3 Years

Dear Scott,

It's been 3 years already, can you believe it?? I can't believe how much has changed. It started off us, the 2 cats and the dog. Now we're one cat, one dog, us, and Piper. She is the most precious and amazing gift. Im looking forward to continuing to move forward with you. Who knows what the future will hold.

I love you.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chaaaaanges

Have you heard of Pinterest?

Its AMAZING! When I first heard of it, I wasnt so sure. How could that POSSIBLY be fun? A site that basically bookmarks things into inspiration boards. Do you really need a website to do that? 

YES. Yes you do. I signed up and became obsessed with pinning all the things.

 No, this whole post is not directly about Pinterest, but it does play a major role in the point of this post. I've always been into couponing and MY version of stockpiling which does NOt involve 500 packages of Yakisoba noodles because they are free. this led me to think, how else can I save more money? Scott and I are looking to buy a home, and we are almost completely out of credit card debt that we stupidly wracked up. I'm down to one card and it is paid off monthly, I just use it to earn amazon.com points that I'm saving up for christmas shopping. 

On pinterest I came across a whole bunch of "recipes" and ideas for making your own cleaning products, body scrubs, bath bombs, makeup remover wipes, laundry detergent, febreze. I was enamored. this is how we can save EVEN MORE. We tried out a few of the carpet cleaning pins and it actually worked pretty well on doggie stains! It was a combination of peroxide and Dawn dish soap. the ones for laundry detergent you can spend $0.01 PER LOAD on making it. How brilliant is that? Especially with a new baby who likes to puke on all the things, and a dog and a cat who shed like crazy. I've been saving all of my empty baby formula cans, and plastic coffee tubs, and baby wipes containers so we can make this as close to the real thing as possible. Bonus points since I can decorate the packages to my tastes.

So thats it. Our new plan is to MAKE almost all of our cleaning and household products. 

Now if only I could get Scott over his lust for paper towels.

What are your money saving methods? Even if it only saves a few bucks :)

Resolution

WOW! What a busy month! Work was hectic, then with the holidays and all that, I'm glad it's calm now! 

I can't believe 2011 is here already! Where did 2010 go? Seems like it flew by.

My Resolutions and/or plans for 2011?

-Update this much more frequently

-Finally make my decision on if I want to go to nursing school this year, or if me and Hubby want to try to conceive this year

-Finally start creating all these crafts and projects and ideas that I have, instead of just hoarding the supplies to do so!

-Start cranking money into savings

Let's hope I can accomplish all of those things!

Anyone have any resolutions for this year? 

Be expecting plenty of updates over the next couple of days, because I have a lot to catch up on!

I hope everybody had a fantastic holiday!

Life... or Something like it!

BUSY. Anyone feel me?! Life has been crazy between trying to maintain a social life, and working full time hours and going to school. It leaves me with ONLY Sunday off during the week.

The new job is going swimmingly. My orientation is officially over at the end of next week, so I'm pretty excited, as well as nervous to be working without direct supervision, but I know I can do it.

I'm planning to have a DVD release party for the Twilight Saga : Eclipse release on December 4th. I have been gathering supplies, and sent out my invitations yesterday. It should be a blast! I will definitely post pictures when it's all done! Red and black and feathers, OH MY! Definitely looking forward to that night!

I've already got the bulk of my christmas shopping done. All that is left is grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And my work magically gave me Black Friday off! I have not been off on Black Friday in 6 years. I'm looking forward to all the leaks of the ads. I've been eyeballing me the Cricut Expression, and my fingers are crossed that there is a good deal on them that AM! 

I have to run now though! I leave you with a picture of Riley on Halloween! I know it's a bit late, but everyone likes cuteness right?!

He makes such a cute banana split!

Other Halloween photos:

My wolf pumpkin! I'm amazed it came out as decent as it did!

Me and the hubs with our pumpkins :)

Have a great day all! 

XOXO

Update

I swear I am trying to get better about updating this more frequently! 

My new job has been going amazing. Everyone is really nice, and I am learning a ton of things that I would never have learned otherwise. I've been workin on the 7 am to 330 pm schedule. The week of October 18th, my shift switches to 4 AM to 12:30 PM. Eeeep! I'm going to be in bed by 6 pm those nights I'm sure!

School started this past Saturday for the dialysis technician classes. I was AMAZED by the variety of people registered. HUGE range of ages, nationalities, occupations etc. It's really exciting. All of them are nice too, which is good, since I hate doing things like taking classes when I don't know anyone. 

