Baby Name Frame

I have been wanting to make a shadow box name frame for forever now but just haven't been able to for one reason or another. Finally I got the chance to. A guy at work is having his first baby next month so on Tuesday we are having a shower for him. Being that this was my first one there were several things I would change about it, one being the frame. Another thing is that to me it seems a little plain but I couldn't think of anything else to add without it looking cluttered. Hopefully him and his wife like and the next one I make will be even better. Now on to the picture:

OUCH, OUCH, OUCH…

That’s what I’m saying as I type…

I have been doing the new Weight Watchers Points Plus Plan for almost 8 weeks now. I have not seen the results I wanted. The last time I did the Weight Watchers program I had great results, but I wasn’t able to keep most of that weight off. I know that working out is key but I never could seem to find the time. Until yesterday when I knew I was going to have to force myself to make time, make it become a priority. I decided that I was going to start doing the 30-day Shred with Jillian Michaels. I felt like I was going to die after that first workout yesterday morning, but I was proud of myself for actually getting up and doing it. It was so hard and showed me just how out of shape I truly was.

This morning I was so sore I really didn’t want to get out of bed and do it all again but I made myself. I really do want to stick to it because I think this will be the only way that I’m going to get the results that I want. I do have to say though that every ounce of me hurts, I think even my teeth hurt. I told my husband he’s going to have to do my hair for me tomorrow morning and he laughed…I think he thinks I’m kidding. I’m pretty sure this workout could be used as a form of torture. But pain is beauty, right? I loathe this workout while I’m doing it, but then I guess that means it’s probably good for me and I actually feel good afterwards (minus the fact that I walk like a 90 year old grandma). Here’s to hoping I can actually stick to this workout. My plan is to get up every morning through the week and do this workout. Then Saturday’s we’ll be at the river so I will get that day off. I haven’t decided about Sunday’s yet, I could do it when I come home in the evening, or I might just let myself have a second day off, we’ll see.

I wish I would have measured myself Sunday night before I started this, or even before I started Weight Watchers this go round. I didn’t though so I’m thinking that I’m going to do it tonight and then hopefully if I don’t lose weight, I will lose inches. If I get brave enough, I may even take some pics!

My haul

Anyone that knows me knows that I love to get a good deal. Most times this comes in the form of using coupons. I know a lot of people snub their nose at coupons, but it really isn’t a bad gig. I actually do this more for the thrill of it, than the actual money saving part, that’s just an added bonus. I love coming home from the store with a ton of stuff and little money spent. I had couponed for a couple years a couple years ago but then my husband and I got engaged so I was planning a wedding, I was in school and working so life got hectic and I decided to drop the couponing. I was always going to pick it back up but then never did for this reason or that, but now I’m back on track. Literally, probably about 6 months ago we just used up the last of the shampoo I got over 4 years ago! And the best part of that was, it was all free! I’m pretty sure I will die before I use up my stash of conditioner though, which I got for free at the same time (4 years ago) and probably still have 15-20 bottles left.

A lot of people think that people who use coupons buy stuff they wouldn’t normally buy and therefore waste money and aren’t saving anything, I partially agree with this and will explain why. I agree with this because ok I might not normally buy the name brand expensive shampoo on a regular basis, but when I can get it cheaper or free compared to the store brand that I would buy in its replace, then yes I guess I’m getting something with my coupons I wouldn’t normally get. Or buying automatic air fresheners instead of plug ins for example, if I can get the automatic ones cheaper than the plug ins then yes I am getting something I wouldn’t normally pay full price for. So while this sentence might have a tiny bit of truth to it, I wouldn’t agree with it completely.

Now, on to the good stuff. This past weekend I went on the prowl for some good deals. Since I’m just getting back into the swing of this, I don’t yet have a good amount of coupons yet so there were deals I had to pass on. Thursday I went to the grocery to pick up a few need items. They were having a big sale so when I planned my list of things to get, I planned an alternate one also knowing they would likely be out of some things. When I got there sure enough they were already picked over quite a bit so my savings could have been higher, but considering there was a bunch of things we needed, it wasn’t too bad. I ended up getting $55 in groceries for $42. Not too bad considering there were things we had to have that weren’t on sale and I had to change my list halfway through since they were out of things. Then on Friday I did a bunch of shopping. I went to Kohl’s and got a $40 picture frame for $8. I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and got a Misto for $8, regular price $10. My aunt and I have decided to try and sell different things that we’re making so I went to Jo-Ann’s and got about 150 sheets of paper, 8 glitter glue’s, and a shadowbox frame for $37 which was a savings of $103.86. Then I went to Walgreens and got 2 body washes, 2 of the big bags of M&M’s (Matt’s favorite) and an automatic air freshener all for $4.98 a savings of $28. Then I went to a different Walgreens and got 1 more automatic air freshener and 6 rolls of paper towels for $4, a savings of $11.

So while these aren’t huge savings (and they will get bigger as I accumulate more coupons) those savings really add up on things I was planning on buying anyways. So my saving savvy friends, what do you do to save money?

Building woes

My husband and I are in the process of building a house. This isn't technically true I suppose. We have the land, pretty much have the plan picked out but first we have to sell our current house. This has proved to be very difficult. Our house has been on the market for a few months and it doesn't help that there are 20+ houses in our neighborhood that are also for sale. It's such a bummer to have this awesome property in an amazing town and we're just at a standstill. We have done all the work to the property that we can possibly do at this time. For now, we're in limbo. We know in the end it will all pay off but waiting is so hard to do! Here are some pictures of the property that we will hopefully soon be building on:

It doesn't look like much but a mess of trees, but it really is a nice piece of land. My husband actually cut down 13 trees from the property in order to get our house placed where we needed/wanted it to be. I can't wait to call this home!