Back Yard Renovations

Matt and I (and Ryan) have been working hard for the past two weekends trying to regain control of the back yard. The weeds were winning the war, but major progress has been made. We have numerous flower beds in the back yard (thanks to the previous owners) and its just been too much to keep up with. So, we've decided to re-do most of them with rocks and to turn the rest back into just grass. Over the past two weekends we have moved in LITERALLY nearly 3 TONS of red, lava rocks. And, I'm happy to say, we've done some great work. I can't imagine what all this would have cost if we'd paid someone to do it for us. Now, we only have three small flower beds to do and we'll be completely done.

Sadly, I don't have any before pictures, so you'll just have to imagine lots of weeds, mud, and general gross-ness. Here are some pictures of the progress:

New Dog Pictures

This past Thursday morning, Daisy and Roxanne were lying in the bed together after Matt and I had gotten up and they were just too cute. Normally, they wouldn't be near each other, because Daisy gets on Roxanne's nerves so badly. But that day, there they were, side by side, looking like they enjoyed each other's company. So I thought it was a Kodak moment. Here they are!

Boring Update

I hate to over-do it too much with the grocery game stuff....but I'm going to anyway because I had another good week. Although I thought it was just going to be mediocre, it turned out quite nicely. At Kroger, I bought 35 items. The total before savings was : $81.81. After coupons and my Kroger card, the toal was $33.48, savings of 59% (according to my receipt... I don't actually do the math!!) That came out to less that $1 per item! :) Yay!

Ok, I'm done. No more grocery game blogs for atleast a week. :P

More Grocery Game News

I took a second trip to CVS today to take advantage of my coupons from yesterday.

On a side note, if you do NOT shop at CVS, you are totally missing out.... Here's why.....

Today I picked up two bottles of 24 count Excedrine, a tube of Colgate toothpaste, and two Biore Cleansers. Total: $26.

Amount I actually paid after using sunday paper coupons and CVS coupons from yesterday....

.........................

.........................

$0. That's right. Zero. I didn't have to fork out one penny. So, it was FREE. Plus, I got $3 more in extra bucks as well as a $2 off coupon for shampoo. That'll be next trip!

Grocery Game

I have decided to try the Grocery Game again. I tried it for a few weeks last year, but just didn't get into it, so I cancelled my membership. Since then, I've continued with my coupon cutting, but on my own. Until this week. I signed back up and thought I share my first week sucess with everyone.


If you don't know what the Grocery Game is, I'll give a brief explanation. Basically, its a website that tells you what items are on sale and your chosen grocery store and matches those items up with coupons from previous Sunday papers so that you get items at super low prices, sometimes even FREE. :) The idea is to stock up while items are cheap whether or not you need them. Then, when they're not on sale, you'll already have them.


Okay, so back to my story. I went to Kroger today. I bought 27 items. And just so you know, they weren't all dollar items either. Included in the 27 items was 4 12-packs of DC, Tide laundry detergent, and the taquitos I love that are about $7 a box. My total was $74.75. After my kroger discounts and coupons I paid $34.98. That means I saved 53%!! Not bad for my first week.


Since I'm talking about saving money, I'll mention my trip to CVS as well. Which, by the way, is on the grocery game too, but I haven't gotten the list for CVS yet. That'll come later, I think tomorrow. Anyway, I spent $20.83 and my receipt printed out $22.50 in extra bucks and CVS coupons that I intend to use. That doesn't count the 5 or 6 additional useless coupons that printed which I just tossed.


So, all in all, I feel like I've had a sucessful day. :)

Gaining Weight

Not me, Daisy. :)

As of this morning, Daisy weighs in at 41 pounds. She has long surpassed Roxanne in weight, but she's also now longer and taller than Roxanne as well. Roxanne is still bigger around than Daisy though. Despite who's larger, Roxanne is still holding down the fort as far as who's in charge. How? You ask? Humping. Yes, we have a humping situation on our hands! Ha!

Its been nearly a month since I posted pictures of Daisy, so here you go. And Kerry, just for you, I have included one "mean dog" picture. :)

In order to be completely fair, I must include a Roxanne picture. This is my alltime favorite!! It's not a recent one, but who cares, it's hilarious!

Some Lessons are Hard to Learn

As if once wasn't enough, this past friday morning, I took another spill, albeit smaller, down the stairs! Seems like I either don't learn lessons very well or I just can't walk. This time it was only the last few stairs instead of the WHOLE set though. My shoe slipped off the edge and there I went. Luckily I didn't break anything this time, but I think I bruised my tail bone pretty badly. The process of sitting or standing from sitting is quite painful and rolling over in bed is near impossible. Oh the days of a one-story house. Matt says he'll install me an elevator... Either that or we're just going to have to move!