New Adventure: Couponing

I'm amazed by people who save hundreds and thousands of dollars a year by couponing.  Every time someone posts on Facebook a picture of their loot and how much they paid vs. how much they saved, I think, "Man, I wish I could do that!"

Well that stops today!  I'm going to be an avid couponer.  Not one like those crazy people on Extreme Couponers that spend hours a day clipping coupons and have a stash that takes up their whole spare bedroom.  I'm going to have a stock pile that fits in our pantry and our fridge of things that we'll actually use/eat and I'm going to save us money!

For my first couponing adventure I scored:

6 lbs of chicken breasts, 6 rolls of Scott paper towels, 1 package of chicken noodles, 1 jar of pasta sauce, 1 jar of parmesan cheese, 1 can of crescent rolls, and a 16 oz. box of spaghetti noodles

I spent $22.97.

I saved $21.95!

That means almost half the stuff on that table is FREE.  That's pretty good for the first time, in my humble opinion.  :)

The Story of Mr. Squirrel

Well let's see...  Yesterday morning about 6 or 6:30, I woke up to a loud ruckus.  I got out of bed and went to the window to see what was going on, but I didn't see anything.  I realized the noise was coming from our chimney, so I went back to bed and woke up Parker.  "Hey babe, I think something is in our chimney."  His response, "Is it raining?"

[Um,  No.  That's not rain.]  Then he rolled over and closed his eyes again.  Hello?  There is something in our chimney!  About ten minutes later, we heard boom a loom a loom boom boom boom BOOOMM.  Holy crap, what was that?  THEN, Parker got out of bed to check out the situation.  :) I love you honey!

Whatever it was, it was stunned and didn't move for a while.  Later, we heard scratching and clawing.  We figured it was a squirrel because anyone who's been to our house knows about the crazy squirrels we have around here thanks to our old lady neighbor who FEEDS and NAMES them.  Shaking my head.

Well, we called around - Homeowner's Association, Animal Control, Pest Removal - apparently, no one "deals" with this kind of situation.  It's okay though, because Parker decided to take it on himself.

Plan A:

If you can't tell, that's Parker attempting to open the draft with a string, causing the squirrel to fall in "this here" box, followed by Parker putting the top on the box and carefully removing said squirrel.  Oh, and me watching from the guest bedroom with the door cracked. Hahaha!

Well, Plan A didn't work, so we called some folks we thought might have experience with this type of situation.  Parker came up with Plan B: To Smoke His Tail Out of There.

So, with a Rubbermaid storage container lid to "steer him out" and the front door wide open, he started a fire in the fireplace.  A HUGE FIRE, which did smoke his tail out of there - in fact, Mr. Squirrel came darting out of the fireplace WITH HIS TAIL ON FIRE!  AND, instead of running out the open front door, he ran around the house!

Okay, let's back up a second.  We read online that if you shut all the other room doors and turn out all the lights except where you want the squirrel to go, the squirrel will follow the light.  LIES.  Not true at all.

Mr. Squirrel ran under the couch, under the table, under the couch, under the table, around the living room... Parker searched everywhere until finally, he was convinced that Mr. Squirrel must have snuck out the front door.  The problem was that I hadn't seen our friend crawl out the front door, so I wasn't ready to come out of the guest bedroom.

Lucky for us, my doubts caused Parker to "prove" to me the squirrel wasn't in the house by checking everything one last time.  The sneaky little fellow was behind the TV stand.  :)

Then he ran under a table causing the book The Prayer of Jabez to fall in the floor.  Parker slid the book at the squirrel and finally he ran out the door.  Charred tail and all.

God works in mysterious ways.  Thank the Lord for The Prayer of Jabez.

Our living room afterwards:

 There was blood and soot everywhere!  It took half an hour to clean up.  Good times.

My hero, my husband:

Husband of the Year Award?  I think so.

Just call us honeymooners :)

Our honeymoon was awesome!  We spent our first week as husband and wife in Ocho Rios, Jamaica -- Thank you babe! :)  After our reception, we came home for our first night of married bliss.  The next morning, we woke up, finished packing, and went to Raleigh for the night.  Then, bright and early on Monday morning we flew to Charlotte and then to Montego Bay in Jamaica.  We stayed at a Couples Resort and loved it so much!  Here are a some pictures to help me recap...

Yay! We're here!!

