Angie

Tim & Julie's Wedding

2010-03-12T18:45:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm way behind on blogging. Facebook has taken over. . .

There was a very special day that took place on December 12, 2009. My brother married his love Julie. Even though it was a rainy day everything turned out beautiful. Julie's mom and nephew gave her away. However, her nephew made it clear that he was only letting Tim borrow her that he would take her back at any time. I must say a Aunt couldn't ask for more, it was precious and priceless. A reception followed at Inn of the Ozarks with beautiful decorations, yummy food, and a layered cake of all different flavors. My nephews who served as best guys gave a toast holding the sign they use to hold up at Tim's football games 9 years prior.

Here are some photos, not in the correct order. . .

No bride should have to wear dress shoes to the reception.

Look what they did to our truck in the rain. . .

Creel working on the truck.

Glad to be rid of those dress shoes.

The decorating committee

How do you spell Bride?

Trying to fit Just Married on the back glass.

The toast

Yum Punch!

So nice. . .

All smiles

Julie

The Violinist

Unity candle

Happy couple

Creel telling Tim how it's gonna be. . .

Julie, her mom Ona and nephew Creel

Tim walking mom down the isle.

Tim & Julie

Trying to memorize the toast before the wedding.

Trevor ( He almost grew out of his suit in the month between getting it and the wedding.)

My sister and I

Tim

Justin's one duty. . .DON'T LOOSE THE RING!

Tim & Julie

Thanksgiving 2009

2010-01-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Always has been. It's the one time a year that all my family gets together at my mom's house (it's the biggest house.) My Uncle Andy, wife Sheri from Florida and their grand kids Kaitlynn and Jackson from Alabama made it home this year.

Man! There are alot of us and just think there are several missing. . . .

Justin & Trevor

2010-01-08T19:16:00.001-08:00

Justin and Trevor teamed up with their favorite aunt and grandma to give their mom a very special Christmas present this year. Robin my sister got (2) 8x10 framed photos from her boys. What more could a mom of teenagers want.

I just love these pictures of them.

Christian's First

2010-01-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

During the 2009 hunting season Christian killed his first deer. Yes, he killed one before Scott who got his first deer the following weekend. We had to buy a freezer for all the meat. Just so you know ground deer can replace beef in just about everything.

Brittney

2009-10-22T19:16:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago I spent a rainy Sunday afternoon with my cousin taking her senior pictures. It's hard to believe that she is already old enough to be graduating. It wasn't very many years ago I was babysitting her. I had a blast hanging out with my cousins Tammie and daughter Brittney for the afternoon wading in grass, climbing over fences, asking strangers if we could use their barn, and going to the lake. I hard a hard time choosing which photos to post as there were so many good ones. Here are a few of my favorites.

Thanks guys for a great day. Brittney, I wish you the best as you finish this chapter in your life and look to start a new one.

2009-10-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

Scott and I took a nice relaxing drive today. Loving this nice weather. . . .

Camping at Snowball

2009-09-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we camped with Mike, Teresa, Ryan and Casey at a very quite secluded area in Snowball. We had a blast relaxing with not very many people around. For those who don't know, my favorite way to camp is in the middle of no where.

I chased this leaf floating down the river for quite a little ways trying to get just the right photo. As you can tell by the next picture something swam into my picture. (click on it to enlarge it. look in the right corner.) Yes, I am 99% sure it was a snake. I yanked when I saw it so the picture is not so good. Scott isn't so sure it was a snake but it made me decide I had taken enough pictures and put my camera away.

Thanks guys for a nice weekend away. We hope to do it again sometime.

Lake of the Ozarks

2009-08-19T19:48:00.001-07:00

We met up with Scott's Dad Ronnie at a resort on Lake of the Ozarks last weekend for our last trip of the summer. It's hard to believe summer is already over! Where did it go? Anyway, we had fun even though it rained both days were were there. (reason for not many pics) The resort was nice and cozy even though there were people and boats everywhere. We enjoyed tubing, riding jet skis, and eating healthy food.

Scott and his Dad I realized during this trip I'm not as young as I once was. My body was so sore from tubing. At least I was able to hang with the kids. I'm not ready to get old so I had better start exercising.

Vacation Road Trip to Arizona

2009-07-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

We made it back from our road trip to Arizona. We had a great time. To me it was one of our best vacations. I enjoyed all the stops along the way and seeing things I have never saw before.

Our first stop was the Petroglyphs. The first sign on our small hike was to watch for Rattle Snakes.

Our next stop was to the Continental Divide. Yes, I couldn't remember what it was so I had to google it before we left.

Then we stopped at the Petrified Forest. I could have spent days here looking around.

Painted Desert in the Petrified Forest National Park.

We then made it to Jerry's house and celebrated the 4th. After that we went looking around and ate at the really neat ice cream shop.

The next day we went to the Science Center. I really enjoyed the weather simulator.

The had an electronic/digital room which was so neat and Emma was on the Radio.

After all the fun. We had to take a day off and relax. The next day Wednesday was Breanna's 16th birthday and we celebrated with a girls day out. We went to shopping, to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, and of course pedicures and manicures.

On Thursday we packed up and headed out for the Grand Canyon. On the way there we stopped at the Montezuma Castle.

We went by a real Ghost Town.

Took a scenic drive threw Sedona. If you ever go to Arizona I highly recommend this drive. It was absolutely beautiful.

On Friday we celebrated Jacob's birthday

With a trip to the Grand Canyon. I would love to go hiking or rafting there. If we ever go back there, I would like to plan an extra day to do one of those things.

Our last stop was to the Cadillac Ranch.

There were many other sights in Arizona which we didn't stop at. Hopefully we will get to go back sometime and see more.

Christian turns 14

2009-06-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Christian's Birthday was last Sunday (Father's Day). We met Kim at Fast Lanes Saturday morning for tons of fun. We bowled and the kids played video games. My favorite was the laser tag. The girls beat the guys!

The 29 inch pizza was awesome!

Bree's New Room

2009-06-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to change Breanna's room since I moved in. The color "sea foam blue" was just terrible and I hated the way it was painted with the walls, ceiling, doors and trim all being the same color. We have promised her for years it would be redone but Scott wanted to wait until we had new windows put in. Well, I decided not to wait. Before:

What kind of room does a girl fixing to turn 16 want? Well of course racer pink and opera purple. She picked the colors but hasn't seen it yet.

The curtains are a birthday gift for her from my mom. On the purple wall is a pink curtain and on the pink wall is a purple one. The comforter is a gift from us.

I'm so jealous. I want to live in her room! I would have never got finished in a week if it wasn't for my mom helping me. She is the best painter I have ever seen. I had it all ready her to come home on Friday (except for hanging some stuff on the wall) just to find out they are staying another week with their mom so I have to wait another week to see the look on her face.

You tell your kids to dream big! But. . . .

2009-06-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

We always have the kids make a birthday wish list. All we have heard from Breanna was she didn't care what kind, she just wanted a car. Well, we sold our motor home a week or so ago and while Scott was out side completing the paperwork, Breanna sat down at the computer and made us her 16th birthday wish list. . .As you can see her dreams are a lot bigger than anything we could ever pay for. I mean who would ever think of a Mercedes at 16. I don't think anything on her list was under $20,000 and everything was 2002 or newer. Scott has to break the news that she was looking at too new of cars. So, I guess we will see what happens.

Free Landscaping

2009-05-23T16:10:00.001-07:00

Vikki (my boss) decided to give away all the plants in one of the flowerbeds at work. The city workers messed up the bed while widening Industrial Park Road so she just decided to start over. I picked out the plants I wanted and had no idea they would be loaded with a backhoe and take up the whole back of Scott's truck. One of the other ladies at work has 16 acres and she had a whole truck and trailer full. I couldn't believe how massive these plants were. Thank goodness, Scott helped me get them out of the back of the truck! I got them planted all by my self. These things were huge and heavy. It was wet and muddy last Saturday and I had mud from head to toe which Scott thought was quite funny. I got the job done and think it looks much better. What do you think. I dug up everything that was there except for the rose bush and planted these shrubs. I also planted a thornless yellow rose that my Aunt Susan had given me a start of. Now if I can just get them to grow. I don't have much of a green thumb.

Scott had a little accident with the wheelbarrow. Doesn't it look sad?

Book Signing

2009-05-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

I have read thousands of books over the years and have never been to a book signing until today. Yesterday, Scott was checking out the net and happened across a small ad that said Kate Gosselin would be signing books at the Bentonville Sam's Club. He knows how much I love the show and I already had the other book she wrote, so we got up bright and early and headed out. After reading on the net that she was hateful to anyone who was not her immediate family, I didn't know what to expect. She was fashionably late to the signing by about 12 minutes. I must say she was very nice, pleasant, and great with the kids who had colored her pictures. She is very pretty and really thin.

We then went and spent a little over a hour with my cousin Jess who I haven't saw in quite a while. After that, we went and had milk shakes and ice cream with Kim and family. We had a great day!

