Denver "Fake-end"

I know you are all curious as to what I have been up to! Well, last week I was recovering from VBS overload, so I didn't do much- other than laundry!

 Sunday was Father's Day, so we spoiled Joel, and then Monday my grandparents stopped by for the night on their way to Missouri.

Joel has this week of off school (although unfortunately, not work!) so we decided to run up to Denver on the only two days he will have off together all summer!

I decided that it wasn't really a "stay-cation", because we stayed in a hotel. It was more like a weekend, in the middle of the week. So, I dubbed it a fake weekend, or a "fake-end"- you like?

We had a wonderful, relaxing time. Joel used part of his Father's Day gift, a gift card to "The Art of Shaving" and he got a professional straight razor shave. He loved it. Kind of like a pedicure for guys.

I shopped. And shopped. And shopped some more! I bought this delicious yellow cardigan. And paid full price! But it was from Forever 21 so it was a whopping $13. I have big plans for this little sweater.

How, I ask you, can you not love a store where the jewelry starts at $1.50?!! I could not resist picking up a couple more pieces to add to my collection. You can hardly buy a soda for that price, and trust me, I get a lot more compliments on my necklaces than my beverage choices.

We also spent some quality time at Ikea. I know that sounds like a funny statement, but when there is free childcare, we consider it quality time. Besides, I found the most perfect curtains for my living room. I have sloooowly been changing things over in there. These were my curtains before:

Hard to see in the picture, hard to appreciate in real life. They are brown, which matches nothing, because I prefer black. Satin, which is so not me, and plain. They were cheap, and they covered the window. But then I found these:

Can I just say love? They need hemming, but they are the perfect colors and they are so much more cheerful and eye-catching than the old ones. They make me happy.

After all our shopping we checked in to our hotel and did some swimming. After that we went to dinner, did a little more shopping (I know, I have a problem) and then came back and did some more swimming. It was a good thing we got all our swimming in the first day, because it was 90 degrees on Tuesday and only 65 on Wednesday morning. Typical Colorado weather!

We went to H&M and trolled the 16th Street Mall. I refrained from buying anything-aren't you proud of me? The kids thought it was fun to ride the trolley, and we all enjoyed some Starbucks-perfect for a slightly damp, chilly, summer morning. Here are my favorite people with their "coffee":

We thought it was hilarious that there was a Starbucks on every corner. There are at least 4 within 3/4 of a mile. And they are all busy! We weren't ashamed to add to the revenue stream.

We headed home, swung by the outlet mall, and finished out our shopping themed trip with a stop at Costco, where I found this:



May I just say that samples work? I don't like cheddar popcorn, but the caramel corn in there is worth the whole bag! Tasty stuff.

Anyway, it was delightful to get away with our little family. Joel won't get a true vacation this year, but it was nice to pretend. The kids thought swimming was the greatest-especially at night when we had the pool to ourselves. We decided we definitely need more fake-ends.;)

One Stop Swap Shop

I love clothes. Shopping is a competitive sport for me, one that gets my blood pumping and my eyes gleaming. I am an excellent clearance shopper-not just cheap clothes, but fashionable, no-one-would-guess-I-only-paid-a-dollar-for-it kind of stuff. I don't necessarily consider myself a "trend setter" but I do love to put together different outfits. However, all this shopping causes one problem: extra stuff.

I have been on a mission to declutter and simplify my house. I am not ever planning on having six shirts and two pairs of pants or anything drastic like that, but I did decide I wanted to get rid of everything that was too big for me and most of what was too small (the dreamer in me couldn't get rid of a few choice items!), and anything I just didn't care for. So I purged:once, twice, three times! And I had a ton of things that I couldn't wear.

I have tried selling my clothes. On Craigslist, at yardsales, to consignment stores. I had a girl on Craigslist who bought my jeans and then decided she wanted to return them. I have marked tons of stuff for yardsales only to return home with 3/4 of it. And I have taken it to consignment stores to be offered $10 for three pairs of jeans (two Gap, one Lucky), never worn New Balance shoes (given to me by a friend) and 6 tops! Ummm, no thank you!

