Update

The house is all ours on Thursday!
The kids think we are joking because that's on April 1st. haha
"Sorry kids, just kidding. We don't really have a house. You don't get your own room and a huge basement. hahaha April Fools!" (Like we would be that mean...) (Actually it's a great idea....I wonder if we could still pull it off...)

I called all the utility companies today and good news...in MN there are no deposits!! I was so shocked as in AR you have to pay hundreds of dollars to get things turned on. Guess there are some good things here. (Joking...only joking. I know there are pros to go along with the cons, as in any state. But the cold man...the cold. It's so harsh.)

Saturday we went to the Spring Carnival at the kids school and had a great time! The whole school was set up with games and booths, Rebecca went off by herself, Jason took Jarod around, and I took Alex. I saw Rebecca every once in a while...with a snow cone....with cotton candy....winning at the cakewalk 3 different times. lol Jarod wasn't really into the games so he spent most of his time jumping in the bouncy castle with one of his friends, at one point he came up like this and said he had broke his arm jumping.

Relax. Turns out the nurse was letting the kids have fake owies. :-P

Alex had a ball! He just loved the whole concept and played every.single.game....twice! He would walk up, hand them his ticket, listen as they showed him how to play, try his hardest, and proudly collect his prize! He was so cute. Until he screamed when it was time to go...

 
 I'll probably take photos of the empty house on Thursday for ya all. I'm looking forward to finding items to go inside, have huge plans for fixing up old junk I've been collecting off freecycle. (And lots of non-junk items too because freecycle rocks! The nicest people I've ever met were on freecycle..all over the world! I need to write a book about it...) I've been reading upcycle blogs like crazy! Jason really thinks I'm going insane as I shout "Hey look you can take a door and turn it into a cool table! Ohh and old ladders make great book shelves! And did you know there is such a thing as blackboard paint? You can turn any surface into a chalkboard! A chalkboard Jason! Chalkboard dressers, chalkboard cabinets, chalkboard walls! Are you sleeping? Why? Why aren't you excited about blackboard paint at 3am like I am?! " :-P

We found a house!

We've been trying to find a house here for months but there are just not very many for rent in this area for some reason. We really wanted to live in the big town (8000 population) but could not find one in our price range, rent is hundreds of dollars more there.

So when I saw in the paper that there was a 4 bedroom house up for rent in our tiny town (population of 900) we decided to go check it out. We loved the house but hated the location. It's smack dab in the middle of the commercial part of town, it's weird. Beside it is the grocery store, across the street is the high school, and on the other side is the veteran's pub. However the 4 large bedrooms, big living room, spacious dinning room, and massive finished basement pleased us. Oh and the gym I go to is 2 steps away! The kids are already planning how they are going to turn the basement into a huge play area. lol

Cons are the location, no bathtub, and small yard.

But we will be able to walk to the store and the post office and any other place in town...you know since we will live in the very middle of it all. And the kids are happy they get to stay in the same school. Rebecca has made a BFF here so didn't want to move and we really didn't want to switch Jarod to a different school because he's doing such an amazing job here. Plus the big town is still close by to drive to for events and such.

But I can't believe we'll be officially living in tinytown...tiny tiny tiny town.

Oh and my car insurance called me today...I am out of time and have to switch my AR driver's license over to a MN one, I've been putting it off for two reasons.

1. To do so I have to take a written driving test. Blah.
2. It's so official...if I have a MN license it means I really am a permanent resident here. As long as I have my AR one I can pretend I'm just visiting.

Now...I just have to come up with some furniture and stuff to put in the house since we have NOTHING!  (Gave everything away 2 years ago when we moved overseas.) The house has a shed with windows so I'm going to find items that people don't want, fix them up in my shed, repaint them, make them pretty, and put them back to use in our house. It's kinda fun starting over!

And yes, if I turn out to be any good at redoing furniture...I'll blog each item as I go. lol

Cheap Hat

I will be trying to do a lot more of my cheap thrifty posts, because all my life getting good deals has always made me happy and I know it makes you happy too.

Most of everything I own I've found at second hand stores because I feel like if I'm buying something that the first owner doesn't want...I'm keeping items out of the landfills and boycotting consumerism a tiny bit. However, if I find a good enough deal on a new item...saving a lot of money sometimes takes first priority. :-P

Today I took Rebecca and her BFF to Clarie's so they could get their ears pierced. *sniff sniff* Every time I turn around she's aged about 3 years, I need a child remote with a pause button.

While we were browsing the items I saw there was a clearance rack and of course made a beeline straight for it. Most of the items were not of use to me seeing as how I'm so totally lame drab classic and don't wear a lot of jewelry, make-up, or accessories but stuck in the back I did see a pretty hat. Now, I've never worn a hat unless it was one for cold but for some reason I just loved it, reminded me of a hat from the 1920's.

