Friday Confessional

IT’S FRIDAY!!!!

I’m linking up with Mamarazzi and Glamazon for Friday Confessional again.




I confess …
That I did not get up early to watch the royal wedding.  I’m actually really glad I didn’t though!  I got up at my normal time of 4:45 and when I got out of the shower at 5:00 she was just walking down the aisle.  So I got to see the wedding from aisle to kiss and that was pretty awesome.

I confess …
I really wanted there to be more romance to the kiss.  Yes there was two and that’s all great and history making but I wanted MORE.

I confess …
When I was watching them stand during the ceremony I had this horrible thought … What if there is this AFV moment where Prince William or Harry passes out … How horrible would that be?  Seriously!? Talk about going down in history!

Non Royal Confessions:

I confess …
I’m eating Chicken Teriyaki for breakfast.  I don’t segregate my foods to specific times of the day. I just eat whatever sounds good in the moment.  Pizza for breakfast, Waffles for lunch, Cake for dinner … whatever.

I confess …
I’m really very sad that my last cake class is tomorrow morning. I started out taking these classes not caring about decorating cakes but just wanting to know how to bake a better cake.  Very impressed with the skills I have picked up.  I’m not even half way done with my final project though EEEKKK!

I confess …
I’m already tired of my blog look.  I love the print but I just wish that it was more sophisticated and classy looking.  I’ve entered every imaginable giveaway for a blog makeover but sadly have not won.  I may just have to actually pay someone to do it but refuse to shell out big bucks for it.  I also have no idea what I really want so I need someone who is willing to work with me and give me suggestion but be open to my input as well.  Any recommendations??

I confess …
I’m very thankful to the comments I got in support of my new Thursday theme.  I’m a little nervous that nobody will be interested in linking up or that I will fail miserably.  But I’m confident that all things happen for a reason so I’m sure it will all work out!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday’s Simple Savings

Just like many people out there I have been watching the new show on TLC called Extreme Couponing.  Also, like many people I have been inspired by it.  I have no plans or desire to become a crazy coupon nazi spending HOURS clipping coupons or have a mini grocery store in my spare room but I thought that I could take some of their ideas and use them on a small scale to save my family some money.

I have thought about getting a part time job to help pay off some of our debt and put money in savings.  Then I thought that if I could use that time to work for MYSELF and just reallocate my own money it would work out the same.  I like this idea much better!

So I’m starting a weekly post here on my blog to document my journey and share the things I’m learning along the way.  I would love for you to link up and share your tips for saving money as well.  My main focus right now is on coupons, price comparisons, and figuring out how to find a good deal. Also, I want to keep this SIMPLE for myself. 

So here is where I am beginning my journey.  These are the stores that I can shop from conveniently in my area:

• Brookshire's
• Wal-Mart
• CVS
• Walgreens
• Fresh by Brookshire's
• Dollar General

Today I have gone to each of these store’s websites and signed up for their email service to get sales, coupons, and weekly deals. I set up a separate email for this venture because I didn’t want to be overwhelmed in my regular inbox.  If this gets too much I can always hit delete all and start new the next week.

I also signed up for Coupons.com where I found a link to sign up with Kellogg's.com to get $5 in coupons.  My husband eats a box of Kellogg's cereal every single week.  Very helpful!

Something that I learned from the Extreme Couponing show is that you can usually print coupons twice.  For some reason this didn’t occur to me.  I always just printed them once and used them.  By printing two you can get more and maybe have a bigger savings. For instance some things I buy enough of for two weeks, so I could use more coupons on those rather only saving on one item.

Goals for this week:

• Figure out if any of my stores double or triple coupons
• When do sales start each week for each store
• Which day is the best day to do my shopping
• Score something for FREE

So link up and share your ideas, goals, and journey on saving a little bit of money at the checkout!

We Want To Know Wednesday!

Last night we had a bunch of storms come through with tornado warnings ALL OVER!  We watched a funnel cloud right over the house and then watched a huge storm roll past us that had a tornado possibly  on the ground.  This is THAT storm:

Crazy but awesome huh?!?

