It's here.

Okay, so I haven't really posted about this much, because I didn't want to jinx it, but I finally get to cross something off my Wish List!

I will now share with you the pictures that tell the story.

What's this?  A box for moi?

Hmmm...

Does anyone else hear angels singing something gloriously wonderful?!?

It's in my hand!  It's in MY HAND!

Even the instruction book is fun.

Powering up!

This might possibly be the worst picture ever.  I love ya, Blackberry, but sometimes you really let me down.  But, every time you turn off the Kindle, it puts up a really cool picture.  This one was my favorite, so far.

I would like to thank my darling hubby, for totally coming through for my birthday.  I would like to thank Amazon, for being sneaky little devils and telling me my Kindle would be here between April 3 and April 8, but actually delivering it on April 1.  And I would like to thank peer pressure, for making me feel like a nobody because I didn't have the latest, hottest gadget.  I realize my Kindle will be technologically obsolete in a matter of months...but I don't care.  I am cool this week.

And what do you think the first book I uploaded via Whispernet (cool name, eh?) to my Kindle was?

What can I say?  I love me some Tori Spelling!

I know, I know.  Not the most thought-provoking book out there...but I don't read to get smarter.  I'm already perfectly brilliant.  I read for entertainment, and let me tell you, this family is entertaining!  Don't be jealous.

My pink silicone case and travel pack will be here soon...can't wait!

Wish List cont.

Well, nothing to cross off my Wish List yet.  But maybe with that sure-to-be-large tax return?  A girl can hope.

Here is the full Wish List:

1.  Kindle + accessories (refer to first Wish List blog)

2.  Hair-on-hide picture frame.

3.  Western decor for spare bedroom.

I LOVE ItsACowgirlThing.com for awesome western decor and apparel!

4.  Square toe cowgirl boots.

5.  Barrel racing saddle.

6.  "Bling" tack.

7.  Saddle blanket for my Okie horse.

I love this Okie horse.  He deserves his own, special, SUPER bright saddle blanket!  Not Skyler (other horse) hand-me-downs, like the turquoise one pictured.

8.  Trip to Phoenix in May. (refer to first Wish List blog for details)

9.  Sterling Silver cowgirl ring.

10.  Coach "Hailey" handbag.

I really love having a hands-free handbag now that I'm also toting around a toddler - the Hailey bag comes with a long, removeable cross-body strap and a shorter shoulder strap!  Plus, the inside is BRIGHT purple!  So it matches my new blackberry!

11.  "Bling" watch.

12.  Sunglasses - I lost mine on a trek through the jungle in Puerto Vallarta!

13.  Frame for canvas wedding picture.

This is not the exact picture that we have on canvas, but we have a very nice print that has been sitting in a FedEx box for...almost 4 months now.  It needs to be on the wall!  Look how pretty we are!

14.  Appliances. (refer to first Wish List blog for details)

15.  Bathroom mirror.

My current bathroom mirror is cracked right down the middle.  Imagine how pretty I would look every day if I got ready with a mirror like THIS!

16.  Bigger TV.  I hear bigger is always better. ;)

-Grace's Mom

SUPER Exciting Tuesday!

Tomorrow, I have something SUPER exciting planned!  It was kind of a last minute thing...something I have never really done but have been really needing to do.  And NO!  It is not a bikini wax!

All I can really say is that I am more excited about my day tomorrow than I have been about anything in quite some time.

It is not the ordering or arrival of a Kindle.

It is not tangible.

It is something a lot of people do and probably don't appreciate unless they haven't done it in a very long time.

It is something children like and something parents like, but not anyone else.

It is not hard.

It requires little-to-no effort.

Okay, I think that is enough playful hinting!  Stay tuned - my next blog should be very entertaining!

Dream Job

The other day, while working at my part-time retail job, a coworker and I got to chatting about what our ideal career would be.  Neither of us is really in a position to take a big risk, career-wise, but we would both really like to!  The only problem is, we didn't have a detailed plan on what we would like to do.  So for about four hours we would randomly shout out business ideas and build them up until we ultimately decided that whatever business plan we were developing would fail for one reason or another.

It's just fun to think about what you would do, if you could do anything in the world...

I have been working in commercial sales for almost three years now.  I really enjoy it, but because I am not a commissioned sales person I don't make a ton of money.  I have tried sales before, and I'm just not good at coaxing people into parting with money they aren't completely sure they want to part with!!  I handle transactional business just fine.  My retail managers love me!  But when it comes to convincing someone to give me several thousand dollars for something they aren't sure they want...man.  I have a hard time with that.

You know I had a good day at work when you see the same commercial four times in a 30 minute program!  SORRY!

But, I always thought it would be fun to work for an advertising agency.  I am always included in brainstorming sessions when it's time to pitch a concept to a client.  I'm the girl who comes up with the funny, memorable commercial!  Oh man, I could write a blog all about my HILARIOUS commercial concepts!  Maybe another time.


I also have toyed with the idea of going back to my communications/journalism/marketing roots and trying to do a little PR for a business that I can get passionate about.

 If these women can do it, so can I!  Does vodka come with the title?

Or what if I opened a gift shop?  I could sell cute things and maybe even custom vinyl letters/words/sayings that you put on your wall?

This is not a picture of my house, but I do have some of these in my home, which I acquired by hosting an Uppercase Living party!

I did a lot of research about starting a nanny referral service.  I am in need of a temporary nanny in August (my fabulous nanny is having a baby!) and I am really stressed about finding someone I can trust.  I imagine there are a lot of parents in this situation and I thought I might be able to make a little money with a service that aided in this process.  I jotted down some ideas about finding nannies, running some background checks, and then finding parents and matching them up with qualified nannies.  It sounds really great in theory, but when I got to thinking about what could go wrong, I hit a serious wall.  What if something happened?  What if a nanny I recommended turned out to be less-than-reliable?  What if something awful happened to the child being watched?  Not only would I have to make sure I was covered legally, but I just don't know if I could live with myself.  It makes me sick to even think about it.  So I quickly backed away from that idea.

Maybe, since I have ideas for almost every business in my area, I should walk in to a few and pitch them some marketing or PR ideas and slowly work my way in to my own advertising agency?

Maybe I should go work for Amazon and they will give me a free Kindle just for being an employee!

Kindle...I want you!

Maybe I should be a stay-at-home-mom and focus all my energy on raising the most beautiful, brilliant baby girl in the world?

She got her first lap top around 3 months old...Baby Genius, I am telling you.

The possibilities are just endless.  There are so many different avenues I want to take!  One thing I have learned in the last two years, though, is that fate is pretty good at laying paths out for me, and all I need to do is keep my head up, my eyes open, and a positive attitude - things work out.

-Grace's Mom

Wish List

We all have things we want.  I don't just have a few, I have a list that I keep on my Blackberry (which was on the Wish List until last Thursday!!) and I take a lot of joy in marking the things I have saved up to purchase.  Of course, like with any good Wish List, I add items to my list more frequently than I cross them off.

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