A Whole New World!

Okay, I have been using coupons for about a month now.  I was slow to get started, even at the prodding of friends, because I am a tight wad when it comes to groceries and I was using the generic brand always.  I thought that I simply could not possibly save more money than I already was.  Boy,was I WRONG!  I have done a few things to help our grocery situation: 1.  I switched from buying at Wal-Mart to buying from Publix  2.  I get a Birmingham News every Sunday  3.  I use Southern Savers to help navigate the best combination of sales and coupons 4. I check out various blogs that promote coupon use and 5. I participate in any online surveys I can.  A big thanks goes to my BFF for hooking me up with all her left over coupons!  They have been a big help.
So how does it measure up for the first month?  I was thinking today that I believe I have saved around $230 in this first month. And on top of that fact, we are eating great name brand groceries (stuff I would have never splurged on before).   But to me that's not even the best part.  The best part is...THE FREEBIES!
So far, I have received free:
1.  A 4 x 6 Magnetic Photo (of my kids) from CVS...value $6.99
2.  Pro-Clinical Colgate toothpaste...value $3.99
3.  A roll of Bounty paper towels...value $2.50 (guessing) Visit the Couponing to Get out of Debt blog for more info.
4.  Carefree Pantyliners...value .94
5.  Reach Floss...value .99
Now I feel slightly like an addict in the sense that I can't wait to see what else I can get for free.  I can't even list all of the items I've received for $1 or less.  This is a whole new world and I hope I can use my knowledge to help pay for our own Disney trip plus put a stop to our bad spending habits.

When all else fails...

I am trying really hard to come up with a direction for my blog.  I mean every other blog I read seems to have a purpose.  For example: photography, couponing, Disney trips, etc.  What is my focus?  I mean when all else fails for me, I blog.  No direction, no rhyme or reason, I blog.  Is that good enough?  Oh well, I'll see. 
Right now, I am super excited about the next big thing on my list... Disney!  We are five months out and there is a lot for me to do.  By chance my BFF gave me a link to a website for cheap Disney T's.  What I'm not sure she realized was exactly how awesome this website is!  The website is Couponing to Disney and this lady is fantastic.  She speaks right to my List Making heart.  There are a couple things I want to do now that I've read her site:  1.  Save my money that I save from couponing to put towards Disney and 2.  Put a display box on my blog that will keep track of my cost of my upcoming Disney trip and the amount that I have saved. 
So...if any of you can give me tips as to how to achieve this, please let me know!

-The List Maker

Super Pumped!!

My garden is off and running!  Today I checked it out and everything is growing!  I am surprised at how quickly it has taken off.  I planted a lot of seeds last Thursday and today it's all coming up!  I can't stop using exclamation points I'm so excited!  Today, I saw signs of:  corn, beans, sunflowers, potatoes, zucchinni, squash, and onions coming up.  I also have my carrots, iceburg lettuce, and ruby red lettuce getting bigger:) 

Now, to catch you up on life in my house for the past week:  Dos went twice to his doctor and we discovered he has bronchitis and possible asthma.  Then on Sunday we spent a lovely, albeit, a very entertaining 3 hours in Cullman Regional Medical Center's ER to determine that Dos was bitten by a baby snake!  I'm administering so many meds these last few days, I should be on staff at the hospital.  Dos is fine and has an amazing story now that puts him in the instant "cool" status with friends so "all is well that ends well".  We are well:)

Angry

I watched 20/20 tonight - not always the best idea for me considering it usually scares me.  The story tonight was of a seven year old girl abducted in broad daylight and killed.  Her murderer?  A sex offender.  So at the prompting of the TV host, I went online to locate sex offenders in my area.  Completely amazed at the numbers.  I then took the addresses of the ones that I knew were close to my house and mapquested their addresses.  What I found was disturbing.  There are four sex offenders near my house - very upsetting.  What is even more upsetting is that some of the registered sex offenders are living within a couple of houses of each other or possibly right next door based on the given addresses.  Are there no restrictions on where sex offenders live?  If everyone knows the saying of "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch" then what good can come of two or more sex offenders living near each other?  Knowing the stats of sex related crimes, this is repetative (sp?) in nature so why would the law allow them to reside SO close to each other?  Another shocking revelation is the age of the offenders and the age of the victims.  Several offenders are in their late 60's early 70's!  Come on, what is up with these old men?  And the victims?  There were victims as young as four years old both male and female.  My heart BREAKS for them.  I am so completely angry.

