Want #10

I want to announce that I am going to be the aunt of a beautiful niece!!! That's right, today Jenn found out that she is definitely having a girl! I have to admit, I am pretty shocked because I was sure it was going to be a boy, but no, she spread those legs on the ultrasound and there is definitely nothing there.

We had a great party at Jenn and Matt's to celebrate her tonight, so thanks for hosting that guys!!

In another topic, not as happy unfortunately, I want to request some massive prayer from everyone. We got home tonight and found out that a friend of ours passed away tonight. He was our preacher's wife's brother, but we were very close to him until about a year ago when we sort of lost touch except for every couple of months. This was definitely sudden and he leaves behind an 11-year old daughter. Please pray for them - I can't even imagine what they're going through. Thank you!

Want #9

I want all doctor's appointments to accomplish as much as the one today did. It was certainly nothing major at this appointment but we still did a lot. They drew blood (for what, I don't know) and the girl definitely took some rage out on me. It's been over six hours and I can still hardly bend my arm. Yowza! That's gonna bruise. Then I found out that today was my Rhogam shot, which I was expecting at any time. It's been a while since I had a shot in my butt - I got nervous after I realized that's where it was going! But it didn't hurt at all and I'm not sore... yet. Now tomorrow morning might be a different story!!

Heartbeat was good - Brianna kept rolling away from the doppler, which she did on the last visit as well. It's very embarrassing when she doesn't behave. Everything else was normal - blood pressure, weight, etc.

My next appointment is in two weeks and it's the long-awaited 3-D ultrasound. I am excited to see the pictures, but not really that excited considering the fact I'll see the real deal just a few weeks after that. I'm more excited about the fact that I'm starting biweekly appointments. Also, I took the initiative to call our hospital today and pre-register with labor and delivery, which means less paperwork when the Big Day arrives!

Tomorrow is another long-awaited day... the day we find out what Baby K. is!! We are having a Gender Reveal party tomorrow night at Jenn's to celebrate, because really, who cares if it's a boy or a girl - it's a baby!! I can't wait to see the latest pictures of Baby K.! And quit calling "it" Baby K! At least after tomorrow I can say "he" or "she".

It's taken me about 3 hours to post this because I stopped halfway through to go to Ladies Group at church (much needed gabfest, junk food fest, and Bible fest). I came home a few minutes ago to find Stephen snuggled into bed already, bless his heart. We are just a wild and crazy couple like that. Anyway, I better go join him so I won't be as sleepy tomorrow as I was today!!

Want #8

I want there to be more hours in a day. Although, if there were, I would still find a way to cram too much stuff in, and I would still be complaining probably!!

I won't have time to write about Greenville again today because there is just too much going on! After church, I had to do two more trips of triple couponing (I mean, I just had to!) so I didn't even get home until 2:45. Today I spent $53 and saved $73, but I would have spent even less if I didn't pick up some Mountain Dews for Stephen and some chicken breast that was on sale. I still did pretty well, though. The last time I went through the line, the cashier was talking to me about when I was due, etc. because her daughter-in-law is due in August. As I started piling things into the cart she gave me a look and said, "Are you sure you don't want someone to help you out to your car? This stuff is pretty heavy." I just laughed and said, "Honey, this is my type of exercise! Triple couponing!!" Some people just don't understand. But she was sweet about it at least.

I had biscuits for lunch because in my hurry to unpack the groceries I dropped a can and they exploded, so I didn't really have a choice.

At 3:15 I started writing my paper for my theories class which is due today. I just finished it in a little over an hour and it is awful!! I feel really sorry for my professor, but I still think I can eke out a B at minimum. Now I have 45 minutes until we leave for choir practice and I have got to clean up this house! It's a pig sty!!

More later.

Want #7

I want so badly to blog about our girls trip to Greenville, but I just can't handle it. It took me an hour and a half just to catch up with Stephen and separate all of my many... many... bags of thrifty finds. After this trip, I'll never be without a book to read (was I ever in danger of that?) and Brianna will never need to go naked (but I won't blame her if she prefers that... for the first couple of years anyway).

We had a BLAST. I'll post some pictures and more about the trip later!!

Now that everything's separated, I just have to actually put it away. Blaaaaah.

Want #6

I never want to pay full price for anything ever again.

Realistically, everything I buy full price is bought from places like Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx, so it's still marked down from the original price. But thrift shopping and yard saling sure makes a gal frugal cheap.

Today, on our girls trip to Greenville, we spent 8 hours - that's right, 8 hours - thrift shopping. All within a 10-mile radius from our hotel. I'm not sure how many places we actually went to, but I do know a few things.

There is no reason to buy a book in a regular store - not even Walmart, where you may think that $3.97 is good for a paperback. It's not. Not unless it is the one single book you're missing from your collection and you just can't wait to find it at a yard sale or off of Bookmooch.

There is no reason to ever. ever. buy your child a onesie that costs $10, $15, or even $86 as I have seen since we've been here. Most Goodwills, yard sales, coalitions, and nonprofit thrift stores will happily sell you these items anywhere from $0.10 to $2.00. And your child will repay you by puking on it and then growing out of it in ten minutes.

