Columbus Day To-Do List

I have today off for Columbus Day...YAY! But unfortunately I have a LONG to do list since I've been slacking on housework lately. To keep myself accountable I'm going to post my list here and post at the end of the day how much I accomplished. This should be interesting!

Columbus Day To-Do List:
-Do dishes and put away
-Wipe down countertops and sink
-Clean out fridge and wipe down (it's been a while)
-Sweep all floors (kitchen, living room, bathrooms)
-Mop all floors (kitchen, living room, bathrooms)
-Pick up bedroom clutter and put away
-Vacuum all carpet and rugs (kitchen, living room & bedroom)
-Do Laundry (wash, dry, fold & put away)
-Paint toe nails (they need it badly!!)
-Grocery shop
-Work out at the gym for 1 hour
-Mow lawn (it's been raining all weekend so I don't think the grass is going to dry out enough for me to get this one done but we will see!)

See what I mean about it being a long list?? I seriously doubt I'll be able to get all of this done but at least I will have this accountability to get most of it done! We shall see...time to get to work!

Retail Therapy

I woke up today feeling much better after my pity party yesterday. Then, out of the blue I came across an AMAZING shoe sale at 6pm.com. Retail therapy is the BEST kind of therapy. {Massage therapy is a close, close second}

We're talking about such a good sale that I thought it was either a joke or a glitch when I saw the prices. A lot of shoes are marked down more than 95%! {The sale is still going on if you're interested, although I think they are sold out of a lot of sizes and such now.}

I was really wanting to spruce up my shoe collection with some chic high heels for work and such. Boy did I hit the jackpot!
I got these beauties for $7.95...no I'm not joking! The orignal MSRP on them is $121.00. ::::faints:::::


Aaaaand I'm back. How ferosh are these nude patent platform heels?PRETYY DAMN FEROSH! I also got these for $7.95 (MSRP $110.00).


These polka dot espadrille wedges will be perfect with a Spring or Summer dress {so I will have to wait a while to wear these}. These I got for $14.95, MSRP of $185.00 (they're Anne Klein New York).


These might be my favorite...white pumps with yellow heels. They cost me a whopping $7.95. MSRP is $91.00.


These last ones are a little "out there" for me but I love them and I've always wanted navy blue shoes. I hope they look good on me! These were $7.95. MSRP is $55.00.

So when you add it all up and include the shipping cost, I paid $53.80 for FIVE pairs of amazing high heels. I'm just hoping that they all fit okay and they aren't super duper uncomfortable. Luckily, they do have a return policy so I can return any that I don't like.

Are you jealous yet?? Well go snatch up the rest of what's left at 6pm.com and you'll feel MUCH better. :)

Over It

Images from Cafepress.com

That right there pretty much sums up my attitude today. I may seem like I am just gliding right through this deployment without many issues, but the truth is...DEPLOYMENTS SUCK!

For the most part I manage to keep myself busy enough to not get too caught up in wallowing in my own misery, but then...every now and then....it hits me like a ton of bricks. And it's usually the stupidest things that set me into a tail spin.

Take today for example, I was rushing to leave for work this morning and went to feed Libby. As I'm scooping her food I notice that there are ants EVERYWHERE. In the food, outside the bag, crawling along the shelf, etc. So I cuss under my breath but I have no choice but to do something about it....because I don't have a husband around to push jobs like that off on. So I grab my trusty can of Raid and start spraying. But then I have to figure out where to put the rest of the food so that the ants don't get into it again (I sort of have a problem with spending too much on my dog's food so I was concerned with salvaging the damn food!). So anyway I think I figured it out, but it was a pain.

Then later when my wonderful husband calls me from Iraq, I'm totally mean to him. Like blaming him for the stupid ant incident (wtf?!?), picking fights, bitching, and other generally inexcusable behavior. So our conversation ends badly and the moment I hang up the phone I start regretting acting like that. It's like a demon possessed my body...but it's too late because that was my one phone call that I get from him for the day....and I effed it up. Way to go, Ash.

