PaperBackSwap.com

I recently found out about this website where you can swap books for a very small price. You can join for free and all you need is 10 books to really get started. Once you post 10 books you are willing to swap you get 2 free credits. 1 credit = 1 book. So right off the bat you have 2 books that you can buy. The only cost to you is when someone requests one of your books. You can print out their label, book wrapper and mail them via media mail at the USPS. The cost is about $2.50 to send your book out. The trade is that when you have a credit that you can request a book and the other member has to mail it out to you at their cost.

These are the books that I posted as my first 10. When I was finished it let me know that 2 of my books were on someones wish list and they'd get back with me within 2 days if they still had enough credits to purchase. Today I am heading to the post office to mail off my first book! I have already ordered 2 and they are on their way to me. A tip that I learned is if you have a list of books you want and they are popular you need to add them to your wish list now so that when they do become available you can get them. There is an option to buy credits for a good price if you don't have any left. I tried to get my mom to sign up because she has a MILLION books, but she just recently got the kindle so I need to steal all of her books to swap. If you sign up, please list me as a referral, my nickname is jens871. Click here to get started.

Boots at Kohls!

 I discovered that my search for boots was going to be harder than I thought. A lot of the ones I liked were out of my size, I think I'm a little late in the season for just starting to look. I decided to head to Kohls since I had a $10 off card. I also had a $100 amex giftcard so I set out and found some shoes I liked.

I purchased brown boots, black flat slip ons, 3 pair of leggings/tights and earmuffs (not pictured). My total after the $10 off was right at my gift card level. I did buy a Columbia fleece jacket that put me over, but it was worth it, I needed something warm. I also received $20 kohls cash to spend soon!

Here is a close up of my boots. I'm going skinny jean shopping later in the week so I'm almost getting with the trends. I do still want brown leather type boots, but everything I tried on was too baggy and David wasn't a big help in telling me if they looked good or not. He hates when I ask him, he always says "Call your sister".

Lanier Under the Lights

On Saturday we went to support David and Dana who were running in the Lanier Under the Lights 5k race. We thought about signing up, but wasn't sure if David would be in town and I thought it would be too cold so for one reason or another we didn't sign up. Well, apparently Davids brother, Darrin didn't get that memo. We told them about this 5k  a while ago and as we were driving there they sent us this picture.

The caption was You Suck!! From the fit crew!!! We had no idea they were still doing it. 

So we pull up to the gate and say we would  like to watch the finish of the race and so they said that we had to get out and walk to the finish line that was just past the clock tower. 

As we were walking to the finish line all the sudden to our left we see the "fit crew" running by us! We then realized that we were walking alongside the race and that if we don't pick up our pace we will miss seeing them finish. We were at mile marker 2 when we started our journey to the finish. The race is 3.1 miles so we did a little over a mile to cheer on the "fit crew". That's what we get for not signing up and running.

We did get to go through all the fun lights, we enjoyed that part.

 This was my favorite part. The snowflakes go across the top of the tunnel.

 Well, we finally made it to the finish line, our time was 43 minutes. Needless to say, we missed them finishing. There time was 38 minutes.

Here's them after they are done, waiting to turn in their time slips. 

Here I am after I finished. I was glad I was able to get some exercise and see all the pretty lights. They are all mad that we only did a mile, but hey I was in jeans and had moccasin type shoes on.

We met up with Ashley and her boyfriend at Taco Mac to have some yummy food at drinks. We had to cancel out any type of physical activity we just did, right?! They all did a great job though! Goooo Fit Crew!!

I finally did something with my wedding dress!

Well as most of you know, my wedding was about a year and a half ago. I have just been storing my non-cleaned dress in my closet. I just love my dress a lot. I think with all the costs of the wedding and trying to save money, I was having a hard time spending anymore money. So I finally decided to preserve my wedding dress. I looked up a company and did some research. I ended up going with Wedding Gown Preservation Company. You can just go to their website and look up a dealer. I found a local bridal shop that does this for you so I went in there and brought my dress to them. We looked around for big stains or areas that we wanted to make sure got cleaned with special attention. She even looked over it for me a few times after I was leaving. All you do is fill out their form and they box it up and do everything else for you. It says that it takes about 6-8weeks depending on high season. You have to specify an address where there will be someone to sign for the package when it comes back. I chose to have it delivered to work since I know someone will be here. How annoying is it when you get home to find that you missed a package that had to be signed and there is no chance you're going to be there ever when they re-deliver!

