would love to show you pictures of this event but unfortunately my camera was in my purse, which regrettably did not get brought out to my car by my 7 year old son as I'd requested, but rather left on his bed when he carried it back to his room to get his coat. Bummer.

But I got over it quickly. Mainly because my sister had her camera with her and will let me mooch her pics off her later. Phew.

To conclude this holiday weekend recap: We had ourselves a lovely time! I hope you all did as well.

Givin' Thanks

I'm thankful for water. Yesterday we had none from the time we woke up until 7:00 pm at night because our pipes froze and then busted.

Glorious running water that flushes toilets and washes hands and dishes and laundry - I love you!

I'm thankful for my awesome husband who knows exactly what to do in situations like that and who skipped dinner and stayed out in the freezing cold darkness after he came home until it was fixed. He's handy like that.

I'm thankful that even though my planned baking marathon turned into a late night sprint, I got it all done and now I can have a relaxed day with my family and focus on tomorrow's SHOPPING BABY! (Oh, and being thankful of course :)

I'm thankful that my MP3 player that I dropped out of my apron pocket into the sink full of water last night still works! And that I actually had a sink full of water. Again, yay water!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. May your faucets flow.

What I Wore Wednesday - it's winter!

I have embraced the scarves, flannel, and boots this past week. It's getting cold outside! 

(And in true Western Oregon fashion we got a light dusting of snow and all the schools closed.)

Wednesday: Costco run

green vest: Maurices

tunic dress: Kmart

leggings and boots: Walmart

necklace: Fred Meyers

Thursday: Mom's group, grocery shopping

shirt and boots: Costco

skinny jeans: Target

Friday: school assembly (my kids got awards so I went to watch)

brown turtleneck: Shade

Levi's: Kohl's

Uggs: ebay

scarf wrap: Forever 21

bracelet: Target

Saturday: Date night!

gray turtleneck: Shade

skinny jeans: Kohl's

green vest (again): Maurices

boots: Walmart

scarf: garage sale

Sunday: church

dress: Ross

cardigan, leggings & flats: Walmart

bracelet: Target

Monday: prayer group, errands

cardigan & skinny jeans: Target

green tee: Shade

scarf: I'm drawing a blank...

boots: pass-me-downs

Tuesday: no pic. It was 25 degrees, school was closed due to icy roads, 

and I stayed in front of the fire in my favorite sweats all day. 

I'm linking to The Pleated Poppy to join up with Lindsey and other "What I Wore" gals - and Lindsey is doing a giveaway as well, for $75 to a very cool clothing company... check it out!

A couple of random things

1. Sometimes Russ and I plan our date nights to have a romantic evening together, and sometimes they're just for fun, and when that's the case the more the merrier! Case in point: Saturday night we went out with Russ's brother Erik and his wife Tricia and ended up having a high school throw-back date night out! We ate at the mall food court, drank Jamba Juice, had cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon, saw a movie, and then briefly raced a stranger on the freeway on the way home. Oh yes we did. And about died laughing.

2. My husband's commuter car is a junker that I refuse to be seen in except in desperate cases, such as yesterday afternoon when I needed to run into town to return some movies that were due back at the video store and Russ was using the Tahoe to haul firewood. Okay, it wasn't desperate but I really wanted a Starbucks coffee. Enough so that I lowered my pride and took the Geo, which I deeply regretted when I pulled up in front of Blockbuster and could not get out. On either side. Both doors locked and would not unlock no matter how much I messed with them, or rolled down the window to try from the outside. Nothing doing. I was stuck. 

Believe me when I say that I left Russ a heated message on his cell phone and may have ended with a loud audible "Grrrrr" before hanging up. After 5 minutes and a serious debate with myself over whether to drive back home and have overdue movies or climb out the car window to return them I thankfully unlocked the doors. 

3. I learned something about myself yesterday: I am waaaay too prideful to climb out a car window when parked in front of a video store. It was never gonna happen, people.    

Monday Confessional

My favorite thing about Sundays is... the guaranteed afternoon nap. I LOVE me a luxurious Sunday afternoon nap! And I've been known to go to great lengths to ensure one.

Is it bad that I didn't say my favorite thing about Sundays is going to church? Because I really do love going to church! Especially since so many members of my family attend, as well as my best friends, making for a fun gab fest post-service (sadly we never arrive early enough to gab pre-service. Which is a confession in itself really if you were to know what time we sometimes sneak in!). 

