Confessions of a Shopaholic

Hello, My Name is Sarah and I am a Shop-a-holic.

This has taken months for me to come to terms with but I am. I love to spend money. From November 2, 2009-December 2, 2009...I spent 727.82 cents at a large chain store...and groceries were only 234.03 of that! So my big goal for 2010 is to shop less, save more.



I am going to do my very best to only purchase things if I have a coupon or if they are on sale/consignment. The only exceptions I have given myself is AK's birthday, gas, and bills. Disney has its own account so it won't effect this resolution. But this is something I have to do. I still haven't adjusted to my new "salary". I took a HUGE pay cut when I left my job to go and work for the church. I knew what I was getting into before I did it but I didn't realize how comfortable I was with my spending lifestyle until my bank account started to show it! Todd and I are only giving ourselves 1 date night (with a $50 limit) a month. Instead of 4-8 family nights out we will only have 1 and we will only have a ($45 dollar limit) for that. I have already purchased all my "things" i will need to get my spending in control. I have notebooks to keep up with all my receipts (1 for each month) a coupon box and travel book, I have registered with all the sites for more coupons. I have even signed up on some of our favorite restaurant sites for monthly coupons. So I am ready, and I am asking for you to help keep me compatible. Finances are something people are scared to talk about with others (esp. people you don't' know real well) but Todd and I have a goal to be debt free this year (we don't have alot so it won't be hard but it will be if I keep SPENDING like a maniac)



Also on the list of TO-DO's in 10. is



1) spend Saturday mornings with the girls doing crafts, cooking, playing and less running around.



2) Saying no more often and sticking with it. If you remember from the what I like about me post, I love to take care of other people's problems before handling my own.



3) Care less about "not being part of the crowd" This year has really taken a toll on me when I receive invitations to showers and such and I was not asked to be a hostess. I have got to realize High school is over and this is a minuscule thing.



4) read 2 books a month. I know for you readers two doesn't seem like alot but I don't read. I mean I just got my first library card! so I am starting off with a goal I think I can do and If I get to read more then great!!



5) Witness to people and not be scared to talk about my faith openly. and do a devotion everyday! I pray everyday but this past year I got so overwhelmed with everything I forgot to do my devotions, which is something I miss!!



6)Do more charity work. I made a promise to help with the Ronald McDonald house and I plan to do it!!



7)be more patient with Todd. I am Italian. I have a streak that erupts when I get frustrated/tired/or upset...and Todd usually gets the grunt of it. He works so hard for our family to provide me with the lifestyle I like, I sometimes take it for granted. So I will say thank you more and whine less.



8) Throw at least 2 bags of "junk" out a month.



9) Put my meals into recipes. I don't cook from a recipe...everything is "up here" but every now and then I have a friend ask me how to make something and I literally can't tell them. So in 2010, I want to be able to share my food!



10) Not let laundry get overwhelming. This is something I have to do! I will wait (literally) until our closets are empty of seasonally clothing because I hate to do laundry. Not in 2010!!



Well there you have it! Please do not be afraid to hold me to any of these! I need you to keep me strong and on task!

New Years Eve!

The day has arrived!! It is the last day of 2009 and a day for reflecting on the past year! I thought it would be great to do a summary of each month since SO much has happened this year.

January:
Started off rough! On New Years Day we were at my Aunts house and Madyson had gone under the fence to get her ball (this is something she always does) but turns out there were stickers back there and they went through her little canvas shoes. She freaked out! Todd went into super daddy mode and jumped the fence..EXCEPT for the fence went into his leg. He had to go to the hospital and get stitches. He was out of work for days and it was tough without him.

February: The Broadus' entered the blogging world, I remodeled our dining room on Valentines day with my soon-to-be cousin-in-law Kristina.

March: Aubrie Kate turned one! Josh and Kristina got married!

April: started to feel the pressure of being a full-time working mom. Began praying for God to guide me through this part of my life. I had always known what I wanted to do...but was it what God wanted me to do?

May: put on 2 amazing events at the Zoo!!! had my dream about moving to Arkansas!

June: God answered my prayers! It was a good thing and a tough thing all at the same time! I had to leave my dream job, but I was giving my heart to the Lord and going to work for him!

July: I turned 25, Madyson turned 3...we celebrated in DISNEY! our first real family vacation!

August: the battle with Satan began! Kristina and Josh lost the pregnancy they just found out about, Josh's grandfather died. Harriet (meme) Josh's mom became ill.

September: Kanye West acted a fool. Brittany and Tonya had their baby boys!

October: Fall Harvest at the Church! Maw got sick and we had to put her in the nursing home. Casey and Jeff got married! ZoZoBugBaby entered our house!!

November: Found out David (cousin) was in jail. Began working with Church staff to figure out the best route for him, won a free outfit from zozobugbaby, Thanksgiving with Todd's family, Find my family premiered!

December: CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS....and a few silly things in between!

I am sure alot more happened but these are a few that stand out! Tomorrow starts a new year, new life. I will be sharing my heart tomorrow with our big life changes...Be safe tonight!

Wednesday Words: Letter C

C is for

Closet organizer.

The first project Todd and I did together with no harsh words.

(I tend to bully him when it comes to remodeling because I know a little more than he does :) )

Clorox Wipes

We live off of these things. Todd believes we should have stock in them.

Crosses.
We have alot of crosses in the house! Here are a few pictures of some of them!

Tuesday...

I wish that I had alot of fun and interesting stuff to say but this entry is limited to a few exciting things~



1st, you can see a new countdown on our page! We are going to Disney again in 2010!! Todd and I thought long and hard on what we wanted to do for our family vacation, we considered alot of places but when it came to the girls, Disney seemed like the best place again this year! We are very excited because we didn't get to do everything we wanted last summer so we are planning a totally different trip this year... new resort, new restaurants, new experieances! Madyson and Aubrie Kate love the princesses, mickey and the gang and tinkerbell and her friends. Madyson hasn't stopped talking about the trip from last summer since we got back (6 months ago!!) so On july 4th we will leave for our 2nd family disney vacation...except this year we have guests! My parents have decided to tag along for their first "Sarah planned vacation"! My mom's words were "ITS GOING TO BE SO FUN TO HAVE AN EVENT PLANNER PLAN MY VACATION!!!" she must not have gotten the memo that I am temporarily retired, but I guess that doesn't matter =)



2nd, Today is the release date for THE MARINE 2, starring Ted Dibiase, Jr. Teddy and I went to school together and he is married to Kristen my friend of 20 years! We are very excited about the path Teddy has taken with the WWE and the life that he and Kristen lead! They are an amazing couple and I am sooo happy for them!

According to the preview I saw last night on RAW, he does his own stunts in the movie! Go Teddy!

Other than that, it was a boring day at work! I am slowly working on my new years resolutions, prepraing for a big life change and counting down the days until I get to wear my mickey attire!!

and in other news....

Christmas has come and gone, you have seen what we were up to! Today was the first day back in the "real world". We had to go to work, the girls went to school, and I made a trip to the library to get my first library card! Todd and I are about to start reading

a suggestion from Jen's husband Josh! Since Todd and I didn't go through premarital counseling, each year we do something together to help build our relationship. I think that is what keeps us fresh and new. Once you are married it is so easy to fall into routine and forget that a marriage is the most important relationship next to your relationship with Christ. When I read Josh's blog, i figured any man who know about the "Holy Grail of Hairspray" had to know what he was talking about for reading material! And why didn't I just go buy the book? Well, 2010 is about to come and one of our resolutions is spend less...way less. The library is free and I usually only read a book once so it seemed like a great start to our plan! Other than that, today has been exhausting, just getting back into the swing of things is a difficult thing!!

Christmas Recap

It is OVER. That's right, over. Time to put away the stockings, take down the trees, and wrap the ornaments. Christmas has come and it has gone.

Let me recap our Christmas!

Christmas Eve was our taCkY JinGle MiNgLE! We had alot of fun! We ate dinner, the kids opened presents youngest-oldest (a new thing this year so we could see what all they got!) then the adults played Dirty Santa! I walked away with a Zebra Snuggie and some super cute earrings! Todd won an Emergency Car Kit, New Tape Measure, and a bag of M&M's!

Madyson got barbies, a barbie house, barbie furniture, books, pajamas, and a new devotional bible.

(emma's first Christmas as a tween= makeup, coach purse, jewelry, fun stuff)

(madyson's barbie furniture)

(ellie with Zhu Zhu pets!)

Aubrie Kate got an Elmo, a baby, Mr. Potato Head set, pajamas, books, tinkerbell doll, and a teaset!

*ellie, madyson, toby, aubrie and emma*

We cleaned up, everyone left, and we got ready for Santa

Madyson & Todd made cookies and left them out! We all went to bed and when we woke up we found that Santa had made a stop! He left our presents in monogrammed Santa Sacks! They were very cute! Each girl got a "big gift" plus their other little happies. Madyson got her Barbie bike with a bell! She is very excited about it! In her sack was alot of movies, barbies, and some pj's!

