I shared on Monday that Frugal February is a total bust! So much so that on the way home from buying our new washing machine last week, I said, what the heck, and stopped at Hobby Lobby and picked up a tiered tray because they were 50% off. But I'm trying to redeem myself for the remainder of the month, so we'll see how it goes. Check out these five cheap things I'm loving right now.
Carmex Chapstick || My lips stay chapped in the winter time and I've been wearing this chapstick under my lipstick daily. I'm so addicted to it that it's the last thing I put on before bed and the first thing I put on when I wake up in the morning. Life 360 App || Calling all moms with teenagers! I. am. loving. this APP!! And I'm probably not using it to it's full potential, but who cares!! I can STILL track my Baby Girl and I love it! Wait! I said that already, didn't I? There were a few away basketball games that Wayne and I just had to miss because of work reasons and so I could see where Alise was at all times. I even knew when they pulled into the Chic-fil-a drive thru! It's awesome and parents of teenagers, you need this! Thank me later. Walmart Gloves || Gloves are like sunglasses for me. I can never keep up with them, and if I could just find all the leather gloves I've lost over the years, I would be one rich lady. So I purchased a pair of Time and True's sweater gloves from Walmart for $3 in the fall and I think they were suppose to be two pairs, but of course, I picked up the set with only three gloves. All complaining aside, I am happy to report that it's February and I still have all three gloves! Hot Cocoa Kisses || Did you see this new flavor of Kisses at Christmas time? They were the ones wrapped in Santa hat foil. Well, it's February and I'm still rationing my stash. They are. so. darn. good! I like to treat myself when I meet all my daily goals, and I don't know what I'm going to do when I get to the last one. Thankfully, Wayne and Alise don't like them as much as I do! Micro Needle Derma Roller || My most expensive cheap thing on my list at a whopping $13! I mentioned this item recently on my Prime Purchases post, but once I finally figured out exactly how to use this thing - thanks to my blog friends! - I am really enjoying the results of this little cheap tool! Happy Heart Day tomorrow, Friends!
January was a dismal reading month for me, Bookworms. I hope your month was much better. I would love for you to follow me on Goodreads and stop by Steph and Jana's blogs to find out what everyone else is reading, and, if you're like me, find a really great book!
True Places || Even though I had trouble identifying with the main character of the book, I loved the family dynamics and the realness of true family situations. Suzanne finds Iris on the side of the road one day and invites the stranger to stay with them until her family can be contacted. True Places is about how an ideal family (at least from the outside) comes face-to-face with their own brokenness and how Iris' arrival changes them. Three stars, but not a must read.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz || I was disappointed in this book because I thought it was so lacking in detail and depth. In the words of one of my friends on Goodreads, "there are so many better books on this topic out there." Three stars.
Dark Sacred Night || Y'all know how much I love Michael Connelly's Detective Bosch series, but this book was even better because of the introduction of Renee Ballard, who is an LAPD Detective. The pair team up to solve a cold case that involves a teen runaway. I gave this book four and a half stars and would love to see more books with these two characters working together to solve LA cold cases.
Verity || Okay Friends, this book is not for everyone. I'll just go ahead and tell you that it has explicit situations and language, but the hype of this book! Oh, my! EVERYONE is talking about the ending, but unfortunately for me, what happens is that I buy in on the hype books and then I'm disappointed. Without trying to give too much away, I'll just say that the ending was not the "TYPE" of ending I expected, but yes, it will stay with you. Three and a half stars.
Her Final Breath || It had been a while since I read the first book in this series, but when I found it on sale at Amazon for $1.99, I decided to pick back up with female detective, Tracy Crosswhite. In Her Final Breath, which is book two, Tracy is trying to find a serial killer who is murdering dancers from gentleman's clubs in the Seattle area. I enjoyed the twists and was totally clueless as to the identity of the killer. Fans of Dugoni will recognize the name and how much I loved his book, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell.
