The Best Flip flops!

I am on my feet constantly!

Working full time, chasing around my 8 month old, trying to clean the house... and oh yeah taking walks for exercise :) 

I tend to go barefoot... but that doesn't really work on bumpy sidewalks filled with mud, glass, and my favorite... occasionally dog droppings.  

So I wear flip flops... each year I buy about 2-3 pairs of the $2.00 flip flops from Target or Walmart and they sustain me all year. But this year in particular my feet were dying!! I think its just a little bit of extra weight from pregnancy, being on my feet more, and less sleep all around. 

About a month ago while in the store I tried on a pair of flip flops... It was as if I was walking on the clouds. I was in love! There was just one problem... They were $32! That was 16 times more than I was used to paying for flip flops. 

With a tear in my eye, we left the store... someday I would have those shoes, but student loans would have my money for today. 

If you are looking for them at the store they
are called Nike Comfort Thong... weird name
great shoe!

Then I woke up the morning of my anniversary... There they were. The most beautiful, comfortable flip flops on earth. It is like walking around on a cloud. I've only had them a few days, and I can't imagine how I lived without them! 

I think I'll wait for them to go on sale at the end of summer and stock up. 

If your feet hurt and you're running around all the time. I couldn't recommend a better option. 

Do you have a favorite pair of comfy summer shoes?

Christ in Christmas

Keeping Christ in Christmas... This has

been an ongoing puzzle that my husband and I have been tackling... especially now that we have our little man, Charlie. How are we going to celebrate Christmas while keeping the focus on Christ?

I absolutely want Charlie to understand that Jesus birth is the most important part!! But I must admit... I love presents! Shopping on Black Friday, stockings filled with fun, and Christmas music during Advent.

So the extreme traditions like only giving 3 gifts on Christmas like the Three Wise Men gave to Jesus scare me...

Baby Charlie as Jesus in Christmas Play

We have made one step of progress in our journey... We are writing a Children’s Advent Book :) There will be short story each day about a different Biblical Character starting with God the Father, Creation, and leading up to Jesus birth.

Unfinished drawing for 5th day of Creation when God creates birds and fish!

I am super excited... the only problem. It’s eating my lunch... and breakfast and dinner... It is all consuming trying to finish the text, complete the drawings, perfect the layout...

6th Day of Creation when God creates all the animals and man 

While I LOVE blogging... I am cutting back to one post a week for awhile. It totally kills me to do that, but I can blog forever. If I don’t finish the book before Advent... It will be a complete wash.

I will be posting updates about the book as we get closer to the launch. We will be looking for some places to review our book etc. If you have any ideas I’d love to hear from you!

Theresa

Hairdo Transformation

Every hairdo deserves a second chance... 
Especially after you spend so much time on the first one. 

A few months ago I was in a wedding, and I spent hours getting the perfect curls. I was super impressed because normally can’t do hair. I grew up with a mom who was a hairdresser... so why would I learn do my own hair when I could have a professional do it for me!

This time though I had the perfect bouncy curls! The wedding reception ended in early evening just in time for some ice cream. But all the curls just seemed a little much...

I gathered all the curls into a high pony... and pulled a flower from centerpiece. I think I had the best going out to ice cream hair ever!!

Less than a minute transformed me from wedding hair to a casual gorgeous look. Curly ponytails are a great 2nd look after curling your hair.

Do you have tricks for transforming your hair into a second look?

DIY Makeover

I hated my bathroom! I’ve hated it since we moved in... It has I wish I was white walls... and bright blue countertop.

I realized the other day that I never bother to organize the mini closet because I’d rather look at my stuff spilling out than the ugly paint...

In a moment of inspiration I decided today is the day... little Charlie was down for a nap. 

My bathroom was going to receive a DIY makeover!

I grabbed my chalkboard paint, and two cans of spray paint from the basement and went to town...

I could not be happier... in about two hours I transformed my bathroom from ugly drudgery to a cute chalkboard wall to write fun messages and a counter that’s my favorite color.

I’ve decided that two coats is best for chalkboard paint, it helps it cover better. Then I spray painted the bottom shelf. Not a great idea to try to spray paint, under a closet, inside the house... I felt like my throat was burning for a few days.

Ok...so It's not a great pic... Charlie was fussing
and it was the middle of the night :)

My bathroom still isn’t perfect... the floor needs to be replaced, the widow is old with no sill... but when I walk in I see my fun chalkboard and bright pink counter. Instead of wishing for a new house, I have a small moment of joy each time I see it.

And it was free... I used paint from my basement and it only took about two hours!

Being on a tight budget I find that we don’t often put money into making our house cute... However I finally realized even if we can’t redo everything I can still do small things to transform the place.

What is something simple that could help transform your house?

Why I will never use my husband's debit card again!

We have a joint bank account. The money is all the same. We even make a budget each month so we agree on how we spent the money.

These were the thoughts running through my head as I logged into my husband’s paypal account. It just didn’t seem like it was worth the hassle to create a new account when he already had one.

This is where I was tragically wrong. I was registering for the Ohio Valley Blogger Meet and Greet at Ikea. I’ve been dying to go to a blogging conference... but as a new blogger, and a family passionately working to be debt free... I could never find the money. However this was an opportunity to network with other bloggers, for an evening and it was only $25! And it was being thrown by a blogger, The Busy Budgeting Mama I totally admire... reading her blog is a daily reminder of why I can’t wait to have a girl!

It was an absolutely glorious evening!!

The problem arose when all the emails about the event were going my hubbie’s email...It seemed weird not to get any further info about the event, but I was new to this game. Only after my incredible friend Jodi @ Sewfearless told me about the facebook group did I realize I was missing out on stuff.

It was an evening filled with panic, weeping, and frustration. As I finally found and read the emails...my registration had gone in my husband’s name this was a woman’s blogging event! I missed getting in the program...

but Natalie is amazing... after sending a hurried and weeping email she texted me that I was still registered, would be getting the sweet swag bag! Yippie.

Moral of the story... I will never use my husband’s debit card again... I never understood why couples didn’t just share their accounts... but no one was checking the paypal email... I will not let that happen again?

(I still think having a joint bank account is the right thing...but I do see why we still have our own paypal etc)

Have you ever borrow/used something belonging to your husband and end up in a pickle? I’d love to hear it! and I won’t feel as bad about my story.