Earlier today, I was asked to illustrate a children's book series.
Should I do it?
For those of you who REALLY know me, be honest - do I have mad skillz? I know that my handwriting is good, but can I DRAW a good enough picture for a book?!
FYI - the peeps who asked me to help out aren't famous or anything, but they DO know a publisher...so this is the closest I've been to the real thing.
I don't really know what I wanna do - it seems like it would be fun though.
On a totally different note, Ben is in Peoria with his bro and sis for the rest of the week. It will be good to have him back around here - he needs to find a job asap! :)
Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful - for a pic of my fam, go here or here.
Early Tuesday morning, Ben and I will start our 12-hour journey to Gatlinburg, TN for the Harber/Maravilla family reunion.
Last year, I made these cutesy little cornucopia place cards for the small Maravilla gathering...
This year, I found a cute but very CHEAP way to make place cards...
I went to Lowe's and took a bunch of their FREE paint sample cards. If you fold them right, they stand up by themselves and look so stinking cute. Plus, it's fun that some of the colors are called "pumpkin" and "asparagas" - haha!
Ben and I hope to make it to the cabin/lodge on Tuesday night - is that when we'll see youguys?
My parents won't be able to leave until Wednesday because they have obligations - work, school, etc. However - my fam will definitely be comfortable in my mom's new ride...
(It's a smudgy pic because I took it through the window - it was TOO COLD to go outside! Also - does anyone out there have any memories of the "Happy Van"? You can see it behind the CR-V - man oh man, good times...)
We are definitely excited to see the fambly next week - I'm on the list to make chocolate chip scones for breakfast one day. Lucky for me, I was able to practice over the weekend - they turned out pretty stinking good...
I enjoyed drinking PG Tips hot tea with my scones - I felt very British. It's also nice to stand by the wood stove and warm up in the morning...
The cold weather is fun for me and Ben, but we don't know if the dogs are as thrilled. I found Molly curled up on my lil bro's chair in his room one day. (If you look closely, you can see the scars on her leg and ear from the big dog fight.)
Even though it's COLD COLD COLD around here, the men of the family were able to do some much-needed cleaning in the garage over the weekend. While they were cleaning, I was able to dig up some old dishes that I will inherit (once we move out of my parents' house - ha!). My dad said that I'm not REALLY inheriting them, he's just letting me borrow the dishes because they are "too cool" for me to actually have. So, technically, they are still my dad's - but I doubt that he'll ever get them back once I take 'em! :)
Aren't they SO cute?! They used to be my Grandmother's - they were made back in the 1950s. I have plates, tea cups, bowls, EVERYTHING. I'm so excited to use them when I get my own house!
Speaking of HOUSES - I've found a couple here in Republic that I REALLY like. However, I am keeping my options open - in case Ben gets a job offer in St. Louis or something like that (hope you guys are still praying for us!).
Wow!! 12 rolls of TP! That takes talent!! And, I'm totally loving the vintage dishes!! They definitely scream you! :) You need to meet Philly's g/f for me and tell me what you think of her. Mom informed me last night that she's spending Christmas with us, and I have to get her a gift. Did I mention all I know about her is that her name's Danielle, she's dating my bro, she likes volleyball, and I've only "hung out" with her once (I don't even know her last name)? Yeah...
LOVE the dishes!!! Have a wonderful trip with your family. I thought of you today...I saw our gas was finally down to $1.99 and wondered where you guys were at because of your previous posts. ; )
aw, so nice to hear what you guys are up to! it sounds like you're having a pretty good time!! i bet it's SO COLD up there! i'm dying at night with our 40's-50's. LOL!
Glad you are still liking it up there. We miss you guys though. Mom and I were talking today about our Thanksgiving meal this year. Did you bring a chocolate pecan pie one year? I thought I had one somewhere but can't remember. If you do can you email it to me. Have fun next week with the family.
