A blog post of random nothingness ...

I have all kinds of thoughts running through my mind, so this very well could be a jumbled mess of nothingness.

It's been 15 months, that's 1 year and 3 months (sounds like I'm telling a kid's age,) since we've moved to Colorado and I have a few things to say about it.

Man, do I ever miss my mom and dad and extended family and friends. I miss them like I'd miss my right arm (you see, I'm right handed) and would give anything to have them out here with me. Yes, you heard me, out here, in Florence, Colorado, because I'm afraid to say, I'm never moving back to PA unless something drastic happens and I'm forced to. Wow, I said it. I'm not moving back. It think I realized this once we hit the 1 year point. I'm determined to raise my kids here in bum-fuck no where. But I'll be damned if they stay here, after school, it's too small of a town. They need to get out there in the big wide world.

So, on my mind is a bunch of places and things I miss from my PA life. Might as well get them out. It's a given that I miss my family and friends, I miss their hugs, their support. My mom/dad and extended family would always have a Happy Hour to go to or a party to go to ... at these parties I'd get to let my hair down and I'd see people that I'd only see 1 x a year and we'd catch up, we'd have a blast, I'd drink and knowing my mom/dad/extended family were there it was ok ... I miss it. I miss the talks, the music, the food, the beer bong, the smoking, the drinks.

OMG, NYC, I miss NYC and I've only been 3 x's ... love going into the basements to buy knock off name brand purses, watching a car being broken into (while hearing the dude say "Oh man, it smells so new"), the hustle and bustle of people, the closeness on Canal Street ... LOL That city gives you such a rush!

BB's -- this is too funny. I miss BB's, you know the bent and dent grocery store. Man could I ever get deals there! I miss following the Amish in their horse drawn carts and thinking about their 'simple' but 'hard' life.

STORES! The closeness of Target, Kohl's, Giant, Weis, CVS, Rite Aid ... oh how I wish I could get those stores, here, in bum-fuck no where!!!

Hi's. Yep, the Hi's from people I knew. I can go an entire day here and not see anyone I know.

Hopping in the car with someplace to go or someone to visit. To be there when family or a friend needs me.

RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Work. I miss my clients. They were/are great people. I miss their adventures and miss setting up their vacations.

So, enough of that ... I have way more, but I can't dwell on it. Well, might as well tell you what I love about here.

Without my neighbor, Roxie, and her 2 beautiful girls, I don't think I could have made it. This past summer Roxie and I would BS and talk every day (still do!) ... Now, there are 2 neighbors that keep me going ... and about every other week we go out just to dinner ... Ok, fine the $1.99 Margaritas are involved too.

The beauty is unbelievable out here. The mountains that surround us are breathtaking. How God created such a beautiful state, I don't know ... How I deserve to see it every day, I don't know.

Schools. They may be small, but that just makes it so much easier for me to get to know all the teachers ... and principals ... and assistant principals ... and counselor ... (Big 'ole THANKS to my 11 year old, he can try to run, but he isn't going to get far).

People. The people here in general are just nice and laid back ... I still remember the first time I met our landlord, he told me to slow down (talking) or I wasn't going to make it here. Ha!

Ok, so this is getting boring ... I love way many other things here, but I don't need to bore myself.

A few more randomness-es:

You know how you meet someone in your life that you are forever grateful for? They could have sold you a car, given you a big mac, or delivered your UPS package. Well, I've met 2 Stephanie's that I feel that way for. How did I meet them? Online, of course.......

Without my animals, I'd be no more. Or, I'd have none and it would look rather funny seeing all the food dishes laying around the house. I'd be bored...I wouldn't have to vacuum 20 x's a day.

Corn snakes. What amazing creatures.

Ugly curtains are a must. They provide hours of nausea.

Music lifts my mood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Blog Post of Random Nothingness~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been a long time ...

since I've blogged ... no time now, but I'll leave you with a picture showing you what I've been up to ....

House Party ~ Febreze Fresh Summer Entertaining

First I have to say that this is only my 2nd House Party ~ My first was the Digiorno Pizza one and lets just say it was a flop. It was hard enough cooking all those pizza's in a normal sized oven, while trying to get all the others to remain hot. But enough about the flop...

