I need some motivation

I'm in need of some serious motivation.  I really need to start taking better care of myself.  I'm sleeping 3 or 4 hours a night, eating once a day and I need to lose some weight.  It seems like all of my friends are more motivated and having amazing success with having a more healthy lifestyle.  One friend just got back from a 5K race in Moab, another one is registered to run 5 legs in a marathon (she has also lost 44 lbs since January) and another one just registered for the Ironman competition. 

I guess the first thing I need to do is fix my sleep issues, then I can move on to exercising everyday. I'm wondering if there is such a thing as the best weight loss supplement becaue I could really use some of that too!

I would love any suggestions on how to motivate myself.

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Facebook

I kind of have a dislike for Facebook lately.  Initially, I set up a Facebook account to help with answering questions when working ChaCha.  And then the requests started coming in. From the looks of things, just about everyone from my high school graduating class has a Facebook account.  I was never a big fan of high school. It was a little odd because I was really involved in school activites. I was on the drill team, in the performing arts group and had a group of people that I considered to be good friends but I really preferred to hang out with people from other schools. 

Now I'm getting requests and messages from people that I didn't even really hang out with but you would think we were old lost friends.

I don't know just a little weird.

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New Floor

We decided awhile ago to tear out our carpet and put down wood flooring.  It was actually super easy to put down-I even managed to do the entire living room by myself while Twitch was at work.  We were doing three rooms so I thought it might go faster if we called some friends and get it done in one day.  Under the promise of beer and pizza we managed to get enough guys over that it was done in no time.  I should warn you though. If you decide to go this route, don't serve the beer until AFTER the floor is done.  One of our friends, I'll call him Jay to protect the not so innocent had maybe a few too many during the course of the day and somehow pinched the water line from the fridge.  We had no idea it had happened until 4 days later when Twitch went downstairs and the electrical box was popping and smoking.  We tore up the floor and mangaged to save most of it and luckily enough the electrical dried out too.  You think we would learn to be a little more selective about who we provide beer and pizza to. Jay is the same guy that decided we didn't need all of the bolts and screws put in the new barstools we bought for our New Year's Eve party.  Of course, the chair didn't fall apart until after he left but the look at Twitch's face as he collapsed to the floor was priceless.

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It's official!

I'm a big fan of electricity.  I haven't thought about it in a long time but I really appreciate the modern conveniences we have.

Last night, I sat done for a half hour of self indulgence by watching Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory before starting work.  About 10 minutes in the power started to flicker.  I didn't really think it would amount to much but after the fourth flick it went out.  No big deal, I'll just work now instead of later.  Well, apparently my modem doesn't work without power. (Should I admit I didn't realize that would happen?)

On to plan three: reading for awhile before going to bed. Of course, I need some light to do that.  Out to the garage I go to find a flash light or camping light with the only light source available - my laptop screen.  Just a heads up - a laptop screen does not light up a dark garage enough to see the pile of pipe your husband may have laying on the garage floor nor is it bright enough to see how bad your toe might be bleeding after finding the pile of pipe.

I finally found a flashlight and I'm sure you can guess the next problem - NO batteries.  After rummaging through the cupboards and drawers I found the only 2 batteries and heading to bed to read.

An hour later, I realized I really like heat too (yeah the heat doesn't work either when the power is out - who knew?)

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Just throwing it out there

For my weekly confession I've decided that I just might be a little petty.  I have three wedding rings.  Twitch and I got married when we were pretty young and couldn't afford much in the way of diamond rings so we got what we could afford and at the time I loved it. Actually, I still do but it sits in my closet.  When he got a management job at the last company he worked for, I decided I really needed a bigger diamond so we got ring number two.  Then a couple of years ago, I decided I no longer wanted a yellow gold ring so we found a new ring in white gold and of course I had to get a bigger diamond.

Well, I have the itch again.  I don't even really want a bigger diamond but I really want a vintage looking wedding ring.  So, I've started the search.  Of course, I haven't shared this with Twitch, I'll wait until I find the "perfect ring".  I'm know exactly what he is going to say... "Um, you said the last ring you got was the perfect one".

I'm just wondering if I'm the only one that does this.  Should I just be happy with the three I have now and is it really tacky to not wear the ring I was married with.

At least my boys won't have to buy rings for their weddings - I'll have plenty to share!