Back From Miami

2009-05-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

I don't even know where to begin describing this trip. I will just start with saying that I think the Cox Bobble Head had more fun than we did. There were several of him floating around and he was photographed several places in Miami. The resort we were at in Miami was definitely not for the average person. It was a very expensive luxury resort. Just to give you an idea of the prices we were faced with, it cost us $43.50 to sit on the beach with 2 chairs and an umbrella. Needless to say we only did that one day. With my fair skin, we had to have an umbrella. (We were the only ones with a cooler on the beach. Everyone else just ordered what they wanted and it was brought to them. At around $16 a mixed drink and $7 for beer or soda, we brought our own.) We did not eat in a restaurant the whole time we were there. The average plate was about $35 a person with steak costing between $52 and $95. We found it cost less to dine in (about $20 a person) and then we ordered Pizza and ate on it for a couple of days. This is the first time in my life I have been to Florida and did not eat sea food. The only thing we found within walking distance was a Walgreen's where we got snacks and a liquor store. The cost to get to the indoor/outdoor mall (as seen on Miami Vice) was $45 a person. Needless to say we didn't go (by the time we got there we wouldn't have any money to spend) so we brought back no souvenirs. We walked the boardwalk which didn't have anything on it and car watched from our balcony. We saw Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, BMW's, Mercedes, and stretched limos coming to the resorts LIV Club. While at the Blue Bar (bar outside of LIV), one of the guys that was there with Cox ordered 2 drinks and it cost over $40 so he had the waitress take it back. I'm sure she wasn't happy. We didn't even bother going there. Another set of 4 people went out to a night club and it cost them over $300 to get in. That doesn't even count their drinks.
We had alot of strange looks from people who were there. I guess they could tell we were out of place. I didn't know I needed to wear short tight shorts and heels all day long. We were also the wrong shade of white and spoke English. Everyone there was a size 4 or smaller and extremely tan and spoke foreign languages. I'm sure the people who were willing to spend alot of money had a good time but I think the majority of the Cox people can say it was not a fun vacation. We can cross it off of the list of places we have been. We will not be going back!!!!!!! We are GLAD to be back in Arkansas where people are normal and speak REDNECK!

The cabanas have a flat screen TV, phone, and fridge. They rent for only $250 a day.

You even had to rent the chairs at the pool! Made me wonder if you got anything with the cost of the room.

The only drinks we had from the resort was the ones we got free at the Cox gathering.

The ocean was beautiful. I don't know what color you would call it maybe emerald green.

If you look close you can see the row boat. They were out every evening.

We saw Regis and Kelly.

We watched the paparazzi. (The lady dragging the cooler was a employee. . .)

My night pictures didn't turn out so good. I only took my little camera and couldn't get the setting right.

Scott helped with this post. Thank goodness he didn't take his "Welcome to America NOW Speak English" shirt with him.

Ready to go

2009-05-01T18:45:00.001-07:00

We have packed and repacked, checked our email a thousand times waiting for out itineraries, and we think we are finally ready to leave for our trip. We will be leaving our house around 7 in the morning to drop Skeeter off at my moms. Then we will be flying out from Springdale tomorrow , will change planes in Chicago and then we will arrive in Miami sometime around 7 tomorrow night. It will be a very long day. There are some planes (don't know if it is on the way down or back) we will not be sitting by each other which we are not happy about but will make it work. Linda will be watching Daisy while we are gone. We don't know exactly how that will work out as she has only been away from Skeeter once and has never been completely by herself which she will be until Linda gets here to pick her up Saturday afternoon. We got Daisy groomed so Linda will not have to deal with all the shedding. She looks like a totally different dog with her hair cut. Daisy is afraid of thunderstorms so we will hope for no rain. Hope everyone has a good week while we are away relaxing in the sun.

South Beach Miami Here We Come

2009-04-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I won't say that we are as excited as we were about Cancun. We are actually quite bummed. We had planned for a all inclusive trip where we wouldn't be out anything except for some trinkets to bring home. Now, we are on our way to Miami to a very expensive resort with limited money. We still don't know when we will be flying out. We are waiting for all the details. Here is where we will be going.

http://www.fontainebleau.com/gcm/nar/en-us/home/index.htm

I wanted to go anywhere but Florida. We always go to Florida or Alabama for vacation. Just once I wanted to go somewhere new. Well, I guess the Miami area is new but it is still Florida. This is just our kind of luck!

Our Plans have changed

2009-04-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

With the Flu breakout in Mexico, our trip to Cancun has been cancelled. Scott's company is great and they are looking for another area for us to go. We will know first thing tomorrow where we are going. We may have to fly out on Friday instead of Saturday. We just don't know anything tonight with is driving us crazy. You know this is just our luck! We already got evacuated from our honeymoon! Well, more details to follow.

Marley and Me

2009-04-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

I finished the book Marley & Me a couple of weeks ago. It was great! Made me Laugh out load and cry. I just love dogs! I will be honest the ending is sad. I want to see the movie but know I will cry.

I orderd a book to read on the plane trip just to get a email back stating that it was on back order. Now, I'm going to have to look for another book. Any suggestions?

Chicken Fiesta Dip

2009-04-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

My nephew Justin said , "You need to teach my mom how to make this. It's good!" I thought I would pass the recipe along.

Chicken Fiesta Dip

8oz cream cheese (The kind in the tub is easier to mix)
8 oz sour cream
1 large can chunked chicken
1 can Rotel (I grind it up so it is not chunky)
1 Packet Taco Bell taco seasoning (Must be Taco Bell to taste correct)
1 bag shredded Colby Jack Cheese

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, chicken, rotel, taco seasoning and 2 large hand fulls of shredded cheese. Place in baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Serve with chips.

It is Official!

2009-04-07T19:25:00.001-07:00

It is Official!! Scott is the BFRO Investigator for Arkansas!!

Things I have learned

2009-04-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

I have learned many things since my surgery. . . . . . . I have lost all control over my stomach not that I had much before.

1.) Sometimes after I eat and sometimes for no reason at all, one side of my gut fights with the other side causing very strange loud sounds that can be heard across the room.

2.) What goes in often comes out rather quickly.

3.) The stink coming from the bathroom is not my husband. Thank goodness I can't smell! All I can hope for is that he is the next one to go in there so I can blame it on him.

4.) Gas is a bodily function. It doesn't matter which end it comes out just let it out or severe pain is in store.

5.) Who knew milk was bad for you. A half a glass can cause a good half a day or more of severe abdominal pain.

It's been almost 2 months my surgery. Will things ever change? I don't know. And to think, I was told you don't need a gallbladder. I have been reading and trying to find a supplement or something I should be taking to help with some of these issues. Until then, please leave the fart spray where it is easily found in your bathroom :).

The Puppy

2009-03-29T19:33:00.001-07:00

Scott has a soft heart for animals just like me! Last Wednesday, he walked threw the door holding this sweet girl. She was extremely thin, had sores all over her body, and had a string tied around her neck really tight. The sting was yarn tied like you would a friendship bracelet making a thick string. We cut the string off her neck and Breanna gave her a bath first thing. Then she got a small bowl of food. I had forgotten how cute puppies are when they eat. It was a long night. The puppy slept with Christian while our two dogs slept with Scott and I. Usually they sleep in the living room. Skeeter whined all night. He wanted to play with the puppy. Daisy wanted nothing to do with the puppy as was not happy at all that her daddy was holding someone else. I guess the puppy kept Christian awake some. Thursday we tried to find her a home fast knowing we couldn't keep her. (As Scott said, a owner who treats their pet like that shouldn't be given the chance to get them back. We did try to get ahold of the radio stations and looked in the lost and found section of the newspaper with no luck.) We just don't have alot of room for a puppy that was going to turn into a really large dog. We called the Humane Society just to find out the only way they take dogs is after they have been to the pound. Scott reluctantly called the pound to find out the procedure. We found out they would keep her for 10 days to see if a owner came forward. At that point they will see if the Humane Society will take her. If not they couldn't say what would happen. So on the 10th day we will be calling to see if owners came forward or if she made it to the Humane Society. If neither of those happened we will probably adopt her. She was way too sweet to let anything bad happen to her. I figure that this will be one of many rescues that will come through our house. Breanna and Christian have tender hearts as well. . . She was just so cute we all wanted to keep her.

Busy, Crazy Times

2009-03-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

We have alot of things going on over the next few months. For starters, we will get the kids back on Wednesday for 9 weeks. So exciting. They may not think so but I enjoy it alot. As soon as we get our final estimates, we are having our roof fixed. WOOHOO!! We will be packing up our bedroom as it will be nothing but walls. We are taking everything off the roof so we can see sky. This is to make sure there is no mold etc from all the leaks. We will probably have to sleep on the pull out couch for a couple of days but will be so worth it. As it is now, I cover my desk with a towel to make sure it doesn't get wet. Our hope is to extend the wall by the carport out about 5 feet I think Scott said to make a large closet. I won't have a laundry room closet full of lint any more!!! Hopefully all works out and we have enough money to do what we would like. And saving the best for last, Scott won a all inclusive trip to Cancun through work. I can't believe it, this will be a trip of a life time. Here is where we will be going in May.

http://www.crownparadise.com/cancun/crown/index.html

Oh, and I forgot Scott will be going on his first Bigfoot expedition at the end of May.

Valentine's Day

2009-03-02T18:22:00.001-08:00

When I was feeling better, Scott planned a very romantic Valentine's Day which is so not like him. I had a really bad painful day the Friday before Valentine's day. Who knew would get so sick right before a holiday and I had no idea he was planning anything. He even arranged to have his mom come let our dogs out. Anyway, He took me to a the Raddison Hotel. The Valentine's Day package included a one night stay, a champagne toast with chocolate covered strawberries for two, and dinner in the restaurant. Scott had a steak which he said was one of the best he had had in a while and I had chicken with mango salsa. It was so wonderful. Too bad I wasn't feeling well and went to bed not long after supper. The room had a sleep number bed so I did get a good nights sleep.

Thank You

2009-02-23T11:33:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say thanks for all the prayers, thoughts, and phone calls. I am starting to feel more like myself. Still sore and have alot of gas pains. Nothing I eat tastes good. I guess that is one way to loose weight. Scott has been a great babysitter. However, I am very glad to be doing more things on my own. Bending over is still a chore. As crazy as it sounds, I'm practicing sitting in my computer chair to see if I can make it at work tomorrow. I wanted to go back today but Scott said I couldn't.

Surgery

2009-02-18T16:12:00.001-08:00

I will be having surgery tomorrow to remove my gall bladder. I have to be at the hospital at 7am. I am nervous about never waking up. I know it's crazy but I can't help it. If all goes well, it will be an out patient surgery. If they have problems, I will have to stay the night. Please say an extra little prayer that everything will go smoothly.

