The Awkward Stage:-)

Week 25 vs. Week 33 (now).

Besides the normal aches and pains of pregnancy, I'd say this is a 'good thing' that God thought up!

(PS- the neighbor beside us decided to cut back the trees on the fence line in preparation to sell the house... I LOVE the winter sunlight! Our bedroom is so bright now during the day.)

If You're Planning on Shopping this Christmas season...

... don't spend so much that you... 1) hate January because the credit card bills are too high, 2) spend what you don't have, and 3) regret purchases later, when the recipt is long gone and the season is over. (Where would we be in life without Dave Ramsey to set us straight?)

Dan and I are not thoughtful gift givers to be honest. In the 'old' days before children, we would spend our birthday/Christmas/anniversary money on weekends away to Palm Springs or Santa Barbara or such (when we used to live in San Diego). I still remember those trips fondly but to be honest, I can't remember what Dan bought me for Christmas last year- and visa versa. At least we can laugh over it together. This year, I think cans of paint would be great, though!

I'm an online shopper kinda girl. Amazon.com is my default go-to site but even then I Google my desired purchase before clicking 'submit' one last time.

If you want to get cash-back dollars, try sites like:

Ebates.com (American) or Ebates.com/canada

ShopAtHome.com

 

(These links use my referral codes.) I don't favor one over the other... just whatever one gives me more cash back per site. I get cash back from airfare, daily-deal sites (Groupon, Zulily), and Gap/Old Navy. They still don't have Gymboree but someday;-)

 

The other sites I check (American) are feed into my Facebook fed for B&M deals, online deals, and coupons (of course!)...

 

The Frugal Find

Money Saving Mom

Hip2Save

 

I really hope to all friends and family and others that come by this site, that this Christmas season really is a season of good food and gifts but moreso cherishing and celebrating those in our lives.

 

Middle of November

We're half way through November already. American Thanksgiving is next week... it still is strange to be celebrating so late in the year- and so close to Christmas. Although we could have made arrangements to drive up to Sacramento for a 'family' Thanksgiving with Dan's cousin and his family, we just don't have the 'umph' this year. Camille is not a road-trip kinda gal and turning a 2.5 hr trip into a 3-4 hr trip (due to stops) is ridiculous. Add traffic on top of that and we're happy to microwave some turkey leftovers and gobble down some pumpkin cheesecake in the warmth of our own home.

Christmas 2010

Christmas will be calm for us as well. I'll be 37 weeks (full term) pregnant on December 25th so I'm not putting too much effort into baking and decorating... the latter I can leave to Russell and Dan and the Christmas-light aisle at Home Depot. The boys both have two weeks off during the Christmas season so it will give them something to do;-) But- I LOVE reading and looking at the seasonal magazines. New ways to prepare side dishes, stuffing, and drinks... but mostly- desserts. I'm a sap for any recipe with cream cheese and/or chocolate. Call it a Christmas treat and it becomes a new favorite. I suppose the saving grace this season is the fact that I'm at the stage of pregnancy where my internal organs are jammed up into my lungs, making eating large portions a rather uncomfortable obstacle;-)

Next celebration? Birthday #32... no longer near 30 and onwards to 35. Gotta love these birthdays!