Oh yeah, Ohio...

So I haven't done a post about our move.  It wasn't a move accross town, but a move accross the US!  WE moved from Madison, WI to Mason OH...only 2 letters were removed.  We have been very busy since our move as we have found a house, and are in contract!  We are closing on our new house on April 29th.  Backing up, we've been living in a very expensive furnished apartment, and though it has been nice, we're ready to move on!

Living on the contents of what will fit in 2 vehicles can prove difficult, expecially when most of what we packed was kid related.  It will be nice to get our 2 pods of stuff back when move into our new house.  We've been enjoying the goslings that have hatched recently, and I'm pretty obsessed with taking pictures of all 10 of them!  (2 families worth)

We've been taking care of all that Mason has to offer and have been to 2 easter egg hunts, and many adventures so far!

The process of closing on our house has been a challenge. It seems everything moves in slow motion.  With how expensive our current place is, every day counts, so of course it seems like the process is taunting us.  It does seem that we will be able to close when we want, and everything is going to work out in the end.

Our house is everything we could have hoped for!  4 bedrooms, and very large!  Plenty of room for our crazy family, and any visitors we can manage to convince to make the trip will be welcome!  Our house in Madison is still for sale, so if you know anyone looking, let them know about our house!  It will be nice to get that sold and not carry 2 mortgages!  Gabe has decided to make his room nature themed, so we're having fun with that.  He is currently taking pictures of what he calls nature to put into a photo collage.  Jason is enjoying his job, and is taking the bus daily from Mason to Cincinnati.  He likes the time he has to read, and how much it's saving him in gas $! We have enjoyed using Skype to chat with family. Gabe enjoys it the most! Oliver has learned to stand, and can do 5 seconds not holding onto anything!

Gabe has a loose tooth and turns 6 on April 28. Jason is graduating from college on May 7th at Upper Iowa University, so we'll be making the drive to cheer him on as he gets his well deserved diploma!  We're very proud!  I think that gets everyone up to date at this time!  Oh yeah, and I've been doing couponing as a hobby!  Value Hawk!

You can be an extreme coupon aficionado too!

As I'm getting into extreme couponing, I'm realizing others are too, and I thought I'd share what I've learned thus far. I've often been called "Value Hawk" by my friends, and have always been on the look out for a good deal!  I'm compiling my resources here in case anyone else wants to join in the savings game! There are a few good resources to get started.  Coupon sites can give you may valuable coupons that you can print for free!  Some coupons may be printed multiple times, so be sure to do this on high value coupons, or coupons that make things free!  There are many blogs that do the work for you, by looking at various adds and pairing deals with coupons for great savings, or free products, this is the easiest way to coupon.  There are many product Facebook pages and websites that offer coupons for products on a short term basis usually involving "liking" their Facebook page, and coupons can usually be printed 2x by just hitting the back button.  Another easy way to have big savings is getting a loyalty card from your local store, these are usually associated with grocery stores, and you can load extra, paperless coupons, onto them on the store's website.  The final reliable source for coupons is the local paper, specifically the Sunday paper inserts.  Red Plum and Smart Source give great coupons every week and are well worth the $1.50 purchase price (or $1 at dollar general I'm told).  I organize my coupons in sections that make sense to me in a small accordion file I found for $2.50 in the office section at Wal-mart...and it's cute!  Also I see that a lot of extreme coupon people let their collections run wild, and stock up collections much larger than they can use, I recommend donating your excess to food blanks, or shelters, why not share the love!

Coupon Sites-try different zip codes to unlock more coupons

• http://coupons.allyou.com
• http://www.coupons.com/
• http://coupons.redplum.com/ also, get mailings from Red Plum- http://www.valassis.com/1024/Contact/consumersupport.aspx
• http://coupons.target.com/
• http://www.smartsource.com
• Buy coupons from here http://www.thecouponclippers.com/
• Product rebates http://mail-in-rebate-forms.blogspot.com/

Helpful Blogs

• http://bargains-and-deals.blogspot.com/
• http://adventuresofacouponista.blogspot.com
• many of the facebook pages below link to more blogs :)

Facebook pages to follow for deal updates

• http://www.facebook.com/CouponistaQueen
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-Coupon-Queen/117946898253800
• http://www.facebook.com/MoneySavingMom
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissas-Bargain-Blog/300488224295
• http://www.facebook.com/thecouponista
• http://www.facebook.com/sweetiesfreebies
• http://www.facebook.com/athomemoma
• http://www.facebook.com/TheDailyGoodieBag
• http://www.facebook.com/GimmieFreebies?sk=app_10442206389
• http://www.facebook.com/EnzasBargains
• http://www.facebook.com/supercouponlady
• http://www.facebook.com/CouponClippinDaddy
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mojo-Savings/114949247117
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coupon-Katarina/160897720610531?sk=wall
• http://www.facebook.com/couponproblog?sk=wall
• http://www.facebook.com/HeresTheDeal
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shopping-Tips-and-Tricks/134287357973

Great starting out resource!  http://adventuresofacouponista.blogspot.com/p/getting-started-in-couponing.html

Walgreens savings this week

So, after watching TLC's Extreme Couponing, I've been inspired to try it out myself.  Here are the savings I got at my trip to Walgreens today.