House Party has outdone themselves on this party!!

Here is what was said was going to be inside the 'party' box.
•1 - Febreze Set & Refresh Branded apron
•2 - Home Collection Room Spray (Pomegranate Mango)
•5 - Home Collection Flameless Luminaire Starter Kit (Pomegranate Mango)
•8 - Febreze Set & Refresh Starter Kits (Hawaiian Aloha)
•8 - Febreze Set & Refresh Starter Kits (Linen & Sky)
•10 - Home Collection Scented Reed Diffusers (Pomegranate Mango)
•18 - Home Collection Flameless Luminaire Refills (Pomegranate Mango)
•20 - Sandra Lee and Entertaining Tip Cards
•20 - Febreze Set & Refresh Branded Cocktail Napkins
•180 – Febreze Set & Refresh Coupons

Here is what I found:


Ok, Ok, in all seriousness I found all of what they said they would send. I didn't unpack all of the boxes, but you'll get the gist of it by looking:


Let's get this party started!

1, 2 and 3

I wrote this about 3 years ago ... I remember writing it and sharing it, but never blogged it. My mom found it in an email, so blogging it now, that way I won't ever lose it again!

My 3 kids......

Jakob, my oldest. My child that I can't wait to see what is next. What is that next step. I couldn't wait for him to roll over, then sit up, crawl (he never did, I'm still waiting for this), talk, walk, eat with a spoon, kick a ball, say I love you, go to pre-school etc.................and here, 8 years later I am still anxious to see what is next. I can't wait for that first home run, that first goal, that first kiss on the playground. I am constantly thinking, what is next, when will this happen?! I wrote all his firsts down, I remember a lot, but so much has happened, I've had to write them down....when will the time come to pass this on to his kids? I'm waiting for that daughter-in-law.

Kristopher, my BooBoo. This is my child I want to freeze. The first 2 years he was mine, I did it all for him. I wanted another child, and DH reminded me this, by me doing the majority of the work for the first 2 years. It really is a blurr. With BooBoo my memory starts (of him) at age 2. I was too busy to remember to remember things...you know, you say to yourself, hey I got to remember this, well, I forgot to. My little boy. This is the one I wanted to stay age 2, binky and all... But then age 3 came, and the binky went bye-bye and the diaper went bye-bye and, well, his talking started. What a funny, little, lovable, shy boy. At age 4 shy little Kristopher wasn't so shy anymore...the funny things he would say, I wish I would have written them down...and he actually loved pre-school, age 3 he cried everyday he went! Last year, 2006, in November, he turned 5. That was it, that was all I could take, so I froze him. My BooBoo is frozen in my memory at age 5, not age 5 and 1 day, just age 5. I want him to stay that age, I don't want to know what is next. I want to know what was first.

Juliana - MY GIRL! She'll be 2 in less than a month and I remember just about every milestone she has accomplished! I learned with Jakob, not to rush it and learned with Kristopher, not to forget it. I have taken so many pictures of Juliana I would have a whole room of albums if they were all printed. Regret? Yes. Remorse? Yes. Forgetting? No. I don't want her to grow up, but I don't want her to slow down. I'm not rushing her or freezing her. I'm remembering.

Each of them have taught me something...If I only knew then, what I know now.

Toy Story 1 and 2 on Blu-Ray/DVD for only $3.98!

If you have a printer and a Toys-R-Us ad, you can do this too!!

First, print off these 2 coupons:
Toy Story 1 ~ $10 off any Blu-Ray/DVD Combo coupon

Toy Story 2 ~ $10 off any Blu-Ray/DVD Combo coupon

Next take those 2 coupons and your Toys-R-Us ad to Target ... grab the 2 movies:




Take the movies and the Toys-R-Us ad to the customer service desk to have them price match the ad. I think it's on page 2 of the TRU ad...make sure they price match it to the $16.99 price (It's $22.99 wyb 1 or $16.99 if you buy both ... I caught her and had to show her) ...

