Countdown to Graduation

I only have 6 days left of student teaching and I graduate in 12 days!  It is so bittersweet.  I love my 5th graders to death.  I have learned so much from them and everyone at Tyro.  This semester has absolutely flew by.  It is so hard to believe that it is all coming to an end.  In less than 2 weeks I will have my Bachelors in Elementary Education!

I guess this semester has flew by because I have been going non-stop.  Thanksgiving break was a lot of fun.  I got to see a lot of family I haven't seen in a while, eat lots of food, watch some good movies, hang out with friends and go shopping on Black Friday.  I also went to CVS on Thanksgiving and got everything in the picture below for free and ended up making $7 in extra care bucks!

Black Friday was pretty interesting.  Felicia and I got to Kohls around 2:30 a.m. and waited behind about 600 people for Kohls to open at 3.  It started raining while we were outside in line which was a great added touch to the occasion.  After we got in line there were probably another 600 people that came in line behind us.  The check out line  was a 3 hour wait. It was double wrapped around the store.  We also went to Target right when they opened but didn't try on anything so we got through the checkout line fast.  We then went to Hanes Mall which wasn't too crowded but by this time we were about too tired to shop so we got a few things and left.  I don't know that I'll go next year, online shopping seems like a good plan to me.

On another note,  I had an interview for a 6th grade position this week.  I don't think I will hear anything about it until next week because they have one more person to interview.  I would really love the job though, the staff seems great and it's a really nice school.  I'm loving student teaching in 5th grade so I know I would enjoy 6th grade just as much. 

This past Sunday we had a great service to kick off the Christmas season.  Randy preached about Joy.  He said that at the top of our Christmas list should be to not let anything or anyone rob you of your Joy because we have already won the ultimate victory.  I wish we could always remember this because knowing that we are saved and will be going to heaven should bring us Joy everyday.  And yes, I am spelling Joy with a capital J on purpose.

This weeks deals

CVS

I went to CVS yesterday to get some deals they had on Extra Care Bucks.  Here is what I did:

I bought Alive Vitamins for 9.99 and got back 9.99 on my first transcation.  With the 9.99 ECB's I went back and bought Candy Corn for .99, High Octane Energy Chews for 1.99, Nivea Body Wash for 4.99 and Skintimate Shaving Cream for 3.99.  I used a $1 coupon for Nivea and .75 off for Skintimate.  After using my ECB's I only had to pay $1.15 which was tax and I got back $7 ECB's.  I only paid $11.91 for everything out of pocket and still have $7 ECB's to spend later.  This is a great transaction idea for anyone who is just starting at CVS and wants to build up some ECB's.


Harris Teeter

Super Doubles is this week, starting Wednesday.  This means they will double any coupon that is $1.98 or less.  I'll list some of the coupons you can print out for those of you who don't save the coupons from the newspaper.

FREE after Coupons
-$1 off Chinet Products  - Napkins $1.40
-$1.50 off 2 Kotex Products - Pantiliners $1.49
-$1 off Tomato Paste - $1.55

There will probably be a lot more free but I won't know until I see the sales ad.

Food Lion till 9/14

Campbell's Select Harvest Soups are $1 on sale - Use this $1 printable to get it free.
Nestle Nesquick 16 $1 - Use this $1 printable to make it free.

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Lyrics from an awesome song called Before the Morning by Josh Wilson

Do you wonder why you have to,

feel the things that hurt you,

if there's a God who loves you,

where is He now?
 

Maybe, there are things you can't see

and all those things are happening

to bring a better ending

some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see

Would you dare, would you dare, to believe,

that you still have a reason to sing,

'cause the pain you've been feeling,

can't compare to the joy that's coming!

Freebies & Thoughts

I thought I'd post a couple things that you can get for free with coupons this week.  Today I got 2 free SOBE lifewater's at CVS. They are on sale, BOGO (Buy One Get One) and you can play a game at sobe.com to get a BOGO coupon to print out. This makes 2 waters free!

CVS also has Stride Shift Gum .99 and you can .99 ECB, making it free after Extra Care Bucks.  There was also a coupon from a May newspaper insert that was for Free Stride Shift Gum when you buy any Stride Gum which makes it an even better deal if you have this coupon saved.

Food lion has Nestle Nesquick for $1 this week.  You can print off a $1 coupon here,  making it free!


These are the only things I have found free this week.  You can go to ourcouponhome.com to find other coupon deals.


Thought for the day:

I have been reading the book "The Walk" by Richard Evans. One paragraph really stuck out to me, it says "The thing is, the only real sign of life is growth.  And growth requires pain.  So to choose life is to accept pain.  Some people go to such lengths to avoid pain that they give up on life.  They bury their hearts, or they drug or drink themselves numb until they don't feel anything anymore.  The irony is, in the end their escape becomes more painful than what they're avoiding."

This is so true! If everything were to always be perfect than we wouldn't grow or learn anything.  Although at times it's hard to feel like our troubles will ever get any better, at least we can look down the road and know that we will grow from the pain we are in now.

And finally, my current favorite Christian song: