Laid Back on Life....

Or laid off. Maybe that would suit the title more. But what have I learned in my few weeks of no job, and job searching day-in and day-out, hoping to make a break into the job world again? That God has a plan for each and every one of us. My patience is being tested everyday. I feel like it's taking longer than usual to find a job (in my field, that is) but I know that He has a plan for me. And I also feel that He is laughing at MY plan for myself - - aka: To be employed. Ha...ha. Funny Him. I hope He knows something that I do not. And I hope that it is something along the lines of knowing that the perfect job just hasn't come along yet. So I remain hopeful. I put my trust in the Lord. I know that He does not give us more than we/I can handle. So here's to the Almighty. And knowing that He's always with me, encouraging me along, with maybe a pat on the back here & there......

Good Will Hunting

If I haven't mentioned before, one of my newest hobbies is shopping for home decor items at the local Goodwill thrift shop. You wouldn't believe the things you can find, and things that you can bring home and give a new life to. And you can't beat the prices. Especially when I'm always looking for ways to save on home decor. I just love rummaging through their items and seeing what I can come up with. Well, here are a few items I'm most proud of that I've found recently...

Here I scored a Deer statue, for only $2.99! I love the size of it...it's only about 7" tall, so it's perfect for a bookshelf, and it's a classic decor item that I can use all winter long:I REALLY wish I would've taken a "before" pic of this deer. It was an ugly "gold-ish" tarnished color, but I gave it new life after I primed it with a coat of Primer Spray Paint, then sprayed it with a Brushed Silver spray paint. The paints cost me a total of $5, so for only $8....I think I got a great deal. And I love that it mimics this bigger deer statue that I bought last year at Kohl's, 2 days after Christmas for only $7:
So what do you think?! Hit or miss?!

Secondly, I bought these two matching Pillar Candle Holders (the candles I already owned). Each pillar cost me $1.99. I love the look, and there really sturdy, almost like a cast iron. I even love that their a bronze look, but if I change my mind and hate the color down the road, I can always spray paint them another color, but for now, I'm happy with how they look:

And the most exciting news yet?!?!! I was just putting these puppies away today, to get ready for the "big move", and decided to take the stickers off of the bottom, but as I was looking at the stickers, I discovered 2 great finds!! First, these puppies are originally from Pottery Barn! SCORE! And guess how much they charged for them??

Any takers??

$14.00!!!!

EACH! As in - - I paid $3.98 for both, when they were originally $28! Yikes!

Here's the pic to prove it:You see! And the little green sticker is my scrumptous $1.99 I forked out for this puppy. And underneath the sticker the Pottery Barn logo is also engraved into the pillar, you can kind of see in the pic, but the stickers are covering it up. Anyways, I was so excited about my find, I just had to share. I loved my pillars before I knew there true worth, but now I love them a little more :)

Keeping Busy...

Finally!! After weeks of unemployment, mine & Ross' insanity has been put to the test, and we've tried just about anything to keep us preoccupied. Of course, we're constantly on the lookout on the job front, but until then, we're desperate for things to do. Well, as of yesterday, we had to make the decision of whether or not to renew our lease for our apt. at Presidential Arms. I've been here for 3 years now (Ross -2 years) and we're both sick & tired of paying rent, and we just can't commit ourselves to being tied down to another year-long lease. And we're just not in the position to buy a house just yet. Our lives are so "up in the air" with not knowing where our jobs are going to be (hopefully close, but you never know), or where we'll be in 6 months or even 1 year, so signing up for another year just didn't seem worth it. AND we would love to be SAVING, rather than spending....who wouldn't?! SOOooo...*drum roll please* we've decided to downsize (yes, yes, i know...there ain't much downsizing to be done when you're already living in a 1-bdrm. apt.!!!!) and move to the empty apt. that my grandparent's have over their detached garage (for little or no rent!). We're literally packing up anything and everything that we haven't touched or don't use in our everyday lives and putting it into my parent's garage for storage until, one day, we can upgrade to a bigger space. (p.s. - Sorry mom & dad...we all know how much you LOVE having your kid's crap stored in your garage! JUST as soon as Mike & Michelle finally got their stuff out...here we come!! :)

So, anyways, we've got 2 months left here at Presidential Arms. *Tears please* Don't worry, I will do a post dedicated to my first apt. before we leave. I have to. It's only necessary to document your first home of independence. I will miss it, but at the same time, I'm excited for a new change.

