Go Forth & Conquer

Day 9: Target Temptation

2008-12-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, so mostly it has been a walk in the park to this point. When I told my boss about my commitment she responded with, "But what if you find a cute shirt at Old Navy?"

"I will just not buy it."

"What? But what if it is a good deal."

"I won't buy it."

Which leads me to today... I was shopping in Target for sweatpants to be donated to our school for in the nurse's office. In an attempt to find an adult small or medium, I ran across the most perfect pair of capri work-out pants.... for $1.97. Temptation set in. I could actually feel endorphins running through my body saying 'you'll never find a deal like this again!'. The pants and I had a moment

I looked at them, touched them, held them up to my waist (perfect size), rechecked the price to see just HOW on sale they were. I began negotiating in my head. Okay, maybe if I allot myself $20.00 a month, I can buy clothes with that money and learn how to manage it. What if all of my 5 pairs of work-out pants falls apart. Think of all the places I could wear these. Then I stopped. I felt like an alcoholic in a liqueur store. I'm a dealoholic. I slowly put the pants back and we parted our ways. I'm not going to lie, I glanced back whimsically.

The farther I walked away, the better I felt. Now I felt like a recovering alcoholic who had just turned down their first drink. Yay!

November 30

2008-12-09T18:28:00.000-08:00

"So, what would you like for Christmas?" This is the innocent question my husband posed to me last month.
"I already bought everything I wanted on Black Friday! Look at all the great deals I got"....

This got me thinking about how I make purchases based on how much money I'm saving. Last Christmas season, Rich and I watched a show where a man was talking about all of these great deals and how much money he would save. Then he said one very important thing... "Think how much money I would save by not buying anything!".

Due to the fact that I literally had no idea what to tell my husband, I decided that I would swear off of shopping for clothes and kitchen whatnot (excluding food) for a whole year.

I'm blogging about it with all the time I'm saving by not shopping!

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE IS BACK!!!

2008-09-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Drain your bank accounts friends, pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks is back. This post also serves as a great way for you to know what I like for gifts... giftcards to Starbucks. I cannot afford to patronize the establishment otherwise. Yadda, yadda, you can go on about how I'm supporting corporations and such, but be realistic... they have a good pumpkin spice latte.

One of the main draws for us to keep our family in the South is that people down here don't appreciate the PSL (I'm going to abbreviate now) as much as I do. Which is fabulous because more for me. I can have them for the next six months. So, to all my Northern friends... this serves as just one more reason to come see me, Rich, and the dog.

Take care and get a PSL (or not so I can have more)
Hannah

September 11 & such

2008-09-09T18:48:00.001-07:00

So, I have used the week before 9/11 to talk to all my students about the events of that day & create artwork for firefighters and policemen coming to our school to visit. I was pretty shocked by how many of the students didn't know anything about September 11. At times I was becoming very angry with the parents on why they didn't share the importance of this day with the next generation. It was difficult to talk about it and not get chocked up myself. On 9/11 I was 1,000 miles away and in a way I thought that I had distanced myself from the wreckage in NYC. While talking to kids about it, I thought to myself, 'why would I talk to my proverbial kids about one of the worst days in American history?' It could ruin their sense of security & peace in America. So, alas, I was at a draw. I understand why the children don't know about it, but I also understand how important it is that they know how September 11 shaped and formed our lives.

What should we do... I'll let you decide.

Take care,
Hannah

What am I doing?

2008-09-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

meh, blogs are great. So, why not have something that quite possibly no one will read. I could keep my un-captivated audience entertained with stories or heartache and fear. But then again, I'm too happyish of a person to let everything turn into doom and gloom. I will probably just tell people about adventures in Georgia and post hilarious things I find on the internet. I could use it to complain about people, but unlike some people on the internet, I understand that what goes around comes around. So, that idea is out the window.

Rich and I went camping this weekend with our dog, Tizzy (who will also be referenced quite frequently). It was a beautiful weekend in the North Georgia Mountains & we were able to enjoy a bluegrass concert from one of the most talented entertainers I have ever met. We will most likely go up again for another weekend in November for a dulcimer festival where we will make dulcimers and learn to play them... Amazing! A dulcimer is an Appalachian instrument that originated in Scandinavia. It was brought to America by the Germans (don’t understand that geographical skip) and became popular in bluegrass music of the early 20th century. See, my blog is also good for cultural learning.

It's Labor Day and I'm not laboring... I'm creating a blog. Productive, right? Dad and Mom gave Rich and I some steak and pork chops when they came down (they are farmers & life on the farm is likely to be referenced many times). We are going to cook them up on the grill as well as some corn from the supermarket last night... yum. Off to do that while Rich mows the lawn.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day :)