YES!!

Ten years ago today, I answered YES to Josh when he got down on one knee and said , "Melissa, will you marry me"?
You never know when you answer that yes how much it changes your life. The change is obviously great!
It was the only time during college that I got to come home aside from at the end of semesters. It was Halloween weekend and I had a flight arranged to come home to visit. The weekend went by all too quickly, but hey at least I got the extra 1 hour with the fall back of the clocks. Josh and my family met me at O'Hare airport. It was so weird to see them all again after so long. We began the drive home. Somehow we ended up in Indiana because dad got lost. Finally, we made it home. It was a beautiful fall weekend and the leaves were in peak color.
I remember spending Saturday outside taking pictures with all of the pretty trees and leaves and just enjoying the day. In Florida, changing leaf color is pretty much a rarity. That is one thing I missed about home while I was there. I know we went shopping and to dinner. Josh was sweating bullets at dinner (not because he was going to get engaged) because he was eating a sandwich that had (gasp) cheese on it. He hates orange cheese.
Anyway, we went to the park where we both had worked, met, became friends, and fallen in love. It was late and we walked out on the dock over the water. It was there that I said "yes" to the question that changed our lives!
Sunday was exciting as we shared the news with people. I had to board a flight that evening in Chicago. It was Halloween and the crew and flight attendants were dressed up. Not many people were crowding the airport, but many were in costume. I doubt that would work these days. Tinkerbell was one of the flight attendants. It was so sad to leave, but a little easier since I had that sparkler on my finger. I was happy!
The coolest thing is, I love him so much more than I did back in October of 1999. Our love has grown with each passing year. Quite often, I even learn things I never knew before about Josh. That's the beauty of it all!! Just yesterday, he got to hear a CD made from a cassette from when I was 5 years old. I was singing.
Looking back, we were so young and we were so different then than we are now. One thing remains--we love each other very, very much!
The answer today would be all the same--a resounding "YES"
I love you, Josh!!

Just for Laughs & Operation Christmas Child

Children's s mispronunciations are so funny at times. Keirah's pre-school work has a corresponding animal for each letter. Each one has a name. On Monday, we did letter "X" which is Roxie Fox. There's a little song we sing that goes to the tune of "Are You Sleeping" that helps her get the letter and sound etc...SO it goes like this: Roxie Fox, Roxie Fox, X says "ks" x says "ks" and so on. Well, Keirah was singing it like this: Sexy Fox, Sexy Fox, X says "ks", X says "ks". Finally, we got that "Sexy Fox" corrected. Not before Josh and I were laughing.

November is upon us and one of the things we really love to do with the girls before Christmas is Operation Christmas Child. Aliyah has really come to own it now that she understands it more and more. Our church does this each year. They pass out the red/green shoeboxes, you take it home and fill it up. For those not familiar, it is so fun, yet kind of heartbreaking at the same time. These boxes go into third world countries where many times the children haven't ever received any kind of present and may not ever receive one in their lifetime. That is the sad part! The fun part is explaining to an American child who has more than they could ever dream of really that there are other children that get NOTHING! It really helps bring the whole giving thing into perspective for kids.

Keirah who just turned three doesn't understand it all quite yet, but Aliyah does and has fun picking out things for the boxes. It is amazing what you can fit into a shoebox!!
Last week, we began getting everything together. We had boxes of crayons, markers, stuffed animals, balls, little play backpacks, little dolls, and so much more. We always do girl ones because we have girls and know what girls like. I'm terrible at figuring out boy gifts. I wouldn't get very far past the little cars--lol! This year, Aliyah's class at church packed boxes after we brought the stuff in. If there's one thing at Christmas that brings joy or gets the season started right, it's Operation Christmas Child!

Rainy Monday

Yet another rainy day this October. I feel like 75% of the month has been rainy. It was unusually dark this morning when I got up. I could have easily crawled back in for some more sleep.
I abandoned my to-do list tonight, although I plan to run around and complete some things here in a few minutes.
I'm excited that our porch will be officially complete (tile-wise) this week. It looks great!! Needless to say, the weekends full of stuff to-do leave us pretty tired.
Oh yeah, we didn't win the curb appeal contest. That's okay, though--no sore losers!
Hoping for a day of sunshine again soon!

Another Weekend!!

