Party Party Party

Well Adeimar and I have now celebrated Christmas twice more plus my birthday....we are almost partied out but are looking forward to tonight. We will be going to our best friends' home and ringing in the coming year as family.

I am so looking forward to 2013 ...it is going to be filled with so many wonderful things .....Like the birth our best friends' first child, our anniversary, the dating anniversary of Frog and Princess Frog several birthdays the start of the Spring 2013 semester  and our move to the new & larger apartment .....and that is all just in JANUARY!!!

2013 is going to be WONDERFUL and I can hardly wait to get started.


Please be careful tonight while bringing in the new year....Remember that it is always better to call cab (many of which are doing free fares tonight) or AAA (also doing free tows for you and you car) or have a designated driver...than to drive drunk. Be safe and have a wonderful New Years Eve

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

Well it is official I am one year older right this minuet 26 years ago I was born. Today I get to celebrate with my husband Adeimar, my brother Frog, his girlfriend Princess Frog, and have cake and a good meal. I am sure we will play a board game or something and have a lot of fun. I am so excited to get to spend time with Frog and Princess Frog as I have missed them lately. ...They like most of us have been swamped with their Holiday Celebrations and things so it is exciting that I am going to get to see them. That is all for now.....HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME !!!!!!!!!


OH and my Granny  called me and sang happy birthday to me on the phone and told me the story of my delivery which she has done like every year that I can recall.


talk to yall soon.

Can You Buy Healthy Food with Coupons?!

Christmas

I would like to take a moment and wish everyone a very very happy joyous laughter packed, memories in the making ....

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas 

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas 

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas 

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas 

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas 

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas 

Christmas Party #1

Well tonight was Adeimar's family Christmas party that we have every year.  I had a wonderful time. We all take food and drinks over and play Dirty Santa. The little ones opened gifts and played in an extra bedroom off to the side while the adults played games laughed joked and told stories. Overall it was a fun night. Now I have plenty of photos to keep me busy in my "spare time". Tomorrow we are going over to Adeimar's Dads house to eat and have Christmas because he works on Christmas day. WE will be spending Christmas day with his Mom's side of the family. My family and I aren't going to be doing our Christmas thing until my which is on Sunday. That is about it for now. I will finally be able to reveal the tutorial for some of the things I have been working on soon. I have to wait till after the items have been given as gifts since that is what they were made for that way nobody  reads a spoiler.

Yule...Winter Solstice

I would like to take a moment and wish everyone a very very happy joyous laughter packed, memories in the making ....

Happy Solstice -  Merry Yule 

Happy Solstice -  Merry Yule 

Happy Solstice -  Merry Yule 

Happy Solstice -  Merry Yule 

Happy Solstice -  Merry Yule 

Apology and an Update

I owe all of you an apology  Things this time of year have as they usually do gotten very hectic. I know that I had promised to post some tutorials and things but since most of them are for Holiday gifts I think it would be better to post them after  the Holidays are over so that there are no spoilers. However later tonight I promise I will write again this time about the movie that we went to see over the weekend which was ....well check in later to find out. :)   I hope that all of you are enjoying your the various Holiday events and parties that are going on.    There are a few posts that will be coming your way through the rest of the week below I will give you an idea of what to look for. That is all for now so I do hope that you will check in later to see some of the fun stuff that I plan to have for you and have a great Wednesday.


Up Next on Living and Loving Life........


Holiday Carols

Review of the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Silly videos of cats

Photos of the Holiday fun

*They may not appear in this order but this will be what is coming up.

Finally Finished with Finals....Upcoming Fun

So glad to be done with this semester. I just got finished with my last final of the semester about two hours ago. With this semester over I can finally put my energy into getting ready for the Holidays, birthdays  New Year, and my 8th wedding anniversary, the arrival of  my best friends first little one, moving into the new apartment and then Jan 17, starting school for the Spring 2013 semester.  Yep I am going to be a busy bee, but the good news is that the rest of what I have to look forward to is all fun stuff. I am even looking forward to moving because it means that we will be getting some nice amenities there that we don't have here and get to keep the same company that our current place is under. We all like the wonderful job that they do. Also on my to do list is finishing up some craft projects which is always fun because that means I can show you photos of it all.

I am really looking forward to getting started on all of it but first I am going to have a day of organizing, and a day of pure rest and relaxation. I wont be of any use or have any fun with all the things that are coming up if I don't recharge my batteries.

