I'm a Teacher!

Nothing screams "I'm a teacher" louder than a good ol' fashion yard sale. My family and I ventured to Cornbread's biggest yard sale last weekend. I was excited but kind of annoyed that I had to A) wake up at 6:00 on a Sunday and B) pay $10.00 to get into this place.

BUT despite gloomy cold weather and a little bit of grumpiness, I had a really great time.  I will say, the $5.00 to get in early is worth it. The crowds get pretty bad at 8:00 a.m. 

So even though I went with the intention of buying a rug and entertainment center to flip, I ended up buying a lot for my classroom. Thanks to my family, friends, and total strangers, my Donorschoose.org project was funded! I asked for a listening center and rug and both of the items arrived! 

I was just so excited that I had to buy these: 

The books on tape were 25 cents at BOGO free! It was fate I tell you! Even though I had to explain to my kids what a tape was and how to load it, it was totally worth it. Next up, these books were also BOGO. I have really needed up spruce up my poetry units.

The pre-made (cut out and laminated!!!) math centers were 3 for $1.00.  I also picked up more books....because obviously I need more books. Did you see how bare my book shelves were?!

For the life of me, I can NEVER pass up a Mo Willems book. I may or may not already own almost every Mo Willems book, but I truly feel like you can NEVER have too many pigeon books. I also now don't need to borrow The Foot Book from the library anymore when I teach antonyms. 

 I found the hidden pictures at a neighborhood yard sale the same weekend. I use them as rewards and the kids go crazy for them!

And last but not least I did find some things for myself. There was a booth of just clothes and handbags that had some AMAZING clothes. She used to work at Banana Republic and if there would have been a dressing room I probably would have bought her out. 

I resisted and only bought two Banana Republic shirts, one J.Crew shirt, and one scarf from the Gap for a total of $9.00. 

So there you have it. I may actually make it to Goodwill on this lazy Saturday. Unlike most, I have actually enjoyed the rainy weekends. It's forced me to sit at home, work on things I have been putting off, not spend as much money, and catch up on reruns of Gossip Girl. 

Happy Hunting!

-Ashlie

Goodwill Outlet and a Giveaway!

Hello everyone! 

I have been wanting to post 

all of my new finds, 

but I have been distracted by 

Justin Bieber's monkey and 

one of my favorite celebrities

checking in to rehab. 

How am I supposed to 

blog when all I can think about is 

Bieber's monkey being stuck in customs?!

With that being said, I'm going to try and concentrate on 

my findings from this week. Now, if you live in St. Louis, 

you have heard of the Goodwill Outlet downtown. If you're

not familiar, it's a place where everything leftover from regular 

Goodwills. The merchandise is in giant blue tubs 

and everything is sold for 79 cents a pound. 

I have ALWAYS wanted to go, but every time I mention it, 

someone scares me and I stay home. 

Everyone I have talked to either loves it or 

hates it. I posted on Facebook last night that I wanted to go today and 

friends told me to watch my cart, wear gloves, wear a mask, don't get cut, etc.

Thankfully, my sweet friend

 Heather and her daughter Macy

met me there! 

    So, this is what I came home with. 

The trophy, pillow, book, and sweater 

cost me $3.69. The trophy

is for an activity I'm doing at school, and

the book and pillow will

match my house perfectly. 

I bought the sweater for Ross, 

(brand new from Target)

but after taking a picture of it, 

I think it's a girl sweater.

What do you guys think?

Overall, my experience was good and

I'll probably go back. 

All of the furniture was like $2 though.

It's not in the best condition, 

but if you're creative it's worth taking a trip there.

People are CRAZY

when the staff pushes out

new bins, but if you stay back you'll

be fine. Next time I go, I'll

be brave and stand on the front lines.

Since I was off today, I went to 

the GC Goodwill after the outlet

to see what I could find. 

Here's what I got today!

Brand new Target baby clothes. 

I have a couple of friends' in mind

that would love these.  

Brand new Target dress and skirts. 

Perfect for the warmer weather that's 

hopefully coming. 

A polo and V-neck for Ross. 

I had the Cardinals in mind when I picked these up.

Brand new duvet set with shams. 

I splurged and paid $18

for this, but duvet sets on the Target website 

are around $70. 