That's mainly all I bought today - books and clothes for Brianna - who already owns as many clothes as I do (maybe more). For the sake of time, I won't delve into our shopping experiences anymore tonight. We're on our way to a Hershey's place for dessert and I hate to keep the other girls waiting. I'll have a scoop of ice cream for you.

Want #5

I want to sleep in. Every day I wish I could sleep just a little bit longer. But there are certain things that are just worth waking up early. For example, work. Leaving for vacation. Yard sales. And one of my favorites... triple coupons!

Mom called yesterday to announce that triple coupons is going on this weekend. Unfortunately (I don't mean that the way it's going to sound), this is the weekend mom, Jenn and I are going on our annual girls trip! In order to make the most of the triple coupons, I woke up bright and early to be at Harris Teeter by 7:30 to start the process (it didn't start until 7, but I mean, seriously, I'm not totally insane.) I ended up only getting in one trip where I usually can pull 3 or 4. But it tooks me and hour and a half just to do that one trip, and since they are going to be at my house in approximately 45 minutes, I needed to get back here and finish packing!

I actually brought a notebook with me this time, to take note of some of the deals I got. I spent $32.50 and saved $38.42, which isn't my best probably, but still really good. These are some of the deals I remembered to write down (which you probably don't care about, but fake it):

Box of Kleenex - Regular price $2.39, Sale price $1.75, My price $0.55
Viva paper towels - Regular price $2.59, My price $0.34
Vanity fair napkins and paper plates - Regular price $2.50 each, My price $1
Scrubbing Bubbles cleaner - Regular price $3.59, My price $1.34
Clorox cleaner - Regular price $3.89, My price $1.64
Formula 409 kitchen cleaner - Regular price $3.49, My price $1.24
Lysol bathroom cleaner - Regular price $3.39, My price $1.89
Crangrape - Regular price $3.39, My price $1.74
Suave body wash - Regular price $1.97, My price $0.47
Dial hand soap - Regular price $1.99, My price $0.94
Sensodyne - Regular price $4.79, My price $2.72
ACT - Regular price $4.99, My price $2.29
Gillette shaving gel - Regular price $3.29, My price $1.64
Kotex tampons - Regular price $3.59, My price $1.34
Lucky Charms - Regular price $3.69, My price $2.04
Betty Crocker blueberry muffin mix - Regular price $2.79, My price $1.59

There were a couple of others I forgot to write down, but since probably no one is still reading this, it doesn't matter. Now I've got to run and put all this stuff away before mom and Jenn get here! We are off to Greenville, SC for a few days!! ROAD TRIP!!

Want #4

I want more snow days. Although, technically today wasn't a snow day, it definitely could have been. At least a "delay" day. Around 2:30 this morning I got up to use the bathroom, and of course I checked outside to see if it was snowing. At that time, we already had about an inch or more. I actually thought it was later than that and assured Stephen we would probably both get a two hour delay. After that, I just couldn't go back to sleep. I'm not sure why - I wasn't particularly excited about the snow or anything since I can't do anything fun with it. Sometime around 3:50 I gave up and went into the living room to play some Need for Speed and read, hoping it would make me sleepy. No such luck. I ended up reading until Stephen left for work around 5:30, and then I left the couch to go back to the bedroom and try my luck once more. I did fall back asleep around 6, only to get up feeling surprisingly refreshed around 6:45. And no luck with a delay or anything.

These are my two pictures from the snow a couple of weeks ago:

These are my few pictures from this morning:

This is what a real snow looks like. This is one example from Boone a few years ago:

I miss those snows.

Want #3

I want to write a different blog post, but Stephen really wants me to post these pictures of our nursery, which isn't even a fraction near completion or cleanliness. In other words, don't judge.

Over MLK weekend, Stephen's fabulous fam drove up to hang out with us and to help us paint our nursery. These are the pictures from the taping process to the untaping process to the curtains that Leila so graciously provided for us. I don't think the pictures turned out as well as the nursery really looks, so you'll have to come see it for yourself!

I Want #2

I want to marry the Beast so that I can make use of that library.

Today, Jenn, Granny and I accompanied mom to a regular doctor's visit in Chapel Hill, with visions of scones and books dancing in our heads. After her doctor's appointment, we went to a great place for lunch, The Loop. It was delicious! Then we ransacked Trader Joe's. No 2 buck chuck for me this time, but I did find a couple of small things to buy.

Of course, the best part (besides the conversation) was stopping at thrift stores on the way home. As many people know, I have a serious addiction to books. I ended up buying over 15 books, even though right now I have boxes and closets overflowing with books.

If I'm going to have an addiction, you have to admit this one's pretty harmless and inexpensive.

P.S. I actually thought about attaching some pictures of my bookshelves/dresser drawers/closets/boxes of books but it's better if you imagine it... it's less embarrassing for me.

I Want #1

The blogging theme for February from NaBloPoMo is "WANT". I am going to attempt to post every day of February on this theme - as you can see, I already almost messed up by not posting today. And with vacations, school and work, I may miss a lot during the next 27 days. We'll just have to see.

But for now, I want to go to bed. It's been a very long day. Sorry for the short post - I'll try to post some stuff from today's dedication service soon.