Steals

I am the ultimate bargain shopper. Last night, for instance, I went to New York & Co.--which I adore because their pants actually fit me but usually don't shop at because I can't afford it unless they're having a sale--and got two pairs of capri pants (one in black and one in light khaki) and two shirts (in Bouncing Yellow and Regimental Blue) for $53. Then, we went to Shoe Carnival and I got a pair of Sketcher flip flops for $15 and MK got a pair of Duckhead clogs for $15. We rule.

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Things I'm not interested in that everyone else is

I've seen this on a few other blogs and thought I would have a good time with this, considering I kinda dig being individual. Here's my list of things that are popular/things that everyone likes that I either don't care for, have never tried, and don't really care to try/check out.

1. Harry Potter
   Let's go ahead and get this one out of the way. I know, I know. It's magical and wonderful and blah, blah, blah. But I just have no interest in reading about a boy wizard. So, sue me. I checked out the vampires (which were way cooler than magic even before I fell in love with the Cullens) but to me vampires > wizards.
   
   
2. Lady Gaga
   Please, kill me now. That is not musical talent. However, I couldn't even tell you a line of any of her songs other than something about a poker face. Every time I hear the first few notes, I change the station.
   
   
3. Katy Perry
   Again, no talent. I haven't really been impressed with any solo artists in a while and it's girls like her and Lady Gaga who hardly wear clothes that are corrupting our youth. I know, I sound like an old geiser. But maybe I am. At least when Courtney Love came on the scene when I was in high school, we KNEW she was no role model and did not want to emulate her behavior in any form or fashion. I did like the baby doll maryjanes though. But, everyone was wearing those. Including Lisa Loeb, whom I adore.
   
   
4. Sushi
   Apparently I missed the memo on this. Haven't tried it; don't really wanna. I hear it's delectable. But, I prefer my seafood to not be alive, thankyouverymuch.
   
   
5. Macs
   What's the big deal with Mac computers? I have a hard time believing they NEVER EVER EVER get viruses. I hope someone creates a virus just for the Macs. Okay, that's mean, but come on. True, my PC acts up but in it's defense, it was a refurbished one and I think there may be something wrong with the memory. Mac people always seem so hoity-toity about their machines. News flash: you're just making yourself look like a jerk to all the people who chose not to be "Mac" people. Just sayin'.
   
   
6. iPhone
   See #5. I know it's a fancy new gadget but UGH. I'm getting annoyed with all the iPhone people too. I like my Blackberry just fine, thanks. I can't cook toast with my iPhone, but I can text and check my Gmail that's really all I need to do.
   
   
7. Sex and the City
   No. Desire. Whatsoever. That's it.
   
   
8. Sperry Top-siders
   Okay, in the 80s, we called these "boat shoes." They're all right, but I would not pay as much for them as the kids are paying for them. Just another status symbol.
   

I guess that's it for now. What things do you not like that are popular? Have any confessions? I love comments.

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Domesticity Revisited

I was asked to post pictures of my sewing machine, so here they are. Notice the TV to the right.



And this is the spinach quiche I made last week. It looked great on top but the pie crust wasn't completely done in the center. If I had left it in longer, the top crust would have burned. My oven is sort of crappy.

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Domesticity

Here are some things I did over the weekend that have been unusually domestic for yours truly:

• Set up my sewing machine (finally!)
  Last weekend, I decided to clear out some of the stuff in the back bedroom. It had basically been turned in to a junk room where we put all of the stuff we have no place for. I finally got tired of not being able to walk through it, so I started throwing out things and consolidating boxes. I cleared off some of the junk on a little dressing table that is a family heirloom and Sunday, I decided to set up my sewing machine on that table. I got it all set up, threaded (I had forgotten how to do it and was glad the manual was in the box) and even sewed a little something but it turned out kind of bad. In my defense, I wasn't using a pattern, so I didn't cut the fabric even, which made the stitches not parallel. Oh, well, it wasn't too bad for being the first time to sew in 15 years!
  
  Then yesterday while I was at work, MK hooked up a TV for me in that room. We have this thing that mounts it to the wall, so it is to the right of my sewing table. The antenna isn't hooked up yet, but I can still watch DVDs whenever I'm sewing or doing a craft project. I'm glad that room is slowly becoming useful.
  