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Interview with Rooster

I got a cute email the other day that I wanted to share. I had Rooster answer the questions this time and will have Tater do it too. It should be interesting to compare their answers.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
   ”Clean up your room”

2. What makes mom happy?
   ”Me, having a good day with no fighting. A perfect day!”

3. What makes mom sad?
   “When I don’t have a perfect day”

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
   “Everything!”

5. What was your mom like as a child?
   “A very good daughter”

6. How old is your mom?
   ”A girl never tells her age”

7. How tall is your mom?
   “5 feet 1 inch”  So close! But, I never forget the 1/2".

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
   “Work”  Okay, let me just put this out there - Just because I work all the time does not mean it's my favorite thing! 

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
   “Work”

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
    “She would be a supermodel”  I think he must want something.

11. What is your mom really good at?
    “Typing”

12. What is your mom not very good at?
    ”Cooking – just kidding. I seriously can’t think of anything.”

13. What does your mom do for her job?
    “Works for ChaCha”

14. What's your mom's favorite food?
    “Oriental Chicken Salad”

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
    “She loves her family”   Ahhh!

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
    “Minnie Mouse”  I'm not sure how I feel about this.

17. What do we do together?
    “We going on vacations together (Disneyland).

18. How are you and your mom the same?
    “We both have bad vision. We’re grumpy in the morning.”  That is the truth!

19. How are you and your mom different?
    “She loves showers – I hate showers.”   And... welcome to my world where I have to bribe or threaten my son to get clean.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
    “Christmas and Valentine’s Day- lots a gifts. She hugs me a lot.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
    “Bunco”.   Love my girl's night out!

23. If you could say anything to your mom what would it be?
    “I love you”   Double ahhh!

      

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Happy St. Paddy's Day!

So before I go off on a rant 

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I picked up some undecorated cookies (already made), sprinkles and frosting for the boys.  They had a blast decorating them after school.

Now, for my rant. I don't mean to make any moms feel bad for being on the ball and making the day fun for their kids but....
when in the hell did St. Patrick's Day turn into a give your kids presents kind of day?! And why didn't I get the memo?!
Last night I briefly thought about doing something fun for the kids beyond coloring their dinner green. But, started working and didn't give it another thought.

I went over to the school this morning and heard all the moms talking about coloring the milk and pancakes green, the leprechaun peed green pee in the toilets and made a mess in the house.  K- feeling bad mom worthy at this point but just wait.

Today was my carpool day and normally I love listening to the kids chat but today two of the boys were telling Tater how the leprechaun left them the clothes they were wearing, glow sticks and presents.  Tater told them that a boy in his class got $5 from the leprechaun then asked me why he didn't come to our house. WTH I didn't know he was supposed to! Then I remembered the cookies that the leprechaun left (wink wink) they just happened to have a grocery store sticker on them.

Bad mom trophy put away for another day!

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Dad's day at home

Twitch has to take one day a month off from work (damn economy!) and I thought it would be a fun little experiment for him to take  care of getting the boys to and from school.  I was pretty sure he had no idea what their schedule was like so I thought I'd ask him. 

Me: Do you know what time Rooster leaves for the bus? 
Twitch: Umm 7:00?
Me: Is he walking or are you driving?
Twitch: Oh, I'll drive him.
Me: He doesn't need to leave until 7:08 (yes, we have it scheduled to the minute)
Twitch: Does he get dropped off on the left or right side of 4800?
Me: He doesn't get dropped of on 4800.  Rooster can tell you where the bus stop is.

Me:  Do you know what time Tater leaves and how he gets to school?
Twitch: I have no idea.
Me: He leaves at 8:15 with John (our neighbor)
Twitch: Do you just send him over there:
Me: Ummm  yeah.

Twitch left for awhile and asked before he left what time Tater gets out of school so he could pick him up.  I told him clearly he gets out at 3:15.

3:25
Me to Twitch: Are you going to get Tater or should I?
Twitch: No, I'll go get him.
Me: He's been out of school for 10 minutes.
Twitch: Oh, I thought you said he got out at 3:35.
Me: Smacks my head!

Dear God, 
Please don't let me leave this life without getting my boys schedule written down!

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I can dream right?

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy whatever you wanted whenever you wanted it without that little voice in the back of your head throwing out little tidbits of information about what bills are due and what you should really be paying off instead.

