Free! (or almost free)

It was a wonderful week of deals!

I got a coupon for $2 worth of free produce at Albertson's so I went and bought 3 peaches. It cost me 61 cents since I couldn't weigh them perfectly to equal $2. These were yummy peaches too!In last weekend's newspaper there was a coupon for a free Frappe from McDonalds. I took advantage of this and got one for myself after also getting a free bagel from Einstein Brothers Bagels for Mark. Although the Frappe was delicious (it tasted like a caramel coffee milkshake), I looked up the nutrition information and I won't be drinking one of those again. A small is 490 calories and 20 grams of fat. Are you kidding me?!?!?!?! As Mark said, I just drank a double big mac for breakfast. Yikes! Free isn't THAT good.I did a little back-to-school shopping for myself at Old Navy this weekend. I took advantage of their additional 50% off their clearance items sale combined with another 25% off because I worked at a school. It all added up to amazing deals! I got this t-shirt for $1.25, a v neck sweater for $1.50, and a pair of pants for $3.84. I also bought some non-sale items that were just too cute to pass up!I had a wonderful day at Kroger on Sunday! I had a record savings of 58% so I spent only $29 and got a lot of great stuff. I got all of this for FREE:And all of these items for no more than $1 each...most items being only 50 cents! I got the tin foil for just 15 cents!My mailbox also proved to be a lucrative spot. All of these items came in the mail just yesterday!

Dixie is Home!

Our sweet Dixie has returned home and this time, for good. Yay! It took her a day to get used to being home, being around her sister, and living in the air conditioned house instead of outdoors, but I am pretty sure she is a happy girl now! Everyone knows I missed Dixie A LOT but both Mark and I were quite surprised how much Bandera missed her too. She has been very sweet to Dixie and even initiates play with Dixie. We love our little family and are happy everyone is home to stay! Well home at least until duck season begins....

A Morning at Mr. John's

Mark's nephew came with us to pick up Dixie (yay!) at Mr. John's Sunday morning. Mark was sure Mark G. would have a blast seeing the different dogs and watching Dixie train but really, he enjoyed everything else John had at his house and could care less about the dog training.

Mark and Mark G. first checked out the mini-farm John's neighbor's have at their house. Mark G. loved the donkey and the chickens.John showed Mark G. his pigeon cage and even let Mark G. pet one. He loved this! Later that morning, I listened as Mark G. told the pigeons, "now, flap your wings as hard as you can...good job!" Pretty darn cute.Mark G. also fell in love with John's 4 wheeler and riding lawn mower. He asked if he could fix them and, being as gracious as he is, John said yes. This meant Mark G. played with all the buttons and pretended to fill the vehicles with gas. Later, John let Mark G. drive both the 4 wheeler and lawn mower. Mark and I were laughing and really enjoyed watching as the lawn mower went back and forth, back and forth. It was hilarious!After spending a short time with Mark G., Mr. John knew that he would be fascinated by the air gun that he uses to shoot bumpers for the dogs to retrieve. After John shot one, Mark G. asked he he could shoot. He loved it.Mark G. had a hard time understanding why he couldn't bother his uncle while he was working with Dixie. I let him use my camera as a distraction. He loved it and actually got a few good shots. I love this one! What an action shot!Lastly, Mark G. helped John clean the dog's kennels. He has a very powerful hose so when Mark G. first got hold of the hose, it shot straight up. With a little help, he was able to clean and water the kennels.







On the drive home, Mark G. continued to play with my camera. Thank goodness for digital cameras - I told him to snap away! I deleted a lot of pictures of feet, the car seat, and just about every individual item in the back of Mark's truck but did keep this one just because I thought it was funny. Gotta love a 4 year old photographer!!!He even got a picture of his Aunt and Uncle being a little silly at a traffic light.We had such an enjoyable time with Mark G. After lunch at Chuy's, we dropped him off at his grandparents and headed home. Mark and I were EXHAUSTED! We took a long nap and had enjoyed the rest of our Sunday afternoon being lazy.

Alicia's Baby Shower

I have the most wonderful sister-in-law. She is loving, sincere, funny, genuine, and best of all, about to be a new mommy to baby #3....this time, a GIRL!!! Knowing that she would be in Dallas this summer, I wanted to throw her a baby shower to help celebrate the newest addition to the family!

