The Crud

So, I thought I was making pretty good progress with this whole Photo A Day thing...and then the crud hit.  Maybe I should've sought medical intervention before I actually did, but with dramatic changes in weather we've been having lately I just shrugged it off as allergies.  Then I woke up on Sunday to a sore throat and felt like I couldn't swallow.  So off to Immediate Care it was.  Lovely way to spend a weekend, let me tell ya.  

Doc's official diagnosis?  The crud.  Seriously, I wish I were making this up.  Mostly because a real diagnosis means real antibiotics and something that I can get a real gauge of when its going to leave my body.  Not with the crud.  I can just treat the symptoms until they decide to leave.  

Armed with nasal spray, an inhaler, cough syrup and TONS of sleep, I'm turning it around.  

And who can forget, my trusty nurse:

 

Shady is definitely a momma's girl and she has been so distraught with me not feeling well.  Paul brought her in several times to nap with me and she refused to leave my side.  

Now ten plus days after the beginning of all this I'm finally starting to act and sound like myself again. (It was scratchy man voice for about 3-4 days straight - made for very interesting conference calls, lol) 

I have been working on a few things around our house - mainly lots of purging and organizing so the fingers are crossed that I'll be able to post those over the weekend.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying HEALTHY.

Picture a Day Update

 More like lack of sun :(  Louisville's been in a dreary mood as of late.

 Me during a quick lunch break mall-run and it was SNOWING!!!

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Yep, I'm a gamer.  Specifically I play World of Warcraft.  I don't go to conventions or dress up or any of the stereotypical stuff that some think of when you say the word "gamer".  Its just something that Paul and I do together to unwind and we also have several friends that play so its a chance for us to spend time with them as well.  

But we like the game for different reasons.  He likes the "manly" aspect of the killing the hardest bosses and getting the best gear.  I like achievements.  During this time of year WOW has a Love Is In The Air where you can earn tokens and buy holiday specific items.  It took Paul and I forever to earn enough - but I finally was able to buy my Love Bird (yes that's really its name) over the weekend. 

I'm Blue.  Da ba dee da ba die... 
Sorry, I can't help myself - I grew up in the 90s and I can't think blue without those lyrics.  

Am I alone in this one?

Ok, so its not TECHNICALLY a heart.  

But its something I heart from someone I heart so I bent the rules.  

2 dozen long stemmed red roses sent to my office:  Good job husband!!!

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I guess its obvious by now that I take a lot of pictures that I post with my phone, so this one was a bit of a challenge and until my phone can arrange an out of body experience, I guess we'll have to go with it.  While this picture isn't mine, phone and case are exactly what I have:  Samsung Galaxy S2 with a pink Pop Case by Casemate.  

We switched from iPhones to these in October/November and have never looked back.  Androids phones have definitely won my heart!!  This case is divine and really comes in handy when I'm trying to watch a video on YouTube, listen to Pandora, or even read a recipe online.  No more finding a prop for the phone - and the kickstand just folds back in when I'm done.  LOVE it!

 

Photo A Day update

So this whole Photo A Day thing hasn't exactly gone as planned.  Between my ADD and horrible memory I've missed 3 more days and still have to do today.  Time to play catch-up once again.

Day 4:  A Stranger

Unfortunately these babies and I are becoming more well acquainted these days.  For whatever reason my contacts have been giving me fits on and off for the past 2 weeks so I'm forced to wear my glasses more and more.  Guess its time for an impromptu trip to the optometrist. ...Sigh...

Day 5:  10am.  

Yeah, so that would've been on Sunday and honestly I have no idea what we were doing at that time.  Since I'm off every weekend now it means weekends are normally extra lazy days for me and the hubs.  Its our time to take time to relax and prepare for the upcoming week.  Weekends in spring and summer are filled with more activities, but winter means sweats and cuddles with puppies and unwinding.  This pic is from a month or so ago, but its one of my fav puppy cuddle pics.  :)

Day 6:  Dinner

Dinner last night was Lloyd's bar-b-q and fries.  Nutritious right?  It was one of those nights that I felt like doing anything but cooking and the hubs was OK with it so we ran with it.

Day 7:  Button

This is an online image of the buttons I have in my cube.  I heart Office Space and when I landed this job I thought I would give a nod to the movie that put cubicles and red Swingline staplers on the map.

Photo A Day Challenge - Days 1 & 2

I have seen several posts from other bloggers doing a Photo A Day and always thought it was a wonderful idea.  And since we're not too far into February just yet, I thought I would hop in there with my own.  

