Some Great Finds!!

I have to say, I LOVE me some Target!!  I have been finding some great deals lately!!  I got this salmon colored top there for $3!!  It was on sale for $6 from $8 and then I used my $3 off any Merona clothing item.  Not pictured, I also got the CUTEST Mossimo sweater for $6!!!  It is this beautiful mustard color that you are seeing everywhere.  They had it on their 50% off rack for $9 and then I used my $3 off any Mossimo clothing item coupon. I can't wait for the fall to wear it!  Also at Target I was able to get the two Garnier moisturizers for $2.99 a piece!  An awesome bargain!!  They retail for $6.99  and I stacked a Target $2 off coupon with another $2 off coupon from some samples I got in the mail.  I was also able to find some other great deals.  The two Aquafresh kid toothpastes I got for FREE at Walgreen's.  They had a sale that had the toothpaste marked down to $2.  I paired up the Walgreen's $1 off coupon with another $1 off coupon from my All You magazine, to get both of these for free.  I also got in my free issue of Family Fun magazine and my free magazine subscription that I got using my points from MY Coke Rewards.  I love these magazines!!!

Here are my free subscriptions I got in the mail!!  I used my points from My Coke Rewards to get the free subscriptions to All You magazine and good Housekeeping.  The Redbook subscription I got for free when I signed up for a contest.

Here are my free samples of Stayfree, Carefree, and Gevalia coffee.  I also got several high value formula coupons in the mail.  While I do not have a baby, when I get these in I pass them on to others at the school I work at for their little ones.

Here are some more super finds I got from Target and Walgreen's.  From Walgreen's I was able to snag this free Dial body wash.  They were buy one get one free.  They were listed for buy one at $5.99, get one free.  I then used two $1 off coupons, so I bought one for $3.99 and got the second one for free.  The cereal was priced $2.49, but I was able to stack two $0.50 Walgreen's coupons with a $1 off two coupon to make each box just $1.49!!  Great deal on cereal!!  Also from Walgreen's I was able to get a great deal on these Skinny Cow candy clusters.  They are usually 2/$1.79 or $0.99 a piece, I used two buy one get one free coupons, so I was able to get four packs for just $0.49 a piece!!  At Target I got the $5 gift card by buying 10 Smart Ones entrees.  I was also able to use my $3 off coupon stacked with the $3 off Target coupon.  Great deal on Smart Ones!!  The bracelets I got for just $2.49 at Target!!  I used their buy one accessory, get one 50% off.  I bought the cutest ring for $7.99 and got half off the bracelets!!  Great deals on some super cute jewelry!!  The lime green top was on sale for $5.60 and then I used another $3 off any Mossimo clothing item coupon, to bring it down to $2.60 for the shirt!!  The salmon colored shirt was on sale for $7.00 and I used another $3 off any Merona clothing item coupon to bring that shirt down to just $4!!  Between a sale and two stacked coupons, I was able to get the Schick Intuition razor for Truett's sister for $3.99!!  Lastly the super cute tote I got for free in the mail for ordering my free subscription to Good Housekeeping!!  I love me a cute reusable shopping bag!!!

Happy Deal Hunting!!!

Catching up on May...

Oh My Goodness, May has been one crazy month  for us!!  I truly think I have lost my mind!!  haha!!  I haven't been able to blog much so far this month, so I am trying to get all caught up in this post....

The first Saturday in May Truett and his friend Cole went to the Home Depot Kids Workshop and built planter boxes.  They had so much fun!! 

Cole hammering away!!

Truett is super focused!!  haha!!

The Saturday before Mother's Day was my nephew Cohen's 1st birthday party!!!  We had a mustache themed party for the little man!!

My sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece right before Co dug into his yummy cake!!

That's me and my sister playing around and being silly with some of the mustaches!!

Two of my favorite boys in the whole world!! My nephew Cohen in my lap and my little guy on my shoulder.

I celebrated the first half of Mother's Day in Mena with family, then I picked up Victoria and Jacob on my way home so that we could all have a nice dinner together!!  It was nice getting to have all of us together again!!

Finally, it was Pre-K graduation this week!!  That's my little guy all dressed up in his cap and gown!!

Not only am I the proud momma, I'm the teacher too!!  haha!!  I had double duty graduation day!!  Boy am I glad it's over!!