But yeah, the nap is still the best part of the day :) 

Especially when it's with this little guy...

Sleeping in style, surrounded by the toys he snuck into bed before I came in to join him!

A mark on the wall

Two nights ago I was sitting at my computer when I happened to glance over at the wall beside me and noticed a new mark on the wall - quite a large one. 

"Aww man!" I thought, and instantly accused Russ or one of the kids in my mind. And then, as I stared at it a little longer... I realized with horror that it appeared to be moving.

What the higgity hey?!!

Holy disgusting, Batman!

I took a few pics to show the kids (who were already in bed)...

Ewwwww!

And then I killed it. With relish.

Nothing like a little late night creepy crawler to send you off to bed with the heebie jeebies. Great!

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Hardy har har! 

I crack myself up. 

Yesterday was the big day for Kendall... the day she finally got to chop off her hair to donate to Locks of Love. She has been growing it out for FOREVER and I have been sorely tempted to get it cut many times over the past year because girlfriend has TANGLES!, but how can you do that to a girl who truly wants to give to such a worthy cause? You can't is how.

And I'm glad I didn't because when I told her I'd made an appointment for her she was giddy with excitement and I believe she even clapped. Apple didn't fall far from the tree there.

 

the top rubber band is the 10 inch mark - the length required to donate.

chopped off!

one happy little girl :)

with her own certificate and key chain. And adorable do!

 On the way home Kendall told me she felt so full of happiness that she Couldn't. Hardly. Stand. It. 

I said, "it feels good to do something good for others doesn't it?"

She agreed, and then I added: "plus it feels really good to feel cute and pretty huh?"

and she gushed a huge, "YES! I just can't stop flipping it!" as she tossed her from head side to side :)

I know exactly what feeling she is talking about.

Saturday recap part 2: my top 10

Nothing like a recap of last weekend on the following Thursday, right? To see part 1 - which was all about the ill-fated haircut that happened the morning of, see here.

We had so much fun Saturday (once I was back on speaking terms with my husband), but because I seem to struggle with writing a blog post shorter than the entire book of Genesis, I've decided to recap the rest of the day in list form... giving you my top ten thirteen reasons I loved the day, in no particular order...

1. Due to certain circumstances that I won't discuss but which have to do with Russell's last minute decision to SHAVE HIS HEAD, we were late meeting Tom and Nicole to drive down to Corvallis with them and we felt really bad... until Tom got out of his car when we pulled up and sheepishly told us that he'd forgotten the tickets back at their apartment - 15 minutes back up the freeway - and we had to go back to get them. Forgetfulness happens to us all Tom! (especially me). I knew I liked that guy!

2. I loved the OSU campus, so pretty and, well, pretty! And there were soooo many people to watch... which is one of Russ and my favorite things to do. Especially when we can make fun of people, like the guy wearing head to toe hunter-orange fleece camo. It was nice, folks. 

3. Can I just say they had stellar concessions? Like BBQ tri-tip or pulled pork sandwiches (which we stood in line for but missed out on by one person when they ran out of meat after making their last sandwich for the guy in front of us! What were the odds?) Or Qdoba nachos, which I sent Russ to get after a person down the row from us came back to their seat with a big tray of them... only to have him return with Domino's pizza because Qdoba ran out of meat too. So okay, we didn't luck out on concessions but they looked great and there was a large variety.

4. We were sitting 5 rows off the field. FIVE ROWS! It was spectacular, I almost wished my kids were there to see it. Almost.

that's a lot of orange!

5. We were seated in front of the Washington State cheerleader's stunt team. Now, I was a cheerleader in high school, so they had me at their first high flying basket toss. To say I was a little distracted watching them would be an understatement. 

too bad they were rooting for the wrong team.

6. And I was glad I was watching because I was HIGHLY entertained when one of the stunt guys accidentally brought his girl partner he'd been holding up in the air down in a half-crash, landing her on his megaphone sitting in front of them, and oh, did she turn around and yell at him! Then he yelled back, she stomped away, and during their next cheer when she was supposed to be turned around facing him he turned his head to the side and wouldn't look at her the whole time. It was hilarious!

7. Tom and Nicole were heaps of fun. And Nicole was so cute getting all into the game and screaming her head off, I was impressed. I tried to keep my questions about what was going on to a bare minimum in order to avoid appearing like an ignorant fool, which I totally am. 

8. Even though it was cloudy and drizzly I stayed toasty warm in my down jacket and shearling boots, and nice and dry thanks to my $5.00 Beaver poncho purchased out front before the game, which was a good call by the way (and a nice save seeing as I forgot a hat).

I was bright, folks!

9.  When we dropped off our kids at my parents before we left that morning my mother gave me an early Christmas stocking stuffer gift - a bag of Hershey's candy cane kisses... my fave! I stuffed them in my purse and brought them with me (as witnessed at me feet in the above pic) and they did not last through the drive back home. So yum.

10.  Despite the Beavers loss, Tom (an OSU grad and die-hard football fan) was a good sport after the game and didn't wallow in misery. In fact, he even offered to let Russ listen to the Oregon Ducks game on the radio on the way home and turned the volume up on the exciting parts. Seeing as that the Ducks are the Beavers arch-rivals this was a mighty fine gesture of friendliness and it did not go unappreciated. By Russell. 

Nicole and I, on the other hand, could have done without the 2nd football game IN ONE DAY, thank you very much. 

11. We hit up Red Robin for dinner on the way home. Need I say more?

12. And were entertained again when a group of 4 college-age kids snuck in and seated themselves at the booth beside ours and then told a waitress walking by that their waiter had forgot to bring them menus! The nerve! I felt great satisfaction when a manager came over and gave them the boot... BOO YAH!

13. My gingerbread milkshake I ordered for dessert. It deserves it's own number on this list. It was that good.

The End.

What I Wore Wednesday

Edition #18

Wednesday: scrapbooking at Tricia's, day 1

tee: JC Penny's

jeans: Levi's - Kohl's

Nikes: Ross 

Thursday: scrapbooking at Tricia's, day 2

waffle tee: Aeropostale

pink cami: Diviine Modestee

sweats: Nike - Costco 

Friday: family birthday party

sweater: Walmart

green ruffle tank: Old Navy

black cami: Diviine Modestee

jeans: Old Navy

shearling slippers: Costco 

silver bracelet: Walmart 

Saturday: Oregon State University football game

sweater: Aeropostale

skinny jeans: Lauren Conrad - Kohl's

shearling boots: Costco

scarf: Old Navy

But what I really looked like all day was this:

Rockin' my sweet Beavers $5 rain poncho. Don't be jealous.
Also, Russ was wearing the wrong college hat but it was orange, so there you go.

Sunday: no pic - played hookie from church with the fam after accidentally sleeping in. Made the best of it by enjoying a pancake breakfast and relaxing all day in sweats.

Monday: prayer group, errands

wrap sweater: Kohl's

cream tee: Shade

skinny jeans: Target

boots: pass me down from a friend

necklace: ? - had for a couple of years

Tuesday: bible study

cardigan: Target clearance

ruffle tank: Old Navy

skinny jeans: Kohl's

boots: Walmart

Necklace: Claires

I have no concluding thoughts this week - except to say in great amazement that I wore NOTHING from the Goodwill this past week! I think that's a first, people!!

Linking as always to Lindsey's blog, The Pleated Poppy. Thanks for stopping by :)

Saturday recap part 1: an ill-advised haircut

This past weekend Russell and I did something that neither of us had ever done before: attend a college football game. Our friends Tom and Nicole invited us to go with them to the OSU Beavers vs. Washington State game a couple of weeks ago and we were all, "No kids? Free date? WE'RE TOTALLY IN!" and had been looking forward to it ever since. 

The day did not start out on the best note however. Russell's hair had been driving him crazy because he needed a cut but hadn't taken the time to get one, so he asked me to help him at least trim his neck before we left. That was the first mistake. I had no idea what I was doing with the trimmers and was very reluctant in case I messed up, which of course happened when, with the shortest piece attached, I misunderstood his directions and zipped up the back of his head almost to his earlobes. EEK!

Russell immediately took over and had to cut his hair all over, on the next size up piece to make it blend in better. Which honestly didn't really work because the back of his neck/head was now reaaallly short. I left him doing this to continue to get myself ready and pack up the kids for a day at Grandma's but it wasn't long before he called me back into the bathroom to see his own mess up - while trying to trim around his ears with the short piece again he went up 2 inches into his hair line! Mistake #2. It looked awful with a capital HORRIFIC.

