WIN!!!

go here: http://www.pamelatopping.com/2010/11/epiphanie/#comment-584

and win yourself a fab bag!

One of these days I will actually get one of these cool bags....I've entered SEVERAL contests...I want one so much! hMMM, my birthday is coming up soon....hint hint! lol

I'm saving, I'm saving....

This couponing is addicting and so much fun! But my chores are slagging as I am spending time clipping and organizing my coupons.

I'm so thankful to all the coupon blogs...they truly are the ones saving me money. I'm sure I could (and well do) figure out some great deals on my own, having them be totally lined out for me is awesome. The very first blog I followed was: http://www.thesassysaver.net/sassy-coupon-giveaway-706-93-in-coupons/ and she is having a contest that I sure would love to win, because it's for MORE COUPONS! lol!

I really suggest you try this coupon thing out, especially if you have a super tight budget. When my family had two incomes I could go to Target and pick up that cute pillow that matched my couch, or buy my daughter a pair of shoes she didn't need because they were just too cute for words. But now I have to watch my spending very carefully, literally every penny makes a difference. I no longer treat change as a nuisance, it's now part of my budget.
So how do you start couponing? Well read the "Be a Sassy Saver" on the above blog, go to http://www.coupons.com and print coupons...you can print them twice from each computer. Then you should go to http://www.adperks.com if you have a Rite Aid in your area and watch the videos for big value coupons. They last from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on the company. I just turn my volume off, hit play and then do something like organize, clip, write, whatever while it plays...but make sure you are paying attention to when it ends because you only have 30 seconds to enter a code in to get the coupon. It sounds long and complicated, but really isn't. Then you can combine these Rite Aid STORE coupons with MANUFACTURER coupons with their sale price and get things for super cheap or lots of time FREE!!! Target also has coupons on their site and you don't need to watch a video (but I don't find their deals nearly as good). I hope this gets you started!

First shoot of the season

I had such a great time shooting the Schlange family this last Sunday. They made my job so super easy! First of all they are an adorable family and secondly they just did exactly what I suggested. I think the pictures turned out great, I hope they do too! I can't wait for my shoots next Sunday....I have so many ideas for them flowing through my head. All 3 will be totally different. I'd just like to Thank God for the opportunity to do something I Love :)

Coupons!!!!

I'm having so much fun with coupons! Since I'm totally broke, this coupon thing is helping me with retail therapy...even if it's just shampoo! See if I can get it free, I don't care what it is :p

I started following The Sassy Saver a few months ago, but still didn't get into the coupon thing until my sister ran into a mutual friend at Target who was couponing in a major way! She emailed my sis her secrets and the rest is history! I want to share as much with you as I can so that you can enjoy free or cheap retail therapy too!

First subscribe to these two blogs http://www.thesassysaver.net/ and http://thekrazycouponlady.com/

I also came across this today and have yet to read through it, I'll share it, but I don't know as of yet how treasurable this link is :p http://www.allyou.com/coupons-deals/5-coupon-blogs-we-love-00400000061848/index.html

I was hoping to share some photographs that I had taken last night today, but unfortunately the shoot got rescheduled....

Hello Again!!!

Okay, my goal is two-fold for my blog. One to share my photography and upcoming sessions and two to share about my couponing. Many ask about both....so here you go...a twofor!!!

I'll be back later with more info on my Fall Portrait Specials!

Been a while

I always have so much to blog about...but then I never do. I severely lack motivation and energy. This is something that I'm working on. Trying to get on a consistent exercise routine, continue to put healthy foods in my body and lastly, I got back on my meds that help keep me alert. I really wanted to stay off of them and did for several months...but I was miserable. So unfortunately, all of these things cost money. Yes I could exercise for free, but that's not realistic. I won't do it. I need the structure of a gym. And as messed up as it is, healthy food is a lot more expensive then junk food...wow, America is backwards! The meds are $500 a month ( I will try to stretch that). I did go on the manufacturers website and they have an assistance program...it looks like I'd qualify...so that offers me some hope.
My Dr. wants me to have some blood work done. Hopefully it offers some information about this fatigue and weight issue. I'm also going to a weight Dr. to hopefully help me lose this weight I gained (for reasons I'm not totally sure of). Seems lack of sleep, stress and not eating much made me gain weight...weird. So now I need to lose it and with all my ailments it's quite the obstacle. So I'm excited by all this. I hope to feel good overall VERY soon!

Withdrawals

So my FB took about 28 hours to reappear....That's a LONG time if you are an addict. What to do, What to do? What did I do before FB (it wasn't that long ago). Oh I remember, Digital Scrapbooking free downloads. I used to spend a good hour if not hours a night going through my favorite site: http://digifree.craftcrave.com/search?updated-max=2011-01-01T01%3A00%3A00%2B11%3A00&max-results=1

I'd find the great scrapbook kits that I could download for FREE and it helped give me that shopping fix. I LOVE to buy scrapbook supplies! My friend Jamie has taken up digital scrapbooking and this week she asked if I wanted to take a challenge on one of the websites she learns through...I figured sure...especially since I have NO access to my beloved Face Book. The challenge was to creat a page with a quote from a movie or song. Here is the page I did:

Addiction

Addiction, what an ugly word! I previously wrote about "bad habits"....well, I am finding that I also have addictions. I used to say I didn't understand addiction, because I don't have an addictive personality. I'm finding that I do. I'm so addicted to the computer. It's bad....I can't go a day without it and if I do it's because I'm out of town and very busy. Tonight Facebook is not working and this has me in withdrawals...I feel ashamed. I love to play scrabble at night on FB, the game stimulates my brain and relaxes it at the same time. I feel lost tonight. I NEED to be doing non computer things. I'm so exhausted and I just want to lay in bed. Oh me oh my...I'm gonna blame Daylight Savings Time...the darkness makes me lazy. During the summer I keep up on chores better, I go out in the evenings, I don't feel like I just want to get under the covers and not come out. DSV is coming soon....I'm gonna kick some addiction ass soon, very soon ;)

Hello Kitty

First off, let me just say a little Woot! Woot!....3 blogs in the new year already :p

So on Facebook there was a weekly theme to put a retro pic of yourself on your profile. I do not have any pics of me handy as they are all packed in the hopes that I may actually sell my house sometime soon. This week I saw a few people mention to post your favorite character. So that is one I can participate in. I assume you as my reader are smart enough to now relate the title of the post to who my favorite character might be :)

I'll never forget the Sanrio store in the mall as a little girl. I LOVED Hello Kitty! I still love Hello Kitty. Certain people in my life tease me about this...and YOU know who YOU are! So to show that I'm not alone in liking this little kitty, I searched some images on the good ol' web to show some cool Hello Kitty shwag! (look closely, I think a few might give you a little giggle!)

I would like to say that I'm not obsessed with this character. I don't have Hello Kitty everything....I don't collect Hello Kitty stuff...I do however encourage my daughter to also have a love for Hello Kitty so that I can enjoy it a little more :)
Does getting a Hello Kitty tattoo mean i'm obsessed with her? I don't think it does...I just really dig her image. I'll be getting this tattoo this spring or summer. She will rest to the left of my belly button and just a little north of the bikini (like the picture to the right here...but the image a little more on my tummy). Here are two that I think will look like what I want.

Money, Money, Money, Money, Moooo-ney!

“Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.”

Yah, money is an issue for most of us. I have always been pretty good with money. However, I'm finding it very hard to have my income cut exactly in half. I keep trying to cut, cut, cut expenses. But eventually there isn't much left to cut. I was very discouraged Friday when I called Charter. I currently have my phone, internet and cable through them. I have never been without cable in my whole life. I finally decided that that was an expense I could cut. Anyone who knows me really well knows how much I have loved T.V..I don't watch it as much as I used to, but I still do like to escape reality and watch someone else's. I also used to love talking on the phone, but since I had kids who could talk and therefore INTERRUPT; talking on the phone is NOT something I enjoy now. So turning off my phone is not a big deal to me. I have a cell phone if I need a phone. Now the internet...hmmm, don't think I can live without that...lol. So I was hoping to call and cancel the phone and cable. I was informed that I was in a contract and it would cost me $150 to get out of the contract. Also, since I was breaking the contract I could no longer participate in any specials....grrr! So the lady gave me a $25 credit on my bill to think about it. I told the lady thank you, but I don't imagine money will suddenly appear in my checking account in the next 2 weeks and as much as I hate to cancel EVERYTHING that is what I will be doing in 2 weeks. So now I'm bummed that I have to lose all 3. I will research and find a decent internet service...but I hate losing my email address. I have had it for a long time now and EVERYTHING is tied to it. So I'll take this 2 week period to set up a new email and try to change over the million accounts I have that are tied to it.

Now if I could just sell my darn house, I could actually make my budget work.

New Year's Resolution....

Blog more...why, I dunno. I have so much to say, not sure why I don't blog more. I lay in bed at night and write great blogs in my head....but then the day comes and I get busy or when I go to write the amazing blog from the night before I can't remember any of the wit that I thought would be good. I suppose if I get in the habit. Habits is the subject for the rest of the blog.

We all have habits....more bad than good too I bet.
I tend to focus on breaking the bad ones instead of instilling good ones.
I want so badly to have some great GOOD habits.
Some are so simple like take my vitamins daily, put old lady lotion on my face to stay looking young, drink more water.
Then there are the harder ones like, exercise, prepare my lunches, and keep my car clean. Seeing them in written word seems silly when i say they are hard. I like to exercise. I LOVE to dance...would take dance classes every day. I like going to the gym and riding the bike while I read and then using the machines. But I can't afford the gym or dance and even if I could, I feel too tired and wore out. Yes, exercise would help...it all makes sense. There is pretty much only benefits from exercising, yet I don't do it...ugh!

I also have terrible eating habits. I LOVE to eat healthy...yah terrible right? well, the problem is I hate to cook and how many fast, easy Healthy choices are there? not a lot. So I end up not eating. Then by the evening I'm starving and I have most of my food choices at home so I eat a bunch. I don't think I go over calories, but I go long periods of time that my body gets all confused. I also wasn't sleeping much and the combo was bad for my metabolism. I need to get back on track. Just need to start that good habit and then keep it going. My big goal is to make my lunches for the week on Sunday along with a meal plan. Bummer part is I am on a major budget restraint so I'm not able to buy the foods that are healthier, and since I'm a vegetarian it gets even tougher. So I'm still fumbling my way through being a single mom and the one that cooks (Ryan used to be the cook).

Lastly, why the heck can't I keep my car clean? 5 things go in and only 3 come out....4 more in and 3 more out and after a week that equals MESSY car. With my kids it is 7 things in 2 things out....know what I mean?

I'm going to tackle these one at a time and slowly. Because when I try too fast and too much it results in FAILURE....and I'm done with that :)