Yesterday was my birthday. The big 2-8. It was just a typical day for me! Up early for work, go home, take Riley to the dog park, watch whatever TV show is on that night, and pass out. It was nice getting birthday wishes from everyone though! I always feel like if I'm not around at any social events, people will forget about me. Haha. At the dog park, a dog ran full force into my knees, while they were both locked. Needless to say, my knee that was already bad, is about the size of a grapefruit today. Thank goodness I got my health insurance through work already, so I can go get it looked at if it doesn't fix itself over the next couple days. For those of you that are friends with me on Facebook, thank you for the birthday wishes :)

 This week is flying by! Friday night after work I have a continuing education class for my massage therapy license, Saturday night is bowling league, and Sunday I am having a small group of people over for a BBQ / get together since it's supposed to be beautiful, and my birthday decided to be on a Tuesday this year, which kills the going out aspect.

So that's what has been up with me! Sorry this post isn't more exciting. I plan to do a lot more picture posts in the nearby future!

How is everyone doing?!

Update

I know this is a lot of updates in one day, but I'm trying to catch up.

I've been very sick with a MISERABLE cold and sinus infection all week, all peaking with a sinus headache last night so bad I was in tears. I'm feeling much better today! Or is that the Vicks humidifier with menthol in it talking? Haha.

I did not let being sick stop me from going to work though! My official first day was on Monday, September 13th! So far I am absolutely loving the job. The people are all very friendly, and I've been wanting to work in healthcare for a long time now, but couldn't buckle down enough to go back to school. I read an entire textbook on the job of a dialysis technician over this past week. It's the same book we will be studying in my class that starts on October 2nd.  And this job does tuition reimbursement, so I will at long last, be able to go to school to get my RN in the not too distant future.

Another perk of this new job is definitely the wearing of scrubs. I have never been required to wear a more comfortable outfit to work in my entire life!

Our fall bowling league also started a couple of weeks ago. It's a money league, which means that there are a lot of reaaaallly good bowlers. We came in 1st place for our summer league out of 8 teams, so far in this league we are 15th out of 22 teams. Not so good, but we're improving every time! This league is every other Saturday and is a couples league, two guys, two girls. It's also the Miller/Bud couples league, which means DISCOUNTED PITCHERS OF BEER. Be still my heart, for I love me some beer and bowling.

That's about all that has been going on with me! Hope you all are doing swell :)

XOXO

-V

Life

WOW! I had a 3 day weekend, which is a rarity for me, and it was FULL of things to do!

Friday night I took my mom to see Eclipse, since she had been bugging me to go see it with her. It's funny the random things you notice the second time around watching a movie in the theater!

Saturday I woke up early to hit some garage sales with my mom. We didn't have too much luck, but I did score a few books for a STEAL. Saturday afternoon I went to my friends sons 13th birthday party, which wound up being a good time. Left there early to get to my bowling league by 6:45 PM. About halfway through the last game of the series, I get a frantic call from my husband. 

My poor pupper got SKUNKED! Not only that, but hubby had to leave for work 15 minutes after that call. I rushed through the remainder of the last game (we have safely secured our first place victory for the league!), to head home. My friends told me tomato juice was the best way to get rid of the stink, so I stopped and bought some on the way home. Once I got home, I called my bro over to help me bathe the dog in tomato juice, which BTW, is really fricking gross if you hate tomatoes. After we do that the dog seemed happier, so my bro left. This morning I finally get some advice from people who know better, and went and got some skunk odor removing stuff from the pet store, and we used that, and then gave him a good old fashioned bath a couple hours later.

I'm glad to report the dog no longer smells like burning rubber. He has a faint hint of the smell still, but not NEARLY as awful as it was before. He also got a snazzy new collar out of the deal, since his smelled terrible.

Another good remedy for getting rid of the smell after a pet has been skunked is hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. I purchased both of those things today to have on hand, JUST in case this happens again, which I sincerely hope it doesn't.

In better news, I had a second interview for a job I applied for a month or so ago. My friend that works at their sister site called me to tell me that the manager loved me, and that it's looking good, but I won't hear anything until she gets back from vacation. Please cross your fingers for me that I can land this job, because it's more of a career, which is what I'm looking for! I'm almost 30, it's time to find something I want to do for the rest of my life.

