What a Weekend!

This past weekend was so delightful! It was short, but it was great! It all started Friday evening with making no-bake cookies and baking a homemade pizza! Then we headed to church for a game night with our 20/30 Somethings Group. We played Turbo Cranium and had a blast! My team ended up winning even though we started out far behind the other one! I love when the "underdog" takes the win, especially when it's my team! ;)

Saturday morning I ran some errands while Collin was at work and it was quite a beautiful morning! I was almost in a car accident though which really shook me up. I was driving down the road to the recycling center when someone turning left out of a neighborhood cut me off to fit into the very small opening going the opposite direction of me. I had to slam on my brakes and got VERY close to his truck... I guess he was in such a hurry that he didn't want to want for an opening going in my direction?? Anyway, once Collin got off work we headed up to Pentagon City and did some shopping at The Fashion Centre! I love going to that mall. It's huge and so nice! Collin and I had a lot of fun playing with the Shopkick app on our iPhones. We got lots of kicks for walking into stores and then for scanning certain items in American Eagle. I'm glad Collin doesn't mind doing silly stuff like that with me! And I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him and getting Panda Express for dinner!

Saw these pretty colors while running errands!

Sunday we had a great service at church. Then afterward we had lunch at home while catching up on some TV. Our afternoon consisted of putzing around some of the local stores. We bought some Christmas lights for our porch at Lowe's and at Target we went mainly to scan things for Shopkick but ended up buying malt powder, candy, and some new mascara and eyeliner for me. I have been using Maybelline mascara and eyeliner for as long as I can remember (and it's the only makeup I regularly wear) but some of the products we had to scan were Almay mascara, eyeliner, and liquid eye shadow. It intrigued me that they were made specifically for different eye colors and I was in need of new mascara and eyeliner anyway so I bought them. And I must say, I really like it! I am in no way an expert on makeup but I think this mascara really makes my eyelashes look longer and fuller (they're really blonde so I need mascara for them to look their full length) and the eyeliner I think does bring out my eyes! I'm impressed Almay!! Anyway, we also went to Old Navy, Ross, Best Buy and Game Stop where the only thing we bought was some guitar strings at Best Buy for Collin. But we did get lots of kicks in Shopkick! I'm loving this app! =) Once we got home we collected pine cones for a wreath I want to make for our front door and then we had lasagna for dinner while watching Brave on Bluray! Such a great movie! We'd never seen it before but knew we would love it (Disney/Pixar is always a hit with us) so we preordered it through Disney Movie Club. So glad we did!

This melts my heart!

I hope you all had a great weekend, too! This week is short! Only a 3 day work-week for me! And I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! We're spending the day with Collin's family and our friend Megan is coming, too! Her family is all in NC and she was just down there last week so she didn't want to make the trip again so soon. But I'm excited she's spending it with us! Enjoy this lovely Monday, my friends!

Cindy

Blogger 411

My blog friend Meagan posted this neat little getting to know you Blogger 411 today and it linked me to Becky over at From Mrs. to Mama. I think Becky has a great idea for getting to know other bloggers better and since my blog is a journey of my life I thought it could be fun for you all to learn some more about me through some fun questions.

1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?
I started blogging in December of 2010, so almost two years now! I started blogging because I was already a big part of the community (I read and commented on many blogs) and I wanted to journal and form relationships with the many wonderful ladies I had already met and would soon meet! My blog hasn't really changed too much. I didn't exactly have a real format. I've tried certain things that I kept up with for a little while (my Friday series stuff) that I don't do anymore and I've added other random things but mostly my blog is the same, a hodgepodge of different posts. I am proud though that my posts are accompanied by original photography now instead of finding random photos online.

2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?
I went to Messiah College in the tiny town of Grantham, PA. I studied music. Started out as Music Education and ended up as Church Music. It may have been expensive (and put me in debt) but I wouldn't trade my experience there for anything!