Since it was marked down from $34 to $2...I bought it! AND even wore it for the rest of the day without feeling like a fool, so it's a keeper. :-P
Plus it matches my favorite pair of boots. 

Welcome

Yes, it's true...after 5 years over at livejournal I've finally decided to make the big switch over to blogger. I know you're in shock but I hope you'll still stick around as I try to get used to the new setup.

I won't be blogging quite as much now that I'm working again, going to the gym everyday, running around outside with Alex, and trying to find us a new home but I'll try to post the highlights.

The big news right now is that the snow has all melted! After months and months and months of seeing nothing but white...it's so weird to see the ground! Granted everything is one large mud puddle but at least we can go outside more. Alex has been loving his sandbox and jumping in puddles.

 Of course everyone tells us not to get too excited because more snow will come, but we'll just enjoy it while it lasts. At first we were annoyed by the mud, it gets everywhere and in everything but we're learning how to deal with it. Seems like there it a lot of "yuck" in each season here...winters are cold and harsh, spring is one large mud swamp, and summer is full of swarms of mosquitoes. Weee.

About Us

The ups and downs and screams and thrills, our life is one long, fast and furious, roller coaster.

At first we sat in the cart while it rolled slowly up the hill, "putt", "putt", "putt" as it slowly squeaked up the track. This was our time in Arkansas - where we were  raised, married, and had our three children. Nothing too exciting but we felt safe and secure as we leaned over the edge to see how high we were getting as we "putted" along.

One day we hit a bump when Jason decided to go back to school and for the next four years we barley hung on as our cart rocked back and forth and tried to buck us out. He was leaving the house at 7am for the hour and a half drive to school which he attended until 3pm, then left school straight for work until 10:30, and another hour and a half drive home arriving at midnight to study, catch a few hours of sleep and start it all again in the morning...5 days a week. I was working 16 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday as a CNA, from 6am until 10pm. He watched the kids on the weekends while I home-schooled them during the week. We never saw each other and we ate a whole lot of beans...but we made it! We reached the top of that hill! He graduated...

...and found out that he had been accepted into grad school in BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND!!! Our roller cart went racing down that hill with us laughing and crying out in terror "Slow this ride down". It was the ride of our life, a wonderful adventure full of more ups and downs. We gave away everything we owned on Freecycle and moved overseas. Our whole year there we spent together 24/7 having amazing discoveries one after another while Jason worked on his master's degree. We fell in love with Belfast and the friends we made there (most of them we found on the Belfast Freecycle!). It's a complicated but endearing city. Having completed his degree he was accepted into the PHD program there and we we excited at the thought of spending 4-5 more years in Belfast but he was unable to secure funding.

Our ride came to a screeching halt as we tried to figure out what to do next, finally we realized that we would have to move to...Minnesota. Oh the horror! All I knew about the place was that it was cold, cold, and more cold. But his parents were there and job options were better. So here we are...he did find a wonderful job as a mental health professional helping troubled children and we did make it through our first winter here but to us it's still just a temporary pit stop. We plan on relocating in about a year or two, to a location more suited to us, there's still a lot more roller coaster riding left in us - soon as we get this cart fixed up again.

Thrifty Fun

Remember a few months back when the thrift store had the dollar grab bag sale and I bought a few things because I had recently lost some weight and nothing fit? And I didn't have time to post any photos of the outfits and ya'll got mad at me? Yeah, so the weight has kept coming off and I found myself in the same situation...nothing fit. (Stress diet people...lose inches while you lose your mind!) So, back to the thrift store I went because I refuse to waste money on new clothes - as long as they do what clothes are supposed to do (protect your body from the elements and cover your naughty bits)then who cares about fashion or name brands or whatever...it's just pieces of cloth!

This time I wasn't so lucky price wise as the only sale going on was $1 per item on some clothes - ugh! I had hoped to find a pair of jeans or two and a few nice shirts...but I've never been able to find a good pair of jeans at a thrift store, it's the one thing I just can't seem to score. So I had a look around and saw that there were tons of wee skirts and button up shirts - most of which were sale items. Seeing as you can't be too picky when you are trying to prove a point and save money - I decided to see if I could find 5 nice outfits from said skirts and shirts. (I never really wore little skirts before Belfast, but most of the UK women wore them so I got used to them in my time there.)

I was surprised by how much I love my new outfits! Are they in style or the latest fashion? I have no freaking idea! But I do know that they fit me, look good, match, keep me warm, and were affordable - and that's all that matters to me!

THIS time I made sure to take some photos for you...so you wouldn't smother me in my sleep or something. :-P

I spent about $20, a little less in fact, for all 5! Not bad huh?
(Excuse the horrible photos as I had to use the self-timer and the only spot to put the camera is in front of the window/mirror. lol)

 See? Wasn't that fun? Now it's your turn to go give your thrift store a chance!

Thrift Store Score!

Earthshoes boots - which retail for $150!!

I found these for $3!!!

Aren't they awesome!! I am so in love with them!