IT PAYS TO SAVE

My sister Shannon has went coupon crazy, or so I thought! She may actually be onto something. I use coupons sometimes but there are actually people out there that are expert couponers. Shannon is on her way to "expert couponer status". She kind of got me restarted (if that's a word) on coupons. Like I said I use them sometimes, but in the past 2 months I have started using them more. Getting the paper every Sunday is a start. I get 2 most of the time. You can also go to coupons.com and print out coupons that Food Lion, Wal-Mart and all the other store accept. I have been going through them each time I go to the store to see if there are any coupons for the items I need. I don't use them just because I have them or they will not save me anything. This morning Rachel and I made a trip to WalMart after we took Sydney to school. We needed to get some groceries, Rachel's training pants and I picked up some Easter stuff. I went through my coupons and at the checkout I saved $30 off of my bill of $200.00 with my coupons. During the month of February I saved over $100.00 by doing this. If your money is tight or not it's worth it to try it. You can spend the money you saved on something else. Why pay full price if you don't have to? If you have kids it really pays to use them on diapers, wipes, toys, you can even find Gerber coupons for baby clothing items.

This is a website where you can buy coupons for about .05 cents each, http://thecouponcutters.com/, if it's a good coupon it's worth it. Shannon and I use ALL H.E. detergent, it was on sale for $3.99 at Wal-Mart down from $5.99 , after the coupon we paid $2.00 a bottle. We both stocked up with this deal. There are also a lot of coupons also that say "any size" and you can get a ton of free items this way or if you wait for something to go on sale. For instance, Shannon had Gillette Mach3 razor coupons for $4 each and Target had theirs on sale for $4.99 she got the razors with refills for .99 cents each. She also got $2.00 snuggle dryer sheets coupons from this website. The small box is $1.97 at Wal-Mart and she ended up getting 18 boxes of Snuggle dryer sheets for free.

http://thecouponcutters.com/

There is a great website hip2save http://hip2save.com/, this lady posts deals every day, freebies, coupon deals and deals that she finds at online stores as well. I love her site. She also has a tutorial for people that are new to coupons.

It really doesn't take much time to do this. Shannon has a binder to keep hers organized and I just keep mine in a box on the kitchen counter. Just think, if I save this every month and put it to the side I could pay for the kids Christmas or even use it on vacation or whatever I want. You should try it, you would be amazed at how much money you can save.

Shannon has actually started getting so much stuff that Mama, Jessica and I have started shopping in her pantry!

SHORT OF MY GOAL, BUT NOT GIVING UP

Well tomorrow was supposed to be day 30 of my blog. I have been waiting for tomorrow so that I could say I completed my goal of challenging myself to a 30 day blog. As you can see, there is no post for yesterday. I almost forgot about it until late last night. I tried to sign on at 11:45, barely getting it in by the deadline of midnight for yesterday's post. My internet connection failed. I waited until 12:45 and kept trying to get it to connect, but it was no use. I went to bed. Technically it was after midnight anyway so I wouldn't have made my post at that point. This morning the internet is working just fine. I am going to push day 30 to Tuesday instead of tomorrow so that I will still get in 30 days even though I fell short by missing yesterday.

Next I would like to ask anyone reading this blog if they think I should continue to write it. I have really enjoyed it even though I feel in the last week I have rushed it a little. Please give me some feedback.

My sister-in-law Amber came last night and brought "Baby Maegan", this is what Rachel calls her. Babies are such a sweet gift. I don't know how anyone could ever mistreat them. If you have children in your life, don't forget what a blessing they are.

WE ARE ALL HUMAN

When I first started this blog I said I was going to use it as a stress reliever. Today is the most perfect day for that. Today I was told by someone that they hated me, that I thought I was better than everyone else, they were so sick of me, they had hated me for years and above all again I think I am better than everyone else. This was repeated several times. There was a lot of profanity and unnecessary words I do not care to use in this blog.

Well first I would like to say I wish I had been let in on this info years ago and I could have saved myself a lot of headaches and unwanted stress.

Second I would like to say that I do not and have never thought that I am better than anyone else. If anyone has ever gotten this impression of me I would like to apologize. I feel that we are all human and we are equal. Some have it worse than others. No one life is more important to me than another. I try to do the best I can and help everyone I can.

Third I would like to say that I know this person will come back later and say they didn't mean any of it, they were mad and don't know what they are saying when they are mad. Well, you know what, I will NEVER forget it. I am sure all of these things were honest and the truth and I can deal with that. You should never say things if you will want to take them back later. Think before you speak. Yes, it did hurt my feelings and I did cry. It also opened my eyes. I have tried to help this person all I can. I can stop trying now and not feel guilty about it. I owe this person nothing, I did my best and that is the end of that and I still do not feel I am better than anyone. This person doesn't really know me at all if that is what they think.

