Leotard Optional

No, this isn't an x-rated ballet class. That's the color of my nails. Booyah!

I hardly ever spend money on things that aren't a necessity. We're a one income family with a baby. I have to be a bit frugal, ya know? And I have a really hard time putting my wants.. or needs even.. above my boys'. Especially when one of those boys is a little debit card happy -ahem-

Enter in the control freak, budget-lover's dream. We started Dave Ramsey's envelope system a few weeks ago. I know almost everyone knows about this, but just in case you haven't, you need to know a bit about it. Look into a little further, but basically, you set your budget. Figure out what you pay for necessary bills and keep that in your account every check. Set an amount for other things, (groceries, gas, entertainment, etc.), make an envelope for each category, pull out the cash each payday and stuff your envelopes. Once it's gone, it's gone.

Heaven. For me, seeing the money makes it harder to spend. It's tangible. I can see it slipping away or adding up. It holds me accountable. We have envelopes for anything you could think of.. I think. We have quite a few. One of them just has my name it. I get a certain amount and spend it on whatever the heck I want. So yeah.. I basically have an allowance. At 28 years old. It's cool though.

So yesterday... I almost didn't allow myself that OPI nail polish at Sephora. I've never even walked in that place. In my defense, I had no clue what I was missing. $9.50 on a bottle of nail polish? Are you kidding me? My brain screamed at me, telling me how unacceptable and irresponsible that is. But y'all.. they had samples out. And it looked so so pretty on my fingernail. And it was called Leotard Optional. Cute, right?
My friend, JG, has an OPI obsession (come on.. you know it's true. She has so many that she's having a giveaway on her blog that ends Sunday I think. Go enter and tell her I sent you.)
Where was I.. oh yes.. JG.. she entered into my mind a lot. I kept thinking about how happy her OPI makes her and how fabulous her nails always look. I thought about my little envelope with my name on it. I don't have to justify whatever I buy to anyone. It's my envelope. And here I am justifying it to y'all.. but really.. we're just telling stories, right?
So not only did I get Leotard Optional..

blushingnoir.blogspot.com

I also got Chestnuts About You. Two. Yup! I did it. How could I resist Chestnuts About You? It's sparkles.

http://www.manicuremommas.com/2011/11/notd-sephora-by-opi-chestnuts-about-you.html

 I had no buyers remorse and now my nails look fantastic. I may even stop biting them again.

A little nail polish.. specifically OPI.. can do wonders for your soul. Trust me on this one!

As a side note, I know the whole kids' book swap thing has been going around, but if you haven't had the opportunity to sign up and want to.. please let me know! I've done my whole part and have started to even get books in for Andrew, but two of my girls aren't able to do it anymore so I need replacements. Let me know if you're up for it and only if you are serious about it. It's not fair to others if you don't follow through. You only mail out 1 book and get 6 other people to sign up, and you have potential to get 36 books in return. Easy Peasy! I need 2 people.

An assortment of thoughts

Do you ever get the urge to write, even though you have nothing in particular to write about? No? Just me? Well that's how I feel right now. I've tackled my to-do list and the babe is still napping, so it's time for a brain dump!

I'm having a Scentsy party on the 17th. Does anyone want to buy anything? You should. You really should :) Here's the link to use, justin case.



I've recently picked up scrapbooking (I know.. I'm a little late jumping on the train) and I LOVE it. I've always wished I was crafty, but didn't think I had any skillz. I would saunter around in Hobby Lobby, just oooing and ahhhing over everything in there. I'd leave feeling inspired, but would never know quite what to do. Scrapbooking has always appealed to me since I love my pictures so much, but I didn't know where to even begin! It's a daunting task! Luckily, when I moved here to Bliss, I made friends with a group of girls who have been around the block when it comes to SB'ing. We do monthly-ish SB nights and I'm officially obsessed. It's brought that well hidden crafty side right out of me. Of course I'm no pro yet, but I'd say I'm doing pretty well for my first book. I'm working on an Army book for Trey. Next I'll do one for my pregnancy and then... then.. Drew's first year! I can't wait to do that one!!
If you SB, do you have any helpful websites? How do you orgainze all of your supplies?