Hi Mandy...It was so good to be with you this past week. We enjoyed it soooo much! You did so much work! I hope you had fun, too!! I had to fight being depressed when it was over...I look forward to such things with such great expectation and they seem to be over so quickly! I have to remember what I always told my kids, "Be thankful for what you have and don't pine for what you don't have" and translate that into "Be thankful for what you had rather than pine for more"...This little talk was for me, not you! I already miss everybody. My hope is that we CAN do it again someday. Much love to you and yours....It was great to be with Ben, too. Hope to play Rook with him again someday... ;)
Hey! Glad you had a great TGiving! I know what you mean about the big families. Ours is only 8 people and I still feel like I didn't see Lorenzo. But ours was a LOT of fun. There was much food, much talk, much rubbing of the belly, ha! We loved it! Now we're back and have to hit the ground running to get this house ready for a baby! Painting, building furniture, curtains, etc...personally, I think this is the fun part! Talk with you later!
...because it's Saturday morning and no one is awake 'cept me and my Ma.
(Yes, we're still living with my parents, in case you forgot.)
Slowly but surely, the Lord has been blessing Ben and me with opportunities to make some CA$H to pay the bills. We don't have enough to move into our own place yet - but - hopefully that will happen soon.
Ben is definitely using more brawn than brains right now - he's helping out a guy with his construction business. Ben has traveled to Arkansas every day this last week, just to work on some old man's garage. He got paid yesterday too - yay!
I've been substituting a little bit - but I think the Lord knew that I couldn't take much more because He dropped an opportunity in my lap last week that looks pretty promising...babysitting.
Ok, I know that allofyou are wondering why I'd agree to do this kind of thing when I obviously 'HATE KIDS' but the truth is, I'm actually kinda good at it. Good at babysitting kids, not hating them.
The 3 year old girl is pretty easy to deal with - she has a pretty crazy imagination. In fact, when we are 'pretending' she wants me to call her "Abby" for some reason (her real name is Madison). She also likes to 'swim' a lot - so she'll put on her swimsuit and we'll run around the house doing the back stroke. It was...fun-ish.
Everything would be fine and dandy if I only had one kid to watch - however, there is a 3 MONTH OLD BABY thrown in the mix, too.
TANGENT: There are a lot of gals I know who are pregnant right now...there are a lot of gals I know who want to GET pregnant soon...
I AM NOT ONE OF THEM.
Just after 2 days of babysitting these kids, I am exhausted. My brain is tired from imagining, my arms are tired from holding, and my whole self is exhausted from multi-tasking. It's HARD!
I'm a pretty IMpatient person and I really REALLY like my alone time...so that's why I 'hate' kids...they don't work well with my way of life right now. ;)
BUT - I'm sure I'll have a few rug rats of my own at some point...just not soon.
In other news, I've found the perfect house for Ben and I to move into. But, last time I checked, most banks won't give you a loan to buy a house when you don't have a steady job. So - I'll keep you guys updated on that.
I'm getting more and more excited about the big Thanksgiving gathering - only 16 more days! (Woah, you've gotta be kidding me! Only 16 days?! So much to do!!!!)
I've gotta get goin - it's Ben's birthday tomorrow and I've got to figure out what to do for him that costs ZERO dollars.
ya'll should come down and visit us at Springdale for services sometime!! Next weekend I have off, I need to come up there and see some people I know too...
SIXTEEN DAYS!?!?!? I hadn't thought about how close it is. I think I'm still stuck in October. I hope you all find jobs soon. You need to make money so you can come visit us in BG. K, bye
Don't compare babysitting someone else's kids to having your own...totally different! I didn't care for other people's children, either, pre-1985. And until grandchildren come along, I don't know if I'll ever care that much again for other people's kids. It's a whole different kind of love! Hope the employment comes quickly. Katie H. is still searching here in PA, too. (I'm here visiting). See you in, what, 16 days?? Yikes...I have lots to do, too!
