Saturday, November 26, 2005
Friday, November 25, 2005
Black Friday
Many people avoid Black Friday like the Black Plague. They see figting the crowds, the early hours, and the cold as something to avoid, but I'm the opposite. I get a thrill at fight those crowds and trying to get good deals on things I would buy eventually anyway. Granted, I'm annoyed with the early hours and the cold, but when you get in that store and are racing around to get all the things on your list, I get excited. I was disappointed by some of the sales this year. Usually Office Max has some great deals that are free after rebate, but this year I didn't see anything that interested me. Rather I went to Staples, where I was able to get a flash drive with 512 MB of storage for $10, a paper shredder free (after rebate), and a Palm Tungsten E (for my hubby) for $150 with a free mp3 player. I was very happy.
After we went to Staples, we went over to JCPenny, where we spent the big bucks. They had 50 percent off all of their house hold stuff. We got towels, sheets, pillows, and a quilt. Then we got some jeans for Aaron (ones he really loves) again 50 percent off. We may have spent quite a bit, but we love what we got. The sheets are divine (at least compared to what we had before) and the pillows (which have a down-alternative) are really comfortable and help me to sleep through the night. Yea for comfort.
It was a great shopping experience over all.
After we went to Staples, we went over to JCPenny, where we spent the big bucks. They had 50 percent off all of their house hold stuff. We got towels, sheets, pillows, and a quilt. Then we got some jeans for Aaron (ones he really loves) again 50 percent off. We may have spent quite a bit, but we love what we got. The sheets are divine (at least compared to what we had before) and the pillows (which have a down-alternative) are really comfortable and help me to sleep through the night. Yea for comfort.
It was a great shopping experience over all.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Thanksgiving
Oh, my gosh, I spent like 8 hours cooking today! At the end I asked myself if it was worth it. I'm not sure, but I know that I learned a lot about it, like I want to always go somewhere else for dinner where every one only needs bring like one or two dishes. It was hard to cook that much.
But I am glad that I had my new Kitchenaid pots and pans to use making it. They're so wonderful--I love them. And they're red! Not that that's my favorite color, but I really like how bright they are.
But I am glad that I had my new Kitchenaid pots and pans to use making it. They're so wonderful--I love them. And they're red! Not that that's my favorite color, but I really like how bright they are.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Good News All Around
I've been feeling very lucky recently and I hope it keeps up. My dad came through town with my step-mom a week and a half ago. They were on their way to a real estate conference in California. They had an old '89 Corolla that they were not using any more and so they decided to give it to us. It was a wonderful and generous gift. We were worried about our '84 Civic. It hasn't been very easy to get it to pass the emissions test that is required where I live and I was worried about whether it would pass this next year. It also has over 223,000 miles on it. Quite old. So we were very excited about it. I was excited for other reasons as well. For one, the Corolla has power steering so I no longer have to crank the wheel every time I make a sharp turn. Also, our Honda had a draft in the driver's side door, and the heater didn't really work (and it's been between 20 and 40 degrees F here, so cold), and there was no radio. So it's good to have a car that has no draft, has a working heater, and has a radio. Yea!
So that's one good thing. Another is my mother-in-law came to town last weekend and we were able to have fun with her. She took us out to eat twice and to a movie, plus she reimbursed us for gas (which was very generous). So that was great. I guess she is giving us money for our birthdays and Christmas, so I'm grateful for that since if we move in December, we'll need it for stuff.
Finally, I was able to get a great deal on a washer and dryer set. My co-worker used to help the bank on foreclosed homes and now two of his sons have taken over. When they do this, they need to deal with anything in the house that is deemed hazardous or unsafe. This includes food, chemicals, refrigerators, and washers and dryers. At a house recently, that was actually in pretty good condition, they found a washer and dryer that was not too old and in good condition (as well as an almost brand new pool table that they decided to keep). I asked how much he'd sell it for and he said normally they'd sell for at least $300 for the set (although I wonder if it might not be more), but he agreed to sell them to me for only $200, since we're friends and all. And not only that, but his other son, who used to be in the washer/dryer business would clean them out and improve them so they will work better than new ones. Isn't that awesome! I'll be getting them Friday, but right now we're not in an apartment with washer/dryer hookups. We're planning on finding an apartment to move into that does and if that happens we'll move in December. Until then, our hometeacher is going to keep them in his garage. So nice! I'm just so excited. It seems to all be working out. Now all I need to do is find an apartment for us to move into that is bigger (with 2 bedrooms), has washer and dryer hookups, and is near a bus route to UVSC (that we can afford). Then we'll be set.