Here are a few of my best pages so far..

That's the definition of "together" at the bottom



4th of July fireworks at the river at Ft. Benning



The background paper is a letter pattern of sorts. So, I plan to take certain parts of letters we wrote to each other while at Basic and fill up the rest of the page :)

I went with my friend Ashley today to check out a kids' consignment shop I'd heard about. I had high expectations... which were shot down as soon as I stepped in. First of all, it was H-O-T in there! Hotter than it was outside, which had to have been in the mid 90s. Secondly, it was about the size of my living room and mostly all girls clothing. And most importantly, their items weren't THAT cheap. I mean.. cheaper than a normal store, but maybe more like a store full of sale items. Not consignment prices.
There was a Goodwill next door, so we figured, why not?! That's where I should have started out, my friends! Walked out of there spending only $5 for 4 winter shirts.
I had a little bit of a dillema in there though. I found the cutest pair of Christmas pj's that were 24 months. I'm having to buy 18 month pj's that he'll need to be in soon, so the rational side of me thought they'd probably be perfect. The emotional side couldn't buy them. They looked SO big. My baby couldn't be that big by Christmas. Nope.. not him. So there they sit.. still on the shelf. Am I crazy? They were probably like a dollar!

Our computer is going out the window very soon if someone can't tell me what is going on with it. The cursor has a little mind of it's own. I'm typing away, telling it what to do, and all of a sudden the cursor is five lines up and I start typing in another sentence without realizing it. Pretty annoying. I make sure to keep my wrists up in case it's just extra sensitive, but I can't really take it anymore. Please help!

End of brain dump... I'm ready for Drew baby to wake up and entertain me :)

Like Beyonce says...

I got a big ego....

I have a new favorite cashier at Walmart. As I'm unloading a full buggy's worth of food on to the register conveyor, the hmm.. how do I put this... eccentric looking cashier immediately starts talking my head off. Me being me, start talking right back with him and before you know it I'm teaching him about spices, he's telling me life stories about his friends, I'm coming back with stories that can beat his.. blah blah blah. Then he tells me he's giving me a discount today. He says I'm getting the "attractive lady" discount (in a completely non-creeper way). I tell him I'll take it with a shrug of the shoulders, not really taking it seriously. He finishes ringing me up, I take note somewhere in the back of my mind how low the price sounds for all the food, we wrap up the conversation and home I go.

I forgot all about it until this morning when I stumbled upon my receipt. I can't remember everything I bought, but I did notice this:
the 3 lb Roast I should have been charged $10 for - not on my receipt.
The beautiful *calorie free* Christmas sugar cookies sitting on my counter - no proof that I actually bought them.
The 6 yogurts sitting in my fridge - only shows 3 on the receipt.

Dude really? I'm appreciative and all, but please don't risk your job. The more I think about it... I had no makeup on and felt like ass - remember - I didn't feel so good. I'm pretty sure he just felt bad for me.

* I don't have much to say about that mess of a Patriots game from last night other than that is not the team I have come to know and love ~ on to the next one... *

New Name

I've started the process of doing my blog makeover.. notice the new name?? I'm keeping my url the same so we don't make this transition too difficult. Your Welcome ;) Ahhhhh... now to find some lovely soul out there who wants to help me make my page pretty.... any takers or suggestions?

I don't know what got into me today, but I may have gone a little crazy with the retail therapy! I've never, ever shopped online before (crazy, right?) It's always made me nervous with not knowing if it'll really fit right or if I'll like it when it comes in.. but we'll see! Got a couple things at Forever 21. So many of yall brag on this place, I had to see for myself. I'll put pics up of the things I got when it comes in. I also got a little sumpthin sumpthin at ~ close your eyes mum ~ Victoria's Secret :) Because I only have 11 days left.