Weekend wrap-up

Spring is in the air!

Here are a few photos from what we have been up to lately. We have been to Gulf Shores and Dauphin the last two weekends and love enjoying the beach before it gets too hot. Michael and I have also been busy with spring yard work and gardening. Fun fun!

The peach tree we planted last Easter has its first bloom

Our chives have also starting blooming

We went to Gulf Shores for Rachel's birthday and caught some crabs in the lagoon. The water was crazy clear. This little guy here is pretty lucky! It could get in and get some food and climb right back out. The other crabs, however, were not so lucky.

This Sunday we took Holly and Penny to the bird sanctuary on Dauphin Island. The birding trails lead to the beach and the girls enjoyed the sand between their toes and saltwater on their lips for the second time. They would not stop drinking the saltwater! Thankfully both were ok and no one got sick. Star, Jeremy and their dog, Deuce, also joined us on the journey. I went here a lot as a kid and haven't in a long time - so glad we did! We all had a blast, dogs included!

The girls were running us to the waves and getting their feet wet. I wish bath time could be so easy!

Deuce enjoyed his first trip to the beach!

"Go get daddy!" These girls are so fast runners on the beach - I was surprised!

"Mommy, this water tastes weird and makes us even more thirsty."

Puppy prints!

I should really be packing for the cruise - only 5 more days! I am beyond excited and ready for some much-needed r & r. I have yet to get Michael on a cruise ship or plane, but hopefully soon. He will be getting on his first plane in November when we go to Jonathan and Meg's wedding in New Hampshire. SO excited to see the fall folliage when we go up there!

From a house to a home

Michael and I have been homeowners for one YEAR!

Our family picture the day we moved in

It is so much fun to have a place of your own to invest money in and do whatever you want to it. We still love our house very much and have put a lot of personal touches on the place since we got it. So far we have:

• Ripped out carpet and laid hard wood in the foyer, both hall ways, living room, kitchen and breakfast nook
• Painted the guest room, office, laundry room, the master bedroom and master bathroom
• Ripped out vinyl and laid porcelain tile in the guest bathroom and laundry room
• Replaced the countertops with ubba tuba granite
• And we are almost finished with the tile backsplash in our kitchen

We have also done several small things, like replace builder-grade fixtures, appliances and a TON of yard work. Yard work including planting a few fruit trees, spreading grass seed then getting impatient and laying sod and our lovely little garden that is taking off this spring. I love it!

Spring has sprung!

I blew out my flip flop

If you know me, you probably know my Rainbows and me are bonded together as one. After four years it may be time to lay my first pair to rest. Well, not to rest for good, I will still wear them around the house and wear them for gardening, but their days in the public eye are about over.

I'm just having a hard time going and buying a new pair. Is that weird? Maybe to some I guess. I'm going on a cruise in a week and guess I need to talk myself into the purchase so I can start wearing them in. These flops accompany me everywhere! I don't care if I'm wearing all black, the brown Rainbows will be there.

Funny story on the Oasis cruise last summer. The Rainbows went to all three destinations with me. Low and behold I forgot what happens when you mix wet saltwater feet with brown leather flops. The bottom of my feet were stained brown the whole trip! I tried cleaning them with everything I had and no luck, they were BROWN. I thought who cares, no one will be looking at the bottom of my feet. Well, I was laying out by the pool on the ship's deck full of people and realized ALL of those people could see the bottom of my feet. I'm sure they were a little curious. I was mortified, and got a good laugh. I wanted to go get a pedicure on the ship just to see if I would get rejected. Fun times!

Maybe tomorrow I can talk myself into going to Sandollar and get a new pair!

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Random rant - plug in air fresheners

I'm a smell freak! My house, laundry and car have to have a clean smell, or I feel like they're not really clean. Lately I have been noticing more and more companies have started selling their plug in air freshener warmers seperate, and they're NOT cheap. Randomly two of my Bath & Body Works warmers died, as did TWO of my Febreeze ones. I've tested the outlets and they indeed work - bummer. I recently went to B&BW to buy a new one thinking maybe $2. Nope, $6.50. So I thought no way, I'll just buy a single new scent that comes with a new warmer. Wrong. They do not sell them that way anymore (at least at my store). You have to buy a two pack and warmer seperate. I decided to skip out, find some coupons and go with my one Febreze one that works. Oh well. Just thought it was weird. I noticed the same thing with Glade and Air Wick. Again, random.

Jenny from the Vox

It's a great day at TeleVox, and has been for two years today! One of my clients calls me Jenny from the Vox and it always makes me laugh :) Looking forward to many more great days to come.

Long weekend

It was a nice, long, three-day weekend for Michael and I. Man, was it hard to go back today, especially knowing half of Mobile doesn't work on Mardi Gras Day. Not that I would have gone to the parade today or anything, shoot...I didn't even manage to make it to a parade this year. Three Mardi Gras balls in a week wore me out!

We took off yesterday since we knew after Sunday's le Krewe de Bienville ball we would be so exhausted. It's also nice to have a day home from work every one and a while where you aren't sick and don't have anything planned. The only thing on my agenda for Monday was dropping Holly off at the vet, then picking her up as soon as I could. She is back to her normal Holly holister self today!

We did manage to finally get the backsplash. It's a tumbled travertine and I love how it gives the kitchen a whole new look and feel. We will finish up tomorrow night - I always loving checking projects off the list. We just painted our master bath about two weekends ago. It was the last white room left in the house. Maybe I can talk Michael into painting the kitchen, dining room and living room soon. The terra cotta kitchen and breakfast nook, and baby food peas living room is just a bit too much for me. Every other room in the house that we painted is a nice light color, but there are these 'original' rooms that just scream paint when I look at them. It didn't bother me at first, but after staring at them for almost a year (on March 19th), it's starting to wear on me. Must...paint...soon!

