Coupons coupons!

I am the WORST when it comes to keeping up with this. Partly, because my life is pretty boring right now. Seems like there's always something to keep me busy, but nothing that is 'post worthy'. Until today! I spent a good couple of hours earlier this weekend clipping coupons, and boy did I hit the jackpot! I'm always creeping on my friends' social pages looking for good deals, so I thought I'd share what & where I got my savings this weekend!
Here's a photo of what I bought. We already had all the basics, so this weekend was more of a take advantage of awesome deals shopping trip.

Ok so first I went to Food Lion and here's the deals! I do believe if I had also went to Walmart, some things might have been a little cheaper, but most of these coupons were Food Lion only.

• Food Lion Popcorn: Orig $2.50, MVP price $2.00 - $.65 coupon -- $1.35
• Low Fat Nabisco Graham Crackers: Orig 2/$7.98, MVP price BOGO -- $1.99/piece
• Dark Chocolate Raisinets: Orig 2/$6.98, MVP price 2/$6.00 - $1 coupon -- $2.50/piece
• Hillshire Farms lunch mean: Orig $3.79 - $1 coupon -- $2.79
• Purex w/ Zout: Orig 2/$12.38, MVP Price BOGO - $1.50/2 coupon -- $2.34/piece

Original Total: $34.65 (tax incl)

What I Paid: $19.82 (tax incl)

Savings: 42.8%

 

And my commissary savings: Can't list it out the same since my receipt doesn't say what coupons are for what or which items were on special sales. But every single thing we bought was either on sale & I had coupons for, or I just had coupons for that item. Here's how it broke down:

 

Original Total: $48.67

What I Paid: $ 37.37

Savings: 23.3%

 

Complete Total: $83.32

What I Paid: $57.19

Overall Savings: 31.4%

 

I'm well aware that there are some awesome coupon clippers out there that can pay PENNIES for ridiculous amount of stuff. But I thought I'd share this so you all can see how our week to week spending goes. Some weeks are higher when we need all the basics, but we rarely pay over $80, even on the need-a lot-weeks!

 

I highly encourage everyone to sign up for any 'rewards' program you can at grocery stores. I think I have a swiper card for every store that has one! And the commissary just came out with their new Rewards card where you can load coupons right to it! Awesome! It takes time, but coupon clipping is the way to go! I get my coupons from all over the place but my favorites are papers, magazines, www.coupons.com, www.hip2save.com, & www.redplum.com :) Happy clipping!

Season of Change

So much has been happening over the last few weeks! But I have to start this post by saying it feels like FALL. My favorite season out of the year! I was so excited to wake up and feel the nice cool air - I promptly opened all the windows and am enjoying the nice breeze through the house. It's been such a hot summer, that the house hasn't had the opportunity to air out! It's really quite wonderful :)

Early last month Hubby left for school, and he's been there ever since. Tomorrow he graduates, and I couldn't be more proud! We've also recently received his new orders, and we're off to Virginia! Hubby will have to check in early next month so these next few weeks will be very, very busy!! Thankfully, my family helped me pack up a good majority of the house while they were visiting a few weeks ago, so now it's just the day to day stuff left. I'm slightly overwhelmed thinking of what seems like the hundreds things that need to be done before we leave! But first & foremost: we must find a house. Hopefully over the next few weeks that will be taken care of & we can get moved out & up there without too many complications.

Life is super crazy right now, but life is great. I was not thrilled at all about the idea of having to go to Virginia, & I'm really still not, but I'm trying to just enjoy this time, and getting to live in different parts of the U.S. is pretty cool. And it's most half-way between both our families so that's good. (If it sounds like I'm trying to talk myself into it, it's because I still am haha) But it's going to happen either way so we might as well make the best of it! More than anything, I'm just so so so glad we're together <3

MIA

I know, I know. I've been gone. We had a death in our family, so I was out of town all weekend, and now I'm back home & in the swing of things!

It was a perfect weekend. I drove out Thursday, & Hubby was able to arrive late that evening and then we departed Sunday/Monday. We were able to spend a lot of time with our family & friends, and able to all celebrate the life of sweet Tina together on Friday. Really, really nice.

Also, we'll be moving sometime within the next 6 weeks (location TBD), so I've been busy trying to take everything out of their hiding places, organize it all & pack! I've also been debating about doing a yard sale & try to clear out a bunch of it before we move. Hmm... Let me tell you. This is FUN STUFF.

Oh, and missing Hubby like crazy :) He was able to make it to Tina's funeral over the weekend, and I couldn't thank God enough for his class teachers and their kindness! & of course, it was so nice to see him! I really try to stay in the mindset of 'he could leave any moment' so that I don't take our time together for granted. But, I guess a nice little refresher course of it all does a relationship good [[...I really hate to fuss about it since I have dear friends whose husbands are gone for nearly a year, or never coming home again at all]].