Free with register rewards (RR) (prints off a coupon that like a gift certificate to use on your next purchase)

• NasoGel Drip Free Gel Spray 1oz 4.99 with a RR of $4
• Goody Ouchless Hair Accessories $2.99 and a RR of $3

Free with coupons

• Peeps Chocolate candy-$1 for 2 using the in ad coupon. Use that and this $1/2 print coupon to get 2 for free
• Scott Tape-Get 3 rolls of tape and Use 2 of these printed coupons and the walgreens Buy One Get 2 Free $1.99ea coupon in store to get 3 for free.
• $4/1 Airwick Imotion-50% off for $3.99 then use $4.00 off printed coupon and it's free!
• LYSOL® NEUTRA AIR® FRESHMATIC® Starter Kit on sale for 3.99 and then use $4.00 off printed coupon and it's free!

Cheap with coupons

• Lysol Healthy Touch Hand soap system $11.99. Use this coupon and get $4 RR. $4.99 out of pocket.
• Lysol Neurta Air FreshMatic 1/2 off for $6.49 then use $4.00 off printed coupon
• AIR WICK® FRESHMATIC® Compact Automatic Spray Starter Kit $3.99 then use printable $2 off Coupon and get it for $2!

I figured out some of this on my own, some on couponing blogs from Facebook or twitter.  I bought a coupon pouch and now have my coupons separated into it in sections, so if I see something on clearance or on sale, I can check my coupons to see how cheap I can get an item!  

hibernation

When it's cold and the weather gets bad, there's nothing I love more than staying in all day and catching up on the things I have had time to do lately. With the holidays nearing, I've been focusing on that, teaching, mommying, and various other things. I've needed a day to get back on track. 

I've had my niece Ari in addition to Gabe and Oliver because school has been out. I'm gaining Aubrey (my other niece) tonight for a sleepover and playing tomorrow.  It's nice to get them all together so their days off school feel more like a vacation! I enjoy seeing them too, they're so funny! I'm hoping to take them to Warner Park's Playtime tomorrow so they can run around and we can get out into the world again!

I've enjoyed my hibernation (with the exception of a diaper run), but I'm getting in a funk, so in the words of my favorite band, "I've got to break free!" -Queen


day 103-my new phone

 

day 102-playing at the Y

 day 101-one single light

 

  day 100-found art?

 day 99-wild turkeys

 day 98-walking downtown

 day 97-karate

day 96-countdown

busy bee

Waking up to the frigid cold again today makes it harder to get out of bed and out into the world.  Today was the last day of this session of my parent child art class "I made that." I love teaching this class!  The 2 and 3 year olds are so cute, and make such interesting projects!

one little boy from class with his creation

Today's photo of the day comes from my drive in rush hour, winter, traffic...

day 95

I "rushed" over to Erica's tonight at an average speed of 25 mph (aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhaaaaa!), and was only about 30 minutes late.  Luckily little Sage held on and didn't get too tired, as I was taking their family photo tonight.

sample of their photos

Then Erica and I sped off to our favorite place, GINZA!!!! It's so great getting together with someone you've known forever and just laughing about everything and nothing, and enjoying great food!

all i want for christmas is world peas

Today we tried peas.  It went over pretty well!  Ya know, it's the little things, or actually quite major if you've only tried 4 other foods before, I suppose.

I almost forgot to pick up Gabe from school today, happens every Monday.  Every Monday, Gabe gets done with school at 1:45, not the 3:17 he usually gets out, and I always almost forget. I have yet to actually forget, so I'm good!  Today's photo of the day comes from my walk to the van after picking up Gabe.

day 94

we're on a diet

No, I'm not talking about myself as "we," though at my current state,  I probably could. Jason (my husband) and I are on a diet.  Inspired by the "Twinkie Diet." Basicially, it reminds us that what is really important in weight loss, is calories, and should you choose to eat your calories in Twinkies, so be it, as long as you eat the right amount of calories for your body to loose weight. I'm using my suggested daily calories needed to loose 1-2 lbs a week and Jason is doing the same.  I've lost 9 lbs so far, with an initial goal of 77 overall to be at my pre-pregnancy weight.  Then I'll add a new goal.  Jason has lost 19 lbs with an overall goal 47 lbs to his final goal.  I was at my initial goal before I had my 2 lovey boys-Gabriel, 5, and Oliver, 5 months, but pregnancy makes you hungry.  Really hungry! So I ate, and now I'm working out 5-7 days a week at the YMCA, which I love.