Little Things

I'm a pathetic excuse for a blogger. To my credit, it's been a crazy couple of weeks around here. Husband's grandfather had surgery a couple of weeks ago, so keeping up with all of that plus work had us running all over town. Pawpaw's surgery went great. Watching Mawmaw take care of him when he first got to his room was so sweetly adorable. One of those "we'll be like that when we get older, right?" moments. Yesterday though Pawpaw mowed his yard, when he has yet to be cleared to drive ANYTHING, much less have that much physical exertion. Mother-in-Law is beyond livid with him. It's tough raising parents.

Anyway, I had a moment at work yesterday that I just had to share. One of my students is extremely...stubborn. She has guessed at words for so long, she doesn't really have the skills to USE the rules we give her to help decode words. She has also said on more than one occasion to both her other tutor and me that she doesn't care if she learns to read, she doesn't want to be here, blah, blah, blah. Last week she threw herself a nice little fit for me. She was trying to read a story and getting completely frustrated at not being able to figure out the words. That shut her down for most of the rest of the lesson. Not fun. Yesterday we had to start off again with reading stories. She gets about half way through the first one (and did a great job of figuring out words--only one really threw her because, well, how often do YOU use the word "utmost" in everyday conversations?) and asks if her grandmother could come in and hear her read. I say absolutely, but was a little nervous since she hadn't read the whole thing through yet and she has a history of getting frustrated easily. She stumbled over a few words, but only needed a couple of prompts ("What will that c say?" or "What's that vowel sound again?"). I catch her grandmother wipe her eye and then again and realize she's started crying. When my student is done, her grandmother hugs her and says "Thank you for sharing that with me." So beautiful. When grandmother leaves my student says "She was crying" and kind of giggles. I told her that was because of what an amazing job she did, sounding out words, dividing when she needed to, and not getting upset when she didn't know a word automatically. Grandmother may need to come in more often! One of those little things that remind me why I love what I'm doing and reinforces what my ultimate goal is.

I'm Alive

I'm fine. We've just been a little busy here at Casa de Applegate. Last time I showed off our newly almost-finished bedroom (all we need are curtains...perhaps a mirror). I've since painted the dining room RED. And I mean R.E.D. I'm not posting pictures yet because it's still sitting empty. OK. That's a lie. Currently it's housing an old TV/stand and a laundry drying rack. We did go shopping last weekend and FINALLY found some furniture we both agreed on. It's scheduled to be delivered Friday and I've got a couple of ideas for decorating after, but I'm holding off until I can truly call it a dining room.

But don't worry! I've got plenty of pictures to show off. Not only have I painted the dining room RED, but I've also painted our guest room grey. It's pretty light, with just a hint of blue. I also have inherited a little early a dresser that belonged to (we think) my great-great-great grandmother. She would have it loaded into the back of a wagon and take it to visit her children for months at a time. Easier than packing a suitcase, I guess! Anyway, that wood really warmed the room, in addition to the wooden quilt stand (the quilt is also a family heirloom. This room is now affectionately called the "antique room"). While we were out shopping last weekend, we also purchased another small addition...a flat screen TV. Remember how I mentioned an old one resides in the dining room? Well that's because with the addition of a dresser...this one in particular, the layout wasn't really conducive to that TV. Enter flat screen. Finally, the other addition, or additionS rather, are from teaser pictures from the bedroom update. My dad graciously built these nightstands, designed by Ana at Knock-off Wood.

OK, quick tangent. Y'all, this blog is amazing! There are plans to build just about any piece of furniture, mostly for way less than you could buy. I need to make the investment in a few basic tools (namely a miter saw. And yes, I know what that means!) and I'll be a home decorating maven! Or at least have rooms full of furniture. Either way.

Back to the point, since my dad has tools and a good wood-working knowledge, he built alone and I supervised the other (he even let me use the nailer). I brought them home and stained and polyurethaned them. Now they're perfect and I can't wait to build a headboard to go with it (especially since I have stain left over). OK, enough talking. Time for the good stuff:

Antiques dresser and quilt contrasting with a mounted flat screen (Husband mounted it himself. It hasn't fallen. He's a stud!)

