Spring!! Not.

So I've been bombarded with the word "Spring" lately. Everywhere you look, stores are clearanceing their winter clothes making room for their spring arrivals, the garden sections are up and ready, the colors on websites and store images are turning to pastels, rather then the darker colors of winter. And before I know it, I find myself getting excited and looking forward to the next couple of weeks...and then it hits me as I look at my calender, yep it still reads: January. Such a mean trick to play on a person, if you ask me.

This has been an eventful week for me, much crazier then last week. Tuesday started up our MOMS group again after being on "holiday" break for 7 weeks. Rather then sitting and fellowshipping with all the other mothers, I found myself in a room with 15 preschoolers. It was my week to help out with childcare. I hadn't realized when I had signed up that it would be the first MOMS meeting in almost 2 months, oh well. I had a rather enjoyable time playing and talking to the 4 year olds. I made a few friends and came away from the nursery encouraged and loved. One little girl in particular was giving me compliments left and right: "you're beeeutiful", "I love your hair", you have pretty eyes", "you have a pretty voice", "I like your earrings". As you can imagine, I just wanted to scoop that little dear into my arms and take her home with me. Haha. I also had a little boy tug on my sleeve during snack time, asking me if I would pray for him. His great-grandpa had just passed away and he was feeling sad. That just about made my heart melt. All in all, working and playing with that age group, really made me look forward to the next couple of years with my Simon.

Yesterday, Ruth and I got together to work on Jackie's baby shower that we're hosting on Saturday. Everything is coming along beautifully! I can't wait to see the finished results - the decor, food and special little things that we're doing to make it extra special for our dear sister-in-law, Jackie and the wonderful bundle that she's carrying. It's going to be such a blessing to have another little one in the family! :) Hopefully the weather will hold off the nasty icy mix of rain and snow that we're suppose to get tonight-Saturday. Blah, where's Spring when you need it!?


I am now officially switched over to Bare Minerals and I L-O-V-E it!! I was a little hesitant at first, but the more I use it, the more I enjoy the way it looks on me. Coming from a liquid foundation freak, this is a HUGE step for me to switch over to powder. There are many things that I love about it, 1) I love the natural look and feel. I don't feel as ugly without makeup now as I once did. Liquid was SO entirely different then my natural face that the difference was too much for me to handle and I often didn't go without makeup because I just couldn't stand the way I looked and felt without it. Now it's not so difficult for me to accept. It's hard for me to explain, but at least I understand the logistics of it all. ;) 2) It's SO much easier to take off at night!! I could never find a facial wash that was able to take all of my liquid stuff off in one washing, it was such an ordeal each and every night to scrub that stuff off my face. Now it's as easy as can be and I don't have to worry about getting each and every square inch off my face, for worry of breakouts. 3) Speaking of breakouts, I've seen a major difference this month with random breakouts here and there. Hardly anything to complain about. Yesss! So yeah, I'm a fan. It's still hard for me to dish out $25 for foundation when I'm used to only having to pay $6 for my Revlon stuff, but thanks to Ebay (yes, ebay), I'm getting my BM stuff for $5 cheaper and that helps my frugal brain to accept it a little bit more. Yes, I'm nuts.

Why I like Aldi

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would ever post about my love of Aldi. I used to shop there with my Grandma when I was little and always thought that it was a strange and bizarre place. Instead of putting our purchased food in bags like you would at a normal store, we would put ours in boxes that were laying around in the store (they charge for their bags, so you either bring your own bags or you pay for them)...and back in the day, they were always closed on Sundays. But now that I'm a wife and mother, I'm finding myself shopping there more and more - it helps that it's just down the street from us. Here are just a few things I'll highlight about Aldi.

1. The food there is inexpensive. Granted there are still some items that I can get cheaper at Wal-Mart (Milk & eggs just to name a couple), but all in all, everything else is way cheaper then local grocery stores.

2. It's not a HUGE store and yet they carry pretty much everything that I need on a week to week basis when it comes to groceries. I especially love the inexpensive fruit and produce! For example today I got the following: 1 whole fresh pineapple, 4lbs oranges, 3lbs apples, 5 bananas and 4 pears, all for $5.43!! Amazing, right?! Anyway, because it's not huge, I find that I get my shopping done A LOT faster. Even the checkout lanes when they're backed up go faster then those at other grocery stores.

