Postive Thoughts

There is no better saying for my current life situation than "when it rains, it pours."  As stressed as I am with getting all of this work done in 2 & 1/2 weeks my computer decided to also malfunction on me. So it is now in tech support which could mean I won't have a computer for a solid week.  I just pray that they can fix it.  My car also went crazy last week so it is in the shop.  I really feel like the devil is testing me right now but I am not going to let him win.

Here are some postive thoughts for anyone else who may be going through a hard time.

No matter what life brings you there is always something positive you can look to.  In my situation I am thankful for being healthy.  If I was sick on top of everything else I don't know how I would be able to make it. God never gives us more than we can handle.  I truly believe that each trial that I go through is making me a stronger person.  I am much stronger and wiser than I was before I came to college.  I have had my hard times but I can't regret anything because I love who I am today.

Alexander Graham Bell said "When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."  This is such a true and inspiring statement.  It is so important not to dwell on the past and to look toward the future. 

I'll end with a verse and a song that has really helped me get through these past few weeks.

 

James 1:  2-4 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Complete Dinner for 2 for under $3

My friend came over this weekend and we wanted to fix something cheap for supper.  I looked in my stock pile and saw that we had cheese & garlic biscuit mix and uncle bens rice.  These were items I had gotten free during Harris Teeter triple coupons.  I went to Food Lion and got a pack of skinless chicken tenders which were on sale for $2.74 a pack.  Earlier that day I had bought Montreal Chicken Rub for .50 cent after using a McCormick coupon at Food Lion.  I sprinkled some of the rub on the chicken and baked the tenders for 20 minutes.  It only took about 30 minutes to fix the whole meal.  It all tasted great and was an awesome deal for less than 3 dollars!

Mail Call

Here is a picture of the things I have gotten free in the mail over the past two weeks.  I got a full bottle of pantene shampoo, excedrin migraine, react 5 gum, sample of puffs, sample of aveeno shampoo and condition, uni-ball ink pen, 2 purex 3 in 1 laundry sheets, benefiber sample, glade warmer and refill, and a sample of kashi cereal.


I use ourcouponhome.com to find where to go online to register for free samples.   This really is a great way to try products and gave you money.  Normally every time you get a free sample you will also get a coupon for that item.  For example, I got a $2 coupon for Pantene with the free bottle.  I used this at CVS this week and got another free bottle with the coupon because they had it on sale.

You can sign up to get a free sample of coffee here:

Bulletin Board

Here is a picture of the first bulletin board I created. I'm pretty happy with it since it's my first time putting one together. I had no idea it would take so much work for one bulletin board though. On the leaves are haikus that my third grade reading group wrote and on the apples are couplets they wrote. I'm pretty proud of them as you can tell.

Recent Deals

I haven't had time to do much shopping lately but was able to go to a few stores over Easter break.

My CVS Trip on 4/5
1 Pantene Conditioner: $2.99 - $2 Q(coupon) = .99
1 Colgate Enamel toothpaste: $2.99 - $1 Q = $1.99
1 Tampax Pearl 40 count: $7.99 - $2 Q
1 Tampax Pearl 20 count: Free with BOGO Q
Excedrin Migraine 24 ct: FREE with Q

Also used 4/20 Q
Total after coupons: 6.32
I also got back 5 ECB and another 4/20 Q

For those of you who don't know what ECB's are they are coupons for dollars you can spend on any purchase at CVS. So for this trip after I spend my ECB's it would be like only paying $1.32 for all of that stuff.

My Food Lion Trip 4/6 (Picture below)
5 boxes of snuggle dryer sheets =2.99 each,- 5 $3 Q's, = All 5 FREE
KoolAid Fun Fizzes- $2 - $1 Q = $1
Stouffers Toasted Sub - FREE with Q
Vitamin Water = FREE with Q
Food Lion Cinanmon Toasted Cereal = FREE reward on my MVP

Final total: $1.81

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about getting deals like these. I am planing on teaching a coupon workshop in May.

Bucket List

First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. I just got back from my lunch at my aunts and I am going to my grandmas later. We had a great church service today. The main message was that their is HOPE because the tomb is empty!

I am beginning to recover after the break up with Lewis. I have realized that this is a chance to do things that I want to do for me. So I am putting together a list of things I want to do before I start my career.

Here's my bucket list so far:

1. Go an girl's trip. Hopefully me and some friends will take a trip this Summer to the beach or Washington D.C.
2. Play golf. I love putt, putt so why wouldn't I love golf. I might really stink at it but I want to play even just one game.
3. Kill something. Yes that sounds a little harsh but I want to kill a deer, dove or turkey. I chickened out the past two years at shooting a deer so I want to get over that.
4. Gain some weight. Yeah I know that's silly to put on a bucket list and most of you are probably saying "I would love to have that problem." But I'm tired of being so little and would love to put on a few extra pounds and actually look my age.
5. Plan a party. No, not a drinking/crazy party. I'd love to have a pool party at my house with some sort of theme and invite all my friends. I love to decorate so I would love to find cute things for a themed party.
6. Have my OWN garden. I want my own garden where I do all the work from planting to harvesting to cooking the vegetables.
7. Get back into playing piano. I have took at least 6 years of lessons and haven't played much at all since I've been in college. I'd love to start taking some more lessons and get back into playing.
8. Start a class. I had my own bible study in high school at my church. I'd love to do this again when I get out of college.
9. Try anything new. I want to experience everything I possibly can so I want to make it a point to try new sports or hobbies.