3. Where have you traveled?
Well, growing up my family didn't go too terribly far away for vacations. We didn't have a ton of money so if we went a long ways from Maryland is was pretty much to visit family. So as a kid I went to Phoenix and Tuscon (in the same trip), the Chicago suburb area, Louisville, and New Hampshire; and then we went to VA Beach a lot and went to numerous campgrounds in the states of VA, MD, and PA. Then in college I went to Austria and Czech Republic with my choir on an international tour, I went to Miami for an ACDA Convention (choir convention), I did a New England fall break tour with the drama ministry group, Spirit Force, I was a part of, and I went to NYC, NJ, DE, and some random other places in PA for choir tour. One summer while I was in college my family went to Las Vegas! That was also to visit family but it was such a fun trip. And then since I've been with Collin I've been to Orlando, Ormond Beach, Atlantic Beach, NC, the Poconos, Williamsport, PA, and on a cruise to the Bahamas. I REALLY love to travel. I would travel all the time if we could afford it!

4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?
I would pay off all my student loan debt. Then once that was done I'd buy us a house and a Disney cruise to Alaska.

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?
1. Hmm... This is weird but coughing. I can't stand to hear people cough. Ick.
2. People who don't know how to drive/break driving rules. And I don't just mean like driving too slow or what not. I mean people that pass on the right on a solid white line. People that talk on their cell phone/text while driving even though it's against the law in MD. People that don't use their turn signals. Just stuff like that.
3. When someone doesn't put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher but doesn't rinse it off and/or stacks the dirty plates filled with food. EWW. So gross!!! When I go to put it in the dishwasher (i.e. if it was full and/or clean when the new dirty dishes were made), I do NOT want to touch nasty food stuck to the bottom of a plate or smell icky caked on stuff.

6. What is your favorite movie?
It's too hard to choose. Here's my top 5. Up, Ocean's Eleven, RV, National Treasure, and Rat Race

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?
Of all those options the only one I drink is water. =) And that actually is my drink of choice.

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?
I love to play piano, play frisbee golf, or read.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?
Only one store? That would be really hard. But I suppose either Kohl's or Marshall's. And I'd probably still only buy sale/clearance priced merchandise.

10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.
This is the hardest to come up with. I know I have had NUMEROUS embarrassing moments in the past (and present) but I can't think of any. I guess I just block them out! haha. I suppose I can share with you one that happened in middle school that traumatized me forever. I was in band throughout middle school and we always had to play at the 8th grade graduation ceremony. This was in 6th grade and we had finished playing and went to lunch all together as a band. Because we had to be dressed up I was wearing a knee length black skirt with my band shirt. Our cafeteria at the time didn't have AC in it so they had these gigantic industrial fans in there to keep it cool. Well, I was walking from the table to go get in the lunch line and I tripped over one of the fan cords and landed face first on the ground. Upon standing up I realized my skirt flew up revealing my underwear to all who saw me fall. But the worst part was, the boy I had a crush on was sitting RIGHT NEXT to where I fell. I was mortified. At least it was the last day of school and everyone had forgotten about it over the summer. =)

11. What day would you love to relive again?
Either our wedding day (it was SO MUCH FUN) or our Day At Sea on our cruise in 2010.

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?
Kate Hudson.

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?
I had a lot of different jobs. In high school I worked for Peebles Department Store for a few months, I babysat, and then between high school and college I worked for a government contractor. Then during my college breaks I worked at a daycare one summer, as a behavioral specialist for a child with autism one summer, I babysat one summer, and I worked as a substitute teacher for a little while. Then after college I worked for a Temp Agency before getting my first "real" job.

14. Show us a picture from high school or college.

Collin and I at the Senior Banquet in High School. We weren't dating, we didn't really know each other all that well actually. haha! I love how it looks like we're in love though. Proves we were meant to be together! *Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. This is a scan of a physical picture and the original was kind of washed out, too*

15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?
Italy. I would go to most of the country actually but definitely Venice. And I'd ride in a gondola.

