It seems that most holidays have their own time, except for Halloween and Thanksgiving. It seems like it goes 4th of July, then a little mention of Halloween, but then it goes straight to Christmas. It's just interesting. I noticed that the minute November hit, there was Christmas stuff out in the stores (in some stores it was out before then) and now that thanksgiving is actually over, the Christmas push is really out there.
Now, I'm not against Christmas, but I'm all for giving the holiday's their own time. I'm one of those people who doesn't put up the tree (if I put one up at all) until about Dec 20th, and it tends to come down about the 30th or Jan 1st. Jakob likes having the tree up, and maybe because we now have our own home and there is a bit more room, we'll see about putting it up. We've never been able to put up the entire tree, so it'll be interesting to do so this year.
But Thanksgiving was fun! We had so much food and all of it was simple and good. My mom made an amazing soup yesterday with most of the leftovers, so it's all good.
We're still trying to get things organized in the house, but after today everything will be out of the apartment. We've been trying for the past couple of days to get the stove out, but either we've been busy with the BYU/Utah game prep, or we were just tired from all the moving so we needed to take a break from moving.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Moved
Well, everything (except the stove) has been carted over to the new house. Yep, that's right. I bought a house. Well, we bought a house. I'm not going into this much debt alone. Anywho, we spent the weekend moving and man was it a frenzied weekend. I've got bruises everywhere and my shoulders are sore from all that carrying of boxes up and down stairs. I didn't do a lot of the heavy lifting (because I can't), so mainly it was just a little here and a little there. Mostly packing and stuffing stuff into boxes and bags. But at least the apartment is now empty and I can start to clean it.
The house though is a mess. Well, not that much of a mess, more like organized chaos. The garage is semi-covered with boxes and a few of the dressers and tables that we're still trying to make room for in the house. Luckily we have enough of everything to actually fill the house quite nicely. I keep wondering how in the world all this stuff used to fit in the apartment. But at least we only have about 2 years worth of "together" history to move. I've still got stuff in my room at home that needs to be moved over to my house, but I think my mom likes my stuff in that room. It makes it seem fuller. But I've got about 60+ porcelain dolls that need to be moved over and I've got to get a cabinet to do that in. But that isn't that big of a problem.
Once things have settled down a bit, I'll post some pictures. My kitchen is a bit smaller (length wise) than the other one, but I've got more cabinet space and counter space, so as soon as I have my kitchen together---let the cooking begin! I am sick of eating sandwiches or "fast-food". But we kept with tradition. Any time that we move we eat Burger King and I am proud to say that we have kept up that tradition . . . especially last night at about 9pm when we finished.
Well, back to the grind of things here. At least today is a half day so I don't have to see my students all day and I have the next 5 days away from them. Yay, time to organize and plan for the next 3 weeks worth of school before the winter break.
The house though is a mess. Well, not that much of a mess, more like organized chaos. The garage is semi-covered with boxes and a few of the dressers and tables that we're still trying to make room for in the house. Luckily we have enough of everything to actually fill the house quite nicely. I keep wondering how in the world all this stuff used to fit in the apartment. But at least we only have about 2 years worth of "together" history to move. I've still got stuff in my room at home that needs to be moved over to my house, but I think my mom likes my stuff in that room. It makes it seem fuller. But I've got about 60+ porcelain dolls that need to be moved over and I've got to get a cabinet to do that in. But that isn't that big of a problem.
Once things have settled down a bit, I'll post some pictures. My kitchen is a bit smaller (length wise) than the other one, but I've got more cabinet space and counter space, so as soon as I have my kitchen together---let the cooking begin! I am sick of eating sandwiches or "fast-food". But we kept with tradition. Any time that we move we eat Burger King and I am proud to say that we have kept up that tradition . . . especially last night at about 9pm when we finished.
Well, back to the grind of things here. At least today is a half day so I don't have to see my students all day and I have the next 5 days away from them. Yay, time to organize and plan for the next 3 weeks worth of school before the winter break.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Black Friday Shoppers beware . . . .
Dirty Secrets of Black Friday Doorbusters
Interesting little article. In this down economy you would think that consumers are really looking for a deal and since retailers say they are "hurting" for business, some of these practices are really dumb. Plus, it did lead to one person's death last year and--while not trying to be morbid--I don't think that death last year will be the last one on Black Friday.
Interesting little article. In this down economy you would think that consumers are really looking for a deal and since retailers say they are "hurting" for business, some of these practices are really dumb. Plus, it did lead to one person's death last year and--while not trying to be morbid--I don't think that death last year will be the last one on Black Friday.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sore
Who knew that carrying paint cans up and down two flights of stairs would make you sore?
Who knew that doing that up-and-down motion of painting would make you sore?
Who knew that wiping paint spills off the ceiling would take so much elbow grease to make you sore?
.
.
.
.
.
.
don't you just love remodeling!
Who knew that doing that up-and-down motion of painting would make you sore?
Who knew that wiping paint spills off the ceiling would take so much elbow grease to make you sore?
.
.
.
.
.
