Shoe Success

First store (Burlington)
$14.99

That brings me to 3 pairs for $29
$1. under budget
Nice!

I remembered that someone had sent me money for my birthday so I did go ahead and get a manicure and pedicure as well. 

Sorry if you get grossed out by feet pictures (especially pale and veiny ones like mine).

A mile in my shoes

I had off from work today for Good Friday.  My goal for this weekend was to buy a really cute pair of shoes for the Spring/Summer.  I do have several pairs of shoes, but they're all brown or black...and not very cute.  I sold something online and set aside that money ($30.) for the purchase. 

I don't really like shoe shopping, but when my friends were here for my birthday earlier this month they helped they me pick out a pretty skirt and top (both on clearance, of course) and now I want nice shoes to complete the outfit. Yes, sometimes I do get very girly-girl.  There's nothing wrong with that!

What I had in mind was a simple pump in a plain beige/cream/tan color with an "old lady" chunk heel.  Comfortable, practical, and will match most outfits.  Should be no problem, right?  Wrong!

The weather was beautiful so off to the outlets I went.  Apparently half of PA and parts of NJ, MD, and DE had the same idea because the place was packed.

Well, I spent hours going to almost every store and could not find anything that matched what I had in mind.  Why do so many shoes have really tall spiky heels?  Or no heels?  Or sequins?  And why are those big wedge heels so slippery on the bottom?  *sigh*   Have I mentioned that I don't really like shoe shopping?  At least shoe shopping is good exercise with all that walking store to store!

I did purchase two pairs to bring home for further consideration.

The first pair is from Payless: on sale for $9.   Yes, they do have the heels of death but they're so pretty.  And I do have a couple of dressy crimson red tops that they would look great with. 

 

 

Every woman should own one ridiculously impractical pair of shoes!  Or maybe two pairs.  More than that is just wrong.

The second pair is from Kohl's.  There's a good story behind them.  I was rummaging trough their clearance shelves and found two pairs I was interested in.  Both without tags.  One was a pair of strappy, shiny purple sandals.  The cashier used a sku # from the size sticker and they rang up for $17.99.  I said no thanks for that price.  The other pair had no identifying numbers on it so the cashier called over a manager to figure it out.  He ran over to the shoe department and came back with a box from the same brand but a different style.  I questioned (nicely, of course) whether he was going to charge me for a fancier style.  He said he was trying to figure out a price.  I said (somewhat jokingly) "How about $5.00?".  He replied (shocked but kindly) "$5.00?  Well, ok...this is your lucky day!"   They're kind of like flip-flops but with a back strap so there's no actual flipping and flopping.

 

 

I also purchased a frilly blouse (do people still use that word?) and a sparkly pair of earrings.
And I had ChickFilA for lunch!

 

Tonight we had a great Good Friday service at church.  I was in my seat when woman I had met briefly on Sunday came over to join me with her husband.  She had remembered my name and that I was a cook.  As we were talking about our days I shared my shoe dilemma and she showed me her shoes which, except for color, were exactly what I was looking for.  She took them off so I could write down the brand name and look for them online (she ordered them from Amazon).  I told her I was hesitant about sizes when ordering online so she made me try hers on and walk around in them to see how they fit and figure what I might need.   Best part...she told me that if hers had not been too big, she would have let me have them.  Can you imagine this woman being willing to go home barefoot?  Actually she would probably have given them to me another time, but still...WOW!

 

It's fun for me to be reminded in ways like this that God cares about even the small stuff in my life.  He can use something as simple as a great deal on shoes, or being remembered, or someone's generosity to show how much he loves me!

 

Tomorrow I'm off to the mall.

Let's see what I can get for the $16. left in my shoe budget.

And I need a pedicure.

Wish me luck!

Weekend Update

Friday night I celebrated the end of another work week by buying myself a daffodil! 
There was a woman selling singles, bunches, potted plants of them, and little teddy bears in the grocery store to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  I picked a single one for $1.00 and it makes me happy.  Every little bit they get helps a lot!

Click here for more info!


Saturday morning I gave the dog a bath and a haircut.  He didn't much care for the process but he looks so much better now!

After that I did some errands (without needing to use my GPS!) and then met up with a couple of friends.  We had lunch together and went to a nearby ice cream shop for their FREE day.  They gave us each a huge two-scoop waffle cone.  It was huge for me, but probably just average for people who really like ice cream.  My flavor was cotton candy explosion and it had pop rocks in it.

