Guess what day it is?! Target Tuesday!

Oh yeah, I've been waiting for today!  It's.... say it with me now.... TARGET TUESDAY!

So there's not a whole lot I need in this world.  Granted sometimes I might think I really need something but honestly it's a want. *Sidenote, this makes me sad I missed out on teaching my Junior Achievement class this year. In 1st grade we teach needs/wants!*



~Like these shoes for example.  They're super cute I think.  The colors are nice too!  I have 3 pairs of Nikes that I wear but I washed one and they smell funny and the other I got grout on and it stained so I've been looking for a new pair of tennis shoes.  These just might fit the bill! And they're $30, come on!

~And maybe I might need a dutch oven.  I don't know what for but if I had it I'd probably use it, right? RIGHT? I could cook some of this stuff in it! Now this is by Giada, whom I love, but if there was a Paula Deen one that would be even better.  Cuz I love me some PD.  You didn't know we were on an initial basis with each other? Well we're not. But you know...

~And I just might need this too.  My purse weighs like 50 pounds.  There's probably one of everything you could want and more in there.  I'm thinking that maybe this will help eliminate all the crud in there and balance the weight out on my body, no? I'm just wondering if I can pull off the cross body purse? Am I too old? Not cool enough?

What are you eyeballing at Target this week?

Top 2!

Top 2 things I collect?
Well if you know me then you probably know.  I couldn't decide which one to put first because I love them equally.  But I just decided.  Because one was cooler than the other :) 

1~ Wizard of Oz memorabilia... I love it all!  I have salt and pepper shakers, dolls, Pez dispensers, mouse pads, figurines, etc.  This obsession started over 10 years ago and if you ever need to get me something that might be a good place to start. Love.

2~ Green pens. Ugh, I feel dorky saying it but it's soooooo true. Actually I just got some the other day {thank you daddy!} I tell you what, if I ever become rich I am going to find a pen company and have them manufacture me a whole slew of green pens in different styles.  My favorite all time pen doesn't come in green so I need that to change.

Yes I'm kind of lame.  But it's ok because kind of I like me.

What are your top two collections?

Miscellany Monday... my first time!



Here's what's on my mind...



~The Kennedy's mini series. Did anyone watch it?  I watched the first 4 hours and I've enjoyed it so far. I'm not much of a history buff but this is some pretty interesting stuff. And yes, I do realize some of it is probably not factual.

~Trial subscriptions.  Ok this one is my bad but still. I did a trial Weight Watchers thing and wouldn't you know I forgot all about it {shows you how hard I was working at it} and I never cancelled it so they billed me the full rate!  Grrr.  Then I wanted some vacuum ratings so I did a monthly subscription to Consumer Reports and the same thing, I forgot about it. DOUBLE grrr!  Perhaps these aren't for the absentminded?

~Scary movies. I love me a good and scary movie.  But let's face it, I'm a girl and I sure as heck can't watch one by myself.  It would be way too scary. However, no one I know likes them!  I used to make my baby goosie {that would be my baby sister} go with me but she got all grown up and moved.  So I'll be living through everyone else.  How was Scream 4?

 What's on your mind?

Today is....

.... the last day of National Volunteer Week!

Who knew?

Well I should have probably taken a clue seeing as how the hospital I volunteer for held a banquet for volunteers this week.  Duh.

Anyway, I know we're all busy and all that but if you're on the fence I say go for it! I started volunteering at the hospital in hopes of getting some hands-on patient experience for PA school but now I really love it. 

Even if at 7 am on a Saturday morning with no kids I might not think so.

I'm loving.... being prepared!

Do you all remember just a few short months ago when a freak storm system put some form of snow on the ground in almost all states in the US?  I do- we here in Texas got 4 days off of school... in a row... for snow! It was a big deal. I thought it was awesome.

What wasn't so awesome was that some people had to get out in the snow and ice because they didn't have their essentials. 

Even for a few weeks after the storm it seemed that some of the shelves in the stores were bare or had minimum surplus. And that was just because of some snow and ice- I can't imagine what it would be like if we were in Japan!

What to do you might be asking yourself?  Food storage or a some stash of emergency essentials.  Now my church has been advising this for as long as I can remember and it's always seemed like such a daunting task I just kind of put it on the backburner.  I mean, where do you start?  How much food do we need?  And what the heck do I buy?  Let's be honest I'm not the grinding-wheat-making-my-own-bread kinda gal so what am I going to do with 50 pounds of wheat?  Or rice?  And let's not even talk about evaporated/condensed/whatever kind of milk- GRODY.

