7 factoids - a little off subject

Thanks Shauna :). I'd link you, but I'm just not that good yet...

1) I love having an afternoon treat. A latte, a coffee, a hot cocoa, a cookie. Something special to get through the rest of the day. Today I'm going with hot cocoa (with a little of coffee left over from this morning. Mmmm).

2) Now that I don't work at Gap as much, I actually fold my laundry and put it away. The clothes even make it back to the closet, or into the laundry basket most days! This is truly a miracle.

3) I like being crafty. I often have the urge to be artistic, but I'm never as talented/skilled as I would like to be. But I keep trying....that' s what counts!

4) If you asked me at age 16, I would have told you I was waiting until 30 to get married and have kids. I'm am currently married and about to have my second child all by the ripe old age of 27! I like when I'm wrong :).

5) I went to a Hanson concert with 5 other girls (most of which were 4+ years younger then me) and we wore black shirts with pink letters that spelled out "H-A-N-S-O-N". I am very proud of this moment.

6) I second guess myself all the time. I hate this...but can't seem to stop. My husband is the best at keeping me inline.

7) My "to-do" list is never-ending. Always.

Ok, now it's your turn. Either post this to your blog or leave me a comment with 7 little facts about you!!

The extravagance of a stroller.

There are so many places to start this story. I guess the best place would be to start at the beginning....

Back in July I found out I was pregnant with baby number two! In about the same amount of time it took for reality to hit, I also became very sick. I spent the rest of that summer in bed, or on the couch trying to cope the best I could. By the time I started to recover, Jordan and I were starting to discuss and pray about whether or not we should move back to Colorado. We decided to move, and began packing and preperations for our cross country journey. We arrived in Colorado on Dec. 5th, moved, and then had just enough time to celebrate Christmas and New Years. So, needless to say I haven't had much time to think about the fact that I am pregnant, and my life is about to get a little crazier!!

I decided that after the New Year I would have a bit more time and could actually sit down and think about all I needed to do to get ready for our second boy, Greyson Daniel. Since we are having another boy, our list of things we need to get is cut in half! No need for more blankets, bedding, clothes...you get my point. But as I sat down last week I realized that there was still a lot more on my list then I had money to buy. I started making a game plan. We could borrow a crib, a swing, and a few things from some good friends. I could easily find a few items second hand. I could even live with out a few items for a while. There were however a few more pressing items that had begun to stress me out.

1- A dresser

2- A double stroller

3- diapers (for those of you who don't know I use cloth, which will deserve its own blog one of these days :)!!)

For those of you who read my "getting over myself" blog, I was struggling to finding a cheap dresser. We came up with a solution, however I won't bore you with the details.....well, because that's not what this blog is about. As far as the diapers go.... I'm still working on this, and that is ok!

Now, the stroller. Oh the stroller. There is only one of me, and soon to be two of "them". As you can see, a device to haul two kids around is going to be quite the necessity. There are a lot of double strollers on the market. If you've never looked, please do, you will be shocked at the variety as well as the price tag!!
I began looking at second hand strollers. Most of them were old, clunky and still way to expensive. I looked at new "cheaper" ones, and those were still $200 - $300!

A friend of mine had recently purchased one of the best strollers money can buy on clearance at a local sporting goods store. She had decided to go with a different brand and was selling it for about $200 less then one would go for brand new (which this one pretty much was). She generously offered to sell it to us for less then what they would ask for it on craigslist, but still it came with a hefty price tag. Jordan and I discussed our options. How would we pay for it? Was it really worth it? But, before we went to bed that night we decided it just wasn't going to be possible.

Early the next morning, I got on the computer to do my morning social networking and found that I had an email from a friend. We had been emailing a bit about things we needed for the baby because she was wanting to send us a gift. Her email stated that she really wanted to help with something we were needing and to just let her know what that was. Even though Jordan and I had decided that we couldn't afford the stroller, I thought I'd mention it.

