Day 30: Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

I love Dory from Finding Nemo. She's one of my favorite characters out of any movie or TV show on this beautiful earth.

This part of the movie makes me cry and hurt from laughing.



Yesterday was a hard day for me. I spent the entire ride home bawling like a baby. Adam's family is so good, just let me do my thing. I couldn't sleep until 3 last night. I woke up at 8:30 with Adam. I'm not 100% sure I'm making sense in this entry but just play along.

Yesterday was a good day before I got the g-ma news and I promised Erin lots of photos of cows since she doesn't know what one looks like. Also she wanted pictures of Jerrod, Adam's brother, because they're g-friend/b-friend and mushy gushy. AND. I.... cut my hair today.

Because I'm super tired and still have twenty million things left to do today I'll just spew out all the pictures from the farm and my hair with little to no commentary.

I love you all and I can't wait to see my family this weekend.

Muddy so I wore Aunt Laurie's galoshes

Jerrod wore Laurie's husband's boots that were like 50 sizes too big

Cow

Billy the goat was everyone's favorite

The only donkey that wouldn't come say hi.

Tad is one of the coolest in-law cousins. Laurie is his mom.

This is an Erin tree. I thought of her when I saw this. I bet it looks more like an Erin tree in the Summer.

And then 80 pictures of my face because I only take awkward photos. I wanted to take a picture so I could post on my blog/Facebook but every photo turned out more and more awkward. Proof:


I surprised Adam at work with my new cut - he didn't even know I was thinking about cutting it for weeks.

Day 29: Grandma

My last grandparent died today at 1:00 MST. Grandma Goodell.

I don't handle death well.

I was at Adam's aunt's house with a house full of relatives when my mother called me. Hard to say if there was a worse time for me to get the news.

Day 28: Not-So-Extreme Couponing

Heard of that new TLC show Extreme Couponing? I tried my hand at that when I lost my job before I even knew about this show. I've been using coupons found in my in-law's Sunday paper and on several sites online:

• Coupon Mom - Emails you every time coupons are updated and has links to 4 printable coupon sites in those emails (Red Plum, Coupons.com, Smart Source and Coupon Network)
  
• Grocery Coupon Cart - Also emails you every time new coupons are added

A lot of times I find the same coupon in two or more sites and I thought this was a waste. Come to find out it's awesome if you actually use that product and plan to continue to use that product. I found the treats we use for Coco at two or three sites and even two coupons in the paper. We now have a stock of treats for Coco that won't go bad and I was able to get them all at a discount. I also have 5 mascara tubes stockpiled in my bathroom because I was able to get them at $1.00-$2.00 off each. I love that mascara and I don't plan on switching anytime soon!

Adam and I took a trip to a grocery store today that took me about three hours to plan.

How happy am I about our trip?

Not.

The grocery store doubles manufacturer's coupons on Saturdays only and normally limit five coupons to double. Today they allowed ten coupons to double, but the coupon value has to be $1.00 or less. I'm not sure if it was because it was a "Double Double Daze" day or if every Saturday is like this, but it was a madhouse there. I've never been to this grocery store before so I already felt out of place trying to find everything. I am still dizzy (what causes dizziness all day long??) so I didn't feel good. Then throw in the mix with entire families in the middle of isles blocking all traffic and employees in ridiculous Sunday-Best attire taking up the entire next isle trying to restock shelves and have boxes and crates blocking the entire row... I wanted to punch every single human in the face.

Honestly why do people stand in the MIDDLE of an isle? People are trying to get past you going both directions! MOVE! lonsfdgvbiusdefrguihsdrfiujugblbgkjn

On top of that I had Adam with his own cart behind me so we could use 10 more coupons if he used a different checkout counter so they didn't realize we were in the same household. Trying to maneuver two carts and trying to make sure I had the correct items on the coupons and non-coupon items we needed for home and make sure I had the right items in his cart and the right ones in mine. I kept telling Adam to move so others could get by and I'm pretty sure I came off as a mega biotch. I'm blessed with a guy that tends to not take things personally when he knows I'm just stressed. I'm working on that.