As I was typing him an apology email I started thinking about where this crazy behavior was coming from. How did some stupid ANTS cause me to have a bitchy breakdown?!? Then I realized:

I'M JUST OVER IT. {it=deployment} I'm over having to mow the lawn, I'm over being lonely when I come home at night, I'm over not having my best friend to talk to whenever I want, I'm over not having a date to ANYTHING, I'm over having to make decisions without my better half, I'm over sleeping with the pistol in the nightstand and being terrified of ever having to use it, I'm over having to try and remember 24 hours (or more) worth of things to tell my husband and making it fit into a 10 minute conversation. I'M JUST OVER IT.
{I totally started crying as I was typing this paragraph...apparently I'm not quite ready to move on from "wallowing in my self pity" day.}

And I took my frustration out on the ONE person who I shouldn't have.


Well, crap.

Everything that I'd been bottling up just decided to come pouring out. All that strength, resolve, and positivity just got blasted away.....because of ANTS. haha It is really quite humorous when you put it that way.

All this to say, I may put up a good front as though I'm dealing so well with this deployment, but in reality I have my "freak out" and "self pity" moments. And I decided it's kind of okay. I'm living without my husband for a WHOLE YEAR of our lives....I think I deserve to have a few moments of pure insanity. No, I'm not proud of how I acted. But I realized what I did, made it right, and IT'S OKAY. Because you know what? Sometimes deployments just really suck.

Giddy for Goodwill

Along with my recent Dollar Tree obsession, I've also become enamoured with Goodwill. I just love love love it for awesome and cheap home decor items. I stop at Goodwill at least once a week and I almost never come away without making a purchase....which I don't feel the least bit guilty about because it's so CHEAP!

I also have a little secret about shopping at Goodwill that I believe helps me snag all the awesome stuff before other people. I actually debated on whether or not to share this "secret" for fear that giving away my secret would cause me some shopping competition...and as selfish as it is, I want first dibs on all the best stuff!!

But in the end I realized that one reason I write this blog is to try to help and inform people about cool stuff. So, I will share my secret. Are you ready? Here goes...

Shop Goodwill on Mondays. Most people bring their donations to Goodwill on the weekends, so shopping on Monday usually means you get first dibs on all the new stuff that came in over the weekend. I'm certainly not saying this is a foolproof plan but I have noticed a significant change in the quantity and quality of items when shopping on a Monday vs. say a Thursday.

So today I made my Monday stop at Goodwill and I found a couple things that I'm really excited about.

That's 5 antique-looking books and an adorable Santa Clause figurine! {Excuse the TV on in the background. Mondays not only mean Goodwill but also Dancing with the Stars which is a must-watch for me!}

Look at those yellowed pages and worn bindings. Swoon!!! I got the books for $1.99 each. Worth every penny.

I used a few of them to raise up a puny lamp on my side table. And that glass hurricane was a Goodwill find from a couple Mondays ago.

The other two found their home on the bottom shelf of this table. They look right at home there!

I think I inherited my mom's love of Santa figurines. This little baby was $2.99!! Score! Now I can't wait for Christmas season so I can display him.

More Halloween Decor :)

Today the weather around here looks like this:

A.K.A. Pouring rain. The perfect day to do some overdue blogging! {And yes I just love looking out my front door at the house across the street with 50 bajillion cars parked in their driveway and in front. That's not even the full extent of it! There are like 3 more cars parked along the street to the right of where this photo stops and they are there all.the.time. Klassy!}

I know you've been anxiously awaiting more Halloween decor and your wish is my demand! Yesterday at the grocery store I picked up these two beauties for my front porch:

The punks in my neighborhood better not even THINK about touching my pumpkins!! I also replaced my Aggie football wreath with this:

{It's driving me NUTS that this sign is sitting off center but everytime I try to fix it it just gets screwed up again as soon as I close the door. Grr!}

When I bought my large pumpkins at the grocery store, I also bought some baby ones that I am in love with! I used some of them to spruce up my table setting:

Love the pop of the orange on the black and white background of the plates! Here's a view of the whole dining table:

Cute! {If I do say so myself} I have a confession about this table setting...it's just for looks! I had some of my very best girl friends over last night for dinner and they all complimented me on my table setting...except we ate off of paper plates in the living room instead of using it. Hehe! What a great hostess I am!

This is a ribbon garland that I made last year {inspired by this post at Your Homebased Mom}:

{Please excuse the ugly navy blue valance that was here when we moved in...it's on my list of things to replace. Oh and the BRIGHT yellow walls...they are actually much brighter than they look in this photo. Oh the life of a renter!} Here's a closeup of the ribbon garland:

It was super easy! All you do is buy a bunch of Halloween-colored ribbon, cut it into equal length pieces, and then start tying it onto a long piece of cording or rope.

