On My Own

SO, I have been trying to keep up with all the deep cleaning tasks for the 31 days to clean, But it has been hard for me with everything I have going on. So I made a weekly cleaning sheet with daily chores on it, LIke today is Wednesday so its Wash Wednesday. I do all the laundry, and clean up a bedroom, and clean the main things like the kitchen and living room at the end of the day. I think I have been able to do these a little easier because 1) my husband was on days off and back from Houston so he went and took care of the horses for me (YIPPEE). 2) I get them done in the morning when I feel my best, if I wait to clean till the afternoon I just wont get it done. I feel more energized in the morning, and I lose all my steam in the afternoon.
I am hoping since the husband is back at work, and all the chores rest on my shoulders, I can still get everything done. Like I should be going to feed the horses right now, but I am blogging instead!! No, my son was still asleep so I wait for him to get up. Which he is now, and I started laundry! I just hope I don't run out of motivation before it's all done!
Things that I think will keep me going:
This book, a good giveaway if I say so!
I am hoping the hubby gets me this for Christmas!
A better housekeeping routine.
31 days to clean
Thinking about this.
All you moms out there, how do you keep your routine going when there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done.

Not Good Enough

Well, this week has been a roller coaster! It started out well and as the days came and went I lost all motivation. The husband is gone, and thankfully will be back tomorrow! I just have been feeling overloaded, I can't keep up! Between gardening/canning, horses(feeding,bathing, and cleaning stalls), homework, kids in general, housework, church activties...I feel so stressed out! I feel like I am drowning! I am hoping things get better with having my honey back. He will be able to help with the horses at least! I do not know how mothers can do it all!! I am trying to get a better schedule going but having a hard time. I just feel like I am not (haven't been) good enough in my mommy role. My question to you moms...how do you deal with your stress? How do you get it all done(do you stay up super late or get up super early) also how do you get out of your funk?? Any secrets?! Please share them! And you list makers out there, any tips on how to make a better schedule/list? Thanks!

Priorities

So I missed yesterdays challenge, I was super busy canning tomato soup (SOO yummy) and then had the neighbors over for a BBQ! SO I combined Day 4 and 5 together today!! I have to say my microwave and oven and kitchen window/sliding back door look amazing!!

 I even cleaned out the track piece, that was NASTY! I can not believe how much gunk I got out of there. The windows and blinds were cleaned as well.

Then you have the oven, which I HATE to clean. All the baked on goodies at the bottom of it!! FUN! I went and bought new drip pans, because after scrubbing the old ones and not getting clean like I wanted them to be, I gave up!

So now I have the wonderful task of making a list of priorities (hence the title of the post). So here it is!!!

1. God- I want to have a better relationship with him. I want to have daily personal prayer(morning and night) Also, family and meal prayer.

My work in progress- Read scriptures daily at least 15 minutes. And Pray daily, personal and family.

2. My Husband- I want to be a loving and caring wife. To be supportive of him and things that he does(wants to do). Be the best wife and friend to him.

My work in progress- Try not to be the nagging wife. And be loving and kind.

3. Children- I want to spend more time with them (together and one on one) I would like to have "date nights" with them ideally once a week, or however often time allows. Be the best mom, always be supportive.

My work in progress- Speak kindly, try not to "yell"/raise my voice at them. Work hard at getting my home in order so that I can be freed up to spend more time with them and not have to worry about all that needs to be done.

4. Home- I want a clean home-warm and welcoming. Somewhere you can put your feet up! A place my children feel love and feel safe. A haven for our family.

My work in progress- Put off my laziness(which I have a LOT of! :)) Putting family first by taking care of our home.

5. Personal- I want to have time to do things that I love reading, riding my horses, working out..etc.

My work in progress- Take the time to do things I enjoy.

And that's it, my list of priorities!

31 Days to Clean Challenge

So yesterday (Sept 1) was day 1 of the 31 Days to Clean! I hope I can keep going the whole time!
Day 2, had to clean the fridge and freezer..I knew it needed to be cleaned but GEEZ I couldnt believe how dirty it had gotten since the last time I had cleaned it! I think it is going well so far...ask me in a week or so!! LOL You should all check out the site!! Also this one! Jump on the bandwagon, come clean with us for a month!! This is going to be..FUN and interesting!! So stick around and follow the blog, or start your own!!!