16. Show us the most current picture of you, or your family, or anything of meaning to you.

This may not be the *most* current picture but I love it. And it still looks like us. It was taken last December. We haven't really changed much at all. Except my hair is now longer. =)

17. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?
5 years from now I really have no idea! Life is so up in the air. I suppose in 5 years I hope to be pregnant and possibly owning a home. It just all depends on where we are financially. At least 5 years from now my car will be paid off and my smallest student loan will be mostly, if not all the way, paid off!

I hope you guys enjoyed getting to know a little but more about me! It's fun to fill these things out. It gives me a bit of introspection into myself. And I even had to think about things I'd forgotten about!

Cindy

Good for the Soul

Do you ever have one of those good for the soul kinds of weekends? I had one this past one. I was busy, and sure I would have liked a little bit more relaxation, but it was great. I spent time with Collin (though less than I wanted), spent time with friends, spent time with my sister, and got some more work done around the apartment! My weekend started on Thursday once work was over! I absolutely adore having every other Friday off. And when I got home I discovered that some Washi Tape I had ordered from The Plain Barn came in!! I was so excited because I have not been able to find it anywhere local! Our Target sells two different kinds. Black and white polka dots (which is cute) and some weird green one with words that are really only good for scrapbooking (which I don't do). So I was elated when The Plaid Barn did a deal on washi tape.

And then, after opening my tape I realized that my buddy boy has been feeling neglected lately and wanted some loving. So I began to play with him and boy was he spunky. At one point I moved rather quickly and it must have startled him because he decided he needed to "hide". I wonder if he knew this was not an effective hiding spot. lol

Friday I got to do some much needed grocery shopping early in the morning and I bought myself a beautiful hanging basket of Citrus Fire for the porch. It has made me SO happy to have that beautiful plant on my porch. I also bought some potting soil and seeds (I already had two pots) for planting zinnias and dwarf sunflowers. I'll have some pretty little flowers this summer!

Friday afternoon I spent with a friend whom I hadn't seen in quite some time. We did some much needed catching up and then we went to our local library's free showing of The Help. We had both finished the book recently and really enjoyed watching the movie. So, so good. Then in the evening I went to a Tastefully Simple party with my friend Jeannie and had a good time trying out some new food.
Saturday I headed up to Annapolis to do some shopping with my sister. We had a great time together and even though I wasn't planning to buy anything I did find a sexy yet sophisticated dress at Ann Taylor LOFT that was on their final sale rack for $14.99 and it fit so well I couldn't pass it up! It was originally a $90 dress!! So excited about that purchase. I can't wait to wear it. =) After doing some clothes shopping we headed to Menchie's and got delicious frozen yogurt!


Yesterday after church Collin and I got some stuff done around the apartment. He cleaned out some of his stuff from the hall closet and put a few more boxes into our storage room off the porch. We hung a few things up around the house before Jeff and Jeannie came over in the afternoon. Jeannie and I made lots of cards while the men played frisbee golf and video games. Then I made dinner for us all and we played Monopoly until it was time to say goodnight! And I had beautiful fresh flowers in the house that I'd purchased at a Farmer's Market I discovered! Love! It brought me such joy!


This weekend brought so much joy to my life. It was definitely good for my soul. Because some weekends you need to be surrounded by loved ones and lots of fun and pretty things. And yet others you just need to relax and do nothing. Both are absolutely fine. I just know I enjoy any weekend that is just what my soul needs, whether filled to the brim with great things or filled with relaxation and quiet. =)

Cindy

The Day My Cart Disappeared

We made it back from vacation. We got home about 10:30 on Saturday night and pretty much went straight to bed. Then Sunday we got up, went to church and then headed into DC to attend a Gamer Symphony Orchestra concert at the American Art Museum. It was a pretty cool concert! My only complaint is that the space they held the concert did not have good acoustics at all and a lot of the sound was drowned out. But it was fun and I got to enjoy it with my wonderful hubby and we had a great afternoon together! Plus, we got to see the new exhibit at the museum called "The Art of Video Games" and it was pretty cool. The whole exhibit was dedicated to the history of making video games and it had sketches from the creative process for several games, information about different games and all the different game systems and they even had demos of games you could play right there! Fun!

