My Second Saturday Steal!

I am pleased to post today because..... I have a Saturday Steal! Finally! Camille will be so proud!

Today Boise got an Apple store. The first one in the state of Idaho. Prior to today, Idahoans had to travel to Portland or Salt Lake City to go to a genuine, corporate Apple store. (The horror.) 

This morning I got up bright and early at 7 and went down to the mall. I picked up some coffee and headed over to the Apple store's location, which was set to open at 10am. I took up my spot in line and quickly started socializing with all the Apple Fans in line. (Speaking of the line, I was tenth!)

At 10am, all the Apple store employees came running through the crowd to much cheering, clapping and high fives. Then they opened the store and let the customers come in. They had blaring music, and all the employees high five'd and shook hands with all the customers who entered. It was awesome. And intense.

Then in the store, Apple employees started handing out little white boxes.

And inside....

A special Apple Boise Towne Square t-shirt! 

Apple shirts are like gold. They don't sell official Apple merchandise, so the only way for regular people to get one is an event like this! I actually have one other Apple t-shirt from when I worked doing tech support for iPod and iPhone. So TWO Apple shirts for me! Score!

I'm very happy with my steal. It was totally worth getting up early on a Saturday morning! 

Saturday Steal!

Today, friends, I'm posting my very first Saturday Steal! I've never had a steal that was worthy of a blog post, but today! Today!! I do. Finally. Camille will be so proud.

Last Sunday, I was flipping through the ads in the newspaper (I briefly took up couponing.) I found a small sheet that had a very interesting offer. New patients to a newly opened dental clinic would receive a free iPod with a paid exam, cleaning and x-rays. I'm not a big fan of going to the dentist. (I know, I know) I'd only been to my previous dentist one time, and I wasn't terribly impressed. They were okay, but I felt no guilt in deciding to try out a new clinic.

First thing Monday morning, I called and made my appointment. It was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. I tried not to let myself get too excited. The ad showed a new iPod Nano, but there was no fine print clarifying how, when or what kind of iPod Nano would be awarded. I prepared myself that it could be a shuffle, or they could be out of stock, or I might not make the dollar amount required to get it at all!

I went to my cleaning, and I loved the new dentist! I loved the clinic, I loved the hygienists, I loved it all! I was really really happy with my experience there. But the icing on the cake was after I checked out the receptionist said, "And you qualify for the iPod... which color would you like? Black or pink?"

So.... I chose pink.

I love it. It's amazing. And best of all? It was free. Totally free, because my insurance paid for the exam. Not a bad perk if you ask me!

Why, hello!

Long time, no see! Well, I won't be staying for long. Just wanted to note that I will be posting on Saturday. I finally have a steal of a deal to post in connection with Camille's Saturday Steals! So I pulled out the old blog, dusted it off, updated the layout and theme and it's ready to go for Saturday!


See you then!

24

Today is my 24th birthday! The past year has been so great, and I wanted to just take a minute to recap all the great stuff that happed while I was 23.

•I quit my job in preparation for being a stay at home mom.

•We bought a house, and not only that but we got a great house and an even better interest rate on our mortgage.

•I spent a lot of time bonding and connecting with my mother in law. We've always been really close, but I'm thankful that we've had the chance to become even closer.

•I had my second (and final) child. A beautiful girl with a feisty personality. She has rounded out the dynamic in our family perfectly.

•We paid off all our credit card debt

•I evaluated challenging relationships in my life and weeded out people who were negative impacts.

•I made a lot of great new friends who I enjoy having in my life.

And I can't forget the material things that made my life a little better this year. My new iPhone, flat screen tv, TiVo HD, front loading washer and dryer, and a new comfy bed! :D

Here's hoping this year will be every bit as good as the last!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Surgery

I had my first ever surgery yesterday. Here are some photo highlights:





My wristband. Dave and I joked that I was just a number, now that I've been barcoded. The thing is, every time a new nurse comes to you, they hold your wristband and make you recite your birthday and spell out your first and last name. So really I wasn't just a number after all!





I got my iv... Didn't realize it would be in my hand, as opposed to further up my arm like it was when I had Rory. The lidocaine shot they gave me prior to putting the iv in made my hand red and itchy. Not cool.





They made me wear my glasses, and my mother in law braided my hair. Ain't I cute?





Hair-netted, and I've got my finger pulse reader thing. Just about to be wheeled back to the operating room.

When I got to the operating room, it was FREEZING! They covered me with warm blankets. There was music playing over the stereo, I had seen that on Nip/Tuck, but had no idea they actually did that! Next thing I know they're telling me they're putting the medicine in my iv and that it will sting-- and oh boy it did!!-- and then I was out. I remember looking up at the ceiling and the nurses said, "Think of something good to dream about..." and before I could pin down one thought, I was out.

Then I woke up in a different room and there were nurses around me. They moved me to my out patient recovery room and brought Dave in. I had him snap this lovely pic:





Not a bad experience all-in-all. I'm pretty sore now, but I can already tell it will be worth it.

Pictures of Rory

Here's a little photo update of Rory:

When Life Gives You Honeycombs, Make Beeswax!

I made this yesterday.




What is it, you ask? Why, it's a bar of beeswax! I melted it down from this:




Dave brought home a bag of honeycomb that his colleague had given him. The bees ate all of the honey that was left after the comb was harvested, so it was just a bunch of wax. I melted it down, sorted it out, and rigged up a mold. I've never done anything like this before so I decided to just jump right in and figure it out. I messed up several times, but finally got to my desired end result!





I needed to put the honeycomb in something i could boil it in. It wasn't going to fit, so I grabbed some tongs.





Filled the jar.




By this time, my water was ready!





In went the jar!





Progress check:





After about 15 minutes, all that was left was a jar of sweet-smelling goop.





Here was my first mess up. I let the wax harden in the jar and realized I couldn't get it out! I put the jar back in the boiling water just long enough for the outside to melt. Then I tipped the jar up so the wax came to the front and stuck a butter knife in and cut it in half. I sliced off the bottom where solid particles had settled in the wax.




I wanted to create some sort of mold so that I would end up with a solid block of wax. I thought that putting some Saran wrap in a little container and re-melting the wax would work well. I shoved my solid pieces in here and popped it in the microwave.





After I took it out of the microwave, there was this weird brown stuff in there! I grabbed a fork and scooped it out. No big deal, right?




Wrong. The wax had gotten so hot in the microwave that it melted the Saran wrap. That's what that weird brown stuff was in the cup!




Whoops. I had to think fast, because the wax was cooling. My next great idea was to make a bar-shaped mold out of tin foil. I had wanted to make a foil mold in the first place, but knew I couldn't put it in the microwave. It should have occurred to me to make a tin foil mold and melt the wax in a different container. Oh well. I'll remember next time!





I was able to pour the wax into the foil with only a couple of drips on the counter!




Then to let it set...




After it cooled, I peeled back the foil to expose my solid bar of beeswax!




Then I attempted to smooth the edges by running the bar under hot water until it was pliable. It was still a little bumpy and fingerprint-y but it was good enough for me.




So that was my first experiment with melting down honeycomb for beeswax. I wasn't looking forward to cleanup, but I found that if I ran the dish or utensil under really hot water and then scrubbed it with LOC kitchen cleaner, it came off quite easily! (But you have to use the LOC. I tried it without and it didn't work, hence the reason I used it!)

Dave said he will probably be bringing more honeycomb home, so I'm looking forward to perfecting my technique! I don't know what I'll do with all this wax... Maybe I'll make a candle when I get enough, beeswax smells heavenly!