Can you believe it - it has been 4 weeks since I've been to the beach. Every time I step outside, I swear I can hear my skin screaming 'ahhh, sun! Do. Not. Move!' and just reaching towards the sun. So if you happen to experience that, don't be alarmed. I am planning on packing up my car as soon as I finish this post & driving straight towards the sand & water.

That said, I do believe it's time to high-tail it out of here! The next four weeks will be kinda crazy, so if I seem MIA again, you are now well warned! =)

Love you, Tina!

This morning, heaven gained a beautiful, sweet, funny, loving angel. After a long battle with breast cancer, she went home to be with her Lord.

We love you so much, Tina! And I am so grateful for the opportunity to have met you in my life & to have been influenced by your sweet personality. You were always a cheery spot & I've always looked forward to the moments we got to spend together with you & your family.

I know so many people will miss you, especially your family. But you've been strong for so long & I'm relieved that you are now pain-free & perfectly healthy & in the arms of our Jesus! Love you!!

The Lord giveth & the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Lately.

The last week has been crazy getting things ready for Hubby to go off to school. Last minute errands, laundry, packing, packing, laundry, packing... Fun stuff. But he's been gone for a few days now & life is going back to the normal, boring state it is always in when he's away. I can't say being alone is a foreign feeling, but it's never fun to get 'back in the groove' again. On the plus side: I do have an amazing family and will be able to see ALL of them within the next few weeks, which I'm really looking forward to.

Yesterday marked Hubby's 5th year down being in the Marine Corps. That really just blows my mind! How has that much time passed already?! And to just think of everything he's accomplished & all we've been through - *insert cheesy smily* - I'm just so proud of that guy! Once he finishes his schooling next month, he'll get his new orders. I'm so anxious & excited to find out whether we'll be hanging out here for another few years, or start a new journey somewhere else.

My little sister is going to college. That's right. My baby sister. The one who will always remain 9 years old in my mind. I'm so excited that I'll be able to help her move into her dorm room and be there when she starts on this next big journey. So exciting!

My older sister is coming to spend some time with me! We're going to have so much fun! I feel like we haven't seen each other in such a long time, and it will be so nice to spend one-on-one time and just enjoy each others' company before the summer ends.

The summer is almost over. Am I the only one who is shocked that in 4 months & a few days, Christmas will be here again? WOW. Having said that, now I just want to go figure out what I want to get everyone for Christmas... & start my obnoxious OCD planning of the holidays. *sigh* Ah, I just love that time of year!

I'm getting sidetracked. What a messy post this has been! Life is good. I'm talking to my dog way to much. My bird has never sang so much in his life (or am I just noticing how much he normally sings?). I've downloaded Skype & have spent an unhealthy amount of time talking to family members, well rather, sitting and watchin the Olympics 'together'. [[Speaking of, GO GABBY!]]

Alright, that's enough for now. Happy Tuesday, folks!

Birthday Weekend!

As you might have noticed, I will be scarce when the weekends come around, unless Hubby is gone. But he's back to work, which means I'm back to blogging!

What a weekend we had! Even though it's nearly 2 weeks premature, we decided to spend this past weekend celebrating Hubby's birthday since he'll be leaving for 6 weeks and will be missing his birthday this year. We had a great time making experimental dinners, going out, shopping, opening gifts, and then spending Sunday afternoon in Wilmington. We went and visited the USS North Carolina - and if you haven't been, you must! It really was so great! And HUGE! We spent a few hours there, and then went to find a restaurant for lunch and came across P.T's Old Fashioned Grille. What a great experience & great food! On our way home, we took a right towards the water and ended up on Topsail/Surf City and discovered a little bakery-shop & got a cookie.

 

It was a fantastic weekend!!! Today it's back to being miserable & dreary so I've been cooking & baking, two of my favorite things to do. Tomato Basil Soup & Mama's Dinner Rolls are what's for dinner! I wish you could all smell my house--between the soup in the crock pot & rolls fresh out of the oven....heavenly!

And we can't forget the Olympics! Am I the only one who was extremely disappointed by the Opening Ceremony?? I found it so hard to follow, and so odd. I'm sure if I were an England-native it would have made perfect sense. But for me, it wasn't a hit. I really didn't enjoy it, although I watched the entire thing hoping it would get better.
Now as far as the Olympics go - I'm a HUGE fan! I've been watching it every spare minute I have, and enjoying every second of it! Go Team USA! =)

Crazy Dreams & Counseling Sessions

I usually love thunderstorms. I look forward to them, and try to wake up if I know they're coming through at night just so I can enjoy them. Well, last night was a completely different story.

