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!

Utah Trip!!

I think going to Utah to see/meet my parents was the highlight of my entire year. My family has not been all together for three years so just being with each other was a treat for me as well as for my brothers, sisters, and my mother and father.

Our "vacation" turned into a lot of hard, but rewarding, work and we threw in some fun stuff too. Because I want to remember it all, I apologize if this blog post reads like a travel log.

Thursday, July 2
David and I had to drive down to Raleigh at 3:30 in the morning to catch our flight that left at 6:30. As it usually goes, we had several mishaps on our journey. We slept through our alarms and didn't leave until four, when we got into the car we remembered that we had forgotten to fill-up on gas and had less than a 1/4 of a tank to drive an hour and a half, we forgot the directions to the airport, the check-in line snaked out the door, and our bags were overweight! Well, as it usually goes when you have problem after problem you also have blessing after blessing. Since we had left late we determined not to stop and get gas unless the gas light came on. We made it to the airport without the light ever coming on. Without directions we found our way without getting lost a single time. We made it to the plane right as it was boarding. And our overweight bags? The airline attendant actually told us not to worry about it and to run to catch our flight. We didn't have to pay for the overage! Although we had so many problems we also had so many accompanying miracles.

We reached the SLC airport two hours before my parents flight got in. For once in airline history the flight actually came in EARLY! Because of this only half of my family was there when my parents got off the plane but we were all so happy to see them it didn't really matter.

All the naky babies are wearing Brasil soccer jerseys

And my dad finally met my husband...


Friday, July 3
David, me, and my parents woke up early to go see the hot air balloons that lift off every year in July in celebration of the Provo City Freedom Festival. My siblings Doug, JD, and Brian all met us there with their families and we had a great time.




Later that day we went for a hike with Doug and JD's families up American Fork Canyon. It was a little steeper than I had expected ;) but turned out to be a lot of fun!





Saturday, July 4
David and I went to the Provo parade with Doug and Joanna and then walked around the Freedom Festival booths and went to the Crandall printing museum where they have an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. It was all very festive!

Joanna got into a little bit of trouble with the police... ;)

Later that night we went to my brother JD's house to take a family picture, have dinner, celebrate birthdays, and light some fireworks. I think the picture turned out really nice and the kids loved the huge pack of fireworks that grandpa had bought!








Sunday, July 5
We woke up and went to our regular ward and then afterwards went to my brother Brian's ward to see him bless his cute little girl, Elizabeth Jane Wilkins (Lizzie for short).





Later everyone came to the house for dinner and to watch some home videos of Doug dancing with his little girl Sophie at her dance recital. It was some pretty fancy footwork! ;) Michael and David also decided to build a massive block building with the kids' Lincoln Logs.


Monday, July 6
David and I woke up early and headed over to my sister Jenna's house to help her pack. Her family is moving to New Jersey for work. I'm sooooooo excited to have her closer...because eight hours is still definitely closer than Utah! We worked at packing up boxes and cleaning until the movers arrived. They had a lot of boxes!


For dinner, David and I went to Taco Amigo with some of my friends from high school. Two of them have little girls and they were so adorable!!! It was so fun to see everyone and David enjoyed actually really meeting my friends instead of just briefly saying hello to them at our wedding!




Tuesday, July 7
We didn't do much this day other than help my parents clean the house, prune the trees, stain the deck, and paint part of the garage. We also got to see my niece Gracelyn learn how to ride her bike without training wheels!

Watching Gracelyn ride her bike

After helping out for most of the day, we went to the Mount Timpanogas Temple with most of my brothers and sisters. The spirit was so incredible and it was really neat for me to be in the temple with my father, whom I had never previously had the opportunity to go with. Going to the temple was one of the best parts of our entire trip!


After the temple we went to my sister Jenna's house to help her clean before they left for New Jersey the next day. It was hard to say goodbye, especially to her three adorable kids. But we know that they are going to where they are supposed to be.

Wednesday, July 8
After hanging with my naky babies and playing with some Lincoln Logs, we went up into the canyon with my parents and had family home evening together. It was really nice just to have some time to talk to them and for them to get to know about David and about North Carolina. I can't wait until they can come to visit!

Later we went to meet some of my friends from college for dinner. We went to a barbeque place...not a good idea when you're from the south and know what really yummy barbeque tastes like. But we still had an amazingly good time just talking and laughing.

Thursday, July 9
In the morning we went to finish cleaning my sister's house. It didn't take us that long but we were glad to be able to perform the service for their family after all they have done for us! That night we traveled to Doug and Joanna's house for dinner. We always have a great time with them and love just to be able to sit and relax and talk.

Friday, July 10
David and I ran errands most of the day and then took some time to hang out with the family. Kimber's kids decided to go swimming to cool down in the (non-humid) heat.



We then went up to the Oquirrh Temple openhouse with my family. It is such a beautiful temple. The interior is gorgeous and the flooring is hard wood almost throughout the entire building.

That night we drove up to Holladay...oh, wait...first we drove up to the airport because we got lost and then we drove to Bountiful because we got lost and THEN we drove to Holladay to see a bunch of our friends from Greensboro that now live in Utah. We had it at the Buehners home. They are such a wonderful and amazing family and I enjoyed meeting Jake Buehner, David's best friend, so much. David and I actually stayed until three in the morning talking to Jake. Then we came home...oh, wait, first we drove to the airport because we got lost and THEN we drove home.

Saturday, July 11
Worked to get things ready for my parent's "talk" in church the next day.

Sunday, July 12
My parents talked about their mission in church. The entire meeting was filled clear up to the stage in the cultural hall. For those of you who don't know, that means there were many hundreds and hundreds of people there...and it was worth it! The spirit was so strong as my parents told experiences from their mission. Many miracles had occurred while they were there. their example has truly strengthened my own faith and hopefully I can follow the counsel I received through their talks.

After church, many of my parent's missionaries came over and it was so fun to see them all again. I knew most of them but hadn't seen many in over two years. I enjoyed it so much and my parents did too!


Before my siblings left we had to play phase ten!



Monday, July 13
David and I flew back to North Carolina after having a fabulous week of work, service, and fun! We're glad to be home.