Moving Day

As hectic as it is, I couldn't let this day past with out a post. Carson has gone to get a truck and as I was continuing to pack here at the apartment, I'm hit with the significance of this day. This was our first home together. So many things have happened here and it's where we've spent the majority of the first year of our marriage. We have enjoyed many guest here at the house: family, college friends, new friends, and old friends who we got to know better by opening our home to them. This is also where we hosted our newly married bible study together every week and where we have made countless memories. It's just an apartment and only a year, but one that I for sure want to remember.

You'll just have to settle

I had a nice post all planned with a picture of our Christmas tree and little moving boxes underneath it but you're going to have to settle for a mental picture. The move is closing in on us and so the only things that get done are the most pressing ones. The only reason I'm writing this blog post is because I simply don't have the energy to stand up and pack another box at this moment.
I fly home to Orlando again tomorrow and Carson is staying behind to finish up some school stuff before he joins me next weekend.
I'm beginning to think we're a little bit crazy for deciding to move at this time of year but I'm just trying to remember that come January when we are all settled in I'll be much happier. It is so nice to have someone to share this with and all in all, having Carson with me at the end of the day makes everything else fade away (until I wake up to the same nightmare I lived the day before!)

And so it begins

Carson and I traveled to Hartsville, SC last weekend for his first on location interview for a job after graduation!! It's great to know that opportunities exist this far out even though he is not going to graduate until August. Carson handled the whole thing with such confidence! (Me, I would have been a crazy nervous wreck. . . so I was very impressed). I was especially excited when he brought back a goodie bag because Packaging companies are always looking to show off what they have packaged. I've been good so far and not broken into the full size package of Oreo's (no, I was a good wife and much more interested in how the interviews went... mmm hmm)

I spent most of the time relaxing in the hotel room because Carson had the car at the interview and then we left town shortly after his interviews were finished. We'll know soon if he gets an offer.

So I have some exciting pictures from our trip







Just kidding! It wasn't all fields. There was a Wal-Mart and about five fast food restaurants in that parking lot and a downtown area. I was excited about the small town (I love them) but this was not a thriving small town. Half of the buildings were just sitting empty and kind of run down. It looked like it used to be a very quaint little town but maybe the recession has hit it hard. So sad!

Wedding!

Shortly after I got home from my business trip, Carson and I turned around and came back down to Orlando for a wedding. Josh, the groom, has been a friend of mine since the 5th grade and Carson's friend since high school. Josh was also one of the groomsmen in our wedding!



His entire family has been good friends of ours for quite a while and so it was a wonderful occasion to celebrate!



While we were home, we went out to celebrate my birthday at an Italian restaurant (Carson took me out for Mexican on my real birthday so I got to enjoy both of my favorite foods!) It was great to be out with the whole family. Our good friend Jeff came with us who has been called my parents adopted son. We joked that my parents gained two kids in one year! My brother (the real one) just turned 21 so we're one big grown up happy family. It's amazing to see how things have changed over the years and it feels more like we're all friends now!

Takin' Care of Business

As I have mentioned on my blog before, I am now a beauty consultant for a skincare called Aloette! I have completed my training and October was my first month as an independent consultant and it was a great one! I travelled to Orlando to do some shows down there and one of my friends snapped a picture. This was my second show so I was still kind of nervous (as you can probably tell since I am beat red all over!) but it was such a fun time!!



While I have been working on getting my business off the ground, Carson has also been hard at work with his photography business. He has already had a few independent jobs while continuing to build his portfolio! He has created his own website if you would like to check it out.

Camping

So we got some great camping gear for our wedding and haven't had the chance to use it all yet. So....


we went camping...


in North Carolina....



in a Chick-Fil-A parking lot!!

We went to a CFA grand opening where if you are one of the first 100 people there (or chosen) and camp out for 24 hours, you get 52 free combo coupons the next morning when they open! It was so much fun. Carson was #17 chosen and I was alternate #104 and 3 people dropped out!! I was so close but it was still a great memory and we got one set of coupons. http://www.gastongazette.com/news/chick-38741-fil-line.html

We got up at 2:30 am to drive to North Carolina and get in line in the rain. As soon as we pitched our tent I took a nap. It was a great day to relax and they fed us all thorughout the day! We would have to line up in number order and walk through the drive through. The day turned out to be a little warmer than anticipated but Carson we able to cool off with a water relay.
And here is Carson bright and early the next morning getting his tickets! Less than 7 hours of sleep in two nights but it was an amazing experience that we would love to take part in again!

