Archive for the ‘REAL LIFE’ Category

Last week, I finally dove into the world of Thrift and Consignment stores and boy what a discovery it has been! I mean, I’d been to our local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores on occasion but this time I checked out some local smaller thrift stores and a quite larger one a few miles away. Since I didn’t start my post with “I’ll never do that again or I was in shock!” you can guess that I had a fairly decent experience in thrift store shopping.

I went out this weekend without my husband or the kids to shop. And wow, I really need to do that more often. It was nice not to have to keep up with wandering children, feeling rushed as my husband stands around bored out of his mind, or my son trying to pull down my shirt to nurse in front of a crowd of people. My friend Lindsey and I had been wanting to start shopping for the kids next sizes and also for the spring and summer seasons way ahead of time. I think we are really just eager for the Spring to arrive. Living in Oregon where it rains for almost the entire Fall and Winter can be pretty taxing at times and is known to cause some real cabin fever!

The first consignment store that my friend I checked out is called The Red, White, and Blue.  And I really think I need to leave a review about it on Yelp because the ones on there are enough to make you not even check it out! We went on Saturday so we’d prepared ourselves for a crowd. I was only hopping I wouldn’t have to fight for items, get accused of eyeing somebodies merchandise in their carts, get jostled, and all the other scary things you can think up in crowded place to shop! It honestly wasn’t too bad and it was nice to be able to look around without constantly correcting my preschooler (stay at my side, don’t touch that, get off the floor, …the list goes on)  and making sure my baby didn’t grab or rip anything down while in his Ergo carrier since he’s at the perfect height for that while attached to me.

As we entered the store, I was pretty confident that I was going to find exactly what I was looking to get for my son and daughter but I was shockingly wrong! I could find almost nothing in my daughter or my sons size and I wasn’t being picky either, it just wasn’t there! One thing I really disliked was how the items in the store were organized, the clothes mainly. Instead of sorting them by size, they instead choose to group them in sections by color. And that was a pain to dig through. I was in shock to see a boys button down shirt for 3.95 with all the buttons missing! I mean I guess you could replace them yourself but it’s not worth the price of almost 4.00. I could easily get a brand new shirt off a clearance rack at Target for that much.

On a more positive note, I loved their toy/craft/book section! They had some awesome deals on toys and books that  I’ve actually seen on e-bay for much more in price! I have recently been looking to collect the Leap Frog fridge magnet sets and there was one there BUT my friend Lindsey got to it first! She was also looking to get these sets too. I let that one pass because I did have a Word Whammer coming in the mail and she saw/touched it first. No fighting among friends for toys or clothes. It’s funny though because we are both looking for similar things and the same sizes for our kids! I did happen to score a nice lot of five Preschool books for $1.95! One of the books is wipe-able so my daughter can practice writing her letters and numbers. I’m so happy with that find!

Honestly, I still can’t believe there was nothing there for my children clothing wise! I’ll have to check back when they restock and make sure the next time I go, it’s not on a weekend. It was pretty busy but at least the lines moved quickly to check out. I’ll have to always remember to keep cash on hand for spontaneous trips to that store because they don’t accept credit/debit cards. I did find their prices on used clothes to be a bit high at 8.00 for a ladies top and 10.00 and up for a pair of pants. After scoring an entire box of Ann Taylor clothes for 25.00 through Thred Up, I’ve become a bit picky at prices of used clothes!  So, after an almost unfruitful trip to the first thrift store, we headed to a much smaller thrift store in our area that is owned and run by a Christian family that I’ve visited by myself a few times now.

Tis the season for baking delicious cookies! I’ve been making Gingerbread cookies for every year since I’ve been married and have officially incorporated it into a traditional thing to do around the Holiday season. There’s nothing more fun that making incredibly cute cookies with my ever growing collection of cookies cutters! I have cookie cutters from Target, Ikea, Wal *Mart, and more. This year we added a set of three new cookies cutters that are in the shape of Ninjas. How fun is that? I figured it was suitable because ninjas are very cool, I have a husband that loves ninjas, and a little boy on the way that I know is going to have fun with the leet ninja cutters around the holidays.

The frosting process of my cookies was a little crazy this year, I’ve definitely done better. Despite their looks, my daughter and I still had a lot of fun decorating! With only a few days left, we plan on making sugar cookies before Christmas. We tend to like to sprinkle those with different colors of sugars of red and green. It’s great to be making memories with something as simple in life like making, baking, and decorating tasty cookies.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.” (Ps. 100:4-5, NKJV)

This past week our church did something a little different. Instead of meeting for a regular Sunday service, we instead chose to express the very essence of Jesus to those in the community around us. What a concept to be living church inside out. This is something we should all  be doing  on daily basis. I’m praying this concept and demonstration of Christ’s love sticks with those who gave their time this past week and would be something to work toward to those that didn’t.

My husband and I were able to give our time to help with Food Baskets for family’s in need in our community (see pictures above). We also were able to share words of encouragement to our missionary teams.

On Being Thankful…

So it’s almost Thanksgiving and that got me thinking about what I am thankful for.  Of course the most common things on my list would be Family, Friends, Food on the Table, A roof over my head, etc. What tops my list is the goodness and mercy of Christ in my life.

I’m determined to praise Him no matter how difficult and uncertain I am about things in my life.  And in this mindset I know when those whirlwinds surround me that I’ll always be praising and keeping my eyes solely centered on Him. He never lets go so it’s really sad when often times we find ourselves letting go of His loving hands and not really trusting in His promises to us.

Being Thankful doesn’t come naturally, it’s a CHOICE. You wake up every morning fully in control of how your day is going to go. Are you going to let the actions of others or your own feelings of grumbling and complaining define you? We literally are denying Christ’s blessings and promises to us when we act in such a way. We sing songs in church like His Grace and Mercy Endures Forever and yet live like we don’t believe it. What a slap in the face  that is!

I think it’s good to discipline yourself daily to be of a cheerful heart in praising God and in reading God’s Word. Aren’t we that much more equipped to handle what life throws at us in times of trials if we are fully focused on God and His Word before the storms of life hit?

I am very encouraged to read my Bible, Praise His Name,  Strive to Express the very Essence of Christ to those around me and would love to encourage others to do so as well.