Some of these are things that my family kind of needs...others are things that I have just dreamed of having for a while. I thought I would share them with you in my blog, and I will keep you abreast of which items I collect.
Without further ado, in no particular order:
Grace's Mom's Wish List
1. The Amazon Kindle.
I have done a lot of research on e-Readers. I have tried the Nook from Barnes and Noble and it had a few too many glitches for my liking. Glitches the sales folks explained by saying, "Well, a lot of people handle these, they are just demos, so they might not work 100% correctly." Um, hello? I have a one year old who is, at some point, going to her little Tot hands on my eReader. It needs to be a little tougher than that!
I have also researched the Sony Reader, and my only drawback with this product is that the books tend to be a little more expensive through the Sony Web site.
Now the Kindle...so far, the Kindle sounds like exactly what I need. For those of you who aren't quite sold on the eReaders, let me tell you why they are appealing to me. For the record, I really enjoy physical books. I like the way they smell, I like turning pages and feeling accomplishment with each chapter I complete. But I live in a very small town. The only place I can even buy a book is WalMart. I work in a larger town, but it is not very convenient for me to pop in to a bookstore. I cannot wait until Grace is old enough to go book shopping with me! We will spend entire days in Borders!
Anywho, the convenience of buying an eBook is a huge selling point for me. I am on the road quite a bit, so the idea that I could buy a book while I'm riding somewhere (i.e. NO PLANNING AHEAD!) is phenomenal.
But then, say I don't know what book I would like to read. With an eReader, I can read previews of hundreds of thousands of books! Amazon and Google both provide limited previews for free. I definitely don't have time to be in Borders for an hour so I can preview each book I want to read!
Not only that, but eBooks are considerably less expensive than regular books. New releases are $9.99. And lets face it, I'm not working two jobs because I have tons of extra money floating around. Those extra dollars I spend on books add up!
And finally, I commute about 45 minutes each way every day. The Kindle will read books out loud to you! Sure, I could buy books on cd, but those are expensive! I'm sure the Kindle voice isn't James Earl Jones or Julie Andrews...but it's better than nothing!
The only drawback to the Kindle is that you can only get them by ordering them online. You can't look at one or handle one before you make the $250 investment for the basic model. However, I happened to run into a business acquaintance last week who told me that he just ordered his Kindle, and I sweet-talked him in to bringing it to my work for me to check out! Now, he purchased the DX, the more expensive model ($400 or so) but I think this will give me a good feel for how the Kindle stacks up to the Nook and Sony Reader.
Can you tell I've been wanting one of these for a while?!
2. Trip to Pheonix in May.
This is one I am really saving my pennies for. I even had my dad buy me a bank that counts change as you put it in for Christmas so that I would be motivated to save my change!
My brother is an amazing volleyball player, and he has been playing with a national team in Washington. I have played volleyball all of my life and am currently coaching a U-16 club team. Memorial Day Weekend, in Phoenix is the U.S.A. Adult Open Championships. From what I hear, this tournament is amazing. There are all sorts of age brackets, including one that is 70 years +!! Can you imagine? I hear these guys are THE most fun to watch.Anyway, a vacation isn't really in the cards for my family this year, as in 2009 we got married on a Mexican Cruise, hosted a reception back home, and bought a house. So this trip to Phoenix might be just enough of a vacation so that we can get in a little R&R without breaking the bank.
3. Kitchen Appliances.
Okay, not everything on my Wish List is super expensive, but the three items I am talking about today are. This is probably the most expensive, but also the most needed.
When we purchased our house, it did not come with a fridge. The day we moved in, we realized that what had appeared to be a practically brand-new stove was in fact the victim of a grease fire and did not work. The fan above the stove is also completely melted.
Obviously, you need a fridge and a stove, but we were short on money because we had just used a bunch of it for a down payment and earnest money! So to CraigsList I went, and I managed to find a fridge for $100. It's about as old as I am (around 25 years old!) and it's that nice almond color...lovely. My parents had their own stove that they offered to give us. It had been sitting out in the barn for about two years since they had purchased their new stainless steel appliances. It is also about as old as I am and in that lovely almond color! So we do, technically, have a matching set. And while both work fine...they are just adequate. And both kind of have a funny smell to them. Haha! Or that might just be me imagining that they do because I don't care for them and have spent a fair amount of time shopping for their replacements online!
Lovely stove.
Matching fridge.
So, those are a couple of items on my Wish List. I would love to think that my tax return will pay for all of these things...but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
Oh, and yes, there are things on my Wish List for Grace. But she just had her birthday and Christmas, and while I was just cleaning up in the living room I realized that the last thing my little girl needs right now is another toy or pair of shoes!! We are very blessed with generous family and friends...not so much with storage in our home! Maybe I should add "storage" to the Wish List...
-Grace's Mom
I would give my left arm for new appliances. Well, not really, but I want some so badly. And it wasn't listed, but my fave pregnancy book was "You pregnancy week by week".
ReplyDeleteNew appliances aren't really on my list since,we will be moving again, but CERTAINLY I WOULD LOVE a KINDLE! Makes for a good time consumer, thats for sure!
ReplyDelete