I was mortified and Russell just laughed sheepishly. So I stomped off to load up the kids in the car and came back into the house to hear these words: "Babe you're not going to like what's going on in here!" Uh oh, I stomped right back in and stopped short when I saw that my husband had BUZZED OFF THE REST OF HIS HAIR.  Mistake #3. BIG MISTAKE.

I won't lie. I was furious. As in, I got in the car and drove off to deliver the kids to Grandma's without him so that I could cool down a little. You see, when Russell and I started dating (back when he was 17!) he always buzzed his hair, and I liked it back then because it's the only way I'd ever seen his hair. But once he reached college and grew it out just a little I could clearly see that it suited him way better. And I've never let him cut it off since. 

And that was 13 years ago! So of course it was a bit shocking... and in my eyes, extremely unattractive. And I told him so. And then refused to speak or look at him for the next 1/2 hour. Which I'm sure you can imagine was a wonderful start to our day out together with friends! 

(And with that I've just realized that I basically reenacted the scene from Clueless where Di freaks out at her boyfriend's shaved head at a party and causes a giant commotion. Wow. )

(p.s. that was my favorite movie in 1995. Saw it in the theater 3 times. Then bought it.)

Thankfully Russell put a hat on and bought me a coffee on our way out, both calculated acts to soften me up. And they worked of course because dude could charm the socks off a warthog... so I've forgiven him. In case you were worried ;)

And NO, he didn't need to forgive me for freaking out on him because he shouldn't have made me use the trimmers in the first place! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

In the coffee drive-thru line... yes I took a pic without the hat but I'm not quite ready to publish it for the world to see.. I need time, people.

Also don't be thinking I hurt his feelings or made him feel self-conscious or anything because I've never met anyone in my life more self-confident than Russ. Who else, as a freshman in highschool, could be 4'10" with size 13 feet and giant sticking-out ears and have the entire 7th and 8th grade class of girls (myself included) madly in love with him? Russell OWNED his haircut and teased me all day by taking his hat off and rubbing his head while grinning. Evil!

Stay tuned for Part II - when we actually get to the football game, and I am seriously distracted by the cheerleading stunt team right in front of me and may or may not pay no more than 5 minutes attention to the actual game going on. It was fun!

Monday confessional - rat attack

Once upon a time my husband left for an entire month to help the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Okay so it was 2005. And it was part of his job - the City of Portland's Water Bureau sent a whole crew down there. 

I was proud of him for going, but oh so lonely! The month was November and we had a very early cold spell - days on end of freezing temperatures. At night I would sit huddled under a blanket on our couch, watching movies by myself after the kids were in bed,  and on one of those evenings a mouse darted out from right under the couch where I was curled up and ran into my kitchen - scaring the bejeebers out of me. 

I immediately set some mouse traps but oddly enough, they kept getting set off with nothing trapped in them. Hmmm. "Stupid traps" I thought, and bought a different kind. Still no luck. And at night I would continue to see the little mouse out of the corner of my eye, always headed for the kitchen where he would then disappear. Why oh why couldn't my hubby be home to take care of this problem for me?

Finally one night I was sitting at my computer - which sits inside a computer hutch, and I started smelling something. Something stinky. And it was coming from inside my hutch! I knelt down and sniffed, got down on my hands and knees and pulled out our printer and it was then that A GIANT RAT JUMPED OUT AND RAN DOWN MY LEG. 

To say I screamed bloody murder would be an understatement, people. 

The rat ran behind and through the vent in the back of our fireplace (which was not lit) and I knew then that it would once again want to go in the direction of my kitchen, since that's where I had been spotting "my little mouse". (Obviously I had rodent identification problems because when it jumped out and ATTACKED ME it definitely looked nothing like a mouse at all.)

I was determined to catch that rat and had to be quick about it... so I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a tupperware container out of the cupboard and then crouched down in my kitchen doorway and became a statue. I don't know why I thought a rat would come towards a human in plain sight, but I knelt there, frozen for over 5 minutes and low and behold, the rat stuck his nose out from under our fireplace and scuttled under our couch and then towards me. 

For anyone who knows how bad I am at throwing and catching things (it's a family joke), they know then how amazing it is that I actually slammed my tupperware down over the rat as it zipped by me and DIDN'T MISS! I know I was shocked - I screamed once again and kept on screaming... what the heck was I supposed to do now?And why had a grabbed such a small container that barely fit the devil animal?