I left the house, ran some errands, and essentially forgot about the email. On my way home I got stopped at a light where a homeless man stood with his small cardboard sign asking for help. I watched as 5 cars lined up in the the right hand left turning lane....as far away as they could get and still get to where they needed to go. I actually needed to be in that lane as well, but as I pulled up I felt a twing in my heart. I thought to myself, "How awful. No one wants to pull up next to this man because they do not want to feel guilty about not giving him money." Selfishly, I didn't want to give up the few dollars I had in my wallet either because who knew when I would have them again? I couldn't believe that these thoughts were going through my head. Who am I to not share what I have?

So, I pulled out of my lane and headed over the man and passed him a few dollars. The light turned green. As I drove away I remembered what a very generous friend of mine had said a few days earlier. After already borrowing so many things from her, she kindly offered us more. In response to my sarcastic comment of "Why don't I just take your house and your car while I'm at it?!", she simply said "You know everything that I have is yours." This is how I needed to be. Even if I didn't have a lot, what I have is not mine. I wanted to learn to be more generous, less selfish, even if it meant giving away the last few dollars out of my wallet that I could have used to buy a secret Starbucks that Jordan would never see come out of our bank account (love you sweety).

When I got home, I had forgotten about this whole revelation in the chaos of feeding my 2 year old and getting him down for his nap. I got back online and began chatting with my mom about the stroller, she offered to help pay for it, but still I knew that we couldn't cover the remainder. I proceed to check my email and found an email from my friend saying that she was putting $200 in the mail to go towards the stroller. Tears welled up in my eyes as I read those words...as they are now just thinking about the love and generosity being shown to me. In less then 12 hours of decided to forget about the stroller, we had more then enough to cover it on its way! I spent the next hour in tears over the amazing ways God can use people to bless us. He could have provided a used stroller, or a little extra money for an "okay" stroller....but NO....He provided through my friends and family the best stroller money can buy! I feel extravagently loved and blessed by God, my friends, and my family. Life is good.

Thank you to all the friends mentioned in this blog....you know who you are :).

A few good webistes....

Hello!

This post is just a quick note to tell you about a few good sites that I have come across. One was recommended by a friend, the other two I stumbled upon in my search for great deals and free stuff :).

www.onefrugalchick.com

This site is for everyone. She posts a few times a day with a variety of things. Free tacos, free pretzels, what coupons are out that are good on items that are on sale at major national chains (making most things free or under a buck!)...she's got quite a few good ideas.

www.denvermetromoms.com

www.milehighmamas.com

These two are for those of us who live in Colorado. There are a ton of good ideas and deals on both sites! On denver metro moms, she posts a weekly shopping list/meal plan, and gives you 2 stores to shop at using their sales and coupons (last week was King Soopers and sunflower market)! It makes life a bit easier to start this type of penny pinching :). I think she works on a budget of $40 a week?!

What I've gotten using these sites....

• 2 free tacos
• free ben&jerry's ice cream
• free mag. subscription
• and a few others I don't remember at the moment

Just thought I'd share.

Getting over myself

Just over a month ago we moved back to Colorado. Beautiful Colorado! With the help of some wonderful friends we found a great town house for a great price with tons of space! Although we love our new home, Jordan and I both feel like our stuff doesn't 'fit'.

We have always rented...never bought. And in each house we've moved into (which has been more then I would like to admit), there has always been an little extra money to help make sense of awkward spaces, ugly fixtures, etc. If you have ever lived in a rental, you know exactly what I'm talking about! This time around, there was no money in the budget for new anything. So with my list of wants running long, and my bank account running low I've been trying to make it work.

I've come up with a few "fixes", but nothing fantastic. I have one successful fix, one complete failure (that I'm still determined to turn into a success), and then through all my frustrations, my lesson learned.