I should've read the fine print. I didn't realize until I got to the register that they would only double coupons that were a value of a dollar or less. I could've used more coupons.

So how much did my pain and planning save us?

$57.83

Let me ask myself again how happy I am about our trip.

Very.

I guess I had a certain expectation for our trip to turn out to be less stressful and with less shoppers. I was disappointed that some of my coupons didn't double but I had only myself to blame for that. In the Extreme Couponing show the ladies walk out with hundreds or even thousands of dollars of merchandise and food but only pay 5% or less of the total cost. All because of their coupons.

No other grocery stores in my city double manufacturer coupons. This one we visited only allows 5 coupons to be doubled, today was a special case. How often will I ever find me in the same situation as the women on that show? Probably never. But I still always end up with lots of savings.

Does you have any other couponing or savings tips that I missed?

Day 27: Dizzy

I'm very dizzy. All day today. Didn't work out. Just now took a bath. Wanted to stop by Walmart to replace some of Adam's Easter candy I ate but I'm afraid of driving.

Can't think straight.

This picture is what's on my desk in front of me. Doctor bills.

Day 26: Don't Stop Believing!

I've always struggled with my weight.

The first struggle I remember is when I moved to New Jersey my freshman year of high school. We moved suddenly and had no home when we arrived. We stayed two months in a hotel before my parents found a house and we moved in. Two months in a hotel in a city where I knew literally no one and had no where to go. My brother Drew and I watched the same movies on HBO twenty times. When volleyball tryouts started I found I had gained 20 pounds. The hotel we were staying out had a fabulous gym and hours of volleyball practice got me back in shape quickly. I remember how shocked I was that I gained so much weight in such a short amount of time without realizing it until it had already happened.

When I moved to Utah my Sophomore year my depression made my weight an every day battle. My pant sizes fluctuated from size 3 to size 9. I became obsessive about it at times and would not go to bed until my abs, butt and thighs hurt from workouts.

After high school it got really out of control. I gained about 60 pounds in less than a year. It wasn't until my first marriage ended that I lost most of the weight. 50 pounds! I moved in with a really good friend who had a whole workout room in her house. I used the treadmill every work day before she got home from work and eventually stole some of her exercise ball DVDs.

I kept it up until my string of panic attacks last year. I literally let anxiety take 100% control of my body, my mind and my desires like an Exorcist movie. I was lucky that I was still able to fit into my wedding dress! Since last year I have gained back every single pound that I lost two years ago.

I've done it before and I'm going to do it again. This week I started my weight loss routine again. I'll start out by doing what I did last time - working the treadmill 20 minutes a day until I get my endurance up and can do more. I've been able to burn at least 150 calories a day (the amount of calories in the Dr. Pepper taunting me in the fridge) and not stop until I walked a mile. I say that's a good start.

Other tips to remember that help:

• Listening to some fabulous tunes and dance like a freak
• Being poor - we can't afford Dr. Pepper and Wendy's
• I love, love taking ice cold showers when I'm gross and sweaty
• After the first 15 pounds I lose I get something awesome. I just haven't decided what yet.

I think it may be time to buy some new sneakers. My mom bought these for me 10 years ago when I was trying out for volleyball in New Jersey.


Let me know if you know of any good deals out there.

Day 25: You Love Nerds. Admit it.

Per my cousin Natali's request, I'm going nerdtastic this post with love for a new game, Rift.

