this little puppy is on its way to me as we speak. i'm so excited. now i won't have to carry around my planner around with me. my calendar can now be uploaded onto this. woohoo!!! can't wait.

so i got to see another chick flick today. imagine, me, two chick flicks in one month... totally unheard of. so Maret and i went to see Mad Money. I had heard that it was awful, but it was actually pretty good. all was going well until i got hit in the head by my trunk door. it is super, super windy here and the wind actually pushed the door down onto my head. i literally felt like i was going to pass out for a bit. and i got that awful smell... do you know what i'm talking about? there is a smell that you get when you hit yourself really hard, or water gets in your nose. anyway, needless to say i have a big bump on my head and a bit of a headache. damn wind!!!

on the garage front, we've gotten a couple of quotes for the wooden doors. one was like $5000, which at the time we thought was outrageous. then today i get a quote from Sears and theirs was over $12,000... FOR A GARAGE DOOR??? are you friggin kidding me???? so we are looking at our options right now. since we have a Vegas trip and an Orlando trip in our future I don't think we will need Sear's services at the moment.

okay, i'm off to make the girls some food. have a great evening, and hold on to your hat if you're going outside cause the wind is pretty fierce.

*ciao*
deb

still searching for the garage doors. went to home depot yesterday to get some info on them. the long and the short of it is that they are not cheap and it will take about 5 weeks to get it made. i also found these online which are way cool and the best part is they are steel. i am waiting for a quote on these puppies. so for now, we are parked outside and dealing with no garage. not so bad, it takes me back to my childhood days.

anyway, i am also search of a new phone and phone service. i keep getting into trouble for going over my minutes, so i need to get a better plan. plus, my phone is kind of on it's last legs, so i need one of those too. i really want one of these cause i hate carrying around a big old day planner, and lately i've been over extending myself with the appointments, so this would be perfect. i just have to see if i can get a better deal with my provider. so here is a question for you... and i need answers. who is your provider. Why, you ask? because i need to know what the majority of the people that i talk to have so that can help me narrow down my choices. since so many of the providers now allow you to call for free between phones on the same network, that should help keep my minutes down. so, who do you have?

i need to find some recipes for dinner. alex mentioned the other day that i tend to make the same dishes pretty frequently. i didn't realize that i did that, but looks like i need to add some new recipes to my recipe book. Any ideas of some good sites to find some? Hey how about you all send me some of your own?

okay, i am off to put in a load of laundry before i pick up my belle. have a good afternoon.

*ciao*
deb

i love my fair share of reality tv... don't get me wrong. in fact if you ask Alex, i watch way too much tv. which, i have to admit, he is right about. but there are so many things that peak my interest. i guess that is why i know so much useless information, and if you put me on one of these game shows i would totally clean up. chaching!!! but i honestly wonder sometimes about the people that are agreeing to go on these gameshows. for example, the newest one this week isMoment of Truth. it is basically a lie detector test broadcast to millions of people across the country, and a one way ticket to destroying your relationships. they ask you questions, most of which are really embarrassing or are really stand ins for the blade to slit your wrists with, and a nice little voice tells America whether you are telling the truth or lying. Who does this??? Who willingly goes on a show and admits that he has done something in the last month that would cause his wife not to trust him? Who admits that he has been putting off having kids with his wife because he doesn't see being with her forever... while his wife is sitting a few feet away??? WHO??? all for the sake of money? money that seems to drive us all.

seeing this just compounded my faith in my husband. since our little ones will both be in school next year full time, i threw out the possibility of me going back to teaching for a while. we had discussed this possibility a few years ago so that we could save up my salary and have some extra money. well, when i brought this up, my husband said, "no, i don't want you to go back?" HUH???? he said we didn't need to do that, and really all that would do is make us spend more money. it was the whole "make more money, spend more money" belief... which i have to admit is probably true. not that i want to go back to work, but i also would like to help out. so here i am offering to go back to work, and my husband says "no", while "stupid guy with the gorgeous wife" is totally blowing it for himself on national tv, and all for money. i guess we know where his priorities stand. so now, i have to figure out another way to make some money. a fun way. a creative way. any ideas?

it's cold here... real cold, and rainy, and gloomy. the kind of weather that makes you want to climb back under the covers and watch a movie. but no, i won't do that. instead, i am going to organize my mess of a craft room closet. lets see how that turns out. i think i need to get this new magazine to give me some inspiration. i love, love, love this magazine. great ideas, and shows you how to do it on a budget best of all.

okay, i'm off to start working on a project. stay warm.