Garden 2010

Well, I've done two things today: work in the garden and cut coupons.  Those two tasks took up my entire day.  One would think that I'd be tired but of course on days when I feel like I get a lot done I can not get my brain to calm down to rest. 

A lot of what I wanted in my garden was planted today.  I am so excited!  This year we did raised beds.  Thanks to the gardening course I took with Joshua and Beth Haynes at Birdsong Community Farm I learned the value of a no-till garden.  Honestly, there is more plants in this years garden then last year's even though I cut off about two feet from each of my rows.  The reason is now I have four - five by eight feet beds and the plants are not spaced apart by walkways - they are side by side.  My walkways are down the middle of the entire garden.  Not sure what you can tell by the pictures.

Now for my list - Garden 2010:
1.  Carrots
2.  Ruby Red Lettuce
3.  Iceburg Lettuce
4.  Potatoes
5.  Marigolds
6.  Cilantro
7.  Dill
8.  Basil
9.  Eggplant
10.  Zucchinni
11.  Summer Squash
12.  Winter Squash
13.  Okra
14.  Marketmore Cucumbers
15.  Straight Eight Cucumbers
16.  Blue Lake Pole Beans
17.  Corn
18.  Sunflowers
19.  Sweet Potatoes
20.  Sweet Peppers
21.  Bell Peppers
22.  Yellow Onions
23.  Red Onions
24.  Watermelon
25.  Cantelope
26.  Tomatoes

AND THE WINNER IS...

And the winner to my first ever give away is... Nikki!  She posted correctly - potatoes!  The green leaves you see are in fact the beginnings of my potato plants.  This find was very exciting for me because I was afraid the raised beds that we tried this year were not providing enough soil for the potatoes.  I was wrong!

So, what, you may ask is the prize for the smarty pants Nikki?  She is the proud owner of a $10 Gift Certificate to Birdsong Community Farm!  If you have not heard me rave about Birdsong Community Farm then let me take the opportunity.  This is a local, truly organic farm which is run by FANTASTIC people - Joshua and Beth Haynes.  Their goal is to keep their farm natural and the earth sustainable.  They do a great job of informing the community of their work and assisting the community in gaining knowledge of a sustainable gardening environment.  The Haynes have a booth at Cullman's Farmer's Market which is also another wonderful experience:)  The Farmer's Market will be opening up on Saturdays starting this Saturday and the Strawberry Festival will be May 14 and 15.  There is usually a 5K run that Saturday morning for anyone interested. 

Now that I am pumped about my garden, I will post later about my Garden List which I know you all will be hanging by a thread til I post again:)

Do You Know?

Do you know what this is?  The first person to guess correctly will win a prize!!

May the Force Be with You

"You were my brother, Anakin, but I will not help you"...this coming from my imaginative four year old who informs me that he is Obi Won Kenobi.  Thus is our daily life since Christmas.  Dos has an amazing memory to recall every Empire battle scene and the ability to recall the entire Jedi roster.  Along with the Star Wars lingo there is certain key weapons that must be carried around daily: a lightsaber or lifesaver or lightsafer whichever we decide to call it on that particular day; "gate" guns; droid guns, and/or bounty hunter guns.  These pieces are usually worn stuffed down the front of his pants since he does not have a gun or lightsaber holster.  These memories will be shared with future girlfriends:)

We have returned from camping and really had  wonderful time.  I highly recommend Tannehill!  I have also completed ways 3 - 5 on my 30 day pact. 

Way #3:  Complimented Numero Uno on being able to fix anything. The lights that were to go across our camper awning sagged in the middle.  He created a hook to hold up the middle which fit inside the awning bar.  Yay!

Way #4:  I apologized to Numero Uno for being unappreciative and unsupportive to him.  I was being my typical self and coldly reactive to him when he does not do what I want or think he should do.  He said something to me yesterday that translated into: "You're so stupid for doing that!"  At least that is what his comment felt like to me.  As harsh and as painful as the moment was, I - in hindsite - am glad for the experience.  It gave me pause to realize that there are times when my comments or eye rolls or loud sighs convey the same thing: "You're so stupid for doing that!"  I got the chance to feel what my comments or gestures feel like and I'm all the wiser.

Way #5:  I made a cup of coffee for him - the way he likes it fixed.  Plus I made him breakfast: bacon, eggs, and toast.  I think it got our day off to a great start and when he went to work the whole family cheered, "Bye, Super Dad!"

I know life is not perfect and Numero Uno and I both have FAULTS but being positive sure beats the heck out of the alternative.  I've been down that road too often. 