Gallstones

2009-02-17T16:03:00.001-08:00

During the ice storm I started having severe pains on the right side of my stomach. The pain was so severe I tried to get Scott to shoot me as I assumed the hospital didn't have any power either. Needless, to say he wouldn't shoot me. I treated myself at home for gas, acid, and a few other belly issues. Needless to say none of those things were my problem. On Friday the 13th I was in class in Fayetteville and decided leave early and come home to the doctor. I drove home like a mad woman to get back to Harrison by my 1:30 doctors appointment just to find out I was going to have to have more tests on Monday. The CT scan I took yesterday came back normal so I had to do an ultra sound today and I found out I have Gallstones. I meet with a different doctor tomorrow to find out what my options are. And, in the middle of all this when I was feeling better, Scott planned the most romantic Valentine's Day. More on that later.

REDNECK CONDO

2009-02-15T17:48:00.000-08:00

The weekend after the ice storm we made a trip to Alma to pick up Scott's new toy he bought off EBay. He won the auction by a penny! We think it is a 1955 Shasta camper. The camper is not in the best of shape and has a lot of water damage on the inside. He is now in the process of tearing it apart and putting it back together to become his Bigfoot trailer and also a camper to take to the river.Once it is done we will have a true Redneck Condo.

I'm now ready for the movie

2009-02-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

I just finished this book, and I must say it was a really fun book. I can't wait to see the movie.
I try hard not to watch a movie until I read the book. I don't know why that is! They always leave something out of the movie or change something up. I have nothing lined up to read now. What am I going to do? Anyone have any suggestions?

Grandpa Turns 81

2009-02-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago (the Sunday before the ice storm) we celebrated my grandpa's birthday with a small family party. He knew my mom had made a cake but he had no idea it was for his birthday and was completely shocked. We sang "Happy Birthday" which he loved.

The Power is ON!

2009-02-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

Lights, Cable, Phone, Internet! We are starting to get our life back!

There is nothing like flipping the switch on and lights actually coming on. I don't know how many times I flipped the switch knowing that no lights were going to come on.

The ice storm has definitely left it's toll on our county and surrounding counties. On my way to work on Maple Street there is a piece of of a power pole suspended in the air between lines. It is actually quite scary. If you look down the road which is blocked off by a sign under the hanging power pole, there is one of the largest trees I have ever seen blocking Bower Street. There are many people in town and out that still do not have power. I hope it is all restored soon but I have had a few people say that Entergy has told them it could be mid month before they receive it.

I consider us very lucky. We were only without power for 3 nights. We were able to get a generator for a good price of around $330 to save our cold grocery items and run the heater enough to knock the chill out of the air and keep our pipes from freezing. The only damage we had from tree limbs falling was to the fence on our dog yard. Scott was able to get the limbs off he fence and rig up a panel so the dogs wouldn't get out. We still have alot of cleanup to do.

Our roof in our bedroom leaked from the freezing rain. I think there was 7 or 8 spots. We had to clear everything off our dresser and desks. I have been waiting to put everything back to make sure it wasn't going to leak any more so I have alot of clean up to do on the inside of the house also. Our roof has been an on going problem with cold weather. Hopefully, this spring we will be able to get it fixed.

Both of our jobs are very stressful at times like this. Scott is on mandatory 7 days a week. He was chosen for the 11pm to 7am shift and is having alot of difficulty sleeping during the day. Where I work has been consumed with phone calls and walk ins with storm damage. People are tired and cranky with no power and all the mess so it makes it a little difficult for us.

Have you ever cooked supper by one of these? It can be done. Our best light by far was from a battery operated lantern that Scott found in our camping equipment. On high it could light up a whole room. I think I am actually going to miss the quit a little bit. It was actually kind of fun to camp in our own home. I think it might have drove Scott crazy a little bit but I enjoyed it.

Be Careful and Stay Safe

2009-01-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I tried to let Skeeter and Daisy out for their 8:00 potty break. They both looked at me like I was crazy and refused to go. I'm sure it is because the ground is now white and it is not snow. The freezing rain and sleet is still falling. I know my dogs are completely spoiled. They are way above getting their feet wet and cold. We (me and the dogs) even had a discussion about peeing on the puppy pad only. I just wanted to remind everyone to be careful, stay in and stay safe. Vehicles can be replaced. Life can not. Don't chance it. . . . . .

I will have to try and take my own advice as my office decides when and if we are opening tomorrow. All we know right now is our office will not open at 8:00 it will 9:00 at the earliest. If the roads are really bad we are suppose to call.

Multiple Blessings

2009-01-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Scott got me the book I requested for Christmas. (He does very good on gifts if he has a detailed list.) I didn't know exactly how good the book was going to be but I faithfully watch the show every week. The show is mainly current events and the book goes back to the long hospital stay and surviving with so many babies. The book is more behind the scenes going into details about emotions, decisions, struggles and some of their immediate family which you do not see on the show. There are a lot of good and bad reviews on the book. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. I really enjoyed the book!

Bright Lights Don't Help

2009-01-21T19:08:00.000-08:00

Just in case you have road rage. . . . . .

Yesterday I had to go to Fayetteville to take a class for work. It was a very eventful trip. For starters, I left a few minutes before 6am. I am usually opening my eyes to start the day at this time. Anyway, I must have got into the traffic going to Tysons. Vehicles were weaving in between cars all the way down the divided highway. The car in front of me was slowing down as they were rounding the corner coming into the Alpena so of course I was slowing down also. I don't need a ticket. This truck flew around the car behind me, my vehicle and the vehicle in front of me. I have no idea where this truck came from and it was flying in the on coming lane. I was so thankful to be turning off on Hwy 412 to get away from that mess. I will be honest, I do not see well in the dark. The car lights blind me. (Was I wearing my new glasses that are suppose to help with glare? NO! I can't remember them.) So, when it is dark I do not drive as fast. I go the speed limit but not my usual day time lead foot speed. This truck came up behind me. Right on my tail and followed me for several miles. I guess I wasn't going fast enough. They then turned their bright lights on and kept following extremely close. Did they really think this would make me speed up or find a place to pull off and let them go by? NO! I could barely see the road. Needless to say, I was not having a good morning and missed my turn onto Hwy 45. The road construction has made everything look different. I made a u turn at the next legal spot and got back heading the the direction I needed to go. Guess what, at the first stop light I came to that truck was in front of me. All that rudeness and looking like he was going to ram me didn't get him where he was going any faster. I had time to go down the road and turn around. From now on, I am going do my best not to get road rage. Not that I have ever done anything like this. I finally made it to my class. On the way back I followed a semi most of the way and for once I wasn't in any hurry to get around him.

Sebrena's House

2009-01-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

We all had a great time at Eric and Sebrena's house for our after New Year's get together. It was so much fun hanging out with family, eating yummy food , and of course competitive board games. Sebrena made this awesome snowman cheese ball. It was way too cute to eat!

Kim and Sebrena

Kristy was working on several people's hair and Christian wanted his blonde. Or should I say white. She bleached it and it had an orange tint (this happens every time he tries to go blonde) so she was going to tone it down a little and it ended up gray! However, it doesn't look too gray in the pics. We took some "like father, like son" pictures. Christian added a belly pillow for the full view. Needless to say it was bleached again. He couldn't go back to school with gray hair. It might ruin his reputation you know!

By the end of the night everyone was exhausted!

Thanks Eric and Sebrena for having us over. Can't wait to do it again!

The Shack

2009-01-01T16:40:00.000-08:00

Scott's sister Kristy loaned us this book to read. It is such a wonderful touching story. For me, it made me stop and think. I know it is fiction but still. If you only read one book this year, this is the one. READ IT! http://theshackbook.com/

We had a Great Christmas !

2009-01-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

Scott and I celebrated out first Christmas together as husband and wife. We had a really busy couple of days and it was so much fun. We hosted family at our home on Christmas eve. This was a first and I also cooked my first turkey. It was a little dry but not bad. We were blessed with wonderful gifts. Thank you everyone. Below are some random photos from our holiday season.

I had gotten the kids so many cool trinkets for their stockings that they were overflowing.

A few kids even got surprise puppies.

What a beautiful Day!

2008-12-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

Scott and I had a beautiful drive today. It was a little sad. Some of the places he can remember going with his brother has now been logged which tears up the forest. We were driving on a 4 wheeler road and it was so funny that TomTom knew where we were. I was completely lost hoping we didn't slide off the side of a hill. Scott also found a dollar bill in the middle of same ruff dirt road. We didn't find Bigfoot, but we did see some lovely scenes. I took tons of pictures. It was hard to choose what to share.

The best part of all. . . .We saw somewhere around 50 elk at Boxley. They were on two bottom fields and also on the other side of the road in some brush. I have never seen this many before.

If you click on this picture and enlarge it, you should be able to see the large rack on the big bull.

And of course a self portrait. My arm needs to be longer.

SQUATCHING

2008-12-29T14:18:00.001-08:00

I came across this photo that Scott took on one of his Bigfoot expeditions. This is a homemade sign in Oklahoma. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Johnson County to look for Bigfoot. Scott says he is going to use me as bait so if you don't hear from me in the next few days, please come looking for me. I MUST HAVE LOST MY MIND!

Sad, Sad DAY

2008-12-28T16:14:00.000-08:00

It's a sad, lonely day in the Smith house. The kids went back to their mom's for nine weeks today. They have only been gone for a hour and our house already seams way to quiet.

2008-12-24T20:16:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas ! !

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! Remember this is a time for family and friends. It's the thought that counts!

Happy Holidays!

Angie

We're WRAPPED!

2008-12-20T17:59:00.004-08:00

4 or 5 hours and 1 box cut later (yes box cut not a paper cut), we finally have all the presents we have wrapped. I don't ever remember wrapping that many at once or it taking that long. Oh Well, it is now finished. Well, that is all but the couple of gifts that were ordered that we haven't received yet. Hopefully they will be here Monday. Tomorrow I start making Christmas candy and cookies. Even though this is a crazy time of year I really enjoy it.

