Fish-eating, hair-cutting, thrift-shopping kind of day

Today was an ordinary day off.  I must say-- despite how crazy and tiring 12-hour nights shifts are, I'm so thankful that I get days off! (Even if half of the day is spent catching up on sleep and fighting off hangover-like headaches with hot tea and soft music). Days like today allow me to catch up on chores, plan meals, go grocery shopping and enjoy a nice cup of coffee with a book. It's lovely!

Today we had fish for lunch. A very herby, lemoned-up piece of fish and a huge side of veggies. 

We also decided to cut hair. Half because we were bored and half because Kat has really long horse hair that grosses me out sometimes. :) She obliged and we snipped, snipped, snipped as we both awkwardly stood above the toilet to avoid making too much of a mess! 

 I guess she likes it..

We also went thrifting today! Since Eugene will be starting school later this year, we'll be living off of one salary so I figure-- it's time to get money smart! Thrifting will be one of many ways I can save some moo-lah..  I was always curious what "thrifting" would be like, so we decided to give it a shot! It was my first time.. and it was kind of like a dream come true! I've never been a huge fan of spending lots of money on clothes, so you'd usually find me hovering over the clearance sections and "Sale" racks. I'm usually pretty good at scoring good deals, but it usually takes a lot of time and a lot of searching.

A thrift store is full of clothes that people don't want anymore, and the saying "one man's trash is another's treasure" could not be more true! When I first walked through Plato's Closet, I browsed around at the hundreds of shirts ranging from $3-$8 dollars and I felt myself bubbling with excitement inside! A store where EVERYTHING is on sale? It can't be true!!

I scored these three shirts and a new pair of earrings for all under $20.  I felt like a winner! We left with a bag full of (kind of) new clothes like champions. I call that a successful first trip!

This week is also passion week, which has given me ample opportunity to reflect about my Savior and the sacrifice He made to give me my salvation. I'm still reading through the Easter book I started last month, and it's been a huge blessing! Here's an excerpt from one of the chapters: 

"The bible teaches us that when Jesus Christ took our sin, he took all of the punishment that goes with that sin.  A part of that punishment is shame. Had Jesus defended himself and protested his innocence, he would have suffered no shame, and that would have left us guilty. 

Jesus could not prove himself innocent and then die in our place the shameful death that we deserve. Thank God that Jesus was willing to be counted a sinner before God, that we might be counted as righteous before God!

Jesus held back any words that would have relieved him from the shame and blame of sin. He was not a sinner, but he took fully the sinner's place. If Jesus had risen up in his own defense during his trials, I believe that he would have been so powerful and irrefutable in making his defense that no governor, high priest or other legal authority on earth could have stood against him!

In other words, if Jesus had taken up his own defense with the intention of refuting his accusers and proving his innocence, he would have won! But we would have lost, and we would be lost for all eternity.

They accused Jesus of blasphemy, lying, sedition and many other things, but the Savior answered not a word. This is the amazing silence of the Lamb."  

                       _ Silence of the Lamb, Adrian Rogers