Home Shopping...

If you know me... I'm not much of a shopper.  I hate spending money.  My classic exanple is if I am in a gas station and I really would like some gum, I question whether or not to get the gum... that costs $1.  I know that I can get the gum for $.67 if I buy it in a 3pack at Kroger. So I wait... until the next time I go to Kroger to have minty fresh breath and a sparkly smile. DING!

 And here-in lies most of my problems. 

I don't like looking for things.  I get impatient while at the store, I am not the type to stay in a particular area of the store for very long... UNLESS it's the craft area - yes please!  But that's only because I'm imagining what I can do with the stuff that's in the isle, but I am certainly not going to be buying the stuff IN the isle... well... unless I ca't resist the crafty urge.  I'm crazy, I know. Some people like sports, others like reading books... I like to get my hands creating stuff.   

At any rate, we're house shopping.  We've been saving our money and we are very proud of the amount we have actually saved in a short amount of time... but really, with a wifey like me who hates to shop, its CRAZY what you can save!  BUT GET THIS!  I like shopping for the house.  You wanna know why?  Because I imagine what I can do to the house... like knocking down walls and replacing horrible carpeting with beautiful hardwood.  Our struggle is the in between.  We want a house we can improve, but not one that is disgusting and needs a county representative to decide whether it's liveable.  Most of the houses we have been looking at have either been completely redone and it's too modern for our taste, OR it's really gross.  Also...  we're having disagreements about how much work we think we can do.  I think we will be able to do way more than Dave is thinking we can.  But again, if you know us, Dave is the conservative thinker, and I'm the abstract-way-out-there thinker.

Bummer, huh.  Well...  off to more shopping I go!  Wish me an In-betweener... and right in the location we're looking... and at a very geat price! 

snow!! yay!

   before                                                          after    

i had a lot of fun sliding.  best thing ever...

 evidenced by endless slide marks all over the street.

 dave making jonah a tunnel!

 love him.

when we have  -0 temperatures, this is what happened to the windows at my work.

 cool, huh?

way to go, insulation.

one night, dave and i went on a date.  we dropped jonah off for a night to spend with g-ma and headed to the basketball game.  we got some t-shirts and popcorn.  they were doing great, 15 ahead at the half...

but then they lost...  so we headed to korean/sushi.

we were so excited about the sushi and bibimbap, that we ate it before we could take a picture... but this is a picture of our plates... empty.  We had some miso soup, 2 hand rolls, a non-exciting philidelphia roll, dave got Yookgaejang, a spicy beef soup and I got the wonderful classic Dolsot Bibimbap with plenty of gochujang on the side! 



this is evidence that the bibimbap is so good you can't resist.

after the date, i got the surprise of roses.  flowers are just a simple touch.  they are beautiful and elegant and they just smell so good.  rose is also my (middle) name sake.

and i loved them so much that i had to take some (f)artsy shots of them.

and on a totally random note that occured at the around same time...

 an employee of mine called off because of the snow storm...  not joking.  the above photo is what it looked like when she called off and below is what it looked like when she was actually supposed to work the shift. 

horrible, i know.  i don't know how anyone survived.

As of late:

   Dave has 6 months left in school.  And I am so excited.  I think I am more excited than him - no, I know I am more excited than him!  He still has his 4.0, so unless he totally biffs it this term and next, he'll be graduating Summa Cum Laude!!  Check out that hot stuff.  My Mr. Smarty Pants... wait, my Mr. International Smarty Pants.  Yes!    Post graduation, we'll be staying here in DYT until he finishes his stint in the Palace Acquire program, but then who knows where we'll end up! 

   Jonah started Judo. He's the 4th from the right after the lady with ridic-long hair.  I'll get a  better picture of him in his gi and post it on here. He is very excited!  Even though, he's all excited... the rule is "NO JUDO OFF THE JUDO MAT!"  He's not allowed to show me.  That's probably for the best, since we don't want 5 yr olds practicing judo on the playground. I can just imagine the phone call..."Mrs. Beach... Your son threw another  boy over his shoulder and then on to the ground..."  Ouch.  At any rate, he's loving it.

  My crafting has taken a huge hault.  I haven't done much of anything.  Awful, right???  I know. I need something to make for someone...I need a purpose.  I have tons of things that I want to do... I guess that the time is just not pressing enough for me to do it.  I also suppose, that I am enjoying my little family a little bit more.  We've been trying a bunch of different dinner recipes and a little bit of charitable service here and there, but nothing major.
  I have slowly been working on this, but they'll be cooler because I have huge molds... intended for todler usage.   kind of excited to see it in action.  I don't know about other 2 and 3 yr olds, but when Jonah was that little, he ALWAYS broke the crayons.
  Any other ideas... anyone?  anyone?

My resolution: Family

Family values are a little like family vacations -— subject to changeable weather and remembered more fondly with the passage of time. Though it rained all week at the beach, it’s often the momentary rainbows that we remember. LESLIE DREYFOUS
I love my family.  Each and every single one of us.  Even those who aren't "official."  Friends and regulars and randoms.  I love them all.  I grew up in a home of acceptance and of fun loving individuals.  

If only we had all the time in the world, would we be able to spend more time together and goof off together like we wish we could... maybe when we're all retired, old and grey. 

Spending more time with my goofy family is my New Year's resolution.  I don't normally make resolutions for the New Year, normally I try to make resolutions on a regular basis, you know, a checks and balances system sort of deal.  

Just Dance tournaments, here we come.