So that's one good thing. Another is my mother-in-law came to town last weekend and we were able to have fun with her. She took us out to eat twice and to a movie, plus she reimbursed us for gas (which was very generous). So that was great. I guess she is giving us money for our birthdays and Christmas, so I'm grateful for that since if we move in December, we'll need it for stuff.
Finally, I was able to get a great deal on a washer and dryer set. My co-worker used to help the bank on foreclosed homes and now two of his sons have taken over. When they do this, they need to deal with anything in the house that is deemed hazardous or unsafe. This includes food, chemicals, refrigerators, and washers and dryers. At a house recently, that was actually in pretty good condition, they found a washer and dryer that was not too old and in good condition (as well as an almost brand new pool table that they decided to keep). I asked how much he'd sell it for and he said normally they'd sell for at least $300 for the set (although I wonder if it might not be more), but he agreed to sell them to me for only $200, since we're friends and all. And not only that, but his other son, who used to be in the washer/dryer business would clean them out and improve them so they will work better than new ones. Isn't that awesome! I'll be getting them Friday, but right now we're not in an apartment with washer/dryer hookups. We're planning on finding an apartment to move into that does and if that happens we'll move in December. Until then, our hometeacher is going to keep them in his garage. So nice! I'm just so excited. It seems to all be working out. Now all I need to do is find an apartment for us to move into that is bigger (with 2 bedrooms), has washer and dryer hookups, and is near a bus route to UVSC (that we can afford). Then we'll be set.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Good Place to Work
So on Thursday, one of the managers in my department, whom I had been helping out by attending the meetings his team has and then creating notes from that meeting, sent me an email stating that my manager had told him I would be too busy to help him out anymore and so I would need to stop (this was news to me since I didn't feel like I had much to do lately, but maybe my manager is anticipating something that I am not). Anyway, as a thank you, this other manager gave me $30 worth of gift certificates to a restaurant, and $11 worth of movie ticket gift certificates. Isn't that nice? Just to say thank you (and I hadn't minded at all because most of the time, I did not have enough work to do and I figured it was just part of my job).
To kind of go along with that, my company is taking us all to see the new Harry Potter movie the day after it comes out. They also had a meeting to discuss how the benefits will be changing for next year and although I don't qualify for benefits, since I'm just a temp, I went to the meeting to get the information. They have such a good benefits plan! It's $10 to see a doctor, $0 for a dentist visit, and they cover 90 percent of the rest that is in-network (I've never seen above 80) as well as 75 percent of out of network stuff. Isn't that awesome? And since it's nationwide (they go through Blue Cross Blue Shield), it's doesn't matter if you're on vacation or if your kids are away at school. All this and before this coming January, they didn't make their employees pay anything! Now they have to pay, but it's only about $72 a month, which is still unbelievably low. I can't wait till I become permanent and can take advantage of this! This really is a good company to work for.
To kind of go along with that, my company is taking us all to see the new Harry Potter movie the day after it comes out. They also had a meeting to discuss how the benefits will be changing for next year and although I don't qualify for benefits, since I'm just a temp, I went to the meeting to get the information. They have such a good benefits plan! It's $10 to see a doctor, $0 for a dentist visit, and they cover 90 percent of the rest that is in-network (I've never seen above 80) as well as 75 percent of out of network stuff. Isn't that awesome? And since it's nationwide (they go through Blue Cross Blue Shield), it's doesn't matter if you're on vacation or if your kids are away at school. All this and before this coming January, they didn't make their employees pay anything! Now they have to pay, but it's only about $72 a month, which is still unbelievably low. I can't wait till I become permanent and can take advantage of this! This really is a good company to work for.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
My Views on Weight Loss
Lately I've been thinking a lot about weight loss and such because I've been wanting to lose a few pounds, or at the very least not gain anything. So I thought I'd share my thoughts with whomever is interested in knowing it.
You can probably tell by my picture I'm not really fat by any means, but even so, I found my body mass index online, and according to it, I'm slightly overweight. Since I'm only 25, I thought I'd better do something about it now (especially before I have children) or it will a lot harder when I'm older. So I started exercising three days a week and paying more attention to what I eat. My goal is to eat 1500 calories every day, figuring that that is probably less than how many calories I should eat (but this is totally an estimate). I admit it's been hard because it requires me to eat less than I'm used to and I feel hungry a lot, but I also realize that this is mostly mental and as long as I keep it up, I'll be a lot healthier for. I'm not a dietitian or an expert on this subject, so don't take my views as such, but I have learned a lot through the internet, health classes, magazines, and television about the subject and this is what I've learned that has helped me. Click on the cut to read more.
