The Beginning of the "Lasts"

Source

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is Thursday. How time has flown. And yet in some aspects of my life time has moved slowly. On September 28th of 2010 I put my husband on a plane for Japan to begin his 3 year geo bachelor tour. This year begins the beginning of the end. This Thanksgiving will be the last Thanksgiving I spend without him before he is scheduled to come home from Japan. It is hard to believe. It seemed like such a long time to have him gone and it was. But the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. For those of you with loved ones near by appreciate them and let them know you love them. For those of you with loved ones far away you are in my thoughts. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Source

I went Friday night to see the final installment of the Twilight series. I will say it was probably my favorite movie of the series. And frankly I think I liked Bella the best in this because she was a stronger character and person. I won't go into details in case you haven't seen it but they had a cool twist to the story that no one in the theater saw coming. Also I love the way the wolves are depicted they are pretty bad ass. And I love watching Emmett and Bella arm wrestle.

I will admit that when the Twilight series first came out I didn't think too highly of it. But a girlfriend of mine talked me into watching one of the movies and I decided it wasn't all bad. I'm glad I watched the series. I still haven't read the books maybe I will once I get through Hunger Games.

Have you seen it? Did you like it?

Black Thursday?

Jingle All the Way...Source

I love shopping I do. And I love a bargain as much as the next girl or guy. But I also believe that holidays are a time to be rest and recuperate and spend time with friends and family. I was in hhGregg the other day and the manager commented about "black Thursday." I was puzzled. I knew sales started crazy early on Friday but somehow I had missed them starting Thursday. I know our economy needs a boost. I get that. And I know that Thanksgiving weekend is the biggest shopping weekend of the year. I get that too. But I'm not sure I can fully support the shopping industry having their stores open at 8:00, 10:00, etc on Thursday night. Now I suppose some employees might not mind having to work. Maybe they don't have Thanksgiving plans but still I'm sure there are some who really would rather have a full day off. As for me I'm blessed to work somewhere where I have Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off next weekend. 

What are your thoughts?

I Made the Leap or How Keurig Came Home

Source

I love coffee! I drink it every day many times multiple times a day. However at home I was having an issue with coffee going to waste since it was just me. My friends all had Keurigs and I liked them but couldn't justify it. Then it dawned on me it would solve my problem of wasted coffee. My friend saw a deal on QVC for this model but I missed the deal. So I scoured the internet for the same model. Costco had the same model with 60 k-cups instead of 45 and use your own coffee basket. So I ordered it. It arrived on Monday and I'm so excited! I've heard so many good things about the coffee and the cocoa. If you have suggestions let me know! 

I Will Thrive: Buying a New Fridge

Source

So although our refrigerator isn't dead I believe it is slowly dying. So we decided to take advantage of some of his bonus pay and buy a new one. I went to Lowes, Home Depot, hhgregg and Best Buy to scout them out. I decided to go with Lowes with their 10 % off appliances, the military 10% discount, and the fact that it was tax free weekend I was going to get a $2399 fridge for $1919. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. So I went in on my lunch hour, had all the item numbers ready for the fridge and the warranty, and I set up delivery and haul away of the old fridge. Good to go! That was the beginning of October and the fridge was scheduled to arrive October 22nd at the store. On October 20th I get the call that it is in and they are ready to schedule delivery. It gets scheduled for the 29th. Then Hurricane Sandy hit and it got rescheduled for November 5th. No problem good to go. 

Then the fun begins...I get a call Sunday night giving me a delivery time. Monday morning I get a call...I'm thinking the delivery time has changed. Nope when they unpacked it to load it on the truck they discovered a ding and wanted to give me the option of taking it or leaving it and ordering a new one. I decided for the price and the fact that it was brand new I wanted a perfect one. They assured me it would be an easy transaction to get the new one ordered. Ha...not even close to easy. I get a call around noon asking for my credit card so they can recharge it. I ask about the refund. She informs me they already did the refund so now they just need my card to recharge it. I explain that it is a checking account so I can't recharge until the refund hits. And I ask how come they started the transaction without talking to me and without explaining the process. Her response includes some hmms and haas and an explanation that since I refused delivery they had to refund it. So I talk to a manager who explains they can't undo what's been done and although it could have been one transaction it can't now. He is very apologetic and says he'll call me daily to see what's going on so it doesn't fall through the cracks. No call Tuesday. No call Wednesday. So Wednesday the money hits my checking account and I call them to reorder my fridge. She pulls up my order and quotes a price that is $100 more than what I paid. I inquire about the price difference. She explains that it is tax. I explain that I want it tax free because I bought it without tax. She says she'll have to get a manager. They put me on hold on and off for 30 minutes. Finally she comes back and tells me the card was declined. I look online and it has the charge from Lowes on there for the reorder so I tell her this only to find out that is not in fact a charge but it is in fact a hold on the account for a phone authorization. So in essence I need to have twice the amount of the fridge available so they can put the hold and then charge the actual amount. At this point I'm beyond ticked and ask for a manager. She comes on and says that there is nothing she can do this is the way the process works. When I ask about how come it couldn't be done as one transaction to begin with she tells me if I'd come into the store it could have been. WTH?!? Why wasn't I told this from the beginning  Well we were trying to make it easier on you so it wouldn't be inconvenient for you. Epic fail on their part. So I'm in a holding pattern again. I have to wait for the hold to come off in order to reorder the dang thing.

The hold finally came off today...a week later. I decided to go to hhgregg and see what they can do. At first they can't quite match it because of the tax and the fact that their warranty is more expensive. Then they appliance manager decides to wave the tax so it is only $30 more than Lowes. And I won't have anymore run around. I wanted to talk to J before I pull the trigger and order from hhgregg. He has agreed so we will be getting our new fridge from hhgregg assuming nothing else changes. I think the truly frustrating part with Lowes is the attitude I received even from managers that I just had to live with it and that they didn't really care that I was unhappy. The sad part is I used to be a huge fan of Lowes because they offer a military discount. And for hardware stuff I'm sure we'll still go there but I'm not sure I'll get big ticket items there anymore. 

It's November?! What the Heck?

Source

It's hard to believe we are in November already. That means my second favorite holiday is coming....Thanksgiving! I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, coffee cake for breakfast, a traditional Thanksgiving feast for lunch, and lots of fun! And the best part is Lord willing and the creek don't rise this will be the last one without my husband for a while. Very exciting that we are coming up on the last ones before he's home for good. 

There have been these "thankful" things going around Facebook and the blog world. You're supposed to say one thing you're thankful for each day. I'm behind so I'm going to try and do it weekly.

1. My God...he is an awesome God! And with Him I can do all things!!
2. My Mother...she gave me such a great foundation for who I am!!
3. My Brother...he really is my hero!!
4. My husband...we are a perfect fit in so many ways
5. My job...I'm blessed to have a job I love with people who are a family not just co-workers.
6. My pets...although they test me at times they really have been a saving grace during this time that J has been gone.