Just So You Know...

Ladies, if you haven't checked out "Just So You Know," I would highly encourage you to do this! This is a weekly webshow that our senior pastor's wife, Joan Evrist, and a good friend of hers, Carol Maxwell, as well as one of my closest friends, Janelle Kellums, do every Friday. The website also has all kinds of fun tips and great deals for online shopping! :-) Each webshow is about 10 minutes long, and DEFINITELY worth checking out each week.

Check it out by clicking HERE.

Make sure you check out all the links at the top, including the "Get Maxwellized" link to see the latest Carol Maxwell makeover. (Carol is a style guru who has worked in the music industry with all sorts of stars- she's great!) Also check out the "Tips of the Week." They are awesome beauty and do-it-yourself tips that every woman can relate to!

I just love Trader Joe's. I was so excited when we got one in Nashville a few years ago, and although it's not near as close as I would like it to be, I'm glad there's one around now. If you've never been to a TJ's, it's a combination of a World Market, Fresh Market, Regular grocery and Whole Foods. It's not as big as a Publix or Kroger, and it's not fully organic, but the Trader Joe's store brand is awesome, they have TONS of great options and most things are either totally natural or organic. We were down in Nashville today for a frisbee tournament, so I made a stop there and at Teavana. Here are some things I got today:

-Ground beef

-Ahi tuna steaks

-Salmon

-Mahi Mahi

-Brown Jasmine Rice

-Whole wheat Couscous

-Natural Peanut Butter (I always stock up when I'm there)

-Blueberries

-Hummus

-Flaxseed Tortilla Chips

-Frozen Green Beans

-Bean and Barley soup mix

-Tons of Edamame (another thing I stock)

-Sunflower seeds

-Turbinado: couple of kinds

-String Cheese

-Apples

-Green tea

-Bananas

-Arugula, salad ready

-Thai Red Curry sauce

...and I'm sure a few other things that I am forgetting.

Best of all, it's an AWESOME price! So, if you have one in your area...get over there- totally worth it!

Greeting Card Extravaganza...

(This post is for Martha!)

A few days ago, I was picking out a card for a friend's baby shower. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE cards, but I had already spent 2 dollars over my budget and really didn't have $4-$5 more to spend on a card. So, I found a .99center that worked okay, grabbed it and left. As a friend and I were driving to the shower, I remarked about how crazy it is that greeting cards can be (on average) $3-$4, or for the really cute ones, up to like $8-$9! Somtimes that's the total amount I have to spend on a gift!! It really got me thinking, b/c in the month of June, Jordan and I had 3 baby showers, 2 Father's Days, 2 family wedding anniversarys, 3 family birthdays and 4 friend's birthdays. That's a total of 14 cards!! Yes, 14!!! And I could have sent cards to grandfathers, uncles, etc.....

So yesterday, as I was swinging into Kroger to pick up wheat tortillas I had forgotten for dinner, I saw a couple of discount bins with various (and VERY random) merchandise in them. I took a couple of minutes to look, and lo and behold...a couple of them contained all KINDS of scrapbooking paraphenalia. I am not a scrapbooker, but immediately the thought came into my mind, "why couldn't I MAKE cute cards in the same way that people scrapbook?!" As I sorted through the stuff, I found item after item that brought up great ideas for a variety of super-cute cards. So, I put myself on a $20 (including tax) budget and started choosing. Look what I found:

I spent $18 on what would have retailed at Kroger (probably way more at a Scrapbooking store) for almost $60. I have tons of papers, 100 sheets of cardstock, stickers, buttons, stencils, letters, numbers, pop ups, graphics, glue, phrases, etc. How cool is that?!

So I made my first card yesterday, just a "thinking of you" card for someone, and I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

I was so excited!! This card probably would have cost me around 5 bucks, and I have enough supplies to make about 100 cards. Pretty cool, huh?!

You know you're a dork when cleaning products make you really happy and really excited!! So, I am a dork! This is what I received yesterday in the mail as a wonderful gift from someone!!

These are Shaklee "Get Clean" products.I had heard about these from several people over the last year, and pretty much everyone who uses them loves them. Jordan and I had already talked about the need for more natural cleaning stuff, but I haven't wanted to pay the money for products like Seventh Generation. And frankly, some of the organic cleaning stuff out there is just not that great. We had determined that we were just going to make our own, but I am really excited about this alternative.

Everything is natural, and it cleans really, really well. I tested out several things last night! I have everything from dish soap and hand wash to laundry detergent and fabric softener. I am really excited about it, and I think it's a great option for us! You can check out more info here!

i *heart* Starbuck's

So yesterday, I totally got blessed by none other than Starbuck's! No, I do not think Starbuck's is the "ENEMY" of the local coffee shop- I actually like the fact that Starbuck's has made coffee and tea more readily accessible around the world and yesterday, I had even one more reason to like them!

Over a month ago, I had stepped into the one in downtown Franklin and as I was leaving, I noticed the Christmas wreath on the door. I thought it was SO cute, and considered trying to make one like it. Then, a few weeks ago, we were down there again and I asked one of the workers I knew what they did with their Christmas decor once Christmas was over. She directed me to her manager, Kelly, and told me to ask her. I chatted with Kelly and she told me that they usually just give it away or sell it. She took my info and promised to call me after Christmas.

Well yesterday, I got a call from Kelly, who proceeded to tell me their Field Manager had come in and taken down the Christmas stuff. "It's not even Christmas yet," I stated! "I know- it's crazy," was Kelly's reply, "but, you can come down and get whatever you want."

After work, I headed down and look what I ended up with:



I was pretty pumped! And she wouldn't let me pay for any of it! Moral of the story: Just ask! You never know what you might get! :-)

If you've never used Redbox to rent movies...you are missing out! First, check out www.redbox.com and find a location close to you, then use this coupon code and get a free rental. Enjoy!

My favorite new thing is the Green Bag! I saw them first at Kroger about a month ago, and was very interested in them. Not only for the benefit they are to our environment (I use like 10 plastic bags every grocery trip) but really for the size- how much you can put in them, and they're so much easier & more comfortable to carry than those plastic bags. AND they really are affordable!

So, I have bought them at Target, Whole Foods and Kroger. And you can really use them at any store...they're great for dry cleaning or things you need to tote around. I need to start putting them in the car, I find they're more accessible that way.



Go getcha some! =)

Jordan got a new phone last night. Pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. It blows the Treo and Blackberry's out of the water. Robby introduced it to us a few weeks ago after he got his, and Jordan was pretty impressed. Although I've always thought my husband would be the last person to have a PDA-type phone, as his responsibilites have increased in all sorts of different arenas, the need has incresed for him to have an all-in-one scheduling/emailing, etc. device. I think it will be very handy for him. The Mogul is pretty much Sprint's answer to the iPhone, and although I'm sure the iPhone has a few shinier bells & whistles, I think the Mogul will do just fine :-)