Ridiculous, yet real, deal at Old Navy!

Okay, so remember how I recently subscribed to that blog "Never Pay Retail Again"? Well, I seriously love it. I got this email today that gave instructions about how to get 30% off your entire purchase at Old Navy. The instructions sound almost fake, but I did it, and it worked. If you don't click on the dolphin (and this will make more sense when you read below), you only get 20% off two items. So it's totally worth it to just wait for the dolphin to jump so you can get 30% off your entire purchase. And.....the dolphin will jump again, so if you miss click the first time, just wait. It will jump again.

Here are the instructions if you, too, want to get some discounts at Old Navy:

Go to www.oldnavyweekly.com (click HERE) and click "start hunting"-- once there (and I realize that this will sound ridiculous!)-- you must first match up the mannequin heads correctly-- the order is Kelly, Amy, Heather (from left to right) -- and then wait until you see a dolphin jumping behind the mannequin with the purple tank top (it might take a little while)-- you have to click on the dolphin WHILE IT IS IN THE AIR-- and then, and only then, will you get a 30% off your entire order coupon-- told you it would sound ridiculous, but--hey, it works!

You can either print the coupon immediately or email it to yourself-- it claims one time use coupon but I just compared with a few friends and they are all THE SAME CODE-- but since the site does have a limited number of coupons-- go get yourself one NOW!

Mom voice

I was paid a very nice compliment by my supervisor in the St. Paul schools today. The compliment? I am developing a good mom voice and I don't even have kids yet!

Why is this important to a speech-language pathology student? Um...hello? I use a freakin' mom voice so much that it annoys me. Some kids just know how to push my buttons. Some of the sentences that I know I've said in the past week include the following:

• Please don't throw your trash on the floor. Use the garbage can.
• It is not okay to put down other people.
• It is not okay (or funny) to not listen to your teachers.
• We do not talk like that at speech.

Despite the need for the mom voice, I am still enjoying my practicum in the schools. The days go by really fast -- there is always something to do, and every day is different. I am learning a lot and feel like I would easily fit in a school setting, if that ends up being the path I'll take. Who knows....

The one thing that is sad sometimes is that a lot of the kids come from some pretty tough homes. There seem to be a lot of parents in jail or families living in homeless shelters. It's odd to hear kids and parents just mention things like that so nonchalantly. Like a parent at a meeting the other day mentioned that her kid goes to a tutor everyday. When we asked where, she said, "at the shelter." It's just not brought up as a big deal, and the mom didn't seem ashamed or anything. Not that she should be. It's just very different than I would think I (or one of my friends/family) would bring something like that up. I actually admire her matter-of-factness. I think sometimes I care too much about what others might think of me. Anyway, it's really interesting. And about the whole tutoring program at the shelter -- that made me super happy that really great programs seem to be alive and kicking in places that really need them. So yeah, schools can be frustrating and sad, but they are also filled with a lot of energy. And I laugh a lot at what these kids say and do.

In other SLP news, I had a phone interview with Children's Hospitals and Clinics today here in MSP. (Enough abbrevs for you?) It only lasted like 10 minutes, so I really have no idea how it went. The interview was for a summer practicum at one of their locations (either hospital or clinic). So we'll see. If I don't get it, it's okay. Then I'm thinking I'll work with adults this summer and take a break from kiddos. I'm also hoping for a lighter load of practicum this summer seeing as how I'm getting married and all. :)

Super Indy

You know it's going to be a good day when your brother emails you with the subject line "a lil something I made for ya..." and then it turns out to be this:















Rob used a pic that we took last summer of Indy jumping toward her soccer ball and made this fabulous work of art. Nice work, Rob!

It's official

Eric and I are getting married on August 22, 2009 at Chateau LeVeaux, a resort on the north shore of Lake Superior. Check out the website to see how cool it looks: http://www.chateauleveaux.com/.

Things we've checked off our to-do list so far:

- wedding dress! (Stacy and Mom helped me shop for dresses on Sunday and Monday, and I ordered one on Monday night! It's whimsical, according to Stacy. It made me feel like I was floating, and it also made me want to dance, so I thought it had to be the one. :))

- location for ceremony and reception

- lodging for guests (we're going to have the entire resort all to ourselves!)

- ceremony music (cousins Jess and Joe Carey)

- hopefully food will be figured out soon

There are still lots of things to do, but we are having fun trying to straighten it all out. Next step is finding someone to marry us. Anyone know a great minister or other type of officiant in northern MN? Oh yeah, and we are trying to find a bluegrass band for the reception. Anyone know of any good groups that are either up there or would travel?

Anyway, just wanted to update on wedding planning. It's very exciting now that it's all official and really happening in only 5 months!

For your viewing pleasure, I leave you with this picture of our ring bearer. See how good she is at carrying things already?