As always, the awesomeness that is Pinterest allowed me to find this and its the guideline I'll be following for the rest of the month:

  Day 1:  Your View Today

As with any other week day, my view is my cube.  Since we don't have windows I try to surround myself with things that make me happy like pictures, girly office supplies and my daily dose of Diet Dr. Pepper

 Day 2: Words

I'm a sucker for an awesome quote or something quirky and these are just a small sampling of the ones I have with me on a daily basis:  a little reminder from my co-worker (she printed one for all the ladies in the office with a pic of something she knew we loved - so obviously I got PENGUINS!!!!), a quote I found on Pinterest that suits me to a T, and a sign from my MIL because she's awesome like that!)

Day 3:  Hands

So this is technically a picture of a picture, but I figure it still counts.  This is a picture of the hubs and I on our wedding day.  Its one of a collage of 5 that sits on my desk and always makes me smile.  I actually thought this picture request was funny because I've always loved hand pictures and made Paul take countless over the time we've been together.  You can tell a lot about a person's life by their hands and I hope that as I age mine tell the an amazing story.

So now that we're all caught up I will do my very best to keep this up to date.  Tomorrow I'm going to a little get together with some ladies from college and some of their friends so I don't think a pic of a stranger should be hard to come by!  

Have a great weekend!!!

Thursday Thriftiness!

I have been looking for a stylus for my Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 (Good job husband!) and I just scored the best deal ever thanks to The Discount Queens!

  

3 Pack of Universal Touch Screen Stylus Pen - $1.40!!!!

They retail for $29.99 - that's a 95% savings!  WHOA!

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You can NOT beat this deal! Granted, it will be the end of this month or early March before I get them, but for that kind of deal I can wait!

Adventures in Couponing

So, I'm a couponer.  Novice at best, but I'm getting there.  Up to this point in my life I have been skeptical of coupons.  I gave so many excuses:  "Its not worth it", "It takes too much time/effort", "Why even worry with coupons for name brands when the store brands are just as good?"

Cut to now and I've found myself with 5 mouths to feed (We've thought of renaming the dogs "The 3 Bottomless Beagles") and a husband who's very picky about brands and types of deodorant. This point of my life has also allowed me to be more of a picky shopper so to speak.  Right after college I lived in a tiny apartment barely making ends meet with two jobs.  I shopped at the cheapest place in town and was excited for "splurges" like fresh meat instead of canned whatever.  We're a household of two incomes - both of which allow us to have a pretty nice grocery budget.

But one day while putting groceries away something snapped.  I looked around at the inverse relationship of the amount of items versus the sum of money that I had shelled out for said items.  Something had to give.  Then my love of all things TLC intervened:  enter Extreme Couponing.  

I would watch weekly to see just how much these shoppers could buy for pennies on the dollar - or sometimes even just pennies!  What did I take away from it?  I came away with a feeling of "This is possible.  I can get more for less!"

I am still learning and growing in my savvy shopping skills, but I do feel like I'm making progress.  I am learning more about price comparisons and what price I'm willing to pay as well as when to stock up on certain items.  Do I still wind up paying full price from time to time?  Yes.  But more often than not I can justify paying full price for it because I've saved so much on the rest of my order.  

I've started following several coupon bloggers, some of my favorites being:  I Heart The Mart, Totally Target, The Krazy Coupon Lady, & Discount Queens.    

But one of the biggest keys to my success have been my Savings Tracker, found here.  I use it to track each trip and allows me to make notes for next time.  The formulas were built in and show me my total savings after discounts, rebates and coupons.  

My biggest accomplishments to date:

• 12 deodorants for Paul @ $.29 each!
• Over 88% savings on beauty items at Walgreen's
• 33 lb bag of dog food and 2 prepared meals for less than $20!

These are most definitely not mindblowing-the-store-ows-ME-money scenarios. But they make me proud - and maybe more importantly - make me strive to save that much more next time.

Moral of the story: couponing IS time consuming but most definitely IS worth is in our house!  

In the month of January alone I was able to save us over $115 on our grocery bill.  

Next month the goal is to push it to $150!

Sonia Kashuk Cosmetic Brush Review

So this morning I used my new Sonia Kashuk brushes.  Absolute Heaven!

I have not used every brush in the set yet, but I was able to use the powder, eyeshadow, crease and blush brush and am happy to report that all were fantastic!  Maybe it was my imagination, but I even think my makeup looked better today because of my new brushes. 

My only complaint was that there was a bit of a smell when I first unboxed the set.  Since I didn't detect the same smell when opening the powder brush that was packaged alone, I'm assuming that the smell was more from the case than the brushes themselves.

I will do a follow-up review in about a month to see how they hold up to every day use.  

I'm hopeful that the next review will be as glowing!  :)