Moving, Couponing, and Giveaways!

Hello everyone! I haven't posted in a few days. I have been a little busy with packing, wedding planning, and trying to publish a cookbook! ( I will tell you more about that later! )

As I posted on Facebook, my bridesmaid dresses came, but they were the wrong color. I was so sad, they were such a cute style! I have size small, medium, and large if anyone is interested! They are wrap around and very adjustable. I am asking $40. We do have a backup plan, thankfully!

Today, I decided to tackle the stock pile room. The movers will not pack food or liquids, so this room was our responsibility. As I packed each item, it made me remember how much I really do love couponing. In fact, I visited my local Kroger store today to take advantage of the .88 Colgate toothbrushes that I was going to be able to purchase for .08 a piece. As always, they were out of stock, so I was able to get a rain-check for 38 toothbrushes. I will keep you updated on how that goes.

Moral of the story...10 Lowe's boxes full of pasta, cereal, tuna, dish soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, body wash, shampoo and conditioner, razors, shaving cream, feminine products, candy, floss, laundry detergent, and lots more......

Here.

Ah, satisfaction.

Due to my large amount of stock pile items, I am in the process of learning how to do "giveaways" on my blog! Please invite your friends...it will be worth it!



Thrift Stores and Spray Paint

    We have slowly been collecting interesting picture frames to use for different things at the wedding. We also found the perfect shade of spray paint at Lowe's. (photo brighter blue than actual frames) So, yesterday I was able to paint 4 frames, a silver tray, and the birdcage that I posted about before! We bought a bigger one at Salvation Army today for $2, but that one isn't painted quite yet. Also picked up a really cool red hoodie :)



Wedding plans are coming along really well. I have booked my photographer. She is super creative and does great work. She is the same one who did our engagement pictures.

Check our her page here: Hodge Podge Photography

Tate comes home in 32 days! Him and his family are in Wisconsin for a couple weeks. From there: Minnesota, Canada, then HOME!

You can check out their website here: Lindley Creek Bluegrass

Whoopie Pies!

Today, my mom, Kori, and I decided to begin taste testing for the wedding. We made whoopie pies!

Some trivia about them: They are a Pennsylvania Amish tradition dessert. According to food history, Amish women would make these cookie pies and put them in farmers' lunchboxes. When farmers would find the pies, they would shout "Whoopie!" Whoopie pies are the official state treat of Maine.

We made the classic version of Whoopies. Chocolate cookie with marshmallow cream filling, yum!

You will need:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, or margarine
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, sift together, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl, beat butter, shortening and sugar with mixer on low setting until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat for two more minutes. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.Using a tablespoon, drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes each or until pies spring back when pressed gently.

Remove from oven and cool for about five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

1 T. of batter will make about 48 two inch cakes or 24 pies

2 T. of batter will make about 25-30 four inch cakes or 15 pies

Marshmallow Filling:

1/2 cups marshmallow cream fluff
1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the marshmallow cream and vegetable shorting, starting on low and increasing to medium speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low, add confectioners sugar and the vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until fluffy.

Spread marshmallow filling, gently press between each cookie to expose filling.

Roll in sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, nuts, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Store in air-tight container.

The finished product!

Watch for thieves :)



My Weekend

 This weekend, we have been making preparations for our big move. Cleaning out cabinets, the refrigerator and freezer, junk drawer (awful), and other things. We have been selling off furniture and extra stuff, which we still need rid of. Couch and loveseat, a mirror, pictures, a guitar, and a play fort...anyone?

We will have packers and movers, thankfully! But, they still don't move everything..including all liquids and food items. Tomorrow, I may try to pack the store room. Oh my, it will be quite a job. 17 boxes of cereal, 40 boxes of pasta, 40+ toothbrushes, 25 tubes of toothpaste, 15 bottles of Bbq sauce, and lots more. I always wonder what people thought about that room when they looked at our house...

The best thing about it...I ordered more coupons for this week's sale. More toothpaste coming this week! It's the right time of year to stock up on items like this. It saves so much money in the long run!