  Here are some projects I'd like to do eventually (I'm ambitious)
  -Square-Bottomed Canvas Bucket (to hold living room junk/clutter)
  -Hip Mama Diaper Bag (to give as baby shower gifts)
  -Coffee Cozy (to give as miscellaneous gifts or for myself)
  -Camera Cozy (for gifts)
  -Beautiful Tote Bag (for myself)
  

• Made shrimp dip
  I was looking through recipe books trying to find some light summer meals since I haven't had much of an appetite lately (this is a good thing!) when I came across a shrimp dip recipe. It looked easy and I decided to try it so we'd have something to snack on. I will list the recipe if you are interested:
  
  Shrimp Dip
  4-1/2 oz. can tiny shrimp, drained and rinsed
  8 0z package of cream cheese, softened
  1/4 cup of sour cream
  1 package dry Italian dressing
  2 tbsp lemon juice
  
  All you do is mix all the ingredients together. I suggest you make sure the cream cheese is very soft because when I made mine, the cream cheese was very hard to mix with the other ingredients and it basically pulverized my shrimp. You might want to mix everything minus the shrimp together and then add the shrimp at the end. Chill in the fridge for 3 hours before serving. Serve with crackers or pita chips. Enjoy!
  
  
• Played nurse (sorta)
  Well, I thought I had some others but I guess that was it. On a different note, MK has sciatica. We are treating it with anti-inflammatories and arthritis pain medication. It seems to be helping and I read that it will most likely go away in 2-3 weeks.
  
  

Hooray for creativity and domesticity!!!

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I Feel Something Today

About 5 years ago, I got tired of trying. I had had enough of pretending that everything was all right, when, in fact, it wasn't. I think that's when I quit pushing it down, further still, and let myself feel. I would warn people to stay away. "I'm in a bad mood today. I'm not going to be friendly. Just letting you know." I would shut my office door (back when I had an office instead of a cubicle). I can't say that it was any less painful than holding it all in, but at least I could feel.

I resigned myself to the fact that I have an overactive brain. One that torments me. One that nags constantly. In these aforementioned moods, the mind will not turn off. It goes and goes and goes...and goes. I want to crawl out of my skin. I want to ball up in the fetal position and rock back and forth. I want to take Xanax and have some semblance of peace.

Wow. I feel something today. It sucks, and yet, it's wonderful. Because, I haven't felt anything in a while now.

To purge the demons via writing is euphoric. I can't expect you to understand. You may be appalled at reading this. You may think I'm loony tunes. Maybe I am; maybe I'm not. Either way, I say this: those of you who hide your demons and do not face them (even privately) are doing yourselves a disservice by pretending they don't exist. Because we all know they do. Whether they are allowed to fester and break you is your choice.

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Stuff I Like: Part 4

Another installment of Stuff I Like. See previous entries here, here, and here.

• New Moon
  I'm loving all the new photos/graphics that are coming out in anticipation of New Moon. This calendar looks awesome and so much better than the promotional stuff that they used for Twilight. (Image via Newmoonmovie.org.)
  

• Shuffle
  When my MP3 player is on Shuffle and the playlist is amazing. The other day I got The Carpenters, Franz Ferdinand, and Weezer consecutively. It was great. I didn't have to skip very many songs that day.
  
  
• Pandora
  The Elliott Smith channel on Pandora.
  
  
• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
  Can you believe I've never read this before? Today's devotional is wonderful and here's a great quote: "The reason we see hypocrisy and fraud and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts."
  
  His entries make me think about things I've never considered before and he writes in a very eloquent way. It's easy to read but not dumbed-down, which I consider to be perfect.
  
  
• Papa
  My mom's blog post, which is a letter to her dad. Get out the tissue.
  
  
• My New Haircut
  My hair is finally growing into the cut I wanted. However, the Arkansas humidity is killing me, so I have to use some anti-frizz. I don't have curly hair at all, but all the baby hairs and ends tend to kink up when it's humid out. I've been using Garnier Fructis Style Sleek & Shine Anti-Humidity Smoothing Milk and it really seems to help.
  

