I LOVE finding a good deal! It's just in my nature to only buy things that are on sale, mainly clearance, or things that are inexpensive anyway! I love to shop, but I can't afford to pay full price for stuff nor can I rationalize doing so when you know the price is going to go down soon. Anyway, my latest finds are these:
One of David's friends from college introduced us to www.pandora.com. This is an online music site that allows you to put in an artist that you like then it plays a song from that artist and continuously plays similar music from other artists. You can create your own stations and choose what you want to hear! And best of all, it's FREE! Thanks, Chris!
Last year, I searched for new cushions for our wicker furniture on the front porch. I discovered a place on-line, www.wickercushionsnc.com ,and realized that it was in Denton, which is right down the road from us! I never went because we ended up getting our old cushions recovered. We also got a new patio set last year that came with lime green chair cushions. Our garden swing has pink, green, and yellow striped cushions. I quickly found that the backs of our patio chairs are very uncomfortable and also that my porch cushions needed a splash of color! So, Brandy and I went to this place a couple of weeks ago. It's a small warehouse out in the middle of nowhere! They have tons of fabric, indoor/outdoor, Waverly, etc... You get to pick your own fabric and they made everything right in front of us while we waited for only about 15 minutes! They did an awesome job! The best thing, of course, is the price! Toss pillows are only $7.95, tax included! That's compared to $12.99 at Garden Ridge and much more than that at other places. Here's a pic of the flip flop pillows I got for the patio. Along with the green ones and the striped ones, they coordinate so well! I LOVE them! I forgot to take a pic of the porch ones, but they are striped. I'll add that later. Brandy got pink, black, and white striped cushions with the coordinating black flip flop pillows...so cute! You can see all of the fabrics on-line.
Great Finds!
Here Comes Peter Cottontail!
We're going to the beach with David's family for Easter, so my family came over on Sunday so we could celebrate with them. We ate and had an Easter egg hunt. It's Macy's 1st Easter. I'm sure my 15 year old nephew, Ivan, is thrilled every time we make him take a group picture with the little ones! At least we didn't make him hold a basket! The kids had a great time together. Alexis and Chase found the special silver and gold prize eggs. They each got $1!
Now, we'll be heading to the beach on Thursday! It's weird with Easter being so early this year! It has always been a tradition in David's family to go to the beach for Easter. David and I always went until we had kids and then I didn't want to go anymore because I wanted us to be home for church. Well, last year, we went because we didn't have a church after just moving. And now, the only way I can get David to take a break from work is to actually leave town. The only thing he can't escape from is his cell phone. Maybe it will "accidentally" fall into the ocean while we're there!
Hannah Montana
Awhile back, I wrote about my favorite author, Karen Kingsbury. I was just reading her journal on her website, www.karenkingsbury.com, and she had an entry about Hannah Montana. I was curious, so I read it. She said that her 15 year old son only wanted 1 thing for his b/d and that was Hannah Montana tickets. She managed to get 8 tickets and backstage passes (Karen, her husband, and their 6 kids)! She informed her kids that they would probably only get a few seconds with her. But, when they got to the front of the line, Hannah saw her and told her she was her favorite author and yelled for her mom and sister to come over! She grabbed her and hugged her and said they've read all her books! They all huddled to pray together before leaving with a promise to get together again! How sweet to know that she and her family (you know she's Billy Ray Cirus's daughter!) are Christians since she is such a huge hero for little girls!
On another note, if you have a daughter, make sure you let her read Karen's books when she gets old enough. Some have stories of young girls and abstinence and the consequences when their friends don't abstain. One particular series, Forever Faithful, is about a boy and girl who grow up together and always knew they'd get married. A move separates them but they somehow meet again years later. They begin dating and promise to abstain, but the night before he leaves for overseas, they lose control. Of course, there's no contact during the trip and she finds she's pregnant. His mother intervenes and she moves away and never tells him. They end up being apart for 10 years until they meet again and all the deceit of his mom comes out. Talk about God's punishment for not following his commands!
Also, on the radio today, they were talking about teenage daughters. Some parents "drew a line" for her. They "challenged" her to not be alone with a boy until she was sure he was the one she'd marry. They also said that the "line" was her waistline and that the only place a boy was allowed to touch her was on her back from her shoulders to her waist until she got married! So, after she got married, her husband put his hand on her knee and said, "I've been waiting 4 years to do that!"
Happy Birthday, DD!
We celebrated DD's birthday this past weekend. He got lots of Wolfpack presents, as usual and he enjoyed the time with his grandkids!
Chase is 7!
Chase had his 7th birthday party at Graystone Farm in Reidsville. The kids rode ponies and played games. There was a life size Connect 4 game! He had a horse shaped cake, too! 
It's the Thought that Counts...
Several weeks before Valentine's Day, I told David that I might like to have a massage for V-Day. I've never had one and honestly, have never wanted one. I'm not too keen on the idea of getting naked and being rubbed on by someone who's not my husband. Not to mention that I'm very sensitive and I generally don't like to be touched-no manicures, pedicures, etc... BUT, since I've been teaching this year, I've started having major issues with my neck and back from bending over a table all day. See, since I'm a reading teacher, I don't stand up all day to teach. I have 5 students at a time and we're all sitting down. Since they're little and I'm not, my table is low so I have to strain my neck and back to get down to their level. I thought a massage might help.
Anyway, 2 days before V-Day, David says, "We're not getting each other anything for V-day, right?" I reminded him of the massage but then said forget it because I'd really like to have some new pj's instead. He replies that he won't have time to go shopping before then. You know what's going on in my mind, right?!? V-Day comes every year and it's always on February 14th so he's known this was coming for the past 364 days since the last one!!! So, I go back to the massage idea because it's through the YMCA, which would require him to not even have to leave the building. He calls me during the day on V-day itself and asks me if I want 30 min. or 1 hr. so I assume I'm getting a massage. We went out to dinner that night and the day comes and goes and still no sign of a gift massage. The next day goes by the same way so I finally asked and he tells me it's on his desk.
Needless to say, here it is March 3rd and I have yet to see a gift certificate for a massage! So, finally, I told him to forget it and I'd just buy myself something, as usual! It's a good thing that it's the thought that counts, huh?!?
