Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Saving Money!!

I was recently introduced to the art of super coupon shopping and now I'm officially addicted! I have become a nuisance at the grocery store, even warning people in line behind me that I'm going to be awhile. The last time I went to the market, I saved $109. 82 in coupons. In some cases I'm getting several items for completely free! I'm hooked! I've been using the website www.southernsavers.com to find deals and coupons to make my plan of attack. I've already done my shopping for the month of December, which was less than $200 (of course I'll have to pick up milk several times) and I don't think that's too bad for a family of 4! I never thought I could feed my family for less than $50 a week!
Anyway, the point of this post is that I'm already making my New Year's resolution to spend less and save more! My goal is to save $2,500 on groceries in 2010! Judging by my recent shopping ventures, I think it's very do-able! I'll be posting my savings each time I shop and hopefully I can exceed my goal by the end of the year!

Man, I've been slacking!!

I realized I haven't put up any new pictures since our trip to Savannah and actually, I haven't really taken many pictures either! :( Here's a little update to what we've been up to.
This is what happens when daddy feeds Joey pasta!

This is how I found Joey the morning after Halloween. He got a hold of a popcorn ball Cameron left unattended and climbed up in his stroller to watch T.V. and lounge.


Cameron trick or treating in the neighborhood.

I think I may have shown this before, but I think it's great, so here it is again!

Baby Mario

Mario and Luigi! I spent quite a bit of time fashioning a hat that would stay on Joey's head. He had that thing off in less than a second!

Our pumpkins

Thanksgiving cake! This is actually the only pic I have from Thanksgiving! I hosted this year and cooked everything myself for the first time. For those of you that don't know, I don't eat any meat and haven't for 17 years. This makes cooking meat a little challenging for me, but I tackled it head on... with the help of some decorating gloves. :) I cleaned, brined and cooked the turkey all by myself and was *told* that it was great. I hope it wasn't sympathy! ;) I also made about 10 sides and my first carrot cake from scratch. I think everything went pretty well... even with just 3 hours of sleep!

I took Joey to see Santa yesterday and actually got a decent pic of him! I did the drop and run method and the photographer was able to capture the .02 seconds of confusion before the screaming began!


Friday, October 30, 2009

Free Cakes for Kids

This is my latest cake... pretty similar to the last cake I made, but I think this one turned out better. This was a cake for the Free Cakes for Kids program and it went to Alpha House in St. Pete. Alpha House is a shelter that helps pregnant teens get back on their feet. It's a great program, but they are in desperate need of donations! They were really happy to have the cake and I'll be digging through my closet (and Joey's closet) to see what else I have to donate!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Savannah!!

Joe and I took a weekend trip to Savannah, GA for our 1 year wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year already!!
When I told Joe I wanted to go to Savannah, he kept asking what there was to do there. He was a good sport about it when I told him "walk around" and agreed to go without complaining. We ended up having a really nice time and I can't wait to go back again!
This is a random pic of one of the buildings on River Street, but I really like how it came out... so here it is. :)
We managed to stumble across an old train yard where they are restoring trains that are well over 100 years old. It was so amazing to see them! The pic below is just a restaurant, not one of the old trains.
There weren't any tourists or guides at this train yard, so it was really quiet and a little bit eerie. It almost feels as if the trains are alive... maybe it was because Joe and I wandered in different directions and I was a little creeped out, but either way, the trains are amazing! The picture below is where the train cars are turned to meet up with the engines.




This is my fave pic out of all of the trains! I can just imagine this engine in it's prime! You can see a little bit of the hood above it, which were used to vent toxic fumes out of the building. This engine is actually a diesel engine built by GM.



This car is fully restored to it's original state. It was a luxury passenger car used to transport the president!


Looking down the rail into an empty stall.

Waiting for restoration.

Well... off to the city!


The beautiful Forsyth Park Fountain! This was a mail ordered fountain that Savannah purchased. It is a replica of a French fountain and currently there are only 3 like it in the world.

St. John the Baptist Cathedral



One of the restaurants where we ate.

Many of the lanterns in Savannah are still lit by flame!




Drive by spotting of Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace. She was the founder of the Girl Scouts!


Close up of the Tomochichi Monument.

The full monument.

The view down Broughton.

The Hatian Monument.

Wine tasting we went to. The wine is locally made and really tastes like the grape it's made from. We also tried a peach wine that was amazing!

Horse drawn carriage tours.

The famous Lucas Theater!

Telfair Women's Hospital. There's only one way for a male to be a patient there and that is to be born there... and then you have 3 days to get out!



Mercer House. We decided against touring the house since the woman that now owns it closed off all but one floor and sold off all the original furniture. :(

This is the Sorrel-Weed House and in case you haven't heard, it's one of the most haunted houses in America and I've been inside... in the dark! For the record, I didn't see or feel anything... although it might be because I was so pre-occupied with thinking someone was going to try to scare us, which they did!

This is the backside of the Sorrel-Weed house where Mrs. Sorrel leapt to her death from the upper balcony. It has actually been certified as haunted... if that really means anything.

The garden of the Sorrel-Weed house.


Me looking slightly traumatized outside the house. For the record, this is the only picture of me in Savannah, so I'm including it!

Iron work is everywhere in Savannah!

Paula Deen's Lady & Sons!


The bridge where cotton would be inspected when it was brought into port. All of River Street's buildings where originally cotton warehouses!

Ships passing in port.


The Waving Girl

The Olympic Monument


Gainesville!

I took the boys to Gainesville a couple weeks ago, but this is the first I've had a chance to upload the pics!!
This is a cake I made for my sister's -BFF's -son's birthday. Did you follow that? :0)
It made it over 150 miles with minimal damage!

Joey and Alayna running around in Andrea's backyard.




Hayride at the pumpkin patch.


Cameron and Zachary on the hayride.



Cameron saw a sign that said hay bales were $5 each and he was convinced they meant these giant ones! He kept trying to get me to buy one! I can just picture them strapping this thing to my truck and me driving away with it! Haha!!


My little poser!




Joey on the tractor.

With a face like this, I should've known he was up to NO GOOD!! He later threw the world's most embarrassing temper tantrum!