Sunday, January 23, 2011

PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!

I debated on writing this post because, to be quite honest, I'm still a bit shaken up by it. BUT in the end, I decided if I can help ANYONE of you or anyone you know, it would be worth it. I know it's a long post and I'm sorry, but I'm sure it might be an eye opener to some of you.

Here's the story...

We're moving, you all know that, hence the lack of posts, so we've been cleaning out stuff and selling things we don't need or use anymore. We have this video gaming chair that had been on KSL for a while so when I got a text yesterday morning about it I was stoked. The guy wanted to come get it and said he'd be here between 1 and 2. My husband left for the morning to get Taya (our 3 year old) out of the house- she's been a little stir crazy with all the packing going on- so he was gone, leaving me home with just Dodger (our 15 month old). I jumped in the shower and when I had gotten out I had a text from the guy that read, "hear". Yes, it was spelled wrong :).... That's besides the point, but anyway I text him back saying I was upstairs and asked if he was still "hear", only I used the skills my English teacher taught me and spelled it correctly, "here" :). Wow I'm a brat! He said he went to grab lunch and he'd be right back. Oh, and by the way, this was only 11:00 so I was a little bugged that he came 2 hours early and honestly, didn't like that Cam wasn't home. Anyway, 10 minutes later he was "hear" again and knocked on the door. I had the gaming chair right in our entryway so the guy could just take a quick look and leave. He showed up with a friend and they both came in, looked at it for a minute and paid me for it. The one guy who was buying it from me was super nice, shorter, dark hair and looked like a descent person. The other one was pretty tall, dark hair and didn't say much. So, the shorter one starts asking me about our house, how much we're selling it for, where we're moving, yadda yadda yadda... He tells me where he's from, then he asks if our house has a basement. I'm holding Dodger and just so ready for them to leave by then. As the guy is talking to me I look up to see the friend checking out our front door. It's a pretty cool door, I'm not gonna lie. It's kind of a castle looking door with a window in it. So he's looking at it and all of the sudden starts touching the lock, then reaches his hand up higher to where the latch is. He mentions how neat the door is while the other guy keeps talking to me (at this point I feel like it's more of a distraction). I look back up and see the guy trying to latch the door. He tried again and my heart sank. Ya know that feeling when your throat drops into your stomach?  I reached in my pocket to find my phone to dial 911 and it wasn't there. My first thought was 'what are they gonna do to me?' Then I start thinking about the other guy asking if we had a basement, and remember the taller one has the chair cord in his hands. I was trying to keep my cool, trying to figure out what to do, and notice the guy can't latch the lock. At this point I'm praising the heavens our latch can only be locked by pushing the door in tight. Honestly, I completely froze. It's all a blur what really happened after that, but they left, I bolted the door, turned on our alarm, started crying and called my husband. P.S. I'm literally shaking as I write this, that's how much it terrified me. 

So here's why I'm writing this post... I'm usually a pretty cautious person. I never leave my kids outside alone, never let my kids out of my site in public places, USUALLY don't let strangers in my house when my husband isn't home ;), etc. BUT yesterday I was thrown off guard. The guy arrived 2 hours earlier than I expected and so I was put in a COMPLETELY VULNERABLE position. The chair had been on KSL for so long I just wanted it gone, which honestly was my biggest mistake. I was too afraid to lose the sale by telling the guy he couldn't come yet so I thought it would be fine. Plus I worry about stuff a lot so pretty much I told myself to just relax. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I cannot stress enough what a CRAZY, DANGEROUS world we live in. You cannot for ONE SECOND be naive enough to think that bad things will never happen to you or your family. I know that nothing ended up happening to me, but honestly I can't help but think my Heavenly Father was in my favor yesterday. I keep replaying the day and thinking how many things I could have done differently, so for anyone of you that sell things on KSL, Craigslist, etc. please please please do not let anyone in your home while you're alone. And better yet, meet the person in a public place for the exchange if at all possible. My husband made a good point yesterday, no amount of money is worth your life

This experience has definitely made me more aware of my surroundings. I always think of things like this happening in the movies--- the music gets creepy, the lighting goes darker...--- but seriously, this was just an ordinary day, sunny outside, blinds open., 11:00 in the morning. And again, I know nothing happened, but it was definitely enough to scare me into being more cautious from here on out. 

So yes, I know this is a random blog that doesn't fit into any kind of crafting category, but I cannot stress enough how careful we need to be. Please be safe. Please keep your kids safe. I've been pretty hard on myself for this one! I've never wanted to be that person that was too naive to think it was ok to leave their kids in the car "for just a second" or to let them outside without being watched. But, let your guard down for a second and bad things CAN happen. So learn a lesson from my experience (and thank goodness the experience didn't end up being more traumatic!)  and be more cautious. Don't let this kind of thing happen to you. Be smart. Be safe.

