100 Books in a year reading challenge

Welcome to the 100 Books in a Year Challenge 2014! Please see below for all the details of the challenge. Enjoy and have fun! 

Sign-up Details

To sign up, make a post on your blog about participating in the challenge and link it up below. Feel free to use the banner above, however, a link via the image back to this post, so others can join the challenge if they wish, would be much appreciated.

This is hosted by Book Chick City and you can follow that link to get to her sign up page.

Challenge Info

• Timeline: 01 Jan 2014 – 31 Dec 2014
• Rules: Read 100 books in 2014 (any genre)
• You don’t have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.
• You can join at anytime. All books read in 2014 count towards the challenge regardless of when you sign up.
• Audiobooks are accepted.
• Only fiction, no non-fiction.
• This challenge can crossover with other challenges.
• You don’t have to have a blog to join in – for those without a blog but who use Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing etc, you can add the URL to where you track your books. If you don’t have a URL at all then choose a name you would like to use and then copy and paste the following link: http://wp.me/p2wdqf-6ZI
• At the beginning of each month I will be posting an open thread so you can discuss the books you’ve read and/or link up your reviews.

I have never made it to 100 books in a challenge, but I am getting closer every year, so really hoping I can do it next year!  100 is much more attainable then the 150 challenges I was doing before.

1. Witness in Death ~ By J.D. Robb
2. Divergent ~ By Veronica Roth
3. Insurgent ~ By Veronica Roth
4. Allegiant ~ By Veronica Roth
5. Lenobia's Vow ~ By P.C Cast & Kristen Cast
6. Secret Star ~ By Nora Roberts
7. The Law is A Lady ~ By Nora Roberts
8. Homecoming ~ By Janet Wellington
9. The Line ~ By J.D. Horn
10. Worth the Weight ~ By Mara Jacobs
11. The Daring Heart ~ By Carmen Caine
12. Secret of the Thorns ~ By Tom Haase
13. Casanova Killer ~ By Tallulah Grace
14. No Cry for Help ~ By Grant Mckenzie
15. The Giver ~ By Lois Lowry
16. Sacrificed in Shadow ~ By SM Reine
17. Crimson Night ~ By Marie Hall
18. Influential Magic ~ By Deanna Chase
19. Fairy Tales and Ever Afters ~ By Danielle Monsch
20. Maggie for Hire ~ By Kate Danley
21. Sterling (Mageri series book 1) ~ By Dannika Dark
22. Irresistible Magic ~ By Deanna Chase
23. Concealed in Death ~ By J.D. Robb
24. Vampire Academy ~ By Richelle Mead
25. Frostbite (VA book 2) ~ By Richelle Mead
26. Shadow Kiss (VA book 3) ~ By Richelle Mead
27. Blood Promise (VA book 4) ~ By Richelle Mead
28. Spirit Bound (VA book 5) ~ By Richelle Mead
29. Last Sacrifice (VA book 6) ~ By Richelle Mead
30. Lord of the Night ~ By Susan Wiggs
31. Tiles and Tribulations ~ By Tamar Myers
32. Divergent ~ By Veronica Roth
33. Dark Witch ~ By Nora Roberts
34. Shadow Spell ~ By Nora Roberts
35. Bloodlines ~ By Richelle Mead
36. The Golden Lily ~ By Richelle Mead
37. The Indigo Spell ~ By Richelle Mead
38. The Fiery Heart ~ By Richelle Mead
39. The Forever Girl ~ By Rebecca Hamilton
40. Hidden ~ By Catherine McKenzie
41. Home to Stay ~ By Terri Osburn 
42. Meant to Be ~ By Terri Osburn
43. Up to the Challenge ~ By Terri Osburn
44. Dead Witch Walking (Hollows bk 1) ~ By Kim Harrison
45. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (Hollows bk 2) ~ By Kim Harrison
46. The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview #1) ~ By Melissa Hill
47. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone ~ By J.K. Rowling
48. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~ By J.K. Rowling
49. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ~ By J.K. Rowling
50. Every Which Way but Dead (Hollows bk 3) ~ By Kim Harrison
51. A Fistful of Charms (Hollows bk 4) ~ By Kim Harrison
52. From the Moment we Met ~ By Marina Adair
53. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ By J.K. Rowling
54. City of Heavenly Fire ~ By Cassandra Clare
55. For a Few Demons More (Hollows bk 5) ~ By Kim Harrison
56. Outlaw Demon Wails (Hollows bk 6) ~ By Kim Harrison
57. White Witch, Black Curse (Hollows bk 7) ~ By Kim Harrison
58. Black Magic Sanction (Hollows bk 8) ~ By Kim Harrison
59. Pale Demon (Hollows bk 9) ~ By Kim Harrison
60. A Perfect Blood (Hollows bk 10) ~ By Kim Harrison
61. Ever After (Hollows bk 11) ~ By Kim Harrison
62. The Undead Pool (Hollows bk 12) ~ By Kim Harrison 
63. Nora Roberts Land ~ By Ava Miles
64. French Roast ~ By Ava Miles
65. The Grand Opening ~ By Ava Miles
66. My Holiday Serenade ~ By Ava Miles
67. Forbidden Love ~ By Karen Robards
68. Ghost Huntress, The Awakening ~ By Marley Gibson
69. The Book of Life ~ By Deborah Harkness
70. Ghost Huntress, The Guidance ~ By Marley gibson
71. Ghost Huntress, The Reason ~ By Marley Gibson
72. Ghost Huntress, The Counseling ~ By Marley Gibson
73. City of Heavenly Fire ~ By Cassandra Clare
74. Silver Shadows ~ By Richelle Mead
75. Festive in Death ~ By J.D. Robb
76. The Source ~ By JD Horn
77. Halfway to the Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
78. Once Burned ~ By Jeaniene Frost
79. One Foot in the Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
80. At Grave's End ~ By Jeaniene Frost
81. Destined for an Early Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
82. This Side of the Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
83. Twice Tempted ~ By Jeaniene Frost
84. Blood Magick ~ By Nora Chambers
85. First Drop of Crimson ~ By Jeaniene Frost
86. Eternal Kiss of Darkness ~ By Jeaniene Frost
87. A Witch with no Name (Hollows bk 13) ~ By Kim Harrison
88. 
    