Truett getting his diploma!! While he won't be going to Kindergarten next year (his birthday was 2 weeks past the cut off date), it still makes me so sad to see him getting so big!!

Hopefully things will start to slow down a bit here!!  I need a break...and a strong margarita!!!  haha!!!

Great Deals and Free Stuff!!

I have been getting a lot of great deals lately at the store, and I have also been getting a lot of freebies in the mail also!!  I have been taking a lot of pics of these, but I haven't really had the time to post, so this will be kind of a long post...sorry!!!  I will try to keep it brief!! haha!!  I hope this helps some of you out!  There are a lot of great things out there to help you save some money!!  Here are the sights I use most to collect my great deals and freebies:

Passion for Savings
Sweet Free Stuff
Hip 2 Save
Sample Stuff

Now, on to my goodies!!!!

This first group I have a great beauty bag from Target.  I LOVE when they give these away!!  It came with a great cosmetics bag, several samples of great products, and tons of coupons!!  I also was able to snap the Lysol no touch soap for next to nothing.  They retail for almost $10, but I had a $3 coupon as well as a $3 mail in rebate coupon, so I got the holder and the two soap refills for less than $4!!!  I thought that was great.  I can't wait to try it out!!  I also got a free package of Kotex Natural Balance pads using a great deal mixed with a high value coupon I had from when I got a free sample in the mail.  The last thing that I snagged in this group was my free sample of Teacher's Tape.  I can't wait to try that stuff out in my class!!!

Walgreens was having some great deals last week so I was able to snag this free deodorant.  The Speed Stick deodorant was 2 for $4.  Then I had a buy one get one free coupon in the paper, so I paid $2 for one Speed Stick and then got the other one for free!  Two deodorants for $2!!  I don't personally use this deodorant, but Truett's brother and sister do, so I have a feeling this will end up in a gift down the road!!  I also grabbed up the candy for free.  Walgreens had a buy one get one free sale on all their Hershey's candy bars.  Now, I don't plan on consuming all of this candy, but I will use it for my class at graduation time.

Here I have my free sample of Tide Pods!!!  Also I have my Redbook magazine that I got a subscription for free when I signed up for a contest!!

I had a coupon for buy any Biore pore strips and get a free face scrub!!  I love Biore pore strips, and getting a bonus face scrub was a great bonus!!!  I also got two free Duncan Hines frosting flavorings using coupons, and this coupon and free samples for Poise.

I am really excited about this group of bargains/freebies!! First I snagged the movie The Pacifier for FREE!!!  I am a member of Disney Movie Rewards, and if you have never tried it, I strongly suggest you check them out!!  For every eligible Disney movie you buy, you earn points towards great prizes.  Well, I had earned several points, so I was able to get this movie for completely free!!  Tru LOVES it!!  I then got my coupons and samples for Sani Hands, a sample and coupon for Purex Ultra Packs, and a sample of Garnier BB Cream. The AXE gift sets I snagged at www.walmart.com when they were having a sale online.  You get the two gift sets for a total of $9.00!!  Each set comes with a full size shampoo and hair gel as well as two travel size products!!  I thought these would make great gifts.  They are usually in the $20 range a piece...so 2 for $9 was a steal!!!

Here I have another free movie using Disney Movie Rewards.  When I was typing my codes, I won a free dvd for typing in two eligible codes!!  SWEET!!!  I also got the amazing 27 dresses movie for $1.75 at Target!!  I love that movie!!  Right now there is a coupon available for $3 off, and Target has a deal this week where the movie was available for $4.75!!!  I also got a coupon for a FREE International Delight creamer.  I do not drink coffee, my my dad loves this stuff, so this will be making it's way over to his house.  Lastly I was able to get these Mickey Mouse Disney vitamins for $1!!!  These are regularly $3 at Walmart, and I was able to find a rare $2 off any Disney vitamin.  So, great deal indeed!!  Right now there are a lot of $1 off Disney vitamin coupons available, so you can still get the vitamins for $2, which is still a great deal!

In my final group of freebies for today I have this awesome gift pack from Tampax Radiant.  You can snag this on Tuesdays on their Facebook page. If comes with a super cute carrying case, several samples, and several coupons!!  I am telling you, unless you are really particular with the brand of feminine products that you use, between amazing coupons and freebies, you shouldn't ever have to pay for them!  I can't remember the last time I actually had to pay over $0.45 for any of them!!  I also snagged this sample of the new Garnier facial moisturizer and a $2 coupon!!  I love getting these because that's the moisturizer I use, so double score for me!!!