A definite luxory item would be a Chronoswiss watch. The watches are classic and georgeous. They would be an interesting conversation piece. I'm just not sure I could spend the equivalent of several house payments on a watch - no matter how beautiful it is.

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Customer Service

I had the BEST experience shopping and felt like I needed to share. I tend to complain about the bad ones and don't give enough praise when I receive great customer service.

We had a new Kohl's open not far from our house and I was excited to see a quesadilla maker on sale for $14.99. I received a $10 gift card from them in the mail so I was set to pick it up for $5.

I went on Friday and the price on the shelf was around $37 with a sale price of $30 - not even close to what I planned on spending. I went up to the customer service desk and asked if they had a copy  of the ad that I would have gotten in the mail. She had to pull one out of the garbage and showed me that the $14.99 price was only good on Wednesday.  I mentioned how bummed out I was because it was such a good deal.  I'm pretty sure I would of still bought it but she said you know what I'm just going to honor the sales price!!!  I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.  I never expected her to give me the price it was totally my fault for missing the sale.  I am a die hard Kohl's shopper for life now!

We came home and made the best quesadilla - everyone got to pick there own ingredients and it was super easy!

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Exciting news!

I'm so excited to share the news that I got a new job today! I have been juggling no less than six jobs over the past few months and it was getting difficult to keep them all straight.  I can now get rid of all of the others if I want, but my plan is to keep one in addition to blogging. 

I think the best (and maybe saddest) part for me is I'm giving up on ChaCha. I really liked the job but with the recent changes my pay was cut so drastically that it wasn't worth it for me anymore.  

I've signed a NDA so I can't share too much info but it is a work at home position with flexible hours.  If you are looking for a great work at home job visit Leapforce's website and click on their apply button. 

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Stroke Signs

My dear, sweet Grandma is still battling health issues.  Two weeks ago she had a stroke.  We have truly been blessed that it was a minor one. She hasn't experienced any paralysis although she has tremors on her right.  For the most part her mental state is good but we have seen some personality changes and some unusual behaviors.  She is back home and doing better than expected. She truly is a tough woman!

She began experiencing symptoms early in the evening but unfortunately the symptoms weren't picked up by a family member that was staying with her.

I wanted to take a minute and stress how important it is for the signs of a stroke to be known.
1. Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, leg or arm (especially on one side).
2. Sudden confusion, trouble understanding speech or speaking
3. Sudden trouble walking, loss of balance, dizziness
4. Sudden severe headache with no known cause
5. Sudden trouble seeing in one of both eyes.

My Grandma has described feeling like the right side of her body was disconnected. She said she knew she was having a stroke but couldn't explain it.

Please if you think someone is having a stroke, call 911.

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Reality Check

Well, I got a big slap in the face by reality when Tater brought home his spelling test.  We have an ongoing incentive (read bribe) for Tater. If he gets 100% on his spelling test he can pick any activity he wants to do over the weekend.  He's only reached the goal once so I thought we needing to give him another smaller incentive (read bribe again).

For his last test, I told him if he got all of the first part of the test right, I would take him to get an ice cream.  I was so excited when I picked him up to find out that he earned an ice cream.  That is until I looked at a copy of his spelling test and got the news!

There was a note from his teacher that he was "peeking at another paper" while taking the test. Initially, my heart dropped I was so disappointed.  Then I was completely shocked - wondering how he ever thought to do it.  Apparently other kids are doing the same thing and he thought he would follow along. The saddest part is I really think he would have been able to do it without cheating.

Honestly, I don't think he'll ever do it again (at least I hope not).  I told Twitch that I thought Rooster had prepared us for anything and then Tater threw me a curve ball that I never expected!

It got me thinking though. I wonder if I put too much pressure on my boys to succeed at a level I think is acceptable. Or maybe he just really wanted an ice cream cone.

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Go!

We get a little crazy in our house about New York teams.  We are at best fair weather fans for local teams but give us a New York team and we go a little nutty.  All of us love the Yankees and Twitch and the boys love the Giants.  Let me just add here GO RAIDERS!!  Yeah I get a lot of crap for my slightly unheathly obsession for the Raiders and for the fact that they pretty much suck. But I've stuck by them for years and will always be a Raider fan.

Twitch is from New York and has a lot of his family still in the New York/New Jersey area.  What a fantastic surprise it would be to be able to get us some New York Yankees tickets along with some airline tickets and fly us all out there!