2014 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

2014 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 

What’s your reading goal for 2014? If it’s to read more books, then this is the reading challenge for you! There have been 500+ readers who have wanted to outdo themselves so far. Are you up for the challenge?

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014 (books read prior to 1/1/2014 do not count towards the challenge). You can join anytime before 9/30/2014. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
• The goal is to outdo yourself by reading more books in 2014 than you did in 2013. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. You can move up a level as often as you’d like but no moving down.
• Books can be any format (print, ebook, audio).
• Books can be any genre (fiction, nonfiction, romance, mystery, etc.).
• Novellas that are at least 100 pages in length, as well as full-length novels, will count for this reading challenge.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• To join the challenge, grab the 2014 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, LibraryThing, BookLikes, Libib, etc., so as long as you have a dedicated shelf for the 2014 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge and your profile is not private. The point of linking up is to have a place where people can see what you’re reading.

Levels:

     Getting my heart rate up – Read 1–5 more books
     Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books
     Breaking a sweat – Read 11–15 more books
     I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books

I know that for 2014 I want to do the 'Getting my heart rate up' again.  So I guess I will update this part on Jan 1st.  As of now I have read 66 books, which means I need to read 67-72 books...but I am also currently reading book 67 and I still have 2 weeks left, so I know I will have to update this part.

*edit*  I read a total of 69 books in 2013, 1 more then my original goal of 63-68, so yay me!  So my goal for 2014 using the 'Getting your heat rate up' will be 70-74 books!  

*EDIT*  I hit my original goal of 70-74 books.  So I am updating it to 'Out of Breath'  which is 6-10 more books then last year, which means I need to read 75-79 books…actually, I think I am going to go for 'Breaking A Sweat' which is 11-15 more books then last year.  That would put my number of books I need to read at 80-84 books.

About to start my 1st book of the new year now!  Good Luck everyone!