A Dog Named Christmas

2008-12-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

I finished the book I decided to read for Christmas over a week ago. It was a short fast read that I really enjoyed. It made you appreciate the special people and animals that come into our lives. It shows that everyone no matter what their ability have a place in this crazy world. Editorial Reviews
Product Description
In this heartwarming novel, author Greg Kincaid tells the tender story of how one very special dog changed the lives of his adoptive family—and an entire town—forever.“Todd, they always want you to adopt a dog. That’s what they do. Besides, we don’t need another animal around here, and most definitely not a dog.”When Todd McCray, a developmentally challenged young man still living on his parents’ Kansas farm, hears that a local animal shelter is seeking temporary homes for its dogs during the days leading to Christmas, he knows exactly what he wants for the holidays. His father objects, but Todd’s persistence quickly wins out. Soon the McCrays are the short-term foster family for a lovable pooch the young man names Christmas.But what about all the other dogs who will be forced to spend the Yuletide season in cages? In the days that follow, Todd uses his special gifts of persuasion to encourage his hometown to participate in the “Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program.” What follows from his small act of kindness will teach his family, and his community, about peace on earth and good will toward men—and animals.

Bad Mood Breakers

2008-12-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

After the day I have had and our trip to Wal-Mart this evening, I thought I would pass on these Bad Mood Breakers that I got over my email. . . .

You can't read this and stay in a bad mood !

1. How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit?
Unique Up On It.

2. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit?
Tame Way.

3. How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest ?
They Take The Psycho Path

4. How Do You Get Holy Water?
You Boil The Hell Out Of It.

5. What Do Fish Say When They Hit a Concrete Wall?
Dam!

6. What Do Eskimos Get From Sitting On The Ice too Long?
Polaroid's

7. What Do You Call a Boomerang That Doesn't work?
A Stick

8. What Do You Call Cheese That Isn't Yours?
Nacho Cheese

9. What Do You Call Santa's Helpers?
Subordinate Clauses.

10. What Do You Call Four Bullfighters In Quicksand?
Quattro Sinko....

11. What Do You Get From a Pampered Cow?
Spoiled Milk.

12. What Do You Get When You Cross a Snowman With a Vampire?
Frostbite.

13. What Lies At The Bottom Of The Ocean And Twitches?
A Nervous Wreck.

14. What's The Difference Between Roast Beef And Pea Soup?
Anyone Can Roast Beef.

15. Where Do You Find a Dog With No Legs?
Right Where You Left Him.

16. Why Do Gorillas Have Big Nostrils?
Because They Have Big Fingers

17. Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?
Because It Scares The Dog.

18. What Kind Of Coffee Was Served On The Titanic?
Sanka.

19. What Is The Difference Between a Harley And a Hoover ?
The Location Of The Dirt Bag.

20. Why Did Pilgrims' Pants Always Fall Down?
Because They Wore Their Belt Buckle On Their Hat.

21. What's The Difference Between a Bad Golfer And a Bad Skydiver?
A Bad Golfer Goes, Whack, Dang!A Bad Skydiver Goes Dang! Whack

22. How Are a Texas Tornado And a Tennessee Divorce The Same?
Somebody' s Gonna Lose A Trailer

Now, admit it. At least one of these made you smile huh? Hope everyone is ready for Christmas. I should be after tomorrow. I have alot of wrapping to do.

The Johnson's

2008-12-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

Recently, I took some photo's of a co-worker and her family. I had so much fun and it was really good practice. Here are a few of my favorites.

Cassie's home is full of beautiful windows. I don't think I used the lighting as well as I could have. I'm still learning so I guess that is part of it. Hope you all have a great Christmas and enjoy the Christmas cards you made out of the photos.

I DECORATED!

2008-12-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I had everything planned out for a family Sunday evening of tree decorating and home made pizza. Scott had to help me get the lights on the tree working and we had everything almost ready to decorate when the kids got home from their moms. However, no one wanted to decorate the tree with me so I sadly did it all by myself. Scott did stay in the living room and read the paper while I decorated it. Then, I made homemade pizza by myself. Since I did the tree myself, I made sure to add some of my favorite ornaments that didn't make it on the tree last year. When we were going through stuff at my grandparent's house a couple of years ago, I found this and decided to bring it home. My grandma Ruby was always doing stuff with her hands and this reminds me of all the special things she taught me to do or tried really hard to teach us. (I never learned to knit but she tried hard to teach us.)

I bought this Santa at War Eagle many years ago. I don't know is you can tell by the photo but it is a Okra. The top is the hat and then there are eyes and a really long beard.

This Angel my Grandma Martin made. When Ben Franklin's (a very long time ago) went out of business I bought her alot of ribbons and lace. That year she made everyone angels. If you look at most of my family's Christmas Trees I bet you will find one of these.

The final project! This year we decided not to put out all of our Christmas decorations. This is the first year since I have lived here that we didn't put out the village. Last year we went all out. Breanna and I even put lights outside. This year will be simple. Only a tree full of crazy things I like.

We are having our first ever Christmas Eve dinner at our house. I am really excited even if no one comes but my parent and Scott's mom. I think I am going to try and cook my first ever turkey. Well, I'm thinking of only getting a turkey breast and cooking it in my roaster while I am I work. Anyone got any pointers?

Winter is HERE!

2008-11-30T11:44:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it! It has been snowing almost all day. It's still too warm for it to stick to the ground but still is a beautiful site when I look out the window. This has been a very quite winter day. Laundry is almost done, the chicken vegetable soup is on the stove simmering. Breanna is in her room reading. I think I am going to start on the 500+ emails I haven't looked at. I seriously don't know how I get so many. Then I hope to start on a new book. Still haven't heard from the guys. Hope they got a deer.

Angie's Lazy Day Chicken Vegetable Soup
2 cans Chicken Broth
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces
1 can creamy tomato soup
1 bag frozen vegetables
6-8 potatoes, diced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
Cavenders
garlic powder

Place onions and potatoes in chicken broth and boil. Add Chicken. Boil for a few minutes until potatoes are tender. They don't have to be all the way soft as you can simmer the soup as long as you would like. Add Tomato Soup, vegetables and seasonings. Simmer until ready to serve.

Poor Scott, he thinks I am a good cook. Little does he know I just toss some things in a pot.

Girls Weekend

2008-11-29T21:21:00.000-08:00

The guys are out hunting so Breanna and I have had the weekend to our self. I will admit I was a little sad that we didn't have any money to run around and do girl things. Then my husband handed me this envelope Thursday evening. I don't know where the money came from but he gave us some running around money.

We left the house Friday morning around 8:30ish. I was surprised that the things that I wanted to buy for gifts were already sold out so we ended up with very little. We spent the rest of the day being lazy watching chick flicks. I dug out my small George Foreman grill (hasn't been used in like 4 years) and we grilled us up some chicken and had mashed potatoes and cabbage. I can't believe we went all out and cooked a big meal for just the two of us.

We decided to go to Branson today. We only hit up a few stores and found some really good deals. We were bad and spent the money on us instead of buying Christmas gifts. Here are our best deals. We found these shoes that were originally $40 and $45 each and we paid $5 each. Breanna loves shoes and said these heels were really comfortable. The sandals I got will look great with my capris in the spring.

We went to Target where I got a swing sweater for $5 and some change. I think I have turned Breanna into a Target fan also. We could have spent tons of money. We had a late lunch. Bre got an education on football as we sat in the bar area so we didn't have to wait. Yes, I am a terrible step-mother we ate in the bar area. . . .

We decided we would stop at Books-A-Million and head home. Well, Petco is right beside it and we just had to stop in. They had dogs in there that they were trying to adopt out. We wanted to bring all of them home but sadly resisted. They all had their personal story on the crate and it was so sad. One dog was dumped on a road by its owner and waited for 3 months for its master to come back. Finally, someone put a leash on it and made it leave. I don't think people realize the trauma they put on animals when they do such horrible things. I am blessed to have a family that loves animals the way I do. Breanna wants to take her Dad back so he will want to bring them home. If you are thinking of a new pet to add to your family please look to the shelters or other animals that need help.

Tomorrow the guys will be back so I plan on doing laundry and cleaning. YUCK! I think since we don't know exactly what time they are going to be home and since the weather is suppose to be cold we will make a pot of soup.

This has been a great bonding weekend. Everyone should get to do this from time to time.

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-29T20:54:00.001-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving Day at my mom's house. We had great food and hung out for a while. It has always been a tradition that all of my family get together on this day. However, this year alot of people were missing. It was a little sad. Those of us that were there had a great time. We didn't have a photo of our clan together. So JT took a picture of us. Doesn't everyone look thrilled.

I can't believe all the kids are getting so tall!!

Our Second Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we spent the weekend in Hasty. There was a little bit of a problem with the gas so we didn't have heat or a cook stove. However, there was great family time snuggled around electric heaters. The old wood cook stove was put to use and Scott's Aunt Shirley opened up her home to let us all use her oven. We all enjoyed Mexican food. It's so neat how several of us had the same recipe all cooked a little different.

Board games and cards are always a big hit. This year there was a Wii and guitar hero. It was a blast for young and old alike.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Our Thanksgivings started with. . .

2008-11-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Our first Thanksgiving get together was at Scott's mom's house a couple of weekends ago. We had yummy snacks and our main course was soup and beans. We enjoyed the day and evening hanging out and playing board games. Family time together makes this my favorite holiday. Emma was go good at posing for the camera.

This kids had a blast hanging out together.

The adults and Breanna enjoyed a game of Pictionary.

The game was ended suddenly by a large stink by Scott. His mom had to pull out the Scott Guard. Yes, Kim is trying not to breath and her eyes are almost watering. Everyone had to leave the room as the smell seamed to be burnt into the cushion he was sitting on. (ha ha)

*****Correction***** Kim says her eyes were watering!! She didn't know what she was in for when she chose a seat next to him . . . . . . . . .

