30 Days of Me - Day 7

Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you




I could have easily found a picture to use of my kids, or my boyfriend, or so many people or things to represent what has and continues to have an impact on me... but I wanted to be a little more "out of the box" with this one.

Over the last few years I have made a conscious effort to live and make choices for myself. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't made the best choices, and that there have been people who I have hurt throughout that course, but all in all, I am striving to be happy and fulfill my own life's purpose.

For a long time I was very focused on getting approval of those closest to me (my parents & family, close friends, etc.) I found that more often than not I was unhappy when I was making choices and doing things to make others happy and gain their approval.

And you know what... my family might not really approve of the choices I have made, but I took a risk anyway, and it took time, but they have come around to at least accept the choices I have made and the life I am living. I know it wasn't easy for them, but they are able to see my happiness and that is something that they can appreciate!

When people used to ask what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said "happy". I don't always know what that is going to look like outwardly, but having that mentality change has had a huge impact on me and I feel like I'm better for it!

30 Days of Me - Day 6

Day 06- Favorite super hero and why

Oh how my geeky boyfriend would be ashamed of me right now. I can't say that I have a favorite super hero... I don't think that I could even name a super hero (other than Superman, does Superman count?) I don't think that Superman should be my answer just because he is the only true superhero I can think of.

This one I may have to revisit at a later time.

Oh, the shame!

30 Days of Me - Day 5

Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to



Just once... a strategic stop on our road trip from Florida to Washington.
That one overnight stop has left me wanting more... In fact, we are dreaming of a child free escape to New Orleans for my 30th birthday. That gives us 2 more years to save, plan, and find someone we can convince to watch the kiddos for a few days!

There is so much to see & do in this city, we were only able to experience the tip of the iceberg so to speak. With Dannon a little baby in the front pack, we walked the streets of the French Quarter, rode the St. Charles street car throughout the Garden District and stayed in a nice hotel (using reward points!)

I can't wait to go back and have set a goal to have this trip fully funded, with nothing going on any credit cards! So what if there is only $50 saved so far, right? A girl can dream, and goals are great to have!

30 Days of Me - Day 4

Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have

Uh oh.
You mean me?
As in, air my "dirty laundry" here for the WORLD (or anyone who happens to stumble across this blog) to read?
Hmm.
Ok. Here goes.

I'm pretty sure the relationship I maintain with the internet, email & facebook has pretty much reached unhealthy levels.

It is very rare that I have a day without the computer. I think the closest I get to that is when I'm visiting at my parents house.... their internet is so slow its unbearable.

I need to come up with an "unplugged" schedule and have a day every week where I avoid the computer all together and focus on other things in my life.

Thats my bad habit. (or at least, one of my bad habits.... the one I chose to share with you all today.)

30 Days of Me - Day 3

Day 03- A picture of you and your friends

Chelsee, Marissa, Me, Jessie & Amber

This was a challenge! I am usually the one taking pictures, so I had to dig back a ways to find a picture of my friends. This picture was taken in December of 2008 while Ashlyn and I were visiting Washington. We were living in Florida with Cliff, I was pregnant with Dannon and my amazing friends, Jessie & Amber, decided to get together with my mom and throw a surprise baby shower!

I'm sad to say that since that time I have grown apart from these girls who have always been such a huge part of my life. It is harder and harder (at least it seems) to develop new friendships as an adult. I need to make it a priority to do what I can to repair these friendships... its too important not to! Somewhere non-digital I have a picture with these girls that was taken at a fondue dinner at my parents house before we went off to our 8th grade dance. History like that can't be replaced.

To Amber, Jessie, Marissa & Chelsee... you are all amazing women and good friends. I am sincerely sorry for my actions that have caused 'The Great Divide'. The distance will keep us separate, but I want for that only to be in physical location and not in who we consider friends.

Please forgive me.

30 Days of Me - Day 2

Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name

Well, this makes for an easy blog post! (and probably a quite obvious answer for all who know me personally) Hope is something I hold very dear.

Now, according to Webster, "hope" can be used as a noun or a verb and the definitions are as follows:

Verb:
to cherish a desire with anticipation or to desire with expectation of obtainment.

Noun:
1 archaic : trust, reliance
2a : desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment ; also : expectation of fulfillment or success
b : someone or something on which hopes are centered
c : something hoped for

Its really interesting to me to read these definitions and uses for the word Hope. I've learned in doing so that the first known use of "hope" was before the 12th century, primarily in German and Old English languages.

For me, the word Hope holds so much meaning based on a family name. Hope is the middle name I share with one of my grandmothers, my cousin Lauren and my daughter Ashlyn. I collect all things "HOPE" and from where I am sitting right now on the couch in my living room I can see 12 decorative items that say or spell out Hope. (Thank you to my loving boyfriend for indulging my collection and letting it take over!)

There are also a bunch of fun quotes about hope. Here are a few of my favorites...

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tunes without the words—
And never stops at all
-Emily Dickinson

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours”
-Swedish Proverb

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."
-Einstein

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
-Tom Bodett

“Strong hope is a much greater stimulant of life than any realized joy could be.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

“Hope is the dream of a soul awake.”
-French Proverb

Walgreens & Target 3/22

I love to shop, and I love to save money... usually those two don't go hand in hand but thankfully with the help of the coupon/frugal bloggers I follow I can get my shopping fix in and save money at the same time! I don't make a point to go to each and every drugstore each week, but its amazing the savings you can find at drugstores! Until I started the "coupon game" I rarely shopped at Rite Aid, Walgreens or CVS unless it was to have a prescription filled or have some photos printed.