They will ring up $23.98 ... use the 2 $10 off IP's from above, and pay $3.98 plus tax!

My total was $5.75 after tax ... I used a $5 gift card and paid only .75cents for both movies!!!!!!!!



I forgot, one more thing...each movie has a FREE movie ticket to see Toy Story 3 AND a CD-Rom with games and other activities. In the end, this is a money maker!

"Are Coupons Worth It"

a friend of mine posted this article and I thought it great. Especially after reading the hourly rate of using coupons is $86.40!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704820904575055392244583592.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF2

Clipping coupons hardly sounds like the subject of high finance–or even medium finance.

Save a dollar on cat food, some detergent or a couple of boxes of cereal. Who can be bothered? Who has the time?

A growing number of people, it turns out. And they're shrewder than it may at first appear.

The Great American Coupon is making a big comeback–thanks to the Great American Recession.

We redeemed some 3.3 billion coupons last year–a remarkable 27 percent leap from 2008, and the first year-on-year increase in 17 years, according to a report issued at the end of January by Inmar, a coupon-processing agent. (Online coupon use skyrocketed–companies issued twice as many as in 2008, but redemptions rose 360 percent.) The big upturn took off in October 2008, just after Lehman went belly up.

At first blush you can see why coupons fell out of fashion for so long–and why so many consumers still ignore them.

You have to make time to visit a coupon Web site or collect the flyers from your mailbox, the supermarket or newspaper inserts. You need to sort through to find the ones you want, cut them out, stick them in your purse or wallet–and remember to use them when you are at the cash register and you are trying to remember whether you bought everything on your shopping list and where you parked the car.

Average saving per coupon: Just $1.44, according to the Inmar report.

But let's treat this low finance topic for a moment the way we treat high finance. Let's subject it to the same math.

How long does it actually take to clip and use a coupon? Certainly the more you use, the less overall time you will spend per coupon, because so many of the costs–getting flyers, sorting coupons and so on–are generalized. Let's assume you spend a minute per coupon.

Saving $1.44 for a minute's effort is the equivalent of saving $14.40 for 10 minutes'.

Hourly rate: $86.40.

Maybe this would be as good a time as any to point out that the typical American working stiff–those lucky enough to have jobs right now–climbs out of bed each morning, goes through the miseries of commuting and endures the daily grind at the workplace for about $20 an hour.

Furthermore, money saved comes with an additional benefit. Unlike the money you earn at work, it is tax free. No payroll taxes. No federal or state income tax.

If your marginal tax rate were, say, 20 percent, you would have to earn $108 before tax to take home $86.40. If your marginal tax rate were 30 percent, you'd have to earn $123.

Very few of us ever do this kind of math, because we tend to treat low finance differently from high finance, and small sums differently from big ones. No wonder, even today, 99 percent of coupons are thrown away unused.

Yet finance isn't a separate topic from the rest of our personal lives. For all of us, our scarcest resource is time. Putting the right value on it, and putting it to the most productive use, is a financial challenge, as well as a personal one.

And the individual amounts of money may seem small, but they prove the old adage about tiny acorns and mighty oaks. Someone who saves $25 a week will save $100 a month, and $1,200 a year. Over a lifetime that can easily grow to $100,000 or more–even after accounting for inflation.

If motivation is an issue, the next time you find yourself facing a stack of coupon booklets and flyers don't ask yourself if you can be bothered. Try asking yourself if you'd like to earn more than $100 an hour for a job you can do, at home, while sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Write to Brett Arends at brett.arends@wsj.com

Buying 'off' season...

I took me awhile to get into the habit of buying my kids winter/summer clothes for the next year at the end of winter/summer that year. Sure, I'd pick up a clearance item here or there but never would buy a size bigger. Now that I've started, I look forward to swapping out clothes each new season. It buts a big smile on my face and I feel accomplished! I don't have to take my boys school shopping just before school, except for a pair of sneakers. I no longer have that anxious/dreading feeling of dropping $200 at once on each kid at school time...

