One down...

...only about 10 more to go. I'm tired just thinking about them. :)

Don't be afraid to ask

My frugal tip for the week is, "Don't be afraid to ask." This is the good advice of many frugalites. Here is how I took their advice to heart recently.





I had some Christmas money and wanted to buy the file cabinet that matches my computer armoire. The file cabinet was listed on Wal*mart.com, but I called the family-owned hardware store where I purchased the armoire (I would rather deal with them than Wal*mart...the hardware store has free popcorn and the people are nice!) I told the nice lady that I found it online for a certain price and hinted that I was hoping to get it from them for not much more than that. In the end, they beat Wal*mart's price by over $6! So it doesn't hurt to ask...or hint, in my case. :)


And here are my shopping highlights for the week...



Two Coffee-mate creamers purchased for nine pennies each! I used the $1.50/1 printable q that Money Saving Mom mentioned last week. (We don't even drink coffee at home, but I'm sure someone will enjoy these!)




I used the $5/4 Johnsville q from the paper to purchase these four packages of bratwurst. (My sister, the Wondershopper, tipped the cvschicks off to this one). They were BOGO (buy one, get one free) at our supermarket for $3.99. So for 4 packages I paid $1.98. That's $0.49/lb. They are greasy and terrible for you, no doubt. But you can't beat that price...and my family will eat them. :)




My receipt at the supermarket this week shows the total before savings as $117.95 and the amount that I paid at the bottom- $62.05. That's a savings of $55.90 or 47%! I love it when that happens. :)

**Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that I enjoyed my FREE Dunkaccino (with a free q from a mailer) while running errands yesterday. Frugal is fun!

Check out more at Frugal Friday or Super Saving Saturdays.

25 Random Things

I've done the Random Thing Meme several times in the past, but it normally was only supposed to be a list of 6 or 7 items. Emily tagged me for this particular one on her blog, and then I was tagged several times on Facebook, so I am cross-posting my random 25 things here and on FB. Here goes:

1. All of my ancestory is of eastern European descent: Slovak/Hungarian/German

2. As a result, I like pork…sausage, bacon…mmmm :)

3. My dad escaped from a communist country when he was in his early 20's

4. He wasn't naturalized in the US until after my birth.

5. So I had dual citizenship until the age of 11.

6. My dad, brother, and I renounced our Czechoslovakian citizenship so that when we visited his homeland they wouldn't keep us. They didn't keep us. :)

7. I went to the salon today.

8. While I was out, I glanced into my rearview to see a state trooper riding my bumper. My odometer read a good 12-15 mph above speed limit.

9. I repented in sackcloth and ashes and had a little bit of revival right there in my minivan. Then I pulled into the right lane and the smokey passed me. :)

10. We own no pets at the current time.

11. I think taking a pet for a walk and then carrying their "business" in a plastic bag is gross. I can't see myself doing that one day. But you never know.

12. My eyes are dark brown. All 3 of my kids have my husband's blue eyes. So much for brown being dominant.

13. I am short and therefore shop in the petite section. There is nothing glamorous about shopping in Petite's. I think it would be more appropriately labeled the "Granny" section.

14. I am very happy that a new library is being built in our township, not far from our house!

15. We are able to enjoy very pretty sunsets in our new house. Tonight's is brilliant pink. I love sunsets!

16. As a Pennsylvanian, I used to like colder months over the summer months. But now I love summer.

17. I am not a napper.

18. I used to work for a financial planning/employee benefits consulting firm in my “first life.” Nowadays, I can’t believe that I used to deal with papers and numbers on a daily basis. I am developing an aversion to both. :)

19. This is the first place that I have lived in my short 30 years (a-hem) that we have had curbside recycling. And thusly, I am not a good recycler. I’m trying, but it’s a hard habit to get into. I just don’t like thinking about trash.

20. Garfield, Baby Blues and Dilbert are my favorite comics. In fact, we have this Dilbert hanging on our fridge right now:

...and I’m serious, Scott and I have giggled about it dozens of times over the last week.

21. I was married at the age of 20.

22. I am married to a civil engineer

23. Consequently, I know the meaning of the phrases sheet flow, channelized left turn lane, signal preemption, and the like. In fact, our children regularly use the words inlet, detention basin and intersection correctly in sentences.