And of course, I'm excited to have an excuse to spend money on some home decor for the new place :) The amount of hatred I have for clothes shopping is quickly made up for in home decor shopping! I dream of curtains and rugs and color schemes. I dream of finding deals for this stuff as well b/c a deal is always sweeter than paying full price. OHHH Ikea! Here I come! I'm tingly all over just thinking about it. So, for the next few weeks, we will be busy packing stuff up, and moving down the road 10 minutes. I'm excited even though the new place is much smaller. It'll be a fun change.

Oh, and did I mention that we need to buy a stove & fridge as well for the apt.?? I've found a few great deals on used stoves on Craigslist, and now I'm officially giddy with excitement about how fun it is to find great deals on that website. We're thinking of buying a new fridge, since a second fridge can always be handy in a home one day, so I'll have to start researching a few. AND we also need to buy my own washer & dryer for the place. MY OWN WASHER & DRYER! NO QUARTERS NECESSARY! *gulp* I'm giddy again. I should go before I'm overloaded with giddiness.......

Dakota makes me happy...

Yup...another post about Dakota. Because basically, she is the only excitement in my life right now, and I don't want you think I'm ignoring my blog, I just really have nothing worthy to write about...




Sadly, this is just a short version of her playing with her food. Props to Ross, who finally got it on video after numerous failed attempts!! Normally, she does it for much longer, but either way, it makes me laugh every time! Enjoy :)

NOT Looking Forward to Retirement

You know, it's funny that I've always been the person who HATED working. I mean, don't most people?! Wouldn't it be wonderful to spend all your time, as you please, doing whatever you want, whenever you want?! Well....NO! Not that I didn't first enjoy having some time off (once I got over the shock of everything that happened), but now...I'm going stir crazy sitting in this apt. all day. I completely know how Ross feels now, after harassing him about it for a few weeks after he graduated and was job hunting. Well...*harr, harr* you can laugh at me, because look where I ended up. The job hunt has been going, I've had a few interviews, but the search is still on.... sadly. I'm eager to get back into the workforce, and still holding out hope that I can find another job I enjoy with people I enjoy, although by now I'm not very picky . Until then, I've been TRYING to keep myself occupied so I don't lose my mind, although sitting in front of the t.v. X amount of hrs. every day sure probably doesn't help. I WISH I had a project to complete, I wish I could think of something to do, but for the life of me, I only draw blanks. I would love to try to paint a new canvas, ever since I did the one in our dining room, but then there's that annoyingly painstaking voice telling me that I shouldn't spend money. And buying a canvas is the last thing I need to spend money on. Sooo...until then, I'll try to think of something to occupy my time, or find a job sooner. Whichever comes first (hopefully the job!).

Dakota vs. Snow

I think my car is the 3rd blob over!
(scratch that....apparently that is Ross' car! Mine is to the left of it,
which I thought was an SUV! HA)

UPDATE: Ok, ok, I feel kinda bad about dunking D in the snow, but don't worry, we took her 0ut later to the barely touched parking lot, and she loved it. :) And I even have a video to prove it. So lesson learned....dogs do not liked being thrown into snow that is 4 times taller than them, but enjoy frolicking in the snow at their own risk :)

Ignoring the Blog

Welp...just so you don't think I'm completely ignoring the blog, enjoy this picture:



:)

Sorry my life isn't more interesting these days. On to better news, I finished my wedding video today!! :) I can't wait to watch it, JUST as soon as the program burning it to DVD decides to unfreeze after its been burning for over 2 hours. fml...