This was my first baby shower to host so I was very nervous. Thank goodness, my mom was a big help to me. She listened to my list of things I rattled off to make sure I thought of every detail, helped me set up the afternoon of the shower, helped me clean up after the shower, and the biggest help of all, she baked a wonderful Italian Cream Cake. I made very tasty blueberry bars along with double chocolate chip cookies (I had to keep telling Mark he couldn't eat another one!).Of course, everything was going to be in pink. It just had to be! Here is the table filled with drinks, desserts, and silver.Alicia is very crafty and very talented when it comes to decorating and hosting parties so I had to step up my creativity game. She also sells Southern Living at Home which is where this piece came from so I tried to make it look like something she would do. I used flowers and candles to make this in to a little decoration which sat on our mantle.Since she couldn't take back a ton of diapers with her, I decided to make a diaper wreath instead of a diaper cake. I used polka-dotted diapers that I found at Target to add a little color. This hung on our front door and welcomed the guests. It was very easy and I think it turned out quite cute!I gave each guest a soap from Bath and Body Works as a party favor. I love this soap so thought this would be used rather than a bag of candy which usually gets thrown away. I selected all pink colored soap though there were a few different scents to choose from.After enjoying some dessert, Alicia opened gifts. She received many wonderful gifts including clothes, diapers, gift cards, crib sheets, and a swing. If nothing else, this baby girl will be dressed to impress!I gave Alicia a few clothing items for the new baby along with a knit baby blanket I made. I always love homemade gifts so I thought I would knit her new baby something pink. This blanket was so much fun to knit. Best of all, it can be washed! As my Mom always says to me when she gives me gifts she made, every stitch was knit with love!It was such a honor to host this shower for Alicia. I hope she and the other guests had as much as I did!

Free (or almost free!)

Since I have been a terrible blogger, this entry will cover all the free (or almost free) that I have acquired over the past 2 weeks. We have enjoyed lots of great finds!

1. Buy One Get One Free Pizza at Durkin's Pizza using a coupon for the Entertainment Guide. This allowed us to spend $12 on 2 pizzas that fed Alicia, her 2 boys, Mark and myself for dinner one night, plus, we ate it for dinner and a lunch the following days. What a delicious deal!2. Many free samples have been arriving in the mail for me. It is like finding treasure in my mailbox!3. Mark loves Fruit by the Foot as a snack. They are expensive though so we agree I am only to buy them when I can get a great deal. At Tom Thumb last Sunday, they had a deal where if I bought 4 boxes for a little over $1 each, I got this box of granola bars free! I grabbed that deal considering a single box is usually $3.49.4. I needed to buy flowers for my sister-in-law's baby shower. I promise, I had every intention of not cheaping out on flowers but I was lucky and found all the flowers at 50% off. Who knew going to Walmart at 7am on a Saturday morning would lead to such a money saving deal! I bought 2 dozen roses and 2 full mixed bouquets for a total of $17. Best of all, they looked beautiful!5. In this past Sunday's paper, McDonald's offered this coupon in the Parade insert. You better believe Mark or I will be enjoying a free frappe or smoothie there!6. Neutrogena was having a full rebate on their anti-aging products last week. This product retails for $40. I bought it at CVS on sale and with a coupon so I not only got a deal and a free product, but also all my money back in a rebate check!

Weight Watchers: Week 8 and 9

Yeah, well, I have been slacking a bit on Weight Watchers. I was great up to the time I left for Georgia and then wasn't even going to try to follow my points while taking a road trip. I enjoyed Sonic, coffee from Starbucks, and Cracker Barrel. All well worth the calories but not Weight Watchers friendly! I returned home and followed the plan up until the day before my sister-in-law's baby shower. Mark and I had to sample the sweet treats I made! We spent the majority of the weekend with Alicia and her two boys so we ate pizza, went out for Mexican, and grabbed what we could for lunch.

I have continued to exercise by either taking a 30 minute run in the morning or walking Bandera. My favorite time to walk/run is first thing in the morning. No one is up yet, it is still relatively cool outside (if you call 80 degrees cool), and I get it out of the way so I can do what I need to do the rest of the day. Plus, it makes Bandera really happy.

This week I have been pretty good. I could be MUCH better but I have been keeping a rough tally of points each day and I haven't been that far off the goal. If I have learned nothing else, dieting is hard, it is not convenient or easy, and it surely isn't fun!

