Why I Thrift Shop

When you have a very limited clothes budget but you still want good quality clothes and you need to satisfy your inner fashionista, then the best place to go is the thrift store.  I get 95% of our family's clothes at thrift stores, consignment shops, or yard sales.  I usually generate the money to buy the next season's clothes for my girls by selling some of the clothes that they've outgrown and things I no longer want at a yard sale.  At my last yard sale, I made $300 just selling a lot of little stuff that was hanging out in the garage or the back of my closet. 

Tonight I stopped by the thrift store in search of a red shirt for my daughter to wear for a dress up day she has coming up at school.  I found her a brand new red shirt by Faded Glory with tiny silver hearts on it for $3.25.  It's perfect and it fills the need. 

For me, I found this Ann Taylor Loft sweater...it retails for $39.50.  I found it brand new/never worn for $4.25! 


I also found a pair of Old Navy Dream cut jeans for $7.25 (Retail for $34.50) and a brand new fall purse...black faux leather with cream trim similar to this one...

that retails for $26.99 and I bought it for $5.00. 

So for a total of $16.50 I have a very stylish "mommy on the go" outfit to add to my fall/winter wardrobe.  If I bought these three items at retail it would have cost me $100.99...wow!  See why I like thrift shopping?! 

I hope to share some more of my bargain finds in future posts.  For now I hope this inspires you to just say no to "full price."  Those words just aren't in my vocabulary anymore!  Your budget will thank you. 

Book Review: Crazy Love

I just finished reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan for a class I was taking at my church.  I've been curious about the book ever since it came out...there's been a lot of buzz about it among Christian circles.  The premise of the book is that we as Christians should be so overwhelmed in our love for God that we would be willing to really and truly live our lives every day the way God commands us.  In other words, if we want to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves, then we must abandon ourselves and dedicate our lives to giving to others and studying who God is and living to please Him. 

When Chan starts breaking apart what it really means to be lukewarm in our modern terms, it really gets a little uncomfortable.  He questions whether or not the term "lukewarm Christian" is even a legitimate term.  His belief from his study of the Bible is that being lukewarm and being a Christian is an oxymoron...it just does not work!  He gives examples of what he has changed in his own life and what others have done to start literally taking up their cross daily and following Christ.  It is convicting and inspiring to say the least.  This book will definitely make you take a good, hard look at how you live your life every day and most importantly, it will point you to the Bible to search out these things yourself. 

I did not agree with everything Chan said but I found tremendous value in just thinking about my life as a Christian and I was defintiely prompted to make some changes.  I think this book is a great read and definitely worth the time. 

Old School Recipe = Awesome!

This recipe is so "old school" that I actually last ate it when I was in like 2nd grade...that is until tonight!  If your mom is like mine then she probably went through phases in her cooking where she would do a bunch of casseroles and then she'd switch to meat and potatoes and then we had the health food craze and then there was that year she was doing Weight Watchers and we all had to eat the food on her diet...you get my drift! 

Well, in the casserole phase my mom made this awesome casserole that just kinda stuck in my mind and periodically I would try to describe it to her and ask her if she still had the recipe.  She would look through some of her cookbooks but then she wouldn't find it so she'd give up.  Just recently I brought it up again and she looked in her "favorites" notebook which is a little recipe notebook that is absolutely busting at the seams with all her favorite handwritten recipes and lo and behold...there's the recipe in her own handwriting...Crunchy Hamburger Casserole, circa 1984!  Yay! 

I snapped that little card up and promptly got the ingredients and whipped up a nice little casserole tonight...and it did not disappoint!  Three out of 4 Cohee's liked it...the 17-month old was the only one who turned it away.  And one Cohee had to go back for 2nd's and then he may or may not have just warmed up another bowl of it!  So here I share it with you...it's easy and I think it's pretty darn good.  Sorry I don't have a picture...but I forgot to get one before it vanished!

Crunchy Hamburger Casserole
2 cups uncooked noodles
1 pound ground beef
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp of seasoning salt)
1 can (2.8 oz.) French-fried onions

Cook the noodles according to package directions.  Drain well.  In a nonstick skillet, brown the meat.  Drain off excess fat.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the noodles, beef, soup, tomatoes, cheese, and green pepper.  Add salt and pepper to taste and/or seasoning salt.  Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Cover and bake for 40 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle the onions on top.  Bake for an additional 5 minutes.  Serve hot.

Eye Candy: John Derian for Target

Oooh, I am so excited!  I just found out that John Derian is releasing another limited edition line at Target.  The line launches Sept. 5 so I know what I'll be saving my pennies for these next 2 weeks!  The great thing is everything in the line is under $25.  Here's a peek at some of the cool stuff that is sure to fly off the shelves!

Love these trays!

Must have these plates...

Very Pretty 3-Tier Tray

Silhouette Coasters

Very cool mugs

Book Review: Even Now

I'll admit I haven't read a lot of Christian fiction and it's mainly because I just have not found many Christian fiction authors that I thought wrote well enough to hold my attention and not seem like they were taking basically a secular story line and trying to throw in some Christian morals at the end.  This summer I decided to try out some authors I have not read before and one of them is Karen Kingsbury.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  It was so good that I found myself struggling to stay awake at night just so I could read a little more.  There are sections of the book that would definitely qualify as true page-turners.  I really liked how there was definitely a moral theme but it was infused into the story in a very real way, not just as an afterthought.  You can tell that Kingsbury really plans and thinks about her characters and story before she just starts writing. 

The book description says, "A young woman seeking answers to her heart's deep questions.  A man and woman separated by lies and long years...yet who have never forgotten each other.  With hallmark tenderness and power, Karen Kingsbury weaves a tapestry of lives, losses, love and faith-and the miracle of resurrection." 

You will definitely enjoy this book.  And the cool thing is I would like to give away my copy of this book!  The first person to leave a comment and tell me they want it, gets it! 

Something to Think About...

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition
 every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point
 which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking,
 I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.”
—Martin Luther

Goodbye "Branch"

When I first brought Lucy home from the hospital, I would find myself just watching TV in the bonus room as I fed her multiple times a day.  Seems like I would run into a Golden Girls mini-marathon more often than not.  I guess with all the adjustments I was going through learning to be okay just being home all day and taking care of an active 3-year old and keeping a newborn happy, the laughs and mayhem on Golden Girls was just what my brain needed!  

Little did I know Katelyn was picking up little bits and pieces from the show...not really understanding the storylines but she just thought it was funny that these 4 ladies lived together and seemed to be always laughing about something.  She cracked me up when one day she told my mom she liked the Golden Girls and "Branch" was her favorite!  I had to endure that look from my mom that said, "You're letting her watch the Golden Girls??!"  My response, "I don't know which end is up these days so if she catches a few minutes of the Golden Girls but she still gets 3 square meals and got dressed today then I consider that a victory!"  After all, I was in a state of sleeplessness and my hormones hadn't quite landed back in their normal places.  

So today we said goodbye to "Branch."  Katelyn doesn't know what happened to her but she did notice they talked about her on the evening news.  After the 1-minute segment, she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I was a big fan of Branch!"  Haha...me too, Katelyn, me too!