So anyways on to what we are actually here for this Wednesday!

I’m linking up again with Janette, Mamarazzi, Impulsive Addict, and Seriously Shawn for We Want To Know Wednesday Q&A!





Today’s Questions were given to us by Seriously Shawn!

{1} What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Are you an eyes or a smile person? Maybe another body part? I don’t know that I initially notice one particular thing on a guy.  I notice how they carry themselves and come across first.  Are they a nice guy, creepy guy, ax murder type.  You know, a girl’s gotta watch out for herself.  I’m an Arm girl though.  Adam has some nice arm muscles that I LOVE. Nice booty too hehe :)

{2} If a movie was being made about you who would you like to see cast to play you? And would your movie be a comedy, drama, romantic-comedy, action film or a horror movie? My life would be a mix of Drama and Romantic – Comedy.  My teen years would be the drama part but of course good overcomes bad and it would turn into a romantic-comedy.  Meeting the ONE at 15, growing up together, getting married.  Definitely the stuff of movies!  As for who would play us?  Hmm … I have no idea!

{3} Does your high school yearbook include a senior comment section? If so share what you said about your future goals. Have you met those goals? If you do not have a yearbook just share what your goals where when you were 18 and if you have met them. If you’re brave enough include your Senior Picture!
I left school in the middle of 10th grade and went to Home school.  I ended up getting my GED and starting junior college within a month of each other.  So I didn’t have a yearbook and didn’t write down any goals back then.  My goal when I was 18 was to move out, start college, get a job, and support myself.  All of those goals were accomplished :)

{4} What latest trend simply baffles you? Skinny Jeans on dudes! Seriously!?! And what is up with this twitch that young guys have now with their hair!  Justin Bieber you have corrupted the next generation of men!

{5} When you walk into a room how do you present yourself? Do you walk in with confidence and command the attention of others or do you slink in and do your best to go unnoticed?
I’m somewhere in the middle.  I don’t walk into a room and demand the spotlight but I definitely don’t hide.  When I’m with family or friends I can get a little loud if I’ve had a glass of wine or two (OR THREE).  When we are somewhere that I don’t know anyone I tend to be more quiet and just observe, but I try to talk and mingle too.

Tribute Tuesday

I’m linking up again with Janette for Tuesday Tribute!!

She’s doing things a little different today and I would like to tribute or highlight books I’ve read throughout my life that have stuck with me.  No surprise there HUH?

When I was a teenage I was HOOKED on R.L. Stine books.  They scared me to death but I loved reading them.  I don’t so much like to be scared like I used to.  I can’t watch scary movies or read scary books.  I have horrible nightmares!  This was one of my favs of his!

My first romance novel that I read was called Southern Rapture by Jennifer Blake.  I was 13 years old and an older friend of mine let me borrow it.  Last year a girl that I worked with remembered me saying that I had been looking for it and FOUND it for me!  It was in mint condition and for a book that was printed in 1987 this was awesome!

This started a long line of romance & historical romance novels.  I loved them and still do every once in a while.  Some of my favorite authors: Sandra Brown (from Tyler TX), Mary Balogh, Jennifer Blake, and Hannah Howell.
I didn’t really get into popular books until 2009.  I had resisted the Twilight craze for as long as I could and finally got hooked in 2009, right before New Moon (movie) came out. That started me on several popular book series:

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Just by picking up each of these books I can remember how I felt when I first discovered the secrets within.  I have kept every single book I have ever bought.  I’m very close to 300 or maybe a little over.  I can pick up a lot of the older books I read as a teenager and remember something that was going on in my life and how that book made me feel better.  Lately I’ve thought about parting with and trading them in at the used book store but I’m just not sure that I can.  It’s very sad for me.  That probably sounds crazy!
Here are a couple of my other favs:

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I Talk About Flowers & Cake Too Often

I do have other things going on in my life other than flowers and cakes but it seems to be my main topic.  OH WELL!  Just go with it I guess!