Photography on Scott's Grandpa's Farm

2008-11-26T18:22:00.000-08:00

There is something about barn wood that I love. . .

I have to admit that many times with my camera, I get in a hurry and let it do all the work for me. I was very fortunate that while Scott was out hunting to have a little time to myself to get out and practice taking some pictures. His Grandpa's farm has some of the neatest old stuff on it and the fact that the items stay still while I am trying to photograph them was a huge help. I will admit, I did have some pictures that turned out almost all black and some that looked really yellow. I have got to practice alot more. But so far more than 95% of my Thanksgiving pictures have been manual not automatic. Here are a few photos that I took that I think turned out good.

I can't figure out why only the barbs are rusted and not the wire.

Wish I would have walked beyond the house. I know I could have found many more items to photograph.

The Lucky One

2008-11-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

So I'm really behind on my posting but thought I would start with a great book that I just finished. Nicholas Sparks is, of course, one of my favorites. He seams to write wonderful, great stories that are fantastic and hard to put down. This one is a must read. Some of his books seam predictable as to how they will end but to me this one was not. I would give this book five stars and would highly recommend it ! Let me know if you want to borrow this book.

Now, on to my next book. I started my own tradition a few years back. One just for me. Several years back when my life was not so great, I decided to read a Christmas book. Hoping to boost my spirits. It did just what I was hoping and I had a very good Christmas. I think that year I learned to be grateful of the small things which I think I would have forgotten that year had I not read the book. The sad part is I don't even remember what the book was and I sold almost all of my paperback books at a garage sale because I don't have room for tons of books. Anyway, since that year, I have tried to read a Christmas book each holiday season. As crazy as the holidays can get, it's relaxing to come home and have a few quiet minutes reading a book that makes you appreciate the season. I placed my order for my book last week. I don't remember what it is called but I know that one of the main characters is a dog and everyone knows I am a animal lover. Does anyone know of any great Christmas stories I should read?

Pat's Family

2008-11-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

A few Saturdays ago, I spent the afternoon with Pat and her family at her parents farm. It turned out to be a really nice day and we had alot of fun. I had a hard time deciding which photos to share so here is a few of the several hundred shots I took. Blake The Gang!

Pat with her children Ashley and Justin.

Grandma and Grandpa with the tractor they have used forever.

Justin decided to start the day off with some fun and picked grandpa up.

Ashley and Adam with their children Abby and Macy.

Adam and Ashley

Spirit Week

2008-11-16T19:06:00.001-08:00

Valley had Spirit Week a few weeks back. Christian had a blast at school that week. We had to make several trips to Walmart to try and find all the fun things he wanted. We couldn't find any crazy boys/men's socks so I will have to keep a look out for next year. Christian had blue and green hair one day. He decided not to do pj day for fear that no other guys were going to do it. His favorite day was Green and White day. He went all out with green and white face paint, green wig, valley t-shirt, black- green and white shorts, green baseball socks and green and white shoes.

The Last Lecture

2008-11-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

Has anyone read this book?

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if I just didn't read it with a open mind or what, but it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be like Tuesday with Morrie which I loved. It was OK for me but not nearly as good as all the reviews said. It was suppose to be a Five Star. I would love some input. Anyone else heard anything about this book? Should I reread it again in a few months? I have had to reread things before.

Ethan and Breonn

2008-10-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

Last month I was able to go spend a Saturday morning with my cousin Jess and her children. We decided that since we hadn't taken pictures of her kids together since Breonn was a baby that it was time. There is a park near where they are living and thought that would be a great place for pictures. However, with one kid afraid of bugs and the other told me that brothers and sisters are worse enemies; it was a little difficult. Here is a few shots that I like. Breonn has her eye on a spider, making sure it didn't move.

Ethan was a real trooper as long as his sister wasn't in the shot.

Breonn had just finished telling all about the ants by the tree.

Boys can be sweet when you bribe them with McDonald's.

It was really difficult to get this 8 year old to put his arm around his 5 year old sister.

Spider

2008-10-24T21:30:00.001-07:00

We had a spider decide to build a super cool web on our carport. He was there for about 2 weeks. Scott and I had gotten to where we watched for it careful not to walk through it's web. We also checked what it had added to to its web everyday. We were very sad and disappointed to come home from work one day to find his web messed up and it dead on the carport.

Scott and I feel the same about animals. If they are not hurting anything leave them alone. In the middle of our remodel project, I decided to take a break and take a photo of the spider. I'm not going to say how long it took me to get this photo or how many setting changes I had to change on my camera to get this shot. It's not the best but this is the only one that I took that looks like a spider and a web and the setting was not on auto. That just looked like a blur. Maybe I will eventually learn what all the buttons do.

Wooly Warm

2008-10-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Have you saw any of these around? There is a old wise tell that says if you see wooly warms than you are going to have a bad winter. If you see a white one you are going to have a really white winter. I have saw two white ones in our yard and Scott said he saw probably 50 that looked like this today when he was working. I don't know how but this one made it in our house so we had to set him free.

Justin Starting A-Back

2008-10-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that at the age of 14 my nephew has been playing sports for 10 years. Yes, I started watching him play soccer at the age of 4. I think he started traveling with sports somewhere around the age of 7. I'm not exactly for sure what a A-Back is but am told that is his official football title. To me he is a receiver. Check out this play in slow motion. Eyeing the ball. . .

Sliding catch. . .

Defender over the top. . .

Ruled fair catch. . .

And of course Touchdown #1

#2 wasn't far behind.

GO GOBLINS!!

Trevor the Quarterback

2008-10-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

I was able to make it to a few of my nephew's football games. He is the starting quarterback for the 7th grade which is a huge deal. They have had a good season.

Harrison's new football stadium is awesome. It's not quite finished but they were able to use it this year. We even have a as my brother calls it a "babytron".

GO GOBLINS!!

We are never going to get done!

2008-10-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to blog this week and I have some really great things to share. We have been working on our Bathroom every night after work until at least 9 or 10. Then we clean up, eat something fast and head for bed. We still have so much to do that there is no way we can get done before the kids get here for our nine weeks on Friday. We even took a vacation day today. I don't know what I was thinking. I felt like we should have everything almost done but I didn't plan for things like letting everything dry. . . Like everything we do, we have had several set backs. For starters we waited for 2 weeks to get an estimate for a new window. Just to find out a week later that it would take about a month to get the window in. We didn't have a month to wait for just that part. Alot of things couldn't be done until that was done. We got lucky and someone had special ordered a window at Home Depot and didn't pick it up. It fit what we needed and got it for a discount. Thank goodness this project is costing a small fortune. Scott was able to fix the bad boards and put the window in. He has turned into quite the handyman! Scott also decided on plaster for the walls. I ended up plastering with a 2 inch putty knife that took 3 nights but I think it's going to look really cool. If not I'm going to be really upset. I think the demo at Home Depot they used a 8 or 10 inch putty tool. What on earth was I thinking. . . .

Curtis & Melissa

2008-10-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to Bentonville to visit my cousin Jess and take some pictures of her kids. I will post those later. While there I took some engagement photos of Curtis and Melissa on the square in Bentonville. The square was a beautiful idea and of course on the way home I thought of a bunch of other poses I could have done. . . I am so excited about how the pictures turned out. I never know how a pose will look until I get home and look at it on the computer screen. Here are a few of my favorites.

Curtis and Melissa I wish you the best of luck while you plan your Christmas Eve wedding.

New Blog

2008-10-05T19:23:00.001-07:00

I'm starting a new blog just for my bargain hunting. All my couponing and stuff will be found at my new blog site:

http://yardsalequeen0829.blogspot.com/

All my personal photos and family stuff will still be found here. Hopefully, this will help keep my personal stuff personal. . . .

Apples and more Apples

2008-10-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

We have been so fortunate this year. Not only were we given a lot of fresh vegetables this year, we have now been given a large amount of cooking apples. I looked on the net for a good fried apple pie recipe but none of them seamed to be close the my grandmother's recipe. I can't remember all the details of hers and she never followed a recipe exact. I combined two recipes and this is what I came up with.

They were good but not as good as my grandma's was. Wish I would have paid more attention when I was younger. She was a great baker.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do with the rest of them. I still have a huge bag full that I need to do something with. Can you freeze apples for later use?

Ryan & Casey Dixon

2008-10-02T19:49:00.001-07:00

Scott's cousin Ryan got married a couple of weeks after we did in a lovely ceremony in Hasty. The service was fun and full of smiles. There is something about black and white wedding photos that I love. Here are a couple of my favorites from their special day.

The Reception

2008-09-29T17:37:00.001-07:00

I just realized I never did a post about our reception. We had a great time eating and dancing. Wish it could have lasted longer but it was a Friday night/holiday weekend and most people needed to get home or on their way to weekend events. Scott picked out the formal looking glasses. I think this was really the only thing formal we had in the wedding event.

My face in this picture cracks me up. I think I was telling him I needed more control of the knife.

Our first dance to "You had me from Hello"

Breanna, Christian, Justin, and Trevor along with the help of some adults had a blast decorating the car. My brother Tim video taped it so I have evidence except for the times he had a great idea and had to stop taping to show them how it should be done.

Walgreen's & Walmart

2008-09-24T19:54:00.001-07:00

Well, Scott is out of town and I didn't have anything better to do so I made a small coupon run. Here is what I got. Walgreen's:

All - $5.99 used wg$2/8 coupon and $1 mfg coupon =$3.00

3 Sunsilk conditioners - on sale $1.99 used 3 $1.50 coupons - .49 each

2 Glade $1.99 used wg coupon for .99 used b1g1 and the cashier took off $1.99 =.01

2 Adidas do $2/5 used wg coupon for $1.99 and 2 mfg coupon for $1.00 = .99 each

2 Reach Floss - $2/5 got $5 register rewards = Free

Halls $1.99 - used wg .99 coupon and .35mfg coupon = .64

I also used a $2 register rewards from last week. I still don't understand why I can't use more than one register rewards coupons at a time. I have several.

