Christmas Shopping...Check!

Yesterday I took a day of vacation from work for a Christmas shopping trip with my mom. It's kind of a standing MomDay that she & I spend a full day in the month of December trying to take care of some Christmas presents! We had such an incredible and also very productive day!


Mom-days are seriously one of my favorite days! I only take a few each year & I always wish that I could take more. We have such a fun time together talking about the random things but also occasionally diving into something more serious which brings us closer together as mother & daughter but also as best friends. I wish every girl could have a mom as incredible as mine!

One of my requests when Hubby decided we were gonna squeeze in a ski trip before Christmas, was that all of the shopping and most all of the wrapping be completed before we left. Then I wouldn't have to worry about it when we get home only a few days before Christmas! Well...I'm happy to report that except for 1 small gift for my father-in-law and my brother's gift, we are completely finished. And even more exciting than that is that all the gifts we've already purchased are wrapped and under the tree. As of now, the only things I need to wrap are Hubby's gifts!


This is always such a relief for me when I can say that shopping is done for the year. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love to shop. However, I also put a lot of thought into each person's gifts and with our limited budget I like to get the most bang for our buck! I'm very pleased this year with what we ended up purchasing for everyone and I know everybody's just gonna love their gifts!

Thrifty Tuesday

As I've mentioned several times, my whole couponing adventure was mainly an attempt to lower our average monthly expenses for groceries and other household products. When I begin to cut coupons each week it's easy to see how if you were cutting coupons and watching ads and then subsequently buying something everytime there was a great deal, you would probably never save any money and you would simply have these huge stockpiles of things you don't need or things you won't need to use for a year or more...I'm sorry, 10 tubes of toothpaste should last quite awhile.

So...this week, I've decided to completely forego my trip to Walgreens. While they have some good deals, it's certainly not anything I can't live without & most of what's on sale I already have stockpiled in my home. In addition, I've got some extra grocery expenses for various holiday gatherings so in order to keep my average near the budgeted amount Walgreens & it's bonus Jingle Cash program will just have to wait.

I do want to share a quick tip that Hubby & I use to get through Christmas finances quite painlessly. When we were married Hubby opened up a secondary savings account to be used only for gift purposes. Birthdays & Christmas are where the majority of this money is spent and let me tell you...it has been a lifesaver! Each month a pre-determined amount of money is automatically deposited into this account and so at the end of each year we have this sum of money that is used solely for Christmas presents. Hubby & I are also very fortunate to have fairly significant Christmas bonuses from our employers. This money is partially designated for our gifts to each other at Christmastime. I am so glad that Hubby had the foresight to open this account as it really does prevent any stress from the financial side of things during the holiday season.

Whatever the system is, I would highly recommend developing some sort of Christmas club account...it's definitely worth it and with the monthly transfers being automatic we don't even miss the money!

A December Weekend Rewind

As the post-title indicates, it was a typical December weekend for us. It never fails that all of our weekends after Thanksgiving and before Christmas seem to fill up so incredibly fast and we end up moving from one obligation or event to another. This was definitely the first of a few crazy weekends!

Thankfully, Friday evening Hubby had plans for a nice date night in Branson. We headed to Branson Landing for a nice dinner, some shopping, & then we headed to some light displays. The first one, Branson's Festival of Lights was fabulous!

Welcome to Ozark Mountain Christmas!

The second light display at Sheperd of the Hills, was a little less than exciting. Let's just say it will be several years before we go back...if we ever do. It was expensive and just not nearly as neat as the other one!

Saturday was a busy but productive day as I headed out bright & early for a haircut & color. I'd planned it early so we'd have the rest of the day for whatever else needed to be done & I'm certainly glad I did. We had lunch with my parents & my mom's parents for my grandpa's birthday---and my brother actually surprised us by showing up from Kansas City. He and his wife were in town for another event & he made time to stop by. It's always so great to see him!

Saturday afternoon we did some more Christmas shopping...thankfully we're almost completely done! And after shopping we headed to Missouri State for a men's basketball game. One of the client's at Hubby's firm treated us all to seats in the all-inclusive section where all food & drink was taken care of by the client. Gotta love job perks!

Yesterday was probably the most important event of the weekend as our godson was baptized. Nick and I were so incredibly honored to be selected as Cohen Jay's godparents & it was a great experience to be so involved in his baptism.

Nick & I consider ourselves to be of the Baptist denomination and so this was our first experience with a Catholic baptism. I loved the tradition of it all & we were all included throughout the entire mass.

I was even given the baptismal candle to hold at the end, which was lit from the large Easter candle near the baptismal fount.

