Wednesday Deal of the Week

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Ok friends it's time for yet another deal of the week that I am really excited about. Calling all you couponers and families that do laundry every week or more. This week at Kroger you can get All laundry detergent for just 1.99!!!

 

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To snag this deal here is what you need to do:

 

Login to your Kroger account @ www.kroger.com

 

Click on digital coupons

 

Click on the promotions tab - and load to your card the 1.00 off of 1 All coupon

 

This week only you can use your All coupon up to 5 times in the same transaction!!

 

 

 

What do you think about this deal? I went to my Kroger at lunchtime and the detergent was easily found on an endcap by the detergent aisle. I was able to snag 2 All mighty pacs and 1 All liquid bottle all for a total of $5.97. Stock up while you can!!

 



July Happenings

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Happy July friends!! I hope this month brings you tons of fun and lots of memories. This month is very special to me because it's my birthday month, anniversary month, and who doesn't love fireworks?

 

R has to work tomorrow and on Saturday so we won't get to spend too much time together this holiday weekend. :( Bless that man for working so hard to support himself and provide for his future family. R's parents are having a July 4th get together tomorrow so we will be going over there after hanging out by the pool with some friends in the morning/afternoon.

 

I have an unhealthy obsession with making sure that B sees fireworks on the 4th every single year. Call it a tradition that I started very young but I always make sure she has some magical fireworks to watch. So after we mingle with R's parents for a while we will be going to watch the firework show in our community. If you're local here are all the details:

 

 

Germantown Municipal Park

Address: 1900 S Germantown Rd, Germantown, TN 38138

Fireworks to shoot off at 9:10pm.

 

The rest of the weekend will be spent lounging by the pool and relaxing. B is going to complete her book report for her summer reading book Harry and the Lady Next Door. One book down one book and three workbooks to go, oiy!!!

 

It seems like the summers get shorter and shorter and we get busier and busier each year.

Two weeks from tomorrow R and I will be going out to celebrate our one year anniversary!! So exciting and a night to remember for sure. We are going to Flight Memphis one of the best restaurants in town. I am very much looking forward to it!! Make sure to check them out if you live or visit Memphis it is a wonderful food experience and ambiance.

The following week we will be heading to New Orleans, LA for my birthday weekend. I am so excited to be going back to my second home Louisiana and seeing some really great friends. I'm trying not to overload myself on this trip but it will be really hard not to try and pack it all in. R likes to go with the flow so I'm trying to think of him and not plan out a full itinerary.

So what are everyone's plans for this wonderful weekend? Share and comment below to let me know. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th!



Wednesday Deal of the Week!!

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Click TenMarks a Amazon Company is offering up an amazing deal right now for all those parents and students who want to get ahead this summer or continue learning. This math program is offered for kids 1st grade through high school and the cost is normally $39.95 per child. Right now they are offering this program completely FREE!!!! You better hurry and sign up - you can also add a child for free.

 

Once signed up the site gives your child a unique user id and password to log on and take an assessment. The assessment is 20 questions and it let's your child know their score at the end. TenMarks then creates a curriculum for your child based on their assessment. You can also create rewards for your child as incentives to complete X number of assignments however many you delegate.

 

B completed her assessment last night and even wanted to play a flash card type game after she completed the assessment. I set her goal at completing 15 assignments with a score of 70% or higher for a reward of ice cream.

 

What a great tool to keep your child learning and growing over the summer!!

 

Go to www.tenmarks.com/login

Fill out a short registration page and your child's information.

Check your email to complete your registration.

Log your child on to take the assessment.

 

HAVE FUN!!



SummerTime

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Happy Summertime my friends! I hope you are enjoying your summers and relaxing on these hot days! In the next 7 short weeks before Miss B heads back to school we are trying to get many things accomplished. This month I started fitness goals for myself and am ensuring that I am sticking to them. We are also trying to decide on the best little summer weekend getaway to take in July.

 

 

 

Fitness Goals for June 2014:

 

1. No less than 6,000 steps logged on Jawbone App.

 

2. Complete the 14 day AB Challenge

 

3. Do a quick workout at least 4 times a week in addition to the AB Challenge.

 

4. Make sure to burn more calories than you consume.

 

 

Yep, all of those goals for June! I'm pretty proud of myself thus far, we're 17 days into June and I've made sure to keep a strict watch on #1 and #4. I'd be lying if I said I didn't slip a few times but keeping myself accountable is what I'm most looking to gain from this goal. I'm looking to amp up goals 2 and 3 in these last 2 1/2 weeks.

