At War with my Alarm Clock

I am NOT a morning person. So everyday, I am at war with my alarm clock.


My alarm clock is the digital style, with red numbers that I can see with my contacts out and glasses off, if I’m squinting… It has the capability to play radio. However, I have it set so the alarm is just the annoying buzzing sound.




My alarm clock is similar to this...


The time on alarm clock is set 11 minutes fast. I do this in attempts to trick my brain into thinking that it is 11 minutes later than it actual is. My theory is that this will help me gain an extra 11 minutes, by waking up 11 minutes earlier…


In actuality, my brain is not fooled… I’m the one who set it 11 minutes fast, therefore, when I look at the time, I see 7:15, but I still process it as being 7:04...


Every day, my goal is to get to work by 8:00am. Every day, I fail at this goal.


I set the alarm to go off at 5:57am. I always have to pick an odd time to set it to. Not “odd” in the mathematical sense (where 1 is odd, 2 is even, 3 is odd, and so forth), but “odd” in the sense that it’s not 6:00am exactly. It’s just one of those quirks that I can’t explain.


As the alarm buzzes, I can usually hear it in the background of my dream. It usually ends up turning my dream into something where I have to get to a point and hit a button or else the world will end. The buzzer on my alarm will continuously get louder, and LOUDER, and L O U D E R until I turn it off (or hit snooze)… This is when the war starts!


As I reach the point of saving the world in my dream, I realize that it’s just my alarm clock going off, and I throw my arm at it in an attempt to hit the snooze button. My eyes remain closed, hoping that if I don’t fully regain consciousness, then I will be able to quickly fall back asleep and enjoy 9 more minutes of slumber…
Then again, that buzzer, (this time a fire alarm in the background of my dream, time to evacuate) is getting louder, and LOUDER, and L O U D E R! This time I say “sssshhhh” as I hit the snooze button. That will show it whose boss!


This process continues to repeat itself, with the “sssshhh” usually turning into more inappropriate words that aren’t recommended for readers under 17…


Each time this occurs, I make deals with myself… “if I put my hair in a pony tail, I can push snooze 1 more time”… “I took my shower before bed, so I can push snooze 1 more time”… “I’m not packing a lunch, so I can push snooze 1 more time”… “I’ll speed on the way to work, so I can push snooze 1 more time”…


The war usually ends with me finally cracking my eyes open to see the alarm clock says 8:01am (7:50am)… That moment of realization of just how late it is usually sends me flying out of bed with a few groans and more inappropriate words…


The alarm clock won again…

Simplifying the GREEN Way!

Yes, the term "green" is quickly becoming cliche, but I still feel strongly about it!  As I've said before, I've been passionate about the environment long before it was trendy...

Anyways, as I've been working on simplifying and decluttering my life and home, I realized a big cause of the clutter is because I HATE to throw anything away.  I always feel that an item may be able to be re-used at a later date, or someone else may actual want it and be able to put it to good use (since one person's trash is another person's treasure!), so I hate to send it to a landfill...  So, I've been very diligent about either recycling or donating the majority of the "stuff" that I'm cleaning out!

So, I just thought I'd share some of my "Green" tips here, in case you ever need to clear anything out!

First of all, if you don't have one yet, contact your trash company about getting a recycling bin!  We are fortunate enough that our trash company provides us with a recycling bin that is the same size as the trash bin and can be wheeled down to the curb!  No more carrying the small, overflowing, rectangle bin!  Plus, we don't have to sort!  We just throw our plastics, paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, etc into the bin!  I LOVE IT!  So seriously, call your trash company and see what they can provide!  There may be a slight charge for the bin, but hey, shop around!  A lot of trash companies have coupons on their websites.

Next, a big dilemma I had was what to do with old, scratched CDs and DVDs!  So, I Googled "recycle cds", and found the The Compact Disc Recycling Center of America.  You can just mail your junky, scratched CDs and DVDs to this address:

CD Recycling Center

68H Stiles Rd.