 Day 3 in the 31 Days to Clean...and I do not feel like cleaning today...Dad left today and I am just feeling down. I hate when he has to go back home. I know I just need to get up and start my cleaning task for the day...I was reading 31 Days to Clean and it has a list written by Renee Behringer the title is 10 Ways to Give Life to Your Home and one has stood out to me today..#6 face our anger, anxeity, fear, and depression. Our homes reflect our mental/spiritual/ emothional health. Ask the Lord to replace these emotions with faith and hope.
So I think I need to pray for a little help today. :)
My home reflects the way I feel today, and I don't want it to. I want to have my house look immaculate!! So I am going to go get my butt up ask God for a little help and get cleaning...
Updates later!!
   Well, I did it! I got my cleaning task done, and I feel alot better!

Day 4, and were working on 'A Place to Put Your Feet Up! I love walking into a home and feeling welcome and feeling like I can make my self at home there! I hate feeling like I can't touch anything, let alone move around in the house...or let me kids off the couch! I am sure we have all felt that. So lets make our homes feel welcome to out guests, let your home be lived in and not a model home! Trust me I like a clean house just as much as the next person. But if we are constantly trying to keep it clean, we are not going to have time to play with our children or read a book. Live life, have fun!!!

I did it!! after a few hours of trying to figure out how the heck to get a signature on here I did it!! Now I have a headache and am going to lay down!!

What our homes reflect

Day 3 in the 31 Days to Clean...and I do not feel like cleaning today...Dad left today and I am just feeling down. I hate when he has to go back home. I know I just need to get up and start my cleaning task for the day...I was reading 31 Days to Clean and it has a list written by Renee Behringer the title is 10 Ways to Give Life to Your Home and one has stood out to me today..#6 face our anger, anxeity, fear, and depression. Our homes reflect our mental/spiritual/ emothional health. Ask the Lord to replace these emotions with faith and hope.
So I think I need to pray for a little help today. :)
My home reflects the way I feel today, and I don't want it to. I want to have my house look immaculate!! So I am going to go get my butt up ask God for a little help and get cleaning...
Updates later!!

Never Say Never

Grandpa bought Bri a new DVD...can you guess what it was?!?! Yep, that's right she got Justin Bieber Never Say Never DVD. And she LOVES it, as we speak...or type actually, she is in the living room watching it for the second time in 24hrs!!! Yea I think she is obsessed!! LOL She definitely has Bieber Fever!! This kid will get on her computer and everytime she is looking up Justin Bieber...videos, games, pics...etc.  Last year ALL she wanted for her birthday was for JB to call her!! Since that didn't happen, she is hoping he calls her this yr! I don't think she will give up on her wish till it actually happens. So I won't give up either!! I'll tweet and facebook my lil heart out if that's what it takes...Wouldn't it be nice to know someone who could hook you up?!?! But were just the lil people, it would take a miracle for Justin to actually call her!! But I WONT stop trying to make her dreams come true!! I love my baby girl, she is my lil princess. I just want her to be happy, and never give up on her hopes and dreams!!!

My Adventure at Walgreens!

The other day I went shopping at Walgreens, I wanted to grab some things that were on sale! So I printed out my list, pulled my coupons out and I was ready to go! I took both kids with me, that is always an adventure! Brileyhelped me load up the carts as we went aisle by aisle! About half way through my little man decided he wanted out of the cart, so he is crying and yelling mama! I am trying to give him something that will calm him down enough for me to finish my shopping trip. Nothing is working, not even my cell phone (which he ALWAYS wants). By this time Briley needs to use the restroom, so we take her over to them and Wes and I wait for her...Then he spots them...the balloons!! Now they are just those little ones on the plastic stick, that wont float away if you let go. So i give him one...he enjoys it for about 10 minutes! Then he is throwing it on the floor and waiting for someone to pick it up and give it back to him, which his sister does NUMEROUS times! Thankfully it was early in the morning and there were not alot of people there.
So now it's time to check out we get up to the cosmetics counter (where they check out all us CRAZY coupon ladies!) My first transaction consists of a schick quattro razor system ($8.99 on sale), GOODY barrettes for my baby girl ($3.00 on sale), 3 Dove mens body wash($3.75 each on sale), 1 Dove mens deodorant ($3.75 on sale), Huggies diapers ($8.99 on sale),2 Huggies baby wipes ($5.99 each on sale). So alone buying everything that was on sale saved me $11.95, BUT with my extra savings with my coupons I saved another $25.00. You can view my photo here!
My next transaction consisted of 4 Halls cough drops ($1.39 each on sale) 6 bags of Jelly beans for Easter candy! (2/$4.00 on sale), 2 Scott bathroom(4 rolls each) tissue ($4.19 each on sale), 2 Scott paper towels (6 rolls each) ($5.00 each on sale), and 4 Walgreens brand paper plates (.89 each on sale!) My total for this one was $4.22, I saved  $46.98! But wait that's not it! When I got home I realized that they didn't use the coupon for the paper plates! DARN IT!! That was a $3.00 mistake! So the next day I went back and showed them the mistake, and they fixed it and gave me my refund of $3.21...which makes my last transaction only $1.01!!! Now thats saving!! HEHE