Rift is a computer game. It is called an MMORPG which stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game." There is a monthly fee of $15, not including the cost to purchase the actual game ($50). So... it's played on the internet. With thousands of others. You create a character on either the "light" or the "dark" side. Can be thought of as good and evil, but that's not really true. It's like Democrats versus Republicans - both think they're right. Then you pick your class. This game only has four classes - warrior (beat bad guys in the face and usually take all the hits from the bad guys), rogue (beat bad guys in the back and do lots of damage), cleric (cast magical spells on bad guys to hurt them or can heal teammates/good guys when they are hurt by the bad guys), and mage (also cast magical spells to hurt bad guys).

Then you enter the world. It's a fantasy world, obviously since classes can cast spells. You talk to computer characters (called NPCs for Non-Person-Character) and these guys give you a quests to complete for money and experience. You kill bad guys which range from goats and bears to evil conspiring goblins and sprites.

But that's the generic of any MMORPG game. What makes Rift cool is that there are only four classes. Within each class you have eight options as far as what type of class you want to be. Click here for a visual of what I'm talking about.

So let's say I'm a rogue (because I am). I can be one of these: nightblade, ranger, blade dancer, assassin, riftstalker, marksman, saboteur or bard.

Let's say I choose to be a blade dancer (also because I am). I stab bad guys with daggers and swords really fast and do lots of damage.

But wait! I can be more than just a blade dancer! Soon I'm able to choose ANOTHER class! Let's say I choose to be a riftstalker (because I did). Not only can I stab bad guys with daggers and swords, but I can cast magical spells on myself to protect me from said bad guys. Making me harder to kill. Rawr!

BUT WAIT AGAIN! I can be MORE than just a blade dancer AND riftstalker? Hell to the yes! Let's say I choose to be a bard (Any guesses as to why? Because I am). Now I'm a super-powerful stabber that protects myself with magic AND I sing. That's right, I sing. I sing beautiful melodies that magically hurt bad guys or protect myself and/or my friends.

What a badass. I can sing my enemies to death.

That's what makes this game so cool. I can choose any of the eight options within my class to play whatever I want. I want to sing? Cool, I can do that. I want to shoot bad guys with arrows like Legolas? Sweet, that's an option too. I want to throw bombs on bad guys like terrorists? Not a problem. I want to be invisible and leap out of the shadows and violently rip the bad guy's head off like a gory horror film? Sure... if you're into that sort of thing.

I want to shoot with arrows, bomb like a terrorist, and leap from the shadows like a horror film all at once. Ok, done.

Wait, I don't want to be a terrorist anymore, I want to sing. After a little work and a little money, done.

That's what makes thing game so awesome! That's what I think anyway.

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I think I'm done nerdraging for a few minutes. I need to print some coupons, work out and get ready for my Big Brothers Big Sisters interview later today. Wish me luck.

Oh and because I have to post a picture, here.


This was taken last year. I obviously fell asleep playing Wii.

Day 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 & 24: Whoa

I'm a slacker. Whatev'. So be prepared for 7 days worth of entries in one post. And lots of pictures.

Really I'm just a girl struggling with many internal battles. Let's be frank, anyone that knows me knows what an emotional wreck I am. I'm a self-proclaimed bipolar freak.

I haven't updated in nearly a week for many reasons. Last week was busy cleaning and building bookshelves and trying to figure out how people know how to make walls look good with wall art/pictures (see exhibit A, B and C, below).

Exhibit A: Things that need to find homes on walls in this home.

Exhibit B: Threw one on the wall using existing nail and laughed.

Exhibit C: One thing on wall - a shelf. Doesn't seem anything fits well around it.

Saturday we bought Rift, a new online game like World of Warcraft or EverQuest. We played that game the entire weekend. But let me start at the last day I didn't update and work my way to present.

Day 19: Thursday. I cannot remember what I did, honestly. I checked my Facebook and I didn't even change my status so no clues there. I checked my email and found that Adam's friend/coworker Alex emailed me and said he put a DVD of season 2 of Glee in my mailbox for me to watch. So that was obviously a full Gleek (Glee + Geek = Gleek?) day.

