Ode to Lisa Michelle-

So I LOVE getting a good deal. Cheap or thrifty, call it what you may. I just like the challenge and it makes me extra happy to shop and know I got a good deal! At our family reunion/Renee's wedding last month, Lisa told Micah at some point that she's gotten into couponing (groceries) and Micah said that sounds like something I'd be interested in....so she told me about it-and I got interested. I'm not nearly as good as her, but here is some of my handiwork this past month:

$4.21 at Target
retail: roughly $15ish

Toothpaste: .12
Lightbulbs: .89 ish or something
Granola Bars: $1.19ish
Juice: .98
Pens: Free
Candy bar: .29 (Normally $2.29!)

$1.07 at Walgreens
retail: around $7

$12.86 at CVS (yes, I have started stocking up on diapers)
retail: roughly $28

drum roll please....
.69 at CVS (retail $31.04)
no, i do NOT even mean each

I stumbled upon some clearance shelf and could NOT believe my eyes! they had a bunch of baby stuff like 70-90% off! These were like .50-.90 each, but I had a .50 off coupon for Pampers and I had a CVS $3 rewards coupon from a purchase a few weeks ago (spends like cash at CVS) and after paying the leftover total of .69, I actually somehow got a $2 rewards coupon back (which I promptly spent on diapers of the previous picture) so in all actuality I MADE $1.31 on these wipes! 656 wipes for .69 works out to .001052 cents each, so even if CVS brand is terrible and you have to use like 10 each time, at that price I'll use a whole package for one cleaning! Anyways, this made me pretty excited. There was even a label on the clearance shelf for a 36ct Huggies Diapers for $1.80!!! but those were all gone. So this bargain was total chance, for sure, but pretty good chance! I went to a few other CVSs in the neighborhood but none of them had this deal.

People say couponing takes too much time and it's not worth it....once you figure our what you're doing, it takes some organization and it does take time, but time is something I happen to have PLENTY of currently. Plus, there are tons of bloggers that do all the hard work for you. Before I have thoroughly bored most of you, I'll just post some of my favorites that were passed on by Lisa.

http://hip2save.com/
www.totallytarget.com
http://www.savingwithshellie.com
http://couponcravings.com

Our newest love....

Micah has golfed since his mission...however, I HAD never been. He's tried to get me to go a few times and we've gone to the driving range and hit some balls after dinner now and then. My excuse was always that I was nervous to go because I'd be so terrible and then we'd have these old cranky men behind us waiting and then I'd just feel pressure and be worse and really just not enjoy it. However, I gave in this past month. We went to the course on Base where we've gone to the driving range.
As you can see, it's getting progressively darker. That was how Micah got me to go-pretty much guarantee we're the last ones on the course for the night! It worked! No one was behind us, and we were slow enough-especially with Micah stopping to teach me that we pretty much had the course to ourselves.
And you'll never believe it, but I actually enjoyed it! It wasn't as bad as I'd imagined...I mean, I was WAY over par every time, but the ball mostly stayed straight and on the fairway! I'd imagined my ball going all over the course and into the wilderness and spending the whole night in cactus and sand, but it wasn't that bad!

As (almost) always, a gorgeous sunset. The course is set far enough away from everything that you just see the mountains and sky for the most part!

Happy Fourth of July!

Plans got changed...and this is how we spent our FOUR day 4th weekend

with some red, white & blue foods for some festivity

Highlights of June

Micah's cousin, Jenny, and her family -Nik, Lilian and Joseph drove through from Tucson on their way to move back to Michigan for grad school. They stayed the night with us and we had a great visit!
Then the next week was spent in Utah for this event!!!! We did not get our camera out ONCE this whole week! We're slackers, but plenty of other pictures were taken, which we are now stealing:

and while we were there, we got to meet this little guy: Jack (Lisa & Jim's),
with his big cousin, Payton (Nik & Christopher's)
and we can only hope our baby is even half as happy as Jack was-
he smiled like this pretty much the ENTIRE time!

and we celebrated birthdays while there-
Taylor, Micah and Soph all within a few days of eachother

When we got home, Micah had another cake...
and a strawberry rhubarb pie, with rhubarb ALL the way from Boston
Mom brought some from her garden for me, as it's a pretty scarce commodity
in Albuquerque and by scarce I mean does not exist

We (Micah joined us and drove the big van with the kayaks on top) took a day trip
out to Santa Rosa, NM with my Young Women and did some kayaking fun

These are the leaders, not the YW....we tend to be confused with the girls sometimes
me-not even looking pregnant from behind, eh? and my friend, Jessy

and that is June in a nutshell, I guess!

Memorial Day Weekend-

-we spent in Vegas with Micah's old roommates for a weekend hoorah! It was great to see everyone again and Micah has loved these little get togethers. I'd only driven through once before at night. It's actually kind of cool and there is quite a bit to do...lots of exhibits and eating and cool architecture. All the casinos try to outdo eachother, so that alone is pretty fun to see!

I forget what casino....

The Bellagio Gardens...it reminded me of "Honey I Shrunk the Kids"

and for Mom...the world's largest chocolate fountain
You can kind of see it behind the glass case-
Dark, Milk & White Chocolate in 3 separate flows and 3 different tiers