Thanks for stopping by and happy saving!!!

6 months...and it hasn't gotten better yet

Alexander Cole Masters

Today marks six months since we have lost my little brother Alex.  I have to honestly say that it hasn't gotten any easier.  Sure, I don't cry as much, but I think it's just because I have run out of tears to cry.  The pain inside hasn't gotten any less and the emptiness is still there, maybe even worse.

I have lost many people in my life, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents, friends, and so on.  I have to say that I never knew death could hurt like this though.  Sure, losing my cousin still hurts, I still cry about my grandparents death, and I still get sad when I think about the others that I have lost, but never EVER was it even imaginable to hurt like this!!  Every day is a struggle of emotions!!

Guilt has to be one of the strongest emotions I deal with day to day.  I have so much guilt for so many different reasons.  I have guilt because I wonder if there was something else that I could have done, did we not do or say the right thing that could have helped or changed things?  Probably not, but there's always the what if...  Guilt because I could have been more understanding.  Why did I get so frustrated at times with what he was going through?  Why did I not understand more?  Guilt because I'm still here and he's not.  Guilt because I have gotten to experience so much life, and his was cut so short at such a young age!!

Then there's anger.  Anger because why him?  Why us?  Why did it have to be this way?  Sure, he struggled and there was so much that he had to deal with every day, but a lot of people do and are able to make it through just fine, why him?  Why did God choose him, and why now?  Anger because he deserved to have so much more life, because my parents don't deserve to have to deal with this every second of every day, and anger because now me, my other brother, my sister, and my brother-in-law can't be in a room together or joke around without it being perfectly clear that something is missing!!  Anger because every holiday isn't the same.  Anger because we can't even take pictures anymore because when we look at them, it's just another reminder that we aren't whole and there's someone missing from them!!

But most of all, I'm just sad.  Sad that I lost my brother.  Sad that I won't get anymore hugs.  Sad that I couldn't say goodbye or I love you one last time.  Sad because Truett won't get to know him better.  Sad because from now on, when I meet someone, every story will be, "I wish you knew him" or "you would have really loved him".  Sad because if I ever have another child, they won't know what it was like to have him as an uncle.  Sad because we will never be the same.  Sad because my parents will never be the same.  Sad because I just want my brother back, the good, the bad, and the ugly!!  I just want him back!!!

There is happiness though.  I am happy that at least I had 21 years with him.  I am happy that I know he is with God as an angel in Heaven.  Happy that he is at peace finally.  Happy that I have the memories of him that I do.  Happy that I can still close my eyes and see his shinning smile.  Happy that I knew what it was like to be hugged with so much love and care.  Happy that I was able to tell him how much I loved him one of the last times I talked to him.  But most of all, I am happy because I can say for the rest of my life that I am Alexander Cole's big sister...and that is one things that no one can EVER take from me!!!

I will leave you with this...

Every day counts.  Every day let your loved ones know how much they mean to you.  Every day thank God for the blessings in your life!!  Don't take people for granted, you never know when God may be ready for them.  Embrace every moment and truly take it in.  One day, those moments may be the only thing that gets you through the day!!

Go Spurs Go!!!

I grew up in south Texas and I lived in San Antonio for several years, so needless to say I grew up a HUGE San Antonio Spurs fan!!  When I was in college, I would go to practically every home game.  One of the highlights of my life was getting to witness them win the NBA Championship against the Detroit Pistons in the final minutes of game 7!!  For a sports fan, it doesn't get any better!!

Well, it is playoff time again, and my Spurs are going in as the number 1 seed!  They are playing the Utah Jazz (BOO!!).  Yesterday was game 1, and boy was it an exciting one!!!  Most importantly, we got the W!!!

Tim Duncan is a free agent next year, and there are also rumblings that he may just opt to retire...WHAT?!  It can't be!  One, I can't believe I am that old...haha!!  I still remember when we drafted him number one overall, exactly 10 years after we drafted another well known and amazing NBA star, David Robinson, number one overall!!  Two, Even though he is getting "old" by NBA standards, Timmy D is still one of the best and most respectable people playing right now!!  I don't know what I would do if he were to retire!!!

So, here is to a wonderful post season Spurs!!  Get that black and silver out, and...