Anyway... because we were busy on Sunday I needed to go grocery shopping yesterday afternoon so we could actually have food to eat let alone the essentials like milk and bread. So I headed to Wal-Mart after work to do my shopping (the main reason I shop at Wal-Mart is because Collin works there so we get a discount and it's mostly cheaper than other places). I get into the store, grab a cart and start my shopping. I'd put four items into my cart when I realized I needed to use the bathroom. I figured that since I was so close to the front of the store I may as well just go now because it's not fun having a full bladder while grocery shopping. So I walk over to the bathrooms, a little hesitant about leaving my cart with my four items in it but then I saw an employee standing outside the restroom (that was her spot) so I left my cart and went in (I did take my purse in with me, I'm not stupid enough to do that). I walk back out less than 2 minutes later and my cart was gone! And the employee was still there. I asked her if she had seen it and she apologized profusely saying she wasn't paying attention. It wouldn't have been such a big deal but my reuseable grocery bags were in there and I had 6 or 7 of them in the cart. Normally I would have just shrugged it off and gone and found my items again but I wanted my bags! So the employee starts helping me look for my cart. She checked to see if maybe someone took it to customer service and she asked some of the employees at the registers around the bathroom if they'd seen it. No one had. So then I begin to get frantic so I started looking all over the store for my cart. I scoured the grocery section and didn't find it. So I headed over to general merchandise and get to toilitries and there in the aisle with the body wash was my cart. It was just sitting in the aisle with people with their own carts all around it. I screamed "MY CART!" and literally ran to it. I glance inside and everything is still in there and nothing had been added. And as I push it away no one says anything to me or even really looks at me. SO WEIRD. I have no idea how my cart got to the toilitries section. It was obvious the cart belonged to someone because of the reuseable bags. But if someone wanted my bags why wouldn't they have taken them out of the cart and left the other stuff? Why was my cart moved? I have no idea and probably never will, but I do know one thing, I was very glad to be reunited with my cart!

What made your Monday exciting? I definitely learned not to leave my stuff in the cart when I go to the bathroom! Anyway.. did you have a good weekend? I'd love to hear about it! I'll be sure to share some memories and more photos from our trip this week. It was AWESOME!

Cindy

The Gratitude Challenge - Day 9

1 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
3 Exult in his holy name;
rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Psalm 105 (NLT)

Today I am grateful, oh so very grateful, that Target is selling colored tights for $5. I have been wanting fun colored tights for MONTHS. Literally since last winter. But the stores around here only sold basic colors (or ones I wasn't too interested in) and they were too expensive for my liking. But I was walking around Target on Sunday and saw that display above and I literally stopped in my tracks and said a quick thank you to God! It might seem silly but I am so happy. So, so happy. So far I've only bought two pairs, red and plum, but I plan to buy quite a few more. Hurray for fun colored tights!!

Cindy

Washing the Windows

I was gonna post pictures of my project I posted about yesterday but here's what happened... I went to Jo Ann's after work to pick up a heart shaped hole punch and some string. Then I was heading to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and I was gonna grab some paint samples while I was there. Jo Ann's did not have a heart shaped hole punch. I looked EVERYWHERE and not a one. They had other cool shapes but none that I wanted/that were big enough. So I headed to Wal-Mart hoping they might have one but of course they didn't. And by this time it was storming off and on and I had groceries so I wasn't gonna go to another store to look. So I didn't pick up any paint samples while in Wal-Mart either because I figured I'd get them once I finally found my hole puncher. I get home and find out my mother-in-law has a heart shaped one I can borrow. So, now I have my hole punch and string but no paint samples. Fail. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the samples sometime this week and then I'll post my pictures!

So because today's post will not be filled with pretty hearts, I figured I'd leave you with two short videos of my adorable Stank "washing the windows". He does this ALL the time when he wants to go out onto the back porch. We think it's quite amusing. I love that cat to death.