*ciao*
deb

what a great movie. first i love Katherine Heigel...aka Izzi Stevens from Grey's. she is so hilarious on that show and she is just as funny in this movie. i think what i like most about her, is that she looks real. so many of the celebrities that you see look like they starve themselves, and they just don't look healthy, but she looks real. she isn't skinny, but not fat either. you know what i mean. anyway, such a cute movie. a great girlfriend movie, which is how i got to see it, with my great friend Maret. what a treat it was to go see a good chick flick, since i normally see superheroes or kids movies.

i also went to work out this morning with my sister in love at Lifetime. had fun, and felt really energized afterward. i am definitely going to do that more often. i am finally getting on with my new years resolutions. so far so good. i have also been finishing off some projects that i had on the back burner... namely, my friend Pippin's sewing projects. I finished up some pillows, a bed skirt, and added a fun touch to her daughter's curtains. her mother in law made her daughter's quilts to go on their beds (looooovvvveeee them!!!) and i just did some extras to finish up the look. what do you think??? next on my "to do list" is to recover the dining room chairs with this gorgeous fabric my friend Rainie gave me and to continue painting the kitchen cabinets. I'm definitely on the decorating and project mood...can you tell? lets hope it lasts.

okay i'm off to watch some t.v. under the covers with Alex since he made it home relatively early today. it is suppose to get really cold here, and there are even winter storm warnings out. maybe they'll cancel school tomorrow. but that would mean we would have to make up the day. never mind, don't want that to happen. scratch that.

have a good evening.
*ciao*
Deb

yesterday started off being a really great day. the girls went off to school, I got a yummy skinny caramel latte to warm me up (it was like 29 degrees outside), and i went shopping with my friend Rainie on the square. all was good. we were on a mission. the mission, should I accept it, was to help her decorate her mantle and niche above her doorway. so we went in search of inspiration. for the niche, a chair, some old (or at least oldish) suitcases we could pile up, and maybe a lamp. for the mantle... um.... something fabulous. so fun!!! going to the square and shopping is like going back in time and visiting a long lost grandmother. you find all the knick knacks you remember growing up with. the lamp from the living room, the potato masher used for your favorite mashed potatoes, the little table in the corner of the family room you used to stick your favorite little dolls into. it is the chance to revisit old memories. we had so much fun spotting those little things and remembering. my favorite had to be those old dish towels that had the calendars printed on them. remember those??? anyway, we found a cute rocking chair, and then headed to Hobby Lobby to find the rest of the things needed. We found lots of things, but we unfortunately weren't prepared with 40% coupons, so Rainie would have to return. I had to get home anyway and pick up a long shopping list, which should have only taken a couple of minutes. you know that is not going to happen though when you suddenly hear a really loud CRASH as the garage door is going down. inside you know that can't be good. well, the short of it is that our spring and wires broke and the door came crashing down... not on the car, but nevertheless crashing down, which meant i was STUCK... with only 20 minutes until I had to pick up my little one. so, thanks to some very willing friends and some fast dialing, both little ones were picked up and delivered to our front door safe and sound (Thanks Rainie and Maret!!!) So luckily my husband came to my rescue and got my car out of the garage, and now i am in search of a new garage door. we had been planning to replace it anyway, and now we have the perfect reason to do so.

this is what i want, and with the addition of some shutters on the house to match I think it will look fabulous. what do you think?
so now to find the best deal for it. I'm sure it will make the backyard look real nice this summer.

okay, i'm off to make some dinner. oh, by the way, if you haven't checked out the new links to the right, check out the Nesting Place. She has some great ideas, and she is frugal like me. See if you get some ideas.

*ciao*
Deb

i feel like i can finally breathe now that the holidays are finally over. I really love the feel of the holidays, but it is so exhausting. this year it really seemed like the week before was non stop. party planning, running around getting last minute gifts, and helping out at school seemed to make up my week... which meant little time for cleaning my house and prepping for visitors. (I always think to myself how the whole cleaning thing goes. Clean to make the house look nice for the visitors, and then a day into it, you can't even tell it was clean. So to clean or not to clean? Or how much should I clean to get ready for it? ) Anyway here are a few pics of the little ones at their respective parties.



