It's all about ME

Who finished getting their favorite things together for the swap that Mamarazzi is hosting?

That would be me!!
Don't let the size of the box full you..
is it PACKED full with amazing things.
There are things in there that David said, "Can't we just keep that for ourselves??"
No, Silly Boy, We Can't.
Don't you wish you were my swap partner??

Who has already decorated their bathroom for the Christmas Season??

That would be ME!!
It makes me happy to go in there.
More pictures will be posted of my decorations later.
I have only decorated the bathroom..
I am trying to wait a few more weeks to decorate everything else.



Who went coupon crazy at CVS today??

That would be ME!!
This totally MADE my day.
Here is the run down:
I spent $30.55
I saved $36.54
Sounds like a GREAT deal to me!!
After I took this picture, I realized a few of the items I bought were missing..but I was too lazy to grab them and take another picture, so to not make them feel left out, that total also included tampons, another glass glade air freshner (can you spot the glass air freshner?? where is it??), and soap. I think I did PRETTY darn good shopping. It's always good to save more than you spend.

Tomorrow, I travel to DC to make an in office visit. I am going to spend the night with some of my favorite girls of the city, and probably be too tipsy to get on the computer. (at least i'm honest right?!) I will return Thursday evening. :0)

Money Saving Tips

Let's face it...living in this world is expensive!! I realized last month I spent $417.44 on food and household items. For TWO people. Dave is a meat man. Meat is EXPENSIVE. I think he eats too much and I am going to make him go anorexic. When we have kids I am going to be broke. Granted right now I do have a freezer & cabinet full of food so I will not really have to go to the grocery store for two weeks except of course for meat. We don't have a budget, but after looking at the total I spent last month, we need to set one up. This month, I am doing things a little differently, so I have done research on how to save money.

Here are a few things I have been doing/have started doing:

• I wash all clothes in cold water. After the wash is done I shake each thing out before putting them into the dryer. If the clothes (especially jeans and heavy items) are in a ball it will take longer for them to completely dry. I read this somewhere and it does seem to work. I am not sure exactly how much money I am saving..but oh well :0) I also get the clothes out of the dryer as soon as they are done to prevent them getting wrinkly and me turning the dryer back on and wasting money.
• Coupons. I have bought the past few Sunday Times which include the Sunday coupons. I only clip the ones for items we currently use. I am not going to use a coupon just to use it if we are not in need of the item. I try and pair the items up at Food Lion or CVS depending on if they have certain sales that pertain to these items, thus saving MORE money.
• Have breakfast for dinner. Pancakes & Eggs are pretty cheap, so we're trying to have breakfast for dinner at once a week.
• Do holiday shopping after the holidays. Once a holiday is over, everything related to that day is marked at least 50% off! I am going to try and just get minimal Christmas decorations this year and stock up for next year after Christmas is over.
• Pay off your credit cards. The best bet is to not have ANY credit cards..but hey, we're human! I have two credit cards and currently they are both totally paid off. I am the type that would rather have money in the bank than no credit debt. I do pay it off though. Dave has one credit card that he pays his off every month as well. Oh and he has NO debt. (lucky!) He has no college debt, or car debt. Soon I will have school debt to pay off...not looking forward to that!
• Make your own laundry detergent. Found this website. I want to try it out!
• Drink water at restaurants. Restaurants typically charge between $1.50-$3.00 for a drink! That adds up!
  

What are some tips you have for saving money?

Speaking of SAVING money, Came across this giveaway that is giving away a book on saving money! Wooohooo!!

Once a year..

Dave is 25 today!

I decorated the apartment on Thursday.. I didn't want to wait until today to do it, as I am TERRIBLE at surprises & knew that I would ruin it. Friday we went out to eat-- Saturday we went to a birthday cookout for him & his brothers house.

I made signs like this and hung them all around the apartment.

There were about 100 balloons on the floor.. I tried to make it 150, but I think I died about 18 times and had to stop at 100.

Yummmmmy Ukrops cake. (Nice and manly too with the roses, right?) I know there are not 25 candles on the cake..but he didn't notice!

<3>

I wanted to take him to a Redskins game..but he is all about saving money. We are planning on buying a house in 2009 so we "need to save"..What is it about men and their lack of desire to spend money?!?

Biggest Fears

I decided to participate in Mama's Losin' It Writers Workshop.. (The prompt was to do 10, but I didn't want to add things just to add them, I think these are all of my fears)

My biggest fears:

• Dying. Before I have children, before I have a chance to experience more of life, and before I am old and wrinkly with my own grandchildren.
• Losing my mother. (not even going to put the D word here) My mother is my best friend. I talk to her at least once a day (more like at least 2-3 times) We tell each other everything. I didn't have such a good relationship with her when I was growing up, but I am so fortunate I snapped out of that, she is the best. I told her when she "is lost" I am going to stuff her. (kidding!!)
• Frogs. Yup. I said it. I used to have a really big wart (I was too scared to get it frozen off, finally I did) and had always heard warts came from touching frogs..needless to say, I am still scared of them.
• Getting too hot. When I get hot I feel like I am going to pass out, and have passed out a time or two.
  