Hope all is going well with all of you! More updates to come later in the week, after I make Riley his new bed, since he decided to lay on it all covered in skunk. 

XOXO

Twee Poppets Tuesday Tag-Along, June 8, 2010

Linking up to Twee Poppets Tuesday Tag Along again!

Today was the end of my streak of working for 13 days straight without a day off. Needless to say I'm exhausted.

In brighter news, my team in the bowling league took first place this last Saturday night, AND I bowled my highest game EVER! a 177! My second highest was only a 151, so I was insanely proud to get that high of a game!

Wednesday my best friend has her c-section appointment ! I get to be an auntie again, and I couldn't be more excited for ANOTHER new baby :) We will be going out of town this coming weekend for a wedding in Galena, IL, which is a couple hours south of where I currently live. I've never been to  Galena, but I have heard it looks like a mini-Ireland, and that it's breathtaking, so hopefully I will find time to take some photos while I am there! 

My dress went in for alterations this morning. I decided to get it hemmed to me in flip flops, that way I don't have to wear super high, uncomfortable heels all night, but I can still wear them until my piggies start hurting.  My dear hubby's birthday is coming up on the 10th, and I bought him a fancy new dress shirt and tie that he's excited about. He's tired of only having 2 nice shirts to choose from!

Hope you are all doing well!

Makeover!

Alas it has arrived! My blog makeover!! I love it love it love it! Huge thanks go out to Strosgirl Designs for not only a great blog layout, but a great experience as well. If you're thinking about changing the look of your blog, go check out Strosgirl Designs! You won't be disappointed!

In home news....we've been stuck with a piano in the office since we moved into this house. Apparently, it's impossible to get rid of a piano without paying someone to take it away. I tried giving it away. I offered it up for free on Craigs List...tried to sell it at a yard sale. NOTHING.

We finally got fed up and me and the hubby pushed the bad boy out to the garage. I am very excited about it! Now we can bring in my desk that I plan on turning into my crafting/sewing table! Now I just have to recruit my cousin with a truck to take me to get the musty old desk out of my mom's garage. The desk itself looks like it has been through a warzone, but it's solid, and has cabinets. I've got big plans for it. Once it's ready, It will make its debut, and then I will have the space I need to focus on the bajillion craft projects just waiting in my massage room/spare bedroom.

And how are YOU doing? :)

Twee Poppets Tuesday Tag-Along, May 11, 2010

I've decided to participate in Tuesday Tag Along again! I found so many great blogs last time I couldn't resist!

We took Riley to the vet for his 1 year appointment today! He was such a good boy. He sat, let them do the blood draw, and do all of his vaccines and boosters without a fuss! Even the vet was impressed. So mommy and daddy went and bought him a new toy. He's very excited and not paying attention to either of us now!

I'm actually cooking a meal tonight. I'm making my Gluten free chili again! Perhaps I will take some picts and throw the recipe up here once it is done!

Big exciting blog changes are coming soon! Thanks to Strosgirl Designs!

I look forward to finding new blogs to follow!

Life and Such

This past April 22nd was our doggie Riley's adoptaversary! We celebrated by bringing him a couple small gifts and taking him on 3 long walks during the day! He's so adorable, I just had to play with him a bit!

I can't believe it's already been one year since we adopted this little guy! He's such a great dog!

Posing for this picture was not something he planned on doing! Scratching his neck under his collar however did work.

Today I hung out with my mom. She wanted some help couponing at Target so I obliged! She wound up saving a lot of money, so I think I finally opened her eyes to never paying full price for anything, since she is always so stressed out about money! While we were there I found a few goodies on clearance, which sprouted my plan for what I want to do with the kitchen! We have to get rid of the awful purple floral wallpaper.

My current kitchen items and gadgets are all red. I have salt and pepper shakers and small canisters I found at target about 6 years ago that are beige with cherries all over them (I love cherries!) But I didn't want an all red and beige kitchen.

Then it happened:

I found these large canisters on clearance for $2.48 each! My mom thinks the colors clash and look terrible together, but when I saw them next to each other on the shelf, I found the combination oddly appealing! So I snatched both them, and a matching aqua paper towel holder ($3.74 on clearance). It will be nice to incorporate another color into the kitchen, so I am definitely looking forward to expanding a little.

And how was your week?!

2010 Ultimate Blog Party

Heard about this through a fellow July 2009 bride (Go say hi to Kate), and I loved the idea! So here goes!

