I don't know about y'all, but I LOVE finding a good deal! Here lately we've been finding a boat-load of great deals!
Before closing on our house, Jarred and I discussed how we had very little in the way of furniture and we were going to have to "deal" for awhile. I figured we'd save our money and slowly purchase furniture one room at a time, with cash. Apparently, Jarred had other ideas. He "dealt" by hunting craigslist (an all time favorite site of ours!) and scored some amazing deals!
Through his dedication to the computer, he found us two bedroom suites, one which included a mattress (YAY!), a patio table with chairs and cushions, two chaise loungers for the patio, and the most gorgeous leather loveseat and sofa (it came with two end tables that happened to match my bookcase perfectly!).
This past Christmas, Jarred bought me an electric piano from craigslist. Our kitchen table came from craigslist, too. When I sit down to really think it through, there are very few pieces of furniture that were purchased new. I know the adage is "old" and possibly "passe", however, it is something we've come to fully embrace: "One man's trash is another man's treasure".
It's become a challenge and almost a game to find the best deal we can. What can I say, it's cheap entertainment!
13 August 2011
05 August 2011
Bugs and Dirt... Ick...
I'm absolutely not a dig in the dirt kind of girl. I severely dislike bugs...with the tiny exception known as my daughter, Ms. Bug. However, I had to suck it up two days ago and dig in the bug infested dirt. I was so grossed out, but our little veggie patch was looking really pitiful.
When we bought this house, it came with a decent sized garden. We had a good 6 yellow squash vines, a couple of zucchini squash vines, a whole row (maybe 12 heads) of Romaine lettuce, a tomato plant, cherry tomatoes, and finally a little watermelon vine. We plucked our first yellow squash from the garden a day after we moved in and they were delicious! I loved being able to go pick our fresh veggies for supper out of the back yard as opposed to having to pre-plan our side dishes or make a trip to the grocery store. It was super easy and very satisfying!
After having picked 8 squash (yellow and zucchini) that were awesome, we noticed the garden was on the decline. Several of the squash vines started to wilt and die off, the others that had squash on them were starting to rot, our lone watermelon split open and became a feeding ground for the 4 million ants that called our patch "home", and the tomatoes were starting to get weird little rings around them. The garden was over run by weeds and these horrible little grey-ish bugs that really skived me out! And the only thing that was thriving (aside from the weeds) were the lettuce heads.
We really didn't want the garden to die off, so we spent some time weeding and pruning it. It took nearly all afternoon and I still didn't get all the weeds. But at least we were able to get rid of the dead squash plants and the slowly rotting watermelon. I'm not sure what's going to happen with the garden now that we've done all this. However, we've got high hopes that we'll continue to be rich in squash. I know I'll still have to deal with the bugs and dirt (I shudder at the thought!), but I suppose you have to get dirty to reap the benefits of having a garden. Wish me luck as we try to get our patch on the mend.
When we bought this house, it came with a decent sized garden. We had a good 6 yellow squash vines, a couple of zucchini squash vines, a whole row (maybe 12 heads) of Romaine lettuce, a tomato plant, cherry tomatoes, and finally a little watermelon vine. We plucked our first yellow squash from the garden a day after we moved in and they were delicious! I loved being able to go pick our fresh veggies for supper out of the back yard as opposed to having to pre-plan our side dishes or make a trip to the grocery store. It was super easy and very satisfying!
After having picked 8 squash (yellow and zucchini) that were awesome, we noticed the garden was on the decline. Several of the squash vines started to wilt and die off, the others that had squash on them were starting to rot, our lone watermelon split open and became a feeding ground for the 4 million ants that called our patch "home", and the tomatoes were starting to get weird little rings around them. The garden was over run by weeds and these horrible little grey-ish bugs that really skived me out! And the only thing that was thriving (aside from the weeds) were the lettuce heads.