3. Because they charge for their bags (one of the ways they keep their prices low, that and they don't have to pay people to carrel carts - awesome $.25 cent system) I am reminded to bring my echo-friendly bags. It's nice to come home and have everything in my sturdy colorful bags rather then having to deal with plastic.

So those are my top 3 (plus some) favorite things about Aldi. Here's a little trivia, did you know that Aldi and Trader Joes are owned by the same man? Pretty interesting. Anyway, I'll sign off now before I bore everyone to tears with my blog about a grocery store - lol.

My first 2010 entry.

It's been quite some time since I've posted...happy 2010 everyone!! I'm still trying to get used to typing and writing that. It's weird not having two "0's" in the middle. I've been amazed at how laid back this year has been. Granted we're only 15 days into the year, but still. The highlight of the year so far has been going to a live Viking game. Peter couldn't have picked a more exciting game to take me to. I am no longer a "Live NFL Game" virgin - lol. It was really sweet of Peter to get me tickets for my birthday, he knew how much I've wanted to go to an NFL game (it was seriously on my list of things to do before I die - no joke) and I was COMPLETELY surprised when I opened the envelope. Now I can cross that off of my list and figure out what I want to move to the top. :)





Simon continues to change little by little - I think I'm noticing it more now that his hair is gone. He looks so grown up! Peter buzzed it a couple of weeks ago and it's really changed his look. It actually suits him I think. Simon now folds his hands when we pray - it makes me smile just thinking about it. He's also learned how to hold my hand when we walk, it's the sweetest feeling walking hand in hand with my baby. I'm really looking forward to Spring when we can start up our walking and park outings again. I feel bad for him at times when it's super cold out and we're stuck indoors. He sometimes goes crazy with "cabin fever". I'll find him at times literally running in circles. It's times like those that going for mail is a blessing (gotta love apartment living where getting the mail takes 10 minutes). It's a change for him to walk the halls and use up some of that bottled up energy.



In other news not pertaining to my blue-eyed baby...

I was challenged this past Sunday to pray and read my bible more. I did pretty well last year by reading through the whole NT in a year, I missed a few days here and there but was able to make up for it. I ended the year right on schedule. This year, I'm going to mix it up a bit. I'm reading through the minor prophets and NT and listening to the OT on audio discs. So far it's working quite well. My goal is to finish the whole bible this year, but more importantly, draw closer to Jesus by doing so. I've also been challenged to pray for my husband more. He's having a really tough time at work and sometimes I feel like all I can do is pray. I feel so bad for him and wish there was more that I could do to help eliminate his stress. These are the times where I start feeling guilty that I get to stay home all day and not have to work outside of the home. I keep reminding myself that it's better this way. Daycare is expensive and I wouldn't want my little boy in that environment. I'm really hoping that my Dizzy Frog business takes off and that I can start helping financially through that.

It amazes me at how much time I spend on the computer each day and evening. I really want to read more this year and do more creative things around the house, and so I've come up with an idea. I'm going to try and fast one day a week from TV (not including wii fit - gotta stay trim and healthy) and the Internet/computer. Realistically I might have to go a half day starting off just because stuff (email) will pile up and I won't have my email conversations with my husband, which I will miss dearly - but I would like to get to the point where I can go a whole day/evening without getting on and wasting time. It's not like everything I do on the Internet is a waste, and it's not like I'm on all day (even though I stay signed on to everything all day - so it seems like I am). I like staying in touch with friends and family and emailing my man - but seriously, I can go one day without doing that and still be okay. I'm excited about the things I'll be able to achieve by setting this goal.

Like I said before, I want to read more!! Comment on my site if there's a book out there that you think I should read. I love fiction and am always looking for new books to add to my collection. So far I've finished a couple of books this year:

"First Light" (Thoene)


"Peter and the Starcatchers" (Barry)

I'm currently reading through "Jerusalem Interlude" (Thoene) ...I'm enjoying reading about the Nazi Germany period and even though it's mainly fiction, it's really made me see that time period in a different way.

Whew, so that was a long post. I guess I made up for being a "no-show" on this blog of mine. I think I'll click publish and go do something productive. Have a great week everyone!!