New tools!

My husband loves perusing the Internet. He always knows about the funny links or top news before me because of this habit. Today it actually paid off when we got this bad boy on the cheap. Betcha can't guess how much it was.

This Black & Decker 3 tool 18-volt cordless combo kit cost us a whopping (drum roll please)

$4.62!

Yep. I am no longer annoyed more accepting that my husband is an Internet junkie.

How did we get such a hidden treasure? Why our new favorite online shopping site www.quibids.com. This site has a list of items all up for bid. Things range from TVs, cameras, tools, to gift cards at restaurants and stores. In order to bid for an item you have to have an account. Each bid is $0.60. Without going into a lot more detail (there's a lot more detail on the site), Trevor put in about 10 bids, or about $6, and we won the tool kit for that plus our $4.62! Add in shipping and we have ourselves a toolkit for less than $20!

Now the quibids site said that the value of the kit was actually about $99. However, upon searching the Internet we found it for less than $40 at Lowe's. While it isn't as great a deal as the site made it seem. It was still worth the effort.

It looks like I will need to make a list of projects to be completed with the aforementioned tool kit once it arrives. He he he. :)

My non-resolutions

I really dislike New Year's resolutions. I don't understand why people only really take once a year to reflect on how they can be a better person or reach their goals.


So I decided I would tell you about my already existing goals, instead of jumping on the resolution bandwagon.


Goal 1: Get an elementary teaching position.
This isn't such an easy goal to meet during the middle of the school year. In early spring I plan to once again apply like a crazy mad woman to several districts in my area.
Hopefully, I will be a notch ahead of the other applicants this time, because I have been working my patootie off! I have been substituting in four school districts this year. I am a regular in two schools, and on the rare occasion I am not at one of those buildings I can pick up a gig somewhere else. This exposure has led to a long-term subbing position through January at one of those buildings.
I left my part-time retail job (GASP!) in order to have a more applicable part-time gig with Sylvan Learning Center. Finally, I also started volunteering at a center for youth in the urban core of Kansas City (when I have the time).
Hopefully the end result of said diligence will get me somewhere fast!


Goal 2: Become more organized.
A lot of this actually happened over winter break. My house felt like an empty hole since we had very little furniture when we moved in. We recently acquired several pieces of furniture. Thankfully my husband took his vacation time over break so we could arrange our furniture, sort through old paperwork, and set up our home office. Future plans include coming up with a way to organize my recipes, and wines I like. This will have to be another, seperate post.


Goal 3: Get in shape.
Well, I did a magnificient job at this prior to my wedding. It's been an entirely different story since. I have been struggling with not having something to work toward (like a form-fitting white dress). I have continued to work out, but it has been sporadic. Luckily my good friend recently started working out with me, and we are on fire! Only more good can come of this! Plus, maybe putting this out for anyone to read will make me feel more encouraged to keep going? That's what I'm hoping.


Well, those are my top three goals of 2010-2011. What are your goals or resolutions?

Goodbye October.

The Halloween party is long over, but I am still happy about the results.

• The party was a huge hit! We had more than 30 people in attendance, and about 99% wore a costume. Some of my favorite costumes include the LOST characters, the Rubik's Cube, the Purple People Eater, and Julia Child and her husband Paul. (Note: Julia was actually my friend Matt and Paul was his wife Janessa. Their height difference was perfect!)
• Everyone who came to the party had a good time. We had activities for the highly energized and the mellowed out. One of my friends even took pleasure in serving as our bartender in our new bar. (pictures to come later.)
• There is nothing like having a party if you need motivation to fix up your house. We (mostly) finished our bar. The walls are purple, and we have started installing white trim on the walls that we recently had to finish. Our plan is to finish the rest of the trim, paint our wooden posts white, and finish the rest of our seat cushions. All we will need after that is a new, large TV and some more K-State decor.
• Finally, it was especially fun to dress up and shoot my water gun at my husband throughout the night.

Time for candy corn

Fall isn't exactly my favorite season. I don't like the idea of winter being around the corner. Dark evenings and cold weather just aren't my ideas of a good time. However, there are some benefits to the plunging temperatures.

• Cozy sweaters. A girl's got to have something to keep her snuggly and warm when sunshine becomes scarce.
• Chili. My mom's chili is the best ever. Forget soupy chili with crackers. I love a thick and meaty chili with a warm tortilla. Plus, I have to brag that Trevor hated chili until he tried this recipe.
• TV. Finally the wait is over, and I have some decent television to watch. My favorites include Glee, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.
• Pumpkins. Not that you have to wait until fall to have pumpkin-flavored things. I have an awesome recipe for pumpkin muffins that I make several times this season. Plus you can't forget the pumpkin roll that made its first appearance at Thanksgiving last year. I think it will be returning for an encore performance. There are also pumpkin pies, pumpkin spice lattes and I most recently saw pumpkin ice cream. I'm going to have to give that one a try.

• Candy corn. This is the one kind of candy that I can buy at the store knowing full well that Trevor won't hog the whole bag while I'm shopping or working. He absolutely hates it, which is great for me because I love it! I love to nibble each little piece in three bites. First the white tip, then the orange center, and finally the yellow end. Yum! The only problem with not sharing is that by the time my candy corn runs out a month later, I am sick of the stuff. Until next year that is.

And my favorite reason to deal with having a fall season instead of moving to a tropical climate...

• Halloween! I absolutely adore celebrating Halloween. Without fail, I adorn a costume and either throw my own Halloween bash or visit a friend's house for a get-together. This year Halloween will be special at the Bailey residence. This will be our first Halloween as a married couple and we are starting off our traditions with a huge Halloween bash. We scheduled said bash because 1. I love Halloween and 2. We really needed an excuse to renovate our basement bar. When we moved in, our basement rocked out the 1970s look complete with orange curtains and orange corduroy seat cushions. GAG ME!! By the time our guests arrive they will step downstairs into our very own K-State bar, complete with paint actually called "KSU Purple." We plan on painting this weekend. I will post-up pictures soon of the before and after. In the meantime, I am debating what to be for Halloween. Perhaps Lucille Ball? The only downfall is that Trevor isn't excited about being Ricky Ricardo. I am open to suggestions. In the meantime, here is a little taste of past costumes. (Yes, Trevor is wearing a wig.)

My first blog

For those of you who happen upon this site, please note that it is in its infancy. As in, it's going to take some time for me to make it look and function how I would like. I plan on sharing stories from my life including my marriage, puppy and quirky family. Please stay tuned.