Our 1st Anniversary

Mark and I celebrated our first anniversary on July 11th. I can't believe it has already been one year...boy has time passed quickly!!! Throughout the day, I remembered (aloud so Mark could relive it all with me, he loved that) what I was doing at that time last year.
Mark made the day very special for me. He surprised me with a bagel and cream cheese breakfast (we never go out for b-fast), we enjoyed spending time together running errands and hanging out at home, and he planned a very special seafood dinner for me at The Oceanaire. We even got to get dressed up and they gave us a special menu wishing us a happy anniversary. I loved it! They also gave us a free Baked Alaska for dessert and you know what free does to this girl!!!After dinner we exchanged gifts (I gave Mark a TV for our bedroom that he has been wanting) and shared a slice of our wedding cake. I was a bit worried that the cake would taste terrible but it was YUMMY!!! Not pretty, but tasted just as delicious the first time around!Mark gave me two wonderful gifts. I get to pick out a photograph from Russell Graves collection, a Texas photographer, at an upcoming show. The second gift meant the world to me. Apparently Mark was sneaky and cut and kept a piece from our first Christmas tree. He varnished it and made it into an ornament. I loved this! He is so very thoughtful.A lot has happened in a year....Dixie has grown up, we have made (and continue to make) many improvements on our house, we became great friends with Doug and Becky (don't know what we would do without them!), we have shared in the joy of many of our friends finding out they are expecting a new baby, we bought two new cars, we managed to stay on a budget, and, well, the list goes on! I couldn't be happier with our life together. As we continue to grow and learn about one another, I can't wait to see what the future holds!

Our wedding day was one of the best days in my entire life. If only I could experience that day each year just as it was July 11, 2009 from the hair and makeup to the ceremony and the party. Even though I know I can't, I do get to experience everyday life with my great husband and I really can't ask for anything better than that!

Texas to Georgia to Texas Again

Alicia (Mark's sister), Tim (Alicia's husband), and their two boys (Mark G. and Luke) love to come to Texas to visit their parents, grandparents, and siblings, aunts, and uncles. Typically they fly to Texas for a few weeks at a time, but Tim had to work so Alicia asked me if I would be willing to drive with her from Georgia to Texas. I will admit, at first I thought Alicia was a little bit crazy to venture out on the open road with two little boys stuck in a car for 19 hours over the course of 2 days all while 7 months pregnant herself, but, we managed to do it. Best of all, I had a GREAT time!

I flew to Georgia Thursday evening. Tim and Alicia picked me up from the airport and took me to a minor league baseball game with some of their friends. It was VERY hot but we managed to stay cool by eating a huge ice cream cone. Pregnant ladies sure do know what hits the spot! We got up early Friday morning, got the boys ready, and hit the road. Alicia drove most of the trip but the two times I did drive, it poured down rain. I am not talking a little bit of rain, I mean rain that did not allow me to see out the windshield. Not only was I driving an unfamiliar car on an unfamiliar highway but I was also carrying precious cargo in the car. I was beyond nervous and was driving like a grandma. Thank goodness we survived.

These pictures of the boys sleeping cracked Alicia and I up. We were amazed they could fall asleep in such odd positions!







We stopped a lot along the way to use the restroom (some considerably worse than others), get coffee, eat dinner (loved our Cracker Barrel!), and have lunch. The boys were so well behaved and even enjoyed running around after our picnic to release a little energy.
After getting stuck in traffic for an hour and moving less than a mile, we were more than ready to be get home. When we arrived, everyone was excited to see us. Uncle Mark was a hit with his new truck. Mark G. wanted to push all the buttons and loved honking the horn.I am so thankful Alicia asked me to drive with her and the boys. Not only did this trip allow me to get to know my two sweet nephews a lot better, but it also let me have some good quality time with my wonderful sister-in-law. I am truly lucky to have married in to such a kind and loving family!

Weight Watchers: Week 7

With it being July 4th weekend, I took yet another break from Weight Watchers. I didn't go totally nuts or anything but I also didn't really restrict myself either.

July 3rd (the day most of the surrounding cities do fireworks) was rain-filled so our plans of gathering a group of our friends together to watch fireworks quickly change to us sitting in a car with our friends, Doug, Becky and Charlotte. We decided to go get pizza and visit Jenn, Tim, and Michael afterwards. Needless to say, we indulged in some adult beverages and yummy pizza - not so Weight Watcher friendly but a really fun time! I was also supposed to complete a 5K that morning, but didn't due to excessive rain.