So I did what any girl with no husband around would do. I called my dad, scooting the container across the floor with me towards the phone. And God bless him for bearing with me because I was a little bit hysteric. He suggested I at least get a lid on the tupperware, which I did, scooting the container back through the kitchen to retrieve it and sliding it underneath. Getting the long tail in proved to be a hurdle because there was no way I was going to touch it, but Mr. Rat finally got it in himself with all his running in circles trying frantically to escape. 

So there I had a rat sealed in a smallish plastic tupperware container - staring out at me. Too bad for him that he jumped out at me earlier, I might have contemplated setting him loose outside if not for that. Instead I rubber banded the container for extra precaution and set him outside to freeze to death. Or suffocate - whatever came soonest. 

Next morning he was a stiff corpse that got thrown in the garbage cart outside, still in his little plastic coffin. And I called Russell and begged him to come home before I was faced with any more animal attacks. 

Eventually he did, and no more rodents were seen in our house, until my Nanna surprised me at Christmas with a mystery box. Folded on top was this little note: 

And inside I found these... 

And then I died from laughter.

The End

A rat's tale

Yesterday was all sorts of fun - from beginning to end. Well, almost end. 

While Russ hunted I scrapbooked with my sister-in-law Tricia and then spent the evening at Jana's thanks to Russ graciously letting me go play two nights in a row. 

Jana and I had the epitome of a perfect girls night in - pizza, brownies, peppermint white chocolate coffee, and getting caught up on the latest episodes of SIX of our favorite TV shows. Thank you DVR! And of course we had to pause the TV several times during the evening to discuss all sorts of important matters, leading me to get home a little "late-ish". 

Since my husband suffers from a serious disorder that causes him to leave on ALL electrical switches when leaving the house or heading to bed (radios, TV, lights, etc.) I came home to a fully lit house, and could not help but notice a large amount of dusty debris on my kitchen floor. It looked like it came from under my fridge, which would make sense because, who cleans under their fridge - ever? Interesting. I wondered what had happened. 

And then when I was crawling into bed Russ rolled over and casually mentioned that he and Kendall caught a rat while I was gone. 

Yes, A RAT. IN MY HOUSE. 

He was too tired to elaborate and after failing to get any more out of him I faded off too, despite my disgust of this news, and by this morning I had forgotten all about it. 

Until I went to throw something away in my kitchen garbage and spied a rat's tail sitting on top. With NO BODY ATTACHED. 

Beep beep beep beep beep... that would be the sound of me furiously calling Russ at work to find out exactly where the rest of the rat might be. No answer. 

Next step: wake up daughter and begin immediate interrogation. She nonchalantly informed me that Daddy spotted the rodent RUNNING ACROSS OUR KITCHEN FLOOR and chased it until it hid under the fridge. When they finally got it out it ran into the living room and under our ottoman, which they flipped over, and then killed it with one of my steak knives. Oh, and at some point it's tail ripped off.

Oh my freaking grossness! I shall be disinfecting my floors and kitchen utensils today. 

This has brought up all sorts of repressed feelings because on a dark lonely night back in 2005 I murdered a rat myself. And now I'm going to have to come clean and tell the tale. 

Come back Monday for my confessional.

Packing in the fun

After my full last week/weekend of preparing for and attending Scrap Around the Clock, you'd think I would have been ready for a "down" week this week, just hanging out and laying low. 

Not so my friends. There is nothing like a scrapbooking weekend to get you rolling and want to keep going... for days on end. So Tricia and I decided to get together on Wed thru Fri to scrap, because we had prayer on Monday and bible study/parent conferences on Tuesday. Then my sister asked me to help her clothes shop last night, I found out my best friend was husband-less for the week due to late season elk hunting and made plans to spend an evening with her tonight, and we were invited to my niece and nephew's joint birthday party tomorrow evening.  And just like that this week turned even busier than last!

Of course I have to do it all, I can't help myself - I can't say no to fun. And it is ALL fun.

Last night with Kelly was especially fun - and funny too - when we realized I'd put my screen print shirt on backwards after trying on something in the fitting room. Yes, we were shopping for Kelly but I was bored in the fitting rooms and decided to try on all the things she didn't like. I am entertained easily. 

What was not fun was coming out of Kohl's at closing and discovering that Kelly was awarded $20 Kohl's cash at checkout, and realizing I spent more than her last week and got NOTHING. Well! I was ready to march right back in the store that instant with my receipt still in my purse but Kelly pointed out that since the doors were now locked I probably wouldn't get very far. Fine. But I will be calling the store this morning to investigate further.

