Surprise!!

Heath told me last night that he needed to make a couple stops on the way home from work. I assumed he meant that he would deposit his checks at the bank. Instead, he walked in the door with these flowers and chocolate ice cream for me!!! Two of my favorite things! What a wonderful surprise and a fabulously thoughtful husband!

Pretty Useful

I love all things adorable & practical and this skirt is a perfect mix of the two!!

Another Favorite from Grosgrain

Okay, this new dress on Grosgrain's blog is definitely my favorite so far! It's so cute & stylish, with little girl written all over it but with a hint of grown-up flair. (I hope I win it!)
Click the link below to see it.

Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

return of the prodigal cd

Woohoo! My Coffee Lands CD emerged from it's hiding place. I'm so happy to have it back! I just want to dance...

Pasta

When I made up my meal menu for the week and my grocery list on Friday, I decided to try something new. I recently learned that my brother's girlfriend, Chelsea, makes her own pasta, and I was incredibly impressed. My Better Home & Gardens monster-of-a-cookbook had a recipe for Homemade Pasta, so I thought I'd try it. I knew it would take me a few hours because the estimated time on the recipe said "1 hour" and everything always takes me longer. I would have made it Monday night but I forgot until late afternoon. The same thing happened yesterday. I finally remembered early enough today to get started on it. While the recipe instructions are quite straightforward and seemingly easy, I had a few snafus. (By the way, it turns out that "snafu" is a real word! I thought it was just one of those things people say.) First of all, the amount of kneading required is well, let's just say that my hands are going to be super buff if I keep this up. It seemed terribly difficult to roll out the dough and why in the world did I have to separate it into 4 equal pieces? Why couldn't I just roll it all out together? My cutting of the dough into noodle-like strips went quite about as well as the rolling out. My noodles lay drying on my wire rack, and it is such a pitiful pile. All that work for perhaps 2 servings of noodles?! Needless to say, I've learned a few things:

1. I am incredible impressed with anyone who makes their own pasta.
2. Next time I do this (if ever) I will make a bigger batch.
3. If I ever do this again, I would like a noodle cutter machine to be in my possession.
4. Buying a 16 oz box of noodles for $1.25 never sounded so great!

Lest you think that I am completely discouraged from trying new things, think again. Despite the work and little frustrations, this was a delightful experience. Besides, now I can say that I've made my own pasta!

Coupons That Actually Save Money

I am all about saving money. I scour the ads to find the great deals, laboriously clip the coupons, and even put the necessary ones in my wallet before I head to the store. The problem is, I almost always forget to give them to the cash register attendant when I'm checking out! Coupons certainly don't do much good sitting in my wallet as I get in the car and drive back home. Sometimes, I figure that it doesn't matter that much, I'll just use the coupons next time. Yesterday was the rare time when it was imperative that I use the coupon. I had seen Target's ad which had a coupon for a $10 Target gift card when you get a new prescription filled. It was perfect because I had a new prescription from the doctor, and I wanted a new pharmacy. However, had I not possessed a coupon, I would have filled the prescription at Walmart because that's where I do my grocery shopping, and as a result most of my other shopping. Since Ainsley was born, I've learned to consolidate trips as much as possible! Carrying her in and out of stores gets very tiring!
But alas, I completely spaced when the pharmacy dude asked if I wanted him to ring up all of my items. I guess that threw me off because I did not give him my $1.50 off kitty litter coupon or my get-a-free-$10-gift-card-coupon.

I realized my blunder after arriving home, but couldn't turn around then and it didn't work out to return the rest of the day. Instead, Ainsley and I headed off this morning hoping for favor from the Customer Service representatives. I think they would have liked to help me; there were four women working on it and trying several different options. They gave me a $1.50 for the kitty litter coupon, but they just couldn't swing the $10 gift card. They couldn't return the prescription and then re-sell it because that's unethical (I guess) and also because it would look like they were giving out more pills than they're getting paid for. I couldn't argue too much with that because Heath & I have a friend who is a pharmacist and I would hate for him to get in trouble for something like this. Still, it was quite a bummer. I walked out of Target with tears brimming - mostly out of frustration that I had forgotten the coupon in the first place. And now I have a perfectly good coupon that I can't use (since I already filled a new prescription).

Ah well, perhaps that's the kick in the pants I needed so I won't forget again!

all about me

I've been tagged by Steph to complete this list describing myself. She tagged me more than a week ago, but I've been putting it off because, to tell you the truth, I'm not crazy about these types of things. I have a terrible time filling them out and usually feel by the end that I'm a pretty pathetic excuse for a human being. However, I finally got over myself enough to fill it out and post it. Here are the results:

I am…an artist wannabe.
I want…a soy latte.
I wish…that I loved to run.
I hate…bugs in my house, especially the unmentionables (roaches) which grow much too large in hot places.
I miss…the fields of Iowa and my family.
I fear…failure.
I feel…content.
I hear…baby Ainsley “talking” as she plays.
I smell…the glorious fresh air!
I crave…chocolate ice cream & fresh strawberries. (together of course!)
I search….for great bargains.
I wonder…at the miracle of a baby.
I regret…misplacing my favorite CD – Music from the Coffee Lands.
I love…rising early.
I ache…when my daughter cries.
I care…about my family.
I always…take a shower, even on Christmas morning.
I am not…a risk-taker.
I believe…that the grace of God is enough for me.
I dance…when I’m feeling giddy and silly.
I sing...when I’m alone.
I cry…most often when I’m extremely tired.
I don’t always…turn off the lights when I exit a room. I’m getting better, though!
I fight…rarely, but when I do, it is generally when I’m tired and over insignificant things.
I write…letters. Call me old-fashioned, but I still love snail mail more than email.
I never…floss. I really should start.
I listen…to the morning traffic reports on the way to work.
I need…the words of God throughout the day.
I am happy…with a cup of coffee in hand & sitting across the table from a good friend.

Now I'm tagging Emily!