We really didn't want the garden to die off, so we spent some time weeding and pruning it. It took nearly all afternoon and I still didn't get all the weeds. But at least we were able to get rid of the dead squash plants and the slowly rotting watermelon. I'm not sure what's going to happen with the garden now that we've done all this. However, we've got high hopes that we'll continue to be rich in squash. I know I'll still have to deal with the bugs and dirt (I shudder at the thought!), but I suppose you have to get dirty to reap the benefits of having a garden. Wish me luck as we try to get our patch on the mend.
02 August 2011
Commitment
It's amazing to me how a simple little thing, a blog post, can be so incredibly difficult to accomplish. It sounds easy enough to say, "I'm going to blog at least once a week this month".... False. I think it even sounds reasonable to say "I will post once this month". Yeah right. For some reason I have the ability to say things like this and then ignore it completely.
I have awesome excuses though! Check them out:
1) I'm exhausted... I have an almost 9 month old baby.
2) Ms. Bug has been exceptionally needy today and won't leave my keyboard alone.
3) She doesn't nap long enough for me to type something witty and interesting. Heck, she doesn't even nap long enough for me to think "I don't have anything witty or interesting to say"...
4) I completely forgot... I'll remember tomorrow! (I can't even remember to call back my best friend an hour after I told her I'd call her back!...)
There are about a million more excuses I could come up with, given a few extra minutes... but you get the gist. All in all, these excuses should add up to one glaring answer: I just didn't want to commit to doing what I said I would do.
Isn't that HORRIBLE! I commit to many things on a daily basis. I commit to waking up when lil' miss cries. I commit to taking care of the dog, the baby, and the husband each and every day. I commit to washing laundry a couple of times a week. I commit to taking baby to the potty countless times a day. And I guess you could say that I commit to dawdling and piddling away a good few hours each and everyday on multiple social sites, forums, and YouTube (iPhone is a blessing and a curse).
In order to make a commitment, I think you have to have more than an urge to do something. I think you have to have resolve. I don't mean the carpet spot cleaner. It also helps to put something in writing and have someone hold you accountable. What better to write down a commitment than in a blog post! And what's better than having anyone who reads this help to be an accountability buddy?
Ok, if you've stuck with me thus far, thank you. I promise I've got a point. I'm going to commit to posting something every week during the month of August. I can't guarantee that each post will be witty or interesting, after all I spend 24/7 caring for my baby and husband, but there will be something. Hopefully.
I have awesome excuses though! Check them out:
1) I'm exhausted... I have an almost 9 month old baby.
2) Ms. Bug has been exceptionally needy today and won't leave my keyboard alone.
3) She doesn't nap long enough for me to type something witty and interesting. Heck, she doesn't even nap long enough for me to think "I don't have anything witty or interesting to say"...
4) I completely forgot... I'll remember tomorrow! (I can't even remember to call back my best friend an hour after I told her I'd call her back!...)
There are about a million more excuses I could come up with, given a few extra minutes... but you get the gist. All in all, these excuses should add up to one glaring answer: I just didn't want to commit to doing what I said I would do.
Isn't that HORRIBLE! I commit to many things on a daily basis. I commit to waking up when lil' miss cries. I commit to taking care of the dog, the baby, and the husband each and every day. I commit to washing laundry a couple of times a week. I commit to taking baby to the potty countless times a day. And I guess you could say that I commit to dawdling and piddling away a good few hours each and everyday on multiple social sites, forums, and YouTube (iPhone is a blessing and a curse).
In order to make a commitment, I think you have to have more than an urge to do something. I think you have to have resolve. I don't mean the carpet spot cleaner. It also helps to put something in writing and have someone hold you accountable. What better to write down a commitment than in a blog post! And what's better than having anyone who reads this help to be an accountability buddy?
Ok, if you've stuck with me thus far, thank you. I promise I've got a point. I'm going to commit to posting something every week during the month of August. I can't guarantee that each post will be witty or interesting, after all I spend 24/7 caring for my baby and husband, but there will be something. Hopefully.
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