And now for the giveaway!

I've seen other blogs do this and I'm

not sure what I'm doing, but 

whatever. 

Here are the ways you can enter

to win these cute shower curtain hooks!

1. Copy and paste our blog link and share it

on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. 

2. Comment on this post and 

tell me how you found our blog. 

3. Follow our blog!

You have until Friday to enter.

Friday.

May the odds be ever in your favor. 

-Ari-

Great Day St. Louis!

This will be a quick little post, 

but I wanted to fill everyone in on our 

Great Day experience!

Some of you may be wondering how this 

came about, and it is all due to 

the wonderful world of Twitter!

I tweeted our blog to Virginia because

I thought she might like it, 

and she wanted to do a story on it!

I wasn't expected any of that to happen, 

but it turned out to be such a blessing!

Virginia came to my house a couple weeks ago, 

along with Dave, the camera man. 

Both were so nice, friendly, genuine, and fun!

I was nervous at first, but the feeling

quickly disappeared. 

My co-worker Laura, Ashlie, and aunt Mel 

all came to support me. 

I was so happy they were there!

It was so much fun sharing all of my thrifting finds 

and decorating secrets from aunt Mel. 

My house would not look like 

this if it weren't for her! 

I was also THRILLED that they 

featured Haiti in the story as well. 

I hope people read this and get confidence

to thrift and save their family money, but if no 

one ever reads this it doesn't bother me. 

However, I would be SO HAPPY 

if we gained some readers and followers 

just so I can share Haiti with you. 

Our trip is planned for January, and I'm hoping to go for

17 days this time. The only thing that would

stop me is if my job doesn't allow me to go. 

Prayers are appreciated. 

If you're on Facebook, please like 

The Haiti Mission Team

This will give you updates on 

fundraisers and items we're collecting. 

I'm so excited to share Haiti with all of you. 

(There is also a teeny tiny chance that I

could go to Burkina Faso in Africa this summer, 

but I'm not holding my breath)

Thanks to everyone for watching and I hope my house

can inspire you to do some thrifting of your own!

I don't know how to post the video directly on the blog, 

but click here if you aren't in St. Louis and 

didn't get a chance to see it. 

I have SO many thrifting finds to show you, 

but that is for a later post. I promise to get 

some pictures of my new things up over

spring break this week. 

May the odds be ever in your favor.

-Ari-

Merry Easter!

So this happened today...

That is the view from my window today. I think mother nature might be confused. 

Due to the fact that I am snowed in with a sick husband, I thought I might update the blog. It's much better than cleaning or entering grades. 

I stopped by the Goodwill on Monday and picked up these gems:

More workout clothes from Target. I have almost reached my goal of replacing the pit-stained Tshirts with this line of clothes. 

 A pair of Old Navy pants for work. They still had the tags and I got them on sale for 1.50. 

And last but not least this adorable pocket shirt from JCREW that was on sale for 2.50.  I spend a whopping 11 bucks and some change. 

We already have been called off for tomorrow. I will always welcome a four day weekend. Although it means we have to go one day longer at the end of the year, I'm not going to complain about sleeping in.

Goodwill is also running a special this month! When you donate on Wednesdays, you can get a pair of movies tickets! I know that there is only one more Wednesday left in March, but I just heard about it. Would have been good to know before I went and saw OZ this weekend.  You can click below to find out more details. 

http://www.mersgoodwill.org/

Happy Hunting!

-Ashlie-

Summer Fever

Hello blogging friends! Well unlike Ari I have always been a winter girl. I love the cold and snow, and most of all wearing layers. But this winter, I haven't really been loving the cold. In fact, I am really looking forward to summer for the first time in a long time. I think it has A LOT to do with the fact that I will have the summer off, which I haven't had since I was 16. Sooooo, when I walked into Goodwill to look for some workout clothes, I may have gotten distracted. All of the dresses below are 

Mossimo dresses from Target: A. $4.99 B. $3.99 C. $4.99 D. $3.99                                                                                                      

                                                                                                           

                                                           

LOFT Jeans $3.00

       Whoops. Yup, I think I am ready for summer now. I also LOVE my green jeans. I have been wanting to buy a pair from Old Navy but couldn't bring myself to spend $30.00 when they will probably only good for one season. But I couldn't resist $3.00 for a trend.