Total spent $11.83 and got back $5 register rewards

Walmart:

10 Viva paper towels - $1.00 used .50 mfg coupon =.50

(Most people get a better deals than this but in our small town this is a good deal. I never thought my stock of paper towels would get low but it did so I had to restock before the coupons expired.)

6 pkg Kool-Aid - 1.20

Crystal light - $2.98 used free after 3 kraft products =Free

Kraft Swiss Cheese - $4.28 used free after 3 kraft products up to $4 = .28

4 Farmland Bacons - $2.50 used 4 $2 mfg coupons = .50 each

Voila -$3.98 used $1 mfg coupon =2.98

Total Spent $13.38

It probably looks like I never buy any real food but last week I spent $80 at Walmart so this week I just need some stuff to go with it. I comped some meat prices and some other really good deals. Of course Walmart was out of alot of things that I wanted to get this week so I may make another small run later in the week.

Beautiful Breanna

2008-09-21T18:53:00.001-07:00

I decided to dedicate a post completely to my step daughter Breanna. She never lets anyone take her picture. Why she chooses to be this way, I have no idea. She is absolutely beautiful inside and out.

I will be honest. . .I did take her shopping to buy all new makeup as a thank you for being my maid of honor and because I knew how bad she hated pictures and it was so important to me. I let her pick out pretty much whatever she wanted and we only used a few coupons. That was an expensive trip to Wal~Mart. But in the end it was so worth it. I will cherish these pictures forever. Thank you Kim for taking care of this special request for me.

OUR WEDDING DAY

2008-09-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

Scott and I had the wedding of my dreams Aug 29th. When you plan an outside wedding you never know what can happen. And the kind of person that I am, I didn't plan for anything to go wrong. I wanted it to all happen the way I wanted it! The morning of our wedding I went to get my toe nails done while they got everything to the reception room so we could start decorating. While I was there relaxing in their massaging chair, I looked out the window to see that the sky was completely black and could rain at any moment. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes and I decided this was not going to happen to me! It was not going to rain on my day and guess what, I must have willed it away. It didn't rain at all. The weather was nice. Not to hot and not cold. Everything went as planned. Kristy fixed Breanna's and my hair just how I had dreamed up and we didn't even have a practice run. She just read my mind I guess. The pictures that Kim took were absolutely perfect. These were so important to me and she did a awesome job. The dress my mom made was perfect. Exactly what I wanted simple and beautiful. By dad found the perfect pearls to match my dress. Scott was handsome and the kids clean up really well. Scott had told everyone he wanted a 15 minute wedding and it took something like 15 minutes and 5 seconds so I guess he got what he wanted also. The only thing that I didn't do was take the time to get a good look at the reception room before everyone got there. I left to get my hair done before it was completely decorated. What I do remember before I left and what I saw after I got there, it was beautiful as well. Scott and I also got to have a first dance which I think was so important because we met dancing.

These are some of the pictures I have decided are my favorite.

I will share more photos in another post. I think they are all my favorites so it is hard to choose which ones to share.

I love to shop good Sales!

2008-09-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

I think Scott is starting to like the fact that I shop all the sales with my coupons. He lined up all my bargains from Walgreen's last week on the table before helping me put them away so I could take a picture to them. Too funny!

The rest of the Honeymoon story

2008-09-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun just relaxing. We didn't get to go out and enjoy all the music and things we had planned. Unfortunately, alot of it was cancelled due to the crazy weather. We did watch some funny shows on TV which we don't usually have alot of time for when we are home. We also got to go listen to a Rock Band at Live Bait and they were really good.

Doesn't that hand holding the beer can look much better with that shinny ring on it?

I bought these flip flops that I thought would make some really cool tracks in the sand. It was alot harder than I thought it would be. . . . but I did get a good picture.

We had a blast! Wish we could go every month!

Hurricane Gustav Passes Honeymoon Continues

2008-09-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

We woke up in the middle of the night to hear a loud whistling sound which was the wind blowing against the building from the hurricane. That and the really large waves is all we experienced from the hurricane. It was kind of crazy. It was like we were in a bubble and there was bad weather and tornadoes around us.

We were extremely lazy beach bums. Most of the time we didn't even make it to the beach. We spent most of our time with our feet on the balcony not on the sand.

This is our favorite restaurant. If you are ever in Gulf Shores you should try it.

I have been to the beach many times but have never saw the police patrol it like they did the week we were there.

One of my favorite pics of the week!

Look at the wind blowing the palm trees.

Did you use the $10/ $40 coupon from Walgreens?

2008-09-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

Last night I came home checking my normal blogs and was excited and a little leery to find there was a $10 off coupon on a $40 purchase good for today and tomorrow. You can go to Walgreen's web site to print a coupon. I have used the $5/$20 coupon only once and that was for a bottle of Zyrtec which is almost $27 . I paired with a $4 off coupon and then the $5 off coupon which helps me out a lot. I use to pay $50 for a 30 day supply with my insurance so getting a 45 day supply for $20 is great. Anyway I went to work planning a strategy to try and get my photos at a discounted rate. I mapped out 2 different plans one for if the sales clerk who I like that doesn't question my coupons was there and one that if the lady who refuses some of my coupons was working. I really don't like her she refuses them even if the computer would take them. Anyway I get there and of course it was the lady who hates coupons checking at the front register. I'm thinking ok use plan B and I realize I left my paper at home (note to self get small notebook for couponing.) I had my easy saver book with me and realized I was a little smart I had my coupons split apart so I should be able to figure it out. I didn't do as well as I planned and they were out of several things that I needed for plan B. In the end I got all of this for the cost of my pictures which I would have gotten anyway. Crest Mouth Wash - $4.29 Got $4.50 back in Register Rewards

Chemistry Hair Care - $7.99 Will get $7.99 rebate

Excedrin - $3.99 Will get $3.99 rebate

Crest Pro Health toothpaste - $3.29 Will get $3.29 rebate

Lypsyl lyp Moisturizer - $1.99 Will get $1.99 rebate

Glade Fabric & Air - $2.99 Less $1.00 easysaver coupon and $1.50 Coupon from recent Sunday paper.

Photos - $14.25

Visine - $3.99 Less $2 easysaver coupon and $1.00 coupon from recent Sunday Paper.

Post it Tabs - $3.49

I must have mis-calculated somewhere and thought I needed a few dollars to get me to the $40 mark and I was actually over that. (note to self get small calculator to carry with coupons)

(2) Pez mint .60 each
(2) Skittles Gum .40 each
(2) Mike/Ike spray candy .60 each

These were all on sale and usually over a dollar each. They were a good price and I like to keep special treats around for the weekends when we have the kids and it is not our nineweeks.

So I get to thinking is couponing really worth it. . . . .I have definitely had my goof ups where I thought I was getting a great deal and got home and it wasn't as great as I thought. In the end it is still fun to walk out of the store with sacks full of great stuff and spend under $5. This just wasn't one of my best days. My total for the trip was Spent $37.03, Saved $11.26, $10 coupon, Register Rewards back $4.50, Rebates back $17.26.

Now back to clipping coupons. I have been working all week on getting organized. The reason I needed the tabs. . . I will share what it looks like when and if I ever get finished

Evacuated Honeymoon

2008-09-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Scott picked a beautiful condo with sun shiny yellow walls, granite counter tops and antiqued furniture. I fell in love with the cosiness as soon as we got there. They were nice enough to let us check in early and we got everything unpacked. We went to dinner and ate out on a patio over looking the ocean which had such a nice breeze. . . Then Sunday morning we went to eat breakfast and saw tons of cars backed up heading out of town. I asked Scott if we should be worried and he kept saying no thinking that the cars were leaving from Fort Morgan which we knew had been evacuated. We went to Walgreen's to pick up a few things and get some newspapers so I could keep the headlines to scrapbook someday when I have time. We found out there that everyone from that point to the beach were evacuated. Panic started to set in (for me anyway) as we made our way to the office of our condo. They were nice enough to move us to one of their other properties in Orange Beach. Amazing just a few miles down the road was considered safe ground. I think the second condo was bigger than the first condo but not as nice to me anyways. As Scott worked out the details with the office. I went up and started to pack at high speed and secretly cried. It was 11:30 and we had to be out by 1:00. Things like this are not suppose to happen on your honeymoon even though we knew there was a chance when we went down there.

Outside of our second condo they had a weather team there and were doing a live broadcast.

I've never saw a truck that looked like this before.

Double red flags flew most of the week which means. . .water closed to the public. I couldn't believe how many people and their kids were is the water with these flags flying.

Wednesday Letters

2008-09-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

I have so many thing to share about our honeymoon/vacation. I will start with the perfect book that I read for the occasion we were celebrating. This was a easy read and to me showed that there are some men that appreciate and want to romance their wives along with leaving their story behind for other to find. Life is not a easy one but with communication and love you can make it through almost everything. I would highly recommend this book. Let me know if you want to borrow it.From Publishers Weekly
In the wake of his bestselling Christmas Jars comes a sweetly crafted story from Wright, a Virginia businessman. Jack and Laurel Cooper are two hardworking, loving Christian pillars of the community who die in each other's arms one night in the bed-and-breakfast that they own and operate. The event calls their three grown children home for the funeral, including their youngest son, a fugitive from the law who must face an outstanding warrant for his arrest and confront his one true love, now engaged to another man. As events unfold around the funeral, the three children discover a treasure trove of family history in the form of Wednesday letters-notes that Jack wrote to his wife every single week of their married lives. As they read, the children brush across the fabric of a devoted marriage that survived a devastating event kept secret all these years. It's a lovely story: heartening, wholesome, humorous, suspenseful and redemptive. It resonates with the true meaning of family and the life-healing power of forgiveness all wrapped up in a satisfying ending. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Birthday Girl

2008-09-09T16:30:00.001-07:00

Our sweet and sometimes a little goofy Daisy turned a year old today. We started out the morning singing her Happy Birthday. We must have been hurting her ears because it made her act all crazy. The Thursday before we got married Scott took her to the groomers for her first big girl hair cut. Doesn't she look like a different dog. Bless her heart, I kept saying "Whose dog are you?" Then she had to go visit grandma's house for a week which was her first time away from home.