24. I like the colors brown and pink very much.

25. I immensely enjoy the place where I am in life….a child of the King, married to and loved by an awesome man, mother to three wonderful children, ample opportunites to serve the Lord. God is good!

Consider yourself tagged if you want to do this one, too!

Wordless Wednesday - Riding my hossie with my cuz

Wordless Wednesday

Nothing warms the Homeschooling Mama's heart...

...like seeing her kindergartener spontaneously reading books just "for fun."

And when he is reading to his "sick punching man"...all that more, um, "precious."

Painting the New House: 101

The time has finally come to start painting this house. My eyes can no longer take the vast white walls in this place. :)

We stopped by the hardware store this afternoon and picked up a few quarts of paint to try out in our living room, powder room, and Joey's bedroom. I'm starting with these rooms only because my sister and I selected these colors months ago.

Here is a sampling of "Green Wash" painted at various places in the living room...

Hello side-ways pillow

Hello, tags still on sheers

Hello, $189 iron grate that I only paid $21 for at the JCP outlet.

And now for "Blooming Flax" in the powder room:

I am trying to go for a warmish terra-cotta color...not too orangey, a little copperish, and definitely not peach. The paint guy in the store asked me a question about this swatch and referred to it as "that pink color." I hung my head in shame. Then Scott said, "I really like this red color in the bathroom." Oh dear. Men are definitely not the ones to give me affirmation of my color choices. :)





And lastly, "Pale Waters" in Joey's room: (these ones are harder to see)

Hello, dust-layer on my son's dresser

And thus concludes the initial Paint Sampling Tour of the Homestead. I think I really like the colors now that they are on the walls, but then again, my eyes might just be color-starved after months of this builder-white madness. Also, I am looking forward to seeing them in morning light, or at least daytime (semi-brightish, Januaryish) lighting. (I may have to wait a few days.)

Now that I have various stripes and splotches of colors painted on several different walls, I'm committed to painting. And soon.

I *heart* people!

It's true. I love people! I'm a people-person in every sense of the word. I enjoy being in small groups and large groups. Spending time with people makes me energized and happy! Heart-to-heart conversations and big, noisy parties, I love them all. It wasn't until I had a few children and stayed in the house for the majority of my time, that I realized how much of a people-person I really am.

Yesterday was a very "social" Sunday for us. We were back at our small-group Sunday School tables, which I love. It's been a few weeks since our little ladies' group was together, and I have missed it.

Some new friends of ours visited our church for the first time which was awesome! Then they came over for lunch afterwards and spent the afternoon with us. The kids had a blast, and so did we. :)

Some other friends of ours joined our church in the evening, which was sooo exciting to us! After that, we attended a little "welcome" gathering at their house...so much fun!

Our calendar this week is jam-packed. But somehow I don't mind, because I realized as I looked over the list, that almost every item on the calendar involves people.

People were the heartbeat of Jesus. While He was here on the earth, His ministry was consumed by people. Quiet time alone with the Father was necessary for Him, but often he was interrupted by the needs of others.

I hope that in my enjoyment of being around people, that I don't neglect a great opportunity that I have to meet the needs of those around me. One of our recent church memory verses has been coming to mind quite a bit lately...

For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

Tinklin' Cymbal

The kids and I are memorizing the "love chapter" - I Corinthians 13. We should have it finished in time for Valentine's Day. I love the way Gracie says "tinklin' cymbal." Sometimes I have her repeat verse 1 several times just so that I can hear it.

"Soundin' grass" (sounding brass) is pretty cute, too. :)

My frugal highlights from this week...

Once again, there is a $3/3 printable Johnson's coupon floating out there. I did this one again, purchasing the Buddies at my supermarket on sale for $0.59/each. I spent $1.77 for three, and used the $3 coupon. Which means I earned $1.23 on these three, little gifts.

Somehow I am on the Kashi mailing list multiple times. I have gotten the free soft-baked cereal bar in the mail at least 3 times, maybe four. Each time accompanied by one coupon for a FREE box of these cereal bars and about 4 $2/1 coupons. At Wal*mart they go for $2.97. I've exhausted my free box q's. But I did score these 7 boxes for $0.97/each with more q's to spare. My family loves these, and I like knowing that they are a more natural, easy and cheap snack option for them!