Cindy

Goodness-Filled Weekend

This past weekend was pretty good! It all began Friday evening with having some friends over and playing a couple board games. We started off with Mall Madness (I was the only girl, mind you) and then laughed our butts off playing Words of Wizdom (it's a lot like Loaded Questions). We had a BLAST and laughed so hard I was afraid we were going to wake the neighbors. lol

Blast from the past!

Saturday I had to wake up early because I was accompanying a girl from church for her State Solo and Ensemble adjudication. We had to drive two hours to Towson. I had a nice time though in the car chatting with her mom and the mom of the other girl who went with us. Even though it was early the conversations made it a fun and enjoyable day! And both girls got 1's on their pieces! I was so proud of Annie and Morgan!

Sunday we had church and then my aunt and uncle were hosting a barbecue celebration at their house in honor of my uncle receiving his Bachelor's degree on Saturday! What a great accomplishment for him! We enjoyed sitting and around and chatting with family and friends and eating yummy food, too! After we left their house we made a stop at Target so I could spend the gift card I received as a thank you for accompanying Annie. I ended up finally buying myself a digital video camera. I posted here about how I wanted a Flip camera. However, I never bought one for myself because I wasn't completely thrilled with the specs or the price. While I was printing out a gift registry Collin looked at the Target flyer and he saw that Kodak's version of the Flip was on sale. We walked back to electronics and it was JUST what I wanted! I'm so excited with my purchase and I can't wait to play with it! It's a Kodak Play*full. It records in 1080p HD and it has an external memory card slot so you can have up to a 32GB card in there. It also has an internal rechargeable battery which is what I wanted. It's also much tinier than the Flip. I LOVE it!

*love!*

I also bought a memory card for it and a pretty blue case that has flowers on it. I can't wait to take some videos and be able to post them on the blog!

After we left Target we headed over to church for the Tweeners meeting. Tweeners is a youth group for 4th-7th graders and Collin and I are leaders for the group. Yesterday was a "fun" day and we went bowling instead of having a regular lesson. We had a blast and the kids did, too! Everyone was laughing and having fun! Some of the kids even bowled better than I did! What a great time of fellowship and fun with a great group of kids! I'm so excited to be working with the youth and I can't wait for the fall when the meetings will pick back up again (we take a break for the summer starting in June).

Did you guys do anything fun and exciting this weekend? Make any big purchases?

Cindy

Birthday Fun!

So I'm a horrible blogger and didn't take ANY pictures this weekend. None. I guess I just get so into what's going on and being involved in everything that I don't want to stop and take pictures. Anyway, I suppose me not taking pictures just goes to show how truly awesome this past weekend was. It was a busy weekend but it was so much fun!!

Friday evening was my mom's big birthday party. After work I rushed around trying to get the finishing touches taken care of and then decorating the clubhouse. Uncle Scott made all the food so we didn't have to worry about that, and I'm so glad, especially since the food was GREAT! The clubhouse turned out beautiful and it looked so nice. Lots of people came and the best part was that mom had a great time! We had a photo booth section set up and lots of pictures were taken and everyone looked so snazzy! Since it was a cocktail party we all dressed in pretty cocktail attire and it was really fun being dressed up, I even got to wear a new dress I'd bought over a year ago and had yet to wear! So mom's party was a huge success!

Saturday evening was my work holiday party. They always have the party at the end of January to make it so more people can come because everyone is so busy around the actual holidays. This party was held at the Officer's Club on base and it's the same place Collin and I had our wedding reception. It was fun to be back there in a different type of setting. The party was a blast and we had so much fun with my coworkers at the table. We laughed the entire evening just about! And of course the dancing was so much fun! We danced our booties off and had a blast! I love dancing and I wish I had more opportunities to do so! The party was a Mardi Gras theme so there were beads and coins and feathers everywhere. The decor looked really nice and we had a fun time trying to play "quarters" with the little plastic coins and empty coffee cups on the tables. They gave away door prizes throughout the evening and I actually won! They had a GREAT selection of prizes and I really wanted the iPad but alas someone else won it. =( Anyway, I won a $25 gift certificate to a gourmet sandwich shop and a bottle of wine. However, we don't drink wine. At the end of the evening one of my coworkers had won a Nerf gun and neither Collin or I thought she would want/use it. I jokingly told Collin to go see if she would trade with us and to my surprise he actually did! But to my even greater surprise she wanted to trade with us! So I ended up with a Nerf N-Strike Clear Raider CS-35 Clear Series gun. =)

