Hahaha...

My first attempt at making yeast bread. Looks a little funny, hopefully it tastes normal.

Friends

Too bad the fence had to be in the way.

Super Savings

When you go shopping specifically to use the coupons and get deals, you end up with a variety somewhat like this:
Gift bag: $1.00
Candle: Free with gift bag purchase (a gift)
2 Yeast: $.50 each (See my first attempt ever at making bread.)
Coucous: $.99
Natural Temptations: Free coupon (since I don't have a cat, I'll find someone who does - another gift:)
4 Johnson's Buddies soaps: Free after coupon (another gift)
2 Glade Scented oil warmers: Free after coupon at Walmart
2 small body wash: Free after coupon
Shave gel: $.44
3 Flat Earth chips: $1.50 each (I love, love, love these! Only two bags pictured because I started munching on one before I got home. :)

And I did get some groceries we needed so it wasn't all a day of deals. But this goes to show what one can get with coupons. The coolest thing is we now have a Gift Bin - a random box full of items to give as gifts!:)

Hope: Confident Expectation

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. ... But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
Romans 5:1-5; 8-10

First Flower

Thanks to my husband who pointed out the first flower of the year in our yard that I almost missed.

We are finishing our basement. The stairs are open, which is not good for toddlers, as we have learned, but great for scaredy-dog, who is not a fan of the treadmill. He cowers on the highest stair possible while keep an eye on me.

It's not too late..

Awaiting me in the morning...

Lets just hope Ryan doesn't snore too much or loose his eye protector thing-a-ma-bobber again. :)

Yes! Progress

I did it! I actually used my usual snooze time to get up and walk on our treadmil this morning. I've been thinking about this for at least a month. Today I finally got over all of my excuses:
-I like sleep
-I went to bed too late
-it's too hard to get up
-just another 5 minutes (which turns into 30)
-I'd rather walk outside and it's too cold/dark
-the unspoken rule of being to work 30-60 minutes early
-I'm not that lazy during the day so do I really need to exercise (the answer is YES!).
Now, I'll work on ... well doing it tomorrow... and then making it a habit. When it gets warmer, I'll get outside and take the dog with me. That will be good for both of us!
In high school I was on the dance team and woke up every morning around 4:30 to be at school by 6am and exercise for 2 hours. Now, I sometimes wonder how I did it, and more often wish I still did.

Deals for the week

It may not be "Super Savings" but this week I took advantage of some good sales and a CVS gift card to build up some ECBs.
For the items above, I made two transactions and paid $12.07 with a gift card and earned $22.96 ECBs. I didn't have all of the best coupons and then forgot to use one - hate it when that happens.
I'm not a huge chocolate eater and don't normally like the boxes of chocolates but the Russell Stovers Private Reserve are actually worth the name! The Vanilla Bean something-or-others are great!

[Almost] A picture a day

Sunday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Thanks for putting up with (enjoying?) all the dog pictures.

Photo Editing

Thought for the day: Looking through a few photography blogs, I've realized that I should learn more about photo editing software - and then use it. I enjoy taking good photos, but the touch-ups that can be done are what make them excellent photos. Any recommendations, tips, sources and online resources are welcomed.

pay no attention to the images below.

The Weekend

Weekdays at work are not nearly as exciting as the weekends. So I'm refreshed when the weekend includes fun activities and lots of relaxation. Yesterday I took my Little Sister to the dome of the State Capitol.From the ground floor, looking straight up you see this beautiful image of the rotunda and glass dome.

Above the glass dome it looks like... an old barn. The yellow staircase leads to the little cap on top of the dome, where we walked out onto the balcony and took a look around. It was really fun. My Little Sister loved it; I let the other people with us, that were scared to go, psych me out a little. So I think I'll go again soon and just enjoy the adventure & the view.

Ryan and I met up with an old friend last night for dinner. It was fun to catch up, and made for a late night; with an early morning in addition to loosing an hour. I tried to get up at six but ended up getting up at seven with the sun. I love waking up to sunlight!

The weekly Sunday morning shopping trip was a success. The stash below was $5.40 out of pocket and I get $21.98 back. Gotta like Walgreens.

My Favorite [photo] Subject

Aw, look at that face!

Practicing for his modeling gig. (haha, not really.)

Cassius came to visit for a weekend.

Does anyone know dog body language? I'm sure those ears are trying to tell me something.
(Like "Your making me sit still again?!? But I really want to lick the camera!)

More squirrel hunting.

Chew toy - our backyard bench.

Something for Sunday

I love mornings. Today started at 6am, getting ready and then running some errands for my weekly deals before going to church.

This part is kind of funny to me, but there are several great resources, such as blogs and chats, for finding deals, including many things for free. And often the publishers of these resources take pictures of their purchases to share deals with others. So here I go.



I got the items above, plus two Glade candles that I had already packaged to send to a friend, and paid $8. (Most of that was for the two candles pictured that are my all time favorite and were on sale 2/$6.) So that was fun.

On another note, I purchased a new Nikon D40 camera, so I have more photos to share! :)

Trying to get those darn squirrels!

Signs of spring.

Ryan noticed the first green in our yard yesterday. We took advantage of some sunny 70 degree weather to finish siding the car port and just be outside! It was BEAUTIFUL!