What can I say, except we have been busy every waking minute of the weekend. What else is new?
Since it was warmer again and pretty we used every minute to get things done.

Friday evening was errands, dinner, and shopping night. It was fun!

Saturday morning started bright (or not so much) and early (definitely) with you guessed it--a few garage sales. We only went to 3, but we found some great items!
We ran a few more errands and then began some fall clean-up in the yard. Most of it involved pulling up old plants and mowing and cleaning out the garage. We decided to go get the new door for the porch, the tile, and some round top shutters for our large picture window.

Sunday consisted of church with me being in the nursery and children's church. I missed not being with Josh during any part of it =(. Following lunch, we dove into projects at home. We began taking out bushes #56-62 (I think that's about where we are on bushes we have removed from this property). No, I'm not exaggerating!! With that amount of bushes, one would think we live on a large expanse of land. Not the case everyone, we just happened to purchase a home where the owner REALLY LIKED BUSHES!! Very, very few remain. The few remaining consist of two lilacs and a couple of spirea and bridal wreath. I decided this week that bushes are too much maintenance for the short time that they actually do anything pretty.
Josh began tiling the back porch--yay!! I went over to my neighbor's for a fun afternoon looking at jewelry. She had yummy treats as well.

Now, it's time to wrap up the weekend and get ready for another week. I hope we can keep at least some mild weather coming our way. Right now, it is raining--yet again.

Get 'R Done

The nice weather has prompted me to use up every ounce of daylight after work to get stuff done. Today's jobs: vacuum the filthy car, trim bushes and clean up brush, and string Christmas lights on the fence (because it is warm and it won't kill my hands). Mission accomplished on today's outdoor jobs. My to-do list still has items on it, however they will slowly but surely get crossed off =).

My big upcoming project is ebay. I like it, but I don't. I like getting rid of stuff and bringing in some extra ca$h, however it is like a 3rd job really. I said 3rd job because there's the regular job, homeschooling the girls, and then ebay is job #3 if you ask me. That doesn't even count housework and other little items that need to be done. Oh well, it's a good way to spend the evenings in the fall/winter anyway.

It's hard to believe, but it has been a year ago today that the Extreme Makeover crew came to the neighborhood. In some ways, it went really fast and in others it seems like ages ago. We are used to seeing that large house now. The other day, they little boy that they built the house for was going for a wheelchair ride with his older brother right by the house. He has a lot of physical ailments, but that is the happiest and most smiling kid I have ever seen...each and every time I see him. He's full of laughter!
Some other people in the neighborhood seem to be doing their own version of EMakeover. They have poured new sidewalks and are building dormers, putting on a new roof, putting in new windows. I am unsure as to the suddenness of it all since they have been in a constant state of constructions jobs uncompleted for the last 7 years, but we'll see hopefully a good outcome.
That's all for now. I think the girl's baths and bedtime are beckoning me followed by a look at my things that need to be finished.
For the record, I AM enjoying the burst of what I call Indian Summer. Yes, my windows are open!

Indian Summer--I'll take it!

There is something drug-like about beautiful weather for me. It does amazing things for me--energizes, makes happy, motivates and the list goes on!

After the unseasonably cold fall that we have been experiencing, today was AWESOME!! After work, we happily enjoyed the outdoor weather. We cleaned our flowerbeds. Not everything is gone, but much is gone! The windows are being cleaned inside and outside right now as well.

Following our work outdoors, we headed over to Cracker Barrel for the SUPERB apple streusel cinnamon french toast breakfast. It ROCKS!! I am happy to have my sweetie-pie home this evening! It's a treat since he works many evenings.

the switch

Shorter days are setting in, colder temps are here. That means a few things around here...
less..I mean very little time outside tending to flowers, riding bicycles, going on walks, mowing, or anything. The most time spent outside right now that is pleasant is if there is a fire involved.

This is the transition to slower paced (sort of) days/nights inside. With all of the rainy, cool weather we've had, we have spent more time indoors. We have been organizing, doing tiny projects, cleaning, sorting, homeschooling, reading, etc...

In some ways I like the transition, but in other ways I go stir crazy. We are a summer-lovin family. We love spending time outdoors. I miss the sunny pool days, the flower waterin, the early sunrise, the garage sales, the smell of the yard being mowed, the breeze on the porch.