The biggest birthday celebration

Ok, so I know I promised to post about when Carson's parents were here like a month ago but I've already apologized and I'm making up for lost time. The weather prevented us from going up into the mountains but I do have a picture from the family birthday celebration. Everyone (not really, it just seems that way) has a birthday in or around October. So we all get together at once to celebrate. We had such a fun time catching up with family, some that we haven't seen since our wedding. We got the whole upstairs of this restaurant and as you can tell we filled it up pretty well!

Wow! It has been forever!

Sorry about the temporary lapse in blogging. Life suddenly got really busy and it was the first thing to go. Busy is good though. God has really been blessing us with lots of time with family, success in our businesses and strengthening our marriage. I was sharing my blog with a friend and he thought it was all about grocery deals that I have snagged lately. It was for a while when we were just kind of chugging along in life, but now we have so much going on I hardly have time to grocery shop. I'll fill you in on life and then do a few separate post on some of the specific things that we've been up to.

The big news in our lives right now is that we are preparing for a move. We're going to be living a little bit further out from campus in a little house that some of Carson's family owns. It's a huge blessing and I'm sure I'll have plenty of picture of the progress of the move. First I'll have to start packing though!

Carson has also made a lot of progress in his thesis research and is planning to graduate early. So he has also already begun interviewing for jobs. We are stressed excited about the opportunities that are ahead in the coming months.

Somebody stop me

I keep telling myself I'll only post the really good deals so ya'll don't get tired of reading about them, but then most of my shopping trips end up being really good and I can't help but post them. So I'm just going to keep doing it unless someone stops me. But don't think that this is all we eat. We just use these items we get at rock bottom prices to supplement the healthy things that we do buy. Today I have a price/deal comparison.

First I went to Target and purchased the following for $1.57.



Then I went to Publix and paid (after rebate) $2.03 for the following:


Carson's parent's come tomorrow so I'm sure we'll have some pictures/stories from the weekend to share with you on Monday!

Another Great Deal

Even though we go to evening church we are normally still up on Sunday mornings to get some great deals at the drug stores. Today we went to Rite-Aid. It's one of my favorites- probably because it doesn't open until 10am!

I took Carson with me today for help. While he admits that he would never have the patience to put all of the deals together and collect the coupons, he enjoys shopping for them. It's like a game for him. There were actually people waiting at the door before they opened today. With some of the really good money maker deals they don't stock them very well so you have to be quick and decide what is most important. So it's something that Carson and I have fun doing together.

Anyway, on to the deal I got today. This is a combination of two purchases to maximize our coupons. It doesn't look like a lot but you know how drug store prices go.


Total before coupons: $61.18
Total after coupons: $31.14 (Whoever says coupons don't add up should notice that I just used $30 in coupons to save me almost 50%)
Total after rebates: $4.77 (the tax was $4 on this purchase... so we pretty much just paid tax for these items

But the deal gets better: If I spend over $50 before coupons (check) then they will send me a $10 Rite Aid gift certificate! Meaning that I really made $5.23 today. Now that's worth getting out of bed for!

Baking Day

I spent the majority of my Monday in the kitchen baking. I had read about baking days on other blogs and as I began collecting recipes I forgot to stop. I ended up making 9 different items! Next time I won't take on as much but it was a really fun project. Our freezer is now very well stocked and I have some great new recipes to add to my collection. One of my favorites is this Honey Granola Crunch. Carson was working from home so he was able to help me by keeping up with the dishes.
Spiced Pumpkin Waffles
Whole Wheat French Bread Rolls
Homemade Hamburger & Hot dog Buns (The hamburger buns are missing because we had them for dinner that night)
Honey Granola Crunch
Homemade Wheat Bread
Super Power Muffins
Blueberry Bran Muffins
Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles (I just balled up the dough to freeze and have fresh baked cookies whenever we want)

When all this was done I figured I wasn't tired quiet yet so I made homemade hot pockets. Carson and I have very different taste when it comes to filling for these to I made two different varieties: ham, egg, cheese and broccoli for me and bacon, egg and green peppers for Carson. I modified the recipe and did half and half with regular and wheat flour which I think made them better than last time I made them. It's perfect for a quick breakfast or lunch. I just pop them in the microwave for 2 minute like a store bought hot pocket!