I really enjoyed my three day weekend!  Adam wasn’t too thrilled with the laid back pace and he wanted to be doing something fun but I soaked in the time to rest and take it easy.

Friday we caught up on DVR stuff and then went to go see Water For Elephants.  It was amazing! I love Rob and I love Reese.  Together they were awesome. I cried once and got teary several other times.  My only warning is that when you have movies like this they usually touch on the darker side, animal cruelty.  There was one part where I was literally bawling my eyes out along with everyone else in the theater. But the movie is definitely worth seeing … even for the younger crowd.  I can’t wait to see it again (fast forwarding through that sad part of course).

Saturday I had class and we learned our final stuff.  Next Saturday we will have our final project and I’m so excited!  I have my inspiration cake and several ideas on how I’m going to make it my own.  It’s going to be my biggest challenge so far!

Sunday we went out to the Rose Garden in town (Rose Capital of the World here) because Adam and his dad wanted to go the the idea garden and be inspired or something like that.  I’m ashamed to say that none of us had been to the Rose Garden in at least 15+ years.  People travel thousands of miles to see this place and we live 10 minutes away and never go.  Did I mention it was even FREE.  Yeah we will be going more often.  It’s beautiful!  I told Adam I want to bring lunch out there one weekend soon before it gets too hot!

Overview of part of the gardens
 
Throughout the weekend I’ve been working on flowers for a cake I was doing for my boss’ birthday.  I finished it up this morning and brought it to work today.  I was worried she wouldn’t like the color scheme I chose but she LOVES it! It’s pretty simple and basic but I like simplicity in my design.  So here is the finished product!

Meet Frank

Today I would like to introduce you to a friend.  This friend lives in my office.  He is approximately 5 years old and his favorite thing to do is bask in the sunlight and drink lots of water.

Meet FRANK!

Yes, Frank is a rubber tree plant!  I realized today that he REALLY needs a new pot because he’s growing up so fast.  I just love this little guy.  Weird I know, but I first got him when he was a STICK!  Literally.  My dad gave him to me and I just knew he would be dead in a week.  Well Adam got him planted up in a nice pot and we put him in some sun at the house.  Pretty soon he was sprouting a couple of little bitty leaves.  Well a friend of ours came over and we used to always make fun of him having a plant named Pinky.  We would always ask how pinky was doing.. haha.  So he started calling my rubber tree plant Frank and it just stuck.  So that’s how Frank got his name.  Frank moved to my office when his leaves started drooping because he wasn’t getting enough sun.  Now he’s a happy little guy.  Hopefully we can get a new pot for him this weekend!

I am off work tomorrow (WOO HOO 3 DAY WEEKEND!!!).  Adam was supposed to be off but for some reason is scheduled to work.  If he does work they have to pay them holiday pay plus regular pay, which would be super awesome.  BUT he only gets 3 holidays other than Christmas and Thanksgiving so it would suck to lose it.  He said he may call in.  So not sure what our plans are for tomorrow yet. We don’t have any big plans for this weekend.  My only plans so far is to go to class Saturday morning and at some point go see Water For Elephants.  I also plan to get my dining room back in order … All of my cake stuff is living on my dining room table and various band equipment is around on the floor until it finds a new permanent home. 

Happy Easter to everyone!!! Have a great weekend!!!

We Want To Know Wednesday

Today I’m linking up with Janette and Mamarazzi in a new weekly blog hop.  The theme this week is FRIENDSHIP. Check out both of their blogs and join up!




1. Do you make friends easily?
I think so.  I never judge people on first impressions and I’m always open to a friendship with anyone.  I’m generally a nice person and pretty easy to get along with … at least I think so anyways!

2. What 3 qualities are a must in a friend?
Honest, Kind, Good Listener

3. What makes you a good friend?
I’m a good listener.  I rarely have good advice but I will listen with my whole heart. I put myself in peoples shoes and try to see their point of view before I make up my mind on something.  I try to make my friends feel better when they are down and happy when they are sad. 

4. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life? Yes? Tell us about your meet up.  No? Who would you love to meet?
No I have never met up with a blog friend.  I would love to meet Janette one day and hopefully we will!