This is our time to catch up on indoor things--the switch from doing outside stuff til we drop and trying to keep up with indoor things to pretty much only stuff indoors.

BRRR...

I can't believe the cold is here so quickly! Since that subject is not my favorite, on to something else =).

It was another busy weekend. What else is new? We got up early on Saturday to find FREEZING temps and frost as well as fog.
We left quickly to catch some end of season garage sales before heading to join up with the others going to the football game.

We did find one sale that had some cute fall/winer clothes for Aliyah. I was excited. I spent $17.75 and got a big bag. This week's finds were from Gap, Children's Place, and Old Navy. My mom found 3 items for her from Gymboree. Throw in several packs of hangers and a few other things and it was worthwhile.

I was able to take in my very first football game ever. We were basically on the field (2nd row). Problem was, they were not at our end of the field hardly at all. Michigan St. dominated the game. The MSU cheerleaders were directly in front of us so I enjoyed watching that. Parts of me wished I was still coaching cheerleading as this would have been wonderful.
Coolest part of the game without a doubt:
the national anthem was played/sung and we hear a strange noise off to the left. Many had NO idea what it was--myself included. All of the sudden, 2-F16's zoomed overhead and banked back. As quickly as they flew over, they were gone! It is amazing how f-16's can sneak up on a stadium full of people and fly over so close. WOW! My heart was beating so fast!
We ate at a local pizza place called Papa Dell's. I was unsure because I am not a fan of Chicago style deep dish. This was deep dish, but I loved it!
Josh enjoyed going back to his Alma Mater for their homecoming game. It has been 10 years since he graduated from U of I!! It was cool. I didn't learn anything about football, but the experience was fun.

We had some cleaning/organizing to do on Sunday. I feel good about what we finished. Of course, there was the normal routine items that called for our attention as well.

Well, I have started another blog called Fru Fru Frugality. Go visit www dot frufrufrugality dot blogspot dot com . I will post there periodically as I come up with things to post =).

It's Here

...fall that is...

The weather has certainly cooled and the nights are quite chilly. I keep bemoaning the fact that my flowers are fading quickly, and then I remind myself that it is October. I'm just not a fan of a brown yard, naked trees, and a bare garden. I like the transition from flowers to Christmas decorations in the front to be pretty close together. Last year my mums made it to the Christmas decorating time.

Our energy bill shows the mild summer and fall we've had...$59!! I'll take it...winter is on it's way as are my Christmas lights for outside.

We are fully engaged in school with both of the girls. They are over 1/3 of the way done! Cursive writing is the toughest for Aliyah. She excels in everything else. She is working on her memory work for this year at church working on being a "Well Versed Kid" again for 2nd grade now.

Keirah is quite the worker also. She is very meticulous and great at coloring!! Everything MUST be filled in and she takes her time. She is also doing superbly at her letters/sounds and recognition. I love it when we are out somewhere and she spouts out the letters to us.

We've stayed busy as usual. This week we have/are taking trips to cities that begin with Ch. Maybe Charleston should be one. I bet it is warmer there.

On Saturday, I will attend my very first football game--ever. This should be interesting since I don't follow or know much about the game in general. Josh is a big fan of football and it is at his alma mater--Univeristy of Illinois. Yes, I know...they aren't very good this year.

In the way of projects, I think Josh has plans of putting porcelain tile down on the porch in the near future. Other than that, we are doing well to keep up with the lawn mowing and housework with being busy. The lawn mowing is tougher to finish these days as they daylight wanes quicker each night. The other evening when we arrived home from Chicago, Josh rushed to mow the lawn and finished just as it was getting dark.

Here's a funny photo from Chicago: It's not a great picture because it was dark outside and through blinds (I think to represent bars). In case you can't tell, it is ousted Governor Rod Blagojevich with a sign that says "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!". He has a belt of handcuffs and chains around his neck. I laughed when I saw it at the Tribune bldg. in downtown Chicago. So, if you remember...Josh has his photo with Barack and Rod now. Who will it be next?

Just a few fun photos from Chicago. The city was less busy than summertime, and seemingly feeling the sting of not getting the Olympics. The traffic was at a crawl getting out as always.

