Just barely hanging on. . .

to my twenties, that is.   It is hard to believe that I turned 29 last Friday!  I don't feel old at all, but that number just sounds old.  It makes me feel good, though, that customers at work think I am still a college student.  They always ask what I am studying.  And then I shock them by telling them I have 2 kids and have been married for 6 years!  I wonder how long I'll be able to pull that off.

Anyway, I had a really good birthday this year and basically got to celebrate all weekend!  I didn't have to work on Friday, which was wonderful!  All day long I was trying to decide where we should go to eat.  We didn't get a sitter because we were going somewhere Sunday night without the girls, so I was trying to think of somewhere kid friendly.  I was craving a good salad and some sushi, so I actually decided we would go to Kroger (Dillon's here) to eat at their yummy salad bar since there is also a sushi bar there.  Never thought I would be spending my birthday dinner there, but it is really what I wanted!  It was also nice for the girls since it was easy to pick out things they liked there.

Next, we did some shopping to spend some of my birthday money.  We ended the night by eating Freddy's Frozen Custard.  Their brownie fudge sundae is my new favorite dessert.  I also got an order of fries, and they were AMAZING!  They tasted just like the fries from Houston's/Hillstone (for those of you in the Dallas area), which are the best fries in the world.

The next day, I took advantage of Ryan being home and headed off for some solo shopping time.  I really am not a big shopper, but I decided I don't want to become stuck in that "mom" fashion rut of not caring too much about my appearance.  Obviously, my appearance is not on the very top of my priority list, but I don't think it should be at the very bottom either.  It was SO FUN to go shopping alone and get to take my time.  I find that I have trouble putting together complete outfits.  I can find single pieces I like, but tend to buy a lot of similar things that way.  So, this time, I checked out pinterest before I left.  I was armed with some good ideas and really was successful in finding everything I set out to.  So fun!  As icing on the cake, I came home to a clean house with ALL of our dirty laundry washed and folded.  What a great husband I have!!!  Here are some of my inspirations:

 

 

  

On Sunday, Ryan and I got to see Broadway's traveling production of the Lion King, which was a real treat.  I have seen a few Broadway shows before, and knew that this one would be good.  Did you know that they built a theater in NYC especially to house that show?  Nothing else is shown there.  I thought that was crazy!  Goes to show how successful it has been. 

I got lots of fun presents in the mail from friends and family, and felt especially loved by all the phone calls and messages I received.  Oh, I almost forgot, Ryan's gift to me was to have a cleaning lady come clean our whole house!  She is coming next week, and I am pumped!  He is so creative and thoughtful.

I guess I had better live this next year up since it is my last one of my twenties.  Getting older doesn't really bother me though.  I have a feeling my thirties will be just as good, if not better.

Sophie sings

Here is a cute video of Sophie singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  I was trying to get her to sing Old McDonald because her rendition of it is hilarious.  My favorite part of this video, though, is her request at the end: "Mommy, please turn it off."  She is so cute!

Need some extra cash?

I don't normally blog about companies or brands, but lately I have been spending some time on a website called Expo TV.  One of my friends blogged about it, and I decided to check it out (Thanks, Ashleigh!).  Basically, you submit reviews of various products around your home that you already have.  Each review earns you points.  Those points can then be redeemed for a variety of things.  For example, for 3000 points, you can earn a $25 Visa or Amazon gift card.  And really, it takes hardly any time to rack up points.  After doing 3 reviews, I had already earned over 3000 points.  Also, doing a review takes hardly any time at all.  I use the camera on my computer to record a minute long review of something, and then I upload it to the site.  So easy.  After you create an account (which is totally free), they send you emails, inviting you to review various things.  Each review earns an average of 300-800 points.  They also have a section of "Most Wanted Items" where you can earn 800-2500 points per review.  The products in every section change frequently, so if I don't see anything to review, I know there will probably be something there soon if I check back.  I usually don't like programs like this because it takes so long to rack up enough points to get anything, but this is different.  It takes much less time, and the rewards are worth it (to me!).  I figured if I earn 1000 points each day for thirty days (not necessarily every day in a row) over the next few months, I will have earned 30,000 points.  That equals out to be $250 in Visa gift cards which I can use online to buy anything I want.  I plan to use the extra money to buy Christmas gifts.  I just wanted to share this idea with others in case you might also be looking for an easy way to make a little extra cash.  If you want to know more, feel free to ask!  You can find the link for Expo TV's website here.