reading the sunday paper
cutting coupons for the grocery list
living vicariously as the first lady
dreaming of an interior space based off of this chair.
what are you up to today?
Sunday, January 30, 2011
view on sunday
reading the sunday paper
cutting coupons for the grocery list
living vicariously as the first lady
dreaming of an interior space based off of this chair.
what are you up to today?
Thursday, January 27, 2011
winner winner
chicken dinner.
I WON my first online giveaway! YAY!
The other week I entered to win a giveaway on Sophisticated Pie for a $35 gift certificate to CSN stores. Imagine the look of surprise on my face when a few days later I received an email from Elizabeth herself telling me I had won!
Now, what to choose, there are just way too many choices:)
Happy Thursday!
I WON my first online giveaway! YAY!
The other week I entered to win a giveaway on Sophisticated Pie for a $35 gift certificate to CSN stores. Imagine the look of surprise on my face when a few days later I received an email from Elizabeth herself telling me I had won!
Now, what to choose, there are just way too many choices:)
Happy Thursday!
do you enter online giveaways? have you ever won?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
on my bookshelf
As a child I always had my nose in a book. My parents could not purchase books fast enough. In fact one of my favorite places to visit was right next door to where my mother worked, the local bookstore. I would mosey through the racks of books, eyes fixated on the colorful bindings and cover photos, trying to discern just what story would be my next favorite. Though many times my choices included the every popular Babysitter's Club and Boxcar Children, every once and awhile classics would slip into my hands.
I was not alone in my love for reading. My mom and dad both fostered in me an appreciation for words and stories that is still ingrained in my today. Every night, for years, my mom would cozy up next to me in my little twin bed before I was swept away by magical dreams and read to me. And one thing I'm grateful for is that she did not stop when I was able to read on my own. She kept on and the book selections grew to more insightful and difficult chapter books, but we shared this time, together, allowing the story to create a bond between us that only we had. It was such a special time and to this day, reading with children tops the list of my favorite things to do.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, I suppose, that this love for literature and the written word, shaped my college experience. I was an English major. Not so amazing if you do not want to teach or allow it to position you well for a career in law, business, marketing or journalism. But to me, sentence structure, the etymology of words, the creation of an idea, the ability to speak through writing took over my heart and then and there I decided on English.
There's the history...let's move forward to the present time. You will never walk in our house without seeing stacks of books lingering about. In fact, the hubby often wonders at this love for reading. Here are the books that I am in the midst of right now. Right now I am enjoying being able to hop back and forth between books, some I'm almost finished with and others I'm just starting. I think it will be enjoyable to give you a review on finds I find noteworthy and give you updates regarding which books are on the bookshelf. Plus I would love to hear what you are all paging through...I always need new ideas!
Marathon by Jeff Galloway
Spoken From the Heart by Laura Bush
Helper by Design by Elyse Fitzpatrick
My Life in France by Julia Child
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (one of my favorite children's books)
On my nook (the top book in the photo)
A Praying Life by Paul Miller
I was not alone in my love for reading. My mom and dad both fostered in me an appreciation for words and stories that is still ingrained in my today. Every night, for years, my mom would cozy up next to me in my little twin bed before I was swept away by magical dreams and read to me. And one thing I'm grateful for is that she did not stop when I was able to read on my own. She kept on and the book selections grew to more insightful and difficult chapter books, but we shared this time, together, allowing the story to create a bond between us that only we had. It was such a special time and to this day, reading with children tops the list of my favorite things to do.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, I suppose, that this love for literature and the written word, shaped my college experience. I was an English major. Not so amazing if you do not want to teach or allow it to position you well for a career in law, business, marketing or journalism. But to me, sentence structure, the etymology of words, the creation of an idea, the ability to speak through writing took over my heart and then and there I decided on English.
There's the history...let's move forward to the present time. You will never walk in our house without seeing stacks of books lingering about. In fact, the hubby often wonders at this love for reading. Here are the books that I am in the midst of right now. Right now I am enjoying being able to hop back and forth between books, some I'm almost finished with and others I'm just starting. I think it will be enjoyable to give you a review on finds I find noteworthy and give you updates regarding which books are on the bookshelf. Plus I would love to hear what you are all paging through...I always need new ideas!
