Friend....

As time passes by we often forget how valuable our friendships are with other people. I am so thankful to have such wonderful friends in my life. "A" in particularly is so special to my heart, Along with her sweet little girl who makes my heart smile every time that I see her. Seeing someone so deserving of a wonderful life that is actually that happy makes this a wonderful world! I love knowing that I have someone so wonderful, and am able to call her my "friend"... I also had a drink with a friend that I do not talk to as often as I would like, It was nice to reminisce about the past, and polish off a bottle of wine in the process. On Tuesday I also had a great doctors appointment, Lets keep this wonderful week going. I love this feeling, Hope it lasts....

Parties, Family, Doctors appointments....

I haven't been on here in a while. I am really good at updating my other blog, this one seems to fall through the cracks.... In August we celebrated my littlest sisters 12th birthday, her last birthday before a teenager. Gosh, this makes me feel so old. I was 14 when she was born and was such a little mommy to her. It breaks my heart that she is growing up so fast! Here are some pics from the wonderful day.

I always love spending time with the family, that's one thing that me and the hubby have in common. We are very family orientated and I love that! My family is so supportive, and I would not be who I am today without their love and unconditional support. For that I am eternally thankful. 

On another note, Most of my life at this point is doctors appointments. I hate that, But its what I got to do. One day we will have an answer, and when that day comes I hope that our lives are so much easier. I almost cannot imagine a week or two without an appointment, that's sad, ha ha. I have enjoyed my spare time thus far with the summer, however school starts this week. I will no longer have spare time as homework takes up the majority of my life. I chose to take online classes mixed with on-campus classes, so I will be one busy girl. I like to keep busy, keeps my mind from thinking too much.

Randomness and Great Deals!

I have really been on the coupon boat lately. I find it disturbing that I have thrown away money every time that I have gotten the paper. You save a significant amount of money just from taking a few minutes to clip your coupons and save them till they expire. One of the greatest tips that I have learned is that the coupons that you receive on Sunday will hardly ever be the items on sale for that week. You must save your coupons for the future sales. Most of the items that I will be purchasing this week came out in the July paper. Also, thank god for people such as The Krazy Coupon Lady she really makes stockpiling and finding good deals very easy with her shopping lists and matchups. If you are interested in clipping coupons I would really suggest visiting her site!

Here are some recent deals that I have been able to take advantage of.

This is from Kroger last week. I spent 41.23 and saved 46.50 which is over 1/2! This was the first time that I had used coupons for food, and although time consuming, its rewarding!

These are the Target deals that I got last week. I only ended up spending 1.24 after using a 5.00 gift card from the week before from purchasing the men's razors.

Its amazing all the great deals you find. I will be doing some shopping today at Target for some items that we need. I will post on what great deals I find later today!

Happy Friday!!!

Hooked on COUPONS!

I think that my life has been forever changed!

A great friend of mine got me hooked on the idea of using coupons. I must admit, I have tried this trend before, But I just don't have the patience to look for deals and coupons, and then save them till its time to use them. Well, I have had a change of heart. Once I seen how much stuff you can actually get for FREE, yes I said FREE, I am hooked.

Here is my first set of goods..

Clean and Clear Travel cleansers (normally I wouldn’t get them, but they are great for travel)
.97 each
$1 off 1 manufactured coupon
$1 off 1 target coupon
= 2.00 off 1.94
= .06 surplus!

Sticky notes!
Target will take as many coupons as you have… We had printed 7…. So we got 7 packs for .42 cents just for tax


Sharpies highlighters
.75 cents for 2
Coupon for 1.00 off 2.
So I got them both for .50 cents (not free but cheap)


Bic pens were on sale for 1.00 each
1.00 off 2 target coupon, and 1.00 off 2 manufactured coupon..
Total- just tax… .12 cents=free


The Johnson and Johnson travel first aid kits- free!
There is a coupon in the paper either from 8-1 or 8-8 for 3.00 off 3 products. These are in the travel department and at 99 cents.=free


Travel shout packs.
$2.00 off 2 manufactured coupon
They are 1.00 a piece in the travel department. =free


Papermate pens
I had 2 50 cents off coupons, pens were 1.00= free

I also got some Gillette Razors for men. They were 10.99 each at target, on sale for 8.99.
Target promotion was 5.00 gift card when you purchase 2.
Manufactured coupons is 4.00 off purchase (use 2)
total= 17.98
coupons and gift card= 13.00
total spent 4.98 on 2 razors or 2.49 each!

Ill keep you all posted on my great deals!!!