And lastly but definitely not leastly, the beloved Bath & Body Works semi-annual sale coupled with the Free Signature item coupon with purchase.

One night this week while the daddies were working late or working in Puerto Rico, my sister and I packed up all of the kids and headed to two different malls, one of which has two B&BW stores. Each child got a coupon and got to pick a $1 little bottle (pictured in the front) and then got the Signature Item (the big bottles) for free! Total expenditure for my family: $13.78 for 26 items. Total retail cost earlier in the season: $175.55. That's a lot of gifts for a little bit of money. :)

And I must wholeheartedly agree with Crystal Paine when she encourages us to network with some other local frugalites. Earlier this year, some friends and my sister and I started swapping emails and stories of our frugal victories. To streamline things, I set up a little google group for us "cvschicks." It has been a great way to share local deals with one another and encourage each other to keep watching the pennies and looking for fabulous savings!

For more of Frugal Friday, go here.

Forgot to mention...

...how I lost my son at the farm show...

Since I believe I have well-documented the fact that there were A LOT of people at the farm show, I won't repeat that little fact again. Needless to say, I was constantly counting the children (we went with my sister, her three children, and both of my parents). This year, my dad went with us, so there were more adults than usual, which was nice, but still, due to the crowds and the cramped quarters at places, and the crush of "traffic" through some of the halls, escalators and doorways, I was constantly looking out for the kids.

About dinnertime, Scott called me from work (he was working late) and Joey was standing up next to the chick incubator to watch the chickies emerge. I stood back and chatted with Scott for a minute. Meanwhile, the rest of our group walked into that hall from the area that they were at, so I got distracted by the phone, pushing the stroller, and wanting to catch their attention, that I walked away from my son!

The phonecall ended, we moved onto the next area, and I didn't realize he was gone until we approached the bison's cage and I turned to say, "Look, Joey...a bison!" And he wasn't with my our little pack. I didn't panic at first. But after awhile, when I couldn't remember where I had left him, I started to lose it. Thankfully, after praying about it, I remembered where I had seen him last. I thought for sure he would be screaming his ever-living head off. (I always joke that if anyone tried to lay a finger on my kids, they would regret it after they hear what comes out of their lungs!)

Ironically, when I got back into the poultry hall, he wasn't there and I heard no screaming. (I think it was at this moment that I started crying.) But within seconds, a nice young girl and her boyfriend approached with Joey who was cool as a cucumber, while his mother was a sobbing, hugging mess. :( When he realized that I was gone, he started to call for Mommy, so they helped him find me. Praise the Lord that He will never leave us nor forsake us (even when our crazy mommy does) and Joey was returned, no worse for the wear. Poor guy. He didn't get lost. I lost him.

And thus concludes the story of the first time that I lost a child in public. Hopefully that won't happen again. Especially at the largest agricultural show in the country. :)

Farm Show

So last week we went to our state's Farm Show, as I've already mentioned. There were SO MANY people there. We bumped into people with the stroller all day. Really. I felt like I was in a herd of cattle. (Oh, I crack myself up with the puns.)

Nice face, Joey. Is it really that painful to be photographed?

The boys especially liked the tractor and equipment hall...

So did some of the girls...

We saw plenty of livestock...

The piglets were Gracie's favorite. But she was deathly afraid of the sheep... (go figure). Joey liked this one "with cotton candy on it's legs!" I guess the cotton candy memories of a few moments earlier were lingering in his mind.

I thought the poodle-look was um, interesting on a sheep. :)

My dad is from the old country. He speaks their language.

Ever since we visited the Farm Show last January, Joey has been talking about riding the bull. He loves animals, as I've mentioned at least eight hundred times on here. But he is so afraid of animals when he gets within close proximity of them. I try to encourage Joey to be brave and courageous, and for at least a week prior to the Farm Show, he was talking about riding the bull. Since I thought this was a good way to "test" his newfound bravery, I was willing to fork over the cash to have him sit on the bull for a minute to get his picture taken. And when we got to the Farm Show, he did it! I was so proud of him!

And now he has by his bedside, an overpriced momento photo in a frame that some real cowboys printed for him, to remind him how much fun it is to be brave. :)

There is a "family and child" section at the farm show, which is where the kids wanted to spend the majority of their time.