I played with it a little bit on Sunday morning and was shooting Stank with it. He wasn't amused at all. He cowered behind the kitchen table. =P

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a GREAT day! Collin actually cuddled with me in bed for a good while before the alarm went off. And then once we got up, we got ready for church and he bought me a Boston White-Cream donut for breakfast! I hadn't had one of those in a long time. Church was really great and afterwards I got a free burger from Ruby Tuesday because it was my birthday! Then mom took me shopping at Old Navy for my birthday and they were having a great sale so I got lots of new clothes to wear! I'm really quite excited about it and am actually wearing a new tank and sweater today. After shopping we met some friends at the bowling alley and we spent the afternoon bowling. And mom made me funfetti cupcakes! I love the funfetti cakes! And I have some leftovers to eat, too! After bowling and present opening we went to Olive Garden for dinner and I tried a new dish, Asiago Ravioli with Chicken. It was DELICIOUS. And I had soup, salad, and breadsticks with it, too. I made only a small dent in my actual meal. I love leftovers though! And the best part was, the waiter knew it was my birthday so he was treating our table so well. I told him that I wanted to take some of my soup home and he brought out a brand new bowl in a to-go container for me! And then when we were boxing up our entree leftovers he brought us out a to-go bag stuffed with fresh breadsticks! This guy was awesome! And then he brought me a yummy, yummy Black Tie Mousse Cake and they sang happy birthday to me. And when he brought out the Andie's mints, my dad jokingly said "that's it? we just get one each?" and then our waiter brought a huge handfull of them and gave them all to my dad! Definitely great service!! After we were so stuffed from dinner we all went home and Collin and I watched two episodes of Desperate Housewives from season 3 before bed. I had a great, great birthday and weekend!!

I hope each of you lovelies had as great a weekend as I did! What did you do? Did you do anything exciting and fun? Or was your weekend low-key and relaxing (which are usually my favorites!)

Cindy

"I want my baby-back, baby-back, baby-back..."

This past Friday Collin and I headed up to Annapolis to spend some gift cards we had gotten for Christmas. I had two Victoria's Secret cards; one for my birthday from the store itself and one from Collin from Christmas, we had an Apple Store gift card, and we also had a Chili's gift card. So, our first stop was the mall so we could spend our two store gift cards, but we had our sights set on dinner at Chili's.

We headed into the mall and I was able to get the 5 for $25 panties and a cute new pair of zebra print pajama shorts. I love that they were having their semi-annual sale. I would not have been able to really buy anything but the panties if not for that. But I'm so glad I got the shorts because they are so comfy and cute!

Once we entered the Apple store we knew exactly what we wanted, and though we usually linger in there playing on the iPads and all the computers we wish we had (we have MacBooks and iPod touches) we didn't stay long this time. It was almost 8 o'clock and we were starving! So we bought the family edition of Snow Leopard so we could update our computers. I have yet to put the update on mine, but I'm excited to do so!

We headed on our way and went to Chili's and got the most delicious appetizers I think I've ever had and a pretty delicious meal, too. I really did enjoy my meal as well but those appetizers were FANTASTIC! We ordered a trio sampler and got the Southwestern Egg Rolls, Boneless Buffalo Wings, and Spinach and Artichoke Dip. Collin told me that we should order just the Southwestern Rolls because they were really good and nothing like egg rolls you get at a Chinese restaurant but I was not convinced. Then when we got the trio I tasted the egg rolls and was actually disappointed we didn't get just those, they were that good!! I was thoroughly excited! So if you ever eat at Chili's (this was my first time there, by the way) then get the Southwestern Egg Rolls.