.
don't you just love remodeling!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Deals
My mom taught me well. I can find a deal almost anywhere. And with the connections of my mom, I've been able to find a lot of stuff that most people pay full price for or don't know how to fix it so it works for them.
For instance:
I've been looking for paint for a while and there is a secret in the world of paint. . . and if you use it, it can save you a boat load of money. With my mom's help I got 34 gallons of paint for around $30. That is usually close to $1,000 worth of paint, at normal price. And these are all colors that I like and I can work with. These aren't just the crappy and cheap quality paints. These are the top-of-the-line paints and glazes that usually cost about $25-$30 a gallon. I'm going back for a few more 5 gallon buckets soon.
My mom got tired of the look of her dining room table and chairs and stripped and re-stained them a darker color and it looks like she bought a new set when she only paid about $20 for cost of supplies.
My parents are redoing their dining room by putting hardwood flooring in, repainting, and putting up a wall of fully wood cabinets. They got the hardwood flooring at about 60% off, the paint at about $1 a gallon, and the cabinets at about 65-75% off original prices. It looks amazing.
I don't think I've ever paid full price for something unless it was food. And even then it is just a quick meal or something that is "buy one/get one".
For instance:
I've been looking for paint for a while and there is a secret in the world of paint. . . and if you use it, it can save you a boat load of money. With my mom's help I got 34 gallons of paint for around $30. That is usually close to $1,000 worth of paint, at normal price. And these are all colors that I like and I can work with. These aren't just the crappy and cheap quality paints. These are the top-of-the-line paints and glazes that usually cost about $25-$30 a gallon. I'm going back for a few more 5 gallon buckets soon.
My mom got tired of the look of her dining room table and chairs and stripped and re-stained them a darker color and it looks like she bought a new set when she only paid about $20 for cost of supplies.
My parents are redoing their dining room by putting hardwood flooring in, repainting, and putting up a wall of fully wood cabinets. They got the hardwood flooring at about 60% off, the paint at about $1 a gallon, and the cabinets at about 65-75% off original prices. It looks amazing.
I don't think I've ever paid full price for something unless it was food. And even then it is just a quick meal or something that is "buy one/get one".
Monday, November 02, 2009
Fall and Halloween
I'm glad that fall has really officially started. I am in heaven right now. Fall is my favorite time of year with all the crunchy leaves and the sweaters and the colors and the soups and stews that I start making. This fall is a little bit more stressful because of the few things that we have going on, but I'm enjoying myself so far.
Halloween was fun this year. I really didn't do much. I was really grateful for it being on a Saturday because then I could sleep-in and get other things done that day. I wasn't able to finish the costume that I wanted, so I just pulled on one of my stand-by and it worked out fine. Jakob and I went to Court's for a Halloween get-together. We have an . . . . interesting. . . . .group to say the least. 5 of us have been friends since 1997 and a few of them have been friends since Kindergarten. Crazy! But we always have a fun time together. I made a pumpkin-vanilla checkerboard cake that I forgot to take a picture of when we were cutting it.
I just pulled on one of my Saris, easy and semi-comfortable (and I couldn't get it to pin right on the shoulder!) and Jakob pulled out his gunslinger get-up; complete with sidearms.
Mira moved right as the picture was being taken, so the gun wasn't pointing at her anymore.
Funny little story. They set up DUI checkpoints on Halloween and we were caught in one of them. The cop that was talking with us was really nice and at least enjoying himself. He was joking with us and then let us go on our way. When we were at the gas station a couple of blocks away I realized that Jakob's gunbelt and guns were sitting in plain sight in the back seat. Wow, were we lucky that he didn't spot them or ask us about a permit for them. They are stage props, but they look real.
But life is stressful right now. We're trying to close on a deal and a few things have just popped into our faces. But I'm alive and kicking. Believe me, I won't go down without a fight.
Halloween was fun this year. I really didn't do much. I was really grateful for it being on a Saturday because then I could sleep-in and get other things done that day. I wasn't able to finish the costume that I wanted, so I just pulled on one of my stand-by and it worked out fine. Jakob and I went to Court's for a Halloween get-together. We have an . . . . interesting. . . . .group to say the least. 5 of us have been friends since 1997 and a few of them have been friends since Kindergarten. Crazy! But we always have a fun time together. I made a pumpkin-vanilla checkerboard cake that I forgot to take a picture of when we were cutting it.
I just pulled on one of my Saris, easy and semi-comfortable (and I couldn't get it to pin right on the shoulder!) and Jakob pulled out his gunslinger get-up; complete with sidearms.
Mira moved right as the picture was being taken, so the gun wasn't pointing at her anymore.
Funny little story. They set up DUI checkpoints on Halloween and we were caught in one of them. The cop that was talking with us was really nice and at least enjoying himself. He was joking with us and then let us go on our way. When we were at the gas station a couple of blocks away I realized that Jakob's gunbelt and guns were sitting in plain sight in the back seat. Wow, were we lucky that he didn't spot them or ask us about a permit for them. They are stage props, but they look real.
But life is stressful right now. We're trying to close on a deal and a few things have just popped into our faces. But I'm alive and kicking. Believe me, I won't go down without a fight.
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