Well, it's the eleventh day of the month and Frugal February is a complete bust! Last Wednesday evening, I walked into our utility room to find that our washing machine was literally smoking! We quickly unplugged it and moved it outside. Whew! It had been sounding like an airplane taking off for a few weeks, but SOMEBODY insisted on pushing it to the limit and when the repairman quoted a price of $1,200 to fix it, we decided to just buy a new one. Y'all know how much a new one costs, so yea. Happy Valentine's Day to me! On another note, it's 3 Things day here on the blog and I'm looking forward to reading your answers to the three February prompts. My hope is that you were inspired to simply write. I appreciate all my blog friends who have "gotten the word out" and I look forward to sharing our thoughts together on the second Monday of every month. Thanks for writing with me, Friends!
1. Describe one way you've recently shown love to others. I was hard at work a few Mondays ago when I got a phone call from a dear friend who was at a nearby doctor's office. I could barely understand what she was saying between her sobs, but she asked me to come to her physician's office to stay with her. My friend was five months pregnant and the doctor wasn't able to find the baby's heart beat. Her husband was out of town and she knew that I was the closest friend to her because of where my office is located. I dropped everything, told my secretary I would be out for the remainder of the day, and prayed all the way to the doctor's office. I love my friend and it broke my heart that she had to go through something like this, but, y'all. I'm not going to lie. That was such a tough day. A very, very hard day as we left her physician's office and made our way to the hospital. Which brings me to the next prompt. 2. What verse, song, or quote inspires you in your current situation? I'm currently doing Jennifer Rothschild's Bible study, Psalms 23, and I can't begin to tell you how much this passage of scripture has meant to me over the last three weeks. We've talked in our group about how this verse is normally spoken at funerals, but it's not a verse about death. It's a verse about LIFE and walking with your Shepherd. My faith has been strengthened so much through this study.
3. The quality I admire most in others is ____. Authenticity. And I'll throw loyalty in there, too. I'm not quite sure girls my age have to worry about this quality as much as the younger generation does. I know my daughter is faced with this daily and I've honestly unfollowed people on social media when I felt they weren't who they portrayed themselves to be. That may sound harsh, but that's how I roll. I appreciate people who are real and genuine. Here are the prompts for March. I hope you will write with me next month.
Y'all! I forgot CHINESE NEW YEAR on Tuesday!! How the heck did I let that happen? I LOVE celebrating National Days! And with all due respect to the Year of the Pig, it shouldn't have fallen on Taco Tuesday! I mean, really? But then again, that's EXACTLY how I would have celebrated if I had known! Pork Tacos, of course!! Instead, we had Amy Hannon's Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas! Yum!
So here we go with some of this week's favorite things. I hope your week went well and I just know you're looking forward to the weekend as much as I am! Seeing as how National Pizza Day is TOMORROW, we're planning on celebrating pie day with brick oven pizzas for Alise and a handful of her friends! Wayne is going to fire up our pizza oven and let the kids design their very own personal pizzas! I'll try to remember to share some of the fun on my IG stories.
Oh, now I remember why the Chinese New Year never crossed my mind on Tuesday! Because THIS GIRLIE was getting her braces off!! Eek! Her dad and I were MUCH more exited about it than she was. I surprised Alise by telling her that we were ditching school and work for the day and celebrating the entire day. We shopped (Alise still had Christmas gift cards to use!), had chips and queso for lunch (and Tacos! It was Tuesday, ya know?), and sang Taylor Swift tunes to the top of our lungs (even though I am officially over TS!). We had an awesome day together! Here are before and after pics!
Ten thousand steps, y'all! Not once, but TWICE this week! For this office working Mama, those days are very, very hard to come by, even with my daily walking routine. But Tuesday, I was on my feet nearly the entire day and was so surprised that at 6 pm that night I was well over 10,000 steps! So proud of myself! I celebrated with ice cream! Ha! My scale didn't like that too much this morning, though. I hit my goal again yesterday!
