Name and blog change

Since things are ever changing in life, I am going to be blogging back at treasuresofhope.blogspot.com . I had it a few years ago, and never really blogged back then, but now I am heading back to that blog. So in that, I am not limited to things that I adore, and love. For me, it will be about the things in life that I treasure. Soon I will have treasuresofhope.blogspot.com up and running so be sure and change it in any of your favorites or things that you have saved, so you will be able to find me on my new blog.
Let's see if I can remember what I used over there as log ins and such a see if I can get it up and running.

Catch me over there.
Toodles.
~Hope

Happy 44th!

Anniversary to my parentals. I have been trying all day to post this and things just kept coming up. Today, 44 years ago, they married one another. Who ever thought that 44 years later, many many moves, many houses, a construction company, 6 children, and 12 grandchildren, they would still be together. I am so happy that they are. It makes me look at my marriage and know that downs do happen, but ups will be there soon, and it is worth it to stay together. Be commited.

This was them on their wedding day. April 30th 1966. What a HOT couple!

Here they are at my wedding, in May of 2001. I had to take pictures of these pictures as they are both in frames in my house. So the quality is not the best.

my Dad has a funny face on him and can you tell it was a windy day??

LOVE YOU GUYS!! Happy Anniversary and may you live for many more!!

I saw red

Bringing back these photos that I took of my niece, back in December of 2008. I am putting them in a photo contest with the theme "red".

This is my favorite.

But since we were in the snow, and gettin' all crazy, I guess I got some water on my lens and it made it blurry,

So this one, SOOC, Is better composition and focus.

I LOVE Red. It's my favorite color to wear, and it's just soo vibrant. So ALIVE!! I know, I'm weird, but it's a great color.

Almost ready

to jump back in and get back to blogging. Sometimes, I just need to clean and clear out everything. and that means my head as well.

I'll be back soon, and with a GREAT mother's day giveaway. Let's celebrate the mothers that we are and that we have!
Coming soon! Hope everyone is enjoying spring :0)
Besides the allergies that come with this season, it's my second favorite time of year.

Takin' a break

for awhile.
I'm going to step away from cyber world for awhile and get my head clear, my thoughts out, and re-group for spring and summer!

See ya in awhile.

A lunch quip - Funny kid

We are in Jackson’s room trying to find his tag reader (A little device that will read a book to you, or say certain words that you don’t know.) for story time.
He says to me, Mom, I have to tell you something that’s gross about me.
I reply, (in a laughing matter) Oh! I know you are gross. You don’t have to tell me anything more. I could tell YOU some things of why you are gross!
No mom, this is something that you don’t know. I want to tell you. OK?
Ok.
When I am at school, if there is something I want in the trash can, I take it out and eat it. Even if it’s not in a wrapper, and it’s just sitting there! Like the Pizza Bagel. Even if it has a bite taken out of it.
(me cringing inside) Ewwww!! Don’t do that.
Well I’m hungry! And someone is just throwing it away!
Oh, that is gross! (half of me is proud that he is not wanting to waste, the other half is grossed out beyond belief. )
I did laugh about it though.

Spring has Sprung

You know what that means??? It's time to clean. Clean, clean and declutter.

At least that's how it goes down in my house.

The semi- annual, get crazy and get cleaning party is about to start. Well it's not really a party, since it's mostly just me, myself and I that get down and dirty, but I SHOULD enlist the help of others. My husband got the backyard and our "slope" on his mind, so that's his spare time project, as well as the garage. Getting it back to a state of "happiness" so that I park can in there once again. Oh, that will be so lovely. I can't wait. I'm not going to get overly excited though, sometimes, he takes years to finish a project, and I'm not exaggerating one bit. I wouldn't do that. Well, not about him finishing a project, I would maybe about something else. And Bubba, he could help too, but I do most of it while he is at school in the morning, pre-afternoon hours when I have my groove on and can get things done.

So, back to spring cleaning. This is the time of year, that for me this is what I do.

1. Windows need washing. (vinegar and water works great- just cheap plain white distilled)
   
2. Baseboards and walls need a good scrub down, (vinegar and water is also my favorite on this)
   
3. Cupboards are cleaned out, wiped down, sorted through, expired food trashed. That sort of thing. (I use vinegar here too, to wipe things down. I use vinegar actually for A LOT of things. It's a great go to cleaner.)
   