Recliner

Bed. Still a few things left to do: Headboard, matching lamps, duvet for the cover, and some kind of curtain.

Close up of one of the nightstands

Bedroom Makeover

I'm pronouncing the Master Bedroom generally done. There are still a handful of little things I'd like to get (a mirror being the biggest one, but with the current layout, there's nowhere for it), but I'm ready to officially update. Remember what it looked like when we first moved in?

Now, obviously, we hung up some more art, but these are just the first pictures I saw. Nice, functional, but not personalized. We bought some new bedding, got some new night stands, and finally painted some blue stripes. Old news, right? With our tax refund, well, a small piece of our refund, we finished off buying bedroom furniture! We now have a brand new bed (and thanks to a bored, wonderful husband Euro pillows for some shams included in our bedding set), a tall dresser, and a long dresser. Now, the AFTERS!!!

Don't look now, but I think we've got ourselves a real, grown-up bedroom!

And just because I'm mean, here's a teaser picture for our next project (which will hopefully get completed in another couple of weeks after my parents make an exchange :))

Prepare Yourselves

Major updates coming soon! First of the tax refund money has been spent on bedroom furniture and is on order. Finally broke down and purchased wood hangers. I need some more and have a few other small things going on in the closet, so I'll post the makeover when that's done as well. I'd say I've had a pretty great birthday!

Talk Me Out of It!

I was in the evil store today. The big, blue, has-everything store. My prescription is there and I'm too lazy to move it! Plus the tech that works there recognizes me (and almost had to defend me to another pushy customer) and that makes me happy. Anyway, they're in the middle of remodeling plus putting all of the spring gardening equipment out, so I had to take a swing through that section in case there was something I just couldn't live another couple of weeks without (there wasn't). Then I thought I'd check out prices of shelving we're considering for the garage (they didn't have what we are really looking for). Apparently, all roads lead to the housewares department. Now, let me take just a moment to rave. Wal-Mart has stepped the style up. Their Canopy line is amazing! I asked for the nightstands as a trial run for the rest of the line. Everyone on The Nest raved about it, but it's Wal-Mart so I wasn't sold just yet. Granted, we're not very hard on our furniture, but those things are SOLID. The bottom part of the shelf isn't perfectly flush (we could probably rubber mallet it down, but that's not a big deal for us) and the drawers didn't slide easily (the guides were a little too high. I sanded the bottom of the opening down and they're fine now), but we are still really impressed for the price. Which, by the way, you can have shipped to your local store for FREE. That's right, F-R-E-E. The down side is getting the boxes in the car since, like I said, these pieces are solid, thus heavy. We will be purchasing the rest of it when our tax refund finally comes (ETA is early April).

Anyway, I took that little tangent to get to this: Canopy now sells bundles of wooden hangers. You know, the ones that are in high-end boutiques on What Not to Wear. The ones that, if you hung a ratty t-shirt on, it'd look good. I've been considering getting some for our closet, just for the pretty factor. The thing is, these suckers are expensive. Target has a bundle for cheap, but they're only sold online and shipping would cost more than the hangers. IKEA has a small bundle for cheap, but the nearest store is on the north side of Cincinnati. While I'm not opposed to turning it into a road trip with the girls, I still feel dumb driving over an hour for hangers! Imagine my surprise when I saw a bundle of 20 hangers at Wal-Mart for $12. TWELVE dollars. That's 60 cents per hanger. Still sounds like a lot for something you get free at the dry-cleaners, but wooden hangers are better for your clothes and, like I said, make your clothes look pretty! Before anyone comments, yes, the website says $20, but in store they are $12. The thing is, we'd need several of these bundles and I don't know that I can quite justify that. We'd only need 3 or 4 bundles (or $36-$48). It's a line I trust, plus Wal-Mart will take anything back. But it's still a decent amount of money for hangers. Advice? What the heck are you thinking wasting money like that? Totally use whatever birthday money comes your way for it, even though I've got a shopping list a mile long?

