What an incredible weekend! And there's still 1.5 days left to go!

Matt got called off from work yesterday which was a very pleasant surprise. So we made plans to go to Panera after I was done nannying and spend the rest of the evening shopping.

Panera is my fave but we don't go there too often since Matt isn't a huge fan. I got my usual bagel and cream cheese and a bowl of soup. We make the joke that I like cheese on my cheese and potato on my potato because I dunk my cream cheesed bagel into my broccoli cheddar soup and at Wendy's I dunk my french fries into my cheese potato.

We then decided to go to the mall to browse, which turned out to be mistake number 1. (a very good mistake) I wasn't finding anything I wanted so I was a bit discouraged. We walked by the window of American Eagle and I wanted to go in to look at their necklaces. I haven't shopped at American Eagle since sophomore year of high school. I decided I didn't want to look like everyone else anymore since AE was one of the most popular stores. Since then I have bought one necklace from there. I added a second necklace to that list last night. I loved it and it was just what I was looking for, a small silver ball with diamonds on one side and cut out shapes on the other on a long chain. Dressy yet simple. Matt agreed to let me buy it if we could go look at TVs. I didn't want to look because we could just come back next week to buy when I got my paycheck. But we went to Sears anyways.

Long story short, we came home last night with a 32" flatscreen Samsung television! It is beautiful and exactly what we wanted. We hooked it up and the contrast between our old tv and this one is incredible! Needless to say we have been enjoying it all last night and today. We paid for half of it last night in cash and put the rest on our new Sears card. We plan to pay for the other half when I get my paycheck this Friday. It was on sale even so we can put most of my paycheck in the bank and then when we get our Christmas presents later on we'll just put that cash directly into our savings. It was a good night.

This morning I slept in because I haven't been getting adequate sleep the past week. I didn't even realize it was so late until Matt came home for his lunch break! I ate some lunch with him, did my normal morning exercises, and then cleaned with a passion. Our bathroom needed a good scrubbing down so I spent the most time in there. Our shower is now nice and shiny and white again and our floors are swept up. Everything is straightened and neat and our dishes are drying. The laundry is finishing up and I now have a very nice clean house. I love the feeling of cleaning my own home. It makes me feel so accomplished. Scrubbing on my hands and knees really does build character. Plus is helps me grow my servants heart I've been working towards. I am supposed to be the lover/helper as a wife. In order to do my job as a wife properly I need to be willing to serve my husband. I do this by doing most of the household chores, keeping him well fed, making sure his clothes are always clean and organized, and making our house a home for us. I usually dread starting my chores, but during them I have a great sense of peace and enjoy the manual work. I love being a housewife!

Our kitty is amazing. She is loving and playful and neat. She has started picking up her areas lately. This sounds strange, but so true. Sometimes she makes a mess around her litter box. She accidentally scoops some litter onto the floor when she's covering up her business. This isn't a big problem since we keep a little dustpan next to her box and just scoop it back in there. But lately she's been jumping out and pushing it back towards her box with her paws. Such a clean little lady! She doesn't the same thing when her food gets outside her bowl. She is so clever. I just love her. She's sitting on my lap right now enjoying a nice nap while I update.

Time for a shower. Yes, it is almost 5 o'clock and I have yet to shower for the day. I figured if I was going to clean I'd just leave the shower until I was done. It took me this 4.5 hours to clean our whole house and do the laundry. But it smells so nice and clean now!

We're taking our Christmas card picture tonight! Yay. I'm so excited to send it out to all our family and friends!

Happy Holiday Season!