I'm Vicki, and I'm 27 years old. I married my dear husband On July 10, 2009. As you can see, he hates buttoning jackets. We are currently trying to have a baby. I am a state licensed massage therapist, and a manager for a retail store (SUUUUCKS!), but the economy definitely isn't helping that situation. I do side work as a wedding and event photographer. I'm relatively new to the world of blogging, but I'm having a great time learning and exploring, as well as reading other blogs and getting inspirations for everything. I LOVE photography, and generally wind up posting a lot of pictures in my posts. Since wedding planning disappeared from my world, I've begun crafting to fill the void it left. I love to be creative, and I love planning things. 

We have 2 cats, Glitter (7) and Hendrix (11), who I have had since before I even met my hubbs.

Glitter above, Hendrix below

We also have one dog. His name is Riley, and we adopted him from animal control in Chicago on 4-22-09.  His adoptaversary is coming up! We have loved every moment of having him. Most people think I'm a bit insane for the amount of photos of him I have.

Riley loves playing in the hose when it's hot outside!

In case this post didn't give it away or anything, I have a tendency to ramble...and jump from topic to topic. Keeps my little world interesting!

If there is anything you want to know, do not hesitate to ask, I'm hoping to make some new blogger friends!  :)

Thanks for looking!

XOXO

-V

Top 3 Prizes would be :

US39 -  Be My Guest certificate ($250 value) for one lucky winner, (2 night stay for a family of four) at any Hilton Garden Inn.

USC3 - A $50.00 Target Gift Card.

USC8 - $55 E-Gift Card for Amazon.com Gift code will be emailed to the winner and can be used for purchases from Amazon.com.

Other Faves:

US48, US36, US23, US18

Spring has Sprung!!

The $20 Challenge

My dear husband doesn't understand the joy of couponing. His argument is that couponing just makes people buy things that they don't need, or won't use, just to get a deal. Which I guess could be true, although I know many people that get free items via couponing and then donate them to animal shelters, hospitals, or send them to Iraq. So I don't know. He decided to give me $20 to see what I could do, saying that everything I bought had to be something that we need or would use. I chose Target and Meijer as my stores of choice for this challenge, and off I went.

Meijer

The Goodies:

2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights : on sale for 99¢ each

Used 2 75¢ / 1 coupons (SS 3/28/10)

Cost: 24¢ each

2 Snuggle Exhilarations Sweet Blossom and Pomegranate fabric softener sheets (70 count)

Priced at $3.48 each

Used 2 $3/1 coupons (SS 3/28/10)

Total cost: 48¢ each

3 Boxes Of Barilla Pasta

On sale for 89¢ each

Used Meijer Mealbox coupon for $1 off 3

Cost $1.67

2 V-8 VFusion Juices

On sale 2 for $5

Used 2 $1/1 printable coupons- Found Here

Used Meijer Mealbox $1/2 coupon

Cost: $2.00

Always Pads

On sale for $4.95

Used BO GO (12-22 count) free coupon from 4/4 PG

Register decided to take off the $4.95 for the larger package, rather than the $2.99 for the smaller package

Cost : $2.99 for both packages combined.

Cost Wrap Up!

Meijer Promotions Savings : $2.02

Meijer Ad Savings : $6.20

Coupon Savings: $14.45

Total Savings: $22.67

Final Price: $9.36

Amount remaining from $20 challenge - $10.64

Annnnd onto Target!

The Goods:

4 Banquet Frozen Dinners (yes, healthy I know!) : 

Priced at 89¢ each

Used $1.50/4 coupon - Found Here

 Cost: $2.06 for all 4

Degree Invisible Solid Men's Deodorant
Priced at $1.97 each

Used $1.25/1 Coupon - Found Here (as well as some other good coupons!)

Cost: 72¢

1 Package Ball Park Angus Beef Franks

On sale for $2.49

Used 75¢/1 Coupon found on http://www.coupons.com

Cost: $1.74

4 Pack Activia Yogurt

Price Drop to $1.87 per 4 pack

Used $1/1 coupon from SS 3-28-10

Cost: 87¢

Trial Size Clean & Clear Morning Burst facial scrub

Priced at 97¢

Used $1/1 coupon from 3-28-10 SS

Cost: FREE

Trial Size Johnson's Lavender & Chamomile lotion

Priced at 97¢

Used $1/1 coupon from 3-28-10 SS

Cost : FREE

Trial Size Tide 2x Laundry detergent

Priced at 97¢

Used $1/1 coupon from 4/4/10 PG

Cost: FREE

Tums Extra Strength 750 (116 tablets)

Priced at $3.89 on sale

Used $1/1 printable - Found Here

Cost: $2.89

1 Jar of Ragu

Price Dropped to $1.87

No coupons, had just run out at home!