1. Witness in Death ~ By J.D. Robb
2. Divergent ~ By Veronica Roth
3. Insurgent ~ By Veronica Roth
4. Allegiant ~ By Veronica Roth
5. Lenobia's Vow ~ By P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast
6. Secret Star ~ By Nora Roberts
7. The Law is A Lady ~ By Nora Roberts
8. Homecoming ~ By Janet Wellington
9. The Line ~ By J.D. Horn
10. Worth the Weight ~ By Mara Jacobs
11. The Daring Heart ~ By Carmen Caine
12. Secret of the Thorns ~ By Tom Haase 
13. Casanova Killer ~ By Tallulah Grace
14. No Cry for Help ~ By Grant Mckenzie
15. The Giver ~ By Lois Lowry
16. Sacrificed in Shadow ~ By SM Reine
17. Crimson Night ~ By Marie Hall
18. Influential Magic ~ By Deanna Chase
19. Fairy Tales and Ever Afters ~ By Danielle Monsch
20. Maggie for Hire ~ By Kate Danley
21. Sterling (Mageri series book 1) ~ By Dannika Dark
22. Irresistible Magic ~ By Deanna Chase
23. Concealed in Death ~ By J.D. Robb
24. Vampire Academy ~ By Richelle Mead
25. Frostbite (VA book 2) ~ By Richelle Mead
26. Shadow Kiss (VA book 3) ~ By Richelle Mead
27. Blood Promise (VA book 4) ~ By Richelle Mead
28. Spirit Bound (VA book 5) ~ By Richelle Mead
29. Last Sacrifice (VA book 6) ~ By Richelle Mead
30. Lord of the Night ~ By Susan Wiggs
31. Tiles and Tribulations ~ By Tamar Meyers
32. Divergent ~ By Veronica Roth
33. Dark Witch ~ By Nora Roberts
34. Shadow Spell ~ By Nora Roberts
35. Bloodlines ~ By Richelle Mead
36. The Golden Lily ~ By Richelle Mead
37. The Indigo Spell ~ By Richelle Mead
38. The Fiery Heart ~ By Richelle Mead
39. The Forever Girl ~ By Rebecca Hamilton
40. Hidden ~ By Catherine McKenzie
41. Home to Stay ~ By Terri Osburn
42. Meant to Be ~ By Terri Osburn
43. Up to the Challenge ~ By Terri Osburn
44. Dead Witch Walking (Hollows bk 1) ~ By Kim Harrison
45. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (Hollows bk 2) ~ By Kim Harrison
46. The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview #1) ~ By Melissa Hill
47. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone ~ By J.K. Rowling
48. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~ By J.K. Rowling
49. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ~ By J.K. Rowling
50. Every Which Way but Dead (Hollows bk 3) ~ By Kim Harrison
51. A Fistful of Charms (Hollows bk 4) ~ By Kim Harrison
52. From the Moment we Met ~ By Marina Adair
53. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ By J.K. Rowling
54. City of Heavenly Fire ~ By Cassandra Clare
55. For a Few Demons More (Hollows bk 5) ~ By Kim Harrison
56. Outlaw Demon Wails (Hollows bk 6) ~ By Kim Harrison 
57. White Witch, Black Curse (Hollows bk 7) ~ By Kim Harrison
58. Black Magic Sanction (Hollows bk 8) ~ By Kim Harrison 
59. Pale Demon (Hollows bk 9) ~ By Kim Harrison
60. A Perfect Blood (Hollows bk 10) ~ By Kim Harrison
61. Ever After (Hollows bk 11) ~ By Kim Harrison
62. The Undead Pool (Hollows bk 12) ~ By Kim Harrison
63. Nora Roberts Land ~ By Ava Miles
64. French Roast ~ By Ava Miles
65. The Grand Opening ~ By Ava Miles
66. My Holiday Serenade ~ By Ava Miles
67. Forbidden Love ~ By Karen Robards
68. Ghost Huntress, The Awakening ~ By Marley Gibson
69. The Book of Life ~ By Deborah Harkness
70. Ghost Huntress, The Guidance ~ By Marley Gibson
71. Ghost Huntress, The Reason ~ By Marley Gibson
72. Ghost Huntress, The Counseling ~ By Marley Gibson
73. City of Heavenly Fire ~ By Cassandra Clare
74. Silver Shadows ~ By Richelle Mead
75. Festive in Death ~ By J.D. Robb
76. The Source ~ By JD Horn
77. Halfway to the Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
78. Once Burned ~ By Jeaniene Frost
79. One Foot in the Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
80. At Grave's End ~ By Jeaniene Frost
81. Destined for an Early Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
82. This Side of the Grave ~ By Jeaniene Frost
83. Twice Tempted ~ By Jeaniene Frost
84. Dark Magick ~ By Nora Roberts
85. First Drop of Crimson ~ By Jeanine Frost
86. Eternal Kiss of Darkness ~ By Jeanine Frost
87. A Witch with no Name (Hollows bk 13) ~ By Kim Harrison
88. 
    