This is the new backslash so far. We will have to add the grout.

Saturday I also got to visit my super sweet goddaughter, Ari, for her third birthday party. I can't believe she is three! It was the cutest princess themed party. I can't wait to do fun things like birthday parties for my future kiddos.

Thanks Emily for the super smily face I'm wearing here. I guess kids aren't the only ones the "say cheeseburger" trick works on.

We were so eager for the vet to call on Monday to let us know Holly was out of surgery, we decided to put the basketball goal in front of our house to good use, for the second time.

Thriller hands

And he shoots

While we were shooting hoops, this huge plane kept flying around by our house. We live pretty close to the airport so it's typical, but this guy was flying low.

I love my 50-200mm lens!

I was going back inside to put my camera up and get back to baskets when Ceecee and I had an impromptu photo shoot in the front yard. I'm surprised my dogs and cats don't go running when they see the camera come out.

Holly is home

Holly's spay and dental surgery went great today! She is feeling a bit groggy from the anesthesia still, but it's quickly wearing off. She did go outside to potty earlier and ate some soft dog food with her nightly meds. These girls love, I mean love soft dog food. Probably enough to want to get dentals every other month or so just to get their soft food fix!

Prayers for Holly

She is getting spayed and a dental tomorrow. I know just as the Lord watched over Penny last week, He will be watching over Holly and Dr. Coan during the surgery. I will keep everyone posted. I'm off work tomorrow and can't wait to scoop her up as soon as they call!

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Crewe of Columbus Ball

Fun times were had at the COC ball! A big thanks to our friend and COC member Brian Ladner for inviting us to his ball. Star, Jeremy, Michael and I had a great time. It's fun to sit back and think how these Mardi Gras balls are just like a bigger, better prom for adults. Running into our friends Kristen and Michael made me think about all of the good times we had at BHS dances. I enjoyed whipping out the purple eye shadow and glitter that has sat there in my alternate make-up bag since high school. Here are a few pics taken from my phone:

Michael and I

with Star

Jeremy and Star

with Kristen

Two balls down, one more to go tomorrow night. Excited to see Marc Broussard, the Funky Meters and Moon Taxi at the le Krewe de Bienville ball. I'm even more excited that Michael and I are off work on Monday. Yay for three-day weekends! I hope to take care of a lot of spring cleaning.

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Welcome, Ceecee

(This post was originally drafted on 12/3/10 and was accidentally never posted)

I thought I was lucky in May to be "allowed" to take in Beebee. Michael is allergic to cats to I was very lucky we were able to take in Beebee, but never did I think we would have TWO cats. Michael has never seemed to be the cat lover. He just didn't know he was a "cat guy" until he now has Beebee and Ceecee.

Ceecee is a kitten we actually saw hanging around our backyard two or three days after finally taking in Beebee. I have a huge heart for animals and always have to take then in to find a home. Ceecee started coming up to the back porch and eating food but would never let you pet him. It wasn't until we came home after Thanksgiving and Mr. Cee was a changed kitty. He is the sweetest little boy and the 'ees' as I call the pair are doing just fine together. Ceecee also had surgery last week so he will never be a daddy. I'm so glad he decided to come back and still love us after that experience. In the words of Bob Barker, "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered." 

Mr. Ceecee

I was browsing around on my Blogger Dashboard last night and realized I had never clicked 'edit posts' before. When I did I noticed I have a few drafts that for some reason never posted. One being the 'welcome Ceecee' post, which is about our newest family member. He is the sweetest, most loving kitty and words cannot describe his affection towards Michael and I. I will look over the post tonight and put it up.

In the meantime, this is what happens when Ceecee gets to come inside!

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Super savings

Do you like to save money? I know I do! I love saving a buck or two where I can, especially when it comes to food and fun. During the Super Bowl I saw the commercial for Living Social and have been hooked ever since. This is a national site with 50% off deals based on your area. There's also an app for your phone! If you are in Mobile, you have probably heard if the new yogurt place called Chill. This place is heaven and I can thank my friend Suzanne for introducing me to this new addiction place. Well, when I saw that LS had a $10 gift certificate for Chill for only $5 - I jumped on it. I was feeling like a tightwad with my money that day (cruise coming up in 23 days, so I'm saving where I can), but now I'm totally kicking myself for not maxing out on that deal. Last week Michael and I scooped up $10 gift certificates to Tropical Smoothie for $5 each. We both bought 3! I mean, $60 worth of food/smoothies for $30 between the both of us for six trips there - crazy!

Now, now...I can't leave out Groupon. They run the same way that Living Social does, and also have an app. I have only been Grouponing for about a week now and haven't bought anything yet. Michael got the $50 gift certificate for Mikato last week for $25. Be sure to read the fine print, people! The Mikato deal, we found after the purchase, is only good for the Gulf Shores location, not Mobile. Luckily we know we will be heading there for the Hangout Festival in May, and will enjoy some delish food at Mikato while we're there.

I'm also getting back to couponing. A few months ago couponing engulfed my life. Being a new homeowner, I wanted to save any way that I could, especially on household essentials. Some coupons make stuff free! Time is money, it sure is. I have listed out some of my favorite couponing sites below. Target is my favorite place to grocery shop, and also have some great coupon deals. If you visit their website look at the bottom, there is a link for coupons, printable coupons. The way the Target couponing policy works is you can combine one Target coupon with one manufacturer's coupon. Not all of the coupons on Target's website are Target coupons - you don't know until you print it. Stacking coupons can lead to some great deals, and free stuff, at Target! The websites below are great for giving you the coupon recipes you need for some steals.

Money Saving Madness

Who Said Nothing in Life is Free?

I Heart Publix

Totally Target