Salem, NH 03079

 
They recycle everything that comes with a CD: the paper insert, the case, and the CD.  You do have to separate these components, but it's not too difficult!  I just did this, and I sent only the CDs and DVDs, because you DO have to pay to ship them.  It cost about $1 to mail the stack of CDs pictured below.  Then, I threw the paper and plastic cases into my own recycle bin. 
 



My final tip of the day is to donate anything you don't want!  You could donate to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or any local mission.  

About a year ago, I volunteered at the Holland Rescue Mission.  My task was to sort through the shoes that had been donated, making sure that the matching pairs were tied or banded together.  Other volunteers were sorting through the clothes and miscellaneous items that had been donated. 

We learned that A LOT of their donations were actually items that Goodwill couldn't/wouldn't sell in their store.  The Holland Rescue Mission takes these unsellable items and crates them up and sends them to third world countries.  We were told about someone who had witnessed the delivery of these crates of clothes, shoes, and random stuff and they said that the people of that country were so incredibly grateful and happy to recieve these items that were considered "unsellable" at a Goodwill store in the United States. 

So this just goes to show that while you think that something is trash, you should still try to donate it!  It could get sent to some far off land where someone will really appreciate it and can use it!!!

I know that I am still not 100% green, or even 50%.  I admit that I have wasteful habits and do things that are harmful to the environment.  But I try as much as I can to reduce my impact on the environment.  I encourage you to do the same!  Every little bit helps!!!

What tips do you have to share about being "green?"

A New Name!

So, I was pretty sick of my old blog name... "Where I've Been, Where I'm At, and Where I'm Going"....

When I first started this blog, I thought I would have a lot of deep and meaningful stuff to say that would fit that name.  I thought it was going to be about the story of my life, and be incredibly interesting.  And while the blog is all about my life (it's a pretty self-centered blog :-P), it really isn't all that deep or meaningful...  Plus, I'd been told it was a long name on a few occasions, which it was...

So, I decided to change it up a bit! 

Welcome to "...And Then I Found Twenty Bucks!"

After reading some of my posts, I was like, "Wow... Good story... er, just kidding?"  In other words, they really aren't that interesting if you don't know me, or even if you do know me! 

They kind of made me feel like I needed to add the saying "...and then I found 20 bucks!"  to the end of them, just to make it that much more exciting!  :-)

So, that's how I got my new blog title.  I'm kind of making fun of myself and my super cool blog.  But that's OK.  I'm still going to blog about whatever random stuff I feel like blogging about.  Hopefully my topics and my writing will improve.  Hopefully I will interest some people.  But mostly, I'll continue to do it for fun, because I like to talk about myself!!!!  So, hopefully you like reading about me!

Enjoy! :-)

Happy 4 Year Wedding Anniversary!

Four years ago I married my best friend!  To commemorate this wonderful occasion, I decided to share lots and lots of pictures that show how our friendship grew into a bond that will last forever!  Because, hey, who doesn't love pictures?!??!  I know I LOVE them!

To start, here is us at what should "technically" be our First Date!  The Grand Valley State University President's Ball in 2002.  This was during our freshman year at GVSU.  We were only friends, although Chaz wanted more!  Hahaha!  I always tease him about that now.  But we really consider our First Date as an outing to Taco Bell.  That was when we both liked each other. :-)

This is us in my dorm room during our freshman year!  Again, just friends!!!  But he was being a good friend and cheering me up, so I decided to take a silly picture of us! :-)

Here we are with Louie the Laker at one of our trips to see GVSU Football play in Alabama in the D II Championships!  So much fun!

A picture that I love and Chaz hates!  How can he not love it, we are having so much fun it it?!?! Clearly GVSU won the game! :-)

My Valentine's gift to him in 2003, just after we started officially being a couple!

Our first little apartment together in 2004!

It wasn't long after we got our first apartment together, that we got engaged in front of my family in Las Vegas!  I think I'll share the engagement story in another post sometime!