All stores clearance ... you just have to look for it. You have to WAIT for it. So many things my boys have wanted that I told them to just wait ... and then I was able to surprise them with it a few weeks later, because it went on clearance.

I have some favorite stores I buy clothing at each year, Target (when it hits 75% or 90% off) and Old Navy (50% off clearance prices)being my top choices. But, you can also find some awesome clearance sales at Kohl's, JcPenney's, and Walmart. A lot of times, JcPenney's and Kohl's will have a coupon to get even more money off!

Just yesterday, I went to Walmart and scored some great clothes for Juliana for next winter. You can read about it here. And when I was home visiting, I scored at Old Navy & Target!
Here are some of the items I bought at Old Navy:
The t's for boys (Spiderman, Iron Man) were only $1.25 and long sleeve were $2.25.
Little girls sweaters $3.25
Long sleeve t's $2.25
Skirts $3.25
T's for woman $2.25 and $1.50
PJ Bottoms for me $4.99

and at Target:
Fleece nightgowns were $2.50
Long sleeve t's were 1.74
Jogging Pants were 1.74

If you join www.ourcouponhome.com you can watch for when these sales happen. We report them as soon as we can ... and would love for you to give us a head's up as well. We can't be everywhere at once :)

Happy clearance shopping!

Buy One Get One Free = 2 free!

So, you got a coupon for a BOGOFree (BOGO=Buy one get one) item...while this is a great deal in itself, if you wait a bit, you might be able to make this an excellent deal!

Using a BOGOFree coupon when that item is on sale for BOGOFree = 2 items for FREE!

Search those ads to find the best way to use your coupon! Or search Our Coupon Home ... we may have a deal posted for that coupon!

Does anyone know what day it is?

IT'S SUNDAY and it's coupon day!! Buy your newspapers and start clipping out those coupons!

There will be 2 inserts in the paper. Smartsource and Redplum.If you want to see what coupons are in the paper before buying you can check them out here and here. (coupons may vary by area)

Don't forget to get the ads out of the paper, as well. Make a list of items, for each store, that you think you may want to buy. You may find that another store has the same item, but for a cheaper price.

A lot of times the stores coincide their sales w/that weeks coupons, so be sure to match up the coupons. Check here to see if there any internet printable coupons that you might be able to use this week.

Got your lists, so go shopping! I advise to not shop on Sunday morning, you'll be hit with a mad rush of couponers wanting to get the deals immediately. This will be you in a few months, but not now ;).

Comment what deals you see ... I'd love to read them!

Buy a lot!

Did you see the ad for City Market? Probably not, but I did and I will be buying $10 worth of 73% (lean) hamburger meat. Why? Because it is only 99cents a lb! This is not my favorite percentage of Hamburger meat, but this will tide us over while I wait until 90% goes on sale again. And, whatever is leftover, I can mix w/the 90% and make some great meatloaf out of it!

What I'm getting at is when you see something on sale, that you know you use, stock up on it. Meat especially. Don't buy just 1 pack, get 4 or 5 or more of them. This is a big cost up-front, but in the long run, you will notice a savings.

Sign up and get a coupon neighbor...

my tip for today ;) ...

When you sign up at www.ourcouponhome.com you can go here to request a coupon neighbor. This neighbor will answer your questions and send you a FREE envelope of coupons to get you started. If you make a wishlist (coupons you would like to have), the neighbor will try and get you some of what you need.

Come on. Don't be shy. Get in there and post :)

xoxo

Kerri's Kouponing 101

My friend, Marti, had great idea. She wants me to post a tip a day about how I save money by using coupons. Problem is, it's not that easy. I can, however, tell you my story, give a few starting tips and send you on your way to learn more.

Here's some background:
3 years ago, my friend Laura, kept telling me what great deals she was getting by using coupons. Much like I do to you all on Facebook. I just envied her and went on my way, not clipping coupons, not stockpiling, not getting those Sunday papers ... I mean, who has time for that? I was working full-time, had 3 kids, a husband, cats, laundry, dishes, supper ... ... I didn't have time to cut and file coupons.

It took Laura just about a year to finally get me into using the coupons. She was a great mentor and for her, I am thankful!