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My laptop

I've been having a lot of problems with my laptop lately and it has gotten extremely frustrating to get continuous errors while trying to work.

No matter how many programs I have open, I randomly will get a virtual memory error. I've increased my alloted memory numerous times, formatted my hard drive and reinstalled everything and still get the error.

I think I may have to buy some memory sticks and try increasing the memory that way. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

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Utah - Gotta love it!

I was in a forum for one of my jobs when I saw a very bizarre comment, at least to me.  A person had posted a comment incinuating that not many people in Utah have computers. I really had to laugh because I know there are some crazy ideas about how things are in Utah but really we are pretty up to date year - we have running water and even internet access.

I thought it would be funny to list some of the weird quirks about Utah.

1. We don't have have horns or tails.  While Twitch and I were in New Jersey, we heard two older ladies outside the window discussing the big visit from us Utahns.  One women claimed to know for certain that people from Utah have horns and tails.

2. Fry Sauce - One of the best things ever! Mix up some mayonaise and some ketchup as a dip for your fries. Just don't try to order it in a restaurant in L.A. like Twitch did. They will laugh you out of the building.

3. Green Jello - Yes it really exists and at one time was fairly popular at family and church events.

4. Funeral Potatoes - Another really great food. I believe they got their name because they were a popular dish at church gatherings after a funeral. 

5. Utah liquor laws
    A. You cannot get hard liquor or smoke in a bar - only in a private club, where you have to pay to have
       membership.
   B. There are a few cities that won't sell alcohol on Sunday.
   C. Liquor is not sold in grocery stores here. You have to go to a state owned liquor store to buy                         hard alcohol and even wine coolers and drinks like Mike's Lemonade.
   D. There is a bill before Congress right now that states liquor has to be poured behind a 10 foot wall in a
        restaurant.

6. Although there are some polygmists here, it is not very common.

I'm sure there are more, I'll have to update as I think of them. I would love to hear any comments from readers from Utah with any I haven't listed.

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Pets

We have two dogs, Riley and Chloe, who we love tremendously, but I'm not sure that we are the best pet owners. They get lots of love from the boys when they're around, but we always so busy that I'm afraid we don't spend enough time with them.  Which is the reason we got Chloe. I really didn't want two dogs but my thought was at least they would have each other to play with. 

As for buying pet supplements, I'm probably the worst. The dogs are playing with toys that are so tattered they leave trails of stuffing where ever they go. 

I really need to become a better pet parent because they really do provide so much joy in our lives.

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Furniture

We've been putting off buying new furniture until the boys were older, thinking that why get new furniture and have it trashed. We'll I don't think we can put it off any longer. The couches have gotten so uncomfortable that we don't even like to sit on them anymore and I can feel the wood in the arm of the couches.

I just hate the thought and spending so much money at one time.

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Grandma update

I've written about how amazed I am with my the strength my Grandma has and yet again she shows us what a tough women she is.

She had a stroke last Monday and was released from the hospital (to home) today!  Physically she is doing really well. There hasn't been any paralysis. She is just having some shakiness and needs to get her strength back. Mentally though I'm not sure how well she has faired. It's hard to put my finger on, but it's almost like she is a different person than before the stroke. I understand there can be personality changes and the neurologist told us it take up to a year and a half for her to get everything back.

It will be a lot of work to be able to keep her at home but it will be so worth it not to have to put her in a nursing home.

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Vegas here we come!

Well, not for not for a few months anyway, but I'm starting to plan our Vegas trip for this summer. Twitch's parents live there so we try to get down there atleast once a year. We usually make a pretty quick trip and just stay for a few days, but this year we're going to extend it a little and do some fun stuff with the kids. We're thinking about see the Knight show at the Excalibur and I've also found Westgate reservations. They have some great prices on stays at their resort so I may have to add that to the list.

There has been so much snow here lately, it's been nice to look at pictures of sunny Las Vegas and dream a little bit.

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Wow!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. Things have been crazy around here, but the plan is to set some time aside every couple of days and get my blog updated. I have a big change coming up here-keep your eye out over the next little while and let me know what you think. 

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I'm the BEST example for my kids!

Okay so I'm not always the best example for my kids. I hinted to that fact in my last post about the dinosaur show.

First, let me say that our seats were just about up as high as you could get. There may have been 10 rows behind us. By the time we got to our seats both my and Rooster were freaking out because we're so afraid of heights.