 Our bed with all our stuff on it.

Our living area - we stayed in a penthouse suite and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

The view from our enormous balcony including a dining table and two lounge chairs.

Part of the resort from a boat

Another part of the resort from a boat and some blue water :)

The views were gorgeous - this is our view from one of the pools that we frequented.

This is a man climbing a palm tree and throwing down coconuts.  Seriously.

The view from the breakfast restaurant.  Everyday.

 Speaking of restaurants, the food was so good.

Besides eating... we also went on a glass bottom boat ride, snorkeling (which was awesome), kayaking, and Parker took me sailing! 

We got a couple's massage in a 3 sided hut with the open side facing the beach.  It was so relaxing to hear the waves crashing!

We spent a lot of time just relaxing on the beach under huts or palm trees.  See my handsome husband?   The resort staff called him John Deere all week :) haha

 Our camera got smudged :(

We love you Jamaica!

  

We definitely recommend Couples Sans Souci in Jamaica!  We had a wonderful time and we made lots of memories!!

Wedding Weekend Recap

Hi friends!!

I know that I owe you lots of wedding details and I'm finally ready to oblige!  I'll start with the rehearsal...

Well... we rehearsed :)



We goofed off a little :)



Got the job done...

Then we went to Rep Express for the Rehearsal Dinner which was a luau hosted by Parker's parents.  The food was AWESOME, and so was the company! :)

The next day, we woke up and calmly got ready...

Took some pictures with the photographer...

...and each other! :)  Thanks to Lauren for hauling my camera around all weekend to capture tons of special moments. 

Finally, we were married and had an awesome reception.  Then Parker & I took off on our honeymoon to Ocho Rios in Jamaica!!  :)  (Pics from the honeymoon coming tomorrow!!!)  I also will post some of the photographer's pictures when we get them back and I'll do a review of our vendors over the next few days & weeks.  Until then...

 

Life is good! :)

Hi friends!

Yes, I'm still around!  I know that it has been FOREVER since I've blogged, but trust me, it is not because I have not had anything to blog about!  I have been SO busy!

In no order what-so-ever...

I finished student teaching, submitted a 400+ page portfolio, graduated with my Master of Arts in Teaching, packed up my apartnment, moved back to Greenville last Friday, applied for jobs, interviewed for a job...

Planned last minute wedding details, unpacked, enjoyed four bridal showers, wrote many many thank you notes for all the WONDERFUL gifts we've received, had bridal portraits, and had a great time at my bachelorette party...

Attended two family reunions, spent Easter and Memorial day weekends with family, went to our nephew's baptism, our cousin's dedication, a few birthday parties, and unfortunately wasn't able to make a few more...

Now that we are in the single digit countdown to the wedding (9 days to be exact), we are still unpacking, arranging, and organizing our home, still planning last minute details for the wedding, fitting in annual doctor checkups before my insurance switches over, packing for our honeymoon to Jamaica (!!)...

You know, typical stuff.   :)

AND, the best news of the past month came today.  I got a job teaching social studies at the high school I graduated from and I could not be happier!  With all the budget cuts, I have been on edge about getting a job.  Teaching at SCHS is like my dream job and I really thought it was a shot in the dark - but God is so good! :)  I am on cloud nine!  I promise that once we get back from Jamaica I'll be a better blogger! :)  I hate that I have missed recording these awesome few months!

Latest Update on Mom

Hi friends!

As many of you already know, last week we learned that my mom's latest scan results showed that one of the four tumors in her brain had increased in size.  Dr. W, the oncologist in Greenville, wanted my mom to meet with Dr. A, also an oncologist, in Chapel Hill again about the next step in treatment.  Mom has met with Dr. A before about a clinical trial that is in the works at UNC and also for genetic testing.  We had the appointment today and we have made some new decisions!

First, we met with Dr. E, a neurosurgeon at UNC.  He is not 100% that the scans indicate cancer growth because sometimes after radiation, the brain gets "radiation dump" and can swell... Yes, even a year after gamma knife (in fact, even up to 2 years later).  Surgery is a possibility in the future, but not needed at this time, just something to "keep in our pocket."  He is also weening her off the steroid unless she starts to show physical symptoms.