Spoken From the Heart by Laura Bush
Helper by Design by Elyse Fitzpatrick
My Life in France by Julia Child
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (one of my favorite children's books)
On my nook (the top book in the photo)
A Praying Life by Paul Miller
What's on your bookshelf? Have a favorite read from 2010?
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
happy birthday
Today is my amazing hubby's birthday. He's 32.
I did what any good wife would...allowed him to plan his day and went along with it. So we headed to the club to hit golf balls in the golf simulator, went to lunch, picked up all sorts of sugary candy at the store and headed home for some movie time.
I feel so lucky to be married so such a great man. Not only does he encourage me daily and boost my self esteem, but he often tells me I'm gorgeous, he still loves to hold my hand and be goofy with me, and most of all he makes me a better person, daily. Minute by minute, I'm being sanctified through my marriage and he makes sanctification not so difficult, most of the time!
So here's to my amazing, gorgeous, fun loving, tender hearted, strong and solid, jesus loving, faithful, selfless, leader of a husband.
Happy Birthday Baby!
you're the best blessing I have.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
aveeno
I love me some Aveeno.
I used to be exclusively an Oil of Olay person, but then I met Aveeno Positively Radiant Day Lotion and my life changed. Seriously. This lotion makes my moisture starved skin feel so radiant...ergh, moisturized. Guess they got me with their advertising:) Seriously though, it's thicker, so you can feel it moisturizing your skin from the outside in. It's not greasy, smelly, or sticky. It's just right.
Only downside, it's kind of spendy. The only good deal I could find online was at Amazon.com. A 2-pack for ~$27. If you are like me, that price is way too much for face lotion. Or at least it seems like a lot. I know that the 2-pack would last me at least 6 months if not more. But then in slides Costco. Those who know me, know how much I love me some Costco. Ah, Costco and their deals and coupons and savings. I love it.
Imagine my surprise when I opened January's coupon book. I've been praying they would bring back the face lotion. You see we score our Aveeno Active Naturals Body lotion there for $14.99 for a 2-pack before the coupon all year long, but they took the face lotion away. But it's BACK and at $19.99 for a 2-pack. What a deal.
So back to why my eyes lit up like the northern lights this month...inside was a $4 coupon....Yay! Praise the Lord! He heard my cry about lotion...He loves a great deal too! That means we can get our body lotion and face lotion with a $4 coupon each. Down to $10.99 and $15.99. Steal of a deal.
Now if they could only start carrying my other Aveeno favorites...
I love me some Aveeno, and January, and Costco...(and the hubby, of course)
I used to be exclusively an Oil of Olay person, but then I met Aveeno Positively Radiant Day Lotion and my life changed. Seriously. This lotion makes my moisture starved skin feel so radiant...ergh, moisturized. Guess they got me with their advertising:) Seriously though, it's thicker, so you can feel it moisturizing your skin from the outside in. It's not greasy, smelly, or sticky. It's just right.
Only downside, it's kind of spendy. The only good deal I could find online was at Amazon.com. A 2-pack for ~$27. If you are like me, that price is way too much for face lotion. Or at least it seems like a lot. I know that the 2-pack would last me at least 6 months if not more. But then in slides Costco. Those who know me, know how much I love me some Costco. Ah, Costco and their deals and coupons and savings. I love it.
Imagine my surprise when I opened January's coupon book. I've been praying they would bring back the face lotion. You see we score our Aveeno Active Naturals Body lotion there for $14.99 for a 2-pack before the coupon all year long, but they took the face lotion away. But it's BACK and at $19.99 for a 2-pack. What a deal.
So back to why my eyes lit up like the northern lights this month...inside was a $4 coupon....Yay! Praise the Lord! He heard my cry about lotion...He loves a great deal too! That means we can get our body lotion and face lotion with a $4 coupon each. Down to $10.99 and $15.99. Steal of a deal.
Now if they could only start carrying my other Aveeno favorites...
I love me some Aveeno, and January, and Costco...(and the hubby, of course)
Monday, January 17, 2011
new planner, new year
Every year I find myself struggling to find the perfect fit when it comes to organization and planning out our life on paper. I'm a pen and paper kind of person, I cannot switch to using an app on my phone. I've tried, believe me, even google calendar is too much trouble. If I do use an app I just end up with piles of lists and paper all over the place because at the end of the day, whether I like it or not, I'm still going to write all that stuff down.
