South Eastern Idaho Shopping SUCKS

Okay, so my header is a little bit on the harsh side, I know. I would not, by any means, consider myself to be an avid shopper. I shop for things when I need them. I window shop for things when I want them. And I ALWAYS look at the price tag BEFORE I dream about them. Pretty simple. I like to think that most people have a similar shopping style to myself, but maybe I'm just vain?

Prior to moving to Idaho Falls I didn't really think much about the shopping impact this move would have on me. After all, I grew up primarily in Nampa. The big shopping was done in Boise - pre-building boom. So we had the "normal" stuff, but nothing super special. I rarely went to downtown Boise to go shopping. Probably because we didn't want to deal with parking and also because the prices downtown are typically higher since they are specialty shops.

On any given "shopping excursion" depending on what I was looking for or looking at I would hit up the Boise Towne Square Mall, stores around the mall, the Eagle and Fairview district to include Babies R Us, Craft Warehouse, Shopko, Walmart, Marshalls, Ross, etc. You know, the NORMAL stores. If I was desperately looking for something specific, like when we needed to get cloth diapers for Ryker's crazy diaper rash that wouldn't go away, I was able to find several stores that carried what I was looking for. They all had websites, I called, they told me what they had and what the prices were, etc. and I went and purchased the ones that were closest to me at the cheapest price. See, I'm not a crazy shopper.

However, my first real experience at shopping here in Idaho Falls fell far short of my normal routine. It was about 2 weeks before Christmas. Justin and I had decided that we wanted to get Ryker the Little People Click N Fun Barnyard as one of his presents. We had seen them in town and after finishing our list of his other gifts decided that was the last thing on the list.

So I went out searching for Ryker's last present. It was only December 10th at this time, so it's not like I was crazy looking for an item on Christmas Eve or anything like that!

I went to BOTH Walmarts, Toys R Us, Shopko, Target, Sears, JCPenney, and KMart looking for this silly toy. We didn't really want it THAT bad, but I didn't think it would be impossible to find either. All of the stores were out of this particular item, but many of them told me that they were getting new shipments of toys in a couple of days. I decided to look online before going to the stores after a couple of days. Walmart, Toys R Us, and Target all said that the stores here in town not only had the toy but that they had several in stock. Cool, right? NOT! I called the stores where they confirmed exactly what I had seen online. (Yes I called all four stores because I didn't believe them) And then I went out to get our last gift.

Turns out, according to the floor people at ALL FOUR STORES, the computer system was wrong and they didn't have the toy I was looking for and they wouldn't have it until after Christmas. The sales people weren't all rude, in fact I even had one lady who saw what I saw online and began digging through all the new shipment of toy boxes at Target for me. Needless to say, there was no success. Justin and I ended up just changing what we got Ryker. It all turned out great in the end, but COME ON!

Now you be thinking that this is probably just an isolated incident that I happened to get stuck in the middle of. Well, you are wrong. Sorry! I tried to find my dad a four waffle waffle-maker - very specific I know. Anyway, again Walmart said they had it. When I arrived at the store, the sales lady was incredibly rude to me and told me that the ones they showed as available were the two broken ones on the display. When I asked her why those were showing as for sale, since they obviously weren't sellable, she got even ruder!

I know that you have to travel to get anywhere out of Idaho Falls. Heck, that's true for anywhere in Idaho. I used to drive 30 mins one way to work every single day! However, this lady proceeded to tell me that if I was so damn picky (yes her words, not mine) about what kind of waffle maker I wanted then I could drive up to Rexburg or down to Blackfoot to see if they had one. In shock, I politely asked her if she would be able to call either of them to guarantee that if I did drive there I would be able to get this waffle maker. She just huffed at me and told me nope, no one could guarantee that.

Needless to say, I found a different gift for my dad as well.