It was definitely a fun Friday night, and the drive home was awesome because Collin created a playlist with lots of fun and silly music to listen to. I giggled each time a song came on because they were such fun songs. It really made the evening lots of fun and very special.

What did you do this weekend? Was your Friday night as fun as ours was? I'd love to hear about it!

Cindy

Snow Day is Fun Day!



Taken by me in March 2009

We had a beautiful snow day on Sunday! It started snowing on Christmas day like I mentioned yesterday but the majority of the snow fell on Sunday. We didn't get too much accumulation, maybe 5 inches or so but it was enough to make the roads bad. Collin and I awoke early Sunday morning to venture out to Target and take advantage of their after-Christmas clearance so we could stock up on items for next year. We got some ribbon, tape, bags, tissue paper, a storage container for all the wrapping supplies and my favorites, silver chargers and stockings! I got two sets of 4 chargers for $5.00 total. I was pretty excited! We didn't have stockings this year so we bought some to have for next year. Mine is like the typical stocking, fuzzy and traditional looking only it's pink... and has pom balls hanging from the place where it hangs. I LOVE it. Collin's is black with a penguin hanging onto the opening. His is really cute, too.

After Target we had church and it looked like we were going to have a very small crowd because by this point the snow was already starting to stick to the roads and become a bit slippery. However, by the end of the service, we had around 70 people but when we started the service there were 30 or so people. Normally we have over 100!  So it was nice to have so many people join us! But we left for home in a hurry once the service was over; the roads were getting bad. And our car was already covered in snow!

The rest of the day we just spent being lazy in our comfy clothes and enjoying being stuck inside together. I even had the curtains open all day so I could watch the snow falling outside and covering the earth in a beautiful shade of white. We watched some Community (I got season one on dvd for Christmas and I really wanted Collin to watch it), we played some Wii, we took a nap, watched some more tv, played Metal Gear Solid a bit (well, Collin played, I watched), and I even got to read for a while when Collin was playing some other video games. At one point during the day we wanted to see how the cats would react to the snow outside. We tried to put them both out on the front stoop but they basically freaked out and ran back inside immediately. We're really not cruel to our kitties, I promise. They usually enjoy being out on the front stoop. Anyway, it was really, really nice just to be lazy and enjoy not going anywhere or really having anything to do. We did end up missing out on the Christmas chili cook-off with my extended family, it was cancelled due to the snow, but I'm glad we all stayed home and were safe! Though I am glad that by Monday the main roads were all clear and we were able to get out and do some stuff, especially celebrate Christmas with Collin's family!

My only regret from this snow is that I didn't get any pictures of it!  I should have just taken a moment or two to snap some shots, but oh well.  I'm sharing some pictures from a much larger snow fall we had in March 2009.  When you have a snow day what do you like to do? Do you enjoy being stuck inside watching the snow fall or does it make you antsy and you want to get out of the house?

Taken by me in March 2009

Cindy

The End of the Week

This weekend was a bit of a fun one.  I wasn't home very much, which was a little sad, but it was still a good weekend.  I got to go to Waldorf twice this weekend, to very different stores both trips though.  On Friday Collin and I headed up after work and he got fitted for his tux for the wedding he's in on New Year's.  Afterwards we wandered into hhgregg since neither of us had been in one and were curious about the inside.  I immediately began longing for a place of my own where I can buy the appliances I want.  They had the most gorgeous front loading washer and dryer set, in red none-the-less.  We looked at tvs and stereo systems for a bit and then headed over to the kitchen section and I yet again longed to buy new appliances.  I found my dream oven.  It's a dual oven but one of them is much smaller than a regular oven and is much more energy efficient.  You can basically cook just like you would in a larger one but it heats up much faster and since it's so small it uses less heat!  Oh man.  I was in love.  After we left hhgregg we headed to Bed, Bath, and Beyond where I continued to yearn for a bigger kitchen to put all the awesome gadgets, appliances, and place settings I saw in.  One day I'll be able to have my dream kitchen and I can not wait until that day.