What are your June goals?

 

 

For my birthday this year I decided not to do a big bash like I normally do with friends. I've decided instead to take a trip with my love and possible include B in that trip as well. I've had some recent trouble in the B watching front so I've had to adjust my trip plans accordingly. The original plan was to make a trip down to New Orleans for a weekend getaway with R and some much needed fun for the both of us. We have been dating for a year now and have never gone on a weekend getaway, yikes!! After the trouble with finding reliable sitters for B though we may have to nix that plan all together. I'm more than happy to bring B along but New Orleans is more for an adult weekend.

 

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So if we cannot find anyone to stay with B for one night then I have decided that we will go to Six Flags in St. Louis; making this our 2nd trip to a big amusement park this year. Hey might as well do it big right? It would be more expensive but I also know it would be so much fun for everyone too.

 

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So there is our official summer dilemma - what should we do? Comment below with your vote. 

 

Tales of Disney

I have been meaning to post this for weeks now but we have been jam packed so I haven't had time to post.

We made our way down to Florida March 8th - March 14th 2014.

We had a wonderful week at Disney - everything went smoothly for the most part. B waited until the last day to pitch a royal fit. The drive down took roughly 11 hours and leaving at 3am was perfect! We were feeling a little sluggish when we arrived but being that we arrived at 4pm we were able to relax at the hotel for an hour before venturing out for food. We did have a tough time in Saturday night traffic around the Universal area. We had reservations at Margaritaville at CityWalk which I was really excited about but because of traffic being crazy we forfeited the reservation all together.

Our day at Universal was pretty laid back - we didn't wait in line for any of the rides for too terribly long. We also did not upgrade to a skip the line package so if there was a wait we waited. We practically rode almost every ride in the park. B did not want to do the rapid ride after we got completely soaked on the Dudley Do Right's RipSaw Falls. She had enough of the water rides after that one. She also of course did not do the big major roller coasters either because she was scared or did not meet the height requirement. She did get to meet the lady X-Men, Betty Boop, Popeye, and Olive Oil. She got to do some shopping and picked up some gifts for herself and family.

Day One at Disney we went to Hollywood Studios - we got to meet lots of characters this day and Ryan and I got to ride the big coaster which was Rock - N - Roller coaster. Brea and I had no wishes to ride the Tower of Terror so Ryan went ahead without us. It was a nice and relaxing day and we didn't stay at the park for too terribly long. The weather was great too.
That night we went down to Downtown Disney for dinner at House of Blues. They had great music, fabulous customer service, and our food was really good as well. I have no complaints.

 

 

 

Day Two we spent at Animal Kingdom - it was a first time for all of us at this park. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this park. I used to think it was the most boring out of them all but I was pleasantly surprised. We got super soaked on the Kali River Rapids - watch out where you sit!!

 

 

Day Three we spent at Magic Kingdom Brea's favorite park of all. They stayed open extra late too so we went early in the morning and also came back for some late night fun! Brea managed to meet a ton of Princesses and other characters. We got some pretty awesome videos of her interactions with them. We rode every ride we could possibly imagine. We got to eat lunch in Belle's castle. It was truly magical.

 

 

 

Our last day at the parks was spent where else but Epcot! We were rushing like crazy in this park trying to meet Princesses and characters and then meet our fastpass return times as well. We had breakfast at Akurshus Banquet Hall with the Princesses. It was a wonderful and expensive experience. :) We also lucked out after breakfast and were able to ride some pretty great rides with little to no wait times. Ryan enjoyed Epcot most of all for the world of beers. I tried some of them and I was surprised and how good some of them were. I still dream about the fish and chips in Ireland though, they were AMAZING!!!!!

We truly enjoyed ourselves and it was a great first vacation together for all of us!!

What did you enjoy most about your Disney vacation?

What a Difference a Year Can Make.....

This week marks a year since R and I went on our first date. I remember us both being pretty nervous that neither one of us were truly ourselves.

