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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Thrifty Thursdays

Picture of what the stand would look like courtesy of the Container Store website.
Hubby and I have been trying to get our home more organized and we noticed that most of my shoes are in their original boxes tucked away in the back of the coat closet. I have so many shoes, I don't even know what pairs I have. But then again, what girl doesn't have tons of shoes right? So we went looking around for a shoe stand. This particular one sells for $75 at the Container Store, found this exact same one on Amazon for $48.97, plus no tax and Prime shipping! For the price of one at the Container Store, I could have gotten 2 from Amazon if I wanted. The lesson? Get ideas at your favorite store and then shop around to find the best prices.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Thrifty Thursdays

This week is Bath and Body Work's Semi-Annual Sale. I had done a survey on one of my prior purchases and got a $10 off $30 purchase coupon. One of my favorite candle scents, Frosted Cupcake, was on clearance for 75% off original price bringing them down to less than $5 a piece. They also brought back, by popular demand, certain lotions and body washes for $4. My brother really likes the cucumber melon so I bought him two of those. Candle's original price was $19.50 each and the body lotion's original price was $11.00 each. So all together I bought 5 candles and 2 body lotions for an incredible price of $23.99! That's the price I would have paid for one candle!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

And Off He Goes

 A few months back my younger brother, Kenneth, told me he enlisted in the Air Force. He had done JROTC in high school and had originally planned on enlisting afterwards. But life events happened and he opted to try out college instead. 


After giving college a shot, he decided it wasn't for him. At first, I was upset that he didn't finish school, but then I realized, school isn't for everyone. Everyone must decide their own path, whether it be school first then a career, or a career right away. It takes longer for some people to realize what they want in life and what they think will fulfill them. In the end, the only thing that matters is that you're happy. 


In Kenneth's case, he chose the military. 

When Kenneth was in high school, I had never seen him so confident and sure of himself. He was a leader and a friend to everyone. He was proud to wear uniform even if it was, at the time, just for high school credits.

I think part of the reason he joined was because my dad had served 22 years in the military. Though the military life isn't for everyone, we as a family are grateful for what the military had provided for us.

Seeing Kenneth choose this path wasn't too surprising. As siblings we always want what's best for each other and I truly believe that this is a good choice for Kenneth. He can get back his confidence and be happy doing something he's passionate about. How many people can say that they love what they do?

I don't think it really hit me that he was going to be gone until he actually left. I had anticipated that he would leave and then I'd be sad, but I don't think it has really settled in yet. When we saw him off, I was overcome by emotion; I was sad but happy and, more importantly, proud of the young man we were sending off. I know that mom would have been proud too and that no matter what, she can keep watch over him while he is in boot camp. After all, August isn't that far away and we will definitely be there to see him graduate and wearing that uniform with pride.

Good luck on your new journey, Kenneth. See you soon little brother, we love you tons!

Doggy Duesday

"At least I'm not wearing a snuggie."
Napoleon post-bath, pre-dried.

Monday, June 18, 2012

What made us smile. 06.11.12

Glen
  • Chow-duh. At Moss Landing, there is a big bowl of clam chowder. You can get it at Phil's Fish Market. It's big. It's good. It took 2 of us to finish it.
  • Walking. Outdoors. I work at a job where I sit for 8 hours at a desk and 2.5 hours in my car. It took years, but I finally walked around my entire jobsite. It's so big it takes over 30 minutes to walk around it! I'm definitely putting more effort into getting my butt outdoors.
  • Sprinting. We went to a park with Napoleon and Kyreen's 2 brothers and ran around like kids. If you want an awesome workout, have a dog that loves you chase you while you run away as fast as you possibly can. I felt like a kid all over again. We'll post a vid next week of how we do this.
Kyreen
Strawberry Macaroon to match the White Zin.
  • A Gem on Highway 1. Phil's Fish Market is awesome. I'd lived in this area for 10 years and had never even gone to Moss Landing. Man, was I missing out! The clam chowder was awesome-- they don't skimp on the clams either. Definitely a cute place to go for a casual seafood dinner.
  • Bridal Shower. My friend Blanca had her bridal shower this weekend. It was a lot of fun hanging out with my coworkers outside of work. We always have a great time together. Also, had some amazing French macaroons too-- almost as good as the ones we had in Seattle.
  • Father's Day. Got to spend the bright early morning with family over breakfast. Celebrated my dad and also gave Glenny a little something for being a great furry baby daddy to our little Napoleon. 

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Thrifty Thursdays

Paid $8 for almost $30 worth of products. Can you believe how much air freshener and razors cost?

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Relay for Life

On Sunday, I went to my first Relay for Life event. For whatever reason, the last few years didn't quite work out in terms of my schedule, but this year I was determined to at least make an appearance. I had worked the night before so I was a little tired. When I got there, I was a little nervous about going in. I didn't quite know how I was supposed to feel or what to expect.