Here is the lamest thing I think I have seen while shopping here. It's like we live out in the middle of nowhere or something. While we do live out a ways, I think big chain stores like Walmart should be able to keep their inventory stocked. I was doing some grocery shopping and needed to buy some stick butter. Pretty basic grocery store item to have on hand, fully stocked at all times unless there is some sort of stick butter shortage expected in the near future. I kid you not, between the two Walmarts they had ONE BOX OF STICK BUTTER. ONE, not just one of a certain brand or one of salted or not salted, ONE BOX!!! I might be able to let that one go IF there had been like the inventory boxes in the middle of the isles and they were working on them or something. But no, they had simply run out of all their stick butter (at least had let the shelves get completely empty that is)

I am not dissing on just Walmart, that happens to be where I shop most often because, again, I'm just an average every day, cheapo kind of shopper.

Some of the other things that have really irritated me about the shopping over here include the lack of baby supplies. I know this is going to sound wrong, but the area here has a lot of farmers and a lot of LDS people. Both of which tend to have families on the larger side (4+ kids). WHY CAN'T I BUY ANY BABY OR MATERNITY STUFF AROUND HERE???? Every store has a dinky little section if any, but nothing substantial. Even the Toys R Us over here stinks. It's tiny and crowded and lacking largely in the baby department. They have like 2 crib sets to choose from!

I was excited when I saw that Macy's was finally getting a maternity section since Kohl's and Target's sections sucked (3-4 shirts and a few pants - no dresses) but was disappointed again when it was a tiny little section that had the EXACT SAME CLOTHES in it as the Motherhood store just a few stores down in the same mall. HELLO, that is just lame, seriously!

When it's really cold outside, you are 7, 8, 9 months pregnant and you have a 15 month old and want to go for a walk or just get out, I've always found going to the mall or going "shopping" was a good alternative. Maybe I'm crazy, but I like to do that. I have walked the Idaho Falls mall so many times now that I probably could tell you the price of every single item in that place! It's ridiculous. I seriously am to the point where I take Ryker to Lowes or Home Depot because I have paced the mall and all the other stores so many times I am sick of it.

Don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying it over here. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I didn't realize I would but I miss my shopping. It is a beautiful place to live and I am sure that being super pregnant, stuck at home with my little guy, and not really having any friends here yet has contributed to my skewed view of the area. However, to any one who is still reading this and especially if you have any kind of power to make things change - BRING MORE SHOPPING OPTIONS TO IDAHO FALLS!!!! They have a TON of chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, insurance agents, realtors, etc. THEY NEED MORE SHOPPING!!!! Don't get me started on the dining around here right now...that'll be a post for later.

Until later, enjoy your wonderful shopping wherever you may be. I know it could be worse, like living in Rupert :-) He he. So I am thankful for the options I have, I'm just not quite so used to the limitations that are set before me!

New Blogging Goals?

Okay, so here is the deal. I am going to try to expand my blog just a teeny tiny little bit. Up until this point our blog has been about, well us. Nothing more than a digital catalog of our comings and goings. While I've been quite the slacker about it, I want to expand it to be a little bit more than just that. I think I want to start writing more often on things around me, my thoughts, etc. And so I will begin this evening with my first "non-Reed specific" blog but keep in mind everything I post about will be my opinion or information I have gathered about something that does in fact impact my family. If you are curious as to how it impacts my fam, feel free to ask. My brain can be very random and so the connections I see may not be as readily visible to the rest of the world as they are to me!

The Next Few Days...

Okay, first of all, thank you to everyone for all of your suggestions. We have, mostly permanently, decided on naming the baby Haidyn Meri Reed. Her middle name will be pronounced like Marie, but we used the spelling Meri because she is being named after Justin's mom, Merena so we wanted it to look similar. Also, Merena (or marina) means from the sea and Meri means sea. Who knew? :)

There is always the possibility that we will change our minds on the spelling (we were debating between Meri and Merie) but I think it's going to stick. Then again, my name was set in stone to be Carrie Elizabeth and when my dad went down to call everyone after I was born (this was pre-cell phones of course) my mom filled out the birth certificate and put Carrie Noël on my birth certificate. Surprise! Ha ha! I don't plan on doing anything quite that drastic but I still would like to keep my artistic rights to change her name if we see fit.