Maybe I need to enroll in list-makers anonymous...wonder if there is such a thing for those of us who cannot keep up with the times and switch to managing our lives online. Although I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. At least this LMA club would be fun...who wants to join?
Alright back to the topic at hand, or should I say the topic that fits perfectly IN my hand? I think I've found a winner. But first let me explain my dilemma. For years I loved my Franklin Covey planner; not only could I keep my life in there but I also kept everything else in there: credit cards, money, lists, etc. Only negative, it was kind of bulky to carry around all the time not to mention when it was bursting at the seams b/c I had neglected to go through it for eons. So that didn't work.
Then as part of my homemaking group (not as archaic as it sounds) where older women pair with younger women, so we can feed off their vast array of knowledge, a woman shared about her system of organizing her calendar. See she used a regular old notebook and printed off monthly calendar pages which she moved each week to another page. I tried this for 6 months. I liked so many parts of it EXCEPT carrying around a giant notebook. Even a small notebook would have been tricky.
So what's a girl to do. I knew that I wanted something that had monthly pages and weekly pages, was small enough to fit in my purse and left room for customization for the week. I also wanted it to be fully contained. Random tidbit, I actually keep all of my old calendars. I have them all the way back to my freshman year of high school. I know that's kind of ridiculous, but seriously it's the best representation and diary type thing that I keep up with. So many events archived, kind of like why I blog, but different really.
So back to the planner or more rightfully labeled agenda. I hit the jackpot when I landed at momagenda. I'm not a mom but they had something for those of us who are not...the myAgenda. Seriously it's the best of both worlds and you can try it before you buy it. They are genius over there on that site, I tell you, genius. You can print off what the agenda has in it...a week at a time to see if you like the format. I did that for a couple of weeks and what would you know I was hooked.
So I got me one in bright shiny silver. I'm in love.
Here in the city you can swoon up close and personal at these retailers:
Epitome -- Edina, MN (in the Galleria)
Watermark Fine Stationery -- Wayzata, MN
And if you love a deal like I do, you can score 35% off on their website plus an additional 10% off by following this link:
www.momagenda.com/?
use discount code: mom56746
Maybe I need to enroll in list-makers anonymous...wonder if there is such a thing for those of us who cannot keep up with the times and switch to managing our lives online. Although I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. At least this LMA club would be fun...who wants to join?
Alright back to the topic at hand, or should I say the topic that fits perfectly IN my hand? I think I've found a winner. But first let me explain my dilemma. For years I loved my Franklin Covey planner; not only could I keep my life in there but I also kept everything else in there: credit cards, money, lists, etc. Only negative, it was kind of bulky to carry around all the time not to mention when it was bursting at the seams b/c I had neglected to go through it for eons. So that didn't work.
Then as part of my homemaking group (not as archaic as it sounds) where older women pair with younger women, so we can feed off their vast array of knowledge, a woman shared about her system of organizing her calendar. See she used a regular old notebook and printed off monthly calendar pages which she moved each week to another page. I tried this for 6 months. I liked so many parts of it EXCEPT carrying around a giant notebook. Even a small notebook would have been tricky.
So what's a girl to do. I knew that I wanted something that had monthly pages and weekly pages, was small enough to fit in my purse and left room for customization for the week. I also wanted it to be fully contained. Random tidbit, I actually keep all of my old calendars. I have them all the way back to my freshman year of high school. I know that's kind of ridiculous, but seriously it's the best representation and diary type thing that I keep up with. So many events archived, kind of like why I blog, but different really.
So back to the planner or more rightfully labeled agenda. I hit the jackpot when I landed at momagenda. I'm not a mom but they had something for those of us who are not...the myAgenda. Seriously it's the best of both worlds and you can try it before you buy it. They are genius over there on that site, I tell you, genius. You can print off what the agenda has in it...a week at a time to see if you like the format. I did that for a couple of weeks and what would you know I was hooked.
 |
| {image from momAgenda} |
Here in the city you can swoon up close and personal at these retailers:
Epitome -- Edina, MN (in the Galleria)
Watermark Fine Stationery -- Wayzata, MN
And if you love a deal like I do, you can score 35% off on their website plus an additional 10% off by following this link:
www.momagenda.com/?
use discount code: mom56746
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