Success: Sheets for curtains. Yes, sheets for curtains. The previous tenant was apparently a freak of nature and decided that closet doors were not necessary. She removed them ALL, and threw them away! Our poor landlord had quite a mess to clean up after her eviction and one thing that is left for him to do is special order closet doors (for whatever reason the designer of the home decided closets should go to the ceiling, and they don't sell doors like that at lowe's). So, here were are, with out closet doors. The only thing I can think to cover my closets are curtains. As previously mentioned, these closets go all the way to the ceiling. Do you know how hard it is to find curtains that long? And when you do how much they cost?! It's ridiculous! Fabric is not cheap either. Even if you find decent material at $4 a yard, you still need 6+ yards....it adds up fast. One day I had an epiphany. I realized that most sheets are over 100 inches long, making them them the perfect length for curtains to cover my closets!! Being an avid thrifter, I often notice that there are an abundance of sheets at almost any second hand store. Used sheet on my bed, I admit, freak me out. But, used sheets as curtains...I could handle that. So I hit up my favorite thrift store on 50% off day, and scored a few sheets for $2 or $3 each! Then I found some cheap curtain rods for another $6 and *BAM* I have closet doors for less then $10!

Failure: Although craigslist is incredibly helpful 99% of the time, we are currently in a fight. With our second child's arrival just around the corner we are finding there are more then just a few items we need. One of those items is a dresser. We've always made do with a bit of closet space and a few drawers on Harper's changing table for all of Harper's clothes, but with a second child....we need more storage! Silly me, thought "how hard could it possibly be to find a cheap functioning used dresser?". Well, apparently it can be VERY hard. I have visit approx. 3 thrift stores a week, and get on craigslist AT LEAST 3 times a day checking for a small, basic dresser for $40 or less. Impossible! The ones I find at thrift stores are too expensive, too ugly, or too broken. The ones on craigslist are mostly the same. I have come across a few, but by the time I email about them someone has already taken them. I am not lying to you when I say that I have emailed within 2 hours of a post and it has been gone! So, craigslist and I are in a fight...at least until I get what I want.

Lesson learned or better yet "Getting over it": I'm learning to get over myself. Who cares if I don't have the prettiest artwork, the most comfortable sofa, or the most perfectly coordinated interior design? Seriously! I get mad at myself just thinking these things. Do I judge others by the "coolness" of their house, their clothes, their car? NO! Then why do I hold myself to these judgements? All I want for my home is for it to be known as a place where people feel at home. I want others to feel like this place can be a refuge, a place where they can put up their feet and be served a cup a tea. I want YOU to be comfortable in my home. And that doesn't happen through a new picture, new curtains, or a new anything! So, I need to learn to get over it. It's not about my stuff.

My home is at its best when it is filled with my family, friends, tears, and laughter.....and maybe a good latte or two :).

Harper turned 2 at the end of 2009. Jordan, my husband, and I decided that it would be fun to go to a Kids museum for his birthday. Surprise, Surprise, the Denver Children's Museum would have cost our little family of 3 over $22! Not a huge expense in the long run, but still. Doing a little more research we found that every first Tuesday of the month is free from 4pm-8pm!! FREE! We decided Harper would not know the difference if we went on his birthday for $22 or a week after is birthday for $0.

So...we made a night of it! We found another family to join us in our festivities and went into Denver a little bit early to hit up one of our favorite restaurants during happy hour. For a mere $29 we got some of the best wings in the world, a hormone free grass fed basil and blue cheese burger (yes, it is as good as it sounds), an avocado, veggie and cheese sandwich, 2 of the most amazing beers you will ever taste (for Jordan of coarse, Harper and I aren't into drinking these days), AND a large order of fries! Crazy right?! Dinner was great, the kids were full, and off to the Museum we went.

After an hour of chasing children through train rooms, painting rooms are very large and totally awesome tree house, we decided to make one more stop before heading home. Which leads us to my favorite part of the night...

We went down to the lower level where kids under 4 got to play. It was only slightly less crazy then the rest of the Museum that night. Harper had been eyeing this nifty little boat that came supplied with a magnetic fishing pole and lots of magnetic fish to out of the pond! There was however another little boy, lets call him Todd (named mainly because of the red and white striped turtleneck and blue corduroys he was wearing...Todd just seems to fit), who seemed to have taken over this particular play area. Finally, there was an brief opening. Todd climbed out and left his post for a few moments and Harper didn't waste anytime taking over. Todd quickly decided he wasn't quite done and thought he would join Harper in the boat. I anxiously watched as he crawled his way toward Harper, wondering if Harper would allow this trespass?! I was happy to see that Harper sat there patiently as the little boy climbed his way up. As Todd sat down next my dear sweet boy, Harper calmly looked over at him and screamed as loud as he could a few inches from the boy's face!! I, of coarse, being the sensitive caring mother I am, began to laugh as Todd burst into tears. Jordan on the other hand, kept his cool and did the polite parental things and told Harper that he should not do that, as the Todd's father scooped him up and away from my monster of a child!

