Oops! I did it again!

Oops!  I spent more money!  But, I couldn't help myself!  I know...I shouldn't have walked into that Sport Chalet store.  Especially since I've already been to their big clearance sale a few times already.  But, obviously, I hadn't looked through everything because I missed this the first few times...

It's a lightweight sleeping bag for backpacking for over 50% off!  It's rated down to 20'f and it only weighs two pounds, seven ounces.  That's almost a pound lighter than the lightest one I could find on their regular rack of bags!  That will make a big difference!  We looked up customer reviews and everyone raved about it.  It's made for women so it fits better and isn't as long.  I also like that it's colorful and cute and that it's super comfy.

I got a backpack last spring at REI when we spent our dividend.  That means it was FREE!  REI is a store that you can join.  As a member, you get discounts and at the end of the year you get a percentage back on everything you buy.  Plus, we have an REI credit card and we use it on as much as we can....bills, groceries, gas, etc.....things that are in our budget....and pay it off every month.  At the end of the year a percentage of everything we spent on it is included in our REI dividend.  That means we have hundreds of dollars every year to spend on things at REI or ask for a check.  How cool is that?!

We love that store!  It's filled with LOTS of awesome stuff for the outdoor adventure enthusiast.  Everything from gear and equipment to cool clothing and shoes!  We love dividend time because it means we get to go into the store and walk out with big bags of "toys" without paying a dime.  Like my cool backpack.  It's made for women and even came with an flower!  :-)

I'm getting close to having everything I need to go backpacking.  We have just a few more things to get.  We should be able to start backpacking this spring!  I'm so excited!  Well, except for the bears and stuff!  Eeek!  lol

I love all the clearance and sale luck I've been having lately but I really need to stop walking into stores for a while!  lol

Bargain Bonanza

I'm so excited about all the bargains I've found lately!  I'm a budget shopper that's very tight with my money.  That makes shopping a bigger job than it already is.  But, it also makes it like a treasure hunt.  When I find a bargain on something I need or want it's like a win!  I've had a lot of wins lately.  So much so that I just have to tell about my finds!

My most recent one was today at Michael's.  I went into the store to look for a picture frame but also wandered through all the sale and clearance areas I could find.  It's a good thing I did!  I found four skeins of a kind of yarn I like and in a color I love.  They're all the same dye lot.  And, they were marked down from $4.99 to $1.99.  I have no idea why these four were marked down because they still have this same exact yarn and color in the yarn area at full price.  I'm not going to say anything!  I'm just happy to find it.  I wanted this yarn, in this color, for a project I've been thinking of.   Woot!  Score!

You may have already read about my new red shoes on a recent blog post.  I got Keen brand shoes that are normally close to $100 for just $24.99  I've also scored on clothes lately...something I have a hard time finding no matter what the price.  I found a super cute long dress at Kohl's for just $13 that originally was $80!  I've found some great tops at TJ Maxx that the MSRP was about $50 but I only paid $9.99 and $16.99.  I got a great pair of exercise pants/tights that were $78 for just $16.99 there too.  Then, last week at Sport Chalet there was a sale that reduced clearance items an additional 70%!  My daughter and I searched through everything and we both scored!  I found a Prana dress that I'd looked at about a month ago but wasn't about to pay $65 for (marked down from $80).  Last week I got it for $17!  I'm so excited!  I've been searching for a dress like it to wear with my tall black boots and tights.  Now, we just need some colder weather!  Although, I'm not complaining about the high 70's and low 80's we're experiencing this week.  It is quite nice!  Ok...back to the deals...  My daughter got a great pair of red skinny jeans at Sport Chalet that were normally $60 for just $9!  Then, I took hubby back and he got a Pearl Izumi wind breaker that he'd actually been looking at for months online and elsewhere.  It's a jacket and vest in one and will work great for bike riding, hiking, etc.  It was originally $120 but he got it for $32!  Oh....and, we went to the Five Ten outlet to find climbing shoes and not only did my husband find a great deal on those....$100 shoes marked down to $30....but he also found a great pair of casual shoes marked down from about $70 to $32!

I can't believe all the deals we've found in the past month or so!  Happy dance!

Oh...and one more.  This is little but fun!  On one of my recent trips through TJ Maxx I found this cute little sign for just $4.99.  I love it!  I later found the same sign at another store for $10.

