I'm over my first world problems.

And so it begins. Ladies and gentlemen, Husband's side job has begun and we are now one of THOSE couples. The ones that sit down and see each other for twenty minutes a day and one of us is ALWAYS asleep before the other. Before you think that I am complaining, you should know that I'm not. I know I could have it much worse. These are just some of my "first world problems" I guess you could say.

For example. Husband works two jobs, so that we can save up to get a second vehicle. The ultimate goal? To get this chick right here a minivan, even if it's used. FWP.
The result of Husband working two jobs is that the Monsters and I stay home a lot more. I know, it is horrendous not being mobile enough to spend Husband's money. FWP.
Being home every day gives me more time to notice that my washer, dryer, and dishwasher are all in perfect working order. Major FWP.
Of course, I also spend more time focusing on the spots on my floors. I guess I'll have to go grab my Shark Steam Mop out of the closet and take care of that... FWP.
Oh, and my laundry mountain keeps getting bigger. Because my kids have So Many Clothes that they have the luxury of changing clothes 5 times a day and still have enough clothes to do the same thing for the next 4 days. FWP.
I also have plenty of time to snack. Which means I keep standing in front of my stocked fridge, freezer and pantry. Because 45 minutes have already passed since the last time I grabbed food. FWP.
Today alone I've already caught up on all my blogs, Facebook, Yahoo News, and the Proboards, and I will likely do so again in about an hour. FWP for the win.


I guess I need some perspective. Obviously I am very blessed with the things that I have, and I know for a fact I do not want to imagine life without them. It is hard though, when you do the same exact things every single day, every single week, every single month. Nothing changes, and I am bored out of my ever loving mind sometimes. I am ready for it to be spring, so my doors and windows can stay open. So my animals and my kids can run back and forth, between inside and out. I am ready for Monster Man to be a little more independent, because I had forgotten how much babies just want you to hold them so they can stare at the room around them. Unfortunately for him, I'm tired of staring!
I don't even have anything else to write about friends. That's how mundane it is around here lately. I need something to do. The MONSTERS need something to do, before I pull all my hair out and look like I belong in an insane asylum.
Spring needs to just happen, because my first world problems are getting on my nerves.

Today was a day.

Today was a rough day. I woke up on edge, with not much on my mind except tragedy. I woke up irritated at the world, because life is not fair. I woke up angry that bad things happen. I woke up sad that a mother is grieving. 

Today was a hard day. I almost forgot once or twice to be thankful. I almost lost my cool more than once. I was upset over something petty. I almost lost track that a mother out there wishes her day were like mine.

Today was a sad day. I was focused on unimportant things. I was worried about things that haven't happened. I felt guilty for feeling relieved. I felt anxious that I could have been that mother. 

Today was a long day. Each minute was a blessing, though I forgot once or twice that it was. I was impatient with my children, despite the overwhelming gratitude that they are mine. I struggled through my chores, and I grumbled from time to time. I forgot for a moment to be grateful for tiny clothes. Another mother has to pack hers away. 

Today was a quiet day. Despite the noise in my home, my soul remained mournful. For a woman I have never even met, and for a child that is gone from this earth. I quietly told myself that things happen for a reason. I remembered a loving God who welcomed a tiny angel yesterday. But still my heart felt broken.

I took time to sit with my children today, learning with them, playing with them, and eating with them. I reflected on their milestones, while lamenting the ones someone else will never see. I hugged each of my babies today. Breathed in their scents. I stroked their hair and marveled at their joy. I shushed them when they were loud, then regretted stifling the rambunctious laughter. 

Today I raged at the world. That life goes on, even though for someone else, time has stopped. I cursed at the cruelty of mother nature, and the cycle of life. I cried today for a kindred spirit. Then I was ashamed to thank God it wasn't me. That life was not snatched out of my hands. 

I hugged and kissed my children today. Through tears I watched them play. With a heavy heart I carried on with our routine, as though nothing had even happened. I said a prayer once or twice, and I kept on trekking. Because that is what you are supposed to do. But I have not forgotten.

Today was a day. I almost took it for granted.

Today I remembered to say thank you, that God gifted it to me.

The Bunny Hop Has Begun!

Well friends, it's now 6 days in, and I have failed miserably at updating that the Bunny Hop contest has begun. I'm already behind! Help me catch up, and check out my first post about the Bunny Hop HERE.

And really what more is there to be said? Here's some links to help you navigate around the Thirty-One website to find exactly what you want!
The Catalog
Direct Link to the Bunny Hop Event Page

Keep in mind friends, there will be other people ordering too, so shoot me a message to let me know you ordered! That will be used as your first entry for the giveway, so don't forget!

It was another day for scores.