We're Back

2008-09-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, we had to leave beautiful skies and relaxing waves and come back to the real world. Every time we leave the beach we pout a lot and want to plan a way to go back as soon as possible. We have decided this time that it would be best just to buy a condo down there.

This was the most relaxing trip I have ever been on. I will have much more to share. . .

I just couldn't let them go to waste!

2008-08-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

I couldn't let some coupons go to waste that were expiring at the end of the month. I needed bacon for a couple of the dishes I am making so earlier in the week I made a quick run to Walmart. The cheap bacon is $1.79 a package and I needed 3. Instead of buying those I got 10 packages of Farmland Bacon. After my $2 off coupons they ended up being $5 for all. I went ahead and got a couple of more ham steaks because they were only $.97 and thew in some makeup for the wedding that I needed. I don't wear much makeup so I needed new and I had some good coupons.

Less than a week!

2008-08-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

In less than a week we will be married. I sat down last Thursday and made a schedule for the whole week. I have to iron everyone's clothes and pack for our trip along with preparing the food for our reception. I should have probably listened to Scott and had something catered in or bought some already prepared food. But I think some pretty party food will be so nice. Luckily, Scott's mom and my mom are helping but I kept the bulk for me to do since this is what I wanted. Today, I made a lot of roll ups and froze them. I will thaw them later in the week. I think my only real busy day will be Wednesday night. I have a lot of dips and stuff to get together. I will put the finishing items that might get soggy or yucky on them Friday.

It was really hard for me to go to the grocery store to buy all the wedding food. I only has one coupon that I could use and most things were not on sale. They just don't run cream cheese on sale in the middle of the summer and I bought a ton of it. I'm going to be too busy this week to try and hit all the sales so it will be 2 weeks before I will get to have a bit couponing day again. So sad.

They have put rain in and out of the forecast so many times. I feel like I should just stop watching it. However, I can't seam to do that. I wish they could tell me exactly what it is going to do that day. Then, I will know weather or not to go get some decorations really fast.

I didn't do it!

2008-08-24T19:34:00.001-07:00

Daisy has this problem when she gets board. She likes to find new chew toys. We have found chewed up dryer sheets, a small notebook, a small bottle of lotion, etc. She always has this look like. . .I didn't do it! Almost like the kids would do blaming it on the other one. This time she was caught and she couldn't deny it. Lately, she has been getting on Scott's desk and roaming around looking for neat stuff. We came home to Scott's good pen chewed up and a blue dog.

Doesn't she look ashamed of her bad actions?

Kissing up always works with daddy!

Skeeter had to get a little babying also.

Rain Rain Go AWAY!

2008-08-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

The forecast is not looking so great. It shows rain all the way until next Thursday. I am suppose to get married outside at the Gazebo Friday the 29th. We planned a very simple outside wedding. Panic is starting to build. Think I might be sick! If it does rain ANBIC will let us get married in the Chapel. It is very nice of them to have that available for us but guess what. I have NO decorations. We were just going to use the pretty landscape. We took our wedding music to ANBIC tonight and the road was a mushy red clay mess. I now have red clay all over my truck. If it rains for a full week straight, there is no telling what that road will be like. And to top if off. . . .The hurricane is turning and could hit Gulf Shores where we have reservations for our honeymoon. Please pray for the rain to STOP!

Breast Cancer

2008-08-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

I got this over my email and just had to ask that every sign this petition. I don't know it will help but it is worth a shot. My grandmother had Breast Cancer and had to have this procedure done. I can remember the pain and discomfort she went through along with the emotional battle.

From a nurse:
I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the Doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies. So there I sat with my patients, giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank You' they muttered. A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it! Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same. There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through' Mastectomy where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web page with a petition drive to show support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name, state, and zip code.

(http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php )

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women, THANK YOU.

Kisses

2008-08-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

I saw this really neat idea for our wedding that included Hershey Kisses. I was very excited to find a deal on them at Walgreen's this week. Here is what I got. 6 bags of kisses $12.00 used $1 off 2 coupon from the easy saver book. Will send in for the $5 rebate when you buy $10 worth of Hershey candy. I decided to throw in the Jane Powder brush for $4.99 which I will get a $4.99 rebate on. So I spent $14.99 and will get $9.99 back in rebates. Not bad. I would have bought the kisses weather they were on sale or not so I am very glad this deal came along. I checked the prices of kisses at Walmart and Dollar General and I got a good deal. I would have spent $8 - $10 at those stores for the same amount of candy. :)

VOTE!

2008-08-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

I just got this sent to me -- MSNBC is taking a poll to see if people think "In God We Trust" should stay on our currency. Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. Please pass this link on to everyone you know so they can vote on this important subject. Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off the web page. As of now, the Poll is still open so you can vote. Go here to place your vote.

What would you be doing 2 weeks before your wedding?

2008-08-17T16:53:00.001-07:00

So what would you be doing 2 weeks before your wedding? Probably making sure all the final details were complete. Checking and rechecking things. Making grocery lists for the food that needs prepared. Deciding what you are going to pack for your honeymoon. Well not us. We like to see just how crazy we can make our lives. So we are remodeling the front bathroom. Scott went to use the front bathroom this morning which we very seldom ever use and the whole toilet moved. We thought about just putting a new toilet in it's place until we got back form our honeymoon. However, working on a old house is never as easy as it sounds. There is always old damage that needs to be repaired. Not only that the bathroom was a disaster that needed updated. So we now have NO front bathroom. We spent a lot of time at Home Depot today picking out the nicest stuff we could on a budget and we did very well. There is still a lot of things we will need to get but we have the big stuff picked out like a toilet, vanity, counter top and a flooring. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see the final project. You can tell by the look on Scott's face that he is wondering what on earth he has gotten himself into.

Very, Very messy place where a bathroom should be!

Not only is my house a wreck but my yard is too. We must be absolutely crazy and going out of our minds. We had planned on painting the kids rooms when we got back from our honeymoon since they will be with their mom for the first nine weeks of school this year but this big remodel job right before we get married is wild.

Walgreens Game

2008-08-17T15:13:00.001-07:00

As most of my friends and family are aware, I have been trying to save money on our normal every day expenses with the help of coupons. I have been at this for a couple of months now and have decided to see just how well I can do at Walgreen's. We live in a small town with out many of the major chain stores so I am trying to use what we do have. If you have CVS where you live you should really check out using that store. I have read about it on line and am amazed at what people get for free or almost free. You can read more about it at http://www.moneysavingmom.typepad.com/. This is my first transaction at Walgreen's this month. With rebates and coupons I actually made money on this deal. Here is what I got:
4 - Boxes Rice Krispies Treats $2/$4 (used 2 $1 coupons)
2 - Boxes Special K Bars $2/$5 (used 1 $1 coupon)
2 - Boxes Kellogg's Cereal Bars $2/$5 (used 1 $1 coupon)
2 - Pop Tarts $2/$4 (used 1 $1 coupon)
My total came after coupons came to $18.34. I received $10 in register rewards which is coupons/money you can use in the store. Then I mailed in to get the $10 rebate from Kellogg's which was in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago so all in all I will get paid $$1.66 to take this off Walgreen's hands. Not bad for several months of snacks. After this I was so excited I had to tell everyone about it and everyone at work thought I was crazy. My sister wanted in on some of the great coupon deals so I gave her some coupons.

After this my quest was to spend my $10 in register rewards and get as much as I could for that money. Here is what I did. Sorry no picture.

1-Pert Plus - $3.49 (used $2 coupon) Will send in for $3.49 rebate (*will make $2)
4-Glade Candles - $1.99 (used $1 coupon) Will send in for $1 rebate on each (*will make FREE)
1- Pledge - $3.00 ( Used $1 coupon)Will send in for $1 rebate (*will be $1 and came with duster)
2-Adidas body wash - 2/$4.49 (used 2 - $1 coupon) made it 2 for $2.49

After this transaction I was a little bummed. I could only use 1 of my $5 register rewards because my subtotal after 1 was only $4.44 and it has to be over $5 before taxes so I had to spend around $6.00 out of pocket. The store manager was really nice. Thank goodness I was really nervous because I was holding up the line. If you do ever use register rewards and coupons I was told to give the rewards first and then the manfg coupons.

I decided to use the rest of my register rewards because the next two weeks will be crazy and I may not have time to work out any other great deals before the wedding so this is what I did. Register rewards are only good for 20 days from the date of purchase.

2- Cover Girl mascaras - $6.99 Buy one get one Free (used $1 coupon) I think I could have used
2 coupons but I was afraid to try it. (* made it 2 for $5.99)
1- Scotts toilet paper (used Wags weekly coupon for $1.99 and $1 manfg coupon) (*made it .99)
After my $5 in register rewards my total out of pocket $2 and some change.

All in all not a bad month at Walgreen's. All of the items I listed will basically cost me less than $10. Be sure to check out the Walgreen's Easy Saver book for coupons and rebates. Remember you can use the coupons in there and their weekly coupons with manfg coupons for the same item.

I'm still learning but this is turning into a fun hobby.

In 3 weeks

2008-08-10T12:03:00.001-07:00

In 3 weeks I will be Mrs. Smith. Hard to believe. We have been together for so long. . . The timing is right and I can't believe how the time has flown by. These are a few of our engagement photos that Kim took. They all turned out so great! These are a couple of my favorites. When I get a CD I will share Scott's favorite and a few others that I love.

