Saturday Night Randomness

Writer's block. I've had a severe case of it lately. The ideas just haven't been flowing , and there hasn't been anything exciting going on to write about. Camryn hasn't even been giving me any good material lately.

You can bet that if there's anything new and popular that people are crazy about, I am going to be at least 2 years behind having any interest in it - especially if it involves electronics. Case in point - I got my first iPod last night. It's pink. I like it.

We've had a pretty great weekend. Friday we actually got to be at home, just the three of us, without anything planned. We played, we napped, we didn't shower for most of the day ... it was great. Today we went to a choir party at a lake house that belongs to one of our choir members. It was so nice to sit around by the lake enjoying food and company - even if it was 110 degrees outside! It was especially fun to go for a ride on their boat. This was Camryn's first boat ride. She wasn't too crazy about it as we got going, so I told her she could lay her head in my lap and close her eyes if she wanted to, thinking she would eventually be fine. Within a minute, she was sleeping like a log. Oh well, so much for her first "exciting" boat ride!

Through blogging, I have reconnected with one of my friends from college, Stephanie. For the past few months, I have been following her blog as she and her husband have journeyed through the adoption process. And, I've been so excited for her this past week, because she is now the mommy of a sweet baby boy! I've thought about her so many times this weekend, and how GOOD God is to have brought this little baby into their lives so quickly (their homestudy hadn't even been approved yet when he was born!). I'm so thankful for families like hers who are willing to follow God's plan for their lives through adoption, and I'm so happy for sweet Tyson for the loving, Christian home I know he will be raised in!

Only 2 more weeks until my summer begins. Once it starts, Camryn will only go to school 2 days a week. So, we will have Wednesday - Sunday home together during the summer. I've been trying to think of some fun things for us to do, like programs at the library, My Gym, and swimming lessons, but nothing is really panning out. I feel like I have an opportunity to make this summer meaningful since she is at such a great age, but I'm still trying to figure out a schedule for us.

So, do you want to help settle a debate? Jason and I have an ongoing discussion about who is right on this. It's a hygiene question. Are you ready for this? Do you clean your ears with Qtips EVERY day? We have differing opinions on this, and I won't tell you who thinks what, so as not to influence your answer! But, one of us believes this should be done EACH AND EVERY day without fail, and the other of us thinks it's something that should be done a few times per week but not every day. The person who believes it should be done every day also believes everyone else does it every day. The person who believes it should be done several times a week doesn't believe most people do it even that frequently. So, how often? Don't worry - we won't think you're gross no matter what your answer is! You can even leave your comment anonymously if that makes you feel better. But, tell us what you think! This should be interesting ...

New 'Do!

I've always had pretty good hair - healthy, shiny, good color. When we moved last summer, I decided it would be a good idea to let my hair grow out to one length, so I slowly got rid of the layers. My reasoning was it could then be long, beautiful, and flowing like a Pantene commercial! The actual result was my hair was BORING! The hairstylist from What Not To Wear would have had a field day with me. So, for Mother's Day, I asked for a cut and highlights. I'm pretty happy with the results. Don't even ask me what colors were used, because I sat down in the chair and left myself to the mercy of my hairstylist. All I know is there's a light brown and dark blonde in there!

BEFORE

AFTER

Our New Friend

I think everyone hopes their home is viewed as warm, welcoming, and inviting. Apparently, I've been so successful at this, even the birds want to join us inside!

This is our new little cardinal friend who has spent every morning since Sunday flying back and forth between our front door and the windows in our kitchen trying to peck his way in through the glass. We're not really sure what it is he thinks he's doing, but every morning, he's there trying to make his way in. He starts off at the kitchen windows, but then flies away when I turn on the lights. After that, he makes his way to the front door. I've tried scaring him away, because, really, he's going to kill himself eventually. But, he's persistent. Jason suggested letting him in since he apparently wants to be a part of the family so badly. So far, I'm declining that suggestion!