Do You Viggle?

I had heard of Viggle before, even downloaded it to my old phone, but never did anything with it.

Then, recently I saw some good friends using it and they love it, so I re-installed it on my new phone.

You may be asking, what exactly IS Viggle?  Well, Viggle is an app you can download on your phone (available in both the Itunes and Play Store), and you earn points for watching TV.  When you start to watch a show, open up your Viggle app, and click on the big V and it listens to your TV to see what you are watching, and then you are 'checked in".  You earn 1 point for every minute, so I just check in again at the end of the show (I just started yesterday, so I don't know if I'm watching a marathon if I can wait til the end or not, so I am doing the end of each show to be safe).

Now personally, I am not a huge TV watcher, the TV in my living room usually stays off til the older kids get home from school, sometimes even until my husband get's home from work.  I do watch a lot of prime time TV shows at night tho.  But, I have my TV on right now, and I checked in so I can earn points.  It's not going to hurt me to have the TV on in the background so I can earn points while I am doing my stuff around the house.

They also have other ways to earn points.  Sometimes you can watch some short videos on the app for points.  Last night, while I watched Survivor and Revolution, I was able to play trivia about the shows and earn extra points that way too.  Oh, and I got bonus points just for checking into watch those shows! (I think it was 50 bonus points each!)  They also have some offers you can do for points, but I didn't even bother with those.  They give you 200 points to start with, and I ended the day yesterday already over 850.

They have all sorts of things you can redeem your points for too.  $10 Starbucks gift card, $25 gap gift card, a Kindle Fire HD, a Royal Caribbean cruise (LOTS of points for that one haha), Fandango movie ticket, and more.  This is just a handful of items form all their rewards lists.

So, do you Viggle?  If not, are you going to start to now?  I love easy ways to earn gift cards and other items!

My Fall Wreath!

After seeing how easy it was to make the Deco Mesh wreath I made for UT, I decided to try my hand at a fall wreath too.  Except, I decided to try to do it using burlap!  What screams fall more then burlap does?

I bought a couple of different things (and collected some pinecones from outside) because I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to put on it, or how I was going to do it.

I basically did it JUST like the Deco Mesh wreath, except I had to use a whole pipe cleaner, not one cut in half, because the burlap was just too thick.  I was a bit worried I wasn't going to have enough of the burlap, because it comes with less on the roll, but I had about 1.5 feet left over when I was done, talk about relieved!  I also wound up using most of the orange accent burlap too!  But I have plenty of the fall leaves burlap ribbon left over.

I painted a burgundy C, it was small and curvy and very pretty, but it just blended way to much with the leaves on the ribbon.  I also painted a bigger C a pretty burnt orange and then put gold polka dots on it, and I really liked how it looked, but it did blend in a little bit.

I posted that one on Facebook and one of my friends recommended a Navy Blue C, since blue and orange are complementary colors (I did not know this, being as I am not very artistic, but she is and told me this LOL).  Luckily I don't permanently attach my letters!  I bought some Navy Blue paint and painted a new C, and attached it today.

So there it is, my finished fall wreath!  I really like the pop of color the blue C adds!  Now I just need to make my halloween wreath!

Dollar Tree Bento Finds!!

Ok, so yesterday I posted about trying to Bento.  By the time I finished the post I had made the decision to go for it (sometimes writing can be so helpful!).

I mentioned that one of the blogs I followed had talked about buying some stuff from the Dollar Tree (I follow her main blog, but she started a blog just for Bento and you can see her Bento blog here :  Bento On a Budget)

Well, I went and checked out my dollar tree and I found a ton of stuff!  I spent a total of $22 (plus tax), and in some cases a Bento Box costs that much or more if you buy it online!  Here are all of my goodies!!!

I got 4 locking boxes, 2 Eggies (for making hard boiled eggs you don't have to peel...or without yolks if you have a picky eater), some small clear containers (20 total), some cute animal containers (frog, bee, lady bug, and monkey), 3 animals bowls (bee, frog, and monkey, neither one of my dollar trees had the lady bug in stock so I will have to keep looking), 2 sandwich cutters, an egg slicer in case I decide to not do a whole egg, or to make it easier to eat, some cupcake liners that can be used also to separate foods, some picks with hearts on them, and some pick forks with diamonds on them.