• Being poor. We were not well off when I was growing up. At least not until my mom remarried..then--well, then we were good :) I work hard. (Except for my breaks to blog) and at times have been known to carry three jobs just to make sure I have enough money for things. (Like school..not talking about buying the latest fashions)
• Making phone calls. I really hate calling a new place. I fear I will stumble over my words. I don't even like calling to order a pizza!
• Changes. I am a scheduler and an organizer. I like to know what is happening when.
  

Newest Addiction

Normally I have Liz make headers for me (cause she's freakin awesome!) BUT... Becky posted about how happy she was that she made her own header.. and it was freakin awesome! Becky was KIND enough to tell me how she made hers...and I tried it, and found it to be SO SO SO easy..and so much fun! (thankyousomuchbecky! yourock!) If you go to Scrapblog you can make your own to..it is pretty self explanatory. After you are done, you have to publish it to the website in order to then export it as JPEG. From there, it will be saved to your computer as a picture and then you will be able to put it in for the header.

Here are a few "headers" that I worked on after I completed my Halloween one... I foresee myself spending WAY too much time with this program...

Baby Girl..

Came across this website that will put your photos together and make a baby... I am not sure how I feel about our "baby". She kind of scares me....

God, I will be delighted with whatever bundle of joy you send my way. BUT if we can make children like Build-A-Bear...

I would like a BLONDE hair BLUE eyed baby.. With a forehead smaller than her mamas and a nose not quite as round.

Candy Corn & Costumes

(I carved the star pumpkin last year)
Halloween is just around the corner.
We are going to a costume party hosted by my friends from college.
BUT we need to figure out our costume..

Here are the top ideas:

• Mom & Milkman
  "Mom" dressed in regular clothes, but "pregnant"
  "Milkman" dressed in all white clothes carrying a milk carton
• Gold Digger & Mr. Money Bags
  Gold digger in gold dress - spray paint small shovels (like kid sandle pails) and make a necklace..big rings, fancy..
  Mr. Money Bags - Nicely dressed with glittery dollar signs
• Beauty & the Geek

What is your vote??

[Add Title Here]

Dave & I stay in a lot.. but it isn't really by choice. I work from home & am completing my undergrad online, while Dave is completing his masters. We're a bunch of nerds. That is why you all don't get to see many of our adventures, because..well because we don't go on them!! We are trying to do at least one fun thing out of the house a week.

This past weekend we went to the VA State Fair!

As we were walking up to the fair seeing all of the rides I was totally pumped saying, "I am going to ride everything!" These two pictures of Dave & I were taken right before our first ride. The TEACUPS. I thought we would ease into the rides, you know..do not want to do the worst one first.

Let me tell you. This was NOT the teacups I remember. This was TEACUPS from HELL. When the ride started I was like "this is fun" but then it started spinning really really really fast..and wouldn't stop spinning. I kept saying I didn't feel good and thought I was going to throw up..this is how our conversation on the teacups went:

Me: I hate this ridddddeee
David: Close your eyes
Me: My eyes ARE closed
David: Put your head back
Me: My head is back!!! I want to get offf!

I am so glad I did not throw up. I have never felt worse on a ride. On a silly fair ride nonetheless! ****I just realized something. I did go to the doctor on Friday and I DID get antibiotics for the UTI. Strong ones. That is probably why I got so sick. Duh Megan. Okay, so now that we all know not to go ride crazy rides while on antibiotics, we can move on.

After getting off the teacups my head hurt and I felt nauseated. In fact, I felt sick until I woke up on Sunday morning.
I didn't want to ride anything else after getting off the devil's cups, but thought the Ferris Wheel was pretty harmless!

David is scared of heights.
I don't know why he said we could get on this.
I promise I am not laughing at him in this picture.
I promise I did not take it purely for the purpose to show you all.
I do think it is super super cute.
& I have learned that it is not "nice" to laugh at your hubs.

CHECK out GLAM LIFE of a HOUSEWIFE
She is having an amazing giveaway
In honor of her friend, Lindsey.

It's Almost Here!

Thursday
September 25, 2008
9 PM

I am so excited for this season.

Pretty Things..

Since I probably had a TMI post earlier
I thought I'd take another stab at blogging today..