About 45 minutes into the show, an annoucement was made that there would be an intermission.  This came after hearing Tater say over and over again that he wished we were closer. So being a mom and wanted to give her child everything I can, I'm pretty sure I heard the announcer say "here's your chance to move to the seats up closer".

I got on the phone and called our friends that were there and told them to meet us by snack bar so we could crash some better seats.

This plan did not work out so well! We were a little agressive with our first seat choices and were shut down before we could even get too far. Our second episode went much smoother - for some of us. Our friend Shawn and all of the kids made it to the seats, but me, Twitch and Danielle got asked for our tickets.  So on to our third try. This time everyone but Twitch and I made it to the seats before getting asked for tickets. Next thing I know the ushers are over asking everyone for tickets. He was actually really nice about it and felt bad that he couldn't let us move closer when there were so many seats open.  For our fourth try we went back up to the upper bowl but found seats closer than ours and off to the side, where nothing was blocked.

By this time the show had been going for about 10 mins. and Rooster in all his wisdom pointed out that my plan was worthless. Not only did we miss part of the show, but we're all "going to go to hell" for trying to take other seats.

Okay so in some instances my kids are a better example for me than I am for them!

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Walking with Dinosaurs

Tater has been asking if we could go see the Walking with Dinosaurs show since we first saw the ads for it (before Christmas), but I've really been trying to watch our spending and was having a hard time justifying spending so much money on tickets.  As I weighed out our options, I realized that we did some many things like this when Rooster was little, but we really haven't with Tater (2nd child syndrome!) so I went ahead and got the tickets. 

It was so worth it! We didn't tell the boys we were going and somehow managed to get them all the way inside before we told them.  Tater was so excited! He couldn't quit jumping up and down and I can't tell you how many times I heard that he loved me and that it was the best day of his life.  Even Rooster (who is too cool for anything lately) said that he wanted to put all of the pictures I took up on his MySpace page. 

The show was really good. It was crazy to see how big and realistic looking the dinosaurs were.  Tater, of course, knew the name of every dinosaur that came out and loudly announced each one. 

But, leave it to me to manage to throw in a really bad example for my kids to follow. I'll post more later about that!

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Martin Luther King Day

I wanted to do a service project with the boys for MLK day, but it's hard with the age difference between them to find something that they can both do without one being bored or one acting out.

We decided we would go through our food storage and take some food to the food bank.  I tried all day to reach them by phone to make sure they were open with no luck before deciding we would go to the homeless shelter. I know they need the help too, but I was a little leery about taking the boys to it.

I'm so glad we did! The house manager was so grateful for our food and even offered to take the boys on a tour of the facility.  It was a warmer day so it was empty, but they got to see the sleeping area, a family room area and learn how many people come through each day to stay or eat.  I was even able to get the phone number for their volunteer co-ordinator and Rooster and I are going done once a month to serve food. Tater really wants to go, but I think we need to wait until he is older. 

Tater's teacher asked what he did over the weekend and he told her we went to the Walking with Dinosaurs show on Saturday then the homeless shelter. I asked if he told her why we went to the homeless shelter and he said "umm no", so I'm wondering if she's thinking we're blowing our money and then getting a free meal at the shelter. Kind of made me laugh. 

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Detoxifying

Detoxifying seems to be the newest thing in diet pills.  On the surface it makes sense to me. I'm sure our body retains some of the bad things that go into our body-it absorps vitamins and minerals so I would think it would hold on to some junk too.

According to Orovo Detox retained toxins can decrease our metabolic rate and result in weight gain. Something interesting to think about.

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Where to get coupons

I've had some questions about where I get my coupons so I thought I would write a quick post about where I get them.

The majority of my coupons come from the Sunday paper, but I get 5 copies of the paper so that when things go on sale I can buy in bulk.

I was surprised to see that some Sunday papers don't have a lot (if any) coupons available. If that's the case for you, I have bought coupons in the past.

Ebay: A great place to find some of the better coupons is on Ebay. I have no problem paying for  coupons (or technically paying someone to cut out the coupons because selling the coupons is illegal) if it means I'm getting a killer deal on something.  I have bought coupons for toilet paper from Ebay and ending up getting 2 cases of toilet paper for $2.00. The toilet paper was free and I paid the seller $2.00.  I also got 80 bottles of Gatorade for about $3.00 after buying on Ebay. 