And now that I've told you all about it.. I'm ready to go enjoy some of the yummy treats!

Crazy Awesome Weekend

We had such a busy and great weekend that I'm just getting caught up and having the time to update you all!

Saturday I had my first regional Aloette meeting! It was a very early morning but totally worth it. It was very encouraging to see people who had recently started already doing so well. A lot of the ladies (including the regional president) talked about their faith while they had the mike. It's so amazing to see God working in this company and to be a part of a company that does not make me hide my faith! That night I had my first training show which was also great!

Carson also had an exciting Saturday with his first independent photography gig! He did awesome and got three leads for other gigs. If you want to check out his website click here.

And now for the mystery adventure for Carson's birthday we went up to Highlands, NC. One of our favorite little towns to escape to. We went hiking and enjoyed the sweet little town. We were able to find some amazing end of season deals and use some travel money to stay at a lodge. It was fun to get away and Carson realized it's the first time we've been away just the two of us since our honeymoon. They had a lake with a swing next to it and also a pavilion where we were able to build a fire (and yes- it was cool enough to build a fire!)

Our Holiday Weekend

Nothing too much exciting to report from this weekend. Carson was off Friday and Monday so it was a nice long one! Saturday we went tailgating for a little while with some friends but graduate students don't get free tickets like undergrads do so we were stuck watching the game at home. Luckily ESPN.com was playing the game live so we didn't have to miss a thing!
Last night we took advantage of a couple of freebies for Labor Day and got free Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwiches and a free Redbox movie rental. Dinner and a movie... for free! I'm thankful that we can manage some frugal dates.

We're saving most of our celebrating for next weekend because Carson's birthday is less than a week away! We're planning a fun little adventure so hopefully I'll have some pictures for you come next week.

Big Changes

Sorry about my lack of posts recently. Our family has been going through changes the past two weeks. I started my new job and found that it was the worst possible job experience that I have ever had. After Carson and I prayed and talked about it, we decided that it was not the place for me to be working. So we stepped out in faith and I quit.

The night before I quit, my friend presented me with an opportunity for another job. She has been a consultant for a company called Aloette for a while now and recommended them to me. It's a pharmaceutical grade skin care that is pretty much amazing. I have been to numerous skin care shows for other companies and tried different products and never really seen results. I used a mask at one of the Aloette shows I went to and felt a difference in my skin for 3 days after it (while I was using my old skin care.) I made the switch to using Aloette and Carson has even noticed a difference in my skin. Not only is it a great product, but also a great company, which is more than I can say for my last job.

I've never thought something like this would interest me but I've also never found a product that I believe in like this. Carson is beyond excited for me in this new opportunity. I would be able to travel and to see my family in Florida much more as an added benefit! I have some great supportive friends up here that have helped me get started and the future is looking good. I am putting this all in God's control so I know that whatever happens is in His plan.

I had my first show last night that I hosted and will begin training and booking my own shows as early as next week. Please pray for me as I pursue this new career opportunity.

An exciting season

Besides Christmas, Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I know it's not technically fall yet but I still think by college semesters and fall semester just started. It is so exciting. This summer was very quiet in this college town and it is nice to have school back in session. I was on campus for Freshman move in day and I was actually sad that I wasn't a Resident Assistant. It's a crazy time but really fun to be apart of the atmosphere! Since most of my friends in the area are students they all left for the summer and it's wonderful to have them back!

Although I didn't get to be part of the school excitement this year, I made another big change this week and started a new job. Working retail is one of the hardest things that I have ever done and I have come home exhausted every single night. I've still managed to function a little in the evenings, but my wonderful husband has been kind enough to take charge of things this past week during my transition time. I have never been so excited for it to be the weekend! I could sure use a break to let my body recuperate. We have a count down going at work until the first football game and I have heard mixed stories about how fun it can be but also what a horrible day it is. I'm trying to absorb as much information as possible before this big day comes.