You see, I am one of those TERRIBLE gift givers. Meaning, I always spoil the surprise. My mother LOVES Thomas Kinkade. (almost as much as I love sex...whaaa?) So, I was online browsing all of the wonderful things I could get her for Christmas (I know it isn't even cold out yet, but I love buying things for people) and stumbled upon this:

A Thomas Kinkade Welcome Flag

I know she loves his work so much I couldn't make her wait until Christmas to get it. So I called her and told her I was sending her something, but I wasn't going to tell her what it was! Before I got off the phone, she knew what she was getting and when it should arrive. Arrrgh.

One day I will keep a birthday/Christmas/special occasion gift a secret!

Small Spaces = Not for Me.

Friday my sister texted me asking what Dave & I were doing for the weekend. Since no major plans were set, she decided her & Riley would go on a Road Trip. (The "boys" -her husband & son- were camping for the weekend) It was supposed to take them at least four hours to get here, but they made it in 3.5 hours with a stop or to along the way. (I think we drive the same way)

Such a wonderful weekend.
& here are some pictures:

Me at the "pond" behind our apartment.
Why is my stomach sticking out?

Riley & I feeding the fish

Sisters!
This was a HORRIBLE picture of me
so I tried to make it look not-so-scary by messing the light up.
I don't think it worked though! :/

I am getting chills by just looking at this picture.
You see, we decided to play a little hide-and-seek.
It started by all of us taking different turns hiding Riley.
(Who would nicely fit into small areas)
..and then Riley wanted me to hide.
So Dave & Riley wait outside
& Kirsten and I are running around to find a spot for me.
We settled on this little cabinet beside the sink.
As soon as I got in there I started feeling sick.
But, I had to wait until Dave/Riley found me.
I didn't want to be the loser who couldn't hide.
I believe that I am extremely claustrophobic.

The story is pretty funny though.
They looked for about 10 minutes.
Couldn't find me.
So Dave is all "I'm trying to find things out of place"
and then, he FINALLY notices the crockpot
is by his desk, under his bag.
(Firstly, I couldn't hide under his bag, too small)
I was like CRAP I'm totally getting caught now.
but, (haha) I do the cooking
and Dave didn't know where I normally put the crockpot.
So I had a few more minutes of him searching
until I was finally found.

By the time I got out, (and you can start to see it in the picture)
My foot had turned completely purple
and hurt so bad.
Dave opens the cabinet and Riley yells,
"AUNT MEGAN YOUR FOOT IS PURPLE!!!!"
It took another 15 minutes to get back to normal.

There was a lot of this for a short visit.
Riley would get on Dave's back
and he'd "flop down" and then do a push up.
She was totally amused.

I tried, thank goodness there were no pictures.
it's a lot harder than it looks.
(& can we take a moment and stare at the sexy arms..mmm)

It was late, and you can tell that by the grossness of my face.
This picture reminds me of HOW GREAT Dave is going
to be at being a "daddy"
3 years. That's all I have to wait :)

Riley & I taking a walk.

She is so precious :)

Tell me, what did YOU do this weekend?

Men, you probably don't want to read this!

You're probably thinking, "What the heck is that?!?"
Well friends, THAT is my NEW BEST FRIEND!
It's called a "Diva-Cup"
It is used in place of tampons.
(Saves money, economically friendly)

You can reuse it over and over. I used mine this whole week during my period & it was so greaaat. No leaks, spills, or anything of that sort! You can't feel it, so it doesn't "hurt"--It took a day to get used to, but I will never go back to tampons. The best part is, that it can be left in for 12 hours! You can even sleep with it in. So, basically you empty it in the morning & night--and waalah, no remembering to change the tampon every 4 hours.

You should REALLY get one of these!

Great Buys

I got an e-mail from my friend (and roomie for a couple more days) Regina that said Boscov's had filed bankruptcy. You know me, I instantly went on their website to see if they had marked stuff down. And BOY did they!

(Ok, I do feel bad that this family owned chain is going out of business,
but I need to furnish my new apartment!)

Not that you care, but I am SO excited about the great deals that I thought I would share:
I am the proud new owner of these items..
Hamilton Beach Health Smart Grill
Normall $49.99
I scored for $14.97
Malvern Stainless 20 Piece Set by Hampton Forge
Normally $39.99
For $9.97!!
West Bend 6-Qt. Slow Cooker
(I am super happy about this buy!!)
Normally $49.99
I got it for $19.97
CorningWare® French White 9-Piece Set
(For baking & Serving, woohoo!)
Normally $39.99
For $19.97
Betty Crocker 5pc Silicone Bakeware Set
Normally $39.99
For $4.99!!

I got a few other things as well, but these were my favorite. I only spent $100 and have all the things I didn't have for my kitchen! If I would have spent the actual price I would have spent well over $200 on these items!