She got me hooked on my first 'coupon' board. I read and read and read some more. I asked question after question. I was up way past my bedtime, it was the only peaceful time I had. When it finally clicked, I was saving money. I was finally ahead on shampoo and body wash and paper towels. I finally realized what Laura was doing. SHE WAS SAVING MONEY AND LOTS OF IT!

As I'm sitting here, 2 years later, typing this, I'm looking back at how many boo boo's and blubbers I had when I first started. I was most definitely saving money, but I had those mistakes that would now make me cringe, maybe even cry. I'm not going to lie, using coupons isn't something that's fast, it does take time. But, the time is worth it.

Time for some tips now, eh? I'll start with baby steps, then you can grow on your own.

~Start with getting 2 Sunday newspapers every week. Clip the coupons for the items that you use. As time goes on, you'll 'learn' to use other brands and therefore will have more coupons. You may even find yourself buying Crest mouthwash, even though you don't use it, but it was only 25cents! (Helpful hint: put the like pages of coupons together, clip them both at the same time)

~Use small envelopes and label them and file the coupons accordingly:
Hair
Lotion
Deodorant
Shaving Needs
Dental
Baby
Food
Miscellaneous

~If you don't already have them, get saving cards for ALL of the grocery stores and drug stores around you. (Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart & Target do NOT have cards) Be prepared to shop at more than one store. I don't care if you don't like the color of Food Lion's floor, you WILL shop there if you can get toothpaste for free, right?

~Read the ads to every single store in your area. I'm sure you know what you 'normally' pay for lunch meat? Dog food? Here's the thing. You see 'it' on sale and it is $3 less, but wait, you have a coupon for $3 off, that is a savings of $6! Not only do you have 1 coupon, but because Kerri said to buy 2 papers, you have 2 of those coupons. You have now saved $12. You didn't just buy 2 of those items, you also bought time between buying that item again. And so begins the 'stockpiling'. If you were to buy 5 papers, you will have gotten 5 of those items, saved $30 (between sale price and coupon), and bought more time between purchasing that item again. Go ahead and figure in the cost of the newspapers, you still saved at least $20!

The paragraph above is very important. It is telling you in a nutshell how you end up saving money. You buy 2 or 3 or 4 of that item that is on sale with a coupon. At first, it will seem like you are spending a lot of money out of pocket, but after about 3 to 4 months, you will notice that you are buying less in one shopping trip because you bought certain items 2 weeks prior. You WILL start to realize that a particular item only goes on sale at a certain time of year, like ketchup (Memorial Day & Labor Day), and you will stock up then to have it on hand until the next sale. You'll realize that boneless chicken breast goes on sale every 4 weeks, so you'll stock up 4 weeks worth until the next sale.

~If you can't get away to shop by yourself, take your kids with you!! They will learn from a young age that momma won't buy that without a coupon! Seriously, they do learn from this and they can be helpful. They have tearpads (coupons located on a cardboard display case in the middle or end of the aisles) and blinkies (machines that have a blinking light and hang on the shelves by the products it is offering coupons for) and kids go NUTS finding and gathering the coupons.

~Sign up for a 'coupon/savings' board and ask questions, we LOVE questions! We love sharing our successes, the deals we find, the hell (or joy) of finding them. I'm not going to lie, I'm on my 3rd board. I have no doubt in my mind that this is my final stop. I will be there until they take me away and place me in a CA (coupons anonymous)home. These women/men are the most outstanding, reliable, understandable, most helpful, couponers, that I know! (My friend, Laura & my mom included!). I can't say enough about the women/men that are there. We are constantly seeking deals, posting about them, deciphering them, talking about them all the while we are still learning more. So, without further adieu, we are at:
www.ourcouponhome.com ... ... When you get there, introduce yourself and don't be shy!

2 years into this adventure:
~I am spending only $300 a month in groceries on a family of 5. I'm trying hard to get that even less, but compared to the $600 I WAS spending, I'm happy.

~I have a basket full of free band-aids, a bathroom cupboard full of FREE deodorant, a shelf full of dishwasher detergent that I spent no more that $1.50 on each, and a laundry room with at least 10 ALL detergents that I got for 50cents each.

