Mid-August Update

It's about time for an update to cover what's been going on over the past few weeks.

1.) We had a Car Wash Fundraiser a couple weeks ago and it was incredibly successful! I had never heard of a car wash quite like this before, but it worked really well for us. We have 3 services on Sunday morning, and we did a valet service (with adults driving) so people could drop off their keys with us and we would wash their car while they were in the service and it was back in their parking spot squeaky clean when they got out. People could also drive their car through in-between services if they wanted. We ended up making over $1,000 in about 4.5 hours!

2.) My wedding ring saga continues...and my disgust for Samuels Jewelers continues to grow! So, as of May, I had lost 5 diamonds from my wedding ring in under 18 months. The last time I took it into the store, I was talking to the Store Supervisor about this and telling her how frustrated I was that I had to drive 2-3 hours to a store or pay to ship the ring to get it fixed. She said I could call the Customer Service Line and they would send me a postage-paid box or envelope and I could send the ring in for free and get it repaired and they'd send it back for free. I lost another diamond (#6!) while putting away laundry one night and promptly called the Customer Service Line the next morning. The lady I spoke to could not find any record of us purchasing any jewelry or insurance plans from Samuels and she spent about 10 minutes trying to convince me I must have bought it somewhere else and I was just confused.

I am 1,000% sure I have an insurance policy with them as I have already used it SO many times! She was finally able to locate some information in the system for Kory and asked me to mail in a copy of my receipts to prove we bought a ring and insurance from Samuels and then they will start the process of adding our records to their system. I found the business card for the District Manager in with the paperwork from when Kory purchased the ring, so I decided to give him a call. I left a voicemail for him, and in his message he promises to return all calls, yet I never heard back from him. So, now I don't really know where I stand. I'll probably try to call Customer Service again this week because I sent in the paperwork a couple weeks ago now. I wish it were something less important to me, but because it's my wedding ring, I will continue this fight.

3.) I'm doing pretty well on my New Years Goals...though they have changed a little bit throughout the year. My initial goals involved learning to sew, reading 12 books, and getting back into crocheting. I've sewn several things this year, am on book #6 (got a little behind on this one) and re-learned a few basic crochet stitches. After moving into our house, I kind of decided that instead of focusing on crocheting, I was going to learn how to garden. It's been really fun even though many of my flowers and veggies haven't survived. Here are a few pictures of what is growing in my garden right now:

Green Beans just came in this week.

Zucchini has been my best crop by far.

It will be a while longer before the cucumbers are ready.

The strawberries are just as delicious as they look!

Random Late Night Thoughts

• I am now missing 3 tiny diamonds from my wedding ring. Ugh! Samuels refuses to fix it for me until I bring them the paperwork showing we bought the insurance. Shouldn't they have that on records somewhere? Yes, that's my question also. Not very happy with them right now. Oh, and I can't find the paperwork because it got misplaced somewhere in the move and it must be in storage because I've turned our apartment upside down looking for it. 
• We've made offers on 2 houses now and are still waiting to hear back on the 2nd one. The 1st one didn't work out because the family still owed too much on the house and wasn't willing to drop the price at all and we weren't willing to go that high. We're really hoping this 2nd one works out because it's an awesome house and we both love it! I think we'll hear back on it tomorrow...which will be great because this waiting business is pretty tough. 
• I am now 26 and I don't feel that old. Recently someone said something about a group of college students and I automatically put myself in that group. Well, no, I haven't been in college in almost 4 years now, but my brain didn't get that memo apparently. Whoa, as I typed that I realized I've almost been out of college as long as I was in it. That might seem silly to you but I kind of just had a freakout moment as I typed this blog post. That was fun.
• This should be a pretty busy week for us: I am hanging out with a friend on Tuesday night, we're hosting small group for High School boys at our apartment Wednesday, Thursday we have a potluck/worship/service project at our friends house, Friday we're having a couple over for dinner and games and then Saturday night we're attending a night of worship, followed by church services Sunday morning and a Superbowl party Sunday afternoon/evening. 
• Kory and I have been watching what we eat and exercising more for the past few weeks and it's really paying off. Kory has lost 10 lbs and I have lost about 7 or 8. We're not really dieting, per se, we're just using moderation and limiting our calorie intake. More fruits and vegetables, less loaded mashed potatoes and fried cheese sticks. Dang, I shouldn't have typed those last two foods as they both sound really good right now. This is the first time either of us have ever really tried to lose weight...but 6 months into marriage and we were both needing it. We either had to lose weight or buy all new (bigger) pants, and as the budget keeper in this household, I vetoed brand new wardrobes. 
• More of my friends are having babies!! In the next 3 months, I'll have 3 more babies to make things for and love from a distance. (Hi Deonna, Jacinda, and Lynsey!) I can't wait to meet Cole and Judah and a sweet baby girl who is yet to be named :)

Wedding Ring

So last night I lost the 3rd little diamond from my ring. That means 3 have fallen out in the past 5 months. I don't like this trend!

As you can see, there are two diamonds missing right now. I lost the first one just a couple months before my wedding, so I had it replaced and cleaned and shiny for the wedding. I lost the second one in June or July and now I lost the last one last night while trying to do laundry.

I'm kind of a clumsy gal and I somehow banged my hand/ring on the door as I carried a laundry basket to the washer. I was so sad when I looked down to see another diamond gone. I tried to find it in hopes of...well I don't know what I thought I was going to do if I found it really. Sell it on Ebay? Put it back in? I don't know. I just wanted to find it...but I did not. Then, I was feeling too depressed to do laundry so I just put the laundry basket back in the bedroom and went to bed instead. I told you recently I've loved doing laundry recently, so this loss just took the joy out of it.

My co-worker told me today that happened to her so much she doesn't wear rings at all anymore. I don't think that's the solution for me. I love my ring and want to continue wearing it, but I definitely have to get it fixed now that it has two holes. It's looking quite snaggletoothed if you ask me.

I'm thinking I might go to Wal-mart or Claire's or somewhere to buy a cheap ring that I can wear while this one is being fixed. That might come in handy if this is going to become a regular occurrence. I could try to be more careful and stop being so clumsy, but I really think it's a safer bet to just buy a replacement for when I have to get mine worked on. Thank goodness for the insurance!