We're gearing up for the big Cowboy game tomorrow, and i have the worst feeling that they are going to bite it hard. (Let's hope that this prediction is totally and completely false.) But I have to admit that every time I see that girlfriend of his, I have this uncontrollable feeling of, well, lets just say I really don't like her... AT ALL!!!! I keep telling Alex that she will be his down fall and that she is the root of all evil when it comes to Romo, but he insists that it is his finger. WHATEVER!!! Why is it that anytime a girl has "big girls", any wrong doings or faults are somehow overlooked. I just don't get the attraction. Anyway, I'll be saying a little prayer before the game in hopes that any black clouds she has brought with her will suddenly just dissipate and they will win big.

I was so excited to finally see a new Grey's this week, and they did not disappoint. I am foreseeing a new best friend relationship between Lexi and George, and I think that Meredith has finally screwed things up for good. What is her deal? SERIOUSLY!!! Who wouldn't completely melt when Derek is talking about building a home for them, or when is talking to Baily and trying to comfort her; telling her what a good mother she is and that people make mistakes. At this point, I am hoping that Derek and Rose get together. She seems more the type that will appreciate him. I have also been watching way too much Ghost Hunters. Alex says I am just scaring myself, but I can't seem to pull myself away from them. I know this will totally bite me in the butt the next time he has to go out of town and I am scared though.

Okay, I'm going to try a new dish tonight. Pozole is sort of what we Mexican's like to refer to as menudo, without the grossness of the tripe. If you don't know what tripe it, believe me you are better off not knowing. We have had a major craving for menudo since we went to EP for thanksgiving and we never got to have it, and the craving lingers. So my sister gave a recipe for it and I'm trying it out tonight. Alex said he doesn't think he is going to like it since he likes the tripe, which just means more for me. I really hope it turns out good.

Before I am done I have a question. What are your new years resolutions? I have 4 that I have decided on.
1. Keep a better budget. (i'm not so good at this, but I am really going to try to do better with this.)
2. Do a better job with house duties.
3. Exercise. (I think I will be joining Lifetime this month. Maybe that will get me in gear.)
4 (This one will remain unnamed... Kind of private)

So what are yours??? (Yes you stalkers out there who stop by and peek in even you. Let me know who you are. I have met some of you through mutual friends but I would love to hear from you too. And as for my family who emails instead of posting, you can post here too. It isn't that hard to do. I promise.

Okay, I am off to get ready. We are taking the girls to see MR. MAGORIUM's Wonder Imporium today. I have heard lots of cute things about it so we'll see.

Have a good Saturday.
*ciao*
deb

the girls' blog. i've had all these pictures from the last few holidays that were just sitting on my computer with no where to go. so there are some new posts with pics to see. I still have lots more, but I can only do so much at one time.

Okay, gotta go feed the family.

*ciao*

okay so i put this button here for the Tip of the Day. This is one of the best sites ever. I spend way too much time on this blog, but I swear this girl has some of the cutest ideas ever. She has 3 different blogs with tons of very helpful and creative ideas. So check it out. Then you too can spend way too much time on it, but hey, you might find something that will help you or something that you just can't live without.

okay, i'm off to watch one more of my shows that I totally don't need to be watching.

cya.

i have been running around the last few weeks, but it has been great. we had a really nice holiday, except for Belle and Alex getting sick, but at least we were all together. We finally took all the Christmas decorations down and put them up in the attic yesterday. I love, love, love decorating for Christmas. I think that is my holiday, but I really like the feel of the clean house after putting everything away in January. Even if the house isn't clean, you have the illusion of a clean house simply because you don't have all the clutter anymore. Now that all is put neatly back in it's place, I have the overwhelming urge to organize and purge. so i have decided that anything that has not been used in the last year is outta here. we simply don't have room for all the crap that has accumulated in our house. I went through the girl's playroom on Sunday and got rid of lots of puzzles, books, toys, etc that simply wasn't being used. Then yesterday I cleared out and organized the closet in the media room. Next on my list is the craft room... eeeeek!!! I figure one to two rooms per week and I should be done in the next month or so.

I have so much to blog about... pre Christmas parties, Santa visits, family visits, movies, shows, blah, blah, blah... but for now, I need to go and make some dinner and pick up meds from the pharmacy. Oh, yeah Belle is sick again. Asthma... but i guess I can't complain since this is really only the second time she has had it in the last year. That is progress. Still, it kills me for her to be sick. Anyway, I'm off to get stuff done.

Talk to you soon and have a great evening.

*ciao*