Coupon Clipping Service: I have ordered coupons from the coupon clipper before and have been pleased. I've ordered at the first of the week and had them by then end of the week. It can be harder to get the coupons you want from a clipping service bacause they seem to go fast. You also have a minimum order, pay for the coupon and then a small handling fee.

Printables: I regularly use printables. Some good sites to go to are:
Box tops
Coupons.com
Pillsbury
Really any manufactures website will most likely have printable coupons. If not send them an email letting them know you like their product and ask if they can send you some.

Use prescription transfer coupons. This is a great way to get gift cards for use at your favorite store.

I use rebates a lot, but only on items that I would buy anyway. My last rebates included $10 rebate on 2 cases of water. I paid $10 for the water so free. $25 rebate on $150 grocery store purchase and $20 rebate on chicken. 

My very favorite website is Pinching Your Pennies. On this site you can go to a forum set up for your state (I think they have most of them set up) and there is grocery store lists (from the ads) matched up with what coupon to use and a rating on how good of a deal it is.

You can also find coupons and rebate for trade and trains that you can join to swap coupons. 

I hope this helps a little any way - thanks for your comments and questions

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Planning for vacation

With the hope that our trip to Africa will go through later this year, I've been looking into what needs to be done. None of us have a passport so that will be the first thing on the list.  The amount of vaccinations we will need is crazy and has put a bit of a sour note on the trip for Rooster.  He's not thrilled with the idea of having to get shots to go on a trip. I'm not looking forwrd to it either, but it will be so worth it! Another thing I need to look into is obtaining travel medical insurance, I don't even know if our insurance would cover anything over there. There are a thousand things I need to do but I'm hoping the director of the outreach program can point me in the right direction.

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Feeling Good!

Until today, it really didn't sink in what a momentous event in history we were going through. Honestly, I didn't think that we would see an African American President so early in my lifetime. Or see a woman come so close to winning the nomination.

Growing up a white girl with inter-racial parents, in a fairly reserved community, there were many times in my life that I was shunned by whites and blacks as well. I had a step-dad, who stepped in and became the father that my dad never was and it was difficult for me to understand why the color of his skin should make a difference or why the color of my skin should make the same difference to others.

Watching the inauguration proceedings today gave me so much hope that my children will grow up in a different world than I did.  Don't get me wrong, I'm the person I am today because of my childhood and I am grateful for every minute of it. My children have grown up never identifying with race, instead they see people for what kind of a person they are and for that I am forever grateful.

I've been conscious of not discussing my political views here because I feel they are very personal. Quite frankly I live by the rule that you should never discuss politics unless your up for a heated argument. Race and politics aside, I feel so much hope and promise when I listen to Barack O'bama speak. Hope that we can live in a world with more peace than we have today. Hope that my children have a promising future, filled with tolerance and love. Hope that the decline we are seeing in so many aspects of American can be reversed.

I know so many people are sick of hearing the word "Hope" but without hope where would we be?

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Nursing Degree Online

Quite a few years ago, I decided to pursue my degree in nursing. I went to a local university and got my Certified Nursing Assistant license, with the intent of continuing on to get a degree in nursing.  When I finished the course my boss asked what he could pay me to keep me in my position and actually agreed to what I said, so I stayed. Shortly after I had Roster and never found the time to fit in classes and clinicals with a new baby and a full time job.

I recently found an online MS nursing program and it made me start thinking about going back to school. With Saint Xavier University's nursing program most of the course work is done online with a weekend of campus experience.  This type of program could fit wonderfully into a busy life. I could do the online work at night after the kids go to bed and Twitch would be here on the weekends with the kids. This may just be the motivation I need to finish up my bachelor's degree!

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Hi! My name is Mindy and I'm an.....

Addict! I'm not trying to make light of the troubles addict go through, but if it's possible to be addicted to shopping, then I am. I guess a more accurate statement is I'm addicted to saving money.  Honestly, I get the same rush shopping that I get when I walk into a casino.

I haven't been coupon shopping lately because everything I've been doing has been half-arse, shopping included. But when I made my latest shopping trip all of the signs indicating that I might just be a bit wacky came back. 

The rapid heartbeat when I go over my list, the light head I get after all the discounts come off and my need to gloat to everybody about my savings all came rushing back. 