Recently I found out about a company {whom I swear I'm not endorsing but THIS LADY is!} called Shelf Reliance that helps you with this particular issue.  Now to be honest I have known about some other companies that are similar but again looking at a catalog or a website really just kind of overwhelms you.  I was able to attend a SR party and get to taste some of the products and see how easy it is to start/grow/maintain your emergency stash and I really think it's awesome!  Let me tell you- these aren't your mom's food storage staples!

My kids are really picky eaters and so am I so we have to pay attention to what we're getting or it's just going to go to waste. I chose a few products that I know we will use.  And the best thing is they have a pretty long shelf life so even when they've been opened to be used they're still cheaper than buying at the grocery store and chances are I'll use it all before it goes bad unlike when I buy the fresh stuff and end up throwing it out on trash days.  AND I'll start having extra on hand to help grow my own emergency stash so heaven forbid if anything ever did happen, we'd be prepared!

I'll make sure to tell you all what I think when I get it but I tried several things last night and this is what I liked:
~Freeze dried chicken... pretty much tasted the same to me!
~Freeze dried pineapple... it was so real it even burned my mouth the way pineapple does!
~Freeze dried cheese... say what?! CHEESE?! Yep and it looked, smelled, and TASTED the same when we put it on our pizzas.
~Brownie mix... just add water.  That simple and yes it was delicious! If there's a disaster believe me I want to have brownies on hand.  Hello, don't you stress eat?
~Last but definitely not least, my personal favorite, freeze dried sweet corn.  It was delicious.  I ate it plain {not reconstituted} and I loved it so much I ordered a whole #10 can. I really think that I'd eat it just like that as a snack.  In fact I really wanted more but I didn't want to take a whole bunch of April's supply, I'll just wait until I get my own.

Have you tried Shelf Reliance or any of the other emergency supply companies?  What do you think?


By the way, today I'm linking up with TidyMom... she is so awesome, ya'll should check out her blog!

What I'm loving Wednesday

This is my first time linking up for this but I've got a lot of love to go around and figured I'd share with you all...

Today I'm loving my friends.  Especially the kind of friends who are so good to you that when you dislike someone they make it a point to dislike them too.  There's not too many people out there like that {and it may be childish to ask that but I don't care} so I'm glad I have a few of them!

~Today I'm loving the fact that tomorrow instead of going to the hospital and mingling with the sick I'll be hanging out at our annual volunteer banquet.  I'm excited because this is the first year I've been able to go!  I know it's kind of silly but I really like banquets and get togethers like this.  What can I say?

~Today I'm thankful for my TV and DVR.  I know some people will be like wha?!? but I want to be honest.  I like TV. A lot.  Probably an unhealthy kind of like. I have quite a few shows I watch and once the kids are nestled in their beds I'm in mine for the next several hours checking out the day's bounty. Maybe a new episode of one of these shows...

Any Real Housewives will do...



Love the orig but with Curtis Stone on Masters I'm going to be watching that for sure!




Please don't judge *blush*


So what are you loving today?

The best day of the week!

Ok, well I'm not sure Tuesday is really the best day of the week but since it's Target Tuesday that makes it a great day!

We had to run to Target yesterday for some water bottles {we're using these instead of the Medela bags for the milk for the baby} and some shorts since it's getting hotter everyday.  And of course we did our requisite lap around the store and there are lots of cute things I was lusting over!

I've seen these the last few times we've been in there and I really like how they're decorative but still kind of simple.  I also like how they don't have a lip around the edge of the plate.

I bought a rice maker {boring but practical} for my cousin's wedding this weekend and happened to see this baby while I was over that way.  I have a Swiffer mop but it's Swiffer Max and I can never find the SM refills so I have to use two of the regular ones and it seems like a hassle to me.  My vacuum bit the dust not too long ago and a friend gave me her old old old Kirby.  It works but it's really heavy and a hassle to use. This looks to me like the perfect combination of the two!

And I am on the fence about these babies.  I resisted flat sandals- especially those with the "gladiator" look- for a long time.  But these come in several colors and I think I might want to try these out.  What do you think?

 What's in your cart this week?