My Mother's Daughter

I grew up with a mother who had an amazing ability to sniff out great deals. Deals on bread machines, deals on shoes, deals on baby clothes...you name it. It's not like she went shopping all the time. She just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. One Christmas all of us kids got softball gloves and mitts because Mom found them for 99% off or some ridiculous price. It didn't matter that we only played softball once in a blue moon. It was a fantastic deal, so we started playing softball a lot more.

Although my Mom usually made my formal dresses, I decided to borrow one from a friend for Homecoming my junior year. It was bright blue satin (welcome to the 90s). Not an easy color to match. But that didn't stop my Mom from finding a pair of bright blue satin shoes that were just my size...at a yard sale for $1. What are the odds?!

Even after most of us were married, we'd get a call from Mom on a Saturday morning asking us if we wanted her to buy a chair or some shelves she found at a fantastic price. They had to load up the trailer and van every time they came out to visit just to fit in Mom's amazing deals. I don't want to sound ungrateful. I loved that about my Mom. Plus, she found me 5 brand new oak chairs that perfectly matched the kitchen table my Dad made. No complaints here.

So, with genes like these, I have to be excited about a great deal, right? I am. I admit it. I get really excited about finding things for 80% off. And all my friends know it. My sisters are both the same. It's not uncommon to hear some variation of the following conversation:

"Cute shoes!"
"Thanks! I got them for $4."
"Really? Where? I want to get some for ______. Is the sale still going on?"

Or this conversation:
"Hey, I'm at the store and I found some bins like the ones you were looking at. They're only $2. Do you want me to get you some?"

We have a running tally to keep track of the money we spend for each other.

So, I decided to blog about my latest deal. I was searching for a good price on "The Little Mermaid." After all, it's going back into that blasted Disney vault today, right? But while I was searching, I came across a cute corduroy bedspread. There were only two, and they were both the right size for my bed. It must be fate.
Original price: $89.99.
Andrea's final price: $8.99.
Yep, I found the perfect bedspread for 90% off. I must be my mother's daughter.

Tagged by Gretchen

A to Z About Me

A--Attached or Single: Attached to Matt
B--Best Friend: Matt (how cheesy is that?)
C--Cake or Pie: I don't care as long as it's chocolate!
D--Day of Choice: Tuesday (Singing practice day)
E--Essential Item: I suppose a water bottle. I keep one with me at all times.
F--Favorite Color: ?? Orange? Red? Green?
G--Greatest Accomplishment: Running the St. George Marathon
H--Hometown: White Plains, MD
I--Indulgences: Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. I'm drooling just thinking about it!
J--January or July: July
K--Kids: Just Matt
L--Life is incomplete without: Matt, church, exercise, chocolate, good friends
M--Marriage Date: January 26, 2001
N--Number of Siblings: 7--Jenni, Rodney, Paul, Evan, Valerie, Brent, JD
O--Oranges or Apples: Either one as long as they're cut for me. =)
P--Phobias or fears: Public speaking
Q--Quotes: SO many, but here's one..."So what if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about?"
R--Reason to Smile: Life is good!
S--Season: Spring
T--Tag 5 Friends: Valerie, Alona, Jennifer, Lacie, Dadra.
U--Unknown fact about me: Umm...I guess I'm an open book. =)
V--Very favorite store: The ones I can afford.
W--Worst habit: 4 words--piles of clean laundry.
X--X-ray or Ultra Sound: Ultra sound. It's kind of cool watching things move around.
Y--Your favorite food: Mmmm...warm chocolate melting cake. (But I would never turn down a good steak.)
Z--Zodiac: Libra

Cruise 2009

So, we just got back from our fantabulous cruise to Mexico. We decided that we wouldn't mind living in a warmer climate! The temperatures were in the 70s and 80s for our whole trip, so we can't complain a bit. We went with three other couples from our neighborhood and had an absolute blast! I think we're all experiencing symptoms of withdrawal, so we're already starting to plan another cruise for next year...maybe the Carribbean? Anyone else in?

This is the cruising clan right after arriving in San Diego. We had hour or so before we needed to board the ship, so we went to check out the beach.

Every night for dessert I enjoyed (drooled over, scarffed down, talked about, craved, obsessed over...) a Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Man, do I miss those!!!

This is one of the beaches at Cabo San Lucas where we were forced to spend the day snorkelling and playing in the waves. Rough.

Matt looking good in La Jolla. We spent another day and a half in CA after the cruise. We felt we needed a buffer between the 80 degree weather in Cabo and the 20 degree weather in Salt Lake.

Yes, it was plenty warm to walk barefoot on the beach. Sigh...

Matt was attacked by one of the towel creatures left on our bed by our steward. He's lucky he made it out of there alive!

We ate. Then we ate some more. Then we ate again. Then we went and found the frozen yogurt machine. Did I mention that we ate?

Gingerbread Haka!

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was hilarious! I thought for sure it was an ad for the BYU football team, but it wasn't. Someone should send it to them.

Is it SCOOTER WEATHER yet?

I just looked outside and it is snowing AGAIN. I'm all for a little snow, but this is getting out of hand! I can hardly wait for weather warm enough to drag that scooter out of hibernation!

Me and my neighbor forming a "scooter gang". We look pretty intimidating, don't we?
This was on Halloween (can you tell from my socks?). My friend's twins were being motorcross kids and our neighbor brought his bike to give them a ride. She is (obviously) pregnant, so we thought it would be great to get a picture on my scooter. The "helmet" was her idea.