5. Who is your best friend? Tell us about them.My best friend is my hunny.  He makes me laugh, listens to my girl talk (or cake talk here lately), takes me to see chick flicks at the theater (he’s seen all the Twilight movies), puts up with my scatter brain, doesn’t complain when the house is a mess, and makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

My sister-in-law, Emily, is someone I can turn to when I need girlfriend.  I have known her since she was 8 years old! But we have been through a lot together in the past 12 1/2 years.  We may go days or weeks without talking but when something happens we are the first person the other goes to for advice or to have a shoulder to cry on.

Another person that I consider a best friend is actually a new friend.  I’ve only known Janette for a little over a month but I would definitely consider her a best friend.  She’s there for me when I need someone to talk to about problems, happy things, or just be silly with.  She also inspires me to be a braver person, try new things, and come out of my shell.  Thanks Janette for being my friend!

Sugar Flowers and Real Flowers!

Check out Janette's blog this week for an awesome giveaway!! She's giving away are really cute necklace by Gracen's Designs.  Very cute!!

~*~
Last week I thought that I was running a little behind by not getting up to Hobby Lobby and registering for my next class so I sent my teacher a text to make sure she was still having the Saturday class. Well I found out that class had started the saturday before!! I thought we skipped a week before the next class! WHOOPS!

So by the grace of God I managed to get registered and she offered to come early and get me caught up.  Here is what we made Saturday:

I really love how the flowers turned out.  I also made a calla lily but didn't take a picture of it because it looked funky in pink.  I loved the bow but I let the fondant dry too much before bending so it cracked pretty bad, but not bad for a first attempt!! 


Last Monday I tried to do a post about planting flowers but my pictures kept flipping upside down.  I got so fed up I just said FORGET IT and gave up.  Well today I finally figured out to RESAVE the dang pictures and now they are right... whatever!   So here is the flowers I planted LAST weekend:



Double Impatients




Impatient



Petunia



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The whole garden ... before mulch.

I can't figure out this crazy spacing issue.  Whenever I try to do a caption on a photo it won't let me space them evenly.  Not even gonna fight it today.

Wee Bit Wednesday

{one} have you ever fainted?

Once - After I got my wisdom teeth removed

{two} what is your favorite casino game?
Well I've never actually played it in a casino but I really like Blackjack.

{three} do you have a good sense of direction?
Yes, if we are driving somewhere and get lost I can usually get us back to somewhere familiar.

{four} laptop or desktop?
I would prefer a laptop but I use a desktop.

{five} what is your go-to hair style when having a bad hair day?
Straight with my bangs pulled back or to the side.  I really don't like my hair up.  Well more like I don't like how my face looks with my hair pulled back.

{six} do you read the newspaper on a daily basis?
Nope.  Way too depressing.  I watch a little bit of the news in the morning, usually just weather and headlines.  I think our economy is in the shape it is because people pay way too much attention to ever single detail on the news.  Someone sneezes wrong and stocks plummet.

{seven} do you have a favorite celebrity chef?
Curtis Stone, he's a hotty!  Also Alton Brown, I love his show Good Eats.

{eight} what tv show would you like to make a guest appearance on?
None, I would never want to be in front of a camera.

{nine} do you have satellite radio in your car?
Yep! It's a necessity with as much time as I spend driving.  Adam has it in his to though and his work is only 15 min away.
{ten} what was the last movie that made you cry?
Hmmm I pretty much cry at anything sappy and try to stear away from sad movies.  The last that I can remember was when we went to theaters and saw the first Harry Potter movie.  I BAWLED my eyes out at the end even though I knew what was going to happen because I've read the book.  I will be doing the same on the next Harry Potter movie too!

Tribute Tuesday

I'm linking up with my friend Janette for Tribute Tuesday.  It's a crazy day and this is way shorter than I wanted it to be but I wanted to make sure I got this posted!

