What I Buy Wednesday

After church on Sunday, we stopped by the grocery store. Publix had quite a few items "buy one get one" BOGO on sale. You don't have to buy two--as Butch has been telling me for years! This time, the only item I bought two of was the Panera soup--one dinner for this week! I was so happy that my bill was only 20 bucks!

When I got home and laid it all out, all of a sudden, it didn't seem like quite that much for 20 bucks. PS We already had the apple.

Man, groceries are expensive these days! 

Last week, I asked Butch to pick up two pounds of stew meat. I was planning to make vegetable soup. He called me from the store. Stew meat is $12.50 a pound! 25 bucks for the meat? Wow! I told him to just buy a pound. I should have realized that as ground chuck is over $12 a pound! Anyway, the soup was still delicious even if it only had half the amount of meat! 

Travel Tuesday

I've shared a few pictures from our trip to Costa Rica, but I'm going to share a few more. This was by far my favorite thing--a brand new experience for me. 

These thermal springs:

There are 167--not all of them developed as beautifully as these. I loved this so much! 

The lower springs are swimming pools. I'm not sure why. 

We went nearly to the top to find this one and had it all to ourselves--every--time we went! It was called Shangri La--and boy, was it! 

In the back, you can see the grands in another pool--that one is hotter. The higher up you go, the hotter they are. The water comes from the volcano overlooking the springs.

Sandy and I enjoying a BBC. That was another fun thing--there were waiters taking our drink (and food) orders, then delivering them. 

By far my favorite experience of this trip. 

The only negative thing about the springs is if you needed the bathrooms. They were all the way at the bottom. They had bars along the way, so surely they could have added a bathroom or two! Stephanie when down with me when it was nearly dark. I thought we'd never get there! It's easy to lose your way amongst the paths.

Another brand new experience was riding behind Butch on an ATV.

It's pretty much what I expected it to be, but not quite as much fun as I thought. Basically you get knocked around. It's doubly worse for me since my feet didn't touch the floor of the vehicle.

Without being able to "ground" myself, I was literally flopping around and flying off the side sometimes--hanging on for dear life. I wasn't a bit afraid, but was just hoping that Butch was going to be able to hang on with me pulling at him!

Okay, well, another trip in the books!

Me on Monday

I know I've shared these pictures before, but I cannot help myself! 

This was how filthy our suitcase wheels were from our trip to Costa Rica. This is just so gross!

But there is one thing I love about this--is that Butch now is the one who cleans all the wheels after our trips. This is just from two suitcases!! 

I'm telling you, clean your suitcase wheels! Share your pictures with me when you do!!

Something for Sunday

This is my friend, Nancy. We were leaving after lunch and I noticed she had her regular glasses on her head while wearing her sunglasses. 

You can bet that when she got home, she would have been searching for those glasses. She might have gone so far as to return to the restaurant--sure she'd left them there! Thanks to me, that didn't happen!

And then there was the time when we were scrapbooking when Nancy (I think) was looking for her glasses. Only to discover that Susan was wearing them on her head--while wearing her own glasses at the same time!

Also, this week, Connie told me about making a return at Dillards (or Macy's--not sure, but it doesn't really matter). She was trying to return some clothing. She did not have a receipt because she bought them online. She wasn't worried because she knew they could easily look it up. Then the clerk said, "The tags are missing." Connie said she knew she hadn't removed them. That's when she realized that she had picked up her daughter's raincoat rather than the clothes she wanted to return! Instead, she was trying to return a used coat! She said the clerk was not amused! 

All we can do is laugh at ourselves! Actually, these kinds of stories make me feel sane. I have my share of crazy stories. But, due to my inability to retain them for long, I can't think of any at the moment!

Scrapbook Saturday

Here or a few more layouts I did on our retreat in February.

This one is about Mitchell and Emily's engagement.

They were in Ireland--her parents own a home there.

Mother's Day--I think this was from 2024. 

Stephanie took me to a Beatrix Potter exhibit at The Frist Art Museum. Afterwards we went for tea at the Conrad Hotel.

This Christmas layout has older pictures--about 3 years old. Mindy had purchased the cute wrapping paper with their pictures on it.

This layout is the newest one of the bunch. It's about our ice storm at the end of January. The damage is still seen all around town. Our public works hasn't been able to remove all of the trees and limbs yet.

This Paris layout is about our trip there last June. 

I added an insert to include more pictures and a pocket for the journaling.

The thank you card is from Sandy. I always add "thank yous" to my layouts when I have them. I think they add a little more of the personal touch.

Friday Funnies

Ten Things Thursday

I'm always amazed at how these "before and after" houses look. If I were buying a house, I would not have the imagination to think of what an old, outdated house could look like.

Anytime you add a porch, it makes it much homier. And it's white!