Over the weekend I am going to do a  tutorial on how to make a crocheted Lovey and a few other fun small things that you can make for yourself or  friends. Plus I am going to be making Holiday cookies from scratch and sharing the secret of just how much cheaper it is than those premade store mixes. All with plenty of photos to go with the fun. As I mentioned those will all be coming up over the weekend so Stay tuned!!!

Extreme Couponing for Normal People: Saving on Food for the Holidays

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

With the end of the semester just days away I am really beginning to get excited about the movie we are going to see as our reward for all of our hard work this semester. We are also going to see it because we love the Lord of the Rings series and are really looking forward to seeing this. The Hobbit is going to be great. They are going to make it a trilogy and release on part every year. I am so excited to see it.  Adeimar and I are going with family and friends to see it who are also fans of The Lord of the Rings. 

Sunday Afternoon

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday afternoon. Here the weather is cool and breezy and overcast but it rained last night which helped me sleep even deeper.  My Sunday afternoon is going to be a great one. Because I get to do a lot of studying because starting tomorrow morning I have .......

FINALS!!!

This of course means lots of study time today, followed by more study time, and oh yes MORE study time. I am very thankful for the fact that after Wednesday for me and Thursday for Adeimar this semester will be officially over. one  more semester under my belt and just four  more to go. :)   Which of course makes me a very happy person. I am very much looking forward to getting to graduate in four more semesters. 

Today however to break up my study boredom I have my adorable and hilarious cats. They are always doing one of two things, Racing through the house chasing each other or sleeping , a lot of the time in some of the craziest places. They make study days like today a little more fun because right as I start to become tired of studying they will race through the house for a few moments just to shake things up and then plop up on the love seat and get cozy. This give my brain a break and as soon as they are still....well its back to study time. 

Thankfully I only have one test a day so I can really concentrate on the ones that are the most pressing towards the end of the study day to help it stay fresh in my mind. Well I guess I should get started on all that study time. 

Are Couponers Givers or Hoarders?

This is a common question and since some of you may have never considered having a stockpile before to help offset your costs later I would like to perhaps put your mind at ease about it. I personally have a stockpile of items that are used in my house on a everyday basis. This doesn't make me a hoarder in my opinion because everything that I have will be used. However having this stock pile also presents me with an opportunity to do a kind act and help someone else. Anyway because I love how sometimes a video can help explain things so much better here is a little short video I thought you might all find useful. 

The Guild - Do You Wanna Date My Avatar

My inner geek is coming out tonight. This is a hilarious song. It is even better if you have ever played a MMO game, because there are tons of references to them throughout the song.

Stockpiling Basics - Why Buy Four Products?

Stockpiling is another way that I save money. As the video below explains it is better to purchase something that is on sale at its lowest price, use a coupon and have a couple of extras on hand so that if I get sick in two months when something like cough drops is not on sale I will 1.) already have some and not have to go to the store looking horrid and pass on my germs to the other shoppers and 2.) will have saved money by getting it ahead of time at its lowest price.

Now okay I know what you are thinking, cough drops aren't that expensive just buy them at full price and move on......NOPE not for me while the savings for that item might be small doing it with all of the items that I need and that my family needs adds up to big savings. I will have another video link to share with a better bigger example that I can share with you at a later time.

Sale Cycles - What's on Sale in December?

I love these great little videos that help me know what to look for at its lowest price because let me tell you noticing things like this are a GREAT way to save money and stretch your budget. This also helps you when you are getting wanting  to focus on when you are checking your weekly ads to see what is on sale.

Saving Money with Coupons

One of the biggest things that Adeimar and I are trying to do in 2013 is really save some money. I know, I know this is not a very original resolution but we are still going to try and make it happen. Like a lot of people we would like to pay down some bills, and save more for a rainy day. One of the ways that we are going to be doing this is by to continue to use coupons in our shopping. However we do this a little differently.

What do I mean by that? Well instead of taking the coupons that we get week to week and going through them and picking things we are out of in our pantry we save the coupons and use only by things that are on sale at their lowest price and then using coupons to make that price go down even further. I use several tools to help me with this one is a blog called
They have a blog dedicated to couponers that show you what some of the hottest deals are, which coupons are coming out and when, they also have a forum for couponers to help you connect with others out there that also coupon. They do all of this for free and post videos to YouTube which I will share and link here on the blog as well. I will share a lot more on how we do this and why with tips and tricks in the future.

A Little About....ME!

So if you are going to be reading our blog I thought it would be a good idea to tell you all just a little bit about myself. I am like many of you, i wear so many hats at any given time it can make my head spin. I am a wife, for almost 8 years now.  My wonderful husband whom I will refer to as Adeimar is a sweetheart, is always there for me, and while we may have started out as frenemies when we first meet in 2000, I am so glad we didn't stay that way for long.