I did muster up enough energy to go shopping today before AND after church. I was at Rite Aid when they opened their doors this morning, and then went to Publix later. I combined the two transactions for the following picture and totals. The couple behind me at Publix was amazed at my savings and we had a nice conversation about it. It was a relief because I have had some people make rude comments when they get "stuck" behind a couponer. I think they are just jealous that they are paying full price for their groceries :-) I had a comment that we must eat Ramen on our tiny grocery budget, but in actuality, we eat pretty good!!

Total before coupons and sales: $109.28
Total after coupons and sales: $24.56
That's a savings of 78%!!

More Savings and New Additions

I hope you all aren't tired of me sharing my great finds with you! I just never get tired of saving money! I am thankful to have the time and resources to find these great deals. I am also thankful for a patient husband who lets me take the time to put my list together and shop (and sometimes happily tags along). But when he see's the figures he is thankful for what I do. Since the beginning of July I have begun to track my savings. The savings are a combination of shopping store sales, using coupons, and applying for rebates. Just since the beginning of July, I have saved just short of $500 (62%) on our grocery and toiletry items!

I went to Bi-lo last week and actually made money when I get my rebates back! I had to purchase 10 items to qualify for the rebate and then managed to buy 3 additional items that we needed. I spent just over $15 and will get $20 back in rebates! Since we were in the negative, I went across the street to another grocery store to get some meat and poultry that was on sale. I've combined these purchases for the picture.

Total from both stores: $71.93
Total paid after rebates:$10.55
Savings: 85%!

If you'll notice that this picture was taken in a different location. On our new freezer. We were able to get this with the help of my Mom and Grammy (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!). It is already filling up and has allowed me to increase my stockpile when things are on sale. I also want to begin freezing dinners ahead of time so that we can eat better during the week when I get home from my new job. So if you have any awesome recipes that freeze well I would love to give them a try.

The other new thing at our home is that I have begun growing herbs. We currently have basil, lemon thyme, and rosemary. I have already enjoyed cooking with these and hope to get a lot of use out of them while the weather is still warm.

Family Weekend

Last weekend my Mom and Grammy came for a visit. We had a wonderful time and it was hard to see them go. Hopefully it won't be too long again until their next visit.

Friday we went on a picnic in the botanical gardens and on a brief tour around Clemson. We tried to beat the rain on our picnic but as soon as we got all set up it started to rain! We were under a pretty nice canopy of trees so we just pulled out our umbrellas and kept on eating.


One big piece of news is that while we were walking around downtown Clemson, I found that Mr. Knickerbockers (one of the most popular Clemson Sportswear and Gift stores) was hiring. After some prayerful consideration, I have decided to accept a job there. So I will be starting my new job there a week from Monday! Mom tried to get a picture of me coming out of the store, but she missed.

Saturday we took them to our new favorite Mexican restaurant. It was a big hit! It was nice to have someone to take a picture of us but trying to get Carson to be serious is another issue :-)


On Monday, I wanted my Mom and Grammy to meet some of my friends so Emily brought her daughter, Lydda Grace, and Amber brought Jackson to the pool. We had lots of fun swimming and visiting. This was Jackson's first time swimming and he had a great time!

A fun weekend

Carson and I had a fun weekend this past weekend. Friday night started out with a surprise date night to a new Mexican restaurant. My husband really knows what I like.

Saturday morning we got up and went blueberry picking with our friends Jon & Emily Wylie and their daughter Lydda Grace. All of the blueberry bushes were amazing and we had a wonderful time. I'm not the biggest blueberry fan but we found some wonderful, fresh, sweet blueberries that were amazing! Lydda Grace even got in on the action and did some picking of her own!

That night the Wylie's came over for dinner along with Amber and Jackson. Lydda Grace and Jackson had fun playing together and it was very fun to watch the difference in their ages.

Lydda Grace having fun with her daddy

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and helped in the nursery. We work in the youngest room, but we keep the kids until they learn to crawl. Normally we have a varied age group but we had all itty bitty babies, including a pair of six week old twins. It was fun to cuddle with such precious little ones. That afternoon we went to a cookout at Amber's house. We had fun with some friends and got to meet some other nice people. I finally feel as if we're getting settled here and getting to know more of the people in this area. Jackson had so many people to play with him that night. He is such a well behaved, easy going baby with a smile that can melt your heart!

This weekend promises to be another fun one because my Mom and Grammy are coming to visit! Counting down the hours now!