4. Plants, trees and shrubs are pruned and cut for the new growth. (I do the plants; I let my husband do the trees.)
   
5. Clothes. Go through the clothes and take out long pants, long sleeves, sweaters, and that sort of thing. I now put them on the other side of the closet. My boys have double sided closets, before I used to pack them up and put them in a bin if I didn't sell, or get rid of them, now I just move them to the other side of the closet. Since Mother Nature likes to be sneaky and all the sudden we'll get a cold day in the middle of HOT days and no clothes are to be found, I now keep them accessible, at least a few things. {Important fact: I didn't even know this, but this year is El Niño, which means for us in California, it gets more wet than years in the past. I guess this happens every 7 years, and this year is THE year, so I'll keep rain/colder things on hand.}
   

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. These are the things that I do, twice a year to keep in some "Deep" cleaning and get things organized for the upcoming warm and summer months!

Happy Cleaning! If you have any tips and or ideas, please share! I love to find new ways organinzing or cleaning things. It makes my heart sing.

Light at the end of the tunnel and Bubbles

I think things are beginning to calm down a little bit around here. Though usually the minute I say that, it's busy again and events come up and more things to do. But for now, I feel that my head is above water and that's a good feeling.



I can't think of anything that is super important that is coming up for me to have to prepare something or run around and do things, so I feel more relaxed. It must be springtime. This is Boo boo after eating a banana. No edit on this picture, just SOOC. His eyes, Oh! how I LOVE them.


We were out in the yard the other day, and turned on the bubble machine. I forgot how MUCH kids love bubbles. I think the pictures speak for themselves.





He wouldn't let me take pictures of him having a "good" time. He's concerned bubbles are for babies.





Then the solution starting get low, and we got these HUGE bubbles!
And then they starting sticking together!!

and getting gi-NORM ous!

You know, it's the simple things in life that make life enjoyable. Sometimes with life so busy and FULL, I forget to stop and smell the roses.
or play with bubbles.

We will most definitely need a refill for our bubble machine!

This is Bubbas bubble all edited and enhanced all by himself. I was in photoshop the other day and he asked if he could edit some pictures. This was what he came up with, so I thought I'd share.

Feeling BLAH today!

Please tell me I'm not the only one that has these days?? I know I'm not. I just feel like I am.

I feel fat.

I feel ugly.

I feel like I don't know how to take pictures.

I feel like I need to learn how to put make-up on right.

I know it's that evil side, trying to get me down.

I guess it's working today.

So I am going to put up some pictures that I took, of the flowers that are out in my yard.

Flowers that I love.

That make me smile.

Then go to bed and start anew.

and remember all the things that I CAN do.

that I AM good at.

and that, evenutally, I'll get to where I want to be weight wise,

and hopefully, be content with ME.

How I shop on occasion now

I’ve been wanting to do a post like this for a looooong time. I keep hesitating, and putting it off, because I don’t want to seem like a “copy cat.”
But after my shopping trip yesterday, I can’t keep quiet. I HAVE to share.
I think I’ve been doing it for a LONG time . Probably longer than some of the sites now up on the web. Maybe not, I don't know when they are started, But, I feel like I can share what I know. I know what I'm talking about too. (for the most part)


There are soooo many websites out there already and they show you how to shop with coupons and save money. It’s almost soo many that it’s overwhelming. I look and browse a lot of them. I’m not “obsessed” with it anymore, one, because time is limited for me now, and two and more importantly, we have enough “stock” on hand of most things, to be OK. I do however, still pick up things even though we don’t need them, for free or nearly free, just because you always can find someone who needs them, or donate them to shelters of some sort. And honestly, I like the little “high” you get when I do so well!


If you have NO idea what I am talking about, and are not interested, scroll down and see some cute pictures of my kids. If you are though, please keep reading. Many of my friends and family don’t shop this way. They are amazed how I do it. Want to be better with their money, but don’t take the time to learn, or think they can’t, so I’m posting this for them, so maybe it’s a little easier to “grasp the concept.” It does take a little time to get the concept and know what and how to do things, but for me, it’s about an hours time organizing my trips, if there is more than one, and I think it’s worth the time.




So a little background {if you don’t care, or have the time, scroll down to where I start My trip yesterday.} When we were living down at the beach and my husband was finishing up his undergrad, I had a friend that I “worked” with at church. We started on the topic of shopping and spending money, and onto "deals", and then she told me what she found. Now her husband is a doctor, so money wasn't necessarily an issue for her. She had 3 little kids, {a family of 5} and was just tired of spending SOOO MUCH ($1000-1200 a month} in groceries. She knew it was necessary to feed her family, and it wasn't something she could cut out of her monthly spending, but she wondered if it could be cheaper. One day she was on the internet and googled "cheaper groceries", or "save money on groceries/ food", something like that, and came across; Teri’s list or otherwise known as the grocery game. She started it, fell in LOVE, and then shared it with me. She showed my her pantry, her “stock” and I was totally game and ready to play. This was 2002. I’m thinking, I don’t know if I WAS pregnant with Bubbas but probably must have been. So anyways, I learned it, got my routine down and starting shopping like that, and we even taught a class at church so others could do the same.