Also, Mom, I know you're going to read this. Don't cry. And don't kill me. I'm fine. I love you. :)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

WINNER

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! And a special thanks to CSN Stores for offering it!! :)

And the lucky winner is....

said...
I love your style! Good luck with the move... :)
January 15, 2011 2:17 PM


Congratulations k and p!!! Please either leave a comment with your email so I can contact you or email me at ashleysfurniturefix@gmail.com.


(winner was selected through random.org

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Another GIVEAWAY!!!!!

A special thanks to CSN Stores for offering a GIVEAWAY this week!

They have over 200 websites to choose from with items ranging from home bar furniture, to cookware, to shoes, etc. So, for this week's giveaway CSN is going to give one lucky reader a $15 gift certificate redeemable in any one of their stores.

CSN Stores

To Enter This Giveaway:
1. Simply leave a comment

for additional entries you can:

2. Follow me - click the "follow me" button on the left side bar
 *Be sure to leave an additional comment

and/or

3. Grab my button
*Again, be sure to leave an additional comment

The giveaway will close Tuesday, January 18th and the winner announced Wednesday, January 19th.

Good luck!!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

So Much To Do, So Little Time To Do It

We're moving in about 3 weeks and my first priority, you'd think, should be packing. But no. I'm more worried about getting my projects done before we leave so they're all finished before the move! :) Do I need to be set straight? Nah, I'll just procrastinate til the last minute I think. So if anyone wants to watch my kids in a few weeks I'm sure I'll need it! Ha!

Here are a few things that have been sitting in my garage for far too long! Cross your fingers I can finish them before we leave! ...
A credenza I found on KSL, with intentions of selling, but decided to be selfish and keep it for myself! The thing weighs probably 350lbs and it's not very often that you find SOLID wood pieces anymore. Speaking of which, if you ever look at furniture on Craigslist or anywhere else a lot of times the add will say "Solid Wood" but I'm willing to bet 75% of the time they're wrong. Unfortunately most people don't know what "solid wood" means. This credenza will be replacing the dresser that already sits below our tv...
 before & after
I decided I like how chunky and massive the credenza is so it'll be fun to switch things around a bit!

Next up...
A chest I found - also on KSL - that I've been meaning to sell! So if all my projects can get done in the next little bit, this pretty little thing should be up for sale shortly!

*Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the last thing, but it's a vanity of my great grandma's that goes with the rest of a bedroom set I refinished for my daughter a few years ago. Her bedroom isn't big enough to fit all the pieces so it's been sitting in the garage for quite a while now. I'm excited to get that one finished, it has a huge mirror that I can already picture my daughter dancing in front of! :)

My garage will be the biggest nightmare to pack, I'm afraid. But yes, I will be dragging all my crafting things with me. :)

*****
So what's sitting in your garage?? :) Hopefully nothing but cars, because that would mean you're more on the ball than me and have finished your projects already! I would LOVE to see your projects and share them with everyone!! Please email me anything you're willing to share at ashleysfurniturefix@gmail.com.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Reviews

I've decided I need to start doing reviews on products/things I can't live without. I'm the type of person that gets super excited about something when I've decided I love it and want everyone to love it as much as I do. Let me start off by saying I'm not being paid for any of the reviews I'll be doing, they're just things I'm SO happy about and I want you to be too! So, without further ado ...

Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer
Ridiculously Awesome.


We bought one a few months ago after watching a food documentary that suggested it and decided we should have bought one A LONG TIME AGO! Let me just tell you a few of the things I love about them: 

-You can throw pretty much every kind of fruit and vegetable in them and it turns them into juice in about a second. 
-They're super easy to use!
-Super easy to clean. 
-Vegetables that you hate, once they're juiced with other stuff, you can't even taste them. 
-You can juice lemons or limes, freeze them in ice cube trays and use them when recipes call for lemon or lime juice.

and my absolute FAVORITE thing about the juicer...
*MY KIDS ARE EATING THEIR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES!!!!*

-(Excited, I know :) ) But seriously, what kid doesn't love juice? It's a great way to get the nutrition in them that they need without all the sugars that go along with most juices.

We literally use it EVERY SINGLE DAY. My favorite is plain ol' orange juice, but we love throwing a ton of random things in just to see what it tastes like :). We've never had anything disgusting yet! 

So if you don't have a juicer yet, go buy yourself one... or ask that special someone to get one for you for Valentine's Day, your birthday, Easter, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day... whatever it takes! 

Trust me, they're worth it.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

WINNER

And the lucky winner of the giveaway is....

CHYNOWETH FAM

Congratulations!! You can contact me at ashleysfurniturefix@gmail.com to leave me your custom order! We'll keep in contact from there.

Thanks so much for everyone who entered and stay tuned for ANOTHER GIVEAWAY soon!!


(I used random.org to select the winner of the giveaway.)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

LAST CHANCE!!!!

Don't forget, today is the LAST day to enter THE GIVEAWAY!!!!!! The winner will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday, January 5th). 

Good luck!!!