We were engaged for 2 years!  But finally, it was time to rehearse the big day!



Photo by Karyn May - www.karynmayphotography.com

We were married at Cook-Dewitt Center on Grand Valley State Universities Allendale Campus!  GVSU was where we first met, so it was PERFECT!



Photo by Karyn May - www.karynmayphotography.com

This was us just 4 years ago!  Sealing the deal with a kiss! :-)

 

Photo by Karyn May - www.karynmayphotography.com

This is my FAVORITE picture of our wedding party!  I can't help but laugh every time I look at it!

The  next series of photo's explain themselves! :-)

Photo by Karyn May - www.karynmayphotography.com



Photo by Karyn May - www.karynmayphotography.com

 

Photo by Karyn May - www.karynmayphotography.com

 

Photo by Karyn May - www.karynmayphotography.com

We did kiss and make up of course! :-)

Just a few months after we were married, we jumped in and bought our first house!  We are really starting to grow up! :-)

Ever since we were married, we make sure to celebrate our anniversary! I know some people don't feel the need to celebrate, but I love it! I think it keeps us closer together when we celebrate that special occasion! It reminds us to keep romance in our relationship and to tell each other how important they really are!

Obviously since I feel strongly about celebrating, I made sure to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary in the traditional way, by eating the top layer of our wedding cake.  This is what was left of it after the little cake fight that you saw... :-)

And here we are feeding it to each other.  Nicely this time!  We were in our new house, we didn't want to mess it up!  :-)

We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary with a trip to Mackinac Island and Sault Ste. Marie!

Our 3rd wedding anniversary celebration was extra special because we were able to celebrate with both of our families!  During the month of September, we went to Myrtle Beach with my family...

...and to Las Vegas with Chaz's family! 

So, this is us right now.  This picture was taken a few weeks ago on a family vacation to Mackinac Island! We are on to our 4th wedding anniversary, and we will be celebrating by going to Niagara Falls (the Canada side) in a few weeks!  I'm looking forward to visiting this new place with Chaz, and having many, many more adventures together! 

Chaz is an incredible husband who I love so much!  I am so lucky to have him in my life and he does so much for me.  From the small things like opening jars or killing spiders, to major stuff like keeping track of the finances and fixing the brakes on my car, there isn’t a thing he can’t do!  So thank you Chaz, for EVERYTHING!!!  I love you!!!  Happy Anniversary!

Say What?!?!?!

Song lyrics.

A lot of times, I know them, without even knowing that I know them. I hear the same song so often, even if I don’t like the song that much, I still catch myself singing along in the car on my way to work.

But the majority of the time, I think I know them, but I really don’t. I often have my own “Sarah Remix” for a song because I sing the words that I think they are saying, and that seem to fit in that space, but I usually find out they are wrong when I happen to sing them in front of somebody else…

This HAS to happen to other people too, right? You’ll just be in the car, singing away, when the other person looks at you with their eyebrows raised, asking “What the heck did you just say????”

“Um, ‘Hood slidin’ like whoa dude’…”

Then comes the laughter! That’s when you realize, that the lyrics you sang make absolutely zero sense in normal people land! But in my own "Sarah language", I totally thought that you could “hood slide like whoa dude!”

Apparently, the actual lyrics are “Hood slidin’ like Bo Duke…”

Yes, the above example is an actual experience that happened to me. The song that these lyrics are from is Dierks Bentley’s ‘What Was I Thinking.’ You can watch and hear the lyrics here:

Fortunately, these embarrassing situations usually only occur with my husband, who is so wonderful to point out the correct lyrics to me.

Just this past Friday, I discovered that I had another lyric wrong! And is from a song that’s been out since 2000! I’ve been singing it wrong for 10 years… Wonderful!

Chaz happened to be singing away this time, and when he said “Chances are – that I might!” I looked at him and started laughing! Haha! Now it’s my turn to point out that he doesn’t know the lyrics. He asked me what I was laughing at, and I pointed out that he doesn’t know the lyrics! “What are the lyrics then?” he asks me…

“Chances are – dynamite!”