In 2004, we left the beach house, a very sad time for us, but Bradley had graduated college and had JUST gotten a job that was much further away. We moved to his parents to save some money, because we knew that we wanted to buy a home soon, and there wasn't really a way we could save in our current situation. While living there at his parents, I continued to shop for his family. At that point, I don’t remember how many kids were still at home, I guess two and their cousin, so 3. Plus us, plus his parents and the other ones that came over to work, (family business) so there where at least 10 people through the week eating there. It was pertinent that I continued to shop like that. My IL’s paid for the food, I just clipped the coupons and went to the store and that was my “contribution” let’s say, that we agreed on. It was a great agreement, in my opinion. I LOVED to shop AND save money. I got to do both, without spending my own money. And they got a fridge and pantry stocked with stuff!

So a year later, we moved out, bought our home, and I continued to shop this way for about another year until 2006, religiously, then we had sooo much and I was wanting more healthier foods and so I only did it every now and then. Kind of took a break for 2 years. The newness wore off, and we were OK to buy what we needed.
When Boo Boo was coming, I started up again in 2008, because I knew how hard is would be to get to the store for this or that, and with a baby, diapers and wipes were necessary so I wanted to stock up when I could for the “rainy days.”
Things had changed in these few years. More people were shopping this way. More stores, were on the bandwagon, and more specials and deals were out there to be had.
And that is just what I did. So here we are today. I watch the specials, get the newspaper for the coupons, or actually I get the coupons from grandma’s paper, (we would never read the paper so why get it when she does?? LOL) and I still shop occasionally for the "deals".
SOOOO now onto the post.

Shopping trip Yesterday




I went to CVS and this is what I bought. Gosh can I even say that??? hehe keep reading, and you'll know why.

My total at first was 29 and some change, I don't even remember.

Then, I used these coupons from iheartcvs.com links:
$1.00off CVS paper product (prints at machine with rewards card)
$1.00 Dial soap coupon
$1.50 Jergens
2 $2.50 John freida hair products
$4 off 20 beauty purchase



Paid with These extra care bucks (ecb’s):
4.50 in ecb from my winter spending
3.99 ecb's colgate deal {still going on}
5.00 ecb from huggies deal a couple weeks ago

and it took my total to............


which means I paid "Out of pocket" (OOP) :
Ready??? Wait for it,,,,,,,,,

Wait for it……………… (Here's my receipt so you know I don't fib)
.99 + (tax) 1.53= 2.52



That's not ALL!!!!

I got back :
5 ecb for the Jergens/John Freida purchases
4.49 for the Dove shampoo
4.50 for the Dial soap
And .25 cents for my “green bag tag”. {It’s a dollar after 4 visits, so .25 each visit.}

So I spent 2.52 and got back 14.24 for my future spending.

Essentially, they paid me = 11.72 to come and take buy things from their store. They got $7.50 in coupons that they send to the manufactures and get $$$ for. I see this as a win /win situation if you ask me.
Go out and try it if you don't.
If you have any questions, let me know. {this post was already wayyy long and so I didn't go into ever. single. detail. )
I am MORE than happy to help people’s money go further and help you stock your house for the “rainy days”.
Because as we know, like what’s happening today out there in the economy, you never know when you are going to need your stockpile. I’m glad that we have it on hand, in case we REALLY need it. Meaning, unemployment, illness, that sort of thing. We USE it, or share it and give to others, but if we couldn’t go out and buy these things for some reason, we’d be OK with a lot of things on hand. With the money I saved, when I first started out, THIS is how I got my hair done, pedicaures, ate out for dinner, and did fun things with my family.

So how many people shop like this?? Is this a totally "new" concept for you, or is this "your" way as well. Just curious to see. Leave me a comment if you went through some or ALL of this, {I'm sorry, it was REALLY LONG,} and let me know how YOU shop.


Here are a few sites I've used or currently use to check things out.

thegrocerygame.com
iheartcvs.com
iheartwags.com
iheartriteaid.com

afullcup.com
couponmom.com
coupontom.com {database to search for when coupons came out)