Things I like/love

Books:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. This is a wonderful mystery for people love to read and love books in general.

The Lucky One-Nicolas Sparks. Never thought I'd say I love Nicolas Sparks, but this book is a good one to get into if you don't care to think but want to get carried away.

The local library:

We have been taking advantage of the local library lately. The girls love going there because there is an excellent kids section, complete with coloring pages, markers, crayons, sharpened colored pencils. There are low shelves full of kid books. There are walls of stuffed animals and puppets. There are two rows of kid movies to choose from. What could be better? Oh yeah, that's its all free! I love going there to grab a few recent books, a few movies that catch my eye. They even have stamps for cardmaking that you can check out, cake pans, books on tape, magazines. They host a book club I plan on joining. It's just some good ol fashioned family fun for *free*. Nice.

Blogging:

This is the perfect way to creatively express your feelings, keep people updated on your life, and take a peek into other people's lives. And it helps you keep in touch with people that live far far away! What could be better?

Internet TV: Since I can't seem to be home when I want to watch an episode of something, I love the fact that the networks put all their full episodes online. For example, there are no patients here on our floor last night or tonight. Last night I caught up on Grey's. Tonight I'll catch up on DH. Nice.

Consignment shops: DuckWorth Wearing in Ames. TOTALLY worth it if you live in this area. The clothes are nice, clean, and well organized. If I can't be shopping at KidWorks in Iowa City, this is a decent substitute. And most recently, they opened The Loft upstairs from DuckWorth which is consignment clothing for young adults. Vintage scarves, heels, jewelry, jeans, vests, etc. Cheap. Beautiful.

Target credit card: screech!!!!! Uh, really Mel? Well, I feel as though I may be going out on a limb here, but....after hearing a few ladies at work talking about the target card, I decided I would get one. Here's why:

1. I salivate at the sound/idea of Target

2. You can get 10% off often and easily. One, by signing up. Two by every 100 points you earn which is the equivalent of $100 spent in groceries, which I match easily and then some every few weeks.

3. You can use your card to pay for your stuff, earn the points, get 10% off, then walk straight over to customer service and pay it off. You never have to carry a balance. This is not a new concept, I realize. New to me though! What a great idea!!!

4. Target partners with schools. So, I could designate which school I want Target to donate to, and they donate a certain amount (that escapes me right now) to that school, a portion of what I purchase using my card. Easy way to make money for your school!

Box Tops: These are the little squares on top of many of the grocery items you already buy. You just cut them off, send them to school with your kid, and BAM! More money for school. Last year, North Polk earned over 2500 bucks to spend on the kiddos using money solely from Box Tops. Feel free to save them for Liv if you don't have kids or none in school yet. We'll take them, and we love supporting education wherever/whenever we can!

Family Video: Is this a nationwide chain, Tara? Dad? We have a new membership to Family Video. We had pretty much written off video stores after the miracle of NETFLIX blessed us all. Video stores were expensive. Like $5 a movie? Late fees? No thanks. Well, we just happened upon this store while visiting a local ice cream establishment. We picked out a few movies and went to sign up and check out. That's when we learned the real perks of this place. They have rows and rows of *free* family movies. Free workout and educational videos. The new releases are $1 for 5 nights. We get 1/2 off for the first month. 1/2 off a dollar per movie. Not bad. The kids get to go crazy picking out their free stuff, and I don't even have to limit their choices. Pretty sweet deal.

People: People are a wealth of information. I love stopping into Wal-Mart and seeing my new found friend Paula in the sewing section. She helps me pick out fabric suitable for what I want to do, find all the supplies I'll need for my project, gives me ideas on how to start and tips for not screwing it up. She tells me to bring in the finished product so she can see it. I like having that person.

The library lady talks to me about her favorite books, writing, how things get published, kids events, anything and everything. Isn't that awesome?

Steve: he knows how to fix everything. He can just look at something and fix it or hook it up or whatever. What a stud.

Well, that's just a few most recent likes/loves. What's your most recent find? Do share!