Now he starts laughing… oh man, I did it again! In “Sarah language” yes, the chances of something happening could be “dynamite”… but I guess not everyone talks like me! Check out the lyrics video and listen to the song here, and see if you know what I’m talking about!

There have been many more instances of screwed up lyrics, but these are just the few I could remember right now... So anyways, I hope I’m not the only one who screws up lyrics! Will you share what lyrics you’ve messed up?  I need a good laugh! :-)

The Winner!!!!

In my last post, I hosted a GIVEAWAY for these beautiful earrings!

Purple and Lavender Chain Dangle Earrings - See the listing by clicking here!

Thank you to all who entered!  Even if you didn't win and just for reading this post, I will offer you all a special sale at AccessoryLove!  How does Buy One, Get One (of equal or lesser value) FREE sound?!?!?  Just make your purchase and put "Giveaway" in the message to seller.  I will refund the sale price via PayPal.

Well, I did the drawing the old-fashioned way, by writing the names on a slip of paper and putting them into a bowl!

Names in a bowl!

I asked my husband to volunteer to do the drawing!  As you can see in the picture, he is oh-so-happy to help! :-)

My Happy Helper!

And the winner of the beautiful Purple and Lavender Chain Dangle Earrings is.... (drum roll please!)

CONGRATULATIONS SHARRIE!!! I will contact you to get the earrings sent to you as soon as possible!

Again, thank you so much to all who entered!  I hope the new followers enjoy my blog!  I am always trying to improve in my writing and my topic choices!  I always appreciate feedback and comments!

DON'T FORGET:  Even if you didn't win and just for reading this post, I will offer you all a special sale at AccessoryLove! How does Buy One, Get One (of equal or lesser value) FREE sound?!?!? Just make your purchase and put "Giveaway" in the message to seller. I will refund the sale price via PayPal.

I'm Having a GIVEAWAY!!!

In a previous post, I wrote about how I am in the beginning stages of simplifying and decluttering my life. I have been making very good progress on this and I’m very happy about it! So far, I’ve donated a few boxes of stuff to Goodwill, thrown out several bags of trash, and sold a few items via Craigslist and Amazon.com. I will detail more of my progress in an upcoming post.

But right now I am trying to work on selling my inventory from my Etsy shop, AccessoryLove! I’ve got a lot of wonderful earrings that need new homes, instead of hiding away in my craft drawer!

See this pair here

See this pair here

See this pair here

See this pair here

So, to promote my shop and hopefully boost business, I decided to host my first GIVEAWAY!!!! :-)

By entering this GIVEAWAY, you could win these beautiful Purple and Lavender Chain Dangle Earrings! These earrings are a $10 value! You can read more about them and see additional pictures by clicking here.

 ^^^Enter today to win these Purple and Lavender Earrings^^^

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:

You can enter using each of the 5 following methods. Do them all for maximum entries! (Please be sure to include some type of contact info in a comment so I can contact you if you win.) You have until Sunday, September 12 at Noon (Eastern time) to enter!!!

1. Follow or become a follower of my blog.  Leave a comment saying your Follow/Now Follow. (1 entry)

2. Leave a comment with a link to your favorite item from AccessoryLove and why it’s your fave. (1 entry)

3. “Like” the Facebook page of AccessoryLove at http://www.facebook.com/AccessoryLove - Leave a comment here stating you “Liked”. (1 entry)

4. Blog about this GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment with a link to the Blog. (BONUS 5 entries)

5. Make a purchase and complete payment from AccessoryLove. Leave a comment with a link of what you purchased.  (BONUS 10 entries)

Please leave a comment here or on the Facebook page if you have any questions about how to enter! A random name will be drawn at approximately Noon (eastern time) on Sunday, September 12. So get your entries in today!

Thanks for your support!