SOOO stoked!

I am sooooooo stoked right now! It looks like my new blog design will be up and running tomorrow!!!! Lauren at Restored 316 Designs has done an AWESOME job and I cannot WAIT for the big reveal!

Stay tuned :)




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BIG take from Shaw's and some little man pics :)

I haven't posted about my shopping trips lately, because I haven't really hit any earth-shattering sales and I've been pretty well on budget all month. But THIS was just too good to pass up - if you live near a Shaw's, today is the last day for this week's sales, so GET THERE!!!

Their promotion is a big General Mills sale - 10/$10, 6/$10, 4/$10 and 3/$10. 90 percent of what they offered had printable and circular coupons more than once over the last month or so. AND, if you buy $30 worth of stuff, they gave you $15 Catalinas towards your next purchase! Now, I think some stores are spitting out one $15 Catalina. My stores are giving out three $5 certificates instead. BUT you can still clean house, if you either have a patient cashier or you just don't care if they get mad :)

I will post a photo of my booty as soon as I can get the pics developed (My camera is busted and we had a disposable digital on hand!) but I took home $130 worth of goods including 2 Sunday papers, I paid $42.11 out of pocket AND I still have about $30 worth of catalinas left! SOOOO, after coupons, store sales, and catalinas I brought home FIVE BAGS of goodies for $12.11!!!

I split my transactions at the register - I let her ring in about $30 worth of stuff and then cashed out with my coupons - I WISH I had read THIS POST over at "Cent"sible Sawyer because apparently the $15 catalinas print based on presale prices not after coupons! I could have done even better. Anyway, after that transaction, the register printed out six $5 off catalinas. So I let her ring in a few more items, and handed her a catalina and my coupons. I did that twice more and got pretty much everything else for free! AND I still have $30 in coupons left! Like I said before, the cashier was getting kinda snippy with me...but I made sure there weren't a lot of people in line behind me and I shopped at an off-time. So I just let it roll :)

A lot of what I got was non-perishable, and I will probably be donating a bunch of it when the Thanskgiving food drives start - that's one of the wonderful things about learning how to shop like this - not only do I have MORE than enough on hand to feed my family, I can still help others even on our limited budget!

And as promised, here's a few pics from my nephew's 2nd birthday in September - the boys don't get to see much of each other since my bro lives in NY but they didn't seem to have a problem getting along :) Click to view the album...

Cousins - September 2008

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Award Day #4 (I warned you!)

See this is what happens when I don't have time to post awards for TWO WEEKS. I hold a bloggy love-in.

Felicia from Go Graham Go! and Keely from The Un-Mom told me that I ROCK! Woo!
Makes me wanna break out the band T-shirts and the Aqua Net.

Both of these sites totally deserve the award - Felicia has awesome reviews (and gives me LOTS of bloggy love!) and Keely is in a class all her own on the wit-o-meter.

Those that receive the Rock Star award stand out. They work hard and you love knowing them. They are unique and one of a kind bloggers!



Here are just a few of the people I think are rock stars:

Punky Monkey's

Small Town Mommy

Jiggety Jigg

The Neurotic Mom

Diaries of a Domestic Goddess

Soccer Mom Says

Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy






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Award day #3

Bridget from Mama Belly Blog decided that I was an "Uber-Amazing Blog"! If you haven't checked her out, be sure to stop by...she takes some amazing photos of her adorable little guy!



I'm so amazing, I had a fly buzz by my face just now and I swatted it. Meaning, I smacked myself in the forehead. Der. (I'm having a lot of "der" moments this week, aren't I?)

No funky requirements here, just giving props to a handful of the awesome blogs I read all the time!

Go Graham Go!

Adventures in Jujuboo

The Homesteading Housewife

The Un-Mom

The Junk Drawer

"Cents"able Momma

April's Little Family





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Award Day #2 - one for me and one for you!

OK - I am TOTALLY STOKED right now!!!!! I just won a blog redesign from Restored 316 Designs, courtesy of the awesome ladies over at MomDot!!!! Restored 316 has the most awesome designs (check out her portfolio, you'll definitely recognize a lot of her work!) and her prices are very reasonable. I had been eyeballing her for a couple of months and then *POOF*! I get a great anniversary present from MomDot!!! Speaking of, if you haven't joined the MomDot community of women, GET THERE NOW. The site is the bomb. 'Nuff said. Big changes in store for my blog, so keep watching!


Nessa from Ramblings of a Texas Housewife, Bridget from Mama Belly Blog, and Felicia from Go Graham Go! passed on THIS award:



Nessa posts some great recipes...I've got a few in mind for my future menu plans :) And Bridget posts gorgeous photos of her little guy and his adventures! Felicia's site is full of great mom reviews. All are worth a visit!

For this award, I am supposed to list six things about myself and then pass along to six other bloggers.

1. I currently have a Rubbermaid bin full of fuzzy scarves and crocheted hats. I get on kicks now and again and churn out tons of projects, then stuff them in a bin. I don't have to buy Christmas presents for YEARS...