Within the last few days, we finally got rid of the balloon animals that a clown made for them. Notice Gracie's "princess" cowgirl hat. There are lights in the glittery part that flash. So Gracie.

We spent some time in the expo areas...sampling Pennsylvanian goods and bumping into more people. Did I mention that there were A LOT of people there? The funny thing is that we even bumped into some people that we know!

They had one of these at Quiet Valley. A farm animal like a goat or large dog would run on the treadmill, which is attached to a butterchurn in the back and a washing machine arm in the front, thereby killing the proverbial two birds with one stone. I would like one to run my children on during these long indoor January days. :)

The carousel was again, a favorite...

Gracie finally konked out by the end of the night. Just in time to wake her up and get on the shuttle bus back to our car. :) I have never had stroller-sleepers. I am always amazed when I pass them in the mall...how do their mothers do that? My babies never slept in the stroller while out in public.

It was a great day! But I kid you not, we are still finding hay and, um, manure on our boots, sneakers, and stroller wheels. Such is life on a farm, I guess. :)

As if I haven't posted enough pictures of Gracie's crooked, fake smile...

...here's one more. There is never a short supply of them. :) That girl cracks me up.

More farm show pictures and other mediocre reporting/writing to come...one day. Soon, I hope.

Wordless Wednesday - The Queen of the Mountain

Eating crunchy snow from her mitten

Wordless Wednesday

Hello blog, how I've missed you!

This has been a mind-numbing week. I was dragging too much last week to share my farm show pictures and tell you all how I lost my son at the farm show. :)

And I have a million blog posts swirling around right now in my head that I'm afraid if I don't dump them out, that my head is going to explode. But alas, it's late and I should be in bed. Maybe tomorrow...

But I wanted you to know that I have missed blogging. Dreadfully missed it. :)

Winter in the new neighborhood

This afternoon, the kids and I trekked out of doors and enjoyed the sparkling snow that blankets our neighborhood.

They had fun making some of these...

And enjoyed this...even in the winter...

And we collected some data on these for a little science project...

But most of all, we had a blast doing this...

In fact, here is my "live" report...

I love snow that sparkles! And I really love sunlight reflecting off of the brilliant snow!

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

Isaiah 1:18

We went to the Farm Show yesterday...

...and bumped into people with the stroller all day, ate a lot of free ice cream, and came home smelling like hay and manure. (In fact, I do believe there is a little of both still stuck to the stroller wheels.)

It was a great day. But I'm still tired. And cold. (When did Pennsylvania move to the Arctic, anyway?)

More to follow, but thought I should share the photo that sums up the whole adventure. :) Ta-ta!

Wordless Wednesday - Snowy Day Math

A snowy day +

a little inspiration from a Little House book +

a big box = LOTS of imaginative fun!

In this case, in the form of "a pioneer girl and a ship captain rowing across the lake."

Wordless Wednesday

Babies...bright spots in January!

Last week, I got to hold a newborn and my, was she ever breathtaking! She smelled so sweetly, and when I put her on my shoulder, she stayed curled up in a little ball, she was that new. Heavenly.

She belongs to my new neighbor, Kelly. Congrats to their little family! Libby is precious!

And then my sister and her husband found out "what" they are expecting in May! You can find out for yourself here. Maybe the new baby will be born on either Lily's or my birthday! We haven't had a May baby since Lily was born.

Babies...such bright spots in January!

Tonight I'm pondering...

...why haircuts make my babies' cheeks look chubbier? And at what point will this phenomenon cease to occur? Because it makes the haircutting (one of my less desireable tasks) so worth it.

*sigh* I'm convinced that my children's cheeks were created solely for the purpose of sinking my lips into them.

So excited!

Yay! My church's ladies' paper (which I have worked with for several years) is online! You can find Grace & Honor here. Go check it out and be blessed by the plethora of wonderful articles written by our talented writers! We recently added some new writers and have a long list of columns pertinent to ladies of all ages. Our brilliant webmaster, Rachel, worked hard to get it all up and running and it looks fabulous!

