What a thousand bucks looks like...

This is Matt's monstrous truck, full all the way to the back with stuff! (or is that the front?). PS - don't you just love the way the kids helped me load it all in?! Maybe it's not the neatest, but they are great helpers!

We've been planning a big shopping trip around here. Okay, I had been planning. Since we just got our fridge I needed to make a huge Sams run. And while we were out, why not make a day of it, right?!

Our new house doesn't have hardly any overhead lighting (which I think is the dumbest thing ever!!!)so we had to buy some lamps. Addie is eating solids now and needed a high chair. Christian's room used to be a sewing room and has ugly linoleum so he needed a rug. And I just love to shop. So there.

I found a lady that was selling a ton of cute country, shabby chic, and primitive stuff on Craigslist and she lived on the way to Ikea, so we stopped there first. She said she had just moved from a house to a teeny-tiny one room apartment and just needed to downsize, something she didn't seem too happy about. So I, in all of my brilliancy, as I'm perusing her personal belongings say "It must be hard to get rid of all this cute stuff!" and then she says "Yes. It is." all the while looking like she's about to cry and all the while I'm still rummaging! I sure do know how to make a situation super awkward! Oopsie.

Anyways, we did buy a super cute lamp from her for $20... along with a few other, maybe not-so-necessary things... but if the price is right, right?! Okay, I went a little overboard there, we needed a box to take it all... Soooo, $67 later, we left.

Next stop was Ikea. We love that place! From the upfront family parking to the Swedish Meatballs, we had so much fun! And spent a way long time there too. Lex and Chris both picked about 10 different bedroom sets that they would like. When I unpacked our glasses I noticed we were down to about 3 actual "glass" glasses, so we picked up some cute new ones, a lamp, storage containers, cute rug for Christian's room, and some fun Christmassy food.

Next came Babies-R-Us. Love it! I went in for a high chair and adorable Snowman bunting but came out with a few extras. We also bought some clearance clothes and a walker. Can't wait to see how she likes it!

Then we walked over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond which I absolutely love. And did you know they honor expired coupons and let you use more than one per transaction? I've got 10+ coupons still, so if ya need one let me know and I'll hook ya up. :) While there we bought Lexi a cute lamp and I ordered a breadmaker. I know that is not a necessity, but Matt found one at a thrift store while we were in Clovis and I made tons of homemade bread. Okay, I don't know if you can call throwing ingredients into a machine really making bread, but whatever. :) Anywho, it broke so we got rid of it and I've been wanting one ever since. I think it's so nice for the kids and Matt to come home to a house that smells of fresh bread! And I am no Sharon Ray, I just don't have it in me to do all that kneading! So breadmaker it is. And if you come visit I will "make" you some bread too. (There's that sad attempt to tempt visitors again. Do I sound pathetic yet?)

We were gonna try to hit Old Navy and Barnes and Noble, which were both right next to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but by that point we were all slowing down. So we headed over to Sams. Let's just say that $800 and 2 hours later we left. Yikes. We did buy 2 lamps, lightbulbs, rechargeable batteries and lots of food. Lots of food. In my defense, I didn't do much grocery shopping the last two months we were in Clovis, and since we live so far out I wanted to have lots of food on hand so I'm not always running to the store... oh, that is a lot of money! But now we're stocked for a long while. Except for stuff we go through weekly like milk, fruits, veggies, bread... doesn't it seem like it never ends?!

Anyways, we still needed a few smaller items that I didn't want to buy from Sams, so we went right next door to Sams to the Super Wal-Mart and finished up or shopping extravaganza.

So lets recap. We left the house at 10:30 am. Got home at 10:00 pm. Spent lots and lots of money. Made 33 trips bringing very large armfuls from the car to the house. The end.

Or is it??? When we got home we found a surprise waiting for us. Our new fridge (that we bought used off of Craigslist, can you tell I'm really loving the Craigslist lately?!) had leaked ALL over the kitchen floor, into the dining room, and as we later found out through the ceiling and into Christians room! Why did this happene on the one day that I actually leave the house for 12 hours and Matt is gone for the whole weekend??? (Matt's away with the Navy Reserves) Ugh. Took forever to mop up the 2 inches of water that was all throughout the kitchen. And at first I didn't know what had leaked, the dishwasher or the fridge. And I sure didn't know what to do. And of course, Friday had to be the one day that Matt forgot his cell phone, so he hasn't had it all weekend that he has been gone. And of course I couldn't find the paper that I wrote down Matt's hotel info on. I did manage to remember the hotel but knew they wouldn't want to transfer me to his room at 11:00! I begged the front desk girl and told her it was an emergency. I told the truth, I thought it was an emergency, because I was afraid someone was gonna get electrocuted! She was nice enough to transfer me and then I got to wake Matt up with the good news. Anyways, he was able to guide me through turning off the water to the fridge and that seems to have solved the leak.

SO, here is the after picture of the kitchen. These are just the non-perishables. Apparently in the frenzy to a: get the kitchen mopped up from the 2 inches of water everywhere and b: stop the leak, I forgot to get pics of the perishables. Suffice it to say that there were lots and my freezer is now full of meat and some other fun stuff. (should I take a picture of the freezer, I think to myself... no, it will take too long to get up, walk to freezer, take picture, upload picture to computer, upload to blogger...)





Here is the Craigslist haul...


The Ikea loot...


FYI - that is non-alcoholic Glogg (not sure what it is but sure am excited to try it!) and sparkling peach cider. I just think it's fun to get stuff like that for the holidays!

Addie's stuff...

Hey, where is the bag with her clearance clothing and super cute snowman bunting I think to myself as I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach... hope we didn't leave it somewhere!!!

Assorted lamps from Sams and Bed, Bath, and Beyond...



And a few of our super fun clean-up when we got home. Check out the ugly tile and even uglier wood floor in the dining room.





Oh, and our GPS took us out to Sacramento a different way than I'm used to and it was the prettiest autumn drive! The trees, the restaurants, the b and b's we saw, all so cute! So I made Lex take a picture of the view (out our buggy, rain splashed front windshield) and of me. I am such a good driver! :)




Never a dull moment around here! So looking forward to a lazy Sunday!