Not a bad start!  I could have bought less, since I know (at least right now) I won't Bento for my oldest, and I may or may not for my 2 yr old, but I figured it was best to buy enough for all 4, just in case.  Especially since things at the Dollar Tree come and go and you never know what they will have on stock.

I'm starting to get really excited about this!

1 year already!?!?

1 year ago today my husband and I closed on our very first home.

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was. I wanted to buy a house for years and years, but the timing, and the location were never right. We hadn't planned to buy when we first moved to North Carolina. We wanted to rent first, learn the area, etc. I had this vision of taking my time looking at houses online, researching and comparing them until I found my dream home.

We showed up on a Sunday to go house hunting. On Monday we started looking, and there was just NOTHING large enough for a family of 6. It was crazy. On the west coast, in AZ and CA since there is such a huge market for flipping homes and for investors there are always homes for rent. Here on the east coast, people who buy larger homes usually do so planning to live in them, not to rent them. That night we contacted a realtor (who by the way was fabulous!). On Tuesday we sat down, talked about what we wanted, went through the list of homes and decided what we wanted to see. Wednesday was spent driving around looking at houses. By the end of the day we knew what we wanted and got the ball rolling. By Friday we were filling out the paperwork at the bank. That Saturday we headed home, under contract for our first house. Everyone back home was amazed at how quickly we did everything LOL.

A month later we showed up in NC ready to close on our house. We closed on our original closing date, which I believe was only 32 days after we went under contract. Everything just fell right into place for us. We had no problems what so ever, it was as if it was meant to be. I always believe that everything happens for a reason, and this was one of those moments that shows that it is true.

To top it off, not only is today the 1 year anniversary of buying our home, but we do not have 29 years left on our mortgage, we only have 28 years left on it! We paid off an extra year during the last year!

Garmin Forerunner 610

I am trying to get back into running again.

I ran cross country in Elementary school, and I did a year of track (Long Distance) in High School.  I use to love running, and I always got an outstanding, or just below an outstanding on my mile and a half times when I was in the Navy.  After giving birth to my babies I was still able to out run the 18 yr old girls who had just come from boot camp.  I am not a sprinter, but I have the endurance and the stamina for long distance running and have always been good at it.  Not the best, mind you, but pretty good.

My goals are to do a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and at least 1 marathon in my lifetime.  I would love to do obstacle course races, such as the tough mudder, a mud run, a glow run, or a color run.  How fun would those be?

To help me with my training I wanted to get the Garmin Forerunner 610, I wanted the one with the heart rate monitor (which is important when training for longer distances).  Only problem is it costs $399.99.  But I set my sites on it, and worked really hard on all my sites that I do to earn money, and along with a $50 amazon gift card from my brother, my sites, and my coupon rebate sites, I was able to finally order my Garmin!

Now to set it all up, and get to running, I have no excuses now for not running longer then a mile.  I love that I will be able to just run, and track how far I have run, how long it took me, and what my pace is.

Now if only I could talk hubby into buying me a jogging stroller for my almost 3 yr old....then I could run in the mornings when the other 3 kids are all in school....A girl can hope, right?

Deco Mesh Wreath

I made my very own University of Tennessee deco mesh wreath about 2 weeks ago.  It was SO, SO easy (even easier then the tulle one I had originally planned!).  I absolutely love it and can't wait to make more for other seasons/times of the year!

I had been wanting to make one for a while, and had planned making one with a foam wreath form and tulle.  Then my SIL Michelle started talking about making one and I made up my mind and went down to Hobby Lobby to buy the stuff to make it.  As I walked in I saw that fall deco mesh colors were on sale 40% off, and of course Orange is a fall color.

I have seen the deco mesh wreaths before, and had always been interested in learning how to make one, but had absolutely no clue what I was doing LOL.  They had a 21" and 5" across size, figuring I was making a wreath, I grabbed the 5" size (makes sense, right?).  Walked around the store so I could find white (which I also got in the 5" size) and saw the metal wreath forms next to a book that taught you how to make the wreaths with 14 designs included.  No way was I buying the book, but I figured those would be the right forms to use since they were by the book LOL.