2. My husband has a huge collection of Warhammer figures that he handpainted himself. I bust his chops about them but really I think they're awesome :)

3. I wasn't always Savvy....when I was in college I actually answered a personal ad from the Village Voice and met the guy for a date. Alone. In Manhattan. Der.

4. I am more of a packrat than I like to admit. I have dreams of an uncluttered house where everything has its place - but then I find a scrap of paper that I *might* have a use for eventually...and then suddenly I'm wading in junk.

5. I was actually on a date with someone else when my husband (a friend at the time) walked into the room and my first unconscious thought was "crap - I really want to be with THAT guy!"

6. Two couples hooked up at my wedding. One of them is composed of my best friend from high school and my baby (27 year old baby!) brother. It creeped me out for the first couple of weeks, but they were so happy I couldn't stay creeped. Both couples are still together, so we sometimes refer to our wedding as "The Summer of Love".

And now on to the next victims....

On the Verge

The Mom Buzz

A Womb at the Inn(sane)

Havoc and Mayhem

Thoughts from the Mrs.

Restored 316 Designs blog - (I will officially exempt her from answering questions, since she'll be working hard on my layout - but I think she deserves this award!!)









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Award day #1

I have been graced with an awesome award from Erin at The Mom Buzz and Felicia at Go Graham Go! - if you haven't checked them out yet, pop on over - The Mom Buzz was designed to highlight the awesome mommy blogs that are out there, great products and services, and to keep up on the "buzz" in the mom blogging community...if you haven't already done it, check her out and submit your blog to get Buzzed! Felicia's site has awesome reviews and stories about her little rugrat, it's one of my regular reads!



Here's the dealio:

1. Slap this baby up on your blog. Don’t be shy.
2. Link to the giver
3. Nominate up to seven other fab blogs.
4. Post links to those super fly blogs your nominating.
5. Leave messages for your recipients on their blogs…so they can feel as special as you do!

So here are the super-cool blogs I pass this award to!

Outnumbered Two to One

Just Another Stay at Home Mom

Cheaper Than Therapy

Green Stew

"Deal"icious Mom

A Year of CrockPotting








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Today is our wedding anniversary! I still can't believe it's been a year. Of course, some days it feels like it's been a hundred :)

I am so blessed with an amazing husband who loves me unconditionally, *generally* helps around the house, sets a great example for his boy, and values our friendship as much as I do. I can't imagine walking through life's ups and downs with anyone else. He makes me laugh and comforts me when I cry. He is someone I can tell cheesy jokes with or have full-on philosophical discussions with. We've had an incredibly rough year, and a lesser man would have had the shine worn off his smile by now. Not my man :) He still looks at me the way he did the first night he kissed me, and for that I am grateful!

Here's a little homage to our wedding day, hope you enjoy it!

The Wedding of the Century!

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Menu Plan Monday - Nov 3rd

It's that time of year - Holiday crunch time! Once Halloween passes, it's an all-out sprint to the end of the year. I'm hoping to have a few moments here and there to enjoy everything going on, but it always seems to fly by too quickly for my taste. We're incredibly lucky to have both sets of parents living very nearby, and extended family just a little further away...but it means that we have to start planning the Holiday shuffle NOW. Part of me just wants to keep things small and stay home, but you never know what's around the bend...so I'll enjoy the family madness for as long as I have it :)

Last week we did pretty well with the menu, I had to shuffle a few things around due to unthawed chicken (hate when that happens!) but we did a leftover night instead which got my fridge a little cleaner! The Cabbage Roll Casserole was INCREDIBLE. It was a hearty stew with very rich flavors. Hubby and I both agreed it would be amazing in a bread bowl...so I may try my hand at making mini-loaves for next time :) I think I'm going to put off the Caraway Pork chops for a little bit - we never got to it last week and hubby is working just about every night this week. We have three nights home together, but none where I'll be home all day to make any grand preparations. So I've tried to plan out meals that either use boxed shortcuts (I hit a HUGE sale today!) or fast preparations. I have plenty of muffins and bread for breakfasts, but if I find something that really tickles my fancy I might do some baking.

Here's our menu for the week, don't forget to visit Laura and all the other MPM participants at Orgjunkie.com for more inspiration!

monday: Veggie Lo Mein ($3.24 for 6-8 servings)

tuesday: Italian Chicken Skillet ($4.35 for 4-6 servings)

wednesday: Breaded drumsticks, veggies, au gratin potatoes ($3.50 for 4 servings)

thursday: Pasta Primavera - just mix frozen veggies with your favorite sauce! ($3.00 for 8 servings)

friday: Leftover Bee Rocks and leftover broccoli cheese soup (free!!)

saturday: Sausage Oven Omelette using kielbasa, fruit and toast ($5.63 for 6 servings)

sunday: Either homemade pizza or dinner at the in-laws! ($1.98 for 4-6 servings)






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Superdroppers!

Just a quick thanks to my top Entrecard droppers for October - thanks for stopping by...a LOT :) And thanks to everyone who paid me a visit!

Spices of Life and Everything Nice





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