I had planned to mention this in a later post (and I probably will with more details), but I gave Alise her first accounting lesson this week! She had the idea for her team to wear fund-raising t-shirts at their final home game for a school friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer. I was worried about her handling all the details with everyone's sizes, collecting the money, and meeting up to get the shirts, but she did it all be herself and I am so proud of her! My teaching moment came when her teammates began giving her their money. I gave her an envelope and told her that she needed to write down the names, sizes, and how much each girl paid on the face of the envelope (and then prayed she would still have all the money when it was due). Accounting 101. BAM! There is a picture from before the game floating around somewhere with the girls wearing their t-shirts, but I didn't have it in time for this post.
Have you seen this Crochet Tote from Cyndi Spivey's picks for Spring? I am loving this!! It's so 1970ish and reminds me of my mom AND my cousin. Mama had a crocheted purse once when I was growing up and my older cousin, Janet, gave me a purse with circle handles when she decided she didn't want it anymore. I always loved her hand-me-downs!
Did y'all happen to see this commercial during the Super Bowl? It's one of the most patriotic and moving commercials I've seen in a very long time.
In case you missed them, here are some more posts you might be interested in:
Have a warm weekend! It's suppose to be cold here in Louisiana, so we'll be hanging out around the pizza oven tomorrow night. It gets really, really HOT!
Hello, Friends! Wednesdays are big days here in Blog Land! I'm following the prompts and joining Anne today for her Currently linkup, but I'm also joining Lindsay for Welcome Wednesday, and The Blended Blog because I'm actually sharing something I'm wearing for fashion Wednesday. If you're new here, welcome! And thank you for taking time out of your day to read our family blog. Leave me a comment! I would love to connect with you and say Hi! And here is what we're currently up to...
anticipating || We have been waiting on pins and needles for three weeks for Alise to finally get her braces off and yesterday was the day! Now, let me back up. Her daddy and I are the ones that have been waiting because in case you didn't know, it's the latest middle school fashion sensation to HAVE braces. Yes, you read right. Alise was not looking forward to getting them off, but doesn't she look beautiful?! This Mama is still a little sentimental about it because we have passed yet another rite of passage of the teen years, but that smile makes me smile. We celebrated ALL DAY yesterday with a Mama/Daughter Day!
going || I'm headed to a Galentine's Day Brunch this weekend and my contribution is chocolate covered strawberries! My schedule this week is not allowing me the extra time to make these suckers in time for the soiree, so I ordered them instead. And for you smarty pants that are thinking, Aha! No-spend February, remember? Well, I placed the order in January! Ha!
making || Y'all. While Wayne was on leave from work this past summer recovering from his heart attack, he started working on Alise's vanity. Then, oh, about September, the project got canned over the building of a Taj Mahal DEER STAND!! It's now February and I am happy to report that the built ins are finished, the mirror and lights are up, and we are just waiting for granite and knobs. We are oh-so much closer to finishing her bedroom renovation and it looks beautiful! Excuse the mess.
watching || We had quite a ride for a basketball game a few weeks ago, so I took Alise's ipad with me and watched Dumplin' while Wayne drove to Mississippi. Y'all! I loved it! So much so that I cried throughout the entire thing! Have you seen it? Seems like everyone in Blog Land is giving it two thumbs up, too. wearing || Last month, I found this cute rainbow sweater at Walmart for under $12. It's the Time & True brand, which I love and I'm hoping this thin, colorful piece will carry me into the beginning of Spring. You may remember I wore a similar sweater (from Old Navy) last month with my Nashville gal pals. I just adore these sweaters because they're perfect for my ever freezing office and cool spring mornings! I'm usually a cardi queen, but throwing on a simple, light-weight sweater and walking out the door is just too easy.
Last call for 3 Things writing prompts THIS coming Monday! I hope you will join me and so many of my friends that will be writing right along with me!
Welcome to my blog! Wayne and I have been married twenty four years and we're blessed to have a teen daughter and a dog named Jack. We are BAMA fans living in "da boot" of Louisiana. I'm the happiest wife, the loudest cheer mom, and the craziest girlfriend you'll ever have. I'm a Southern Belle living in a Southern world!