My Tribute today is a little out of the norm I suppose, but what do I ever do that is in the norm?  Anyways, Friday after work I went and visited my new baby niece, my nephew, my brother and his girlfriend.  My neice is so dang adorable and so much tinier than I thought she would be.  I completely forgot to take pictures though. 

Anyways, back on topic.  While I was there my brother showed me this amazing video.  I have watched it about 5 times since and cried each time.  It's just so powerful to me and amazing. 

So today I would like to Tribute Jesus.  He pretty much rocks my world and it just doesn't get any better than Him!!  He is doing amazing things in my life each day and sometimes I forgot to appreciate that.  Something like this pops up in front of my face and I remember it's all because of HIM! Check out this video and I hope it's as powerful to you as it was to me.

Friday Confessional

I confess ...
This week (Monday to Thursday) I ate all of this ... by myself.

I confess ...
I love country music but cannot stand Rascal Flatts or Miranda Lambert.  I like old songs from each of them but not a fan of either of their voices.  I get frowned upon in my hometown for not liking Miranda Lambert.  She grew up 15 minutes from where I live.  Everyone around here thinks she's awesome because she's the hometown girl but I just don't feel that loyalty.  I think she's pretty and does great charity work.  I just don't like her music.  So frown away East Texas!

I confess ...
On wednesday I locked myself out of my house.  In my nightgown.  At 7am. It was cold.  Thank God I did have jeans on.  I had gone out to shoo the neighbors dog away and the lock on our handle sticks.  Well it clicked closed behind me before I could grab it.  SOOO I had to walk over to my in-laws next door to see if they had a key.  I was trying to keep my goods covered, especially since my 15 year old nephew is staying with them right now.  So I got some keys that she thought might go to our door.  When trying to put one set in the lock I dropped it between our house and the porch.  No getting that back right then.  Then I had to go back to my in-laws and get tools to break into my own house! Needless to say I was 20 minutes late for work!

I confess ...
I'm a red light texter.  If you text me and I'm driving I will not respond until the next red light. HAHA.

Do You Clip Coupons?

(Source)

This morning I was watching the new show Extreme Couponing that came on TLC last night (DVRed).  Did anybody else see this?  It was unbelievable!  Here's a couple of notes I took:

• 9 carts of groceries.  Retail $1,175.  She only spent $52!
• Hundreds of free candy bars because of double coupons and an in store BOGO sale.
• One lady did this with a kid! Retail $638.64.  Paid $2.64
• Another was a retail of $230.38.  Paid $6.32.  She had a roaster in her cart that was $6 with no coupon.  Basically all her groceries were FREE.
• One lady combined coupons with in store sales and clearance prices and was paid $5 to buy something!  Other stuff was absolutely free!
• The CRAZIEST one ... Retail $5,743.  Paid $241.  This guy got 1100 boxes of cereal (retail of about $4000) for $150.  The rest was regular groceries.  So that's $1,743 worth of groceries for $91.

There were three or four episodes with about four people in each.  These that I took note of were just the most astounding to me.  Wanna hear something crazy though?  I want to be them! Seriously!  I can totally understand the high they get from scoring such awesome deals.  That would be amazing.  But I'm in no way ready to commit 70 hours a week to this and part of my house for my own little mini-mart. 

I have experimented with some light scale couponing and price matching but didn't stick with it.  I just didn't see the benefit in saving $2 for all the work.  I wanna start coupon hunting now though and figuring out how to get those kinds of deals.  I mean it has to be possible on a small scale right?

Any thoughts on this?  Do you coupon?

Book Review - Couples Who Pray

When I first saw this book come up on Booksneeze I immediately requested it. I thought it would be a great challenge and would be an excellent source of information. I was pretty disappointed. The book is not written in the traditional format but rather uses examples and stories told by the people themselves. At first I was ok with this and willing to embrace something new. The advice and information given was great but I just felt like it was lacking. I didn’t connect with the people telling the stories and a lot where things that I couldn’t relate to. I wish it had been written by every day people rather than celebrities. I wasn’t inspired by this book. In fact it took me about 2 months I think to get through it. That’s pretty uncommon for me. I was determined to finish it though.
I finished it back in January and I’m just now getting around to writing a review. I was more relieved that I was done rather than being excited about the new things that I had learned.

