A Little Bit Of This & A Little Bit of That

Hello friends! Has it really been a week since I posted? 

I have been running like a crazy lady lately and am ready to slow down for a bit to enjoy life...know what I mean? Anywho, I am almost finished with my trainings....9 of 11 days down which leaves just 2 to go! These last two will be fun days and they are out of town so it's like a mini vacay! Can't beat being paid to attend a fun conference and getting to stay in a nice hotel and have all meals paid for as well. I love it! And...I am over the moon excited because our hotel is just a mile or so from.....IKEA!!! I love Ikea and hardly ever get to go there since it is 3 hours away. I have several things on my list to purchase...both for home and school! There are so many exciting things happening in the near future...I just have to share! My mind is spinning with ideas since we (the hubby and I) are starting our living room remodel next weekend. I have big plans...scraping the ceiling and repainting it, covering 3 of the 4 walls in bead board and painting two a creamy white and the other one a pretty tan or sand color. I am most excited though that we are putting in a plank wall on the fourth wall. Do you know what that is? Here is an example below...

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I love it and so does the hubby! Ours will be the same dark walnut color as this one as well. I can't wait to get started. I have been picking our paint colors and looking for a new sofa and chair. Overstock has some really pretty furniture and  great prices plus free shipping, so I will probably order from them. I plan to paint one of my end tables and will be looking for another one to redo at a yard sale or thrift and if I can make room for one, I would love to have a coffee table. We haven't had room for one for years with our chunky furniture. We already have the flooring and will be going to Lowes later in the week to pick up everything else. I can't wait!!! After the living room is complete, we are moving on to the dining room and library. I have plans for those rooms too, but I will share them later on. So, as you can probably tell, my mind is spinning with ideas. 

Along with being excited about our upcoming remodels, I am also really excited about our upcoming vacation. We had planned to spend a few days at the beach, but it's really hard to find a nice affordable place that isn't booked already, so we have decided to go on another cruise. Believe it or not, it's going to cost less to take a 5 day cruise than it would to rent a nice place for 5 days. And the beauty of a cruise is that food and entertainment are included. We are going on a Western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and  Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. I can't wait! I'm most excited about the excursion we are planning to take which includes riding in a submarine and looking at a coral reef and then visiting the world's only green sea turtle farm!

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I love sea turtles and can't wait to interact with them!
We'll be setting sail July 7th if nothing stops us!

Yesterday I got out or training early , so I went grocery shopping and decided to run into the Hospice Attic thrift since I was so close. I found just a few things.....

First up are two games I bought for my kinders. They can both be used in my small group time to enhance their learning. The will be required to answer questions or read words for me in order to move on the board. They love to play games and don't realize they are learning while they are playing. These were both like new with no missing pieces and just $0.99 each. Great deal since the Monkey's game is $25-$30 new!

The monkey one is based on the book Five Little Monkeys Juming On the Bed and will be great for the beginning of the year when they are just learning to count.

I found a pair of Dockers shorts for the hubby still new with tags for $5.

I bought a pretty top for myself for $1.50 as well as a pair of navy blue capris for $1.50. I didn't take a picture of those. Both pieces were like new.

I couldn't resist this set of hand stitched napkins in my favorite shades of aqua blue. There are 8 of them...I'll probably keep four and sell four. 

Aren't they lovely? They kind of remind me of a snowflake.

I bought these foam shapes to use in my classroom this fall. New in package for $0.49 each!

Last thing I bought was this vase/urn. I picked it up to see how much it was and when I saw the maker's mark on the bottom, I looked it up using the Internet on my phone see how much it sells for. Mine has a few chips but for the price I couldn't pass it up. 

See the bird design? In good to mint condition, this piece is selling for over $50 on Etsy and $80 on Ebay. Mine is not is mint condition, but I will most likely be keeping it anyway, so it doesn't matter.

This is why I bought it....it's the only piece of McCoy I have ever found and it was a steal at $1.49!

I also went by Bath & Dody Works and they were having their huge semi-annual sale so I bought a few things in there. I love their hand soaps and the kitchen lemon is my favorite to keep by the kitchen sink. The Forever Sunshine body wash smells heavenly!

I had to run into TJ Maxx to look for something for my out of town conference tomorrow and found this.

It's the tall one on top. I've been collecting these dairy themed things for a while and you may remember me saying my kitchen and dining room have a subtle milk and honey theme going on. I had to have this piece! it was only $3.99...gotta love TJ Maxx!

I want to share a good deal I found online before I go. Shutterfly has an awesome deal right now. You can get a 16" x 20" print for free. They are normally $17.99 with $4.9 shipping. You can get one for just the cost of shipping through 6/26/14 by typing the code DAVIDSPRINT in the code box at checkout. I ordered one this morning and I can't wait to get it. Here is the one I decided on. There were several I wanted, but I finally decided on this one. I took this picture on my mom and dad's property last year and added the text to it on PicMonkey. I am planning to make a frame for it using some weathered wood and hang it in my living room after we finish the remodel.

And...this reminds me that I need to update you on the health issues some of you have been praying about. The hubby went to the orthopaedic center this week and he has a really bad case of tennis elbow as well as carpal tunnel. Since he uses his arm every at work, it is having a hard time healing. The Dr gave him a brace thing to wear on his forearm to hold pressure on the tendons, as well as some medication for inflammation. The brace is helping, so that's a blessing. He goes back in 5 weeks. I'm hoping the cruise will help it heal...:) I was thrilled that it was nothing too serious. I go for an MRI Wednesday on my lower back. I pray it doesn't reveal anything serious...hopefully it's just my arthritis spreading to this area. We'll see! I thank you for your thought and prayers...blog friends are the best! Have a beautiful weekend.

Until next time.....