Eye candy

Well at least for some of us..I have been on a boot kick lately.  Kevin recently mentioned that he would like a pair of cowboy boots.  I am skeptical of this newfound interest in western apparel, however I really enjoy my boots.  So how can I deny him the pleasure of owning a pair?  I've been looking at all kinds and all brands and these below are some of my favorites.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The last four pairs are my own.  I hope to make at least three pairs of the first five my own as well.  I try to download a picture of all shoes I own or buy so that I can put them in my Bento or Delicious Library app and have like an inventory.  If you want to know what any of the names are just leave me a comment. 

Coupon loot

I went to HT today to do some shopping.  I thought I would post some pics of my loot from today, so here goes.

Regular price at HT is $2.25 per pouch.  VIC Special made them 3/$5 which makes them $1.68 each.  I had coupons for $1/1 so that made the final price $.68.  If it had been Super Doubles, they would have been free but they were about to expire and I didn't want to lose out completely.

Regular price at HT is $1.25 per can.  VIC Special made it  2/$2.  With $.50/2 coupons that doubled made them 2/$1, so $.50 each. Savings of 60%!

Regular price at HT is $1.79.  VIC Special made them 10/$10.  With $.75/3 coupons that doubled made them $.50 each.  Savings of 73%!

Regular price at HT is $4.39! For a pint! Anyway, VIC Special made them Buy One Get One so that makes the price $2.20 a piece.  When you throw in 20 $1/1 coupons that makes them $1.20 per pint because I caught this when it was Super Doubles at HT! Savings of 73%!

Regular price at HT is $2.99.  I had coupons for $1.50 that I used during Super Doubles so that made it what?? FREE!!  Savings of 100%!! HAHA!!

I've never tried these but they look good!  Regular price $5.99 at HT.  VIC Special made them $3.99 and then for some reason there is an additional $.60 taken off of each one.  Combined with a coupon for $1/1 that makes them $2.39 each.  Savings of 60%!  What better time to try something new!

I couldn't use a coupon for these because I didn't have one for this specific item but the regular price at HT is $1.25 each and they were BOGO so I bought these four.  I may try to hunt down a coupon and go back.  All four of them sound awesome!

I got more couponing deals but I'm tired and it's late.  Tomorrow I go to Lowe's and I need to go back to HT as well because there were some deals there that I was not aware of that I have coupons for and several things were sold out. I am going to try again for the sold out items and if they are out again, I plan to get a raincheck.  Have a great night!

Been really busy..

You would think that now that I am not working full-time outside the home that I would have more time to do things like blog.  Instead, I have been cleaning, organizing, laundry and a whole lot of SLEEPING!  I don't know if I am somehow detoxing from work or something but for the past two weeks prior to this one, I could not get enough.  I would literally sleep like 9 hours or so a night and then still be sleepy.  This was a few weeks ago and I am feeling better as far as that goes now, though.  So hopefully I am back on the blogging bandwagon.

I found this kinda neat site/concept, as well, that somewhat prompted me to come over and post a new blog entry. It is booksneeze.com.  Apparently, how it works is like this: you will be sent a book for free, you only have to review it on your blog and another consumer type site like amazon.com, walmart.com, christianbook.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com, or booksamillion.com.  Then you post a link to your review on BookSneeze and then you can go request a new book.  All for free as long as you review the books when you are done.  Since I love to read and love to get stuff free (just take a look at my nook..it's loaded with 95% free books) this is PERFECT!!!  A lot of the books that I saw were available to choose from seemed to be Christian based.  I submitted my application and was approved so we will see how it goes.  More on BookSneeze later..

Kevin bought me an upright freezer!  I have been trying to convince him for months to do so.  We live in a 3 bedroom apartment and with it came one of those small basic refrigerators.  Since I have started the recent coupon madness, I was getting really frustrated with the fact that I could not put anything away to save because our refrigerator freezer is so small.  So my new Kenmore upright freezer was delivered about a month ago.  It is beautimous and humongous!  See look...

Yes, that is me.  Yes, I know I am silly.  But I was REALLY excited!!  And I still am, although now Freezee is not quite so empty because I have filled him with my couponing loot!  See look, again...