Then, we met with Dr. A, who is SO sweet!  Even though Dr. E feels pretty sure that there is not cancer growth (based on his experience), she wants to be a little more pro-active, just in case - and we fully support that decision!  We talked about a bunch of different options (some we decided to "keep in our pocket" for the time being).  What we have decided is to stop Tykerb & Xeloda (treatment for brain) and switch to Irinotecan.  It will be infusion rather than pills once a week for two weeks, off a week, repeat, repeat, repeat... The side effects are a little bit more severe, but should be manageable with other drugs.  There is also about a 40% chance she'll lose her hair :-\, but that means a 60% chance she won't!  She will stay on Herceptin (it protects the neck down) since it is doing it's job wonderfully!

In 2 months, she'll go back to UNC for scans and to meet with Dr. E and Dr. A again.  They will be in charge of her care from now on, but Dr. W will be able to administer treatments in Greenville so we won't have to travel back and forth.

In general, we are super pleased with the plan and decisions made today.  We left the hospital laughing, which I think is a great sign!  Thanks for the prayers!  We can feel God's protection!

Students say the darndest things!

Tomorrow is my last day student teaching!  I am so sad about this - seriously!  I'd much rather be in the classroom working with young people than talking/reading about theory and diversity.  I know that I've said it before, but I seriously loved everything about student teaching!  My students were great (most of the time, haha) and I love each of them!  I especially love their crazy comments and conversations...  For example... (by the way, this is totally anonymous!)

AP Government did a Presidential Report Card meaning that each student chose a president and gave him grades for different things (foreign diplomacy, domestic policy, general character, etc).  Then, in groups of 5 they had to nominate one president from the group to be added to Mt. Rushmore.  In one class, the nominated presidents were Jackson, Reagan, Eisenhower, Truman, Obama, and Clinton - the winner was Truman.  In the other class, the nominated presidents were Clinton, FDR, Reagan, and JFK - the winner was FDR.  One student tried to nominate Grover Cleveland, "Because we all want to see that mustache on Mt. Rushmore!"

But if that's the credential we're looking for, I think we should go with Taft.  Just sayin'.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Civics, the students had a test on the judicial branch.  They had a short answer on court cases, which we had covered by having students act out.  When the group that acted out New Jersey vs. TLO presented, they nicknamed the main character "Tillo."  Well, I guess one of the students didn't get the memo that Tillo was short for TLO... because that's what he wrote on his test.  When we finally figured it out, we had a good laugh.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Words from the wise:

"Student: Miss Case, are you single?

Me: No, student, I'm engaged.  I'm getting married in June!

Student: Oh, well, does he have good credit?

Me:  Well, yes, he does!

Student: Well, is he rich?

Me:  Ha, no.  We're just starting out, so we're not rich at all, but he does well enough.

Student:  Well, it is better to be poor with good credit than to be rich with no credit.

Me:  Student, you are right about that.  How'd you get to be so smart?

Student:  My momma.  Does he treat his momma right?

Me:  Sure does.

Student:  That's good.  Does he treat you right?  Do you trust him?

Me: Yeah, he's a great guy.

Student:  Well that's good.  You let me know if he doesn't."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Civics, when discussing lobbying, students had to act as lobbyists from different interest groups by giving a speech to legislators who were about to vote on a law that would require first time DUI offenders to have breathalyzers in their vehicle.  One group's spokesperson, with his best MLK imitation, started out his speech: "Since the beginning of history, America has been based on three important concepts - drinkin', drivin', and civil riiightttssss..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

AP students did current events each week during 3rd quarter.  For the assignment they had to read two articles and email the writer of one/leave a comment online.  One student decided to shoot Obama an email after the State of the Union address.  It was very well written, and included this at the end:

"P.S.  I also appreciate your clever jokes - especially the one about salmon."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When talking about current events in AP, one student remarked:

"Ms. Case, I am so serious when I say this, but when do people in Egypt sleep?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent a whole day talking about propaganda.  When I got to cardstacking, I gave the example of a ShamWow commercial on YouTube.  You would have thought I had shown them the secret of life.  The class looked like this: 

So funny.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For AP's 4th quarter current event assignments, they are using Twitter.  (It is so awesome by the way).  One student tweeted Obama "@Obama, I'm curious, how does it feel to have fired more cruise missiles than any other Nobel Peace Prize winners combined?"

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sure that there are about a dozen other funny stories I could tell, but I just can't remember them all right now.  Maybe later.  Hopefully this will hold you over until then. :)  I sure will miss these great kids!