So, if you'll indulge me while I gloat one more time, I'll share my latest trip to Albertson's.
First transaction:
16lbs of Iams dog food
5 boxes of Toaster Strudel
4 boxes of Cheerios
10 boxes of Fruit Snacks
2 bottles of Tide
2 cases of water
4 boxes of brownie mix
6 bottles of Pantene
5 tubes of Crest
Total before coupons: $104.65
Preferred Savings: $59.26
Store Coupons: $3.00
Total Savings: $86.86
I paid: $104.65
I also have a $10.00 rebate on the 2 cases of water so they will end up being free.

Definitely not my best shopping trip but this one was necessary to get the next transaction to work.

Second Transaction:
2 gallons of milk
8 boxes of Rice A Roni
2 boxes of popcorn
4 bags of feminine hygein products
4 bottles of shampoo
16 lbs of pork chops
15 lbs of chicken
10 lbs of potatoes
Total before coupons: $147.12
Bonus Buy Savings: $38.44
Preferred Savings: $22.50
MFG Coupons: $68.00
Store Coupons: $6.48
Total Savings: $135.42

I paid: $11.70!!! I was so freakin' excited. I received $60.00 dollars in catalinas from my previous order which I used on this transaction.

When I was regularly coupon shopping we had a massive amount of food storage built up and I was saving enough to equal a part time job. I really need to get more organized and start saving some money!

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Make it stop!!

I'm done! I want the snow to stop and the temp to raise from 5 degrees to ohh around 75.  I've lived in Utah most of my life and I really should have gotten over my adversity to the snow and the cold, but I really haven't.  We just had 2 days of almost non-stop snow and are in for more tomorrow.

A good friend of mine, who has done my hair for years, moved to North Carolina not far from the Outer Banks. I'm so jealous when I look at pictures of her and her dog frolicking on the beach as I'm sitting with socks, sweats, long sleeved shirt and the portable heater blowing right on me.

I'm thinking now would be a perfect time to go visit and I could even get my hair cut at the same time (it's only been 4 months since I've had it cut - I'm still in mourning).

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Happy 2009

I've decided that I've really taken New Year's Eve for granted.  New Year's Eve is always spent at our house and I stress and clean and cook for 2 days before.  This year we managed to fit over 50 people in our house that is not set up to hold that many people, which at first stressed me out, but once I relaxed a bit (okay, a few Coconut Rum and Sprite drinks probably helped) we all had a fantastic time.  We hadn't seen some of our friends since last year and it was good to catch up.

I didn't get too many pictures that turned out for some reason they kept getting worse. Again, it could have been the cocktails but I'm really wondering if at some point you just have to replace the memory cards because the pics by the end of the night were really just horrible.

 

Rooster ringing in 2009

Tater bringing in the New Year

This my friends is what Twitch looks like after 1 too many shots of Tequila - good thing  we only let loose once a year! BTW I'd appreciate it if we kept this pic as our little secret, I'm not sure he would be too thrilled with this moment of sharing. 

What happens at Mindy's house doesn't always stay at Mindy's house - It just might end up on the blog!

By the end of the night this is how the pictures were turning out?!?!

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Christmas

 Christmas was fantastic this year.  On Christmas Eve, we had dinner with friends then we all went to a live nativity play. We go every year and every year I'm amazed by the play. It's done by a family in the town next to us.  They do it in the front yard of the house and it's complete with Mary and Joseph, roman soldiers, the angel on the top of their chimney (which was a little scary this year because of the wind) donkeys, llamas and horses.  It's such a nice time to reflect on what Christmas means before the madness of Christmas morning begins. 
Unfortunately, we missed church service this year because we didn't get to the play until late.

We had a massive storm come through Christmas Eve through the morning so we cancelled our trip to Brigham to have Christmas Day with the family.  My Grandma was released from the rehab center for the day so it was a hard not to go, but the roads were horrible so we stayed home and let the kids trash the house!

Friday was spent at my parents. My mom made us homemade lasagna, that was fantastic. We spent the evening exchanging gifts and talking then slid our way home. The roads didn't look like they had seen a plow or a sandtruck since the storm the day before. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

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Writer's Block

I've been MIA for awhile. It seems I've been in a funk and haven't been blogging lately. Really, I think it's been so insanely busy around here that I haven't taken a minute to do anything for myself.  Blogging is really my release and I need to make sure I set some time aside to do it.  So before I long on to work tonight I'm going to write a few posts to get myself caught up since Christmas.

insurance online

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