Ok, so my Aerogarden got really huge and flush with green lettuces and stuff.  So I thought to myself I think I should probably cut some of this lettuce off so we can eat it.  So I did..and I dont think I did it right because only one out of the seven plants grew back.  You can kinda tell in the pic of me standing in front of the freezer. :(  This made me sad and a little dissapointed because the pods are supposed to last about 6 months apiece.  That is assuming you know how to prune back plants to keep them growing again and again, I guess, though.  But I don't think that is quite something I am good at yet.  You live and you learn though, so I am trying again.  This time though I am trying out tomato plants that I bought at the same time as the Aerogarden right before Christmas.  I planted them about three weeks ago.  There are only two plants.  The rest of the holes are filled in with spacers because tomato plants can get huge.  Hopefully they will grow big and we will eat lots of tomato sammiches this summer!!

I have ordered a garden starter system to use in my Aerogarden to help start some seeds off.  Tomatoes, cucumbers, I don't really know what else..I will have to look and see what else I can try to grow in the summer.  Unfortunately because we are in a 3rd floor apartment I will have to use my back deck for most of my garden growing exploits.  I hope that my parents plant their summer garden as well this year because I always like to go over there to pick veggies during the summer.  I am hoping that I MIGHT get enough of one veggie or another that I can try my hand at preserving some this year.  We will see how that goes.

Oh yeah, I am getting married this weekend.  Kevin and I are getting married legally on Saturday and then later in May we will have a more formal ceremony and reception. More on the formal stuff later...

Coupons!!!

A few weeks ago, I mentioned in one of my posts that I was going to attend a coupon class.  Both Madison & Kevin asked me, "There's a class for that?"  So I finally got the opportunity to show off what I learned to Kevin.  We went to Harris Teeter, bought TONS of canned soup, spaghettios, pizza rolls, cheese, yogurt, cream cheese, pudding, taquitos, bagels, sausage, theraflu and Stouffer's entrees.  Before coupons my total was $177.82.  After I gave the cashier my coupons my total was $82.08!!  FOR REAL!!  I have the receipt to prove it!

I have been getting hold of at least 4 newspapers a week.  The class teacher, Dawn, recommends one paper per member of your family.  I also signed up online on coupons.com and at the beginning of every month I print a bunch from there.  Then every Sunday and Wednesday, I check caringwithcoupons.com, Dawn's site and the weekly grocery circulars to compile a list of things we use that are on sale and for which I have a coupon.

So far, I have to be careful buying too much perishable stuff because we have a itty bitty apartment refrigerator and freezer.  I am trying to convince Kevin to buy an upright freezer, because you can pretty much freeze anything but we really don't have a lot of room for it right now, plus we live in a third floor apartment and he really doesn't want to have to move it in or out.  I am working on getting some of the stuff we have here that we no longer want or need sold on eBay or craigslist so maybe we can make some room, but it might take me a while.

It is late as I am posting this, so I am going to go to bed.  But I will post more about my coupon savings later.  I gotta get up early to get those papers!!  :)

End of one era...beginning of a new one

It has been a long time coming, actually.  I had a rough pregnancy with my son, Julian.  However before he was born I had several medical and personal issues that were only exacerbated by his birth and trying to play SuperWorkingFullTimePlusSomeOutsideOfTheHomeWhileHoldingDownAHouseholdWithReallyNoBackupMom.  Sorry, but I really don't think women's lib was/is very liberating at all.  But that's a topic for a later date, possibly.  


So for the past, oh two to three years now, I have been plotting my escape from the corporate madness.  I have, over this period of time, put off resigning several times, telling myself "OK, I just need to get to this point and then I will do it."  Whatever point I was referencing would come and pass and I would tell myself once again "OK, We just have to get this one thing done and then I can stay at home full time".  The problem with doing this is that you can only put off the inevitable for so long.  I truly believe that it came to the point where God was like, "Ok, seriously, enough is enough.  You are such a procrastinator.  I'm taking over."  And so He decided to push me out into the road, so to speak. 


It didn't go down quite like I had planned, however, the fact remains that it did go down.  I don't think that it has really sunk in yet.  I mean, I have been working full-time since Madison was born nearly 14 years ago and I had worked at KK for the past nine years.  Madison was still in preschool daycare when I began working there and she is almost a freshman in high school now.  Wow!  She has practically grown up at KK.  So as of today, I no longer am a 'Working Mom'.  I am now, from this point until I feel the need to change it, a full-time stay at home mom!  YAAAAAAAAY for me!!