I got home and sat down at the computer and fired up YouTube.  Come to find out...most people use the 21" for making wreaths!  But I found a super easy tutorial that used both the 21" and the 5", so I exchanged my Orange 5" for the 21".  I also found out I needed pipe cleaners...which btw, for those un savvy crafty people, like me, pipe cleaners are also referred to as Chenille Stems (so I picked those up when I did the exchange).

I was able to make the entire wreath, on my own, without the tutorial after I had watched it the 1 time.  Here's a link to the Youtube video I watched Deco Mesh Wreath Tutorial.  See how easy that is?  Here are the pictures I took of my wreath!

 Painted my T orange

 Added some white polka dots

 My supplies

 Doing the first ring

 End of 1st ring, starting the 2nd ring

 After the 2nd ring

 After the 3rd ring, which is the accent color

My finished wreath on my door!!!

I can't wait to make more!  Debating if I should do a fall one...or a halloween one next!

Bento, or not to Bento...

That is the question.


Bento looks really fun, and cute...but is it something I would have the extra time to do?  Is it something my kids would eat?  Well, I am sure Jaidan would eat it, Riley is my main concern because he is so picky.

Bento, for those who don't know, is a meal, usually served in a 'Bento Box'.  It's usually finger foods, you can make fun designs, or themes with them.  Sandwiches, cheese, and other items cut into fun shapes, fun picks used to eat the food, and sometimes people even do fun themes with their bento boxes.

Here's 1 website I found that shares tips, ideas, and even items you can buy for your bento boxes JUST BENTO.

If you go to Pinterest and search Bento you will find a TON of cool, and also some over the top Bento ideas.  One of the blogs I follow is doing a Bento on a Budget section, and you can find a lot of the cool fun things to use for it at the Dollar Tree, my favorite dollar store.

Bento meals have a lot more fruits and veggies in them, so they are much healthier for your kids to eat too.

I am thinking maybe I will try it...It's a bit more work, but if I try it and decide it's not for me, at least I can say I tried it...plus I can start off with cheap things from the Dollar Tree, so if it doesn't work out, at least I'm not out of a lot of money...right?

What do you think of Bento?  Is it something you would consider trying?  Do you already Bento?

1st day of Preschool

Today was my little man's 1st day of preschool.  It's amazing how quickly they grow up.

I'm sad that he isn't going to Kindergarten this year, because he misses the cut off for turning 5.  We looked into having him tested to go into Kindergarten, but the requirements were just way too high, which is really unfair in my opinion, I doubt even half the kindergarteners can accomplish what they expected him to be able to do.  On the bright side tho, we found a great preschool, that came recommenced to us by some friends, and then we found out our next door neighbor's also use the same preschool.  Riley is the same age as their oldest, and Aislinn is the same age as their twin daughters, so they will grow up next door to each other and going to school together in the same grades, which I love for them.

Riley is going to preschool 4 days a week (Mon-Thur) from 9-12.  He gets to take a snack and drink to school with him in his lunch box every day too.  This week they will be learning about the letter A.  When I told Riley that, he told me that he already knew what sound the letter A made, and then he made the sound for me *proud Momma moment*.  I can't wait to pick my little man up from school and hear all about his first day!

Busy Bees

Every time I try to catch up on my blog, things come up and I become super busy!  Here it is Sept already, and I never did get around to doing my posts from Jaidan's birthday Party in March.  I'm going to try to do a bunch of 'catch up' posts, but I won't be sharing all of them on facebook (like I normally do), just to avoid some spam, but they'll all be here for people to read and enjoy.  Things may be out of order too, since I want to post about various things we have done, I'm just going to post them as I type them, and not care about when it happened lol, will make catching up easier!  So much to talk about!  So sit back, grab a drink (and maybe a snack too), and enjoy!

Date Night!!

Hubby and I are going on a date night tonight!!!