July 4th we spent with Doug, Becky and Charlotte at another friend's house. Mandy, Derek, and Elliette treated us to delicious burgers. This day was not as terrible as the one before but still not point-friendly.

Even after enjoying Independence Day/Weekend, I only gained .2 pounds which is nothing really. I think it was due to the fact that I continued to exercise. I was thrilled because I was really worried about gaining the few pounds I have lost back in a single weekend. Whew!

I expect not to lose anything next Monday either. I am leaving to fly to Georgia and drive back to Texas with Mark's sister and her two little boys. Somehow 22 hours in the car over the course of 2 days does not equal Weight Watchers and that is just fine. I have come to terms that if I continue to work out and eat well when I can, allowing a little fun here and there won't hurt me too much.

Our New Truck!!!

Mark and I bought a new truck this weekend! We are totally in love with it and have enjoyed driving around showing our friends and family the newest addition to our family. We weren't really planning on buying a new truck until December but when Mark got a lead on a deal (that we didn't take), it got us in the mood and next thing we knew, we were driving away in a 2009 Ford F150 Supercrew 4x4.
After test driving a Toyota Tundra and the Ford F150, I was sold on the Ford. Yes, even I had to test drive the trucks! I feel totally comfortable driving the new truck. The new truck has a huge back seat with plenty of leg room, room for Mark's hunting gear, and room for a future family. It has more bells and whistles than Mark originally wanted though it is safe to say, he is loving all the gadgets he is finding now! It has a camera that projects a picture on the rear view mirror to help with Mark's boat trailer, it beeps when you are about to back into something, it has heated and air conditioned seats, and even has the Sync feature which allows Mark to talk via Bluetooth, make calls without ever touching his cell phone, and verbally control his music. It is a pretty cool truck!

Throughout the three day researching and buying experience, Mark and I felt very lucky to not only have one another but also to have the ability to be in a financial situation that allowed us to purchase such a vehicle. We are not rich, but we work hard and try to make wise decisions that allow us to put our money to the best use possible. We have been saving since we got married for a new truck and this week, we made it happen without having to totally change our lifestyle. Although we went from no car payments to two car payments within the last six months, we are still planning to have my car paid off next year and the truck paid off the following year. With a little financial planning and a budget anything is possible!

Yep, we are officially a Ford loving family!

Our Bandera

Bandera is back to living at our house and I am thrilled! I have missed her terribly. She is a rotten dog who barks a lot, has quite the sassy attitude (she will actually be mad at you for an entire evening if you make fun of her or hurt her feelings), and isn't always nice to other dogs, but despite all these characteristics, I love her very much. She is loyal, loving, and a great snuggler on the couch. Most of all, she does a great job protecting us which, if she could talk, I think she would say is her greatest accomplishment. She is getting older and older by the day and we are starting to notice it. She can't jump up on the bed as easily, she sleeps a lot, and even taking her for a short walk tires her out for the rest of the day.Mark made pancakes for us Saturday morning and it has been a mini-tradition for us that when he makes pancakes, he makes a special plate of little pancakes with syrup for Bandera. She loves pancakes and it is quite hysterical to watch her eat them!I love Bandera and am thankful she is our dog!

Free! (or almost free)

Being that it was a holiday weekend, stores were pushing more hot dogs and hamburgers than other great deals so I had a little bit more of a challenge though it didn't totally stop me!

I went to Target one afternoon and found all of this for just over $4. Thank goodness for being able to stack Target coupons with manufacturer coupons. It allowed for a great deal! I also used a $5 gift card I got from a previous purchase along with a free macaroni voucher I received in the mail.Another morning before work I made a quick pit stop at CVS. I bought these two cases of water (which we desperately needed) and a container of face soap (CVS brand though it has the exact same ingredients at Neutrogena but at half the price!) for 74 cents. It was wonderful. I hate spending money on bottled water but for a little change, I am ok with it!I also receive all of these coupons in the mail this week. Kroger sent me a stack of coupons which you can't see but they were for great products I use all the time. I already got the free shampoo for Mark!Although July 4th did not provide any excellent food deals, I still managed to stay in our $50 a week budget which is always my goal!