Random Acts of Kindness

So Today I did my 29 RAOK. Its my 29th birthday today! I didnt feel very much like celebrating. Im not a party girl, not a bar girl. When I found this idea I just had to do it.  Here are the images and I will explain each after the picture

 Look at that concentration!

 Kaylee working hard on her cards for hospital patients

 The finished product from Kaylee for hospital patients

 Jeremy's cards for elderly people

 Candy bar for the postmaster

 We left scratch offs at 4 gas pumps

 Cookies and cards for Jeremy's daycare teachers

 A bottle of laundry detergent that we left at a local laundry mat

 This was fun...went to the $1 store and hid dollars behind toys. What a surprise for someone

 And yet another one!

 On the hospital elevator dropping off coloring books, crayons and cards. The person from the hospital was super appreciative

 Dropping off cards at a elderly home. I was hoping to hand deliver some, but they didnt seem interested

 Here is a random card placed on a towing sign

 Dropping cookies off to Grandmoms job! She wasnt there, so we left some nice pictures for her

 Another random card at a bus stop. It reads Make today a great day because everyday is a gift

 Sidewalk chalk left at a local playground

 Stopped by Daddys work to drop off some cookies

 Daddy wasnt there either, so we left him so notes!

 We got some balloons at the $1 store and handed them out to kids (with moms approval)

 Anyone want a  free soda?

 How about a free snack?

 We left some quarters at one of the ride toys at the mall

 Another random card it read, Someone, somewhere is missing you

 Quarters at the gum ball machine

 We stopped by the dentist office and dropped off some coloring books and crayons

 How about some popcorn with your movie?

 We went Ding Dong Ditching...and left 2 neighbors with Ding Dongs!

 We took my dad out to lunch, paid for his lunch, and left the waitress a 50% tip

This was fun. We got a $25 TGIF gift card, turned right around and handed it to the cashier. The look on his face was priceless.


The other things that were not pictured 1. I made the kids breakfast, since it was my birthday then was a big deal 2. Mailed a letter to a friend...stamp and all! Even offered her a pedicure on my bill 3. Wrote a positive review about a company we used recently, Usually the only time I fill those things out is when I want to complain. 4.Held a door open for someone 5.Made an appt to donate blood (I couldnt donate since I donated back in November) 6.Left pennies in the parking lot for kids to pick up, also left a pile in the mall 7.Dont speak negatively...this was a hard one, especially since someone at the hospital made me mad in the parking lot!

Things were a little stressful. Trying to get all 29 things done with 2 kids in tote was a little hard. I was worried I wouldn't have enough time. I didn't want to lie to myself and take a "freebie" on a RAOK which really wasn't one. I put a lot of pressure on myself about the whole thing. I think it would've been more enjoyable if I hadn't been so serious about it. Or maybe spread it out, instead of 29 things in one day, maybe 29 days of one nice thing. I wanted to be able to see some peoples reaction. Maybe sit back and just watch. But then I didnt. What if I saw one person just take the money...not buy a soda with it, just yank the quarters and leave. Or if someone noticed quarters in the gum ball machine and then went thru all the machines and took all the quarters. So Im kinda glad I didnt watch what happened.
Driving back a couple stops later that evening, everything was gone, the scratch offs, the popcorn. It was kinda sad. All the work and thought, gone. I can only *hope* that one person took one. And one person didnt take it all (like the scratch offs at the gas station)
The kids and I had a great day. I think what made it so great is we were together all day. We did some spontaneous things like play at the playground, play at the mall playground, stopped by the arcade, sat at the mall while the kids ran around playing. At the end of the day, those are the things that stick out. Lunch with my dad, the kids laughter, the homemade dinner Dave made, hiding behind cars with Kaylee while she "ding dong ditched" her friends.
It was a great project. The kids and I working together to make the cards, dropping things off, and putting things together. I hope that Kaylee learned Tis better to give than to receive.
But most of all I hope she realizes how nice it was to just spend time together. And we dont have to go to a amusement park to do something fun. That we dont have to sit infront of the tv all the time. That sometimes the little things mean the most.
I love my family. And somehow, today...I appreciate them even more than I did yesterday

It's been awhile...

So yeah it has been awhile! I don't know who I thought I was fooling thinking I could keep up with a blog. 

I'll try again since it's 2012.

My recent addiction has become pinterest. It is such a cool site with tons of ideas that I must try! If I could just get OFF the computer to do them. With a new year in tote maybe I will try some. I guess I can make a "resolution" to try one a month. It is full of awesome recipes as well which I'd like to try out too.

I think if I'm going to do a better job with my blogs, they will have to be shorter. Considering I can barely find time to write anything, it will be a lot less stressful if I make them short and sweet.

I've fallen off the coupon train. I want to try again. I have a huge pile of coupons to go thru. I miss all the money I was saving but it is SO time consuming. I just feel like I don't have enough time to do anything I want. As I sit here typing I'm thinking of all the things that I want to do but don't know how to fit it all in.

I'd like to get into my exercise routine again, I'd like to clip coupons and get good savings again, I'd like to try more recipes for dinner' I'd like to blog more, I'd like to spend more time with my kids.

So if anyone knows a good time management person, please introduce them to me!!  I already get up at 545am to be at work by 730am. Then I dont get off until 4pm. And by the time I get Jeremy, start dinner, help with homework, bath time....well... Where is "me" time???  Still trying to figure it all out. 

I would LOVE to exercise first thing in the morning to get it out of the way. But I'm tired and not a morning person and I like to sleep. I don't know how hard I could push myself at 5am. So that leaves me with late night workouts. After the kids go to sleep, around 9ish. I like to think of that as my "relax unwind" time. Since thats usually the first time I can sit down without doing something. The idea of exercising 3 nights a week, couponing 1 night a week and blogging 1 night a week is overwhelming to me. That's 4 nights a week I have things to do. Like I said...still trying to figure it all out. 

So my birthday is in 9 days! That is the real reason I was prompted to update my blog. Ive deceided to do "29 acts of random kindness" in honor of my 29th birthday. I read about this on a blog and thought, What a WONDERFUL idea!!! I love giving to others much more than I like to receive. And this year my birthday just feels so...blah. I just don't care. I don't do bars, or clubs, my house is in construction and even if I did do anything...I have ONE friend so seriously how lame would that party be. This seems fitting and I'm actually really excited about it! I put together a list today of 29 things I would like to do. I tried to keep my costs down since I don't have that kind of cash laying around. I'm pretty happy with my list tho. Once Ive done everything I will post a blog about all the RAOK. Super excited about this.