You can probably tell by my picture I'm not really fat by any means, but even so, I found my body mass index online, and according to it, I'm slightly overweight. Since I'm only 25, I thought I'd better do something about it now (especially before I have children) or it will a lot harder when I'm older. So I started exercising three days a week and paying more attention to what I eat. My goal is to eat 1500 calories every day, figuring that that is probably less than how many calories I should eat (but this is totally an estimate). I admit it's been hard because it requires me to eat less than I'm used to and I feel hungry a lot, but I also realize that this is mostly mental and as long as I keep it up, I'll be a lot healthier for. I'm not a dietitian or an expert on this subject, so don't take my views as such, but I have learned a lot through the internet, health classes, magazines, and television about the subject and this is what I've learned that has helped me. Click on the cut to read more.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Update
So Aaron has continued to do well in school. He's had three more tests and received A's on all of them (not even an A-). He also got a 98 percent on his programming project. I'm so proud of how hard he's worked and how well he's done despite feeling like his classes are hard and some of his teachers aren't very good at their jobs.
My job is still doing okay. Costco came to my work to try to get us to sign up for memberships. They had a drawing for some Halloween candle holders, so I entered and won one. Funny huh? I always considered myself unlucky, but I've had a lot of luck lately. First the Dustbuster and now the candle holder. My work is taking all of us to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire next month (the day after it is released). I'm very excited about this. We were planning on going anyway, but this will save us money, although we have to drive 45 min to the theater, so I'm not sure how much it's really saving :). They also provide popcorn and pop, but since it will be at 9 in the morning, I'm not sure I'll be in the mood for those sorts of snacks.
It looks like we won't be able to go home for Christmas. We were planning on it (our parents, his and mine, were planning on paying for the plane tickets), but we weren't able to find a cheap flight and with it being around Christmas, it's extra hard to find flights anyway. So it looks like we're staying in Utah. I guess that's okay, especially since my sister and her family aren't going to be there around Christmas anymore (they're going for Thanksgiving or shortly after). But it still would have been good to go home and see family. I don't think Aaron's too sad, though, because he saw his step-dad and step-brother, and his dad, step-mom, and siblings came in August; his sister and her family are moving here within weeks; and his mom is coming here to visit next month. So he's seen all of his family with the last few months (or will before Christmas). I did see my parents (mom, step-dad, dad, and step-mom) in April, so it's not like it's been that long, but it'd still be nice to go home. Oh, well.
So as I said above, Aaron's sister Andrea and her family are moving to Utah in a few weeks. This weekend she's coming to look at houses. She's asked Aaron to look with her. I think she misses him and wants to spend time with him. I'm interested to see what house she picks and where they'll be living. It will be nice to have her near. And with his other sister Ashley moving here next fall, we'll be surrounded by family. Yeah!
Well, that's all for now.
My job is still doing okay. Costco came to my work to try to get us to sign up for memberships. They had a drawing for some Halloween candle holders, so I entered and won one. Funny huh? I always considered myself unlucky, but I've had a lot of luck lately. First the Dustbuster and now the candle holder. My work is taking all of us to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire next month (the day after it is released). I'm very excited about this. We were planning on going anyway, but this will save us money, although we have to drive 45 min to the theater, so I'm not sure how much it's really saving :). They also provide popcorn and pop, but since it will be at 9 in the morning, I'm not sure I'll be in the mood for those sorts of snacks.
It looks like we won't be able to go home for Christmas. We were planning on it (our parents, his and mine, were planning on paying for the plane tickets), but we weren't able to find a cheap flight and with it being around Christmas, it's extra hard to find flights anyway. So it looks like we're staying in Utah. I guess that's okay, especially since my sister and her family aren't going to be there around Christmas anymore (they're going for Thanksgiving or shortly after). But it still would have been good to go home and see family. I don't think Aaron's too sad, though, because he saw his step-dad and step-brother, and his dad, step-mom, and siblings came in August; his sister and her family are moving here within weeks; and his mom is coming here to visit next month. So he's seen all of his family with the last few months (or will before Christmas). I did see my parents (mom, step-dad, dad, and step-mom) in April, so it's not like it's been that long, but it'd still be nice to go home. Oh, well.
So as I said above, Aaron's sister Andrea and her family are moving to Utah in a few weeks. This weekend she's coming to look at houses. She's asked Aaron to look with her. I think she misses him and wants to spend time with him. I'm interested to see what house she picks and where they'll be living. It will be nice to have her near. And with his other sister Ashley moving here next fall, we'll be surrounded by family. Yeah!
Well, that's all for now.
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