10 Things You Never Knew…

…about the author of this blog:

My friend Cynthia challenged me to share a bit about myself, so here it goes!

1. I've gone and neglected my blog... again. Oh, wait... you already knew that! I've been meaning to get some posts up, mainly about the girls and our new place but (excuses, excuses) I really haven't been taking pictures; which in my mind are essential to a good blog/blog post. And even if I was good at taking photos our photo editing software has gone all crazy on us. That's what I say to my husband anyway to try to encourage him to fix it because I have absolutely no computer/techie skills.

2. This is a recent one for me... I LOVE coupons. Seriously. Since we've moved into our new house I got an invitation to try out this website that tracks grocery and drug store deals and then matches the deals up with the recent coupons you get in the Sunday paper. I had heard about people getting things for super cheap or even free by using coupons before and had even tried it by getting the paper a few times and clipping the coupons but it is a ton of work to search out the deals and then match the coupons. This website makes it so easy, and easy is what I need when I have two little ones to run after. Just this week I went to the grocery store and saved almost $53 on my total which was 41%!

I'm hoping this helps take the burden off of our tight grocery budget... which bring me to:

3. I really enjoy cooking, but until lately I've been in a bit of a rut. Every time I would come across a recipe that looked delicious I would scan the ingredient list and know that there was no way I could squeeze all the special/expensive ingredients into my weekly budget without having to cut out some of our essentials. I'm hoping as I continue to build our 'stockpile' of cheap groceries my cooking repertoire will be able to grow as well!

4. I'm using a new shampoo and it is AMAZING!!! Actually it's not really a shampoo it's a 'cleansing conditioner' but it replaces the shampoo + conditioner routine completely. For Christmas my mother-in-law gave me a bottle of Wen (thanks Deb!) Have you seen the infomercials? I'd seen them before and was intrigued but never enough to lay over the $$ for the product. Now, I'm totally sold. I was running out of my bottle that I got for Christmas and just decided to go back to my normal shampoo + conditioner routine (because my husband’s frugal ways are rubbing off on me) and I could instantly tell that my hair wasn't as soft, shiny or as full as when I was using my Wen cleansing conditioner. I would highly recommend it to anyone, but be warned... once you try it you'll never want to go back!

5. If I could grow in one virtue it would be discipline. Sometimes I feel like a chicken running around with it's head cut off. I decide I'm going to do something (clean up toys, laundry, wash the dishes, etc.) and it's so easy for me to get distracted or sidetracked with something else. Like the other day, I was cleaning off the pile of papers from the kitchen table, that seems to be never ending, and I got engrossed in reading an article in the newspaper that caught my eye. Five to ten minutes later I am trying to remember what I came to the table to do. Oh yeah... clean. Ugh!

6. Tyler and I are making plans (BIG plans) for a garden this spring and summer. Our house came with a little section of the backyard already tilled up and waiting for us (almost 350 sq. ft.). I'm really excited about it, but will admit that I'm also a bit nervous. I've been known to have a black thumb and really don't want to mess the whole thing up. Also, I feel that I may be in denial of actually how much work it's going to require. Hopefully, Marie will be my handy little helper and not trample the plants as we weed and water!

7. Our house is in complete upheaval at the moment because we are painting. Our living room is nonfunctional and all the girls toys are shoved into our spare bedroom/office making it our new hangout until the job gets done. When we moved in we knew exactly where all of the previous owners artwork hung because the walls had faded all around it – not pretty. So I knew we would be painting sooner rather than later. I finally decided on a color and Tyler was anxious to get the ball moving. So last weekend, when the weather was beautiful, we did all the prep work (spackling, sanding, taping the trim...) which took much longer than we anticipated and we didn't get as much actual painting done as we had thought we would. So, come this weekend, we are determined to finish it up. It's just too bad that we will have to open the windows now that it's snowed and is 25 degrees outside. Brrr!

8. I just got a brand spankin' new washer and dryer and I am in LOVE! When we bought our house in October we decided to tough it out for a little while (at the laundromat) so we could wait until Black Friday to get a good deal on a new washer and dryer. And boy did we get a good deal! Unfortunately, so did many thousands of others across the country which meant that our (who am I kidding - my) beloved washer and dryer were on back order – from Japan! So we would patiently and sometimes not so patiently call Lowe's every few weeks to ask when they thought the next shipment was coming and every time we called the date kept getting pushed back further and further. The last time I called they told me the middle of February. I could barely stand it! Every week I would pack up all our dirty laundry, the two girls and head to the laundromat all the while saying little prayers that it would be the last time I would have to go... now my wait is over! Lowe's called us last weekend to tell us that the shipment had come in and asked when they could deliver them. I told them if they could be here in 30 minutes I was ready and waiting! They didn't come in 30 minutes but I did get them the next day and it was a VERY happy day indeed!

9. I am not a morning person, but I would really like to be. Over the last few weeks I've made it a goal to get up early (before the girls) and have some much needed quiet time. Time to drink my tea in peace. Time to start my day with prayers of thanks rather than prayers of 'Lord, just get me through this moment.” Time to get myself in order before I get swept up in the whirlwind of dirty diapers, breakfast and two year old pandemonium. The few mornings that I have actually accomplished my goal have been wonderful, even if the few moments when my alarm goes off seem like pure torture. It's a sad truth that my will is so weak that I will allow the thought of facing the cold morning air to ruin my whole day. I will be better at this, I'm making this promise to myself. Where's discipline when you need it!?

10. I have gray hair. Okay, probably most of the people I know already know about this about me because I actually have so much it's hard to miss. But what a lot of my friends don't know is that I started getting my gray hair just after I accidentally skied into a tree while on vacation with my family in the eighth grade. It's not certain that it caused my graying to start... but it's my own personal prediction. I've heard that head trauma can cause hair to go gray. Also, I've never colored my hair (because I'm proud of my 'natural' highlights) but I'm wondering as my graying continues how long I'll be able to hold out. I don't want to look 65 when I'm actually only 35!