Day 20: Friday. I know I watched more Glee, but I did quite a bit more than that. I needed a new bookcase since Adam broke mine and I had been searching for about a week for a good price on one. I didn't want anything fancy, just something that would hold my books and had a good price tag. Everything I found was well over $100 or looked ancient and/or not sturdy (used). I went to Wal Mart on Friday and I found a 5 shelf bookcase in black for $25! There was also a 3 shelf one for $15, but I already had a 3 shelf one that I've outgrown. So I put it together before Adam came home from work.

Nice and simple.

When Adam got home we went to Hobby Lobby to look at some trunks that I wanted to use in our living room. They were having a special last week with 40% off any one item of regular price. We got this beauty for $50!

Being used as a makeshift coffee table and place to put small blankets.

We headed over to Wal Mart and we picked up a TV stand to replace this Microwave stand we were using as a TV stand for 2 years.


I meant to blog that day and I even took pictures of Adam and Coco trying to put the stand together.




It didn't work - a piece was broken and another was warped and wouldn't allow other pieces to fit. We returned it to Walmart the next day which I will get to in a bit.

Day 21: Saturday. We woke up at 11:30 and immediately got ready to go to a brat fry in Whitelaw for aforementioned friend Alex. Alex's girlfriend's name is Jillian and her dad has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). They've been doing a lot of fundraisers this year so they can hopefully do a 5000-mile walk for MS in September. It's not 5000 miles but it's something just as ridiculous... 50 miles? They have to raise $2000 by then or they can't even participate in the walk. I had a cheeseburger and a brat and Adam had 2 brats. Dang they were good.

After Whitelaw we went to Wal Mart and got a different TV stand - one that was even cheaper!



On Friday Adam got his Game Informer. A magazine that has articles and reviews and such on new and upcoming video games. In this issue there was an article about Rift and how much better it is from World of Warcraft. He wouldn't stop talking about the game. So after 30 minutes of Adam trying to make me tell him it was ok to get the stupid game, we finally got it.


Because I'm a video game nerd to an extent that would embarrass and bore most females, I will go into detail about Rift probably another day.

Day 22: Sunday. April 17, 2011. Two years ago this day is when Adam flew out to Utah to meet me. That was a fabulous long weekend together in Salt Lake City. So what did we do to celebrate? We played Rift. Just like two nerds that met on World of Warcraft are expected to do.

Day 23: Monday. Yesterday I was having a rough morning. I spoke to Adam about it last night in bed. He's so good to me. He never minds talking about how down on myself I get when I'm unemployed.

I was reading in one of my journals a few weeks ago. When I was in high school I wrote "I feel better when I take care of myself - shower, makeup and clothes that make me feel attractive." It's so simple but it really does help. Since I lost my job I've found it hard to do that. Gross? Absolutely. Unattractive? Of course. Why is Adam still around? Beats me, ask him. It takes a lot out of me to force myself to get ready for the day. Why bother? I'm not going to be going anywhere. I don't have a job, I don't have money to spend, Coco doesn't care if I'm wearing freshly laundered sweatpants or if I'm wearing the same T-shirt for the third day in a row. I have to remind myself that I have to live for me, not for someone else or do things because someone else approves. Shouldn't that come naturally? To do things because YOU want to do them?

This no-job nonsense is rough. I need something to distract me. On a daily basis. I did some work for my friend Erin last night and today. She sent me a check yesterday for a project I did a few weeks ago. I'm lucky to have someone awesome like her that really looks out for my well being.

Day 24: Today. It's snowing outside. With some pretty intense thunders. It's April, I think everyone in the United States can agree that we are more than ready for Spring.


This is what it looks like from the living room. It's far too cold in my house to even think about going outside to take a stupid picture of stupid snow for readers that read this far into this stupid post.

To conclude, I shall enlighten you with a few songs I am IN.LOVE.WITH and have in a playlist on my iTunes called "Spam Spam Spam and Eggs". Music and singing loudly helps me be happy.