(these are adorable bags and they keep "Santa" to a minimum!)

Aubrie Kate's "big gift" was a high chair for her baby doll! in her Sack was some movies, dress up stuff, books, and pj's!

(notice her high heel shoes!)




Madyson's loot

Santa left a stocking for us grown ups too! I got new house slippers (that match my snuggie!) some new lip gloss, candy, and a holder for my blackberry!

(santa's mess he left. Tracks from the fireplace, leaves..etc)

Todd got a shoeshine kit (he loves to shine his shoes!), candy, Blackberry covers, cases, and car chargers!

We played for a while then we got up and went to Todd's parents! There we opened some more gifts! I got a leopard snuggie here, new rain boots, some money, and floor mats for my new car!

Todd got new cologne (it smells SO good!), some money, and a home depot gift card!

Madyson got alot of cute new clothes (which she loves!), books, movies, and a leapster!

Aubrie Kate got tons of clothes (that is all this child likes!!) books, movies and an alphabet book!

I had already given Todd his blackberry and was not expecting anything big from him (we normally don't exchange gifts) but he gave me a beautiful gift! He got the Willow Tree figurine "PROMISE". It is so nice that after 5 (almost) years of marriage he can still do sweet things like this that are unexpected! This is such a romantic statue!

Todd and I got up EARLY Saturday morning to have some us time! We went shopping, had breakfast, did some more shopping and then came home and installed our new closet organizer!

It was a great Christmas!

TacKy JiNgLe MinGle!

Tonight, Todd and I hosted our Tacky Jingle Mingle! My brother, sister-in-law, neices, aunt, uncle, cousins, mom & Dad came over for a night of dinner, presents and dirty Santa! The one rule..dress tacky! Here are few pictures, can't blog alot tonight...Santa is coming and we have to get to bed!

wednesday's words: letter B

B is for:

Blackberry...

Todd has his Blackberry now and he is obsessed! He says it is his favorite

Christmas present ever!!

B is for BROWNIE-GOOSE!

Everyone KNOWS how much I LOVE ZoZoBugBaby, well I also have another "mommy brand" clothing that I love just as much! Brownie-Goose is a local mom (Amy) who worked with my friend Kristen at the local pediatric clinic. Anyway she is now a stay-at-home mom who sews adorable classic southern clothes! I just ordered my first Brownie-Goose Items, the girls appliqued shirts! I am planning on ordering alot more this summer! Her dresses are ADORABLE!!

fedex fiasco!

So today was my last day at work before the holidays begin! I patiently waited at my computer all day to receive an email that my FedEx package containing Todd's Christmas present was delivered! About 11:58 a message popped up that said the package couldn't be delivered do to no signature. I quickly clocked out of work, jumped in the car and headed on my quest to find the FedEx truck. Clinton is a small town so i knew located the truck from work to home wouldn't be that hard.

as I was circling down Cynthia road, I looked back in my rear view mirror and low and behold..the FedEx truck. I had to pull over so I could get behind it and follow it to its next stop. We traveled down the Clinton parkway into Old Towne, there the FedEx lady got out and I yelled "you have my package!!!" she just started laughing and asked me for my address, she said "oh no darling, I don't have your package...Walter has your package" (yes there are 2 FedEx people in Clinton!) I explained to her my need to have this package TODAY and she called Walter. He was heading towards Magnolia road (on the clinton/jackson line) and said he would meet me there. I quickly drove through town, taking all neighborhood roads to avoid any lights. When I arrived I found Walter. He just laughed and said "i need to see your I.D." Problem...I had the package sent in my mother's name so Todd wouldn't open it and the only ID I had of hers was an old JCpennys credit card and a Christmas card sent by my Aunt Elsie. I showed him my two proofs of identification signed for the package and got back in the car...sigh of relief!

After all that work, I couldn't wait until Christmas to give it to Todd...So I gave it to him tonight when he got home! He is now the new owner of a Blackberry. This is a big deal for us because we have always had very simple phones to save on cost, but he needed this for work to keep all his clients in order so now he has it, and he hasn't put it down since!

Christmas is near! Tomorrow is going to be doing food prep, house prep, and painting (yes painting!!!

the camera is back!

thank goodness I got the smart idea to empty my purse today! my camera was in the inner lining of the purse! So now....lets scroll back to Saturday Night!