 

 

After enjoying our ice cream we worked on crafts together.  I made some plastic egg birds (which seemed like a good idea at the time - thanks to Pinterest) and they came out pretty well.  I strung them up across the wall of windows in the dining room at work.  In between each bird I clipped a plain plastic egg and wrote out "Happy Spring" with a marker.  I'll have to work on getting some better pictures.  While we worked we watched The Muppet Movie.  An oldie, but a goodie.  One of the girls was sweet enough to make me a yummy supper.  So thankful for the relationships I am developing here!

 

 

 

Sunday morning was church (where I was able to pick up the earring I lost last there last week) then a nice long walk with the dog since it was so nice out.  Finally I had to settle down and work on some cleaning and organizing.  I lit a candle and put on some good music and got down to business!

 

First I made up a bag of Winter clothes for Goodwill.  They are already too big on me and I won't be able to wear them next year.  Besides, I don't play outside in the cold anymore and we really don't get too much snow here anyway. 

 

I picked out some of the Wii games that I don't play and put them for sale on Craigslist. 

And I started to put my jewelry and make-up in order.  Well, I thought about doing it. 

Does that count?  Baby steps! haha

 

 I read for a while, almost took a nap, then went for dinner and a prayer meeting at work. 

Now I am catching up on my blogging and emails.  Back to normal tomorrow.

 

 

Processing

Today I was continuing my seemingly never-ending project of going through the basement storage room at work.  In typical basement style it is full of a great variety of all kinds of stuff that people have put down there over the years.  Including myself, to be honest - as I cleaned out my kitchen.

Being the organizing "freak" that I am, I have been clearing off shelves a little at a time and trying to put things back in a neat and sensible manner.  Good news:  I found 2 food processors!  The one I was using died last week and had to be returned to the store.

One of them works and has several attachments.  Looks like it's from the 70's maybe.  It's JC Penny brand in an almond color.  I just saw one on Ebay listed as vintage that sold for $56.00, and others selling for $10 - $15 per part.  Maybe I will move mine to the sell pile!

The other one just needed the belt adjusted for it to work.  So thankful for a boss who likes to do those kinds of projects - and is good at it!  We will keep a spare down in the basement because you never know when you will need a new one.

I would also like to trash/donate/sell things that we do not use.  There's a big auction coming up in a few weeks so that's a huge motivation for me to get this job done.  It's kind of an "out of sight, out of mind" problem.  Since I am not down there every day I sometimes forget about it.  From now on I will (try to) commit half an hour a day to working on it.  Or maybe I will go in on the weekend when I don't have to be distracted by cooking and just bang it out in a few hours.

I'm hoping to find a blender down there as well! 

Hurray for kitchen toys :)

A Sure Sign of Spring

First day of Spring = FREE Italian Ice!
Confession...I don't really like Rita's. 
But it was free, and I'm not one to pass up anything that's free.

I was only in line for 30 minutes.
Not bad at all.

I decided to get the red velvet cake cream ice. 
The first few spoonfuls tasted good, then it was just coldness in my mouth. 
Once I let it melt a bit it seemed to have more flavor.
And now my tongue is a lovely shade of dark red.

Thanks, Rita's, for kicking off my Spring in a cool way.
I'll see you next year!

BIG Compliments

In the past few days I received 2 BIG compliments from people in 2 different BIG stores!

On Saturday I was at Costco.  Costco is fun.  I enjoy wandering up and down the aisles looking at all of the super-sized products and filling up on free samples of tasty treats. 

As I was chatting with and being served by one associate (whose grandparents, I found out,  have a house close to where I used to live in Montana - small world), the other department associate was trying to record an outgoing message on their department's voicemail.  The 3 of us laughed as she kept getting most of the way through and then messing up a little.  Kind of like my parallel parking attempt.  My specialty work was completed and I started walking away when the woman who was assisting me said:  "You have a lovely voice.  Maybe you should try doing this."   The other woman agreed but wanted to give it one more try - which was successful.  

Today I was at BJ's.  BJ's is not quite as fun as Costco.  Mostly because it's "work" and I have to be there purchasing a whole cart full of stuff.  And today I went too late to get any free samples.  Which actually makes the chore faster, since it is much easier to shop without the handful of snacks.