As godparents we were also a part of presenting the gifts for communion. I hope we didn't look too much like Southern Baptists up there! ;o)

Regardless of the denomination, I count it such an honor that Nick & I were selected to help raise Cohen Jay and to teach him to love Jesus and one of these days accept Him as his savior.

We finished off yesterday with some work around the house & small group last night. I can't believe how fast the weekend flew by...of course that always seems to be the case in December!

Christmas is in 18 days!

Cookie Exchange 2010

Last night was my annual Christmas Cookie Exchange with all the women who mean so much to me! We gathered and filled our stomachs full of yummy chicken tortilla, potato, or creamy chicken noodle soup & then somehow found more room for all the delicious sweets that were brought. We had everything from Oreo balls to Peanut Butter Blossoms to Fruit Pizza and it was all absolutely delicious. Most of us ended up with a doggie bag full of cookies as we were way too full to finish everything last night.

My plate full of goodies!

This has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions and I hope it continues for many years to come. Each year the crowd is just slightly different as I meet new incredible women and all my old friends & family come together for a fabulous ladies' night!

This year I had 12 wonderful ladies join in and they come from all sorts of different circles, church friends, small group friends, high school friends, college friends, family friends, and of course my mom who is my best friend! We had such a good time just hanging out and eating yummy Holiday goodies!

Hubby even joined in with the fun and made his own holiday treat...marshmallows covered in oreo crumbs! We first had these at the Melting Pot and decided to make our own based on their instructions. It was really incredibly simple...put some Oreos in a food processor, dip marshmallows quickly into water, & then into the Oreo crumbs. And Voila! You have Oreo covered marshmallows!

The entire group~Just for fun here's little about each lady & where we met...starting from top left: Sarah (college roommate & maid of honor), my Mom, Dana (preacher's wife), Jennifer (college roommate & now church friend), Melanie (college friend), Kelly (her husband & Hubby went to high school together), Lauren (dating my cousin), Me, Amy (small group & church friend), Andrea (small group & church friend), Jacinda (friend for life--high school and now small group & her precious little baby boy due in March 2011), Andrea (small group friend & momma to Cohen), & Cohen (our godson who will be baptized on Sunday).

Whew! See what an incredibly blended group this is...I am so thankful for such incredible friends who have been and will be there for me through everything! I'm already excited for next year's cookie exchange!

Thrifty Tuesday

This week I couldn't help but brag about my trip to Walgreens on Thanksgiving morning. Yup, you read that right--I got to Walgreens right as they opened and waited in the car as they opened the doors. There were actually people waiting outside, but I'm pretty sure most of them were waiting for some great deals on toys. I, on the other hand, came for toothpaste, deodorant, razors, & body wash!

My trip started out with a bit of drama as I was lead astray by another customer, but my coupon guru friend Megan showed up and we got back on track. I think I ended up checking out about 9 times in my visit...but it was so worth it!

Here's my loot...3 50 ft rolls of Hallmark wrapping paper, 3 tubes of Crest Pro White toothpaste, 3 tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste, 3 bottles of Oil of Olay body wash, 6 Right Guard deodorant, 2 packages Bic Soleil disposable razors, 2 Nivea men's shaving cream, 1 Skintimate shaving cream, 1 Edge Shaving Cream, 1 Vaseline men's lotion, 2 Colgate toothbrushes, 5 Reese's trees, 1 Hershey tree, & 3 red taper candles. All for....a little over $12!!! And, I have $4.50 in Register Rewards that I plan to use this week to start off my spending! Basically, that means that I got over $96 in product for around $8.00!!

That was definitely worth getting up and missing some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! As I've mentioned before, I'm not normally a Black Friday shopper but I can see how people get into it! I actually had a blast for the hour or so I was in Walgreens---most of which was time spent standing in line with some other crazy couponers! We were all in such good spirits and just hanging out watching as everyone checked out multiple times & got an incredibly amount of stuff for pennies.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking...but she already has 3 deodorant in storage & 5 tubes of toothpaste & multiple bottles of body wash. Well, this trip was more for the fun of it than for actually stocking up for myself. I did keep a few things, the wrapping paper, the candles, some of the shaving cream, & the toothbrushes...but most everything else went in a sack that is now sitting in our office ready to be donated.

Our small group is helping to adopt a family who recently lost everything they have in a fire...most of that stuff will be going to them. I don't say this to toot my own horn, only to say that there are other benefits to couponing. Once I have my stockpile, if I can take a few moments to cut coupons or read weekly ads to get items for free or even for just a few pennies I take advantage of the sales and donate to our local food pantry. Christmas is the perfect time of year as all the food baskets are being distrubuted, but those families receiving the baskets need these items year round, not just at Christmastime.