Saturday morning I woke up with the determination that I was going to make turnip greens and they were going to be good! So I looked at a few recipes and decided that I was just going to go for it! I started mixing this, mixing that, cooking, stirring, cooking, stirring, throw in some butter...stir some more and tadaTurnip Greens! So I made a pork tenderloin and cornbread and called in the taste tester! I use my dad to taste all my food because he loves me and he tells me the truth. He tasted them...sat for a minute....tasted again and looked at me and said, "sarah...." In a tone that I couldn't tell was good or not..." this is amazing!" AMAZING?!?!?! yup my turnip greens have been dubbed "AMAZING". I quickly wrote down what I did so I could try to recreate them another day!

After I was pleased with myself I got ready to go to Dusten's first birthday! Dusten is my cousin, Christopher's Son. He was born last Christmas Eve, and he was way premature. He was actually a twin but his sister Jayden passed away shortly after birth. He stayed in the NICU for weeks, and had his ups and his downs, but he survived and he is now 1 year old!

Here is Dusten and me at the party! Madyson and Aubrie Kate love Dusten because he is a baby and he is a boy! Here is Aubrie at the party! Madyson wouldn't take pictures, she was too busy with all the "big kids"

She was not excited to have her picture made again!

Well that catches us up to today! I had to work today then I came home and wrapped the rest of my gifts! Tomorrow is my last day until the new year! whoo hoo!

Todd and I are snuggled in the bed about to watch a movie! He has made me some chocolate milk and a "picnic" of snacks!

Elves?? Are you following me?

So for the past 7 days I have been without my phone. No texting, No tweeting, No facebooking from the car...NOTHING. The phone has disappeared and I am dying! To make matters worse, last night my camera decided to take a vaca! Now, I don't loose alot of stuff but this past year I have managed to loose my car keys/work keys (i still think Todd had a hand in this) My phone (about 5x..but never this long!) and my camera (seriously?!?!) So all the blog I was going to do last night, but was too tired..will once again have to wait! For I think the gadget elves are following me taking all my outdated gadgets away from me so that way Santa can bring me new ones! (OH HOW I WISH THIS WERE TRUE!!!)

My day today was spent very different from any day I have had in a long time! We all woke up and went to church (not different) My precious 4 year old class I teach acted out the Christmas Story, played blocks, made angel ornaments and had our Happy Birthday Jesus party! Then we came home, I put back on my jammies and got in bed. There I stayed until 5pm when my cousins Kristina and Josh came to drag us out of the house and off to go see Santa! Santa was in town tonight on his last trip before heading up North! He arrived in his horse drawn sleigh, the reindeer are off resting up for the big trip. He brought Mrs. Claus and two elves (should have asked them if they took my stuff!) Well luckily Kristina is responsible and kept up with her camera! She snapped this picture of the girls with Santa

This was a very special night for mommy! I had worked with Santa last year and he remembered my name and Madyson (they met last year when she came to work with me) When we walked up he said "Sarah!" this is very exciting for any kid to have Santa call your mommy out by name! Here is a picture of Kristina, Josh, Toby and the Claus'!

Thanks for the pictures Kristina!!

SOO TIRED!

Okay so I had a great blog planned for tonight with pictures of my WONDERFUL turnip greens I made today, the birthday party we went too, the yummy snacks we made tonight but all of my energy is out! So instead I am going to share with you one of my favorite places in our house!

This is in our den and it is a 14 foot long wall that is covered with pictures from Mine and todds families. There is one section of his mom/my mom when they were little...grandparents before they were grandparents, our kids, our wedding, just tons of special pictures! plus it is filled with little treasures! The door knob you see on the wall is the original door knob from our house's front door. See we are remodeling my parents house to purchase it and this was the door knob that hung on their front door. I wanted that memory of their house being our house so i took it and sprayed it red! know it hangs on the "special" wall! There is a quote on order to be hung above the pictures that says "Create Memories...Cherish Time".

2xSaturday

So this is part 1 of Saturdays blog! it is a busy, busy day and I wanted to report this morning and tonight! Let me start with an elaboration on the sanitation story. I had alot of emails asking why I do this. So let me share! I had a great uncle Allen who use to sit outside his house in the summer and wait for the garbage men to come, he would then hand them a bottle coke. For those of you in Mississippi you know just how GREAT a cold coke is on a hot day. He passed a few years ago and during his funeral they shared that story. I thought it would be a great way to honor him during Christmas to engage with the garbage men. I cannot tell you how much these men love meeting their families, and if you think about it they know ALOT about you. Your garbage is very personal stuff and they handle it 2x a week. This year I decided to try something new...hugging the workers. Now, I know most of you are going to gag but I promise it was wonderful! I waved down the driver when he turned onto our street and he pulled right up into my driveway. I went around back and hugged the sweater wearing "loader". Told him Merry Christmas and I had made them some treats to enjoy during the day. Then I walked around on the drivers side and he was already out. Went to shake my hand but I hugged him instead. I told him thank you for all you do! (because lets face it, I wouldn't do it) and Merry Christmas. Then I took his picture. They were all smiles when they left. and I felt ready to start my day.