30 Days - 30 Ways

MOMS group is doing a study called For Women Only.  I'm really enjoying it and the group has made a pact to take the next 30 days to show our husbands positive support.  So, I'm two days in.  I'm hoping this will be easy for me because honestly, my man is awesome.  I am constantly amazed at what a wonderful person he is. 

Way #1:  I took the time to write Numero Uno a love letter.  In the letter, I expressed how pleasurable it is to be in a happy marriage.  Later in the day he thanked me:)  Okay, I just reread that sentence and it sounds suggestive.  I simply meant he took the time to tell me thank you.

Way #2:  I shared with him that I was 100% appreciative of the decision he made to purchase a camper.  This was a big deal considering I originally did not think it was a wise purchase; however, we have only used it twice and it is difficult to convey exactly how it brings our family together but it does!  Numero Uno loves this camper and the whole process of maintaining it and preparing for and planning out trips.  Camping forces our family in a good way to spend every waking moment together and I'm telling you for the age our kids are - this is perfect!  We are literally building memories our kids will not soon forget. 

We are in Tannehill Historical State Park and the weather could not be any better!  We spent the day walking, riding bikes, and cruising around the park looking at all of the old buildings.  This place is amazing!  The setting is beautiful.  There is a beautiful creek that runs throughout the park, an old Grist Mill, and tomorrow we are going to the old Iron Mill.  Uno loves it here, he is such the boy, ready to dig in the mud/dirt, ride his bike through the creek, and wants to explore EVERYTHING!  He also is very funny.  I really enjoyed talking with him tonight. 

Any Takers?

The past two days have been really good.  Following a schedule I had made out a while back for some activities I wanted to do with the kids.  I really do need a schedule.  I do not function well without one and as the past two days reveal, all has gone well.  I have spent more time with the kids and got more accomplished on the house.  Scheduling time to do specific activities with them has allowed me to fully enjoy watching them play, create, think, interact - it is beautiful and I wish these memories would stay fresh in my mind.

Speaking of house, we have someone coming tomorrow to look at the house.  I really hope and pray that it sells.  Don't know where we would go but I would be fine with that.  If we could sell and put some money in savings, that would be great. There's a lot I know about every statement I make about the house and money that can not be posted on a blog.  I mean every aspect of the situation can not be disected at this time.  Yes, we are blessed to be in this house and yes, that provides stability to the family.  There is more to this whole house selling thing; however, I do not feel I should go on about it on the blog.  Please pray the house sells or that better yet we are following God's plan for our lives right now.

Easter 2010

I Will Overcome

I am a failure!  I always run late.  I am a failure at getting my family anywhere on time.  My waistband is so tight my skirt may explode off of my body!  I am a failure at losing weight. I am upset at Numero Uno yet again.  I am a failure as a wife.  My kids have annoyed me yet again.  I am a failure as a mother. 

All this ran through my mind on our way to church this evening - Easter service and I felt like being a different person for the event.  However, praise God ( I do not care how holy roller I sound) PRAISE GOD, He had a message for me.  I will overcome by His blood and the words of my testimony.  The power that RAISED Christ from the dead is alive in me.  For those of you that know me and know my faults, know this, I will overcome.  You may not see it but I believe and know that Christ will make me a victor.  I struggle, I falter in my faith, but I know in my heart there is victory in Christ.  What sweet relief.

We have been egg hunting all week and tomorrow will be our last egg hunt of the season.  Tomorrow's egg hunt will be at my mother and father's house.  I love having these events for the kids.  I really enjoy getting ready.  I have all of our kids' Easter baskets ready to set out for the morning, I've been stuffing eggs for the hunt, and have to make chocolate pies for tomorrow's lunch.  It will be a good time.  Since we went to church tonight, we are going to sleep late tomorrow, have a big breakfast just the 5 of us then we are going to take pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits.  It has been a long time since I have taken formal pictures of the kids.  We will take them at Sacred Heart convent and I'm excited.  It is such a beautiful setting.  I hope all three kids will cooperate.

What Gives?

I by my very nature like to talk, to share.  I genuinely love to ask people questions to know and try to understand what makes them tick.  On the flip side, I most of the time would like to be an open book.  I would like to people to know what makes me happy or sad or angry.  HOWEVER, I am constantly concerned with "Did I share too much?"  "Will this negatively affect the ones I love?"  "Will someone use this against me?"  So, what's the balance?  I mean, why do I love blogs so much?  Because people are willing to share what is in their world.  I find it fascinating.  So, is it okay for me to share details or should I refrain for the sake of the possible negative consequences?  What gives?  What is the appropriate balance?