I met R through a mutual friend back in February of last year but it was short and sweet. I met him and then he was gone 30 minutes later. In our wonderful world of social media he tracked me down through our mutual friend and sent me a friend request on Facebook. A few short weeks later I was asked out on our first date.

R was pretty fancy for our first date he took me to Houston's in east Memphis. It was absolutely delicious might I add. We enjoyed some conversation and definitely some laughs and then after dinner I was returned home and we said we would get together again. It was a nice and sweet first date but I could tell we were both nervous and both holding back our true personalities. I mean who goes all in on the first date anyway right?

It's always funny about first dates no matter how terrible or good they are you are in a state of limbo if they are going to take off and it blossom into something meaningful. Obviously my story leads to the latter.

Consecutive weeks led to consecutive dates and then they just stopped. We took a two month hiatus from our courtship and went separate ways until one night when R was at the beach he decided to randomly text me.

I wish I would have been on candid camera when that text came through. I was a little surprised, happy, and curious as to why I hadn't heard from this man for two months. In any event we agreed to get together for a date later in the week.

I can say we have pretty much been inseparable since and for the most part a united front. I am so grateful for R and thank my prayers everyday for him. B says at weird moments "you have to kiss a lot of frogs to get a prince mom." I would have to agree with her and I think we are both thankful for our prince.

So a year later after our first date here we are still together and still happy. There is hope out there friends and finding your lobster is a real thing. :)

Ash Wednesday

Today is the official start of Lenten season - 40 days and 40 nights as they say of sacrificing or giving something of yourself as service to the Lord. No matter what religion you are we can all agree that as a society sometimes we become very gluttonus. We all like to indulge in the finer things in life and sometimes take for granted all the blessings we are granted.

This Lenten season I have decided to give up sodas and also cheese. In an effort to purify my body I am cutting out the sodas because they are full of harmful chemicals. The cheese is probably the biggest thing I over indulge in. Please do not put cheese in front of me - it will be gone!!!

I can say that I'm almost a full day in with no sodas and there is definitely a craving here but I am doing good so far. I'm just taking it a little bit at a time and trying my best.

I am also going to try and be much more patient. This is a major thing in my life I have to work on - especially when it comes to Brea. I am going to try my absolute hardest to not get irritated at the small things and rush through life.

I hope to attend church more this year so what better way than to start with Lenten season.

What are you giving up or giving to others?

Countdown to Disney

Happy Monday Friends!!

When I last left you - we were talking Disney preparation.

Today's post leads us to an extensive packing list I have prepared to ensure that you will not forget a thing if you ever take a trip down to Disney!! Of course you can add or subtract any items that you may need or not need - this is just a general listing.


Depending on the time of year you are going you will need to pack either warm or cold clothing - or in our case both. We are traveling to Disney in early March so it will be chilly in the morning and late evening but warm during the day. Our packing list looks like this.....

Clothing:
7 day outfits with shoes and accessories
7 sweaters or light jackets
7 sleep outfits
7-10 pairs of underwear/bras
1 bathing suit for each of us.....just in case we can go swimming
Swimsuit coverup
Socks
Exercise clothes for working out at the hotel gym

We are lucky enough to be staying at a resort where we will have a small refridgerator inside it. For purposes of curbing our spending we will carry snacks and mostly eat breakfasts in the room.

Food:
10 granola bars
10 pop-tarts
10 larabars or zbars
1 box of cheeze-its
Sprite and Coke
Bottled water
2 bottles of wine
Peanut butter crackers
String Cheese
Bread
Peanut Butter
Jelly

Items for the Parks:
Panchos
Small backpack to carry everything in
Park Tickets/Magic Bands
Credit cards/cash
Dining reservations (if inside the park)
Driver's License
Camera


Additional Items:
Hotel reservations
Phone Charger
Camera charger
toys for kids
DVD Player
DVDs
Paper towels
Trash bags
Washcloths

What would you pack on your week long vacation to Disney?

Disney Madness!!

If any of you follow me on any social media outlets then you know I am pretty obsessed with Disney world. I try to go every few years and will be making the trek back to the land of mouse in just 39 days!!

I've been on Disney overdrive for at least the past month - although I'd probably admit to longer than that. I've been planning this vacation for at least a good 4 months now. I decided in the past week that I need an outlet for my madness so I decided I would start over here and see if this fills my void.

