Finally...the house (or at least some of it)...before and after

Here ya go, mom!

Sanding the floors with the orbital sander...

The kitchen floor was horrible...as you will see below...

NOW---sanding with the DRUM SANDER!!!! YEAH!!!! If you have floors that are 2 inches thick like ours, the orbital sander barely does anything...go for the drum sander no matter what the guys at Home Depot tell you. It cut through our floors like butter (cheezy analogy but true!)



The living room after we finished sanding...so beautiful!


In the process of staining the floors


Now, here is the before and after of the living room. The living room is the one room that is basically finished and it is our current pride and joy!

Before...



And after...

The outside before...

And after...

The staircase for Christmas!

Our House

Everyone has been asking me for a picture of our new house so here you go. Keep in mind that it doesn't have the cutest exterior as of right now but we love how much room we have inside (including a full basement), the layout of the house, the huge yard, and that we are able to stay in our current ward... and eventually the outside will look as nice as the inside.

David and I have been busy redoing all of the floors, painting, and getting the house ready for us to move in. We are planning on being in the house by Thanksgiving and are so excited to have my sister coming for the holiday so we can have someone to "show and tell" our house to. We're very happy to be so blessed!

Househunters?

House Found! David and I are getting into our very own--our very first--house at the end of this month. We are so extremely excited to be able to get into a house that we both think is perfect! The house is a three bedroom, two bath, with a full basement, a screened-in porch, a large backyard, and a stream running along the property line. We've got some work to do on the house but we're excited to make it our own. Plus, now that we have some extra room we expect lots of visits from family and friends to come make use of our guest bedroom! I'll post pictures soon...once we make it a little cuter!

Don't worry, we died and no one called to see if we were ok....

I was going to entitle this post the obligatory phrase of "We are still alive". However, that seems like an obvious and rather boring title so I spiced things up a bit with a morbid subject line with little to no truth in it....but it did catch your attention, right?

Nothing very interesting has happened of late. David and I are simply living life, working hard, and trying to figure out what the Lord wants for us in the future. Hopefully he'll let us know soon, but I'm not going to hold my breath because the Lord's favorite thing to teach me about is patience.....so I'm trying to be patient.

I'm enjoying my new job at United Guaranty, a subsidiary of AIG. I work within the Digital Imaging Department transferring files from paper to digital files. It gets a little monotonous at times but I like the people I work with and the paycheck isn't bad either. However, the work is sometimes sad because I work with box after box of foreclosures all day long. I read the letters people have written to the bank explaining why they can't afford their homes anymore, about the loss of jobs, divorces that lead to a single income, and unexpected pay cuts that create debt and bankruptcy. Looking at file after file of foreclosure just gets to me sometimes and I feel so sad that so many people who started off with the best of intentions and the highest hopes are now bankrupt with no place to live. This economy has truly taken its toll on America but hopefully things are looking up and we can move on and learn from our mistakes.

And if not, that's ok too because that just means the Second Coming is headed our way sooner than later!

New Coupon Blog

Recently I've had several people ask for a list of what deals I'm getting every week with my coupons. I decided that, rather than sending out individual emails, it would be easier to post my list on a blog for everyone to see. So, if you want to learn more about what deals are out there each week, visit my site couponsmarts.blogspot.com!

Push

The other night David and I rented the movie Push. The movie is basically about some genetically engineered people who have special powers. I thought it looked pretty dumb when I first saw the trailer but David kind of wanted to see it. So we got it and watched it and I actually really liked it. The plot is very good and a lot different than I thought it would be. The storyline has twists in it that keep you guessing until the last scene and the acting was actually really well done. I was pretty shocked at how much I liked it. I think that anyone even remotely interested in this movie will probably like it more than they think and I would definitely recommend it.

Enrichment

Last night David and I taught a mini-class at our ward's enrichment. Afterward, we were given a beautiful tile that one of the woman in our ward made us. It is so neat that I had to share it. Thanks Mary, you're amazing!

(Maybe we can count it as our first housewarming gift as we are getting ready to buy our first home!)

Jenna's Family Visit

Jenna and her family came to visit David and I over Labor Day weekend. They just moved to Pennsylvania and so the drive is only eight hours long (a relatively short distance seeing as the rest of my family lives across the country). We had such a wonderful time with Jenna and her family and are so glad they were able to come. While they were here we went to a Revolutionary War historical park, got some North Carolina barbeque, went to Cold Stone where David made us all ice cream, went to church, and went on a drive to explore some of the North Carolina countryside. Here are the kids enjoying the national park.







We had a great time and the kids did too...as you can tell from this video!

Triples Week at Harris Teeter

After two extremely obsessive triple-couponing sprees with my wonderful husband, I was able to get some amazing deals! First, this is what we bought (stole?) from the store:

2 packages Dole fruit cups
2 toothbrushes
Cottonelle toilet paper
3 packages Pillsbury Grand biscuits
4 packages Pillsbury french bread
4 packages Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
Betty Crocker frosting
7 Warm Delights Bowls
4 boxes Kix cereal
2 boxes Trix cereal
2 Wishbone salad dressings
Knorr Recipe Mix
4 Campbells chicken noodle soup
10 boxes Totinos pizza rolls
2 packages Mentos gum
5 fruit snack boxes
Teriyaki Sauce
Tortilla Chips
Lemon Seasoning
2 boxes of Curad bandaids
Bag of Solo plastic cups
2 lb. bag of jasmine rice
3 lb bag of regular rice
2 Red Baron singles pizzas
Red Baron French Bread pizza
Pringles minis package
Gallon of Milk
1 lb of sandwich meat
2 Jello Snack packages
2 Zataran rice mixes
2 cans of Swanson chicken
Sneyders pretzel snack pack
Purell hand sanitizer
Lysol toilet bowl cleaner
Corn meal
Spot Shot Carpet Cleaner
2 Corn Meal Mixes
Ziploc sandwich bags
4-pack of Ziploc tupperware
Colgate toothpaste
Crest toothpaste
2 boxes of Jello
Box of Hefty bags
2 Suave deoderants
Bag of hushpuppies
Special K granola bars
Package of Solo paper plates
2 bottles of Welch's jam
Bag of Golden Grahams
Bag of mini Oreos

Total Price: 48.47
Total Savings: 203.53

Overall, we felt pretty good about it. ;)

This picture doesn't include any of our freezer items because after tetris-ing them into our freezer we didn't think we could get them back out again!

MAINE

During the last week of July, we went to Maine to see David's grandparents and to hang out with the rest of his mother's family. I had such a blast getting to know "Barn and Marma" and all the rest of David's wonderful/hilarious family! I really think I have the best in-laws on the planet! I just wish I could see them more often!

While in Maine, we stayed near Sebago Lake in North Windham and visited Camden, Two Lights, and Portland Headlight. I've posted a lot of the pictures from our adventures. Hope you enjoy!

This is the lake house where we stayed

Pictures from Two Lights

The sisters

The cousins

Pictures from Camden

Caroline eating a pill bottle... proving that David's family really does pop pills!! ;)

Portland Headlight

Random Pictures of the Family

You have to love Caroline's monogrammed rear end!

The whole group

The sisters and their parents

Maya with Uncle Ricky...Classic!

Twinners!

Sunset over the lake

Cousins taking a bath in the sink. So cute!

I love this picture of David's Grandpa Barn. He is a wonderful grandfather!

Heather with her enormous whoopie pie!

David had his birthday while we were in Maine. Here he is blowing out his candles.

Just hanging out with the family!