(Our anniversary is coming up in early January.)

I am the oldest of three children and the only girl. My brothers and I are all pretty close in age the older of the two I will call FROG is just two years younger than I am. The youngest of us I will call ORANGUTAN is three years younger than me and only one year younger than FROG.

I am my Granny's youngest granddaughter and I love her to pieces. She is a truly special woman who has inspired me like no one else ever could or has. She is a loving, hilarious woman who has always worked hard and pulled herself up by her bootstraps.

The Sweetest Granny you could ask for.

I am fortunate to have two best friends for now I am not going to give them nicknames. My best friends well are just that my very best friends. We have been through a lot together and I  am so thankful everyday for them. One of the cool things about my best friends is their family, which has embraced me into it like I am one of their own and always have been. This is something that I truly am thankful for everyday.

  I am also a student and have four semesters left until I graduate and am able to realize my dream to the fullest.

One of the other hats that I wear is being the proud mommy to three fur children. All of them were rescues from off the street. Roxie is the family dog and she has been with us for almost 13 years now. She is a mutt but we can tell there is some lab and boxer in her. She bonded with FROG as soon as we brought her home. Over the years we have all shared in the joy of having her in our home (since we are all grown now and not living together anymore) Right now DH(aka Adeimar ) and I are having our turn. Roxie  is about 15 years old and is as sweet as can be.

Shadow the solid black cat is a rescue he was born sometime in early May of this year (2012) and was rescued and brought home to live with us on August 23 of this year(2012). We knew that he had a litter mate but couldn't find her that day so we just took him. That night he cried and cried for his sister so the next day we went back for her and were fortunate enough to find her and bring her home.
Her name is Ashlynn she is the runt of their litter and still skidish but is finally coming around to allowing us mere humans to interact with her.

Thanks to the wonderful people in my life I have a strong supportive family whom I love dearly. They may not all be blood but they have all proven throughout the course of our time together that they are my true family and will always be there for me.

This photo has FROG ADEIMAR, a dear friend whom I consider my Mom, Princess Frog, and Orangutan in it.

 I also want to say that I am loving the additions that are being made to my family my brother Frog has met one of the sweetest girls I know, I think for the blog I am going to call her Princess Frog. (kind of like Mrs.Frog...they aren't married yet but i am looking forward to the announcement of their engagement.)

This is Frog, Princess Frog, and Me.

I think that is about it for now. Thanks for reading

It's ALIVE ......

Okay so I know that i have been away for months and will be perfectly honest I hadn't even considered doing this blog anymore until last night. My DH and I were talking about our big plans for the new year and how we want to make some changes in our life. We are both wanting to go greener, make things instead of buying them prepackaged, create more of a healthy lifestyle for ourselves and our pets. The new year is also bringing us a new apartment that is larger than the one we have now. We will be able to move in January which means packing during the Holiday Season.

We are both full time students who are very creative and ambitious so I am have decided that in addition to making a scrapbook of our adventures. I would blog about it along the way to help me remember the journey. So there will be lots of blog posts COMING SOON.

THE NEW BLOG -----

Our new and improved blog will cover all the wonderful things that we are doing in our life, from experiencing the joy of our best friends having a beautiful baby next year to our move, to couponing to our revamping our life basically it is just going to follow the ups and downs of 2013. I am very excited about this because we are still going to be students, still have family obligations, work etc....and in addition we are going to be tackling making some big-time changes to our lives as well.

Please Stay Tuned , share this blog with friends and leave feed back as we move along. All the fun will be well documented with lots of pictures and of course new blog posts.  That is all for now I just wanted to make the announcement that my blog was .......ALIVE once more.

Locks of Love Hair Donation 2012

Extra hair after the donation ponytail was cut.

2012 Donation Ponytail

Well its that time again. My hair finally reached a donatable length. So this past Saturday  (03-03-2012) I donated my hair. The pony tail is about 11 inches. I am going to be mailing it off this afternoon when I get the form printed off. I am really excited about it. After she did the donation cut, she thinned out my hair, and then layered. I even have bangs again, for the first time since I was like 5.

Check out Newest Printable Coupons from Coupons.com 3/5

I being the frugal shopper that I am , discovered these and thought I would share them with you. Found them on http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=30fg7 which is a local couponing site, that helps those in the Memphis area find the best deals and all the best coupons. So I want you to take a look at: Newest Printable Coupons from Coupons.com 3/5 . There are some for everything from toothbrushes to vitamins, to Sally Henson Lip product stuff.   Check it out and keep your eyes peeled for more great info from me to you about great deals. 