Back from Vacation

Duggans Tubing in Harrison Michigan

Whew, What a weekend! It was a blast to just get away for a while, and not think about the life that is back home. While most of the weekend was spent relaxing, we did find some time for Fun stuff! We went tubing down the Muskegon River. It was a lot more work than we had all bargained for, lol. There were many canoes and down trees in the water, which meant a lot of leg and arm work to weave in and out! We were all exhausted when we were done, and very water logged.

It was well worth the experience, But I am not sure that we would ever do it again. The rest of the weekend was needed for rest, as we were so sore from the festivities!

I am glad that we took the vacation, I will need a clear mind to deal with the new medical diagnosis that we just received. I will update more on that later. I am still trying to get everything straightened out.

Work, Organization, And Blogging.....

Working and going to school takes so much time and effort, I wonder how I have any energy at the end of the day. Thank goodness for summer vacation! This fall I have decided to take 16 credit hours, Not sure what I was thinking exactly. I was at a rough point in life, and clearly was not thinking straight.

I had planned to take a few classes in fall, and take the winter off to welcome our little baby.. Well, obviously that was not Gods plan at this time. And welcoming our baby in December is no more. At a loss of how I would cope with December approaching, I took extra classes. Hopefully to keep me extremely busy. I have a feeling that I am in over my head. 3 classes are online, 1 on campus, and 1 hybrid (1/2 on campus, 1/2 online) I will be a busy busy girl!

Thank god I did get my super cute new Franklin Covey Planner! I couldn't convince my husband (or myself) that the $100.00 dollar Kate Spade one was anywhere near justifiable. :) Did I mention my planner is PINK.. So excited... I love organization!

Speaking of organization, I recently found a way to keep my thousands of yards of ribbon organized. I have tried absolutely everything. And nothing seemed to keep organized and neat... Key word neat!

I tried this container (actually 9 of them) by Crop In Style. Great product, however the ribbon never stayed tightly wound and was always hanging out of the container further than I would have liked. I also found that the yards of ribbon that I purchased online from wholesalers did not fit in the container. I used this for months, and still searched for anything and everything that would make my life easier.

I have also tried something like this nifty box, that I made myself. I used a photo storage box and punched holes through the side. This would work great if you do not have a lot of ribbon. I found that with my amount of ribbon, this was not practical. I also had a problem with the ribbons getting tangled inside the box.

Finally! My life is changed forever! I searched and searched until I found this great idea! I found it here, I cannot believe how great this worked. Yes, It took forever to wind up every roll of ribbon. I convinced my wonderful hubby to help me! I would take a handful or ribbon and chipboard to bed and wind them while watching TV. It took a few nights of work... But the end result seen here is great. I easily have a few hundred rolls stored in 2 drawers of a plastic Rubbermaid container! I would recommend this to any trying to save space and store a lot of ribbon! How do you organize? I am always looking for more ideas!

If you would like any details on how I did this just let me know. I hard a very hard time finding cheap Chipboard, so I did imporvise.And still looks just as great! Ill post a pic of my drawer this week!

Happy scraping/bowmaking!

99 Things

99 Things

I copied this from some other blogs I follow..I've done everything in higlighter below. Now you can copy this on to your own blog &  highlight the things you’ve done!


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (Disney World counts, right?)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightening storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Wow! 2 posts in 1 day!

Looks like im due for 6 photos! I really try to upload everyday, but its a routine I have yet to establish! Here are the edits as part of my 365 challenge!

                                                This is the before.......

                                                  after......

I am in the process of still editing the rest. Stay tuned!

Looking forward...

My life has changed so much this past year, I have lost a baby, and a close friend... One by choice and one because they were called to god far to early. The loss of a friend is by choice. I feel as if I knew that in time it would come to this, but I had no idea it would have been in this way. Her actions and words after my miscarriage are even to hurtful to type on here. I chose to stop talking to her until I felt I would be able to better handle the situation. Even once I decided I was OK to talk to her, we have yet to talk. Hurtful, yes.... I am the type of person to give the clothes of my back just to help someone, everyone Else's happiness is what makes me happy. She is not this way, and it hurts me a lot. I know what I have to do, I know who I need to surround myself with, and in time I will have to accept that she just does not care....

Sometimes reality sucks!

Dissapointed...

I have really been trying to improve my photography skills. I love the 12 weeks course online, here are some shots I took from the weekend. All though not the best. I kinda like them. I have also included some other pics that I have that are in my "favorites". I plan to not only post new pics, but pics from the past that I have just edited, my editing needs a lot of work as well, so this is also something that I need to improve on.
Here we go!

Photo #2

July 22nd, 2010

Renee and Niko

#3

#4

July 24th, 2010

#5

July 25th, 2010

#6

July 26th, 2010

#7

July 27th, 2010

I couldn't decide on just one for today, so here is two! This is my beautiful sister.