You know that moment during your sleep when something (noises) happen in the real life, and somehow get incorporated into your dreams?? That was me last night. In my dreams: people were blowing off parts of the earth with bombs & such. It was so loud & we knew eventually that they'd get to the part we were crowding to and we'd all die. In real life: it was thundering. And when I say thundering, I mean severe storming. Insane. Thought the house was going to crack in half. Heavy rains. Dog was crying from his crate. Lightening every few seconds. Thundering. Crazy loud thundering. All that to say, it definately wasn't one of those storms that I enjoyed. & I'm not entirely sure how long it lasted, but it seemd to go on all night long. But when I got up at 5:30, it was nice & sunny. And humid.

So, we get up and make our way to the ID Center on base. Can I just say that until this point, when I got my ID renewed, I didn't feel like Seth had officially reenlisted. I think 1) because his first contract hasn't completely ended yet (next month!), so once that happens and he's still in, it'll sink in even more. And 2) because my ID still had an experiation date of August 5th, 2012. So I was actually kind of excited to go this morning, and to get new numbers put on my car too, saying that I was good until 2015 (does that not seem so far away?!).

We went early in hopes that we wouldn't have to wait long. And we didn't! We didn't even have to sit in the waiting area, we were ushered right back to our man for the moment, Stan. Let me tell you - Stan is the man! The other two times we've gone, we've had this other gentleman. Very nice, cordial, the normal "how long have you been marry - what do you think of MC life..." stuff. But not Stan. He took it upon himself to give us a little marriage counseling - and it was warmly welcome. Not that I felt we needed it, but honestly, who can't use a little in your face 'this is how it is, this is how it will be' every now & then. I gota tell you, I am AMAZED at the amount of people I know who aren't even married one year before they divorce. That is just mind-boggling to me! & it breaks my heart for them. Seth & I decided soon as we got engaged, that divorce would never be an option for us. We would do everything humanly & spiritually possibly to work through what life gives us.

I can honestly say that I believe the one thing that sets us a apart from the statistics (as a young military couple) of what we seem doomed to be, is that we have God as the center of our marriage. Although we are far from perfect & I tend to have trouble controlling my tongue & Hubby tends to not want to share anything that's on his mind, we really do strive to be the best people we can be to each other, and to those around us.

Anyyyyways, Stan also mentioned how even after 31 years, he is still head over heels in love with his wife. His universe revolves around her, and he'd do anything he can to make her happy. He said that he told her when they first got married "Let me try & show you how much I love you for the first 50 years of our marriage. If at that time, you don't feel I love you with every ounce of me, let me try for another 50." How amazing is that?! A lot of times you hear woman just go on & on about how much they adore their spouse, which I think is more natural since we tend to be more emotional. But to hear a man say that about his wife, after 31 years together - honestly all I could think was "Wow. I want that to be us in 29 years." And I'll do everything I humanly can to make that happen.

[[shoutout to my awesome Hubby! Love you handsome ♥]]

Genius!

See these three things (+baking soda)? I cleaned my entire home with them over this past weekend. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't try it myself - but it was great! I seriously was dumb-founded at some of the things it cleaned!

Firstly, I wanted to tackle our shower. I hate Hate HATE cleaning the shower. And after 6 weeks of back and forth traveling, it was looking quite neglected. So, I followed a Pinterest post and tried my hand at a few home remedies!
My Complete Bathroom Cleaner:
1/2C. Hot White Vinegar (microwaved for a minute)
1/2C. Blue Dawn Dish Soap

Pour in a squirt bottle, mix gently, apply to surface - an hour later remove with wet cloth and done! It was almost magical! I'm obsessed. I used it in the shower, on the counters, on the floor... the only thing that was a slight downer was that it suds. A lot. So either, be able to rinse with water (shower), or wipe down with other clean wet rag (floors). But it cut all the soap scum & hairspray, so in my book: it's a WIN!

I also used:

• Hydrogen Peroxide & Baking Soda to remove a doggy-vomit/bile stain from my carpet.
• Vinegar/Dawn/Baking Soda mix to sanitize our loofahs
• Vinegar/Lemon Slices ice cubes to clean garbage disposal (super easy! Slice a lemon, pop in empty ice cube tray, fill with vinegar, freeze!)

I have to say, I had a honest-to-goodness FUN weekend. I was skeptical that any of these tricks would work, and they all did! Stay tuned for my next experiments!

Oh boy!

Here we go. My very first attempt at a BLOG.