SPRING BREAK--!!

Today was the first day of spring break for me this year. I still have to work but at least my evenings are free and I can do homework and take advantage of this week by getting ahead. School is half over for the semester. I am ready for it to be over....Next week is going to be really great because I will be off work for three days. I am going to go to an advising appointment for the fall semseter and get that out of the way. I and my last two days of being off work I am going to paint and decorate my kitchen and spend one WHOLE day doing digital scrapbooking.  I will still have classes at night since the spring break will be over but I will have LOTS of time to get things done.

Happy Valentines Day

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day. Spend it with someone you love, wither it is that significant other or your Granny, this day is about love so ,.....Spend it with someone you love. 

In Loving Memory

In loving memory dear sweet little sister, you are missed, your memory still treasured and never forgotten. We think about you all the time but especially today on the anniversary of when you went back to be with your fellow angels. Thank you dear little one for watching over us. Its so hard to believe that it has been so long since we said good bye.

WITH MUCH LOVE,


your family

Happy Birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Dad. I just wanted to hop on here and say that. Hope you had a great trip home and that it was safe...tell your sweetie that I enjoyed her visit too...love you.

Happy Birthday...

Happy Birthday to my MOM....I wont spoil it and tell how old she is...because she is NOT old but I wanted to wish you a happy birthday anyway.

Dad In Town

My Dad and stepmom are in town, havent seen them in forever...they are coming over this Saturday for lunch and to see my new apartment. I am so excited. We are going to have Parmasan Chicken, Salad, mac and cheese, black eyed peas, green beans and rolls..........can you say full bellies.....

First Week of Classes Spring 2012

Well I have officially been to all five of my classes. I am taking 13 hours this semester.
I am taking the following classes:

• MIS 2749---which is a computer class
• Development Across a Lifespan
• World Civilization II
• Academic Success 
• Literary Heritage

I am very glad that my Spanish class grade from last semester was corrected because I was able to drop that class, or I would have to take 16 hours this semester. With that grade correction also came a credit back to my account which makes me happy, and it means that I can sell the text book which is worth around a hundred bucks.  Anyway my first week is now over, and I feel like this is going to be a really good semester. I have made study contacts in 4 out of 5 classes already and i like 4 out of 5 teachers so far.

Well that's about it. I am going to head off and start on some of the wonderful homework that I have acquired.

Anniversary Pictures are HERE.

We got the pictures back today. I think that they are probably the best we have had done. I LOVE THEM. I will link them on here in a few moments. Here are the AMAZING 7th Anniversary Pictures!

Enjoy.

My 7th Anniversary

It is hard to believe that I have been married for seven years. My husband I are celebrating this milestone today. We have had a wonderful dinner with two of our closest friends, tons of romantic couple time, and a movie marathon. This year my husband was full of surprises the first of which was a beautiful new wedding ring set, and the second was a surprise couple's photo shoot the day after our anniversary. (which is tomorrow). I feel so fortunate to have a husband who loves, respects, and cares for me as much as he does. He is always there for me if I am sick he does everything he can to make me as comfortable as possible until I am well. He will sit up with me if I can't sleep. He is there if I have a bad dream. He is just amazing. I know that everyone hopes they will get someone that cares about them and will be there for them but for me it is reality, and for that I feel very lucky.  I love you baby. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

Happy Birthday...

Today is my brother's Birthday.

he is 23 so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Froggy.  

I love you very much cant believe its already your Birthday.

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!


I would like to wish everyone a healthy, fun, successful, prosperous, 2012. It is a blank slate so to speak and so now we all have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves if we choose, even if its just in some small way. I am sure many of you have started thinking about what you would like to see change in the coming year wither its big or small things, and I am right there with you. I have listed some of my ideas for the new year.  I am sure that these are not all of the improvements I will attempt this year, and I have a feeling that at least one may slip through the cracks at some point...but this is the game plan. I am wishing you all a very happy healthy new year.

Make 2012 your year.

Game Plan for 2012

• Make sure to spend every moment I can with my husband, and never miss an opportunity to tell him how much he means to me or how much I love him
• Loose weight and start exercising
• Start taking more pride in my appearance, (By this I mean attempting to look more professional, whenever possible.)
•  Be a better student, sister, daughter, granddaughter and in-law
• Take time to do things for myself, even if that is just taking a couple hours to photograph something pretty or a spa day at home. 
• Do one digital scrapbook page a month.