Right before I head back to Tricia's for more scrapbooking.

What I Wore Wednesday

It's that time again... the time of the week my brother refuses to visit my blog. 

Welcome to What I Wore Wednesday!

Now, you know you're devoted to doing What I Wore Wednesdays when you go buy a new mirror for the sole purpose of better pictures.

Oh yes I did. No more glaring back light (after grocery shopping on Thursday that is).

Wednesday:

It reached the lower 70's! 

 sweater: JC Pennys

white tunic tank: ? - had for years

jeans: Old Navy

sandals: rummage sale

necklace: Target

Thursday:

grocery shopping

green long sleeve tee: Old Navy

sweater vest: Ross

skinny jeans: Target

boots: Walmart

necklace: Plato's Closet

Friday:

lots and lots of errands before S.A.T.C.

Dress and belt: Goodwill

leggings: Walmart

boots: from a friend

earrings & bracelet: gifts

Saturday:

Getting my scrap on at Scrap Around The Clock!

(forgot to take actual outfit pic so this will have to do)

tee: ordered from local screen printer for our event

jeans you can't see: Levi's - Kohls 

Sunday: 

church (not a good pic - I was in a hurry)

sweater: Kohls

tee: Shade

skinny jeans: Lauren Conrad - Kohls

heels: Steve Madden - local consignment store

(I like them a lot!)

Monday: MIA

(translation: forgot to take pic)

Tuesday: 

bible study, teacher conferences

tunic shirt: Kohls

skinny jeans: Lauren Conrad - Kohls

boots: Walmart

bracelet: Maurices

necklace: Fred Meyers

Linking to The Pleated Poppy, check out other "What I Wore" outfits and be inspired!

Monday Confessional

Sometimes I stay up into the wee hours reading a good book, or lately, a new blog I like.

Sometimes I eat breakfast with my kids before they go to school and then have a second breakfast an hour or two later because I'm hungry again. 

Sometimes I stare at my laundry pile and then walk away on purpose and pretend it's not a looming presence in my life. 

Sometimes I say no to my kids when they ask for bible time before bed because I am just. too. worn. out.

Sometimes I don't feel even a tiny bit guilty for saying no. 

But rarely. 

Sometimes in the middle of a cleaning job I leave the room to go put something away and then rediscover my abandoned project an hour later - completely forgotten.

Sometimes I get grumpy and tell my husband in no uncertain terms to QUIT PESTERING ME.

Sometimes he listens... but mostly it just gets worse until he cracks a smile or giggle out of me and then I'm done for.

Sometimes AT ALL TIMES I keep my personal stash of chocolate hidden from my family so I won't have to share it :)

Scrap Around the Clock - a photo recap

After a full night's sleep (plus an extra hour) on Saturday night and a glorious two hour long nap Sunday afternoon, I finally feel caught up after the craziness that is Scrap Around the Clock. From 6:00 pm on Friday till 6:00 pm on Saturday 54 ladies (including yours truly) scrapped their hearts out and had a GREAT time visiting, eating, supply shopping, watching chick flicks on the big screen, and enjoying some yummy lattes.

We had our biggest turnout ever and more vendors than we've ever had before. I personally only got 8 pages done - an all-time low for me, but I was not disappointed... I was happy to be up working and making sure everything ran smoothly, plus there were so many new people to meet and get to know!

Like these ladies who traveled from Cascade Locks...

And Sharon, a Close To My Heart consultant from Scapoose.

 

There were old friends to catch up with...

Krista, Darla and Denae

Kourtney and Cassi

And my table mates to gab with into the wee hours.

Me, Tricia and Sarah

Here are some of our scrap vendors:

And my lovely scrap committee ladies (except for Gaylen, who I somehow missed a shot of! Sorry Gaylen!)

Kelly

Annie and Carmajo

We had hourly drawings for pre-made double page layouts

And a "Queen of the Crop", the winner from our Spring SATC raffle who won free attendance and an extra large workspace filled with her fave drinks and treats, with an extra comfy chair.

This was my workspace.

And of course no scrap event in Molalla would be complete without a visit from a couple of local husbands decked out in full hunting paraphernalia...

Yes that would be MY husband on the left (with his best friend David), right after he bought a fluffy coffee from the espresso bar we had available. I laughed when they walked in the gymnasium and announced "Welcome to Molalla, ladies!"

Way to represent babe!