Yes I would love to teach you to do this, after all someone taught me. Once you get the hang of it and you know what to look for, it's quite simple. Yes, first of all start by buying the Sunday paper tomorrow. You should make back the $2 or less you'll spend a week on a paper by using your 1st couple of coupons.
My Sunday afternoon routine now is to clip practically ALL (ok I don't clip Depends coupons, and some others, but most everything else) of the coupons from the paper and check out the store adds. (I pay most attention to Wal-Greens, but if we had a CVS here, I'd look at those too.) I have a coupon binder that I keep all my coupons organized in. Bascially it's a zipper 3-ring binder with babseball card holders and about 16 dividers. Each division is a category of coupons, (i.e. Baking, Beverages, Breads, Cleaning, Condiments, etc.) Each coupon gets it's own 'baseball card' slot, UNLESS I have a duplicate coupon. Coupons that are exactly alike get put all together in the SAME slot. (This especially comes in handy when you run across a deal like I did yesterday at Kroger. When I saw the Orville Popcorn was on sale for $2/box, plus it was a participating product in the $5 off of 10 items, I flipped to my 'Snacks' category and pulled out 6 $.40/1 box of Orville popcorn.)
I really have to say that my coupon binder is a GREAT tool that helps me stay organized and keep track of my coupons. I used to have an occasional coupon here or there for something, but when I'd get to the store, it would be in another purse, car, etc. Now I just carry my binder with me whenever I go shopping. I know I may look pretty nerdy, but I really don't care!
W ow...well, I may have to wait until after January 10th because of working in retail, any and all request off dates are pretty much "black out" dates right now...BUMMER! Ya'll should come down here some time and visit! (notice how I'm STILL tryin' to get ya'll to move down here...)
Hobby Lobby has the letters on my wall. I bought them in Bowling Green, KY a month or so ago. Hobby Lobby has like 5 different kinds of big letters like that. They are AWESOME and easy to hang. I like them a lot.
We've been busy busy busy around here - but God keeps providing.
In other news, I'm glad I was able to send in my ballot a few weeks ago as an absentee. I can't stand much more of this politickin. A lady came to our house this afternoon and shoved Obama flyers and door hangers in our face (thanks, we were almost out of toilet paper) - AND - Gretchen Wilson called our house tonight and told us to vote for McCain. I AM DONE WITH THIS JUNK.
I remember the first time I voted back in 2000...my mom got me out of my class (I was in high school at the time) and she took me to the Calvary Baptist Church where I punched out the little chad for Bush. I don't think I voted for anyone or anything else - all I remember is that my mom was so excited that she bought me a Sundrop as a "congrats, you're old enough to vote" type of thing. Heck, I'll do anything for a Sundrop!
I just hope our gas prices keep going down.
$1.92, baby.
In other news, the big Harber/Maravilla Thanksgiving is getting closer and closer!! I'll get to see you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you AND you! (Welcome to the family!)
I'm sure I missed SOMEONE so feel free to link it below.
-M
(Remember that ONE time you were with us for Thanksgiving?! I LOVE YOU!)
I'm sorry you hated it! Maybe you just got some bad classes?? What grades did you do?
We got gas last night for $1.99 in Columbia. This is the cheapest we've payed in a while. Out here in Warrenton it's $2.09. (Which is still GREAT to us!)
I remember that Thanksgiving and I wasn't even there! I just received that horrible call from the hospital. I still get goosebumps thinking about all that and there's not too often I pass a semi truck on the interstate and DON'T think of what happened.
Remember that one time you came and stayed at my house (and we accidentally had you sleep in the slanty bed)?? Well, remember how you gave Brittany and me gift bags when you left with a bunch of goodies inside?? One of the goodies was bright pink with purple shimmer nail polish from Gap. Well, I found it when I went home for Fall Break. And I painted my toes with it tonight. And it made me smile and think of you. So, I just thought I'd let you know! Thanks for the awesome polish that just made my night!! :)