~I've conquered 3 cities with using coupons. Chambersburg (PA), Hagerstown (MD) (since that is where I worked), and now where I live in Colorado. My toughest stores yet are here in Colorado.

~I have started a 'gift' closet. What is this? I've been buying toys that have gone on clearance to use as birthday gifts (my kids or others) and/or Christmas gifts. This is easy to do for younger kids, it's Jake's age that is hard to buy cheaply for!

~I spend a ton of time on the computer, searching and reading deals ... I've found a hobby of sorts and I enjoy it thoroughly.

~I still have a lot to learn.

I think I've rattled enough for tonight, but I do have one more thing that I want you to keep in mind. Coupons are LEGAL, you will not go to jail for saving money!

Why did we move here...

I'm still trying to figure out the reason.
~Is it so I could be a stay-at-home-mom? If so, that isn't going so well, I think I'm going a bit insane, no wait, I KNOW I'm going insane.

~To get a dog? Yeah, right, we moved to Colorado to get a dog because there are no dogs in PA.

~To be with Frank? This would be my first answer, but then I wonder what the reason was for him to be promoted and transferred.

Anyone?

Have you gone yet?

to the most glorious couponing/deal website yet? Well, hurry up and get your butt there...I know you want to save money this year :)

During diet I need to work on...

~Drink MORE water!
~Smaller portion sizes!
~Vigorous (LOL) activity for at least 20 minutes a day!
~Smoke less!

Day 1 --- I'm at it again ...

weight loss. Just like everyone else, right? LOL I did so well last year for the 4 weeks (or was it 6 weeks?) that I was on the diet that I could kick myself for falling off the wagon! Here is my day today:
Breakfast:
2 pieces wheat toast w/very little butter
10 pots of black coffee (4 cups really...needed 10 pots though!)
1 Glass Water
Wii Fit - 20 mins

Mid Morning:
1 clementine

Lunch:
Subway 6inch on wheat - Ham w/tons of veggies, vinegar only
unsweet tea

Ana and I walked to lunch

Mid-afternoon snack:
7 nacho chips w/picco de gallo

After typing this out, I noticed I need to work on my water intact even if it is just unsweet tea.

Dinner:
Cooking chicken stir-fry w/veggies and rice.

We made it...

through Christmas w/out to many emotions ...

What saved me from a break down was my brother-in-law and sister-in-law inviting us up to Denver for Christmas dinner! I did, however, have a little breakdown on the drive there ... you see, I was supposed to be going to my parents house.

We had fun ... even had a lot of snow there.

The kids made out w/their gifts, like the spoiled kids they are. My parents did well w/sending gifts, for me too. My favorite, like any other year, is stocking gifts, which my mom sent to me in a purse. I had everything I needed (except for my mom/dad/sister) on Christmas.

2010? But I forgot some blogging ...

like Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day!

Let's start with Thanksgiving ... We had a pretty quiet day. First one in the 16 years that Frank and I have been together. It was just us. I cooked an awesome meal (if I do say so myself) ...


After lunch we lazed around all day. This holiday wasn't to bad to get through w/out the family, although I'd rather of been with them.

I was thankful that my parents were in Florida w/my sister and my in-laws had a lot of their kids/kids-in-laws there with them.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree ...

you brought with you a lot of memories! Go ahead and laugh ... I'll wait.

This is the first EVER Christmas away from my Mom and Dad and Sister. Wow. Unimaginable to me. 29 (+ a few years, I'm 29 forever!) years of Christmas' together ...

I'm Desperately Seeking Holiday Spirit. And what better way to get in the 'spirit' than to get a Christmas tree and decorate it w/the kids?

So, we go over the Arkansas river and up through the mountain valley out of our little town of Florence ... into the next town over to find a tree.

And a tree we found at a grocery store LOL ...

I do have to admit, it is a beautiful tree and smells very nice. It's actually one of the best trees we've had (since we've been married) and only $29.95! On the roof it goes w/some tie downs and we are set!