Oh...I just remembered a couple more deals.  I got some coupons last month for my birthday.  One was $10 to use at Kohl's.  I couldn't find anything except some cute kitchen towels.  So, I left the store and planned to go back another day to look.  Well, when I did, the towels I'd found were on a sale of buy one set and get another for $1.  So, I got four great little towels for just $5 (after the coupon).  I got a $15 coupon for Loft.  I had a hard time finding anything I really wanted but in the end found two cute knitted skirts on the clearance rack (one for me and one for my daughter) and a set of hair accessories for my daughter and only spent about $1.  Woot!

I normally hate shopping because I have such a hard time finding what I'm looking for and the prices I want to pay.  I would love it if I could find deals like this more often.  But, then again, my bank account might not be so happy.  ;-)

Road Trip, Day Two - Tucson / Las Cruces / El Paso

The second day of our trip started early at the Hacienda del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.  I woke up before five and was excited for the sun to come up so I could take more photos.  Then, I realized I could try to get some sunrise photos.  It was too early for pictures but I was too excited to go back to sleep.

So, I did a little early morning knitting.  I love the windows in our room!

There was a cozy chair next to this one.  It was perfect!

This time of the morning is magical.  The light quickly changes

 and the wildlife slowly starts making noises as it wakes for the day.

The doves seem to enjoy sitting on top of huge Saguaro cactus.

I just wonder how they could without being hurt by the large thorns!

The sunrise was beautiful and the moon was still out.  So pretty!

We saw a small red bird feasting on fruit at the top of this cactus...

His beak was covered in juicy fruit and seeds.

This cactus had fruit on it that looked like little pineapples.

I've never seen blossoms on this type of cactus....until now.

This cactus is in a pot in one of the courtyards.

It looks like it has a soft white coating and the little needles look so delicate.

I love the bright red blossoms (?).

The Desert Bird of Paradise were in full bloom all over town.

Here are some at the Hacienda del Sol.

Such gorgeous, intense color!  I love these!

Pink Cactus!  There are lots of these across the desert.

I wonder if they're always pink or just at this time of year.

I've seen these before but I can't remember what the plant is called.

I love the soft, furry, little seeds.  So cute!

More pink!

Pop of red!

Saguaro Cactus are amazing!  Whenever we travel into Arizona,

it's exciting when we start seeing them.  They look like they're waving, "hello"!

 They have such a tough skin on the outside.

The rows of thorns are interesting.

I never realized they had fruit on the top until this trip when we saw that bird feasting on it.

The desert is filled with so much beauty and so many interesting things.

Two more cactus blossom photos!

Yellow!

After our early morning photo walk, we packed up and headed out on the road.

Next stop...Lac Cruces, New Mexico at the historic Old Mesilla.

It was hot and we were hungry.  So, I didn't take a lot of photos.

Here's one of the few I took...an old church at the north end of the Mesilla. 

We had hoped to eat at a restaurant we ate at years ago that was fabulous!
But, we walked into where we thought it was and no one came to help us.
So, we ate at La Posta.  There were lots of things to look at inside.
This is in the room we ate in.  There was an aviary in the center room of the building.
It smelled awful!  Luckily, it didn't smell in the restaurant.  And, we were so hungry that we just needed to eat and didn't know where to else to go to get food quick enough.
The food was ok and fueled us up again but I wouldn't recommend this restaurant.

There are a few shops in the same building.  One has lots of pretty jewelry.
We each bought a cute bracelet there.  We love all the colors and the pretty wood clasps.
My daughter's is has a larger clasp and mine is smaller.
With all the different colors, they'll go with lots of things.

The restroom was gorgeous!

The door was huge, beautiful, and looked old...

On our way back to the car, we stopped in a couple shops.
One had some beautiful Old Gringo western boots (my favorite brand).
I fell in love!  I just wish I could afford them!

Aren't they gorgeous?!

A little more boot love!

Then, we were off to El Paso for our next stay.
My daughter was on a mission there to hit the western boot outlet stores and SHOP!
She's very happy as she found two beautiful pairs of boots and got quite a deal.
I just wish there was an Old Gringo outlet!!!

Ok....enough blogging for now.  Time hit the road again!

Workout Challenge and Reward

I have such a hard time sticking to regular exercise!  It's so boring!