Good-Bye

My family said good bye to our beloved dog Samson last week. He was a part of our lives for over 13 years. I wasn't home to be with my family but I felt the sadness through our phone conversations. Samson was a wonderful dog. . . he set a standard that would be hard for any other dog to live up to. But as my dad said, he brought us more joy in those 13 years than the sadness that we are left with now.

My dad found a poem that I wrote for an English assignment a few years after we got Samson:

We found our dog in a Schwinn bike store,

And we had to hurry because we were leaving at four.

The people at the store were very kind;

But my mom thought my dad had lost his mind.

It took some convincing but we finally got ‘em,

And on the plane home he had to ride on the bottom.

He was cute, soft, and very small;

But we knew pretty soon he would get very tall.

As soon as we got home we had to get food and a crate

Because it had been a long time since he ate.

He’s my dog and he is the best.

He surpasses all the rest.

Colorado Trip

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up we had a lot of trouble uploading all these pictures. Enjoy!


Day 1:
Our day began very early (so early we were in Georgia before the sun had even risen!) to catch our flight out to Denver where we met my parents and brother who were already out there. Since we were already in Denver, we visited the Denver Zoo. My brother has loved zoo's since he was little and Dad and Carson kept trailing behind because they were taking so many pictures. I have to admit- zoo's aren't my thing, but this zoo was pretty cool. The first exhibit we hit was the lions. Since lions sleep 20 hours every day we were very lucky to see them up and moving around. We also got to see a feeding where they tossed them huge femur bones. That was probably the highlight of the zoo and it made the whole trip worth it. Then we took a 2 hour drive to the cabin that we were staying at. The guys rushed down to the lake to get about 15 minuets of fishing in before it got dark.

This was one of the last animals that we saw. I have no idea what it was called but it could walk on it's hind legs. So cool looking.

Day 2:
We took it easy in the morning because of the long day the day before. We headed into town for the afternoon to do some shopping and get some food. On the way home, the guys fished Lily Lake while Mom and I fed the ground squirrels.

The guys all caught a fish at some point but this is the only picture we got of Carson. Nope, that's not the bait . . . it's a fish. We didn't get a picture of the big ones he caught later.

Day 3:
We drove up into the Rocky Mountain National Park. This is an all day event because there is so much to see and do (and take pictures of)! We drove up to the top and down the other side to go to a little one street town called Grand Lakes. We have a favorite restaurant there where we had lunch. We saw tons of wild life along the road and were stopping very frequently. We were even lucky enough to see a female moose and her baby! Matt's favorite animal is a marmot (a large ground squirrel about the size of a beaver) and we found a lot of them. Matt even got a pretty up close picture!

Family Picture in Grand Lakes

Matt and the Marmot

Silhouette of Elk against an incoming storm

The scene on our way back down

Day 4:
The guys got up for an early fishing trip while the girls slept in. Once they returned, we went into town for the rest of the day and had dinner at our favorite pizza place, Poppys. They have so many varieties of pizza that it's hard to choose what to get.

Day 5:
We took a trip to Breynard Lake for a hike. Little did we know, we would encounter snow! We were climbing over snow drifts up to 5 feet high! We went as far as we could until the entire path was covered in snow. It made for an exciting trip. We ended the day with some more Mexican food at the Grumpy Gringo.

Carson sliding down a snowbank

Matt and Carson catching snowballs

Day6:
The guys decided to take an all day guided fishing tour. Another laid back day for the girls, so we went back up into the Rocky Mountain National Park determined to see some big horned sheep, but we didn't have any luck with that. It was the only animal in the area that we didn't have pictures of. There was also a Scandinavian Festival in town that my mom and I checked out.

Day 7:
Cabin day for the most part. Matt and Carson hiked Lily Mountain and were able to catch this amazing panorama!

Day 8:
Another day of loading up and traveling. We finally made it back to Atlanta around midnight and once we found the shuttle to our car (an adventure in itself) we were finally headed home. We sure made the most out of the time that we had.

Day 9: Our vacation was over. I had the next few days off to get settled back in, but Carson had his first day of classes at 8am! After our relaxing trip, we returned exhausted.

A note from Carson: If you would like a copy of any of these pictures, simply click on the image here in the blog and then download the full-size version from the page that opens. Enjoy!