On Saturday I headed back up the road to Waldorf with my mom and we went to the Christmas Tree Store and that place was awesome!  I had so much fun just looking at everything they had in there.  Before we went Mom had told me it was much more than just Christmas stuff and boy was she right!  This place was awesome!  I did buy only Christmas things but their selection of non-Christmas items is incredible!  After there we headed over to the mall where we each completed some Christmas shopping and got free Toll House cookies!  There was some lady in the middle of the mall who worked for Toll House that had a tiny oven and was baking the cookies right there!  I actually had two, one on my way up the escalator and another on our way out of Kohl's.  =)  Chocolate chip cookies are amazing and when they're free they're even better! 


similar to my dream kitchen found here

Later that evening Collin and I had our friend Jim over and we had a rousing night of gaming.  We started the evening off with Mouse Trap where much to our dismay we realized we were missing one of the marbles (we ended up rigging it with a battery dropping onto the see saw part) and not all the pieces were made very well so it was kinda a rig to get it to work properly.  I guess that's what happens when you buy it at a yard sale.  After Mouse Trap, which Jim won, we started a game of Risk.  I had only played Risk once before this and I was 12.  I did not remember anything about the game so Collin and Jim explained to me.  I actually ending up really enjoying it (until I started losing and then I got grumpy).  Right off the bat I took over the continent of Australia and had most of Asia actually, too.  And at one point I did own all of Asia, but that was a very short lived victory as Collin came and invaded me from Alaska.  I was not amused.  But yeah, it was a really fun game and even though we didn't finish it (it got too late) Collin was deemed the winner and the underdog.  At one point Collin had 9 countries and only one army on each, but then he came back and took over South and North America, some of Asia and some of Africa.  And on his last turn before we ended he took one territory from Australia from me.  I ended up getting second place over all which was cool.  So yeah, it was fun game!

Yesterday after church I had a bridal shower to go to and it was fun!  We played some fun games and the bride got lots of great gifts!  I enjoyed being there and supporting Bev in her upcoming marriage.  I'm so excited for her and Chris!  Afterwards Collin and I went over to his parent's house and spent the evening with them.  We had a nice time and I had a nice chat with his mom for a while while the guys were out getting us dinner.  We watched a bit of Jingle All the Way and that movie is so funny.

So yes, I'd say it was quite a good weekend!  I didn't get the baking done like I wanted to but I'll do it this week sometime, I'm sure!  What did you do this weekend?  Anything fun and exciting?  Share it with me in the comments!

Cindy

Surprise Coupons

Yesterday I left work about a half hour early because I wasn't feeling so good. My head and neck were killing me and my eyes were sore and puffy. All I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and take a nap. Never does my bed feel so good as it does when I don't feel good. Anyway... I don't know that I actually fell asleep by the time Collin got home but I had rested my eyes anyway for a little bit. Collin had picked up the mail on his way home and came into the room and plopped it all down onto the bed. This was a huge pile of mail (we hadn't been to the mailbox since either last Tuesday or Wednesday, I can't remember).

Anyway... contained within the mail were two very exciting coupons for me! One was a $5.00 Hallmark rewards coupon which now brings my Hallmark rewards coupon total to $10.00! I LOVE Hallmark and I can't wait to spend those coupons on some cards for people! It's one of my very favorite things to do. Go to Hallmark, spend over an hour picking out the perfect cards, then mailing them to my friends and family just to make them smile. =) It makes me immensely sad that I don't have the funds to keep up with that hobby right now. So you can imagine my joy when I saw that Hallmark coupon! The second coupon I had was a Victoria's Secret Happy Birthday coupon! They sent me a $10 coupon to spend anytime through January 2011! This also makes me immensely happy because I love that store! They have the CUTEST clothes and I've been eyeing a few sweaters lately and this will help me to actually be able to get one. Hopefully I'll get some gift cards for Christmas as well that will make my out of pocket costs even less. But anyway... I wanted to share with you what I'd like to get with my coupon!


Do you have a wish list of clothes (or anything) you'd like to buy? Do you ever get surprise coupons in the mail? Aren't they the greatest!? Tell me about them in the comments!

Cindy