I'd much rather go hike up a mountain, ride my mountain bike, ski, or explore a canyon!

But, that's not something I can do everyday.

In an effort to try and get myself on track with regular and worthwhile exercise/running,

I'm giving myself small challenges.  They should be much easier to meet than something like a 5k in three months.  For my first challenge, I decided I needed to work out a minimum of five days

in the first week.  If I did that, I'd get to go buy a piece of workout clothing.

I already had my eye on something I'd recently seen but wouldn't let myself get.

I couldn't justify it if I really wasn't working out!

It worked!  I worked out five days in the first week and ran/walked a total of 11 miles.

Woot!  Here's my new workout top!  It's so cute!  And, such a deal at TJ Max!

Check out the adorable little ruffle and gather on the t-back...

The back is longer than the front and covers up my tush!

I had worn out running shoes and lucked out at REI this week on a new pair that was on clearance
I also picked up a set of six pairs of socks at TJ Max for only $5.99 (that's like $1 per pair!).

I've got Pandora on my phone for tunes to keep me going.  

And, Endomondo to keep track of miles and all that good stuff.  

I'm on track again this week...I've done four out of five days so far.  And, I'm up to almost twelve miles so far this week...almost 23 miles since I started my challenges!  This challenge will earn me a new pair of exercise pants/tights.  It may get a bit more challenging next week when my daughter moves back to go to school and I'll be working out on my own.  But, I CAN DO IT!  :-D

Beauty Beyond Words

Yesterday morning, my daughter finished her last final exam and her first year

at the university.  I drove over and picked her up after she was finished. 

We planned to spend the day together to celebrate.

The weather was gorgeous.  Especially, near the coast.

It was sunny and warm with a perfect breeze and just the right amount of moisture in the air.

We decided to visit a nursery I've heard about for decades but never gone to...Roger's Gardens.

I expected it to be nice but that would be a HUGE understatement.

This place was a FEAST for the eyes.  There was beauty beyond words everywhere we looked.

I wasn't sure if it was ok to take photos but I couldn't resist.  If I'd only had my camera!

Thank goodness for the camera in my phone!

I think the Hydrangea area was my favorite.

They were grouped by color and soooo beautiful...

Gasp!

My daughter was lost in the beauty as well.

She was just as busy clicking away with her camera phone.

These purply/pink/green ones were her favorite.

I have no idea what these are.  I had so many plant names floating around

in my head by the time I saw them that I didn't even bother to look at the tags.

They look like tissue paper flowers.  So pretty!

Their hanging baskets were the prettiest I've ever seen!

They had lots of flowers, roses, garden plants, herbs, tropical plants and so much more.

 The succulent area was wonderful too.  I love how they surrounded this little potted tree with pretty

succulents and that the pot has holes around the side that they're peeking out of as well.  So cute!

I think this table/bench filled with succulents is wonderful too...

They had many wonderful indoor areas to shop in.

There were seeds, tools, planters and pots, fountains, garden furniture, and supplies you'd expect.

They also had decorator items, shells, Christmas decorations, fairy garden supplies and much more.

I like these paper flowers that were displayed in one of the buildings...

Some of them were displayed on branches high on the wall.

I'm not sure if the branches were metal or wood but I sure love the idea and the look.

I liked these chains with rocks and glass.

I think they're for rain water to come down to prevent splashing.

We don't get a whole lot of rain where I live but I think they'd be pretty as decorations.

Here are some that were made with smooth stones.

I think I like them even better.

There was a planter near the center of the nursery that had a big tree surrounded with
Baby Tears plants, flowers, and a big bunch of glass mushrooms and worms.

So colorful and cute!

This is just a small sample of the wonderful things to look at, enjoy, and buy

at Roger's Gardens.  I could probably spend a whole day there.  It's wonderful and such a

feast for the eyes.  I can't believe it took me so long to go there.  I'll definitely go back.

They had lots of plants I wanted to buy.  But, we had plans for the day and I knew 

the plants wouldn't be happy waiting around in a hot car all day.

My daughter and I had a wonderful day together.  We shopped, had lunch, relaxed in the jacuzzi,

and she cooked dinner for me.  She'll be coming home this week for the summer.

We're making plans for more fun day trips, crafty goals, and enjoying time together.

I'm so excited!  And, she's really looking forward to a break from her very intense school year.