Well look at what arrived yesterday! It only took 4-5 weeks and they let me know by email when they received the dress and when they were sending it back with tracking. 

 Inside the big brown box was a big white box.

And inside the big white box was my preservation box with my beautiful dress inside! I also put our veil in(it was Michelle's originally). You get 3 pieces to include for free (veil, shoes, purse, whatever).

The reason I kept my dress is because I just want to be able to show my daughter one day (and if I don't have one I'll show one of Michelle's daughters. If we both don't have one then I guess our son's wife to be). I just loved when my mom brought out her wedding dress and we tried it on. It was a nice high neck with sleeves. I could get it on, but couldn't lift my arms up. I know it will probably go out of style and I'm not wanting them to wear it, its just for show and tell. If they want to cut it up or use a few pieces from it then that's fine too. The cost was $200 with taxes and extra insurance for the more value. I give them an A+++! If you are procrastinating like I was, just make a decision and do it!

Happy Veterans Day!

Since it is still Michelle week here on the blog, we (Michelle and I) would like to say:

Happy Veteran's day to all who have served- past, present, near, and far!

This is Michelle (with straight hair) with her husband James, who is in the Airforce.

 These pictures were taken after he got back from one of his recent deployments. I'd also like to give a shout-out to all the military wives out there. It's hard to be away from loved ones for so long so thanks for all you do as well (I know because I have to talk to her a million times a day when he's gone... just kidding, love ya shell!).

"Olive Garden Has Nothing On Me"

I declare this week on the blog- Michelle Week! She is way more interesting than me this week (probably every week) so I will share things going on with her. She really needs to start a blog, but she doesn't think she has anything to post on. As you can see, that's not true. Last night she called me and said "Olive Garden Has Nothing On Me!" She has been wanting to make Chicken and Gnocchi Soup that Olive Garden has for a little while now and she got a great recipe from our friend Jen from Ehow.com.

 Ingredients-
1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups cream (she used half and half)
 ½ cup celery, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup carrots, finely shredded
½ cup onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin oil
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon parsley
Freshly grated parmesan cheese - optional
1 pound potato gnocchi - can buy this in the gourmet section of many supermarkets or find a recipe for homemade in the resource section

Directions-
1. Sauté the onion, celery, garlic, spinach, carrots in the olive oil till the onion is nearly translucent.

2. Add the chicken, chicken broth, and spices. Bring to a boil.

3. Slowly add the gnocchi into the boiling broth.

 

4. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

(If you want a thicker soup, add 1 tablespoon corn starch to the cream before you add it into the broth). Add the cream. Slowly allow the mixture to come to a boil and then turn it off.

5. Serve in heated bowls. You may wish to serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese on the top.

Doesn't it look so great! She did such a good job! She rated it an A+++. Her recommendation if you are short on time is just to have your vegetables already cut up and ready to go the day before so you can just plop everything in. I can't wait to try this, I think I'll make this next week.

Gorgeous New Bedroom Set for My Sister

I wanted to share with you my sister's fabulous new bedroom furniture. I had a Q & A session with her on the phone this morning so I will interpret it here for you. The Q is me asking the questions and the A is Michelle answering.

Q: How long have you been looking for bedroom furniture?
A: Well, we have been searching for a long time. I have always known I wanted a canopy type bed so it was just hard finding the perfect match.

Q: What made you decide to buy the furniture right now?
A: We're debt free!! This was our first cash only purchase after we have paid off all cc, cars and student loans. We also wanted to make sure to build up our emergency fund and save up for our furniture.

Q: How are the animals adjusting to the new set?
A: Bella (Cat) loves the new bed, I find her on it at all times during the day. Maddie (yorkie) still has a hard time getting up and used to it. Don't tell James this next part, but when he's out of town I tell the girls "Come on, lets get in our princess bed!" Do you notice her cute side table accents in the photo above?

Q: Where did you buy it?
A: Ashley furniture. It is a dark brown (not black) color and we couldn't be more happy with it!