Tag Archives: Shopping

I’m On the Move

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In my perception of time, the last month has felt longer than the first 5 months, which flew by. It took me about a week to warm up to the idea of having a place to myself, but since then I’ve just been so excited for this day to arrive. Just ask anyone who has to put up with me in person…

The *official* move isn’t until tomorrow, so I still have 1 more night in the house. But today I get the keys to the new place, and get to do a ton of shopping.

I’ve found a few things here or there that I’ve already gotten, but mostly I saved up the shopping for today. In part because I didn’t want to bring the stuff into the old place just to move it to the new, and in part because I’m taking advantage of extra savings. I have a Target debit card, which gives me 5% off everything, but I also earned an extra 5% off of one day’s shopping. Score!

I’ve spent a lot of time really figuring out what I want to spend my limited budget on and where I’m willing to scrimp so I can get what I really want somewhere else. I want to make this as homey, yet minimalist as possible.

I’m really excited to show you all the finished project! It might take a few weeks to get there, but I will.

FQF: Lifelines

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1.  If you were on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, whose names would you submit as your three lifelines, and what subjects would each person be your go-to person for?

Let’s see…I’d definitely put my dad on the list for all things mathematical/scientific.  I’d also choose my college roommate, Dana, as she’s familiar with a ton of movies (and a ton of other things…she’s well-read as well) that I’m not.  I’d also want to pick someone who’s good with pop culture, but I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head that would be a good fit.

2.  What food grosses you out just by its texture?

Grits.  Definitely don’t get them.

3.  How long would it take you, via the quickest means available, to get to the place of your birth from where you are right now?

If someone chartered me a flight and had it waiting for me at the airport right now, I think I could be there in 3 hours.  I think it’d take just over 2 hours to fly direct to Wichita (not that I’ll ever know that!).  Driving it takes 20 hours.

4.  From what store is it impossible for you to emerge empty-handed?

Target, for sure.  There is always something that I “need.”

5. What do you usually use to mark your place in a book?

A piece of paper from a notepad.  It doubles as a place for me to record quotes.

Upcoming at the Ignorant Historian

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I’m less than 30 comments away from 10,000 comments. I can’t thank you all enough.

I’m less than 10 posts away from my 1,000th post. There WILL be something big and never-been-done-before here on the Ignorant Historian on that day. Stop by Tuesday or Wednesday next week (which day depends on whether I post quotes this coming Sunday or not)…I promise that you do NOT want to miss it.

This fall, I’ll be helping to lead a book discussion over on Offering Hospitality. The book? Women’s Ministry in the Local Church by J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt. I’m looking forward to this opportunity. Want to join the discussion of the book? That’s easy enough…enter to win it!  The contest will be open until Sunday, August 15th.

Now that school is starting (I’m not a teacher or student, but I still think in school years), I hope to bring some more thought-provoking posts here to the Ignorant Historian.  They’re rolling around in my head, I just have to let them out!

On that note, what’s your favorite school supply to shop for?

Photo by Caro Wallis

Happy Back-to-Schooling!

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There are a few times of the year I really like, and I have memories associated with them.  My favorite is probably Christmas time…I can see my childhood bedroom decorated for Christmas, only lit up by the lights on my minature tree.

Another favorite time of year is May, as everything is ending.  That’s when there’s more fun to be had at end-of-the-year bashes and the days are starting to get long and warm.  When I think of this, I picture myself leaning over the side of our backyard play area fort as I’m eating ice cream with my Girl Scout friends.

Back to School

A third favorite time of year is definitely back-to-school time.  When I was in school, it was preceeded with my favorite type of shopping: school supply shopping.  Everything was fresh and new, from the clothes I was wearing to the pencils and notebooks I was using.  Then there was the difficult night-before sleep, delayed with anticipation and excitement.  As I got older, school supply shopping was less important, but book-shopping and syllabus-reading filled those first few days with joy (I don’t think I need to add the disclaimer that I’m a nerd, do I?).  When I worked at Walmart, I enjoyed checking out school supplies because they were so small and usually organized.  I could always get the best items/minute count during those days.

When I graduated for the last time, I knew those days were behind me.  I really thought it’d be hard to not be a student, but it suprisingly wasn’t.  Since it’s been 8 months, it shocked me that I finally reacted emotionally yesterday, and was at the point of tears.  Just for a moment…and then the moment was gone.

I’m thankful that I still get to participate in small ways in this time of year.  I get the new beginnings in Sunday School and AWANA.  A teacher friend lets me help her shop and make posters for her classroom (and rumor has it she’ll even let me help her set up her paper organization system…a treat for me, really).  And I even went on a small shopping spree for clothes (more because of the raise, than the time of year).

So, whatever your role in this time of year: student, parent, teacher, parent/teacher, I want to wish you a Happy Back-to-Schooling!

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

Mundane Lists are Lists Too

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I hadn’t realized that this month ended on a Monday, but it does. My last list this month will probably be the most boring one of all: my grocery list. We’ve been teasing Debra about needing to put hers up, so I thought I would do the same. Perhaps it will give you insight into my eating/buying habits. It does seem fitting to end a month of lists with a list that I make on a weekly basis. I’ll be doing NaBlo again next month, with the theme of letters! I’m super excited, as I love writing letters and think that it’ll be a fun, new way of writing.