I have found Happiness

and it is called "impending Spring." I sat out on our patio yesterday with my laptop and soaked it all in. The air just smells like Spring. I took a picture of a robin that landed on a fence, but I haven't uploaded it.

This will suffice :) Nothing says SPRING IS COMING like these guys hopping around.

The only problem with "impending Spring" is that it quickly leads to "impending swim suit season." I've always had issues with my tummy and being cooped up with junk food all winter has NOT helped that. The good news is I've been really good at taking walks this week. I'm going to start the Couch to 5K running program. The only reason I haven't done that this week is all the rain that was forecasted. Which, of course, hasn't happened during the day. Oh well. I'm being active. Next up is curbing this self-control since I tend to be in the mindset of "I worked out today. I can justify a cookie (or leftover candy or whatever)." Baby steps though. Baby steps!

Couponing

So I have realized I have a problem. I'm addicted to coupons. My last post was about the amazing deals I scored, but only part of that was actual sales. The rest was a coupon I had. I rarely go shopping without coupons anymore (although the most shopping I've done lately is at the grocery store). If you know my in real life, you know I come by this honestly. My daddy is notorious for being...thrifty...frugal...oh heck, he's cheap. People joke that his wallet creaks as he opens it. However, I actually thank him for being cheap. His philosophy was to save on the everyday things so you were able to splurge on big things. We went on some awesome vacations (on frequent flyer points of course :) ). I didn't have to work for my clothes or gas to school and church. Dad retired early and now they take amazing trips together. Most importantly, he taught me those lessons. Our church recently offered the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University, but I didn't see the point. I've skimmed his book and there's nothing I didn't know or already do, namely spend money we don't have. Admission: I didn't realize until at least college that there were people that not only didn't do this, but were never even TAUGHT that idea.

Anyway, back to my coupons. I have some tips for those out there who may struggle with non-thriftiness.

1) Only get coupons for products you already use...

2)...but don't let that stop you from trying something new. I could clip that weekly coupon for Activia yogurt, but I know husband doesn't like yogurt period and honestly, after a few bites, it makes me gag as well. I may have saved 25 cents, but I had to spend $1-something for something we'll end up throwing away. However, if we ran across a coupon for a new flavor of Ben & Jerry's, we just might. After all, you won't be paying full price!

3) Make a routine for going through coupons. When we are getting ready to go grocery shopping, we make a list of our staples, ingredients of the weekly menu (we plan for 2 weeks), and anything else we're running low on. Then we go through our coupons. We toss anything expired and set aside anything that's on the list. If we find a coupon for something we use, but won't go bad (paper products, etc.), and it's about to expire, we throw that in, too.

4) Sign up for store mailing lists or loyalty cards. I created an e-mail exclusively for those e-mail alerts stores are always pimping. I check it when I think about it. Most of the time they don't fit in the "something I need" category, but every once in a while, you can catch a sale plus % off! Kroger's has loyalty cards that get extra savings on (usually) Kroger brand stuff. Also, I finally signed up for Speedway's Speedy Rewards. I haven't earned enough points for anything good yet, but it's the gas station closest to our house, so we'll be there a lot.

5) Finally, take a minute and price compare. What good is 30 cents off name brand something when the store brand is 50 cents cheaper than that? HOWEVER, there are cases when it's worth to have name brands. I call this the Oreo Theory (since name brand Oreos are significantly better than generic). Toilet paper. I won't scrimp on my TP. We have to have Charmin and I prefer the mega-rolls. But paper towels, eh. As long as the job can get done, I'm not picky. Oreo theory is a post on it's own though. So we'll leave this with a simple price vs. quality comparison.

If you feel so inclined, you could even start saving the difference coupons saved you. Kroger's (and other stores) will print what you saved by using their Plus card at the bottom of the receipt. If you use cash, put it in a jar, credit could go in a savings account. Then treat yourself to something special.