So, what's a girl to do? I could have donated my things to Goodwill. I am a big fan, and I think they have a quality program. But I am friends with lots of non-shoppers. Who often comment on my taste in clothes. So finally, one day while trolling the internet I decided I wanted to have a clothing swap! It would be a great way to give things to people who would appreciate my quality clothes, grab a few new things for myself and have a party! I love a party, too.:)

First, I sent out an Evite. I set the time and date. I also included that each guest should plan on bringing at least 10 things to swap. They were welcome to bring more, but I felt like that would be a good starting point. Believe it or not, I had a few friends who had trouble coming up with that many things! It could include: pants, tops, dresses, shorts, sweaters, jewelry, scarves, accessories, purses, shoes-basically anything you could wear.

A few people were worried that we weren't all the same size, but since most of had clothes that were too big, too small, and also just weren't "right", we had a variety of sizes from 4-12. Definitely something for everyone!

And because I can't resist an opportunity that says "party", I had to do a couple of my own little things! I chose to repeat the colors from my birthday party, so I could reuse the paper lanterns and tablecloth. The party was in the afternoon, so I went with simple food: crackers, cheese, salami and pepperoni, chips and dip, veggies and these delightful cookies! My friend supplied the red velvet cupcakes.

 I also made a really tasty punch. I used 3/4 of a bottle of cranberry-cherry juice, added 1/4 cup lime juice and one-third of a two liter of ginger ale. I made the ice cubes in a muffin tin and floated lime slices on top-thanks, Pinterest! Punch just says "party", doesn't it?

I put together little prizes,too. I decided I would have a prize for: most items, item that had the most ribbons (that meant the most people wanted it) and for best outfit put together from swap pieces. It didn't quite work out that way, but it would have been fun!

The prizes were a big hit. I put in a cute accessory from Claire's (thank you, 10 items for $10 clearance-perfect!), either a ring or a necklace. This one was a ring that I loved so much I bought a duplicate for myself! I also included either a lotion or hand sanitizer from Bath and Body works and for fun-since it was about clothes (which are laundry) I put a different sample of laundry detergent in each one. I send away for free samples all the time, so I had plenty handy. However, it would be really easy to put a Tide Pod, or something like that in each one.

And then it was time to swap! I forgot to take pictures once every one's clothes were out-this is just my stuff, except the green Target bag. Crazy, huh? I used my rolling rack to hang all the shirts, dresses and skirts and then folded the pants, swimwear and layering pieces on the green tub.

I bought ten different colors of $0.50 ribbon from Micheal's and cut off ten 10 inch pieces from each roll. We used these to mark which things we wanted. If two (or more) people wanted the same item, we removed the ribbon and "drew" for it. Basically someone held a piece in each hand and someone else picked a hand. It actually worked out to be pretty fair!

Everyone took their time looking through the items, trying things on, and finding things for other people. They tied the ribbon either on the hanger, on on the belt loop, or wherever. Once everyone had used their ten ribbons, anything else was free game to take. Anything with multiple ribbons we held a drawing for, and I tied up all the leftovers for Goodwill. We had a great time eating, chatting and swapping, and several people said they hoped it would be a semi-annual event! Maybe, but for right now, my closet is pretty clean!

CD Review: "O What A Savior"

 

 There are certain things that one associates with the South: fried chicken, humidity, open-armed hospitality and foot-stompin', hand-clappin' music. "O What A Savior" is 10 songs of that kind of music.

These are not "put you to sleep" hymn renditions. They are much better at waking you up! I didn't love everyone song on this album, but I freely admit that instrumental hymns are not my typical genre of choice. I did, however, appreciate the skillfulness of the musicians, and there were several tracks that I  thoroughly enjoyed.

I was a bit surprised at the variety of the arrangements-they are definitely not monotonous. My favorite track was "There's Something About That Name". That is one of my favorite hymns to sing and this rendition made me fall in love with it all over again.

There is also an incredible variety of instruments, including the mandolin and bass. It gives the music personality and vivacity. You can picture yourself in a little white-steepled church, fanning yourself  with an old-fashioned paper fan, while clapping  and singing along with the musicians.

If you are a lover of Southern gospel music, this is definitely an excellent choice. How can you go wrong with beautiful reminders of the glory that awaits us in our heavenly home and the power we have through our Savior here on earth? This CD is kind of like a musical big tent revival- it will get your blood flowing and remind you that earth is passing and heaven is the place to be!

I was graciously provided a copy of this CD to review by Discovery House Publishing. If you would like to find out more please check it out here!

A "Thirst Quenching" Thank-You

 My children attend a marvelous Awana program. If you are not familiar with Awana, it is worldwide Scripture memory organization. Kids memorize Scripture, learn about missionaries and play games. They earn awards based on their performance. It requires a ton of workers, and this year my kids both had wonderful groups of  leaders.

