My adoring fans have spoken....

Okay. One spoke. And it was a question. But a good question, one that deserves an answer. It was something along the lines of wanting to know where I found those deals I talked about in my previous post. So here are some links. I am not promising anything, vouching for anything, or... anything else. Just things I've run across and signed up for, or noted to keep in the back of my mind. Sometimes they're too far back there and I forget about them... for instance, the Coupons by Dede website offers whole inserts as well as clipped for purchase. So had I remembered this little tidbit on Monday when I found out about the whole Target couponing combining thing, I would have purchased a Kellogg's insert or two and saved a couple more dollars. Oh well. Next time.

So without further ado, here are few blogs, websites, etc. that I either subscribe to or keep bookmarked.

Thrifty and Chic Mom

Bargain Briana

Stretching a Buck

Printable Coupons Blog (I've never used this site. No guarantees.)

Hot Coupon World (I can't remember if I've used this one.)

Coupons and Things by Dede

Wherein you will read of Pop Tarts, Giveaways, Cold Weather, and the FlyLady

Pop Tarts!!! Aren't they beautimous??


Yep, 10 boxes. Okay, I know what you're thinking. "She's pregnant. Got a craving for Pop Tarts. Went nuts at Target this morning." Close. You got the last part right, anyway! Every Sunday or Saturday, or sometimes even Monday, I get the e-mail feeds from some blogs I subscribe to and they lay out the sales from various stores and combine them with coupons available and show you how to get the most bang for your buck. This week was my first time using coupons and combining them with sales. Okay, so the first time, Tuesday, I saved $5 using coupons, and one of those items (out of two) was on sale. Not the point. Back to the Pop Tarts. Target had/has Pop Tarts on sale this week, there were/are printable Target coupons for 75 cents off a box of 8, plus coupons in the Kellogg's insert. AND if you buy any combination of 10 Kellogg's items listed in that insert you can mail in the receipt, UPCs and the form and get a $10 rebate. Oh yeah.

So today Ryan, Max and I went to Target and bought 10 boxes of Pop Tarts. They were on sale for $1.69, Target printable coupon for 75 cents off 1, two $1/2 from the Kellogg's insert, as well a coupon we had from an old box. Soooo 94 cents each, minus $3 more. (Although to be perfectly honest I'm not sure both the Kellogg's coupons got scanned.) So, theoretically we spent$6.40 for 10 boxes of Pop Tarts. Although maybe it was $7.40. And I'm mailing everything in on Monday, so HOPEFULLY I'll get $10 back. I'm excited. And now we have a ton of yummy Pop Tarts.

Ahhh Giveaways. I won another fun one the other day. My Mom's View had a giveaway for some clips from Lemme Klip-Itz and I won! I'm so excited about getting some cute hair clips for Max!

So we're here in Illinois staying with Ryan's parents, and the WEATHER. You totally could not tell it was July during July. And today? I think the high was 71. Maybe. I'm not complaining, though!! Pregnant, in the summer, and it's cool weather? Yes, thank you! Although Max has never worn pants as often as she has in the past 4 weeks.

I wanted to talk about the FlyLady, but I'm tired of typing. So I'll talk about her later. =)

Good times!

So yard sale-ing today rocked. And so did my FIL. I found a cappuccino maker at a yard sale right down the street- Max, DH and I walked down and checked out a couple. Yay! I found two DVDs for the Maxster at another place (which had proclaimed itself on Craigslist to be this wonderful 14 family/houses deal... and it was a let down)- a baby Einstein DVD and a Max and Ruby DVD. (Get it? Max and Ruby??) She loves the baby Einstein DVD already. I found a great booster seat at yet another place. It has an adjustable seat and back, which is really cool, and all the straps needed to keep Miss Max in her place. It didn't have the straps to attach it to the chair, but I rigged something up and it works marvelously. So so so happy. =)

And I had blogged yesterday... the day before...? about how I wanted a clothes drying rack, as well. So FIL reads my blog (cuz he's cool) and remembered that DH had a drying rack stashed in the garage. So he dug it out and it made me very happy. I wasn't happy about having to dry my pocket diapers in the dryer every time.

Of course, I did diapers this afternoon, loaded up the rack, put it outside, and NOT EVEN 15 minutes later the clouds roll in and the sun disappears. A bit later, it rained. So, moral of the story- if you need rain, let me know. I'll bring my dirty diapers over, wash them, and put them outside to dry. Rain will arrive almost instantly.