I think that someone who has more experience and knows a lot about prayer would find this book more enjoyable than I did. I still feel like I’m learning so much and it just wasn’t for me.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Some Happy and A Lot of Sad

This weekend was a mix of a lot of things.  Let's start with the good and happy stuff first.

I finished my 2nd Cake Decorating class Saturday.  Here is my final project cake...

I was able to make some roses that I like a lot better and was really happy with then end result!  (The butterflies are the only things not edible).

My brother-in-law was in town from AL Saturday so we all went out to eat and visit. Love me some Mexican food! He said that's what he missed those most since he's moved away from TX.

Sunday Adam & I went and had breakfast at our favorite breakfast joint (Egg & I).  Then we went to a few plant nurseries and got a few things to plant around a tree in our back yard.  Pics of those when I get to the actually planting stage.  For dinner I made my Chicken Pot Pie for Adam's family and we had dinner there.  Then Adam did some work on the flower bed while I watched the ACM awards cleaned up the kitchen and did laundry.

Now onto the sad parts of our weekend.  Adam's grandmother passed away Friday evening.  I know that she is in a better place and is no longer suffering.  I also know that she has been reunited with her husband and that makes me smile.  Also, Adam's grandmother's brother-in-law passed away (does that make sense?).  So Adam's great aunt lost her sister & husband in the same day.  Very sad and I'm praying for her and the whole family.  Then Saturday we found out that Adam's Aunt on his dad's side (not close) in IL passed away.  All three were expected and are no longer suffering but it sucks to be hit so many times at once. 

Friday Confessional

I'm linking up again with Mamarazzi to do another Friday Confessional.  Go over, check out her blog, and link up as well!

I CONFESS ... I sing in my car.  Like a rock star.  I didn't say I can sing well, but I rock it out anyways.  I have a long drive to and from work, about 30 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the afternoon, and music is my riding companion.  I have a subscription to Sirius Radio and honestly don't think I could make it without it.  I don't have an ipod (haven't figured out that on my iphone yet) but when I'm not listening to Sirius I will occasionally break out the CDs and have a Taylor Swift, Halestorm, or Hank Williams Jr jam session.

I CONFESS ... I cry very easily, well get very teary anyways, not full blown crying my eyes out (usually).  Movies, TV shows, Songs, Commericals, WHATEVER.  It doesn't even have to be sad.  If could be something really happy or romantic.  A couple of weeks ago I cried during a fancy feast commerical.  Yep, Cat Food.  Check out the commercial HERE.  Now when I went in to find that link I rewatched it and was like awwww.... Then I saw there was an extended version!  Check that out HERE ... Got a little teary again!  I've always wanted a white persian kitty.  :(

I CONFESS ... I love musicals, a lot.  I love Grey's Anatomy, a lot.  I do NOT like them combined.  I wasn't a fan of the musical episode last night.  I was OK with the singing that she thought was happening, I could rationalize that.  But the random bursting out into song just made me laugh.  I did love the last song that Sara Ramirez (Callie) did though.  Yes I cried.

I CONFESS ... I'm not happy with all of the flowers I made for my final project cake.  They never look as good as I want them to look.  Just gonna go with it.  Here are a few samples of the better ones:

Mum

Apple Blossoms

I CONFESS ... I played a mean April Fools joke on my friends and family today.  I'm not sorry though.  I posted as my status "There will be a new little bundle of joy joining the family soon".  Is it my fault that everyone overreacts and thinks I'm pregnant?  I have posted before "I have a DR appt today" and people were asking if I was pregnant.  Sheesh! My friends and family always jump to that conclusion no matter what, so I'm having a little fun at their expense.  BUT I'm not telling lies because there is a new little bundle of joy in our family.  I'm an aunt AGAIN!  My brother's girlfriend had a huge little adorable 8lb baby girl this morning!  Here's a quick pic of her ...

Riley Savannah



HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!