Look for those opportunties to help others out, it will definitely make your heart soar as you practice generosity! And who knows, you might just change someone's life with a small simple gift showing God's love...

Thanksgiving Weekend 2010

Well, there isn't much else to say about this weekend except for INCREDIBLE!!!! These past four days have been full of friends, family, yummy food, and lots of relaxation. It's always been great going to Michigan for Thanksgiving, but this was certainly a nice change of pace...to stay home for Thanksgiving and play host to Hubby's parents as they came to Missouri this year.

Thursday was obviously the big day as 35ish people headed to my parent's house and gathered together as family & friends. Hubby's parents joined us and I felt so incredibly blessed & lucky to have them there.

My dad, my mother-in-law, & my grandpa getting everything ready for the table. I had the pleasure of helping my mom & dad out quite a bit with the preparation which was definitely a fun but busy time!

With our family, we traditionally always have some sort of craft for the ladies to enjoy while the men lounge on the couch watching some football. It's ranged from wreaths to button trees to claypot angels, but it's always something and always a good time!

This year my mom took inspiration from the latest Food Network magazine and made gingerbread men & women for us to decorate. She had all sorts of candy and some royal icing for us to get creative with....and did we ever!

Our inspiration...let's just say the magazine artists are much neater, but they don't hold a candle to our fun!

Me with Mr. & Mrs. Gingerbread

My entire gingerbread family

The group of ladies who hung around until the end with our gingerbread people

A closeup of the gingerbread people...we had lots of creativity flowing!

It was such a fabulous Thanksgiving day, and truly made me so grateful for all the blessings in my life. I came home and crashed & was very glad that I wasn't one of the crazy shoppers headed out early Friday morning.

Friday was the designated "Deck the Halls" day. Hubby brought in all of my Christmas storage boxes and I unloaded and decorated while Hubby finished up the lights outside.

It literally looked like a Christmas store exploded on my kitchen island! More on the decorating later this week...

Friday night was movie night with Hubby's parents & his sister, her husband, and our two nephews--chili for dinner & Toy Story 3 with some homemade popcorn. It was a fabulous evening complete with a family photo shoot!

Hubby & his nephews who think the world of Uncle Nicky!

Hunter & I--I love this kid!

Me & my nephews, Hunter & Jackson

All of us, I think the first official family photo with all 8 of us...plus Mr. Monkey & Santa

And of course we had to have a goofy shot...seriously, what am I doing? I love Jackson's face in this photo; I seriously think he might have been terrified!

And another goofy shot...love this family & so blessed to be a part of them!

Movie night was a huge success...I think we'll definitely have to plan more of those in the future!

Hubby & I spent the rest of the weekend lounging around & seriously just taking some time for ourselves. We decorated our tree, did some Christmas shopping~and also a new pair of riding boots for myself, and went to the movies to watch Morning Glory (I definitely recommend for a light-hearted comedy). Today we relaxed some more, like we needed to lounge anymore!

Of course tomorrow it's back to business for another work week...but I think I can be ready after this fabulous four-day weekend!

So much to be thankful for...Thanksgiving 2010

Each year I'm always so incredibly humbled by all of the blessings I have in my life...and this year is certainly no different.

~I'm thankful for my salvation. For my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died upon a cross so a sinner like me could spend eternity in heaven.

~I'm thankful for my husband. The man that God brought into my life to truly complete me--to be strong when I'm weak, funny when I'm sad, & realistic when I'm freaking out.

~I'm thankful for my family. This year, for the first time since Hubby & I got married, we will be spending Thanksgiving with my family. I've always been thrilled to spend Thanksgiving in Michigan with Hubby's parents, but this year they have come here and will actually be spending Thanksgiving with my huge, crazy family. It's going to be a fabulous day.

~I'm thankful for Bogey. Even at 2 1/2 years old, he still never ceases to amaze me and I'm so thankful for the smiles that he brings into my life. I just love my furry son!

~I'm thankful for my job. I work with some fabulous ladies & also get to spend most days working beside my dad and having lunch with my mom. What more could a girl ask for?

~I'm thankful for our church & our small group. These people who provide such fabulous spiritual support are true gifts from God. I'm blessed more and more each week by these individuals who lift us up when we need support.

Life is pretty incredible right now & I'm just so in awe when I look at all the blessings surrounding me each day.

Happy Thanksgiving!