Then, Aubrie Kate and I went shopping with my Dad to get my moms Christmas present (from him) She had her list of "goodies" she wanted so we took to Target! We got there, had breakfast(did you know Target has sausage and biscuits and hashbrowns..HELLO! Amazing store!!) We spent two hours in Target, looking, shopping, playing. Aubrie Kate visited one of her favorite sections "boobeeees" (as she refers) she found this hot little number and decided to run around the store with it. (my dad was mortified!) After the boobeeees were finally returned to the right spot she discovered her second favorite spot of target, the discount bins. She apparently thought she was going to finish her Christmas shopping here, because when I turned around this is what I saw! She was loading up the buggy and ready to leave...I think we had 1 to many! We laughed, and then put them all back! On the way home we stopped on the side of the road to purchase some turnip greens and pepper sauce! Nothing better than port gibson produce! We got home yesterday afternoon, took a nap then I had to take my mom back out to Jackson to pick up her car. On the way there we saw a horrible wreck. A house (WIDE LOAD) had smashed into an suv. The suv looked horrible. I just sat in silence, praying for those family. I mean, what if there was a child in the backseat...it did not look good. Then it hit me, what if it was Todd?!?!! With him driving in Enterprise cars all day, I never know what too look for at a wreck so I had to call him and confirm he was okay (which he was!) Luckily my mom was there so I could use her phone (since mine is still missing) By the time we got home, I was beat. So we watched Julie/Julia. A fun movie about blogging and cooking! Makes me want to channel my Julia Child/Paula Deen for Christmas Eve! Ill be back tonight to tell you about today! Until then, remember the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

Too Late Tour? Snowmen, Santas, Sanatation Workers

Welcome to our home! Christmas time is very special around our house! We spend months preparing for service projects, gift ideas and yummy food! One of my favorite traditions is Christmas treats for the Sanitation workers! Aubrie and I waited outside this morning for our men to come by! Here is one of our precious workers with his treats!





Welcome! This is the entrance way to our house! You are greeted by snowmen, Santa's sack, a nutcracker and some cute trees! Above all this is a painting of Mary and Baby Jesus!

This is a paint by numbers painting that my Great Aunt painted in 1959. She gave it to my grandma and when we were packing up her stuff I found it and framed it! Thought it would make a great Christmas decoration.

Ah! Here is Aubrie! Waiting by the tree! She would like to show you some of our favorite ornaments. We only use family ornaments, so each year we add more!

This is mine and todd's first Christmas together ornament! It always hangs in the "heart" of our tree!This is Madyson's Hallmark ornament from her first Christmas

When Aubrie was born one of the nurses gave this to us before we left. We use it at her first ornament.This isn't a "favorite" but each member of our family (including siblings, parents, nieces and nephews) have a special ornament on our tree. My parents bought this for me my first year of life (it is one of the 4 I have!) I have always had a fear of clowns so i think its funny that one of my ornaments is a clown. he hangs on our tree next to my brother and my sisters ornament.Here is Madyson! She is in the kitchen making brownies for her class Christmas Party! Lets look at the dining room, because our kitchen hasn't been remodeled and it is tackY!

I love this! My grandmother just went into a nursing home and she gave me her china cabinet! I have filled it with all her holiday platters and my moms Christmas plates. We have a tree in here too! it is full of red and gold balls!

In the den we fill it with snowmen and santas. There are 45 santas in the room and about 50 snowmen! I started collecting these when i was 10!

This are two special snowmen that are next to the fireplace this year! The group of snowmen was a gift from a coworker! I love them! The little single snowmen was my moms.

This Santa (or we actually call him Ho! Ho!) was a gift from my dear friend Courtney! He use to sit by our apartment door but now that we have a house he has moved into the den.

We have a mantle but my friend gave us this stocking holder and I really like it! So we use this (for now! when baby #3 gets here one day we will have to use the mantle) Todd's mom made us the stockings and they are very special to us!
This santa was given to me when i was 5 by my dad! He now sits proudly in one of the chairs!

Last but not least is the Nativity Scene my mom bought when I was a baby! The figures are "playable" which is great with kids! I love our little set and the kids love to act out the Christmas story! Thanks so much for visiting! Remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Merry Christmas!!! The Broadus family!