We are driving to Raleigh and are going to enjoy an early dinner at The Melting Pot.  If you have never been to a Melting Pot, you have to go, they are so fabulous!  We went for our very first time ever for Valentine's Day.  The food was amazing and we walked away stuffed.  It is a bit on the pricey side...which is why it took so long before I could finally get him to go to one LOL, but it is so worth the cost.  This week (ending  tomorrow) is the triangle restaurant week (for those who don't know, the triangle is in reference to Raleigh, Cary, and Durham, here in North Carolina).  Because of restaurant week, the Melting Pot is offering a special 4 course meal for $30 per person.  That includes the cheese fondue at the beginning, a salad, the main course, and of course the chocolate fondue for dessert, yum!!  Since we were already going to be in raleigh tonight, I was able to convince the hubby to go to the Melting Pot (tho I have to admit, there wasn't that much arm twisting involved lol).

Tonight, after dinner, we are going to the Brad Paisley concert in Raleigh!!!  The concert will be Chris Young, Lee Brice, and Brad Paisley.  Brad Paisley has been on the top of my list for country artist's that I have wanted to see in concert for a while now.  I bought these tickets back in March, when they went on sale...ok, I actually did pre-sale for them!  We got phenomenal seats at a great price.  It is a joint Mother's Day and Father's Day gift for the hubby and I.

Are you doing anything special today?

Bubblews

You are probably asking me, "What is Bubblews?"

Well ,let me tell you, it is a pretty new site that I found recently, that is different from most sites that I do.  I get paid for writing articles, about whatever I want!  They of course earn ad revenue, and they share those earnings with you for you writing content.  You get paid for every view, like, comment, and social media share that you get!!!  You know me, after I write a post, I like it, and I share it on google +, Twitter, and Facebook so I can boost my earnings a bit!

You can make connections with other people too,  So as you read and like and comment on their posts, they in turn will do the same for you.  If you make a connection with someone it will let you know when they post new content.

Cash out is at $25.  I am already up to $9.85 after 1 week.  I am noticing too...as you make more connections and interact with more people, you in turn have more people interacting with you....and you earn money faster!

You are not allowed to ask other's to like or share your content tho, that can get you in trouble.

When you refer someone you do get something when they do their very first post, but that is it.  A few days ago it was $.20, right now as I write this it is $.50.

So, why don't you check it out and see what it is all about?

http://www.bubblews.com/?referral=51a8b17e6d7b40.27587890

Biting the bullet

Ok, it's time for me to just bite the bullet and get to work on these receipts of mine!  I WAS going to go through them all and organize them by date...the OCD part of me wants them all to be entered into excel in order by date.  The lazy part of me sees the huge stack and finds that task too daunting.

Of course the lazy part of me is going to win.  I am just going to start to enter them in and then do all my totals after all the receipts are entered.  This will stream line it and take a lot less time to get it done, and then I can just toss all these receipts as I go.

I am anxious to see what my spending and savings for March, April, and May was!  Man am I behind!  I have to make sure I don't drop behind again, because I am really anxious to see how my spending is compared to my savings.  I already know from the last year that I am saving thousands of dollars, now it's time to see what I am spending too!

Cartwheel

Cartwheel is a new 'application' from Target.  It's not an application you can download on your phone, tho you can use it on your phone via your phone's browser.

The way Cartwheel works is you sign up using your Facebook account, then you can browse their deals and add them to your cart.  For example, yesterday I added a save 20% off graduation cards, save 20% on Father's day cards, and save 15% on Suave hair care products to my cart.  Then once you do this, you can either chose to print out the page with the barcode on it to take with you, or you can load this page in your phone's browser.  It gives you 1 barcode for all your items in your 'cart'.  You can use cartwheel on up to 6 items in the same transaction, the 1 bar code will automatically deduct for all the items.  PLUS, you can use cartwheel, with a target coupon and a manufactures coupon on a single item, so you can triple stack it!

Yesterday I used Cartwheel for the first time.  I bought 2 suave shampoos (which I also had manufacture coupons for), 2 father's day cards, and a graduation card (amongst a few other things).  I gave the cashier my phone to scan first, and she scanned the barcode and it took off $3.68!  Then on my receipt it shows in the breakdown what the price was before and after Cartwheel, so it breaks it all down on the receipt for you too!  Cartwheel is free to use and another great way to save money, so what are you waiting for?

Summer Fun

June 1st...

Tho technically not the official first day of summer, it is considered the first day of summer by many. Most kids (tho not my own, they have 4 more days!) are out of school.

With 4 kids I want to make sure that we have fun this summer....but I also don't want to break the bank doing it!