Cost : $1.87

$0.05 credit for bringing my reusable shopping bag

Cost Wrap Up!

Total saved : $9.55

Final Cost: $10.62

Amount left in $20 challenge : $0.02

I'm waiting for him to get home and see my victory now!

XOXO

-V

Saving Money! Coupon Crazy :)

I know it's been a while :( I've been neglectful to this blog. Life went back to being chaotic again!

This week started K-Marts Super Doubles event. Doubling coupons is fabulous, although their new 5 coupons doubled limit kind of kills it a little. Luckily it's close by home, so it's not out of the way to go up there and take advantage of the sale!

I went to K-Mart this morning with my stack of coupons in my hand. I walked out with this:

I know i know, microwave steamer bags take all the nutrients out of the steamed veggies I love so much, however since we are always on the go, they are more practical for us to use, and we love them nonetheless.

I walked out with:

3 packages of Large Ziploc Zip 'N Steam bags : $2.89 each at the store.

Used 3 of the $1/1 coupons from the 3/28 SS insert
Final Cost: $0.89 each after doubling!

Hartz Crunch N Clean dog biscuits : $3.99 each
Used one printable $2/1 coupon (Found Here)
Final Cost: FREE

1 Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth deodorant: on sale for $3.79
Used printable $2/1 ( Found Here )
Final Cost: FREE

Left me enough money to pick up that cute red shirt in their $1.99 Winter clearance clothing!
Total Saved: $7.38
Final Transaction Cost : $5.56

Annnnd Walgreens:

 There weren't too many completely awesome deals at Walgreens this week, however I did score a few goodies for a small price!
1 box 30 Tuf trash bags : $2.99 after coupon in Walgreens ad
1 package Pilot Frixion gel pens : Sale for $1.19
Used $1/1 from Walgreens April coupon book
Total: $0.19

Walgreens storage bags:
$0.99 after in ad coupon

Dawn hand soap:
Normal price : $1.99
Used $0.99 coupon in Walgreens ad
Used $0.50/1 coupon from 4/4 PG Brandsaver
Final cost: $0.49

Total savings: $8.70 (includes sales, and coupon savings)
Final Cost: $5.03



So it was fun. I like saving money, especially since we're just not making enough right now! And we will be well stocked on the things we run out of after this week is over :)

I'm working on putting more things up in my Etsy shop as well.

I'm actually thinking about learning how to make soaps and candles, but we shall see.

I wish there were more hours in a day!

XOXO
-V

Progress

Baby shower #1 has been rapidly progressing! Today I went and booked a room through my city's village hall. It's actually in the basement of the village hall building, and it's a nice big open classroom. Has a wall of mirrors, and glass doors on one side of the room to let the sun shine in. It's beautiful, and with all the decorations we are going to pack in there, it's going to look amazing.

I designed the banner, the welcome sign, and the invites, and ordered them through Vistaprint.com, since I couldn't find any decorations I found suitable to match the invitations in the store.

                                                                  Invitation one side

Invite opposite side

Door Sign

Vinyl Banner

Monkey & Balloon graphics all courtesy of a purchased graphic collection from http://www.mygrafico.com

                                                                              

Overall I am very happy with how things are coming along. The next two steps? Food + cake. Then centerpieces and the remainder of the decorations.

I am also trying to come up with a cd of good songs suitable for a baby shower. Any and all suggestions are welcome!! I would love your help!

XOXO

-V

First Snow!

It's snowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its not sticking much, but we shall see.

After today, I'm not entirely sure that dear Riley has seen snow before. When we adopted him from Chicago's animal control, they said they had picked him up a week earlier (so around April 14th) as a stray in the city. He was extremely emaciated, but he's a young guy, he was 6 months at the time we adopted him. We don't know that he could have survived on the streets over an entire winter.

Either way, we love having him, and today when I took him outside to see what the snow was all about, he kept snapping at the snowflakes, and trying to nom them. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Though I'm biased, and love my pup way too much!