Yesterday was a couponing kind of day. After a long and dreary night filled with organizing coupons on Sunday, I planned a trip to the store, and walked away happy. So for your viewing pleasure, a photo bomb of my latest adventure. Unfortunately I'm sad to not have pictures of the actual shelf tags, but will make sure from here on out to do so! It was a vital part of my trip yesterday.

 It all began with the clipping process. Since I've never fully talked about my organization and clipping routine, I'll begin there. Sunday afternoon was spent at my mother in law's house, alongside her and my sister in law, as we all sorted, sifted, and stapled our coupons

First we lay out the pages. Ignore the blurry quality, my phone sucks.

Stacked and stapled.

 Now, the first thing we do is divide up our inserts and match up the pages. I bought 4 papers, with 3 inserts, meaning I had a total of 12 inserts to divide  and match page for page. As you can see in the picture, it's a fairly simple process. Lay out each page into stacks so that all your "same" coupons will line up perfect. Then we staple each coupon. Tread lightly with your stapler, because you'll have to separate them in the store when you go to use them, so I always staple the picture of the item. This way you don't accidentally tear the barcode or expiration date. Now, my sister in law takes the pages that are fold ups (like you see in the picture, they have a crease like a book opening) and she tears them down the middle to avoid the fuss of cutting her coupons out from the "book page" sheets, and instead is left with individuals.

I am not partial to either way so I often end up with my stacks looking a little like the next picture. You probably can't tell but these are the same pages from the last picture, all folded back up, stapled and stacked, just waiting to be cut.


Next comes the cutting process. I am not a fan of this step, and I spend most of my time grumbling under my breath about how I'm wasting my time and it takes forever, just for a few measly coupons. My tools of choice are no longer my trusty scissors, although those work PERFECTLY FINE!

No, see I discovered that my rotary cutter and mat work outstandingly for both cutting my fabric AND my coupons.

My weapons of choice.

But, since the point of this is to save money instead of spend it, I don't recommend buying a rotary cutter and mat unless you are REALLY going to invest in the time for your coupons. Or unless you sew, because then, by all means, buy it as a multi-purpose tool like I did.

So after 2+ hours (long and grueling on my comfy couch while my husband played an entertaining video game for me to watch) I finally had a mountain of stapled coupons.

My mountain :)

After this all that is left is to put them in your binder. IF that is your method of choice for organizing them. It's mine, and it works. Actually, it is the method of choice for most couponers. I can testify to this because while I was out with my sister in law shopping we were standing in the cereal aisle with two other women who both had their binder opened up in front of them just like us.


Anyway. So the next step after the clipping and tucking all of your coupons, is to find your deals. The first source for this is of course, your sale ads. I found a lot of deals I wanted to take advantage of in my local Publix ad. So I searched through the pages and wrote down each deal I wanted. The list is always messy at first, as I do my math and figure out what my final prices will be.

Then I went to bed. Because at this point, it was 12:40 a.m. and I knew I wanted to get up early to snag my deals! 

Then came the magic. My sister in law and I headed out to Kroger first. Don't ask why, because honestly I don't know. We just picked Kroger. Whoa buddy am I glad we did. We walked away with some AMAZING scores. Here is where my regret of not having pictures of the prices tags comes in. Let me detail this picture for you. To the left is my Kroger score. I got 6 deodorants, 4 shaving gels, 2 toothbrushes, and 4 Pomegranate juices FOR FREE. I paid .29c for each of the 4 Dial handsoaps. I paid $1.99 for the Listerine, and I paid $2 a piece for each Olay face wash. 2 of the Olay face washes are the Olay Rejuvinist. ALL of the Olay soaps had the WRONG price labels on them. Somebody apparently didn't do their job the night before and remove the closeout prices of $3.49ea on them and because of my coupons I got them for $2. And there is also an Old Spice spray in there that I think I also go for free. All in all for my Kroger trip I paid 13.76 after tax, and $8 of that was my face wash. 

On to Publix. Now my Publix price tags might not look like a score to you. But in all actually it is. Here is what I got:

In this picture there are 4 boxes (with 2 in each) Success Boil in Bag rices, 18 cans of soups, 2 Palmolive dish soaps, 2 20ct Finish Gelpacs, 8 Krafts Homestyles, 4 Minute Rice Steamers, and 8 4pack of Jello Pudding cups (Ok, there is actually only 7 in the picture because my kids got a hold of them pretty quick).

Here is a picture of my reciept:

So I paid $43, but I saved $72, on items that are useful. Anytime you have saved more than you spent,you had a successful shopping trip (on food at least. I do not condone using this theory at say, the mall. It might be viewed as a shopping addiction. Not that I would know or anything...). I am actually more excited about my Publix trip than my Kroger trip because most of what I got was food items, and I got everything at around 50% off. 

So my friends, that is the latest installment in my coupon adventures!