In case you didn't know or were never informed/in the know, Haidyn's due date is actually April 7th. However, at our last doctor's appointment we discussed setting an inducement date for April 15th if she isn't born by then. My doctor surprised both me and Justin when he told us that he wouldn't wait until I was past due. He said he thinks the baby is big enough that we should go ahead and induce a week early! He actually made it sound like other than the fact he wants to wait until I am 39 weeks, he thinks she is big enough to be born now!

So at my next appointment, this Thursday, I will be scheduling Haidyn's birthday! We are going to try and have me induced on the afternoon of the 31st. If they can't do that then we are going to shoot for the morning of the 1st. I haven't decided which birthday I would rather she have. If she is born on the 1st, while it is April Fools Day, she and Ryker will be 16 months TO THE DAY apart in age. And honestly having the baby's birthday on the first of the month was really nice! Ha ha!

She could still come early, but I'm just planning on it not being until late next week. HOLY COW, I'm going to have 2 kids come late next week! That's just crazy!!!!

Hope things are fantastic in your neck of the woods!

Name That Baby...

Okay so Justin thinks that we still have plenty of time to come up with a middle name for Haidyn. However, I want to have all of that decided LONG before we go to the hospital. Unfortunately, every middle name I suggest gets shot down very quickly. But Justin hasn't been able to come up with any he likes either.

So we are enlisting your help! Please send us middle name suggestions for our little girl who is due the beginning of April!

Here is what we have discovered so far as guidelines:
*Since Haidyn is a cross gender name we really want a feminine middle name
*Justin seems to prefer strong consonant names in general (ie, Ryker John, Haidyn, Grayson Charles)
*Number of syllables doesn't matter as long as the name flows
*I tend to call my kids by their first and middle name so it needs to flow well and easily off the tongue
*No middle name is not an option
*Lyn, Noel, Mae, Carrie, Clara, Elizabeth, Clarice, and Lee have all been vetoed already
*I'm not a huge fan of the very common middle names like Ann, Marie, Lynn, etc.

Okay, ready? Go team go and let's find this baby a middle name!!!!

Carrie's New Years Resolutions

I feel like I really have some things that I would like to work on this year. It's really the first year that I feel that I am actually in control of most aspects of my life so that my resolutions might actually be achievable. In the past I have been too dictated by school, work, or simply the unknown to really set goals for myself - or so I always thought. So here it goes:

1. WORK DURING WORK HOURS - No more spending time in front of the computer rather than spending time with my family. I hope this doesn't hinder my business too much. In fact, I am hoping that by putting my family first I will be blessed in my business as well. I plan to do this by setting my work hours and being more efficient during that time so I don't have lagging work that needs to be completed last minute.
2. MAKE DINNER - I know this sounds simple, but I need to be better at planning, preparing, and serving dinner every night. It is way too expensive to go out all the time and isn't nearly as good for you. A side goal of this is to have dinner ready within about 30 mins of Justin getting home from work so our together time isn't spent with me cooking in the kitchen! I plan to do this by preparing a meal plan and shopping 2 weeks at a time, sticking to the meal plan, and starting dinner in plenty of time for it to be ready when Justin gets home.
3. KEEP AN ORGANIZED HOME - we are still in the process of getting all moved in, but I want everything to have a place in our home and to get in the habit of always putting things back where they belong. Whether it's doing the dishes or laundry, or just keeping the dining room table cleared off, I want my home to be a place that I am proud of no matter when the doorbell rings or who is behind it. I plan to do this by setting a laundry schedule, cleaning up dishes after each meal, and picking up the house during the kids nap times each and every day.
4. BE MORE SPIRITUAL - this is an area I have always struggled with. I need to do a better job of reading my scriptures, saying my prayers, having family home evening, teaching my children, attending the temple and preparing myself for church services each week. I seem to always be able to find time to check Facebook, work on work, etc. I CAN find time to dedicate to the Lord and to my own personal growth. I plan to do this by waking up before the kids each day so I can have time to read my scriptures and say personal prayer, by dedicating a night for family home evening and preparing the lesson, and by preparing myself for church each week.
5. READ FOR FUN - I am in the middle of The Work and The Glory series right now. I want to make sure that I continue to take time for myself and read just for fun. I also want to read to the kids for fun each and every day! I plan to do this by reading in my book before I go to sleep each night, by reading to the kids before nap time and bed time, and by taking time to read at random to them during the day. The books are only like 10 mins long each at most, I can do this!
6. LOSE WEIGHT - ha ha ha, I know what you are thinking. HELLO, I'm pregnant. BUT I will only be pregnant until April and I know what I weighed before I got pregnant and let me tell you - I need to lose weight. SO trying to be realistic and knowing that I will have a worse start than normal, I am setting the goal to be down 20 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight by the end of 2011. No, I'm not going to share with you what that end number is...but I know :-) I plan on doing this by going for daily walks (eventually daily runs would be nice), finding work out videos to do through Netflix, Directv, etc., and hopefully if our finances allow it I would love to get and use the Wii Fit (have the Wii - just need the Fit)