If you are looking for some wholesome Biblical encouragement, go check it out now! I promise, you'll be blessed. :)

Photo tag

Missy (or Melissa haha!) and Nina tagged me to do this photo tag. Here are the rules:


1. Choose the 4th folder where you store pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag four people to do the same.
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)




Here's mine:

It's from a folder entitled, "Home." Shortly after signing the agreement on this house, I found some pictures that inspired ideas of things I wanted to do in this house. I copied them and dumped them into this folder, along with all of our other house pictures from before our house was finished.

While I don't think I will be attempting to recreate anything in this particular photo, I liked the way this person used trim to create a focal point over the bed. Other than sweat labor, this was probably relatively inexpensive, especially if you have a talented husband like I do. :) And I also like the wrought iron bed (I have one of them myself) and the paint color is pretty! Would love something similar in my dining room!

I think I found that first picture, when I found this one...

I think I was looking for ways to decorate around a gas fireplace mantle. Again, love the trim...probably cheap compared to expensive wall art. (Not that I would ever buy expensive wall art!) But I got the clock for above our mantle (more on that soon...) so I won't be attempting to recreate this one either.

But I would loooove one of those wrought iron fireplace grates! For the right price, of course. :)

Now, I tag:

Lacey

Ellen

Rebecca

Amy

If you don't want to do this one, I understand. There were more of you that I wanted to tag, but I normally don't tag anyone, so I figured that I would not break the rules...this time. :)

Have fun!

Another Joey-creation

Joey finished his Lego Stegosaurus this morning.

He's rather fond of it...

The light-up eye is one of his favorite features.

As soon as it was complete, he found one of his knights to "fight." Inside the mind of a 5-year old boy...

For the record, the steg won. :)

I am so pleased that he is able to put together such a complex set all by himself. But my heart is warmed that he is still little enough to call his Lego instructions, his "constructions."

And that right dimple that appears when he is particularly happy makes me smile too.

Just for kicks...

...I found my last CVS receipt for the year (or the latest December CVS receipt that I could find) and here is my Year-to-date Savings:

$1,682.07!!

I would estimate that I spent about $200ish at CVS from April (when I started CVSing in earnest) through December. Too bad the receipts don't total the annual spending, not just the quarterly. Based on those numbers I saved over 840%. :)

[***Edit*** I found a receipt from the end of the summer, and I was wrong, I only spent a little over $100 at CVS this year!! So my savings is ridiculously high, woo-hoo!]

Incidentally, I find it hilarious that I think posting my savings at a drugstore is something I do "for kicks." Oh dear.

I'm sure some of the other CVS chicks had even greater savings. If you have a December receipt handy, post a comment with your savings. Be a crazy CVS chick like me. :)

Just what I need

Life has been a bit of an ebb and flow lately. Sometimes going quite well, and at other times seemingly disastrously not well. :)

Scott has been working like crazy on this project due tomorrow. It's for the largest commercial job that his employer has ever had. And if they continue to deliver stupendous work (how could my husband do anything less? LOL!) and retain the client, they have the potential to keep their commercial department busy for ten years and then some. Needless to say, complaining about him working a lot right now with market conditions being what they are, is ridiculous. Complaining about the circumstances that God has put me in at any time is sin.

But when he is busy working long hours, and dinnertime comes and goes with no daddy, the long day of motherhood, school, housework takes its toll and the whiney thoughts creep in. The hour of 6pm is about the time that I starting thinking, "This is just when I need him to come home. I need my husband. The kids miss him, and we need him home with us tonight."

The bottom line is that I need nothing that the Lord has not provided. If it's the Lord's will for my husband to work quite a bit, then I have all that I need at home. The other day the Lord reminded me of this through an old hymn that says,

Just when I need Him, Jesus is near,
Just when I falter, just when I fear;
Ready to help me, ready to cheer,
Just when I need Him most.

Just when I need Him most,
Just when I need Him most,
Jesus is near to comfort and cheer,
Just when I need Him most.

And the last verse says,

Just when I need Him, He is my all,
Answering when upon Him I call;
Tenderly watching lest I should fall,
Just when I need Him most.


My problem is that I foolishly substitute Scott for the place that Jesus deserves in my life. My husband, as wonderful as he is, will never be able to meet all of my needs, all of the time. But there is One who is always near who will "answer when upon Him I call." Silly, sinful me needs to put her trust in Christ at all times, even 6 pm.