Here’s what I’ll be buying at the store tomorrow:

Tylenol
Advil (no, I’m not addicted to OTC painkillers, it’s just that I ran out of Tylenol and my Advil is expired)
Rectangle Ziploc containers (what I use for leftovers)
Whipping cream (I use it to make creamed cucumbers…it’s that time of year!)
Diet Dr. Pepper (of course)
Fiesta cheese
Bagels
Sweet cereal (for snacking)
Work snacks
Spaghettios (don’t laugh, they make an easy dinner every once in a while)
Cream of chicken soup
Cream of celery soup
Chicken and rice soup (these make for a great casserole)
Canned chicken
Instant rice
Vinegar
Enchilada sauce
Refried beans
Vinegar
Fruit
Small tortillas (for quesadillas)
Big tortillas (for burritos, that I freeze)
Bread (I haven’t bought/needed any for WEEKS, but I like to make tuna salad to go with my creamed cucumbers)
Salad

And from the fruit stand:
onion
cucumbers
oranges
anything else that looks yummy

I don’t do a good job eating my fruits in the winter, but I like fresh summer fruit from the fruit stand. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I move into the city where there’s no fruit stand!

What do you make of my list? What does it say about me?

Works for Me: Custom-Made Bookmarks

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This week Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer asked that we share our online shopping treasures. Online shopping is something that I love: browsing for hours without wearing out the feet! This Christmas I decided to buy everything online, and I would have succeeded except for a couple last minute gift cards.
For my mom, I got her a book with a bookmark. Not just any bookmark, however, I had one especially made for her! I wish I could show a picture to you, but I didn’t take one before I gave it to her. It was a special gift as one thing I share with my mother is our love for books.
Kim at Bookworm Bookmarks made the bookmark for me. It was done at a reasonable rate, to my specifications, and was super fast. She was super kind to me and it was a great pleasure doing business with her. I didn’t have to pay up front, and she even threw in a bookmark for me with my favorite verse.
Check out all the beautiful designs she has at her website. The new Valentine’s one is super cute! If you need a cheap but personal gift, I recommend you check her out!
If you are a book-lover, I would also suggest you check out Sovereign Grace’s February sale. I just bought a book that I’ve been wanting to read and a CD I have been wanting for $15 total, no shipping!
Other Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas:

Works for Me: Shopping Walmart Stress-Free

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Yesterday afternoon I went to Walmart after my last final (yes!) and ran into a huge mess. As is fairly typical of this time of year, people were everywhere and it was hard to navigate my cart to get the groceries I needed.
While I’m not a strict Walmart shopper, I generally shop there because they have the best prices and have what I need. It is also the easiest place for me to find where things are since I have long ago learned the quirks of Walmart and even know the reasoning behind some. (Candy is by stationary because they originally were in connected departments before there were any Super Walmarts. Popcorn is with pop for the same reason.)
When I worked as a cashier I could see why it was such a huge problem to shop there during specific hours. EVERYONE goes to Walmart at the SAME TIME. People would jokingly ask me, “Is there ever a time when Walmart is not busy?”
My answer: “Yes, Walmart is not busy when no one is here. However, most people come when the most people are here, therefore it is usually busy when you come.”
I personally have learned to shop on Tuesday mornings (except today when I broke my own rule). Any morning between 6 AM and 10 AM is a perfect time to go. This is when the most experienced staff works (if you had worked there for 20 years, you would want to avoid the stressful times too) and there are less customers to crowd the aisles and block the one can of green beans left on the shelf (of course there is more than one can on the shelf at this hour since they have just been restocked).
The worst times to shop at Walmart from bad to worst:
Lunchtime anyday
Friday nights 6-1
Any night around midnight (that is when the cashiers change shifts for the new day)
Weeknights 6-10
Saturday afternoon/evenings 2-10
Sunday afternoons 2 – 5
Of course, different Walmarts have different busy hours. In the college town I worked, the busy hours were later than the average Walmart (I’ve worked at 3). In the Walmart in the town where my seminary is, Wednesday nights are pretty dead. If you’re not a sports fan, a great time to shop is during the game.
These tips generally work for other busy shopping places. Avoiding Walmart during busy hours, that works for me!
More of my works-for-me tips:

Gifting

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I’m a giver. I’d (almost) rather give a gift than receive it. That is one blessing to having a birthday so close to Christmas: I get to give gifts on my birthday if I want to, and if people object I just say, “Well, am I going to see you again before Christmas?” When they agree that they won’t, I get away with giving them the gift!

That said, I love shopping online. This year for Christmas, I think I’m going to pull off buying everything online. Yes! It’s great.

I can’t go into too many specifics since the people I bought gifts for might see this. Amazon is my favorite, and is the place I’m most likely to shop out of season as well. Free shipping on orders over $25? It’s the perfect excuse to put in a book for myself to bump it over the line when I have to buy a book for school. I didn’t have to do that this time, though!

This year I also bought something on Ebay. It was a special item that I just had to have for someone special, and that’s the only place I could get it. I’m kinda new to the whole Ebay thing, but I finally “won” what I wanted for a reasonable price.

Of course, no Christmas is quite complete without sending Christmas cards! For this I got some great deals at Current (my mom got me hooked a long time ago…) and stamps can be bought online through USPS for only $1 shipping. That way I can get cute stamps (though I was disappointed with their choices this year) without spending 20 minutes at the post office.

I’m one step closer to the holiday season. Isn’t it interesting that I focus on the gift-giving, card-sending fun of December rather than the paper-writing of November?

Ronnica

NaBloPoMo, Day 13