Dedication to a Deal

Yes, I was one of those crazy souls at Kohl's this morning at 4:00 am. I scored winter coats for the girls that were regularly $50.00 a piece for $14.99 each. Maryn and Brynna wear the exact same size and they both outgrew/wore out all of their pants at once. It really is like having twins. There is no leeway of having Brynna grow into Maryn's old clothes. In fact Brynna is on the fast track to passing Maryn up. She's a tall, little drink of water. But anyhoot, I scored four pairs of Carter's khakis and cords for them for $6.00 each pair. New church shoes, jammies, gloves, tights and cute new kiddie aprons for Christmas gifts to my kitchen buddies. (So cute and only $5.00!) The lines were insane and there were people obviously far more chipper and willing to take out fellow shoppers in search of the deal than me. But all in all, I came, I saw, I bargain hunted, and it was fruitful! Wahoo! (And I got $30.00 of Kohl's cash too! I'll be back next week to shop for FREE! Wahoo again!)

Let's Say Thanks

My cousin Krista just sent this to me and I thought it was awesome! Take a minute or two to check it out and do it! Let's show our troops our love and appreciation!

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, http://www.letssaythanks.com/ you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!

It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them. This takes just 30 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you's. Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

Pretty Dang Stoked!

I received a choice little tidbit of information from my Mom this morning when we were chatting it up on the phone. She has some friend's, the Wieland's, who are planning on going on a mission this coming year. My mom had mentioned to them that Justin, the kidlets and I were moving to Oregon and planted a little seed that we would be looking for a place to live. After stewing on it for a few weeks, they e-mailed my Mom and said that they would love to have us stay in their house while they are away on their mission. The house is paid for, so Justin and I would just be responsible for paying the taxes on it while they are gone. Which works out to be between $500-$600 a month. Which is a steal for renting a house, but what gets better is that this house is kid heaven! It is located on 2.5 acres nestled off the road and down by the river. It has a pool, a sports court, a giant deck and a huge yard. It's nestled beneath shade trees and my Mom said it is very peaceful. The have a huge garden and even a few chickens and a dog named Skippy that we may be tending while the Wieland's are away! Can you believe it?! The home is a little older and my mom said it has a nice big kitchen. My imagination is working, I can already picture making cookies with Brynna while Maryn sits in the window seat and reads! The Wieland's raised their seven kids there, so my mom said we won't have to worry about being afraid to actually live in it. She said it has a very comfortable feel to it. It's three minutes from my parents, which goes without saying is awesome! They won't be leaving until April or May most likely, so my parents have generously opened their house to us until then. I really feel like I need to pinch myself! I am so happy about the way things are coming together!

This Season's Favorite

Well, for me anyways! But he should be your favorite too! He is Kevin Gillespie, one of the final chefs of this season's Top Chef. I love that show! So why do I love Kevin? He cooks food the way he wants to. He doesn't worry about if it's fancy-schmancy enough for everyone else. If it tastes good, it works for him. He is an Atlanta boy who also lived in Portland. Sound like familiar roots to anyone?! Hmmm?! He is very kind. In fact his entire face and demeanor just seems very kind to me. I like him. A very nice guy. Also, and I mean this in the nicest of ways, he kind of reminds me a of a nice, sweet pig. Which I'm sure he'd be okay with because he loves pork. I love him like Charlotte loves Wilbur. I can tell I'm losing you, it's okay, my imagination can be a complicated thing. But anyways, yes, he has a restaurant here in Atlanta called Woodfire Grill and I think before we switch coasts, as Liz Lemon would say "I want to go to there!"

Well, it's all official!

Everything for the move is in place, now it's just a waiting game. I gave my notice at work today. It was sad, but they understood. Saturday we met with the person we are renting our house to and he signed all the papers for a three year lease. The moving company is scheduled. We got a smokin' deal last week on our plane tickets out to Oregon. We turn our house over to our tenant on Dec. 21st so he can get his family situated while his kids are on Christmas Break. Then we'll spend the week before Christmas with Phil and Jody. Then the week after Christmas all of Justin's family and us will be chilling at a sweet cabin up in North Georgia compliments of Phil and Jody. We come back from there on Dec. 30th and fly out to Medford, Oregon at 6:30 a.m. on the 31st. It's crazy how well everything came together. All the pieces seem to just have fallen into place. It just has reconfirmed to Justin and I that this move truly is what we are supposed to be doing right now. Now it's just time to de-junk and pack up. I know the next month and a half will pass by before we know it!

Take a Moment...

Fridays are for Pillow Parties. After a long week of school and comings and goings, I let the girls celebrate the start of each weekend by pulling out all their favorite blankets, animals and pillows. We clear the floor in front of the t.v., spread out, pick out a movie and just relax. Usually the girls do this right after Maryn gets off the bus on Fridays. But tonight we waited until after dinner and made it a whole family affair. It was one of those moments you wish you could have live in your memory forever. Maryn and Brynna snuggled together on the floor, the glow from the television screen in the dim light illuminating their faces. Lauryn in Justin's arms at the end of the couch laughing at every funny moment, old enough now to truly be part of the action. Justin and I sharing glances and smiles at each other every few minutes as if to say, "Can you believe it? They are ours." There were moments while the movie's plot unfolded for each one of our nuggets to let their personality shine through. Whether it was moments of Maryn chatting away through the whole thing, moments of Brynna begging and whining for someone or thing to stop, and a moment when Lauryn mischievously turned off the dvd player just as it was getting suspenseful. After the movie was over there were moments of snuggles, whining, kisses, fighting, wrestling and touching family prayers. Moments of ordinary things that I don't ever want to forget. Moments that make my life complete.

What's New...

You know how I had mentioned awhile back that Justin and I had finally come to a resolution on the direction of our life and were finally seeing eye-to-eye? Well, this was the resolution. We are taking the big, giant leap and moving to Oregon so Justin and hopefully myself as well, can go back to school and finish our educations. We had thought about it this past summer too, but just couldn't pull the trigger. It just didn't seem to make sense. We have awesome family and friends here in Georgia. We love our ward, where we attend church. We love the girl's schools. I enjoy my job and have said many times that if I have to work, it is a great place to be. We love our little home. We just love the South as a whole... but between this past summer when we decided not to go, something has been off. I couldn't put my finger on it. Life was not progressing and moving in the direction it needed to go. I was feeling very stressed that I would forever be a working mother and Justin would forever be an unemployed Mr. Mom because of the limited opportunities in his chosen profession. But Justin and I had gone over it before, that a move to Oregon just did not make sense. So we didn't discuss it any further and kind of forgot about it. After a particularly rough period for me, I prayed and prayed that our lives would find some direction. It was that next morning we both woke up, looked at each other and said "We need to move to Oregon." Justin has had some great years covering Basketball Recruiting. But it's no longer what is right for him or for our family. So he is going to get his degree in Education and hopes to teach High School once he's graduated and I am hoping to get my degree in Dental Hygiene. We know without a shadow of a doubt that Oregon is exactly where our family is supposed to be. We fasted and prayed and have had our choice confirmed to us. So now we're off on this next great adventure. Packing up, downsizing, and heading off to be poor, little students again... and I couldn't be at any more peace with it. We know in the long run we'll be better for it.