The Weekend

We went to Anderson this weekend to spend time with friends. We missed them, and they missed us, and we were a little overdue for a visit. I didn't take a single picture. As a matter of fact, I didn't even take my camera. And, I didn't need to, because sometimes, it's enough just to hang out with people who know you well enough to have break and bake cookies and a gallon of milk waiting on you in the fridge. It's enough just to sit around until 2:30 in the morning talking about life, family, kids, and reminiscing about the history you have together. It's good enough just to be with people who let you sit around their house with morning breath watching HGTV all morning, people who cook you steak and make ice cream cakes for your lunch, and people who skip the paper they should be writing that day just to hang out with you. It's good enough just to be with people who let you invade their house for 4 hours and change their dinner plans, all because they know how much you love Papa John's. I sure do love those people. It was good to be home for the weekend.

Friday Night Ramblings

It's Friday night, and I have nothing better to do than blog. How sad. Actually, we did have a nice evening. Jason and Camryn took me to the Cheesecake Factory for an early Mother's Day dinner, and then we went shopping at Target. But now, Jason's already snoozing on the couch, and there's nothing good on TV, so I'm killing some time by rambling on here.

I decided, in the interest of full disclosure, that I would let you know I spent $90 on groceries today (after coupons) between trips to Bi-Lo and Wal-Mart. I'm doing my best to wait until things are on sale to stockpile them, but once the list of necessities gets long enough, I have to bite the bullet and just buy what we need. When the 3 year old princess of the house needs her Dora yogurt, she needs it right then! So, see ... I can't be a couponing genius all the time!

Camryn informed me while we were riding in the car the other day that she will be ready to get married when she is 5. I told her she should probably shoot for a little older. Then she decided 10 would be good. I suggested 25, at least, and she went for that. Tonight at dinner, she started making the list of people she could marry, one of which included her cousin, Caleb. Jason's response was, "Sorry, honey, we're not from Alabama, and besides, he's your cousin." Her final decision was that she would just stay with us forever, which Jason told her was just fine.

Camryn has a 3 year old appointment with a new pediatrician Friday. I've been dreading this since we moved. We had a fabulous pediatrics office in Anderson, and it's going to be hard to switch to someone new. I've found out pretty quickly all pediatrics offices are not created equally!

My house is a wreck. We had a long week before vacation, vacation, and then played catch-up after vacation, so housework has kind of gone by the wayside. It's bad, y'all.

We're going to Anderson next week. Super excited, because it's been a while since we've visited. I have to say even though I'll be happy to see everyone, we have one thing planned that is making the whole trip worthwhile ... El Patron. Man, oh man, has it been too long!

Does anybody else out there watch Chuck? We've been waiting in suspense for the last 2 weeks to see if it will be renewed for a third season. We're such dorks, we keep checking websites for any updates we can find. We're addicted and will have horrible withdrawals if it's not renewed. Plus, there are so many questions that are yet to be answered!

So, I guess that's all I can think of. I'm done killing time, and I'm headed to bed. Jason's getting up with Camryn tomorrow morning so I can sleep in since Sunday is not an option due to church. It's kind of a trade off, though, because although I get to sleep in, he gets two wonderful, glorious hours all to himself while Camryn and I go to a women's and girls' luncheon at church.

So, that's all! Good night!

More Couponing Adventures

Finally! Some decent deals to brag about! I feel like the deals have been pretty slow the past few weeks, and that I've spent more than I should have on the "deals" I did get. But, this week I finally hit the jackpot. Here's what I got:



First, I went to Bi-Lo. Nothing I really HAD to have, but the BOGO deals were good enough to get me there. I won't bore you with each and every coupon I used, but my total before coupons was $41.40. With my Bonus Card and coupons, my savings were $35.12. Total paid: $6.80. That's a savings of 85%! Because Bi-Lo doubles coupons, the Vitamin Water, BBQ sauce, spaghetti, and taco seasoning were all FREE!

On to CVS:

I got all of the above for a grand total of $8.36!

