$$ Bargains for My Expensive Taste $$

My absolute FAVORITE home decorating stores are Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. Everything they sell is just sooooooo pretty, and wonderful, and comfy, and perfect, and... expensive! But I love them and will not judge them for their ridiculously over priced items. I wander through these stores (usually by means of the internet) to browse and get ideas so that I can go elsewhere and find knock offs. Well, ladies (assuming that it's generally ladies and not men reading this) I HAVE FOUND MY ULTIMATE BARGAIN. I just have to share it with you!

I was browsing through Restoration Hardware's bed linens and found this beautiful yet simple duvet set. However, I would not be purchasing a sage blanket to go with it, don't care for that much. Anyways, it includes: Duvet cover, two shams, two pillowcases, one fitted sheet, and one flat sheet. All of which are 210 thread count.




Total Price excluding tax and including shipping: $655.60 OUCH! I mean, what if I were to drool on those sheets?! Then what?!?!

So the hunt begins. I WILL find what I want and it WILL be a bargain!

Alas, I come across this site smartbargains.com and find this!



It includes all items mentioned in the R.H. package. Except, this is all 300 thread count. For a grand total of: $64.77 WOO HOO!!!! That includes free shipping!! I told you, I WILL find a bargain!! Now I just have to wait for Justin to get back to me about if I should purchase it or not. Either way, I just like to know that I have the power to find knock offs :)

~Carissa

My Handsome Little Man

This past Thursday was one of Justin's day off. We decided to venture outside as the weather was perfect, a nice 70 degrees with a cool breeze! We headed to Moss Park which Eli LOVED! He surprisingly was not all that interested in the huge playground. He much preferred the wide open field, throwing rocks in the lake, and running around finding the best sticks possible. He's all boy and I love it! Here are a few pics I snapped of my amazingly handsome (now 2 years old!) little man!



Isn't he so handsome??!!

~Carissa

Packing and Forgetfullness

Good evening all,

It's 10:15 pm and I feel as though my night has only begun. We are moving this Saturday to the Moss Park area. Needless to say, this week has been full of packing, cleaning, packing, cleaning, packing, packing, packing...

I've learned that with a toddler in tow you must reserve a good full four months to pack! I've been slowly packing here and there for the past couple of months. But, this week is when I really started filling all the boxes. Did you know I can pack more in one hour when Eli is napping than I can in a WHOLE day when he isn't asleep??!! Yep, it's true! The little man likes to "help" me pack. Which consists of throwing anything and everything into the box I am filling. Which means I spend most of my time undoing what he has done. He also seems to find the items in the box much more interesting when they are IN THE BOX, opposed to when they were out of the box with in his reach. Oh well! As my dad put it, at least he is a hard worker! He's so fun to have around. I love how curious he is!

Yesterday morning I was going about my business when I received a text message from my husband exclaiming "Happy Anniversary, Baby!" Ummm, ooops! I completely forgot it was our three year anniversary. I quickly wrote him back saying I was so sorry I had forgotten and that I did not do anything for our anniversary. But then he wrote me to say he only remembered because his mom had text him congratulating us on our anniversary! I'm horrible at remembering important dates. This year I'll blame it on being busy with moving :) Anyways, Happy Anniversary, baby! A day late. Thank you for being wonderful. Thank you for being funny, supportive, leading, encouraging, and hard working. Thank you most of all for the loving the Lord. I love you.

Off to pack some more!

Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! How was your day? Our day was spent with my mom's side of the family, all one million of us, at least it seems that way. It's so fun, I love family gatherings! The weather was perfect today, crisp and clear! All of the kids played out side from about 2:00 till 6. Eli soaked every minute of it up. He and his cousins LOVE to play in the dirt outside with sticks and rocks, and all that boy stuff. So, since today is Thanksgiving I thought I would make a small list of the main things in my life I am thankful for.

1) That I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He re-focuses me every day.

2) For my family. My dad and brother have been a true model for me when it came to who I married. Because of their influence I married a man who is very much like them: a true heart for the Lord, dedicated to his family, and a hard worker. My mom, she is sweet, thoughtful, and an amazing role model as a mom and wife. My sister, for being a sincere person and friend (and who loves to play games with me till the wee hours of the morning). My husband, for all the things mentioned above. And, just because he's wonderful on top of all of that! My son, he makes me laugh every single day!

3) For what I have been learning this year. To be content in every circumstance of my life. I always knew that earthly possessions really have no value once you have passed away. But for some reason, this year the Lord has really taught me what that means. It's given me a new perspective on life. I can honestly say that I am content with my life. Not that it's a very troubled life, by any means. But I truly am not concerned with what my peers, neighbors, other family members have and I do not. What I need to be concerned with is my character, my witness, my walk... These are the things I will take with me to heaven and be judged by. The Lord could not care less about my riches acquired here on earth. Once I TRULY came to understand this, peace would flood my soul every time I would begin to stray. Pure peace is amazing!