I am nervous, but pretty excited for this new stage.  I have a lot of things I want to do and even more that I want to LEARN to do.  I plan to go to school in May.  I want to learn how to grow, can and preserve food.  I want to cook a lot.  Possibly take a photography class.  Take my kids to the library and the park.  Take Madison to swim meets.  Be able to show up at her school when I need to without having to worry about making up work for someone else.  Master the art of pasta and cheesecake making and baking.  eBay.  Actually EXERCISE and maybe lose some weight and get healthier.  Cook for my family more than once or twice a week.  Volunteer.  Clean, sort and organize.  


Seriously...The list is truly endless. 

Poor pitiful neglected blog...

Sorry I haven't posted like in a week or something.  Kevin has been home for the past three days and before that it was the weekend. Any time either of those situations occur at or around the same time, I try to spend as much time as I can with him and together as a family..ah, whatever, I really spend most of my time doing chores and chasing him around making sure he doesn't leave his clothes on the bed when the dirty hamper is like three feet away..seriously! Ok, just a little vent! Sorry! :D

Anyway, I also have been selling a lot of stuff on eBay that we either don't need or no longer use, have too much of, etc. We actually have two storage units FULL of like an entire household of stuff each and I am trying to turn that into ZERO in time for us to purchase a house. Whew! I tell you I have only sold like 5 things in the past 3 weeks and it is seriously a full time job, unless you have everything boxed and ready to go as soon as the listing ends. But that assumes that you KNOW your stuff is going to sell.

One thing that I have to say, though, is since the first thing I sold, Kevin has been super excited about my ebaying. I believe this is due to the fact that I am making money, which is always nice but Kevin in particular really appreciates. I am hoping to turn this into a way to stay home with the kids and go back to school full time.

If you want to check out what I have up for bid, here is a link:
http://myworld.ebay.com/knsconductor1

Here is a pre-trimming picture of the Aerogarden. It is about 3 weeks into it's growing cycle and doing INCREDIBLE!

 I realized just this evening when I was getting dinner ready that the add water light was blinking. So I thought ok well, I'm sure it just needs to be topped off.  UMMMM NO!!! It was bone dry! And still looks this good. I filled the water up and then cut it back, I just hope I did it right.

Tomorrow night I am going to a coupon class that I am extremely excited about. The teacher, Dawn, shows how to use coupons to save MAJOR dinero. I've been clipping for about a month and I have tried one of the transactions she posted on her website, www.caringwithcoupons.com and I hope to reap the benefits soon, plus learn many more tips after tomorrow night. I will let you know! :)

M&M detox...

This is what can happen when an M&M fiend is told no more...

Sorry for the unfocused/blurry pics.  These were taken on my iPhone and it kinda sucks.  Also please ignore the pair of jean shorts on the floor in the last picture.  Our Goodwill pile was near and the addict kinda took his futile aggression out on it.  The jean shorts were the unfortunate victim.

Split my beans & AG updates

My chillay beans soaked up so much water that I had to divide them into two bowls.  I will probably have to split them yet again before I get to my chillay this weekend (I HOPE!)

My AG is doing AWESOME!  Even the little romaine pod in the front is starting to sprout.  There was some dead seed hanging out on top of the sprout so I picked it off and it is starting to do it's thing now. Though I have yet to take off the biodome so I can get a clear picture.

AG7

Salad greens

Baby greens, salad greens & romaine

Mesclun mix

Romaine

Arugula

Mesclun mix

Chillay!!!!

I wanna make some chillay!!  It's cold as smack outside, so it's good weather for it.  So look what I got..

Them is kidney beans soakin'!  Maybe if you're lucky, I will post a chili recipe for you in a few days, but I got to let these bad boys soak for like a whole dern week or else they will still be hard and crunchy in my chillay!!!  And I can't have that cause no one wants crunchy chillay!!

AeroGarden update

So far, so good.  I got a bunch of sprouts.  Though I don't know what is going on with the little romaine in the front middle.  I'll have to keep an eye on that one.  I am not really sure if now that I have taken the biodomes off, I should prune back some of the lower stuff or wait a few more days.  I just don't want to screw it up.  I will be real mad because I am a perfectionist and perfect people hold themselves to a higher standard than all you regular people out there.  HAHAHAHA!!!  Sorry, I couldn't help it.  ;)

Just wanted y'all to know..

That I LUUUURRRRRVVVVEEEEE  CHEESE!!!!  

 I LUUUURRRRRVVVVEEEEE it so much I ate a whole BARREL!!!!  

Ok so for my first REAL post topic

I would like to introduce you all to something that I think is pretty cool so far.