I went to Dollar Tree today (only the best dollar store ever, they are a true dollar store where things are actually a dollar). I bought a TON of stuff for the kids for over the summer. I figure each week I will pull something new and exciting out for them to have. We have new bubbles, sidewalk chalk, puzzles, coloring books, and more.

I started today off by giving my two youngest some sun glasses to wear outside while playing on our swing set in the back yard. My older two are over at a friends house and staying for dinner. The friend is originally from Australia and this coming week when school gets out they are going with their Mom back to Australia for 2 months to see their family and friends back home.

For today tho, I pulled out some finger paint we already had in the house and I let my 2 toddlers have some finger painting fun, followed by a bubble bath. They had a ton of fun, painted some great pictures, and themselves (tho my 4 yr old told me he did not paint his leg...even tho I saw him do it LOL). They made sure to use every single last drop of paint I gave them too!

Here's to more summer fun and making more memories with my kids.

 Riley painting

 Aislinn painting

 Dirty hands....no Mommy, I didn't paint on my leg....LOL

They used ALL the paint I gave them lol

Coupon Ethics

Coupons themselves have rules and regulations that guide them....they are printed ON the coupon itself!! Yet day in and day out we see people violate these rules and not care.

"Everyone else is doing it".

"I saw at least 3 other people do it to".

"Other people are posting pictures of their hauls too".

These are common phrases tossed about in a few of my couponing groups.

Guess what people, just because other's do it, it doesn't mean it is right, and it sure as heck doesn't mean that you and everyone else should run out and do it too! 

People mis-using coupons effects everyone who uses them. We are seeing lower coupon amounts, for example $.25 off of charmin...I mean seriously, $.25 off of a big pack of toilet paper? It's one of the worst coupons out there, it's a nice bonus, but I base when I buy my toilet paper based on the sales I find, because the coupon itself doesn't even really help me. P&G coupons use to say 4 like coupons per transaction. That means you could do more then 1 transaction to buy more then 4. I am not a huge fan of multiple transactions, but I have done them before, when needed. Unilever products are all no more then 2 like coupons in a transaction, and let me tell you, THAT limitation stinks! But now P&G has gone and changed their rules again. Now their coupons say no more then 4 like coupons per household, per day. That's right folks, 4 per day, that means no more multiple transactions at the same store to get all your deals at once.

Yet here we are, in some areas there is a great deal on a P&G item, everyone in that area who coupons is running out to buy it. I am seeing pictures of 20 of the item with the title "I did 5 transactions", or 28 in the picture with them saying "I asked the manager and they said I could do more then 1 transaction'. Guess what, you just violated the writing on the coupon and that my friends is coupon fraud. It does NOT matter what anyone else is doing, it does not matter what the manager of the store said. It is wrong, and you are just hurting all of us when you do it.

Maybe if everyone tried to actually follow the rules, the rules wouldn't be getting worse, and the stores wouldn't be so strict against us couponers.

Such a slacker

I have been such a HUGE slacker these last few months.  I have wanted to write a ton of blog posts and I just haven't done it.  Not to mention, I haven't been doing my savings!  I've kept ALL my receipts, so I am going to try to catch up on it.  Gonna work really hard this summer to stay active!  In fact, I even have a few blog posts I'm about to write and post.

February Savings/spendings

I can't believe it is March already!!  My oldest daughter turns 11 this month, so it's a big month for us!  Because it's March, that means it is time to share our February savings and spendings!!  We had a great month!

In February I spent $259.06 ($274.63 after taxes) and saved $720.24, a savings of 73.55%!

That is less then $50 a person in a family of 6, AND I bought items for the express purpose of donating it too!  I am pretty darn happy with our spendings and savings this month!  I can't wait to see what march will bring, especially with the planning of a birthday party!

Weekly update, Week 9

Here we are, up to date with the week that ended yesterday!  Again, part of this week included Harris Teeter's super doubles (and I am super excited to have super doubles starting again this Weds!!!)

Week 9 I spent $72.50 ($77.84 after tax) and saved $229.08, a savings of 75.96%!

I found some great deals at the drug stores this week too!

Weekly update, Week 8

Here we go with week 8!!  Part of week 8 included super doubles at Harris Teeter, so I bought a lot of sale stuff!!

Week 8, I spent $47.82 ($51.63 after taxes) and saved $174.79 a savings of 78.52%!

Just a few pictures of everything I bought that week!