4) This website: www.biblegateway.com . Makes studying so much easier!

5) The Lord has blessed me with wonderful friends! I love them. I have also recently reconnected with a few friends, it's been so fun!

These are just some of the main things I am thankful for in life. I'm sure I could make and endless list!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Shhh

Last night I went up stairs to put Eli to bed. Every night we generally have the same bedtime routine. We go upstairs get a diaper change, brush his teeth, get pajamas on, read from his Bible story book, say a prayer, then I place him in bed for the night. However, last night I was exhausted. I wanted to skip the majority of his bedtime routine and just put him down for the night.

As soon as we went upstairs he kept asking "Read Bible, read Bible, read Bible?" And I just kept gathering his blanket and pillow and exclaiming "No, we are just going to pray and go night night". We went back and forth about this for a good 20 seconds. Finally he just looked at me and started patting my chest firmly and said "Mommy, mommy, mommy". I stopped talking, looked at him, he looked at me straight in the eyes and said "Mommy...SHHH... read Bible". How could I say no to that?! So, we read three stories from his Bible book.

Sometimes I feel this is the story of my life. I'm always concerned with getting to the next step of life or just through the next step of the day. When really, all I need to do is sit down, "shhh", and listen to the Lord. Spend time meditating over him. When I actually sit down and take the time to listen to Him, it's amazing. An overwhelming peace falls over me. Suddenly my priorities are put back into place. I immediately lose all anxiety and worries and trust in the fact that if I am faithful to the Lord then my concerns will all be handled. We have such a short time on this earth. When I think about being at the end of my road here, I don't want to look back and see how I spent so much time worrying about money, houses, cars, or anything else that made my life seem perfect. I want to look back and say "I was a blessed woman. The Lord gave me a faithful, amazing, God fearing husband. I spent my every day introducing my children to Christ. They have sound character, pure hearts, logical minds, and love the Lord above any earthly possession or person." This is what I want to say I accomplished at the end of my life on this earth. So... last night, my two year old son taught me to sit still and be with him and the Lord. I pray my every day here will be filled with shhh moments.

Do you have enough Shhh moments?

President Elect

I'm at a loss for words. If you know me, you know I'm conservative socially, economically as well, but I really focus on the social issues. Therefore, it is probably no surprise that I was extremely sad when Obama became our President Elect on the 4th of November. I'm just so sad that he will probably be overturning the current law against partial-birth abortion. I don't understand the thought process behind legalizing this. Maybe someone could explain?? I know many feel as though the mother should have the right to "choose". Which I agree with. The mother does have the right to choose, and that "choice" is made when she chooses to have sex or not. If a woman chooses to have sex then she is at that very moment allowing herself the possibility of becoming pregnant. That's how pro-creation works. Sex= babies. No sex= no babies.

I also know that many would ask "what about if the mother was raped? Or the mother's life is in jeopardy due to pregnancy?". Well, to say the least, both situations are tragic. However, I still stand firm in my beliefs that abortion is not the answer. These scenarios occur in less than 1% of abortions. I do not feel we can make a law based on the chance that less than 1% of people might decide to have an abortion based on a horrible circumstance.

Sometimes I wonder, even for Christians, if they fully understand abortion. I believe that most americans, myself included, have become numb to the actual phrase "abortion". But if you truly dive into what an abortion is comprised of, the lack of knowledge given to the mother, the process of the mutilation/burning of the child, the extreme depression that the majority of the mothers are left with... then maybe, just maybe people would begin to have a change of heart and a clearer understanding of the true effects of abortion. If you feel you don't completely understand this process then just google abortion, pro-life... or get your hands on Randy Alcorn's book "Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments" or even "Christian Ethics in Plain Language" by Kerby Anderson.

Anyways, this was the one HUGE reason why I was dissapointed in the election of Obama. However, I do pray fervently in his presidency that this issue would no longer become one of his top priorities. Unless, of couse he wants to completely over turn Roe v. Wade, then I'm all about that! But, I do pray that he will be able to accomplish more good in his election than bad. I pray he will be able to break down barriers of racism. I pray for him as the leader of the greatest country, that he can become one of the greatest leaders. I pray for his heart, his decision making, and that he would truly have the Lord by his side during one of the most difficult jobs known.

How do you feel about this election?

Gonna Give this a Go!

Alright, so I'm gonna give this blog world a go on my own. I am definitely not the the writer in the family. I would have to credit Justin, my husband, with that skill. But, I've seen the impact a blog can have and the impact some blogs have had on me. So, I'm hoping this can be a forum for discussion, pondering, encouraging, and friendship. Wish me luck!

~Carissa