Today we went to church and stayed there for the afternoon. I brought my guitar and was able to jam with the Grape family. (Grape jam? Ha!) We played for about 2 1/2 hours, it was so much fun! My fingers are so sore, but it's good for me :)  I'm hoping to do that again in a couple weeks!

Tell me about your weekend!

We Are Moving!..Finally!

After a year's worth of waiting, we are finally packing up and moving to Mountain Grove. Our house has been under contract for several months, but just recently, everything has fallen into place. We started our house hunt about a year ago, and finally found the right one! It's just a short distance from town and about 25 minutes to my dad's office. I'm really looking foward to living in a small town. Being just an hour from Springfield will be so nice, also! Thankfully, I won't have to leave the new place permanently quite yet.  There is a great spot for a seperate "mini "apartment where Tate and I can stay when we are home, after we are married! 

Here are a few pictures of the new place:

Best part: We love the colors. We won't have to paint! (I hate painting!)

Aside from moving: Tate comes home in 38 days! I'm so excited..just about to the 

half-way point! :)



Coupons..and More Coupons!

After a long break, my mom and I are back in the swing of things of couponing. It was SO worth it today. I noticed last week that Kroger would be having a great sale this current week, so I planned accordingly. We really did good today!

- 10 boxes of cereal

-12 bars of Ivory/Safeguard soap

-22 Oral-B Advantage toothbrushes

-10 Softsoap hand wash

-24 Crest toothpastes

-16 Dawn soaps

-2 Right Guard deodorants

Total price...(*drum roll..)

Roughly.. $10.75

Oh, how I love coupons.

I wasn't able to get everything today, so I hope to finish the rest up tomorrow morning. In the past 9 months, my family and I have not had to pay full price for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap, razors, laundry detergent, fabric softener, cereal, pasta, etc. It has been a huge help to us! I'm so glad I was able to learn this now. Couponing on the road won't be quite as easy, but I can still use the basic principles, and save lots of money along the way!

It's exciting to see what cheap/free things you can score every week!

One of my favorite coupon websites:

Krazy Coupon Lady

Enjoy :)

Silver Dollar City!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a good weekend!

As a continuation of my weekend, Sunday we went to church. Sunday afternoon, we went to my grandma's house to visit my dad's family. I was able to spend some time with my cousins, which is always fun.

Here are a couple of my cousins and I. Kyla, Justine, and Me.

Today, my family was able to take off for Silver Dollar City. Moonlight Madness is going on right now, so the park is open till 10 pm. We didn't stay quite that late, but it was still a lot of fun! It was about 103 degrees out, so we hung out on water rides most of the day.

We were waiting in line for Tom & Huck's Riverblast. If you haven't rode it, it's a very slow paced ride, other than your arm is killing you by the time you get off from shooting people with your water gun. It's basically like a human car wash..and yes, you do get that wet. We also rode Lost River several times (my personal favorite).

I sat this ride out. My amusement ride tolerance level is quite, quite low. :)

Kori and Gage had a really good time today, too. They usually get along good together. She is always trying to take care and watch out for him. They are the best brother and sister I could ask for!

Did I mention that it was HOT? We had to pick one of the hottest days of the year, but we did stay hydrated!

Ah yes, my trusty ole' phone. Tate is gone right now, so he wasn't able to come, but without fail..we were able to text most of the day. We will make great old people someday. As I mentioned earlier about my tolerance for rides, Tate feels the same way I do about them. You will not see us in line for Wildfire, Powder Keg, etc. We are more likely to frequent lines for shows..only during Bluegrass festival. You know you are going to a good show when you stand out because you are the only one without gray/white hair in a crowd that large. My personal favorite..the die-hard Rhonda Vincent fans. Oh yes, the t-shirts, the autographed pictures from 1996, the pins, the mugs, the self-portraits with Rhonda, etc.. You know who they are.

 If only it were Bluegrass & BBQ festival all year long..ah, that would be too good.

On the way home, we listened to a really great CD. One of my current favorites! It's by Darin Aldridge & Brooke Justice (now Brooke Aldridge). She has an awesome voice!                       Check it out here:

Darin Aldridge & Brooke Justice -Amazon

That's all for now! Have a good week!