My overall savings: $69.49

I also walked away with $8 in Extra Care Bucks for next week! In the couponing world, that equals a completely FREE purchase because I ended up with as much money ($8 ECBs) as I spent altogether ($8.36) ... minus $0.36! Even if you don't look at it that way, let's face it - you couldn't go to most grocery stores and pay $8.36 for 3 Diet Coke 12 packs alone, and I walked away with everything pictured above for that price! If you're dying to know how I did it, I can tell you coupon by coupon. However, I wanted you to actually finish the post before you died of boredom!

Freebies

Today only, Walgreen's is offering a free 8x10 print! Just go over to the Walgreen's website, load the picture of your choice into their online photo center, choose in-store pickup, and enter the code MOTHER. This will deduct $2.99 from your order ... the price of an 8x10. I already placed my order this morning! Can you guess which recent, awesome picture I am getting?



Also, if you haven't already heard (because its been all over the internet!) KFC if giving away a free 2 piece Grilled Chicken Meal. This includes 2 pieces of chicken, two sides, and a biscuit. Hurry, though, because you have to print your coupon by 9 pm tonight. You can go HERE to print the coupon. But, be patient ... depending on the time of day you go to the site it may take a while due to the number of people who are trying to snag this deal! Of course, right now at 6:45 in the a.m., mine printed off pretty quickly, because who's crazy enough to be blogging at this time except me!

And, finally, if you live in my area, you can get a free Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit this morning until 10 am or so. No purchase necessary! I'm headed out to get mine right now!

Family Vacation

This past Tuesday, after work, the three of us headed out for a family vacation to Oak Island, NC. I've said before how much we love to spend time there, and this past week was no exception. We relaxed, we had great times together, we were lazy, and we loved every minute of our time there. It was hard to come back home on Saturday.

The view from the balcony of the condo. So nice to sit and watch the boats pass by.

How we started each morning ... just hanging out and enjoying the beginning of each day.

Camryn liked just hanging out, too!

On Wednesday, we drove into Wilmington for the day. Of course, I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures, but we walked along the river, spent some time in the local shops, ate lunch on the patio overlooking the Cape Fear River at The Pilot House, and then spent the rest of the day shopping. We headed back into Southport that afternoon (which is a great little town right beside Oak Island .... a lot of scenes from Dawson's Creek were filmed here, so that gives you an idea of the "feel" of the town). We walked down the pier, watched some boats pass by, and watched some locals fish. Then headed to dinner at PJ's, which is one of our favorite local places with the best BBQ. We finished off the evening with ice cream at Frosty's which is another one of our favorite places on the island.

Thursday was our day at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. We spent the morning being lazy then headed over to Southport to catch the ferry after lunch. I think that was Camryn's favorite part of the whole day ... riding on the "ferry boat!" After the aquarium, we had dinner, and then spent the rest of the evening on the walkway overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway outside of the condo.

Random view from the "ferry boat"

Checking out the fish at the aquarium

Watching the scuba diver clean the tank

Crabby Jason

Camryn loved the alligators!

Snack at the aquarium

She just had to climb on the frog statue in the gardens outside the aquarium!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures ever!

Camryn's picture of Mommy & Daddy .... she didn't do too badly!

Another random picture from the ferry on the way back

Camryn loved sitting in my lap and looking out the window during the ferry ride.

Pretty views from the walkway outside of the condo

Friday was our laziest day. That morning we went back to Southport for some shopping at the local stores, had lunch, and then came back to the condo for naps. After we woke up, we went out to the pool. Camryn also had a kite that we flew for a while. After we finished having fun by the pool, we got cleaned up and had some local seafood for dinner.

Flying our kite until . . .

... the string broke and it ended up in the marsh across the waterway. The kite is that tiny white dot in the middle of the green grass.

Sunning by the pool

Jason was the only one brave enough to get in the water ... it was cold!

After dinner Friday night, we went for a walk on the beach (where the wind was blowing like crazy!) and took a few pictures. From the beach, we made one more stop at Frosty's for ice cream before going back to the condo for the night. We had an amazing trip!