I think it is so important to thank your children's church teachers. Everyone remembers their children's school teachers-and that is great, too. But I am so appreciative of the people that work hard to teach my kids about the Bible and how to love and obey the the Lord.

Our budget is really tight right now, and I was hard pressed to come up with an original idea. Candy or baked goods are so frequent, and personally, I am not overly appreciative of all those extra calories! I would have loved to have given each person a gift card, but even then, not everyone likes Starbucks as much as I do, and that was definitely not in the budget.

My sister suggested giving out bottles of water with packaged drink mixes. I would have needed to re-label the bottles, and I learned from Carson's party last year that labeling water bottles is a pain! However, I took the kernel of her idea and expanded on it.

Part of my difficulty was that I needed at least 12 gifts, for both adults and teenagers, and men and women! I wanted something memorable, that wasn't expensive and would be fun.

This is what I came up with: the Dollar Store had fun reusable island themed water bottles. I filled each bottle with two ice pops (unfrozen, of course!) two packages of Hawaiian punch drink mix, two expandable sponges and some bubbles. Then I attached a water gun on the outside.

It might seem like that was a bunch of silly things, but I knew almost all of the adults had kids, and that the kids would enjoy  the toys. I knew the adults could use the bottles. I thought all the teenagers (there were four adult leaders and eight teens) would love the water guns!

 I filled the bottles with all the things, and it was easy to get the ice pops in there, I just bent them at the bottom since they were still liquid. I looped the rubber band through itself around the handle of the water gun, and then placed it over the bottles. It made them look even more fun and colorful.

 All ready to go, but there was something missing. I wanted to let the leaders know how much I appreciated their hard work...

 So I grabbed my trusty mailing labels and printed off some thank you stickers! Each one says,

" Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17
Thank you for being a gift from God to me! Enjoy your summer and have fun!
                                                       In Him,

The each child drew a picture of themselves with each leader and signed their name (I helped Carson with his, can you tell?)

 I could have done a variety of verses, such as:

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42  with "You gave far more than a cup of water, so here are some "refreshing" things to say thanks!"

but I have always been partial to James 1:17, so that is what I went with. I know that child of one particular teacher was thrilled with everything- he thought it was fantastic that there were popsicles in it! It would be so easy to put a variety of things in there, and it ended up costing me less than $2 per gift. I have a feeling I know what the VBS teachers will be getting...

A Wonderful "Wicked" Time

 Waaaay back in November my dear friend, Kristan, said, "Do you want to go to "Wicked" with me?". I had really only heard a few mentions of the play, but immediately I agreed. It is fun to do...well pretty much anything and everything with Kristan. And this was no exception!

We drove up to Denver and were so excited to see all the banners advertising it! I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to drag it around all night, and I knew we wouldn't be able to take photos in the theater. So, you are privileged to get more not-so-great phone pics. You can still see Elphaba's green face though!

We made sure to leave *really* early to avoid traffic. And we did such a good job that we had plenty of time to enjoy wandering 16th St. It would have been more fun if it had not been "National Legalize Pot Day"- really! I am not well experienced with marijuana...but I am pretty sure we were treated to the smell more than once! Oh well, it definitely made it unique...

 We decided to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I had a very tasty burger, and as a joke I took a photo of it-because isn't that what bloggers do? The burger was good, but the fries were delicious! Kristan and I had a great time cracking up over the music- especially when they dragged out Depeche Mode, and a Beastie Boys song. See, I said she makes everything fun!

We even had time to run into H & M. If you have never been to one, it is basically the Ikea of clothing. Fashionable, European, and cheap! I really restrained myself and only purchased a couple of things for Josie. But I will definitely be going back.

 Then it was time for the main event! I had to snap a shot of the iconic poster. If you are not familiar with the story it is about the Wicked Witch of the West- before she was wicked. It is absolutely delightful and I would go again in a heartbeat!

 Always having fun! I was so amused that I could reverse the camera on my phone to get a semi- decent (and very smiley) pic of me and my BFF.

The show was fabulous- although Glinda absolutely stole the show. She was charming and funny and just adorable. The set was gorgeous and we had wonderful seats. Good job, Kristan!  All of the performers did an terrific job, and I love, love orchestra music. Kristan bought the sound track and we enjoyed a "repeat" performance on the way home. I am ready to buy tickets to see something else...hint, hint, Kristan!:)