Here is what I snagged at Walgreens today:



Transaction 1:
3 - Suave Kids 3in1 $3 each on sale
1 - Suave Shampoo $1

Total of $10 spent, used $4.00 RR to make OOP Total $6.83

(This $10 worth of Suave products was supposed to print a $3RR. It didn't. I hate being the one to complain, ask for a manager and stand my ground, especially when I've got a squirmy 2 year old with me, but I did! After the assistant manager tried to explain to me that it wouldn't print the RR because I used a coupon and didn't actually pay $10 I asked to see where it outlined that in their coupon policy because I haven't had a problem with that before. She couldn't find anywhere that actually said that, so she price modified my transaction #2 to reflect the $3RR that didn't print.)

Transaction #2:
1 - Huggies price modified to $4.99
1 - Method hand soap $2.99 on sale

Used $2.50 off Huggies manufacturer coupon & price modification to reflect $3RR.
Total OOP $6.14 with an additional $2RR for next time from the Method soap!

= Walgreens grand total of $ 27.45 worth of product before taxes for $12.97 OOP after taxes with a $2RR for my next trip!!



I was totally excited for my Target trip too! They have some great target printable coupons available on their website right now, so in addition to using a $.50 off in the Target Deli to get Dannon a bag of popcorn for $.54 we were able to get the following:

(silly picture won't load... boo! Imagine picture of products here)

6 Pack Circo Socks $4.99 - used $1.00 off Circo Q to make it $3.99
Single Circo Sock $1.00 - used $1.00 off Circo Q to make it free!
Liz Lange Maternity sweats $19.99 found on 75% clearance rack for $4.98 - used $3 off Liz Lange Q to make these $1.98 (!!!)
Revlon toenail clippers $2.24 - used $2 Target coupon for revlon beauty tool = .24
Revlon brow groomer $4.24 - used $2 Target coupon & $2 manufacture Q stacked = .24

Total Products worth $32.46 for $7.15 OOP!!

30 Days of Me -- Day 1

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

Trying to photo document pregnancy week 25
Taken on St. Patricks Day 3-17-11
(pay no attention to the messy bedroom!!)

Hmm, interesting facts... Lets see....

1. In my writing, texting and facebooking I use a lot of "..."
2. I lived in the same house from the day I was born until 18-19, and since then I haven't ever felt like I really had roots anywhere. I don't like moving around.
3. My motivation for projects sometimes (ok, usually) overestimates my actual ability to complete said project. I hope to change that!
4. I feel like a failure because sometimes I have to consciously think about loving my 8 (going on 15) year old daughter. Daughters are hard.
5. I love cereal. Generally the sugary-not-so-good-for-you kinds.
6. I hate how most of my paychecks and deposits are already spent before they're available, but at the same time I get a strange satisfaction from paying bills and decreasing debt.
7. I have been working on my AA degree for about 10 years now, I promise myself that its something I will accomplish "one day".
8. I think Denis Leary is HOT and I don't care how old he is.
9. I like making lists and find it fulfilling to accomplish tasks and cross them off.
10. I think its hard to make friends when you are an adult, and I'm sad for the ones I have lost along the way.
11. I am saving and planning for a trip to New Orleans for my 30th birthday!
12. I love being pregnant, but hate how hard it is to get enough sleep and function on days when I always feel tired.
13. I have really high expectations for myself and those around me. This can be a good thing AND a bad thing.
14. My favorite place to shop is Goodwill, I love treasure hunting!
15. I want nothing more in life than to feel happy and successful in what I choose to do.

30 Days of Me

I am inclined to play along with some of the recent "30 Day Challenges" that have surfaced on Facebook... There is one that is 30 Days of specific photos, one for songs, one just questions to fulfill about yourself... Instead I'm going to participate on one I found on another blogger's page.
I want to blog more than I have been, and develop my introspective view of my true self.

This is the 30 Days of Me plan:
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song.

March

As we get started on a new month, I'm reviewing my monthly 3 in 30 goals and progress to this point.
January was pretty successful, February was a massive fail and now I'm hoping to get back on track for March. Because I am trying to make small lifestyle changes each month, my plan has been to tackle 3 new behaviors/habits and then to have those continue on-going, which would mean at this point I would be still completing January's and February's goals while working on new March goals.

This may be a bit more challenging this month since as I said, February was a massive fail. This is what my 3 in 30 goals will look like this month:

Continue with January's goals--
1) Creating (and attempting to follow) a monthly budget.
2) Reading to Ashlyn each night.
3) Eliminate Dannon's naptime and nighttime bottles.

Revisit February's goals (and actually accomplish them on a daily basis)--
4) Increase water intake (at least 3 glasses/water bottles each day).
5) Improve oral health (daily brushing, flossing & rinsing).
6) Vitamins daily.

New March goals--
7) Limit eating out to one lunch per week, two dinners per month. Also with this, initiate use of eating out cash envelope ($100 monthly).
8) Complete divorce paperwork with Cliff and have filed.
9) Eliminate Dannon's night time bottle.