Vine St. Pub dinner and drinks for 3: $29

Denver Children's Museum: $0

Harper gettin' crazy: Priceless

Hi! My name is Liz. I am a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend. I love my life, most days. 2009 was a crazy year for me, but I'm not going to spend so much time talking about that, I'm looking forward! I've spent the last month reflecting on my crazy year and my life, most importantly the ways I choose to fill my time. Seeing as it is the turn of the decade (I know this idea can be up for debate, I am choosing to see it as the turn of the decade), I have decided to make a few resolutions. I know, I know...very cliche. But there is something about a new morning, a new week, a new month, a new year, and most of all, a new decade that inspires me to look at things in a new light.

So here I am, January 5th (did I mention I'm a mom...thus the not so prompt start of the year, but it will do). I went back and forth on if I should start a blog or not, and today I decided "What the hell? Let's do this thing!" Wild and crazy, right?

One of my resolutions is to read. I have never been a reader nor do I know that I ever will be, but I do believe it is a valuable past time and I think I should give it a shot. My husband bought me a book for Christmas, and so far reading this book has been the only resolution I have been following through on. Oddly enough, it was just announced that the book I am reading is about to be a movie! "Eat, pray, love" by Elizabeth Gilbert has proven to be a great choice to start of my year. First of all, it's easy to read with a 2 year old running around. The book is broken into 3 sections, and each section is 36 chapters. This makes each chapter a few pages at the most. In between diaper changes, juice refills, etc, etc I can usually squeeze in a few chapters. It makes me feel like I have really accomplished some reading! Secondly, it's about a women searching for herself and pursuing the things she loves....in some ways I feel like I am in this same place.

Today I read something that inspired me to pursue the things that I have been thinking about for the last few weeks...including starting this blog. So for those of you who have not read the book here is a quick summary. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author, is taking a year off to travel. First, Italy, then off to Indonesia and India. Right now, I am reading about her time in Italy (a place I travelled for my honeymoon...inspiring my blog photo choice). In this chapter she is talking with her friend about how Americans are so busy, and to do nothing is looked poorly on; whereas in Italy, the art of doing nothing is looked upon as a great thing! Then she breaks it down even further and talks about how you don't have to be rich to do nothing, you just have to be good and making something out of nothing. So, with that said, here is the quote that struck me....

"There is another wonderful italian expression: l'arte d'arrangiarsi-the art of making something out of nothing. The art turning a few simple ingredients into a feast, or a few gathered friends into a festival. Anyone with a talent for happiness can do this, not only the rich."

My husband is going to school full time, and working full time. I am staying home with my 2 year old son, and my soon to be born son (due in March). Obviously, money is tight. My husband and I have spent a lot of time talking about how to make the most of what we have, and being satisfied with out 'worldly things'. A lot of my reflections and resolutions are based on this idea of finding joy and happiness with out money. If you really think about it, this is not an easy task.

I love having people over for dinner, it is not cheap to cook for people. I love being crafty and making things, this is not cheap either. I love to go out and experience things: places, food, museums, you name it! None of this is free. So, the idea of turning simple ingredients into a feast and making a festival from a few close friends seems obvious...but to me is inspiring.

So, in this year and in this blog, I want to explore the ways someone can make the most of life with little to no cost. I want to talk about the struggles and frustrations of doing this. I want to share my successes and failures.

Here goes....

By the way, I am fully aware of the fact that I have poor grammar. If you choose to read this blog, it's something you'll have to deal with. Sorry. Maybe that will be a resolution in 2011 :).