Black Saturday?

Every year, my mom and I usually brave the crowds (albeit later in the day) on Black Friday in search of great deals. It's amazing how no one is out and about anymore around 10AM! Because of our Thanksgiving schedule this year, we ended up going on Saturday, but I think we did just as well! I did a great deal of gift card shopping (from cards that I've earned as rewards on survey & shopping sites) and there were amazing sales to be had!

I ended up getting 6 shirts (4 kids, 2 adults) at Old Navy for $27, all of which I paid for with a gift card, so that was bargain shopping with a bonus!

I got 3 shirts and a sweater at Penney's, also using a gift card and their sale, spending only $30 out of pocket (that's less than the value of the sweater alone!).

I got a pair of pants and a pair of shoes at Ross (ok those were for myself and NOT Christmas presents), valued at $70 for $22!

And best of all, my mom got to see me in action at Rite-Aid! After a mad search for the store based on internet directions (and deciding that it must have gone out of business only to find it an hour later!), we finally found the store right before lunch! I only went in with single-check rebate/sale/coupon items in mind! If I can post a pic later of my goodies, I definitely will! I bought 1 Herbal Essences Shampoo, 1 Wet-Ones wipes canister, 1 Oral B toothbrush, 1 Scope Mouthwash, 1 bottle of store brand Centrum, 1 box Tampax tampons & 2 bottles of Suave body wash...by combining my coupons with store sales, my $5/$25 Rite-Aid printable coupon, plus a $10 savings certificate that I earned in their Fall Rewards program, I ended up paying $.28 out of pocket! Combine that with the $10 I'll be receiving back in Single Check Rebates & I made out with $36 worth of products PLUS a $9.72 profit AND I qualified for another $5 savings certificate! My mom thought I was incredible! :)

Ten Things Tuesday

This week of Thanksgiving always reminds us that we have much to be thankful for...

10. I'm very thankful to have a job...while my boss sometimes frustrates me and the kids sometimes frustrate me and the pay ALWAYS frustrates me, I know that I have something that other people wish they had.

9. I'm thankful for my family - they are so supportive of all our endeavors and in every way they can be.

8. I am thankful for my health. Although the last few weeks have been rough (I've had a cough and haven't been able to hear due to fluid in my ears), I know that my struggles are trivial at best, when compared to the struggles people have daily.

7. I am thankful for my friends...both near, far, internet pals and real-life confidants. They've gotten me through some rough patches.

6. I am thankful for life. After our terrible accident, we see just how fragile it is.

5. I am thankful for my furbaby, Faithy. She keeps me company and shows me she loves me (and I think she knows I need that!!)

4. I'm thankful for our home. We did some painting over the weekend and it looks so awesome! I'm so thankful for all of G's hard work!

3. I'm thankful for my church...although we've only attended once since we did our IVF cycle, some friends from the church continue to reach out and pray for us. We're not in the best of places with God right now (and the holidays always make that harder), but I know this is just a season and our hearts are taking lots of time to heal.

2. I'm thankful that we're never in want of the things we need. While there's always more that we want, we certainly cannot complain!

1. Finally, I am thankful for G. He has been my rock over these past few months. When we had our miscarriage, I know that he was grieving too, but he was my constant and was so strong for the both of us! I thank God everyday for him!

Little update

Just thought I would pop in with a little update. I went for my RPL screening yesterday after work. I got there & sat down and got an eyeful of all the vials that the phlebotomist needed to fill for me. After what I thought was a few vials, I told her that I was feeling really dizzy. Before I knew it, I heard the phlebotomist calling for help, there were smelling salts under my nose, a straw with apple juice being shoved in my mouth, an ice pack on my head & and four nurses/phlebotomists/office workers surrounding me! The doctor came in and told me that I was even paler than normal (which is about as ghostly as they come!).

The worst part was, they hadn't finished before I had passed out and I had to go lie down for the other three vials from the other arm! When all was said and done, I had given 13 vials and definitely discovered the hard way why people of my stature are not allowed to donate blood!

Results should be in in about a week...

Muddling through Monday

Today just seemed like one of those days that I muddled through. I have been sick for over a week now. Despite going to the doctor and getting a diagnosis of "Eustachian tube dysfunction" I've gotten no relief from my Sudafed and Flonase. I woke up in the middle of the night last night hacking and coughing, only to wake G up. I took some cough medicine and went to sleep in another room, which made me purely exhausted today! And to top it all off, the doctor told me that if it continues to happen (where my ears aren't draining properly), I might have to get tubes in them (for the fourth time!)! I can't imagine doing that as an adult...but a couple days off of work wouldn't be so bad...

After work, I went to visit my friend (fellow-infertile) Kelli & help out with her twins (8wk old!). They are adorable and oh-so-sweet! It was good to get my baby fix (and no, I'm not germy and contagious...just some sort of nasally drip making me cough)!

I also called to make an appt. to have my RPL screenings done on Wednesday & I'm getting a haircut tomorrow! Yay!

Since I've got the next 2 weeks off of cheerleading, I'll most likely be trying out a few new recipes! Tonight, I typed "what can I make with 2 chicken breasts?" into google & came up with this recipe, which we both gave two thumbs up!

Dijon Chicken

3 boneless, skinless breasts (I used 2)
1/2 cup butter, melted (I used 1/2 stick and had more than enough!)
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp worcestershire
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/8 cup parmesan cheese

Combine butter, mustard, worcestershire and garlic.
Combine bread crumbs and parmesan in a dish.
Dip chicken in butter mixture, then crumbs. Bake 375° 45 minutes. (I pounded my chicken on the thinner side & only baked for 25 minutes!)

I served the chicken with mashed potato pancakes (made with last night's mashed potatoes). I simply mixed the potatoes with an egg & dropped them by the tablespoonful into a hot skillet until they were brown and crisp on both sides! Don't make them much bigger than a tablespoon or they will fall apart as you're turning them!

I'll keep you posted about the results of my RPL...please pray...

Friday Funny

It's no secret that 3-year-olds aren't my favorite age group...but sometimes, you've gotta laugh at the things they say and do in their attempts to make sense of this crazy world.

Yesterday, one of my kiddos was taking too long in the bathroom, so I went to check on her. I found her standing there with her tights still down around her ankles, her dress hiked up around her waist, staring into the toilet at her #2. When I told her she needed to move a little quicker, she said, "Mrs. S...come look at the mermaid I made!"

sorry, sorry, sorry

I know I've been a horrible blogger and a horrible bloggy friend - please forgive me! I'm going to try to get back on the weekly post bandwagon! In my defense, I've been trying harder to be more diligent in tasks in the house and in working out, so obviously something's gotta give! I've got a 2 week break from cheerleading coming up, so hopefully that will help things! And then we've got competitions, basketball cheering & Christmas coming and it's all downhill from there!

G told me I had to get online and blog about my coupon savings this week...I think this may very well be one of my best trips ever! I went to Rite-Aid specifically to redeem a few coupons...little did I know how well I would do!

I got Tide detergent (50 oz), Cascade action packs, Kashi GoLean Crunch, Listerine Smart Agent Rinse & a can of cream of chicken soup (a $28 value) for........

$.75!!!

Yes, really...ok, so maybe I'm the only nerd who gets a high from that! :)

Here's how I did it....

• Kashi was on sale for $2.49 this week...Rite-Aid had a $.50 coupon in their flyer, and I had a $2 off coupon that came with a Kashi free sample! That gave me a $.01 overage! I also have 3 more coupons for $1.50 off each box, but I could only use one of the Rite-Aid coupons at a time, so I'll have to go back later in the week!
• The Tide was on sale for $5.99 this week!
• The Cascade action packs were on sale for $2.99!
• The cream of chicken soup (store brand) was on sale for $.79!
• The Listerine Smart Agent rinse was on sale for $3.99; I had a $1 off coupon from the Sunday paper (a while ago) and a $2 off coupon from the Rite-Aid Oral Care coupon booklet, making it just $.99!
• Finally, I had a $10 off coupon for purchasing $50 worth of Zyrtec products over the past few months (which I really only ended up spending about $25 on!)
  

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