Fourth, there are consequences for the actions you take. No I am not threatening anyone, only maybe to never talk to them again. I do not need this nonsense in my life or the life of my girls. That is my job, to protect them and make sure they have healthy and happy lives.

Just in case it crossed your mind, no, this person is not my husband, he would never talk to me that way. He respects and loves me. I do not feel it is important to blast this person by name, I know who they are and feel comfortable in my decision to move on knowing I did what I could to help this person. Some people just can not be helped and you can not help them if they are not willing to help themselves.

Thank you to all my friends for listening.

KNOW HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Well it has been brought to my attention that some of my recent entries in this blog have been kind of angry and I feel even rushed. I am SO tired today I am even kind of dreading having to do an entry today. It's only 8:12 and I feel like it's 2am. I only have a few days left to finish my 30 day challenge. I do not want to rush my entries or just post something for the sake of getting it over with.

I have heard so many stories on the news in the last few days about home invasions and gun accidents. I would like to encourage all women to know how to use a handgun. Everyone needs to be able to protect themselves. If you have small children you need a gun cabinet. Everyone should also take a safety course. I have guns but I know how to use them and I have them locked away from my kids. If you don't know what you are doing or are scared to use a firearm you are probably going to hurt someone that you don't intend to hurt. I hope that I never have to use mine against someone but I feel that I need to be able to protect myself and my family if the need should present itself. So far my only victims have been a couple of snakes and I hope it stays that way.

GETTING BACK ON THE WAGON!

The weather outside yesterday was absolutely gorgeous. While Sydney was at school Rachel and I played outside and blew bubbles. After Sydney got home we went back out to play on the swing set, blow bubbles and play with the puppies. Hopefully this afternoon will be just as nice. We are going to eat dinner with Jason's mom and his stepdad this afternoon. We try to spend as much time with family as we can but sometimes that's hard with his schedule and Sydney in school, but we try to make the best of the time we do have when everyone is home.

Before I had Rachel I was trying to lose weight. I set my mind to it and just did it. It was going really well. I lost 40 pounds dieting and exercising. I had to sell my bicycle to make room in the nursery but I did keep my treadmill. Today I am getting back on it. Yes, Rachel is 2 years old, but better late than never! When I was exercising every day I felt so much better and had so much energy. I need energy to keep up with these kids! I've got the time to do it so I have just got to set my mind to it and do it every day and stop putting it off! I would just get me a regular bike because I live them, but if you know me you know that a bicycle is an accident waiting to happen. No more hospital trips for me. I need a stationary bike! LOL!

JUST THINK ABOUT IT

Have you ever wondered how much you really know about someone? Maybe a relative? Maybe someone you live with every day? Do you ever wonder what is going on in their mind or what they are thinking? If everyone had a blog do you think that you would still like them? If everyone was really honest in their blog it may surprise you how well you DON'T know them and if you would even want to be associated with them at all.


Do you ever think to yourself, "this person is crazy!" I do, about a lot of people, people just do things that I would say are insane. Watching the news can give you a good dose of this. Sometimes your relatives can too... Sometimes I just wonder....

"Is it possible for there to be this many people in the world that are crazy or am I crazy and I just think it's everyone else?"

That statement alone may cause anyone that is reading this blog to think to their self "Is she crazy?"

Just something to think about.


I watched an episode of HOUSE today where this girl was just obsessed with her blog and put every single thing about her personal life online. Even everything her doctor would say and wanted her viewers to give her advice on what health decisions to make. Definitely a little too much for me. Don't get me wrong, I think a blog is a good thing, but it can go too far if you let it.

RESPONSIBILITY

Why is it that some people never grow up? They never take responsibility for their actions and just rely on other people to clean up their mess? I am 31 years old and I feel like I am more responsible than some 40 and 50 year olds I know, not to mention a few 30 year olds. Even worse, some people want to keep their nose in your business all the time instead of taking care of their own business. Don't try to run my life when yours is falling apart.

With all of that said, I am so glad we had a great weekend for Sydney's birthday. The weather was nice Saturday and we were able to play on the beach. The girls had a wonderful weekend and we needed the family time.

Some of you may or may not know that Jason's stepdad has cancer. He has been battling it on and off now for over 4 years. Jason has went with Harry (his stepdad) and his mom to a doctors appointment in Winston Salem today. It is now at the point that all of his options are expended except for radiation which he will be starting in the coming days. Please keep Harry and Teresa in your prayers.