Well, I have a few things that need finished. I have been burning my .55 cents worth of garage sale candles which are seasonally appropriate in cinnamon & candy corn--there are 4 of them. Boy, my spending is outta control =). I doubt I will get to many sales this week. With Saturday's early departure...I don't see it happening =(. I will have to count on mom and dad to find stuff I guess.

What happens...

...when you get up early 3 days in a row to go to garage sales?

Let's get started:
Gap, Gymboree, American Girl, Crocs, Doc Martins, American Eagle, Coach, Dooney & Bourke, Vera Bradley, Yankee Candle, Party Lite, Victoria's Secret, Skechers, Jessica Simpson, Bath & Body, Crate & Barrel, Lancome, Clinique...can you believe it??

Honestly, I wouldn't believe it either if I didn't have all of this stuff in my kitchen waiting to be sorted, washed, and put away!!
Over the past 3 mornings, we have been to without a doubt the.BEST.GARAGE SALES.WE HAVE EVER BEEN TO!!!
No, the list above is not made up...we got at least one thing of each of the brands listed and it was CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!!!!!
It has been so much fun.
I know you will want to see the pics so I must get to sorting and taking pictures. That's the only thing I do not like.

Great stuff--yes everyone, this summer of going to a few garage sales here and there has turned me into a garage sale queen or whatever you want to call it. They have been undescribably great this year. No, I do not ask people to take less for their stuff either--never! I know how much this stuff costs in stores as I have purchased it. If I don't like the price, I just wouldn't buy it. Forgive me, this is a hodge-podge and not a great picture. This is a bunch of stuff all together in the kitchen. Pretty lamp, $4 Shells .50 for the bag and .50 for the basket of them, Harley Davidson cordless phone $1 (yes it works)

They sell these really cool and antiquated tile art pieces at our local festival every year. I have looked each year and never purchase simply because they are quite pricey. Sometimes they are $200. This one: $4!!

The really cheap and useful stash. This has Crate & Barrel silicone cupcake baking cups .25 per 8 pk., a snowman decoration .25, Party Lite candle filler and votive holders .45 , large Yankee candle in the back .10, orange candle (candy corn scent) .25, B&B spray in Cotton Blossom .50, B&B soap .10, Yankee Candle (Christmas Cookie scent) 1.00.

I must confess that I purchased 8 pairs of shoes over the past 2 days!! Yes, I said 8!!

Not pictured: Victoria's Secret ballet-style slippers $1, flip flops $1 All of these shoes were $1 per pair with the exception of the Coach Josie flats which are the black ones on the left in the middle--$5 (retail price is $178)!! The bottom right shoes are Crocs and they are the most comfortable pumps ever!!

The expensive pile. This has Dooney & Bourke, Vera Bradley, Jessica Simpson, and Coach. If you know how much this stuff sells for then it won't seem expensive to you. I just mean expensive in garage sale terms =). So, I treated myself to the black leather Coach purse in the back on the right. I had looked at purses very similar to this not all that long ago. This one is all leather and has it's dust bag and everything and looks brand new $45!!! It retails for $398!! Vera Bradley wallets/cardholders $3 each, Dooney & Bourke cc holder .50, Vera Bradley pj shorts .75, Coach make-up bag $3, Jessica Simpson clutch (grey in back) $1, B&B toiletries bag .25

If you are wondering about the authenticity of the Coach and such...they are real.

Not pictured today are several Gymboree clothing items (mostly in Aliyah's size). It's funny because we have several of these pieces for Aliyah already but in different sizes.

I purchased several Gap shirts at $1 each for myself, a belt for $1, some great metal hangers for .30, jackets & coat for Aliyah $3, a big bag full of Gymboree & Gap clothes / tights for Aliyah for $18.50, and a whole host of other things that I just don't have time to mention.

$3 worth of new mascara, toner, eye shadow, brushes (12 pieces in all)etc...all Lancome. Don't worry, I don't purchase used make-up. Actually, many of the items I purchased are new. Now, 2 of the candles had been used a bit, but c'mon...it's a candle.

Oh yes, one last thing...I got a box full of indoor/outdoor big ornaments for $1. They were all new in plastic and there were 27 of them. These are the big ones that you can put in window boxes etc... I have always wanted to do that, however I just couldn't see forking over several bucks apiece for each ornament when I have 11 window boxes and most of them would need 2 or 3 each!

Only a few weeks left of the garage sale season!!