What I did on my Christmas vacation...

Well, the Christmas vacation is almost over, and dare I say it, I'm actually looking forward to getting back into the routine of school. (I may/will regret those words on Monday.)

The Christmas celebrations were spread out over several days here, which was nice. Last Saturday, our family did our church-cleaning and then Scott took us bowling as a special treat, especially since he has been doing so much overtime. Bowling was a hoot and Gracie almost beat Scott (with only "a little" help from the gutter-rails and the ball-ramp.)

We had lots of fun hosting Granddaddy (Scott's dad) this past week. Scott was/is working like crazy on this enormous project due this Wednesday, so we didn't see much of him most days until nighttime. Thankfully, we are on break (plus we homeschool...hey there are perks...late bedtimes, late risings!) so the kids stayed up late so he could spend some time with them.

And, of course, we had lots of fun with Granddaddy too. As I've mentioned earlier, I am only a social-coffee-drinker, and consequently, I am experiencing some caffeine-withdrawal from all of the Dunkin/Starbucks-runs that we made while he was visiting. :)

Never underestimate the power of a man-on-a-mission. After four different DD's, he finally found the elusive cup-ornament that he heard me ask about in the first DD. Funny memory, and now I have a cute, little ornament. :)

In addition to coffee-breaks and a trip or two to my father-in-law's favorite diner, we spent our Christmas vacation:

-sleeping in too much and not cleaning up enough


-taking a jaunt to Cabela's, whereupon I introduced my father-in-law to some serious couponing by splitting his transactions. The confused look on his face was priceless, but he thought I was brilliant for saving him at least $40. :)


-Joey ate bison meat at Cabela's. The highlight of his week. Now he is a "real Indian" because he ate the bison. Too cute!


-We checked out the animals again, at Cabela's. Why pay for the zoo, when there is Cabela's?? Joey loved seeing the Cape Buffalo (his animal-of-the-week) and all of the others.

-Did the Lights in the Parkway for the first time. My favorite lights display was the toy soldier who shoots the cannon over the road, for those of you who have been there before.


-On New Year's Eve, we had a great church service and then Scott and I rang in the New Year with a game of Jenga...one of his favorite Christmas presents. He loves games and competition. I'm not very competitive, and would rather just knock the tower over and lose early on in the game, since I know I'm going to lose anyhow. But he forced me to persevere. And I still lost, but it was a good game. :)

We're such old married people. Content to stay home and play games on NYE.

-We took Granddaddy back to the airport, with no shortage of tears from my minivan. :( But afterwards, we stopped at a furniture outlet that is going out of business and I found the perfect, little 2-drawer nightstand for the girls' bedroom for a great price. That dried a few tears from the backseat. Then we came home and started whipping the house into shape. (It's not in shape yet, just so you know.)

-Today, the kids and I met my sister and brother-in-law and kids at the farmers' market for some great prices on produce, a little lunch, and a kid-swap. Graeme took the three boys home, and my sister, The Wondershopper, and the three girls and I hit the JCP outlet for some amazing deals on stuff for the house! We both found some great stuff. I got an enormous clock for above our mantle...originally retailing for $349.99 and I paid $41 for it!! Plus, a little chair for the family room, another clock, a jewelry box, some white plates to complete my collection for above our bed, and a few other things. It was awesome thanks to some serious clearance sales, a few 25% off coupons, and answered prayer. I'm not kidding. :) Maybe I will post some pics of the stuff eventually. I'm so excited to work on the house some more!

Hopefully, we can transition back into a normal routine with school and a decent bedtime once Scott's project is over in a few days. I love the first of the year! I didn't want to rush Christmas, and I'm not wild about the lack of sun in January, but I've been ready for 2008 to be over for some time. In fact, I started working on my 2009 goals in early December. :) I pray that the changes that I set out to make are pleasing to Him and that He uses us greatly in this new year! And I pray the same for you all, tonight, too. God bless and goodnight!

Hysterical Homeschool Video

My amazing all-homeschooled, now college-student cousin made up this hilarious video parody on homeschool!




Amber is really good, isn't she? I totally cracked up at the "I wanna be where the people are" line...I feel like that sometimes too, and I am only the mom. :) And the "only get A's and above" line was great, too. :)

Way to go, Amber!