At checkout I ended up with  my favorite cashier, Kim.  She knows me by name (the company name, at least) and always asks how things are going for us.  While she rings me up she comments on different things I am buying and tells me about some recipes she has made during the week so I can go home and Google them.  Which reminds me, I have some Googling to do...if only I can remember what she told me!  I'm normally a "get in and get out" kind of shopper but I have grown to really enjoy our little visits each week. 

While I was paying she saw the ring in my nose and sked if it was new because she never noticed it before.  (Now, my nose has been pierced for a couple of years but I just switched from a stud to a ring.  Hoop?  Loop?  Whatever.  I don't really like it anyway, but it came with the set of colored studs that I purchased a few weeks ago.)  She said it looked awesome and was excited for me to have it.

When I first wore it to work a couple of girls there had the same reaction: just noticing my piercing for the first time and saying "OH MY GOODNESS, HANNAH, YOU ARE THE COOLEST EVER!"  

Hmm...Maybe I can learn to like it more.  Don't want to lose my coolness after all.

 

 

I am thankful to God for the little bits of encouragement that He sends my way,

even when they are for something as superficial as a nose ring!

 

This is Psalm 100, in the Message version, which I shared at our staff meeting this morning.

On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.

 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.

 Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.

For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.

Stitched Together

A couple of weeks ago I won a radio call-in contest and the prize was 2 tickets to the American Quilter's Society QuiltWeek expo in town.  NICE!

You can read some more about it here

The radio station sent me a letter of congratulations along with a flyer of upcoming concerts and a donation request with reply envelope (which all went right into the trash).  But no tickets.  Or so I thought.  Two days later I contacted the radio station to let them know I had not received my tickets yet.  They told me that the tickets were tucked "safely" into the donation envelope.  Um...really?  I did not even think to look there.  :(   Thankfully this was not a limited admission event and they were so kind and generous to have 2 more tickets held for me at the door!  I invited along Momma Gene who is a full-time volunteer/grandma where I work. 

Pablo (the GPS) gave me great directions and got us downtown with no problem. 
Parking...now that's a problem. There is usually NO available street parking on an average day, let alone when there's an event.  We drove a few blocks down and were lucky enough to see someone pulling out of their spot.  Score!  All I had to do was parallel park.  Now, I can parallel park but it is not something I am good at.  I did a few times of back/in then forward/out to try and get close enough to the curb without crashing into anything.  Did I mention that all this was right along a lane of moving traffic?  Somehow that makes me feel better about not doing so well.  Thankfully our God is one of miracles and just a few minutes into my struggle the car in front of the spot I was trying (rather unsuccessfully) to get into LEFT so I could pull up into it.  Yeah :)  We walked back the few blustery blocks and enjoyed the show together.

Here are some pics of the quilts I liked best.  It was impressive to see so many different patterns and techniques.  Makes me want to pull out my sewing machine and do another one of my own!

Sticks and Stones

One thing I have been trying to learn lately is to see myself as God sees me.  Too often the blah, blah, blah of the world around me drags me down.

I remember it clearly.  It was the week before my birthday when I awoke in tears from a bad dream.  In this dream a distant "friend" called to wish me a happy birthday.  This made me happy and once that good mood was evident to them over the phone they started to tear me down with unkind words and false accusations.  It was like "have a great day, BUT you're no good, etc".   Even though this occurance was only a dream, it still caused an emotional reaction in me that gave me a good case of the crabbies for a couple of days.  Pity party anyone?

What if they (and the world in general) were right?
What if I really was not good enough (or young enough, or skinny enough, or smart enough, or pretty enough, or talented enough, or confident enough, or whatever enough)?
Kind of depressing, isn't it?

Truth: It doesn't matter what they think...it only matters what God thinks!
Yes, I am a sinner and I do stupid things sometimes (okay, a lot).  Christ died on the cross for that.  His death is what makes me "good enough" in God's eyes.  There is no BUT in the Bible when it comes to God's love.  He loves us and cares for us and always will.  No matter what.  Amen!

So what I need to do is figure out how to tune out the judgmental noise of the world around me and choose to listen and believe the affirming Voice of Truth (cliche phrase, I know, but it works here). 

I have the amazingly fun opportunity to be working with college students now and my heart is heavy for them as well.  How can I be a positive influence to them?  How can I be a voice that is louder than the negativity around them?  How can I help them to see themselves as God sees them?  

A great song about words



^{Ephesians 4:29}
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.