     Now I did actually get what I was looking for. I have always been active and been an avid walker, but lately that hasn't been cutting it. I put on 13 pounds and went up a pant size. Growing up is pretty stupid sometimes. So, I joined the gym and quickly realized that my paint stained sweatpants and tshirts were pretty sad. I went to Target yesterday and to look at their activewear but thought they were a bit expensive.

So I scored these items that were in Target yesterday, full price.


Champion Duo Dry Max Capris-$ 3.99
Champion Duo Dry Max Sleeveless- $2.00

I also picked up a couple of running shorts. 

New Balance and Athletic Works $1.00/$2.00

I have never believed in "getting ready" to go to the gym (putting on makeup, brushing my hair). But good golly I looked at myself in the mirror during a workout and was slightly embarrassed at how awful I looked. We are talking sweatpants that are a size too big and tshirts that have pit stains. No one wants to see that. So, hopefully now I will look like I haven't completely given up on myself. 

Goodwill also had a TON of tanks and camis from Target, as well as jeweled flats (which I bought but was tired of taking pictures :). I hope you all have as much luck as I did. 

Happy Hunting!

-Ashlie

OOOOPS!!!!

I forgot to post the link in the last post!

If you want to learn more about our friends in Haiti, 

you can read their blog here. 

If you want to donate to their cause, please click here.

Thanks everyone! Please share this with everyone you know!

Haiti

Hello everyone and welcome new readers!

This post is going to be a little different because 

I want to share pictures from my trip to Haiti. 

I went to Goodwill this weekend and got some REALLY 

cute stuff, but I'll post on that later this week. 

I have WAY too many stories to tell and I can't 

even begin to tell you all of them. 

I'm sharing a small amount of my hundreds of pictures,
 but please comment if you have 

any questions. I can't wait to go back and 

thank you to everyone who helped make the trip possible. 

Love you all!

Touring the neighborhoos in St. Marc, about 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince.
This mother is holding her starving child, but was so full of joy.
I don't know if you can tell, but the baby's yellow hair and swollen belly
are symptoms of malnutrition. Such a precious family.

My sweet Wenchelda and Dahveed. Wenchelda's mother died 2 years ago
and her father passed away just last month. She lives in the orphange
we helped while we were there, so she is well taken
care of. Dahveed just sat on my lap
the entire time we were at his school. I love and miss them!

You probably can't tell, but this is a photography studio.

There was a man getting his picture taken while we were driving by.

A house on the beach. Unlike the USA, the poorest people in 

Haiti live at the beach. 

Ross with Bobby, one of the kids from the orphanage.
Such a happy kid.

Ross and I on the roof of the orphanage.

Katie and I with Wenchelda at the orphanage.

Why I went to Haiti. Painting nails!

Our last night at a church in St. Marc. These kids were waiting
and had their church decorated for us. They even welcomed us with a song!

Students at the school in the Mcdonnell neighborhood. 

They were laughing at Ross. 

Sweet girl.

Playing at the orphanage.

 Classroom at the Macdonnell school.

Pablo wanted his nails painted too.

Hung out in the neighborhood with these boys after school. 

The boy on the left, Jezzon, drew a picture for our friend, Jason,

without knowing his name. I thought it was pretty cool. 

Ross with the globe he bought from this local Haitian.

Trash is all over the beach. 

Trash is all over the streets and in the water.

Ross with kids at church. We are the only group that visits
this church for the entire year.

The orphanage.

Kids at the orphanage.

Students at the El Shaddai School. 

Some of our group at the "resort".

Beautiful girl from church.

Hangin with the Jr. High girls at the El Shaddai school.

One of my favorite pictures that I took with my phone. It's not edited

or photoshopped. Crazy to imagine how pretty this

country once was.  

If you want to see more pictures, friend request me on Facebook,

because I put a ton on there last week. If you want to help 

the people of Haiti, please click on the link below and

help our friends Eric and Elisabeth with their new project. If 

you are unable to help them, PLEASE share the link with EVERYONE you know!

Thank you everyone!

May the odds be ever in your favor.

-Ari-