A hard decision...

I know we all got you on April Fool with saying Justin had been offered a position with NHP... But last night he called me from work and said he has the hardest decision to make of his life. He got called and they offered him the job!! YIPPEE!!! I was so stoked, nervous, sad, happy. It would be such a wonderful thing to go back home to Nevada, but we would be leaving our friends here in Vernal. Briley would leave the school she goes to and all her friends. We might not be able to take our horses, because we don't know where we could keep them out there for 6 months till we found a place of our own. This past year here has been one of the best! We love our ward, and all the members, we have wonderful, amazing friends and neighbors. This is going to be a hard decision. Lots of praying are in store!!! I know that what is meant to be will be. And it's one of those things that if he doesn't take the job he will always wonder what if. So we will be talking about this probably ALOT until we come to a mutual agreement on what to do!! Wish us luck!! I hope we make the right decision...Did I mention my husband will look GREAT in a uniform!!! HOTT STUFF!!!

Coupons, COUPONS, CoUpOnS

Oh wow, it has truly been FOREVER since my last post. ALOT has happened. But lets just fill you in on recent stuff! 
A month or so ago I watched this show on TLC "Extreme Couponing" (GREAT show) it followed 4 people as they got their coupons (clipping sites..or my favorite DUMPSTER diving!), planned their shopping trips, and loaded tons of products into their 1...10 carts!! And then came CHECK out!! I could not believe how much these people bought for just dollars!! I was INSPIRED to say the least. SO I called my mother in law (who coupons...REALLY WELL), she gave me some tips, and then I went straight to work!! I went out and bought my coupons, cut them, organized them, and started looking for deals! CHEAP deals!!!

I bought ALL this for ONLY $23.66. I SAVED $53.53!! That's what I am talking about!! I bought ro*tel tomatoes, Progresso soup, Red Baron Pizza, Hebrew National hot dogs, and Chex mix. I was SOOO scared when I walked into the store, I was nervous on how it would all play out. But at the end of check out I was flabbergasted! I couldn't believe how much I had just saved!! It was a total adrenaline rush. I was HOOKED, there was no way I was not going to do this again!
So since then I have been on numerous shopping trips, some AMAZING, and some ok. I have gotten toothpaste for free or under $1.00 I have gotten razors for $3.00, and I am talking the full sets (see below). I have also got 4 16.3 oz Skippy peanut butter jars for $2.00 total!!!

I got the baby wash, and lotion for FREE, I got all the motrin PM for FREE!! As well as the Colgate toothpast ( I actually made money on that one) The diapers I paid around $5 bucks for!

I do most my shopping at our local Smiths and Walgreens. I love to coupon! It is my new drug of choice! I have some of the ladies in town either clipping coupons/ or wanting to start! I say WHY NOT! We have to buy groceries, why not buy them at ROCK BOTTOM prices!!?? Keep all the money you will(have) save(d) and put it towards a family vacation, or a nice evening out with your husband/wife.
I NEVER in a million years thought I would coupon! I don't do it because were hurting for money (my husband makes almost 6 digits a year) I do it because I am going to buy those products anyway. I want to be able to buy a multitude of them at the same time without paying an arm and leg for it! The stores get reimbursed for the coupon + a handling fee! So they aren't losing money...BUT we are if we aren't using COUPONS!! Think about it a newspaper here costs $2.00 I buy 4-6 every Sunday that's $8-$12 a week on HUNDREDS of dollars in coupons...MOST of which I use! I save so much, and I love it! SO does my husband! I have been able to stock up in food and other necessities. FOR So much cheaper then had I bought it when it wasn't on sale!
I have just begun my journey in the couponing world. I plan on doing this for as long as I can! I love it and I am ADDICTED!!