SUPER SAVER!!

I did it!!! YAY...I did it! I finally saved more than I spent at Publix Supermarket! I have been doing couponing for the past 6 or 7 months and although it is time consuming I CAN NOT even explain the rush that you feel as the total keeps going down...down...down...and DOWN! So here is what I came home with:

The Grand Total Spent was: $69.91

Amount SAVED was: $75.83

I don't know how to post links to other websites but I use a few websites that post all of the coupon match ups. If you are interested, here are the addresses:

www.iheartpublix.com

www.southernsavers.com

Happy Shopping...I'm headed back out shortly for an awesome Pop Tart deal. I love having those around for my food storage.

Ordination

Noah turned 12 recently and with that comes the opportunity for him to receive the priesthood. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when a boy turns 12 he is eligible to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained to the office of a Deacon. Noah also was awarded his Faith in God Award. For the past 4 years he has worked on completing all of the requirements in order to receive this award from Primary. It was a very special day for Noah, Michael and I. We are so proud of Noah and all of his accomplishments.

Michael, my dad, my brother Brent and his son Jordan, Jim Haddock, Steve Chapman, Chester Tillman, Jeff Abbott, Christian Abbott and Derek Chapman all participated in Noah's ordination. My mom, Josh and Carlin Nielson were also able to come and celebrate with us. We are lucky to have such great family and friends!

And then there were three...

Lisa Booher, Angela Haddock, Celeste Cragun and me

The bad/sad part about living in Gainesville is how transient the area is, being that it is a college town. There are a few families who are here in Gainesville for the "long haul" but then there are A-LOT of families that are just here for a few years. Recently we had to say good-bye to one of those families. We will miss the Cragun's!

Can I have the definition please?

Noah participated in his school Spelling Bee this morning. He did great, but was not able to advance to the next level. We are proud of him!!

I can't believe it is already 2010. We have had an exciting past few months.

First off, I have to report that sadly we are no longer going "green" in the laundry department. Michael (and my dad's discount) got me a wonderful stackable Maytag Washer and Dryer similar to what is pictured below. I love them!!

Here are some highlights from October and November. I'm sure there will be more to come!

October--It marked our first anniversary in our home in Gainesville. We still love it here and are so greatful for all of our wonderful friends that we have met here. A few of them have been helping me take down the spectacular wallpaper that the previous owners had put up. We've put a dent in it, but still have a long ways to go.

It was also Halloween! The Friday before Halloween, the 30th, was our Ward Social. On Halloween, we spent the day at a friend's home. The men watched the Gator Game, the women watched the children while they swam and played out in the yard. Only in Gator Nation would trick-or-treating be delayed because the Gator game wasn't over. Sadly, most people in G'ville won't answer their doors when the game is on. Here are some shots of the kids at the Ward Halloween Party which was held Friday the 30th. We had a Pot Luck/Talent Show/Trunk-or-Treat Party. It was fun!!

The baby with Kaden is not part of our family...yet. Maybe she and Kaden will get married one day. =) Hahaha! Sydney was actually a Witch for Halloween but in this picture she was dressed in her costume for the Talent Show part of our Ward party. The Activity Day Girls did a beautiful performance to one of the Children's Hymns. I hope the video will post:

Michael even showed off a little of his "talent" when he guest starred with our Young Women near the end of their performance. Hopefully this video will load too:

On to November: November 6th was a big day for me...it was my last day of STUDENT TEACHING! Yeah!! It was a great experience, but so glad that it is over AND that I don't have to start working anytime soon! We are so greatful that the Sirmans family moved into our ward. Ms. Kim was our babysitter for the 12 weeks I was out of the home. We were so glad to have her. Now she is a mommy to her own sweet baby boy!

The 13th was my bday. We took our annual Disney trip. This year Michael was able to go with us, as well as the Haddock family...including Jim. We missed the Booher's though.

I will try to catch up with some of the other things that have gone on over the past few months, but at least this is a start!

It's not easy being green...

So, our dryer broke the other day. Michael was out of town and didn't get back until the weekend, and I forgot to tell him until Friday night that the dryer was broken...oops! My Saturday was spent washing clothes in the washer and then randomly hanging them around the house and outside.

It was going well until it started to rain Saturday night. I was okay with hanging and laying all of the "colored" clothes outside but I had planned to take the "whites" to a friend's house. I forgot, and I was not okay to hang those out randomly on the porch. I would've taken a picture of all the "whites" strung out all over our kitchen cupboards, laundry room and anywhere I could find a place, if it wouldn't have been so sacreligious. Thankfully though, Michael and I did get them all cleaned up before Monday morning when our sitter came.

First Day(s) of School

The start of this school year has been a little crazy. I am in the midst of finishing my degree in Elementary Ed, and so I am doing my student teaching right now. Little did I realize that in doing so, I would totally miss all of the firsts for my kids this school year. Totally missed "Meet Your Teacher," I was at my school's "Meet Your Teacher;" totally missed the first day of school photo ops too. I barely was able to help Sydney fix her hair before I had to leave. It's been really hard, I'm glad for the experience but my timing is a little off.

Thankfully my friend Angela snapped a picture of Sydney getting off the school bus on the first day. Sydney has to go to her house because I have to stay at my school for an hour or so. =( I don't know what I would do without Angela!

Noah just started middle school this year. And the poor boy actually had to ride his bike on the first day and he said that when he went in the lunchroom and the administrators told the parents to say their final good-bye's that he looked around and there was no one for him to say good-bye to. He was a little sad. I was a little sad for him.

We have survived and thanks to Angela, Ms. Kim and Michael we finally got some first week of school pictures. A big thank you to them and Michael for making all of this craziness work!