1. Michael Bublé - Feeling Good
2. My Chemical Romance - Sing
3. 30 Seconds to Mars - Alibi
4. Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
   

Day 18: Chronic Shopping

No update for yesterday because I pooped myself out painting the spare bedroom. I thought it needed a 3rd coat last night. When I got up this morning I realized it was all in my head - I kept seeing that gross green on the walls but it most definitely is not there. I'm delirious.

I had fun shopping today. I've been shopping every day this week, actually. Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon that you can use on any item in the store every single day. I've decided the walls need a little love in this home. I've been having so much fun! Hobby Lobby is the best store ever.

I thought I wasn't ready to have the big reveal but I figure it's good enough.

I'll be decorating these walls soon with these babies.

This is why I wasn't really ready to reveal my awesome room. I still need to get a few more baskets to replace the cardboard boxes. I got a few today but wanted to put everything together to make sure measurements are correct and I didn't get more than I needed. The big shelf I got from Walmart and the paper storage on the right is from Hobby Lobby.

I'm very happy with the way everything turned out. I really love being in this room now and I think it'll be a lot easier to create, inspire and exercise from now on.

Day 16: Work, Work

As promised, the finished bathroom from yesterday:


I think about my mother constantly. Growing up I did not think as highly of her as I do today. She made us clean every single day and on Saturday mornings we had a huge list of duties (normal kids call them chores) to complete before we could do anything fun. In the summer we had to weed and mow and water plants and clean the bird bath and pick berries for homemade jam. We alternated cleaning the entire kitchen every evening, which not only included dishes, but also cleaning the counters and table and sweeping. "We" being my brother Drew and I - we didn't really grow up with our older 6 siblings. None of the neighbor kids had to do any chores and THEY got allowance.

Since being on my own and now married, I can honestly appreciate all the things my mother forced me to do growing up. I know how to deep clean a kitchen each spring: remove everything from the cupboards, clean the cupboards and put everything back; remove everything from the refrigerator and freezer, take out what parts you can and clean everything, then put everything back before its ruined; how to clean the floor on your hands and knees, even taking a toothbrush or scrub brush to tiled flooring. I know how to sew clothing and how to quilt. I know how to cook and how to teach myself new dishes. I know how to remove wall paper and how to paint a room a new color. Hopefully I remember enough to start a garden this year or next. She also tried to get me to learn how to can (peaches, homemade jam, etc) but I honestly don't remember a thing - Adam's mother is going to teach me this summer when we make spaghetti sauce.

What I'm getting to is that I feel like I accomplished a lot recently. I painted the bathroom which took a painstakingly long time. (did I say that right?) Today I got some hot, hot deals at Hobby Lobby. And I started a disgusting project to paint our spare bedroom. It's currently my workout and scrapbooking room, but hopefully will be converted to a nursery within the next few years. Adam says I have "mad skills" but it seems just like a lot of work. He said to me tonight something to the effect of "I didn't know that regular people can make a room look nice, I thought you had to hire someone to make it look nice."

Before:

(Closet doors with awesome Halloween and construction stickers!)

(Disgusting window sill, complete with dead spider!)

After:

(Squeaky!)

(Clean{ish}!)

I used my ever beloved Goo Gone to remove the stickers off the closet doors. This stuff is freaking amazing. Although I still did feel like a crack head scrubbing the same spot over and over... I also wiped the walls down. Who knew walls could be so friggen dirty?
And my spackling paste came in handy when I had to cover OVER 100 holes in the walls.


Here's a full view of what the room looks like. Hopefully after a few days I won't dread coming into this room.

(Took this several months ago for a "tour" of the house for my friend with Adam's phone. I think that was like twenty fragments in one sentence.)

On a side note - does anyone know anything about masonry or siding a house? Where to get quotes on things like that? How much (several hundreds, several thousands or like 15k+)?