Yard sale-ing, rummage sales, and my new favorite place

So I'm at the in-laws house in a suburb of Chicago. And the yard sales here start on Thursday. And run through Saturday. Yep. Three days of yard sales. Why doesn't EVERYWHERE do this?!?! So far we've only gone one day, last Saturday. Oh, wait. I did run out the day before real quick and found a great infant car seat. You know, for that baby that's coming at the end of October. Have I mentioned it's a boy? It is. Anyway, so Saturday Dh, SIL, Max, and I went yard sale-ing and hit up a rummage sale, too. That rummage sale made everything else look like we were shopping at Nordstrom's. Right after we got there they had a "fill a bag for a buck" deal. And we're thinking, that's pretty good. You get a grocery bag and fill it and pay a buck. Oh noooooo... it was a GARBAGE bag. SIL filled it with books. I got some books, some sippy cups, and some clothing for both Max and the baby. Good times.

Considering they start tomorrow, I'm going to look around a bit in the morning and hopefully find what I'm wanting. Which is a sassy seat OR a booster seat with all the straps, a clothes drying rack, and a cheap cappucino maker. Doesn't take much to make me happy. It really doesn't.

Country Donuts. Oh, how I love thee. Not only do they have AMAZING donuts, but DH Just told me that they're open 24 hours a day. 24 hour availability of glorious Boston Cremes.... 24 hour access to glazed...

I got busy doing other things just now and forgot what else I was going to say... oh well!

ahhhh procrastination

But is it really procrastination if you've been busy doing other stuff? Not just goofing off??? I didn't think so.

I just realized I didn't mention this in my last post. The one I wrote 17 stinking days ago. Yeah. That one. Bad me.

Ryan, Max, and I were supposed to be moving to South Korea to teach on August 1st. Tickets had been purchased. Bags were being packed. Stuff was being bought. Paperwork was being completed. We were excited. And then.... and then. And then the South Korean government decided, in their infinite wisdom (please read that with sarcasm, mkay?) decided that because the school we were going to didn't own their property, they didn't the six new teachers they had hired. They could make do with the ones they already had. And, oh yeah, they had one year to either purchase their property or a different one to move to. So visas were denied. Flat out. No ways around it. Trust me, we looked. The school looked. We prayed. The school prayed. Everyone we know prayed. Nothing. Soooo.... tickets have been cancelled, for a small fee. (Although hey, $300 OOP is better than over $2,000!!) We are in limbo. Jobless. Not homeless, thankfully, as both sets of parents have offered us rooms until we find something... somewhere...

So for the last two weeks or so we've been looking for a job for Ryan. In case anyone was wondering, he teaches High School Social Studies. He'd prefer a job at a Christian school, but as those options are slimming down, being that it's the END of JULY, we're broadening our horizons. So, you know, if you know of anything... anywhere.... let me know. =)

In other news, Victoria is walking better and better. She is FINALLY doing her own versions of the signs for please and all done. She is sleeping better. She loves loves loves my in-law's dog, Freckles. They're bestest buds.

I suppose I should go find my camera so I can add pictures...

It's July!

Duh. Just thought I'd point it out. In case you were stuck in June. As for me, I am painfully aware of time marching on. My baby is walking AMAZINGLY well. She was just taking a few uncertain steps when we left our little tiny 3rd world country on June 15th, and now she is doing far more walking than crawling, can walk backwards, can stand up without first lifting her booty in the air, can carry things in both hands, and the list goes on. She's so big. And we found out yesterday that our new baby is going to be a boy!

I suppose I should do the right thing and load some pictures here... but my head hurts. So I won't right now. Maybe later. As in... sometime in the future at a yet to be determined time. Might be complicated by the fact that I have to do more packing next week. I'm making myself not do any until Monday. I did send three footlockers with my little brother who was driving north, so I'll have less... that's always good, right?

Traveling, Beaches, and Randomness

Yes, yes, I've been slacking off here. I apologizing. Life was (is?) hectic. We packed up and left our teeny, tiny, 3rd world country in South America, traveled to Miami, then North Carolina, and are currently on vacation at a popular beach in South Carolina. And tomorrow we go back to North Carolina. See why I haven't been around??


And now would be the time where I would make lots of promises about how I'll be around more often, and will be better about posting pictures and bits of randomness... however I can't promise that. =( My parents don't have wireless internet, so it's hard to get on-line. And even if they did, our computer is going to the computer doctors at Best Buy tomorrow afternoon, so it will be out for a few days. Sad times. But it is sick, so hopefully they'll make it all better.