I may add to this as the year goes on but I cannot and WILL NOT delete from it. I may give updates periodically and if you feel so inclined I would LOVE your help and encouragement. Feel free to check up on me and help make me accountable for my resolutions. We all know that it's easier to stick to a task or goal when you have someone to report to. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Reed Family Christmas Cards

Mod Ornaments Holiday Card

Get custom holiday cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words...

I know we've all heard that saying many many times throughout our lives. So what if a picture is worth a thousand words? Whoopty Doo! But what does that mean about a personalized greeting card? One that maybe contains a couple of pictures AND words???

I am a huge fan of personalized greeting cards, holiday cards, birthday invitations, etc. You name it, I think there should  be a picture of your family on it! The programs that you can buy to create these kinds of personalized memories can cost in the $1000's and then once it's created you still have to try to figure out how and where to get them printed, purchase the envelopes and still address and mail them! Sheesh! No wonder people just opt for the lame standard fill in the blank cards you can pick up at the grocery store!

NOT ME!!! I've been using Shutterfly to purchase all sorts of items since Justin and I got married almost 4 years ago. From photo books to enlargements, we have used Shutterfly for numerous occasions. Most recently, with the birth of Ryker, we started using the Cards & Stationary options that Shutterfly offers. The first one we sent out was for Valentine's Day. Ryker was only 2 months old but had just had some really cute pictures taken. Because his birthday was so close to Christmas we had kind of missed sending out Christmas letters so we opted to send Valentine's Day cards to all of his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. They were SOOOOO stinking cute that most people still have them hanging on their refrigerators almost a year later! In addition to how adorable they were, they were really easy to put together. It took so little time on my part that I didn't feel like I neglected my little boy one bit to get them done! They arrived earlier than expected with envelopes and all so I just had to address and stamp! It was a great experience! You can check out all their holiday themed cards by clicking here.

We plan on using Shutterfly again this year only in an attempt to actually send out Christmas cards! Because we only have little Ryker man this year, I want to focus the photo on the card on him! We still need to go and take his picture in the snow, but click here to see the photo card I think we are going to send out! I love knowing that even though we are cutting it close on time, Shutterfly always delivers and I'll still be able to get these out before Christmas!!!!

I have used Shutterfly for numerous other projects. One of my favorites that I want to order also for the Christmas cards are the address labels. They are super cute and since we just moved I think it will be a cute way of sharing our new address with everyone in a legible manner rather than me writing it over and over. Here is a page with all of their address labels!

Seriously, if you haven't used Shutterfly before - YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY THEM OUT!!! Now is the perfect time as well since Christmas is coming and I know most of you are like me and haven't even gotten to your Christmas cards yet - they will save you time AND make you look like you were on top of things all along!!!

Let me know if you decide to use them and what your feelings are!!!!