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Things I love about you...

• You sing the guy part to "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" while I sing the girl part.
• You're growing your hair out because I want you to.
• You make fun of people on TV with me.
• You correct people's grammar on TV.
• You correct grammar on billboards, magazines, and the like.
• You have the same bizarre sense of humor that I do.
• You calm me down when I'm the one freaking out.
• You listen.
• You take constructive criticism VERY well for a man.
• You gave Death Cab for Cutie a chance.
• You're smart, even if you don't feel like it.
• You care about the things that are important to me.
• You have faith. Even if you struggle with it sometimes, I know you love God and want to do His will.
• You love me. Even if we go through times where we don't express it much, I can never doubt your love for me.
• You are made of awesome.

The end.

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Still not feelin' it...

I'm still not feeling the whole blog thing. I just don't know what to write. It seems like I don't have time to sit down and formulate my own thoughts. I used to be able to take a topic and create a whole blog post around it. However, my job keeps me busy and what thoughts I do have are random and fleeting. I also used to think in the car while going to work. Now that I ride the van, it's hard to do that because other people are talking, talk radio is on, and such. It will only get worse once we have kids...I will have no time to myself at all. And what I do have, I doubt I'll be thinking up blog posts.

So, in light of all that, I'm going to be random (which, is what I excel at lately).


Memaw's Party

MK's paternal grandmother turned 86 today. The family had a party for her on Saturday with grilled steak, shrimp, chicken, and veggies. It was delicious. We also had homemade ice cream. My father-in-law got her a ton of balloons and she got some nice gifts. Since her hip replacement surgery, she has been living with my in-laws. Today, she is leaving to go stay with her daughter (MK's aunt) in Mississippi. She is NOT happy about going. Please pray that she will settle in and feel comfortable. It's got to be tough relying on your kids to take care of you. And please pray for those in the family that are doing the caretaking.

Oh, and Hannah Jo went swimming. She is just too cute. If you ask her if she wants to do something, and if she doesn't want to, she says, "No, thanks." It's adorable.


Needs

MK still needs a part-time job. He's been looking and looking and there just isn't much around here. Please continue to pray that he will find one. This is the tightest our budget has even been and it's really, really difficult. The Census job the he applied for didn't pan out (even though he made like 100 % on the test) so he's still looking.


Wants

I saw this bedspread on Here Come the Newlyweds on ABC (please don't make fun of me for watching this--nothing else was on). I fell in love with it because it has birds on it and reminds me of the handbag that I recently purchased. I couldn't believe that I found it at Target! I just randomly typed in "comforter bird pattern" or something like that and it brought it up. Gotta love Google.

I want to save up my money and get it. I love the comforter set that Mom got me for my birthday one year but Boo has already picked it in places and it has a small stain on it. I'm thinking it would be nice to switch out between the seasons. The colors are wonderful and would go with our red, brown, and beige walls as well as our furniture and the black bedskirt.


Decor

MK hung up the rest of our wall hangings in the living room last week and we did a lot of cleaning Saturday morning. It's amazing how making the bed can make you feel less stressed during the day. And I can actually see the floor in the bedroom. It's so nice. We've been keeping it picked up this time and I hope it lasts.

He also hung some decor up in the bedroom. It's nice to finally feel like our house is lived-in. We still need to paint the hallway, the kitchen/dining room, and the bathrooms. Then we'll be able to put up pictures in the hall and the cafe decor in the kitchen.


News

I got my hair chopped. It's not exactly like I had envisioned, but it's cute and not too hard to fix. Although, on muggy days (read: pretty much every day) it likes to poof up. And I don't have poofy hair. I guess it's the cut and because it's got layers. It doesn't even look like the picture anymore. I can't get it to lay down and look smooth. Oh, well. Maybe I'll try a different shampoo and see if that helps.

Plus side: I've been asked twice if I've lost weight and was told by a co-worker that it makes me look younger. *note to self - keep this haircut*

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Redhead Facts

Please visit Julie's blog post for today. She's a fellow redhead and is majorly cool (she lives in a purple house!). If you ever wanted to know facts about gingers, go take a look.

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