Frank had to drag Koda over to the tree...all he wanted to do was hide behind me (yeh, I protect him instead of he protecting me) and bark at it.



Frank did a great job at trimming the tree at the bottom, in fact, some of you will recognize the saw he used. Memory #1 ... ... growing up our family went with another family to the Christmas Tree Farm to cut down our own tree. I can't tell you how many years, but it was over 20 years that we did this. Even when I was married and had kids we did this. In fact, Frank somehow came home one year w/the Christmas Tree Farm's saw.



We tried to make Koda into a wreath, but he didn't want to take part in it.



In comes the tree and up goes the lights. No problem finding the lights what-so-ever. They were in the Christmas tote. Huge problem finding the stockings, tree skirt, and the 2 shoe boxes of ornaments. While moving, the packers packed them up for us, in about 4 or 5 different boxes all labeled "attic / toys" ... ... After searching about a dozen different boxes, we found them, thankfully.





Of course, the cat, Hayden, had to check it all out. The same cat that knocked our tree down last year. I have to watch him closely!



On with the decorating ... My favorite part of decorating is looking through the ornaments. (enter memories 2 to whatever) All of them have a meaning or story to them. They might be handmade by the kids or bought by my family or friends. Some are 25+ years old.

Pulling some of these ornaments out made me smile ... all those family and extended family members that bought me ornaments (and decorations) helped me get through this tough day.

From my Aunt, this ornament is 18 years old:


From my extended family, the ones that we went w/to the Christmas Tree Farm:



From my sister, she brought this back from Hawaii:


and from my mom and dad, one of my favorite ornaments, a black Santa



Our tree is loaded with memories for me. I pulled out ornaments and decorations from my in-laws, my grandmother, my Aunts and Uncles...my parents and my sister and my extended family.











When all is said and done...this was a good day. I brought with me my family, in-laws, extended family, and friends. They are here with us, they just live on my tree.

Trecking out in the cold ...

to do what I do best ... SPEND MONEY! However, I would never spend money with out a deal involved.

Today we woke up to more snow, not much, but enough. To think that Saturday was in the 50's and today is in the teen's!


I grab my partner in crime:
and bundle her up...

13 degrees isn't too bad, right? WRONG! It's freakin COLD! But nothing will stop me from shopping deals.


My van was slip sliding away, I'm from PA, I can dive in this mess! As we were heading out of my ack bassward town, I had to take a picture just to show how beautiful it is here:


We only had 2 stores to go to. Walgreen's being the first. I was armed and ready w/my list. First stop, pharmacy. I transferred a prescription to them and got a $25 check from them to use on a future purchase (not to be used on prescriptions)...heck, I'll transfer to them for FREE money!

At Walgreen's I got:
3 ALL Laundry Detergent HE
2 Snuggle Laundry Fabric Softener
2 boxes Kleenex brand tissues
2 Skippy Peanut Butter
1 LARGE container French Roast Maxwell House
5 boxes Triscuits
1 Walgreens brand startch
Total: $73.xx
After sale prices and coupons and the $25 gift card, I spent: $2.xx

As we were leaving Walgreen's, the bell ringer said "HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ladies" ... I know, they are supposed to do this, but it's rare I hear Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas...Happy Holidays IMO is what I should hear, as not everyone celebrates Christmas. So, we gave him some money. And really, at 13 degrees, he deserved something for ringing that bell!

Next stop was City Market (AKA King Soopers ... AKA Kroger):
I got:
4 cans Dole Pineapple Rings
8 cans Dole Mandarin Oranges
2 lbs Ground Turkey
5 I Can't Believe it's not butter Butter
4 4pks Hunt's Pudding
5 lbs Clementines
1 candy bar, for my partner in crime
Total: $50.xx

After sale prices and coupons, I spent: $28.xx

I got all of this for $30!! Now tell me that coupons don't save money? Tell me that coupons are for JUNK only. HA!


My partner in crime was absolutely wonderful today ...
even in the cold!

Here is a picture driving back to our ack bassward town ... it might be backward and slow w/the times, but it sure is gorgeous.