I've made a very meticulous spreadsheet used to calculate every possible expense for this trip - this spreadsheet was started 4 months ago too by the way and has only gotten more and more tedious as the months have gone on.

My original spreadsheet called for all the possible travel options there were to get to Disney world. First I started out with the following 4 options:

#1 - Drive to Disney and Stay at Disney resort
This called for calculating gas to and from Orlando, hotel costs, food costs, parking fees for Universal because we are going to spend one day there, spending money, and Universal tickets.

#2 - Drive to Orlando and Stay off Disney property
This called for pretty much all of the same costs of #1 but also parking fees for each day at Disney - unless the resort we stayed at had a shuttle to Disney or Universal then we could cut some parking fees.

#3 - Fly to Orlando and Stay at a Disney resort
This called for calculating airfare, hotel and food costs, transportation to Universal and back to Disney, spending money, and luggage fees.

#4 - Disney world Magic Your Way Package
This option is the "all-included" Disney package - you can have resort, tickets, and airfare all packaged in to one deal for one price.

In the end we made the best financial decision for us to drive to Disney and stay on the property. It seemed like the best deal for us and while we are not particularly looking forward to the 12 hour drive we will be OK too. Our plan is to leave at 3am Memphis time and drive all day long. We should reach our Disney hotel around 4pm, just in time for check-in which is the plan. The last time I took B to Disney I did the drive all night thing and it did not work out well at all. B slept in the car the majority of the time and so when we got to Disney she was ready to go and see. All Mommy wanted to do was go to bed. It got our vacation off to a very tiring start so I learned my lesson. Plus I like to drive during the daytime more anyway so it works out better.

So that is how we plan on tackling our trip - tomorrow I'll post my extensive packing list that I'm going to start on this weekend!!

Life's Teachable Moments

Happy Wacky Wednesday Friends!!

In my last post I talked about wanting to be more involved in being a better mother this year. I've started this by using B's questions about life as teachable moments. I've been doing a lot of reading lately about how children who have open relationships with their parents and good communcation prosper the most.

In just over 2 weeks we have had some pretty weird exciting teachable moments.....come along on our journey.

This week alone Brea has been very interested in all problems women face with that time of the month. At least once a day we have had in depth conversations about it. I figure it will happen to her one day too so why not start answering questions and preparing her now.

We have also had an in depth talk regarding birth control and why women use it. That one was really eye opening for her and almost led to the "Where do babies come from?" chat.

I've noticed in just the two short weeks I have been open and honest in answering any of these life questions that our communcation has improved. What a wonderful thing!!

Sorry to those of you who see my child on a regular basis and have children of your own.....she may have shared the love and knowledge. :)

New Year's Resolutions

Happy Friday friends!! I hope you all have had wonderful weeks and even better NYEve's and Days. I was thinking the other day about New Year's Resolutions and what not. I've decided this year not to so much make a New Year's Resolution that I will most likely not keep but instead set some goals for myself this year that I hope to accomplish. I figure if I put these in writing and publish them out into the world then I'm bound to them.

So without further ado here are my Top 5 goals to accomplish this year:

1. Be a better mother - As I've said before I'm a single mother and it takes a village to raise a child but I'm definitely going to put more effort into lifting up my child and teaching life lessons this year.

2. Be a healthier me - I've slipped somewhere over the past year into old habits and as I get older my body does just not bounce back as fast as it used to. With that being said, I am making an effort to exercise at minimum 3 times a week for no less than 20 minutes and also to eat better and cook more homemade meals.

3. Travel more - The last half of 2012 and most of 2013 were pretty much travel lacking which makes me very sad. I used to be one traveling fool and I miss going on trips and visiting new places. My self fulfilling goal this year is to visit one new place, that should be easily attainable.

4. Relax - If anyone knows me on a personal level they know that I can tend to be a bit high strung in all aspects of my life. This year I am focusing on chilling out more and things just flow the way they are supposed to be. I have no problem admitting that I am somewhat of a control freak and I'm going to try to let go a little more this year.

5. Run a half marathon - I am not a good runner whatsoever so completing this task will be one amazing accomplishment. I'm thinking late summer early fall is when I will try to complete my first half. I'm going to start training for it as soon as the weather is nicer outside and not so cold!

What are you New Year's Goals?