Yoke's 50% OFF everything

As we were driving home today from Fred Meyers for our weekly grocery trip, I noticed a 50% off everything sign at the Yokes on Progress/Sprague.  We pulled in not knowing what we would find.  The majority of what was left was all-natural or organic food (canned, packaged, etc) and body care items.  The store is closing and was pretty barren.  Here is a list of the things I can remember off the top of my head that we purchased...

2 Seventh Gen dish washing powder (my fave)
3 Clorox washing machine cleaner (my diapers are having major stink issues)
4 Kiss My Face lip balms (Christmas gifts)
2 Biokleen All-Purpose 32oz cleaners (3x concentrated)
2 Maid Naturally abrasive cleansing scrub (made in Spokane)
2 Mrs. Meyers toilet bowl cleaners
3 Kiss My Face bar soap (our fave bar soaps bar-none!)
1 bottle of Citra-Solv
5 Aura Cacia aromatherapy foaming bath soaks (Christmas gifts)
3 cans of organic crushed pineapple
3 bags of Mexican spices (incl. cinnamon sticks)
3 boxes of Annie's mac n cheese
1 box of organic cake mix
1 jar of some fancy brand spaghetti sauce
3 jars of organic strawberry jam
5 boxes of organic tea (Christmas gifts)
8 packs of Tic-Tacs (the kids love these as a treat, just 1 will do them)
10 packs of our fave gum

Twin fitted sheets

Has anyone else tried to buy these 2nd hand?  I've bought 3 twin fitted sheets over the past 10 months and all of them had shot elastic.  So, tomorrow morning when we head to Fred Meyer's for their crazy Founder's Day Sale, I'll be picking up 2 new twin fitted sheets.  I'm tired of re tucking the old ones :/

Happy Weekend!

A trade off? Your thoughts?

So, The Hubbs and I have been contemplating joining our gym again.  It would be about $400/year for the 2 of us.  I would go in the evenings after the kids are in bed and he would go before he came home for dinner.  We both need some regular exercise, so this seemed liked a good fit and we like the gym's atmosphere.

Speed up to 2 nights ago when The Hubbs was surfing the net.  I walked by and he started talking about the Kinect, a gaming system similar to the Wii or PS3, but cheaper and better (or so we believe).  It doesn't require controllers of any kind, but you can buy heart rate monitors that strap to your arm, etc.  The system is only $150 and comes with a free game.  We also like The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout game and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved.  The only caveat is that we're not sure if this will provide enough "pumping iron" for my better half.  If it doesn't, than we'll reevaluate and he may end up joining the gym by himself.

So what does all this have to do with The Compact?  Well, we're going to buy it new, in fact we're going to place a pre-order soon with the games.  We're still deciding where the best deals are, as some of the retailers are offering gift cards, etc if you buy from them.

So, how am I justifying this?  Well, here's my defense :P  If we go to the gym every other night for the next year we will be wasting gas and electricity (at the gym).  If we stay home and exercise we won't be.  See, The Hubbs plays his Xbox 360 most nights after the kids go to bed, so it would be on regardless.  Plus, we're hoping to have more motivation to do it since it's in our home.  It's also a big money saver, seeing as the system and 2 games = $250 vs. the gym membership at $400/year.

I'll keep you posted on when we make our final decision and I'll be sure to write a review too :)

How do you make exercise a part of your regular life?

No comment

Well I haven't had a comment in quite some time, so it may be time to let this blog go.  If you'd like to continue to read about my journey, than please leave a comment.

Happy Sunny Tuesday everyone

Reorganizing and buying new things

Yesterday morning was spent cleaning up and organizing my sewing area.  I've decided I'm done indefinitely and that we could move my stuff downstairs.  I ended up having 2 garbage bags worth of fabric that I'm trading to a friend.  She's going to fix a few of my diapers in trade :)

Currently The Hubbs is in a small office/den area (5' x 9') with all of his video games and DVDs up on shelves.  He plays his Xbox 360 after the kids go to bed and before we sit down and watch our favorite TV shows.  I've pined after that space for a few months now for a homeschooling room, but we didn't have anywhere to move him.  Until now.  He's moving into the bedroom and in order to do that we had to buy a TV bracket for mounting it in the corner of our room.  I'm thrilled to get him outta that room so I can put up stuff I've been saving.  I'll also have lots of shelving for my homeschooling books, lacing toys, etc etc :)  The possibilities are endless!

Another project that has been 2 years in the making is a new back door.  Back in the summer of 2008 we went to Lowe's and purchased a new front door and a new back door.  Our home was built in 1925 and the doors we had were literally 1 ply plywood in the main body.  Anybody wanting to get in could just kick their way through.  That summer The Hubbs and my dad installed the new door (I LOVE this new door) and it took all day long.  Again, our home is 85 years old and doesn't like to be remodeled.  So, the back door has sat in our garage for 2 years untouched. 

Last week The Hubbs kept mentioning installing it and I just brushed it off.  Then he started asking what kind of doggie door I'd like to have in the new door.  Um, something energy efficient would be great, I said.  So, last night we headed off to Home Depot to look for a new dog door (we checked Craigslist with no luck).  They were $135 and $250 for the ones we wanted.  The Hubbs started getting...well, he was mad.  We were both astonished as to why the doggie door was going to cost more than our new door.  So, we headed to Lowe's and found the same exact models for $85.  We bought the Ideal Pet Door.

The Hubbs has now installed the dog door in our new back door and he's planning to hang the door this afternoon.  We're hoping the back room (where the computer/washer/dryer all hang out) will be warmer and that we can save some money on our gas bill through the winter.

Are you doing any fall organizing?