Buying a new car

Each time we rent a new house we discover something new to look for, seems the same holds true for buying used cars. In July we were so eager to trade our 2003 Taurus for a van that we jumped the gun and ended up with a lemon of a van. Before the first 12 hours of owning it were over the check engine light was on. We got it checked out at AutoZone and told the car dealer we bought it from. A small local dealer near a motorhome repair shop.  They told us that since it was "as is" the best they would do is order the parts for us at dealer cost. The code that came up was a few cheap things so we didn't think it was that big of a deal. We didn't fight it any.  turns out we should have, because after fixing the part that should have turned off the  code, the light was still on. we got it checked by a garage, and they told us a list of things that needed fixed. almost $500 later we have a van that barely runs.  Needless to say, there's not much we can do this time around, but we definitely learned a few lessons about buying used cars!  and it was an expensive lesson to learn!

Spoiled Americans

I like to watch HGTV the rare moments when the kids let me watch what I want.  I've been realizing more and more just how spoiled young American's are. These people buying the houses are between 22-32 probably, and have wish lists a mile long. Things they "need" in their house. things that make it "liveable" I wish these people would have to go to a 3rd world country for a week before deciding what is necessity. Maybe they will be ok with a little bit of a dated bathroom sink, or the fact that the appliances don't match. Oh, and don't forget the walls aren't the exact color they want, and the floors, although they are in great condition aren't the right kind of tile so they will need to be ripped up. Why is it so hard to change a few things as time goes on? work on the important things, like a swimming pool safety fence and worry about changing the counter tops until you have the money saved up.  It's ridiculous.  I guess I have lower requirements, I haven't been spoiled by mommy and daddy my whole life, things weren't just handed to me, I don't think you should go into debt so you can have everything you want the second you want it. I'm just not ok with that. Seriously people, just having a house with running water, heat and appliances is more than most people in the world. Get over yourself.

Free clothes

Lately a lot of clothes have been making their way to my house. Different people have given me a few bags of clothes, unfortunately not too many have been the right size, but I also got a bag of clothes for Josiah to grow into. My husband's almost 4 year old nephew decided to finally get rid of his coat that was a few sizes too small for him, and he decided Josiah needed it. :) It will be a year before it will fit Josiah, but it was cute that eli thought of him. Eli was lucky enough to be given hand me down carhartt coats (which look very cute on him). He also gave Josiah a few pairs of pajamas that will fit him next year too. :) 

Christmas parties

I went to two Christmas parties this weekend, Eugene's work one Friday night and his family one Saturday night. We had fun at both parties, We did gift exchanges at both parties, one was a dirty santa game, and the other was a left right game. I had never done the left right one before, pretty much what happens is you stand in a circle, holding the gift you brought, and as the story is read when you hear the word "Left" you pass the gift left, and when you hear "right" you pass it right. That one was fun, and interesting too, the story had us all confused at some points. I ended up with a basket of bath stuff. There were different gifts everything from gag gifts to cakes! Nothing fancy like pandora bracelets, they were a "little" over the price range. he he

Steelers stuff

I was searching amazon for Steelers stuff for Christmas presents for Eugene. I was more than shocked at the different things I found. My favorite were the toaster that toasted the word "steelers" into the side of the bread, the Steeler's garden gnome, and the Steelers Mr. Potato head. I also saw snuggies, sandwich makers and family car decals oh and a tooth brush. I didn't see a chia pet though, that shocked me,  I was also half expecting to see routers with all the other computer things they had, mouse pads and even computer mice!  I've bought him a few things and was just hoping to find something small for him to show his love for the Steelers. Guess it will have to wait.

some sweet talk

Through my life there are a few of my loves that I haven't outgrown. One is my love for sour patch kids, I don't remember a time when that wasn't my favorite candy.   Another thing that I absolutely love is York Peppermint patties. I have no clue when the first time i tasted one was, but i am completely addicted to them.  Right now I feel like I should just buy a York factory, if I could eat only them right now I would. In fact, I'd rather have those than some fancy jewelry like michael kors watches or pearls! I don't know what it is about them that has me wanting them so much right now.  I definitely would choose a york over sour patch kids right now.  So far I haven't passed my love for them on to any of my kids yet, they both will eat them, but they'd rather have something else if they  had the choice. Oh well, there is plenty of time for me to rub off on them. :)

Spazz Cleaning

Am I the only one who does Spazz cleaning? You know, when you realize things have been neglected for far too long and nothing is in the right place anymore. Around your computer looks like a paper company exploded, the dinning room looks like a craft store, the living room looks like a toy room, you hair things in every room and you just want to scream. The cleaning that comes from that is what i call Spazz cleaning, because I normally go crazy, and quickly fly through each room finding something that is out of place and putting it where it belongs. When I'm done I end up with every room looking good, so I normally sweep and vacuum and then sit down and stare at my house. Of course, it only stays looking that good till the kids wake up, but oh well!

Today I had my spazz moment I think my favorite thing about it is when I find something completely out of place and you just wonder why on earth that object was in that room.  In past spazz cleanings I've found tv antennas in places that would make anyone say "um... ok?"  Today wasn't as bad, but i still hate it that it is normal for things to be out of place.

running group

Thanksgiving week some people in my town started a running club. I was very excited, it's been the merge of the group of girls I was running with over the summer and a few other people who have been running together for years. They had a thanksgiving day run, but I was unable to run since I was busy cooking the meal, but I've been running with them two mornings a week (they run at 5:45am just about every week day). It's been fun and challenging, they are faster runners than me, plus they run up the big hill, which I love running up, but I am used to running it slower than they do. By the time we get to the top I'm dead. The past two times I've had to stop and walk. It's funny to me because they run up then pause their Garmins to wait for me. :)

One of the guys owns a jewelry store that I will be visiting before Christmas to look for some presents for Lexi, I need some good hypoallergenic earrings for her. She seems to have pretty sensitive ears. I might also look for a cute steel pendants for some gifts.  I might even convince my husband to buy me a ring. :)

It's been really nice having more people to run with, the group of girls have gotten really busy since school started. Knowing that there is someone running almost every morning is good accountability, plus, running in the mornings makes my days nicer, even if I do freeze my tush off like I did this morning!

Christmas

It's that time of the year again. The tree is set up, the stockings are hung. Tonight we went to our towns Christmas parade.  The kids had a blast, the girls enjoyed seeing everything, and Josiah mostly just liked the fire trucks and marching bands. Anything that made noise or had lights. :)

We're not doing much presents this year, we've set a budget, and even a limit on number of presents for each kids. We will be doing 3-4 presents, plus stockings.  We bought the first gift for the girls yesterday, pillow pals. They've been begging for pillow pets, but I think $20 is extremely ridiculous for a pillow shaped like an animal.  We found pillow pals at a discount store near us for $5. $20- no, $5- YES!  I also have a few stocking stuffers we picked up really cheap. I'm not sure what we'll do for Josiah for his stocking, but we are excited to get presents all done! 

I'm not sure if we are going to buy each other presents at all, we both have crazy things we want, Eugene wants an xbox and I want an ipod touch. but those things wont happen, we're taking it easy this year, in an attempt to pay off our debt.

Lexi is asking for an "ipod nano touch or iphone" I laugh when she says that. In the past she carried around a sock for a week pretending it was her ipod. she wont be getting on either, there's something not right about a 5 year old having headphones in their ears all the time.  Right now her and Caylee both pretend they have them when they are in the car, it's cute.   We don't really have much ideas of what to get the kids like normal. Most years we have gifts picked out, this year we're just waiting to see what stands out to us.