I live in an apartment currently & I'm as far as I know not so green-thumbish.  My mom is a Master Gardener aka anything that has to do with gardening, she is the queen.  If it requires very little watering & very little light then I can usually avoid killing a plant.  But I also really like the idea of growing my own food.  It's healthier & cheaper.  I also have never been scared to break a sweat although my body as of late has a harder time keeping up with my mind.


So anyway, getting to the point this was my Christmas present this year.

AeroGarden Extra

Kinda looks like a crazy little spaceship or something, huh?  It's actually called an AeroGarden.  It's pretty much a hydroponic garden.  Well, much simpler I think.  Anyway, I saw this it and was like 'Oh, cool!'.  I am a pretty gadgety, grown up toy loving kind of girl so this was really making me 'itch', so to speak.  So I ordered it for my wonderful Kevin to give to me for Christmas.  I often do this to assure I get what I want and because of other reasons, but that is a whole other topic.  I set it up finally after the holidays calmed down on January 5th. 

It was really easy to put together and get rolling.  It has these little pods with I am assuming a seed of  the vegetable or flower of choice.

The label on top tells what the plant is on the inside.

These are the lights that plug up under the hood.  

They are extremely bright when on.  So bright that we need not have the kitchen or dining room lights on at all when these suckers are working. 

Because the pods have to have at least 16 hours of light per day to grow and I am assuming because the makers of the AeroGardens realized just how mega bright these light bulbs really are, there is a timer feature which allows you to set a particular 8 hour period that the lights are off.  This is a very good thing for apartment dwellers because of the smaller space and possible lack of walls to keep them awake at night.

So after everything is inserted and installed, filled up and fertilized, this is what the AeroGarden Extra looks like when it's plugged in, turned on and all the lights are off in the kitchen and dining room.

Please excuse the dishes and random mess..the maid is on vacation this week.   

So I let it do it's thing, checking it everyday to see if anything interesting had happened.  Not so much until I checked on the evening of November 8th, only three short days later.  Lo and behold, what do I see?  A little sprout coming out of about 4 out of 7 of the pods.  AMAAAAAAZING, huh?  Here is one.

The little cap, aka biodome, on top is supposed to be removed once a sprout pops through the hole in the label.  These little biodomes give the seed the perfect amount of humidity and heat to germinate in a hydroponic environment.  HOWEVER I don't want to do that yet because I'm OCD like that.  So far so good.  I will keep you guys updated on the salad greens' progress.

If you are interested in trying one of these out for yourself or you just want to find out a little more about how they work, seed kits, different garden sizes, etc. check out AeroGarden's website.  Just FYI, if you register your AeroGarden and seed kits, this is their guarantee:

Our Quality Guarantee:
We want you to be completely satisfied. If for any reason you're not satisfied with your AeroGarden purchase, just return it within 30 days for a full refund – no questions asked. We guarantee that your seed kits will germinate. If for any reason they don't, contact us and we'll rush you a new kit (or appropriate seed pods). Call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-476-9669 to arrange for a merchandise return or for questions related to our quality guarantee.

Until next time...

Allow me to re-introduce myself..

My name is T!  T to the..ummm..T to th...ok well, that didn't go quite like I wanted it to, but anyway for those of you who didn't know, that was supposed to be a Jay-Z styled introduction of myself.  It's ok though, I never thought I would make a good hip-hop artiste.  Could you see that??  ME?!  Oh well, you probably can't actually 'cause you don't know what I look like so here you go..

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!  Aren't I ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!!!??  Not what you expected, huh?  But for real, this is me, I promise!  Just me in 1983.  I was in kindergarten and that was my favorite shirt!  But it at least gives you some indication as to why I could not ever be a Biggie protege, but maybe a Ziggy protege.  Oh ok FINE!!  I know I'm not really funny!!  Geeez..  I will show you a 'now' picture of me but you better stop scoffing!!

Can you pick me out?  I'll give you a hint..I'm the one in BLUE..  Hahahahahaha!!  The other goobers are my boyfriend Kevin, daughter Madison and son Julian.  We're a cute little family, aren't we?

So anyway, I am starting this blog because I think that I am so awesome that I have extra just falling off everywhere that I should share with the rest of humanity.  No for real, just cause I thought it would be a lot of fun and interesting to discuss stuff on here.  What stuff you ask?  Hmmmm..good question. Well, probably the stuff I like the most since this is MY blog after all.  What?  Oh really??  I mean, you can always start your OWN if you don't like MINE!  I'm just kidding, don't leave.  If you leave, I won't have anyone to read my nonsense. So please stick around.  I promise I will try to make it interesting.  :)