Here's another homemade Halloween decoration that I made last year {inspired by that same post at Your Homebased Mom}.

Thanks, Angie for reminding me about this banner...I had actually kind of forgotten about it! Also super easy to make. I think I'm going to do a tutorial later on how to make this one so I'll leave you in suspense for right now! {Not that it's difficult to figure out on your own} :)

Here's a glass hurricane that I picked up from Goodwill, filled with coffee beans, and one of the mini-pumpkins found it's home on top.

And a couple more Halloween touches:

And just for kicks, a picture of my Libbers:

I'm thinking she needs a Halloween bandana or something to match the rest of the house! She's clashing! :)

Fall Decor on a Budget

Fall officially began a couple of days ago, which means I can now display my Fall decor proudly {without getting the side eye anymore since I've had most of it up for weeks already}. And in a miraculous turn of events, the weather here in Texas actually cooled off by about 40 degrees since the beginning of Fall this week. Sometimes I really do think God has a sense of humor....Like as if he said "Haha it's been 100+ degrees for months but the DAY Fall officially begins I'm gonna drop that sucker down 40 degrees!! That'll get their heads spinning!" Welp, thanks God. I'll take cooler weather, despite the fact that I think you're laughing at us up there.

Anyway, on to the Fall decor! I love decorating for holidays but I don't like to spend a lot of $$$ on it. There are some things you can do to save money on holiday decor.

Use items you already have. For example, in the above photo I decided to pull a Fall-colored cookbook from my collection to put on display. I just love the extra pop of Fall-ness that it gives my little nook on the kitchen counter.

I also pulled that glass vase off of a shelf in my closet where it had been sitting for months. It was actually one of those vases that you get when you receive a flower arrangement {not that I get many of those...love you hubby!} The filler in the vase I found at Tuesday Morning for cheap. I just love this little Fall nook now!

Buy holiday decor out of season. This is hard for me because I don't really get "in the mood" to buy holiday decor until it's the season but I try to still keep my eyes open for anything that's just too incredible of a deal to pass up.

I bought the above Fall leaves table runner {which I adore} on super sale from Crate & Barrel last December for {I think} around $10. The plate I bought for 50% off at Hobby Lobby and the candles I already had. Granted, the table decor definitely is a work in progress but I still like it a lot.

Shop for holiday decor at super cheap places, like the dollar store. I bought the strand of Fall leaves for $1 at the Dollar Tree. {And I'm thinking about going back and buying 4-5 more strands of them for the mantle, dining table. etc.} The pumpkins were gifts from people I think. I got the candle & little wreath {on the lower shelf} from Hobby Lobby on sale last year.

Finally, spread your holiday decor out throughout your house {kitchen, dining, & living room mostly}. Little pops of decor here and there are better than a ton of stuff piled in one place.

Now for a couple of Halloween items:

Dollar Tree find

Dollar Tree "Haunted House" sign & Trick or Treat sign bought from Hobby Lobby on sale.

Dollar Tree "Witches Way" sign

Ugly Ducklings

Recently, I've developed a bit of an obsession with the Dollar Tree. How come no one ever told me all the great finds they have at that store for ONE DOLLAR?!?! I almost feel like I shouldn't tell anyone about how great the Dollar Tree is so I can keep first dibs on everything. Just in the past few weeks I've found everything from Halloween decor to glassware to home improvement supplies. As I was getting ready to check out, these little ugly ducklings (or birdies) caught my eye:

Who would think that sand glued on to them was a good look for these things?!? I mean, really? But I saw the potential and knew they would look great with a coat or two of my secret weapon:

That's right. The ridiculously popular (in blog world, at least) spray paint color called "Heirloom White". Not too white, not too yellow. Just right for a nice creamy color.

I first attempted to sand off the...er...well...sand! But that crap was stuck on there and not budging much so I just decided to paint over it. Here they are with the first coat (notice my super amazing "drop cloth"...also known as an empty bag of dog food):

After a couple more coats and a little drying time they transformed into beautiful swans:

It's really amazing how much cuter they are now! And the paint really brings out the detail on the wings, which I love.

I love my little "nest" that I created for one of them. The glass container was also from Dollar Tree and the moss I already had from a previous project. So total cost for that little bird's nest was less than $3!

This picture is way too dark but you can get the idea. I am in love with my little birds now!! I want to buy more and put them all over the house.