I heart being thrifty

After reading an article on Yahoo about cheapskates that spoke to my heart, I found this super cool blog: http://neverpayretailagain.blogspot.com/. It has helpful info about current deals and coupons to help you save money.

Bookmarked it, and I'm feelin' good!

Chubster

Look how big Finley is getting!

This is kind of a grainy shot from my cell phone, but I like it. She was helping us (read: distracting us) play Settlers of Catan last night at Stacy and Taylor's house.

Alyse and Jeff were up visiting all week, and we had lots of fun times mostly eating good food and catching up. The bro-in-laws (and future bro-in-law Eric) got to have some boy bonding time at the Wild game one night. Hopefully Alyse will post some pics from the week some time soon.

Good to see you A & J! See you in June at Jessie's wedding!

The Family Stone

From We're engaged!

Not only is The Family Stone a great movie, but it is also what I'm about to become a part of!

Eric proposed on Saturday night before taking me out to a lovely dinner at the Como Park Conservatory. (They had a special Valentine's dinner event -- normally, you can't eat there, but we got to sit right between a Cocoa tree and a water fountain.) In case you haven't heard the fun story, I'll share:

After getting ready to go out to dinner, we exchanged gifts. I made Eric a snazzy card, and he had wrapped my present hours earlier -- it sat waiting for me on the dining room table for all that time. So first, I opened a shoe box that contained a ticket stub from our first "fake" date to see Superbad (the most romantic movie ever). He is quite the sentimental guy. :) Then I saw a little ring box....And right when I opened the box, Eric said, "I made that." And I was like "what?" And he said, "Yeah, I made it and wanted to use it to ask you to marry me." Next thing I knew, he was next to me and down on one knee asking me to marry him. I quickly said "Of course," and then "What do you mean you made it?" There was a lot of "Really?" and kisses and hugs in there too. :) It all went too fast. Now I want him to do it again.

About the ring:

Eric had mentioned a while ago about how he had thought about doing something different for an engagement ring -- more like a fashion/casual ring instead of THE ring. But I never imagined he would MAKE a ring! So instead of buying an engagement ring, he researched ways to make a ring. And then he figured we'd go out shopping for wedding rings later together to make sure we get what we want, etc. He ended up learning about how sailors used to spend their spare time making rings out of quarters or other coins by hammering around the edges and then drilling through the middle. My ring is made out of a Euro (which he got out of my piggy bank from when I studied abroad) and it has a little diamond embedded in it, and then there are two more little decorative indent-things. I think it's pretty freakin' creative and also a little crazy that he has spent the last two months making a ring while I was in class or working.

What a thoughtful, dedicated, creative, loving guy! Thank you, Eric! I'm really excited to become your wife!

So, do you want to see some pictures from our night? Just click on the picture or link below.

We're engaged!

Run, Fat Boy, Run!

I love watching movies, and I love that Eric signed us up for Netflix a couple months ago. Did you know that not only can you get movies in the mail, but you can also watch some of them online? Yes, that's right, you can watch a bunch of movies right when you find them on the Netflix site. Awesome!

So some recent movies that I really liked and would recommend to watch include...

Autism: The Musical. It's a great documentary about a woman who has a son with Autism and starts up a non-profit that uses movement and music therapy to help a group of Autistic kids. Eventually, they put on a show. It's pretty great.

Run, Fat Boy, Run. This is one we just watched last night. It's about a guy who tries to win back his ex-fiancee (who he left at the alter pregnant). It has some stupid humor, it's based in London, there's a super cute British kid and it also has some touching moments. I liked it.

That's all for now. Hope you have a great weekend! I'm off to finish painting Eric's bday/Valentine's gift and then go get my hair cut by the lovely Karin Pecchia.

Happy birthday, Indy!

My sweet chocolate lab turns 3 years old today! I couldn't have asked for a better dog. I love you, Indy! Take a look at how much she's changed throughout the past three years.

Welcome Ritchies!

Just a little "welcome to the blogosphere!" to the Ritchie fam. Stacy and Taylor started a blog this weekend (you will find it in my blog list on the right). I'm looking forward to reading their witty life commentary and seeing lots of pics of the adorable Finley Valentine.

So.......Welcome!

Taylor, now you need to start commenting on blogs, just like I showed you how to do the other day. :)

My favorite aunt/niece bonding moments so far:
- me jumping from shock at how loud and explosive Finley's poops feel while holding her (I really almost jumped off the bed -- but don't worry, I didn't drop her or anything)
- bugging her while she sleeps by playing with her lips, which makes her automatically purse her cute little lips
- talking to her and rubbing her cheeks to make her smile at me (pretty sure the smiles are just gas or reflexes at this point, but I enjoy it anyway)