Our wedding was announced in the paper today. (Scott's favorite photo) Guess there is no turning back now!! Just kidding. Thank you everyone for helping me get a beautiful wedding together in such a short time. I can't wait.

BIGFOOT Colorado

2008-08-03T19:14:00.001-07:00

Scott went on his second Bigfoot expedition. He had a great time and they did have some bigfoot activity around camp. He is getting pretty good at taking photos. It is absolutely beautiful there, which makes me more upset about letting him go to a place I have always wanted to go without me.

Scott took the photo above just for me because he knew I would love the wild flowers. The two photos below could possibly be from bigfoot. The first one is where something extremely large laid down. The second one is a tree snap. Possibly by bigfoot.

Scott captured some sounds on his voice recorder that could possibly be bigfoot. I will post them as soon as I can figure out how.

Feeling Better

2008-07-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today I'm feeling much better. I got most of my invitations in the mail today. I only have a few that I am still needing to get addresses on and I have a few I am going to hand deliver. We took the kids out to see where we are getting married tonight. I am finally starting to feel like everything is coming together. We are making our last trip to Springfield on Saturday for all the final touches. Thank goodness. All this planning and picking things out is driving me crazy. I hate making decisions and usually ponder over things forever before finally deciding. . . .which drives Scott crazy.

INVITATIONS

2008-07-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

So if you are wondering why you haven't gotten an invitation for our wedding yet, it is because I ran into another snag. The first set of invitations I got 2 years ago but had not printed anything on them. They had Vellum paper and other hand made papers. I absolutely loved them. Well my printer was smart and since the Vellum was thin it detected a different kind of paper and the ink soaked into the paper and made it look blurry. Not on all of them only few turned out good. I just couldn't believe I was having another wedding disaster. I worried about it for several days and decided to go to Walmart and see if I could find more Vellum or something to fix them with. I thought I had found a way to print the small paper on our laser jet printer at work and was going to ask Vikki if she cared it I used it. Of course Walmart didn't have any of the paper so I went with a whole new invitation kit. The best part is it was on sale for $6. The only bad part is I don't have enough. The 40 pack was on sale for $6 and I got the only one they had in this design. They have a 50 pack for $18 which is not on sale that I am going to get tomorrow. At least I don't have to buy 2 at that price. I hope to have my invitations out by Thursday. Does anyone know if there is a specific time frame you are suppose to send invitations out by?
If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any at all. I'm just hoping to get all the bad over with before the big day. I don't want to stumble and fall on my face in my pretty new shoes.

So what can you buy for under $20

2008-07-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

So alot of people think I'm crazy but I am learning how to use coupons and with the help of my neighbor and some blogs, I'm getting pretty good at it. I have always shopped for bargains and used comp ads at Walmart but now that I am learning how to double coupons with sale ads and I have gotten several things for free or almost free. Here is a run down of everything I got and yes I added up my tickets from Walgreen's and Country Mart and it was just a little over $18.
9 packs of mechanical pencils, 6 packages of erasers, 6 3 ring notebooks, 3 pkgs notebook paper, 2 pencil holders, 6 bottles of Sauve, 4 Vive pro shampoo/conditioners, 4 pkgs #2 pencils, 3 highlighters, 2 pkgs Dixie plates, bottle of Maalox, 10 Lipton Sides, Chex mix, Chero mix, milk and a case of water. My stash is getting pretty big so I think my plan is working. My goal was to not spend much money in August so we would have extra for our honeymoon. This is just one of my many coupon/sale trips I have taken.
I already have part of my Walgreen's trip planned out for tomorrow. They have the good kind of tuna on sale for .69 which is about what I have been paying for the off brand and they also have travel sized shaving cream on sale for .99 and I have .75 coupons. I will probably go ahead and get one more Maalox since it costs $3.99 and you can use a $2.00 coupon from the Walgreen's easy saver book and then use a $2.00 manfg coupon out of the newspaper which makes it free. I will also look for more of the Vive products. They are on a Walgreen's special of buy one get one free on certain styles and then I used a buy one get one free out of the newspaper which made both of them free. There were a couple of other things I was going to get but I don't remember what it was so I will have to look at the ad again. It helps that Walgreens is right by my work. Over the last two weeks I have stocked up on school supplies and other stuff.
Wish I would have taken a photo of my Walmart trip also. It ended up being another table full of stuff and my total there was $20 and some change. It was more groceries that other stuff. Scott will think I'm so strange for posting this but I want everyone to know with a little work you can cut costs in lots of areas. It's not being cheap its being frugal.

I love this time of year. . .

2008-07-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite times of the year. We have been very blessed this summer with lots of fresh vegetables. I think I could live of veggies and fruit alone. However, I made Scott a vegetarian meal the other night. He ate it but after his second bowl he said he didn't want me to fix it again. It was a light summer meal and I loved it. Fresh red and russet potatoes from Vikki's garden. She says she now has cantaloupes and plums ready to be picked so this week I need to go get some.

This beautiful bag just showed up on our front porch. We later found out it was from Jerry.

The Dress

2008-07-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

So, I have had a few issues with the wedding dress. It just wouldn't be right if I didn't. My mom is making the dress. She cut it out and had it started from 2 years ago when Scott and I was going to get married. Needless to say I have gained some weight since Scott and I got together. She has been working on it and had it over half finished. So, I went and tried it on earlier in the week and couldn't squeeze into it. She assured me she could fix it but of course I had to come home and mope about it all night. Today, I went and tried it on again. Yes. . . my mom tore it apart and put it back together in a days time. She is amazing! Now it is a little big in the chest area. I have never had that problem in my life so she is going to fix that and the next time I go over I should be able to do the final fitting. After that all she will have to do is the final detail work which will take longer than making the whole dress because it has to all be done by hand.

If it can go wrong it will. . . .

2008-07-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

In planning this wedding. . .Nothing has gone as smoothly as I thought it would. I have had issues with buying and trading or returning clothes several times. I picked out music that I liked and Scott didn't. (We finally have some we both agree on!) Now I have issues with the flowers. The first ones I liked everyone decided they didn't because it had a lot of lime green in it. Then I pick out something else and wanted a turquoise blue ribbon. . . Not too hard I wouldn't think. I'm not planning anything hard only 2 bouquets and that is it. The flower shop doesn't have any turquoise ribbon and they have had it on order for a long time so now I am going to get my own and take to them. She was really nice about it. But still. The only things that have been easy is my pictures with Kim and getting the appointments for our hair with Kristy. Thank you both very much. This simple wedding we are planning is really hard. . . .

SNEAK PEAK!

2008-07-09T17:01:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would let everyone have a sneak peak at our wedding. My whole wedding is based around Breanna. We picked out some shirts with the colors I liked and the one that fit and looked the best is the one we got. This is the pattern on the shirt that we chose so the colors for our wedding are turquoise and brown. There are some khaki colors tossed into the mix and my dress is off white. Breanna and Scott now have outfits. Christian only has shorts and shoes if they fit. I'm still looking for a solid color shirt for him to match Bre's shirt.

I love the pretty flip flops we found for her. I hope they fit and I know she will get more use out of them than just the wedding. Note to everyone this is a very casual wedding so please come as yourself. I hope to get invitations out by the end of the month.

Just finished a great book. . .

2008-07-06T19:10:00.001-07:00

I just finished a great book. Lately, I have read books by people I have never heard of but so far they have all turned out really good. This was a long but easy read. It was one of those that makes you giggle one place and want to cry the next. I hate to give away all the details but it ended great. what the blurb says. . . what would you do for the friend who broke your heart?Best friends Kamryn Matika and Adele Brannon thought nothing could come between them - until Adele did the unthinkable and slept with Kamryn's fiance, Nate. Worse still, she got pregnant and had his child. When Kamryn discovered the truth about their betrayal she vowed never to see any of them again. Two years later, Kamryn receives a letter from Adele asking her to visit her in hospital. Adele is dying and begs Kamryn to adopt her daughter, Tegan. With a great job and a hectic social life, the last thing Kamryn needs is a five-year-old to disrupt things. Especially not one who reminds her of Nate. But with no one else to take care of Tegan and Adele fading fast, does she have any other choice? So begins a difficult journey that leads Kamryn towards forgiveness, love, responsibility and, ultimately, a better understanding of herself.

I'm now on my quest to find a new book to read. Anyone have any suggestions?

BEAR Spray Anyone?

2008-07-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Scott is planning on going on another Big Foot Expedition at the end of the month. I still can't believe that I said he could go to Colorado as that is a place I have always wanted to go. Anyway from what he has been told there are a lot of bears in the woods where he is going to be so he got some bear spray. Somehow you spray the stuff and it makes the bears run away. Wouldn't this photo make a great ad for selling this stuff?

Christian and Scott read the directions which say to keep the spray where you have easy access as you can come up on a bear at any time. I still can't believe that this stuff cost $50 but I guess if it gets him home safe for the wedding it will be worth it.

FAMILY CAMP

2008-07-03T16:47:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had Family Camp with Scott's Family. We all had a good time even though it rained. We went to Cricket this year instead of Diamond City which is where we usually go. The water was still high but not as high as some of the other places. We had so much rain this year that there really isn't a lot of good camping spots. I meant to get a group photo this year but forgot. I didn't take many pictures at all. I'm not going to tell how many shots it took me to end up with these pictures. I don't think I captured the true beauty of the sun shining through the trees onto the water but I tried. The worst part is I don't know what I did to get these. I need to practice with my camera more. Maybe someday I will have more time.

We had a small birthday get together for Christian which was a complete surprise for him. We hid the cake in the closet of the motor home on the way to the lake.

Wouldn't be right if he didn't have a goofy faced picture. He is such a goof ball just like his dad.

I have no idea who this guy is but he stopped and let the kids look at this huge fish he caught. I can't remember but he said it weighed over 20lbs.