Walking into the event, I saw a lot of people walking around a track that they had made around the sports complex. I maneuvered my way through the crowd to look for my hospital's tent. I was greeted by my manager and a volunteer when I got there. The volunteer was a cancer survivor and she had made it to every year's events, even staying overnight in the tent to show her support for this cause.

I put my things down and my manager and I went for a walk on the track. She was explaining to me how this was her first event here in Salinas and how beautiful it was the night before when they lit the Luminaries. She recapped all the events of the day prior and how touching it was to have people share stories of both triumph and loss.

After getting back from a lap around, I decided to continue my walk. I walked for an hour that day to bring awareness for a great cause and to reflect and remember my mom.

When the walking was done and the closing ceremonies were to start, I met with more people from our tent. A young man had been walking and volunteering for the full 24hours. His story was quite incredible. His mom was a patient at our hospital who had passed away just a few months earlier. He wanted to be at the event to honor her memory and to volunteer his time for this cause.

Him and his friends run a small business that air brushes art onto different mediums. They made our "Wings of Hope" shirts that were sold to raise money for the event. They even did custom airbrushing on the shirts for everyone who ordered one. I had gotten one of those shirts and they did a custom piece for my shirt to honor my mom.


I had never expected to connect with people the way I did at this event. Relay For Life isn't just about raising money or awareness for a cause, it's about connecting and relating with people. It's about healing, growing, and remembering all the people who have fought, lost, or survived this terrible disease. And knowing that no matter how alone you may have felt going through loss or suffering, you aren't alone.

Cancer doesn't discriminate and there are many people affected who want to make a difference.  If you have an event coming up in your community, even if you weren't personally affected by cancer, I highly recommend going. It will remind you that there is always hope, there are people who care, and you'll be reminded of the true resiliency of mankind.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Doggy Duesday

One of the many faces Napoleon likes to make. It's his "yes, you called?" face.

Monday, June 11, 2012

What made us smile. Week of 06.04.2012

Kyreen
  • Meeting my newest nephew, Nathaniel James, for the first time. My cousin Vanessa and her husband had a baby boy this past week. Although we weren't originally going to visit her right away, we made the trip down to visit because she didn't have a routine delivery. As a family we wanted to make sure baby and mommy were doing well. Seeing that she was going to be ok and holding baby Nathan made me feel so much better about the whole situation.
  • Harbour Sushi. No trip to Lancaster, no matter how brief, is complete without a trip to our favorite all you can eat sushi bar. Yum!
  • Spending the entire day with hubby after a long two days of traveling. Very few are the days where we get to spend the entire day together during the week. So even if it's just running errands, we try to enjoy our time together. 
Glen
  • Blessing our home. Kyreen and I spent a good chunk of a Monday cleaning up our room. It's rare that on the same day, we both want to clean and we are both successful and efficient at it. We were just that.
  • Road tripping. As mentioned above, we made a last minute decision to road trip as a family to go see family. Even Napoleon came along!
  • Holding a newborn. It was my first time. It was a little scary and a little unbelievable. Little humans can be so precious and fragile... their life is literally in your hands as you hold them. A special moment for me.



Friday, June 8, 2012

Thrifty Thursdays

This post should have been named "Frugal Fridays". Sorry for the delay!

On sale at Target was this patio set. $99 down from $149. At $149, it would have been worth it to us as we needed a patio set to enjoy some Salinas weather with our meals. We'll gladly spend the $50 we saved on some good eats.
We've already used it 5 times in 2 weeks.



Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Doggy Duesday

"My balls. They are gone."
How do you explain to your child that the painful injection they are getting is for their own good?

Monday, June 4, 2012

What made us smile. Week of 05.28.12

Kyreen

  • Shark's Hoodie. With the hockey season having ended so soon, it seemed like I had to wait so much longer for the Shark's Spring Cleaning event at the Sharks Store. But, as a Shark Pack holder, I at least got to shop a day early and finally purchase the hoodie I've been wanting. 
  • Hiking. Went hiking in Big Sur with hubby and the brothers. As much work as it was, it was definitely worth it once we got to the top. The views were amazing! I definitely want to head back down there and try out some other trails--hopefully some that are dog friendly next time.
  • Vacation Prep. I love getting ready for our vacations because it gives me something to look forward to. This week I was able to buy some much needed items for our upcoming cruise-- only a month left before we go! 

Glen
  • Memorial Day BBQ. Having done our shopping earlier in the week, we were able to have a couple BBQs to celebrate Memorial Day. Our 2nd BBQ was on Monday and had quite a bit more food.
  • Long walks with Napoleon. From our house to Starbucks is at least a couple miles. We don't nearly walk Napoleon as much as he deserves, so when we walked to Starbucks, he was delighted.
  • Clean sinks. Clean Toilets. I'm learning to enjoy the process of cleaning. There are right and wrong ways to go about it. For starters, I'm cleaning my sink and toilet every single day. And it only takes me 2 minutes total.