Anniversary Weekend Recap

On August 6th, Nick and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary with a weekend trip to Traverse City, Michigan. All I can say is that I can't believe I lived in West Michigan for over 3 years and NEVER made it up that way. It was truly beautiful, relaxing, and had plenty of fun things to do. I can't wait to go back, and I know that Nick didn't even want to leave, but those darn work commitments get the best of us sometimes. These are the flowers he brought home Thursday night, before we left. So pretty! I just love Star-Gazer lilies, and there is also a Gerber daisy in there, amongst the others. Nick claims he doesn't know Star-Gazers are my favorite, but this is the second time he has gotten them for me...so I think he secretly does.

Nick and I left bright and early Friday morning and headed up north. We stopped at one of his favorite chicken places for lunch...Ya-Ya's. It was my first time there, and it was okay for a chain place. The chicken was pretty tasty and was grilled right there behind the counter on huge grills.When we got to Traverse City we checked into our hotel room then went out and cruised the sites. It was the Summer Street Sale downtown, so all the local shops brought tables and goodies outside. I loved the shops, and Nick and I bought lots of cherry goodness from the cherry place. We also hit up the warehouse district and stopped at the Right Brain Brewery for Nick to try a beer. We also ate at an AWESOME restaurant for dinner: Firefly. It was so delish! It was kinda tapas, but also had sushi and cuisine from all over the world...and a yummy Pineapple Upside Down Mojito for me. Mmm. Luckily we had a mini-fridge in our room because we had PLENTY of leftovers.

On Saturday, we got up early and headed up the Old Mission Peninsula. It is about 18 miles from town, and was one of the prettiest drives! I can't even imagine it in the fall when the leaves are changing. I WILL FIND OUT THOUGH! There were vineyards, and hops growing, beautiful houses, the lake surrounding us, fresh air, hills and clear skies. We drove all the way to the point and the Old Mission Lighthouse. And, I even climbed the steep/crazy steps to get into the top of that baby! Nick was shocked, but I still did it...and hit my head too! :)
From there we stopped at a general store, another brewery for lunch and brews, and my fave winery: Black Star Farms! Then, we headed back to town to check out some of the other shops and the wooden boat show, and to walk along the water and check out the pier. After that we had dinner at a Greek/Polish place (fitting for us since Nick is Greek and I am Polish) and we headed back to the lakefront to enjoy the sunset and such.
It was such a great getaway, and I am sure I am forgetting some parts of the trip, but this is getting a bit lengthy.
Now, the excitement for this weekend is that Nick is MOVING HOME from Cleveland! Hooray!
The only sad part is that means only 2 more weeks of summer for me, then it is back to the grind. *sadness*

SOME BARGAINS!!
An awesome coupon I found, and used 3 of at Target, is the $1/1 Post-It found here. I got 3 post-it note pads for FREE!!

Go here to request a FREE Smart Food Storage sample from Tomorrow's Harvest.

Click here and subscribe to one of the Organic Valley newsletters so that you can request a FREE Farm Friends Welcome Kit! The kit includes a Rootstock Magazine, kid's activity booklet, a bumper sticker and COUPONS!

More later,

August already!?!?!

It is so hard to believe that we are in the month of August already! That means it's almost time to go back-to-school, that summer will be ending, and most importantly, that Nick will be coming home! Hooray! It's hard not having your best friend/boyfriend around all summer. Not that I don't mind "me" time, but I love "us" time too. We will be celebrating our 5-year anniversary this weekend in Traverse City, Michigan. I am pretty pumped, except for the long car ride, since I just did the travel thing this past weekend too.

This past weekend my friend Shelley from Grand Rapids, Nick's youngest sister, Kyra and I went to my parent's house in SE Ohio. It was Shelley's first time down there so we took her to see the sights. Those "sights" include the statue of Mothman, the Point Pleasant River Front, Tycoon Lake, and the Bob Evans Homestead Farms. Truly exciting, I know. It's a whole different world down there. We also visited some of the local stores, and the best Amish country shoppe around.

Overall, it was a fun, but fast, trip to see my parents and my lovely dog siblings. We got to enjoy some home-cooked food, bon-fires, laughs, and celebrate my dad's birthday.

If you may recall I was starting a "crafty" project of sorts for Nick. One of the gifts my sister and Delver got him for his birthday (7/4) was a Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. bottle opener for the bar. From there, Nick decided he needed a cap catcher too, so I bought him one and it was pretty plain-jane, stainless steel...so I began to mentally create:

Some modge podge, random beer labels and stickers, and drying time later gave us this finished project:



So, I am pretty pleased and hope Nick will like it too!!

Thanks for reading,

I didn't blow away...

Ok, so I didn't blow away on Friday night, I just have a hard time imagining things to blog about sometimes, or remembering to blog. It happens.

I am looking forward to this weekend because Kyra, Shelley and I are going to my parent's house for the weekend. Shelley is coming down from Grand Rapids, Thursday night, bunking here, and then we are heading out on Friday morning. It should be a super time. I know my parents are excited to see Shelley and she is excited to see them. We are supposed to have a deck dedication party, show Shelley the sights, and just have fun. I begged my sister and Delver to come in from Indiana too... They just got home from a cruise in Mexico on Monday, so we shall see.
On the crafty side of things I am presently working on decoupaging Nick's new beer cap catcher for the bar, since he got his new bottle opener from my sister and Delver for his birthday. It started out plain like this:

But, by the time I am done it will be cleverly covered in Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and other brew goodness. It's about 3/4 done now, and I am pretty pleased with it-don't worry I will have pics. (I hope Nick will be too!)
I forgot, I am also looking forward to the start of Jersey Shore: Season 2 on Thursday. It's hideous, I know...but there is SOMETHING about it that peaks my interest. (Probably Pauly D's hair)

Now for some coupons and bargains::Head on over HERE to print a $1/1 Yoplait Go-Gurt coupon.

Sunbelt recently emailed out a new coupon! Head on over here to print a coupon good for $1/1 ANY Sunbelt 8-count box with a suggested retail price of $2.19 or $2.59, valid thru 8/30/10.

Starting tomorrow, July 29th, through Saturday, July 31st, head over to your local Old Navy store and you can snag up to 5 Layering Camis for only $2 each (regularly priced at $8.50)! Just be sure to print the coupon found here or just say “Cami 4 Me” to the cashier. (I've been to Old Navy twice this week, so I might as well head on back!!!)

If you are a fan of Ocean Spray, you can find $1/1 off the new blueberry drinks, HERE!
Enough for now, I better hit the hay. I have a lunch date, bank run, and birthday gift buying for my Dad in the morning...along with tidying up for Shelley's arrival. Good night!

Friday, Friday!

Alright, so we made it through another week of summer- it's beginning to fly by a little TOO quickly if you ask me. It has been pretty warm this week, so I enjoyed quite a bit of time around the pool. Yesterday I thought for SURE that I was sick with the flu. I was achy, tired and weak, but I seriously think I was just dehydrated. I got home from my stormy evening with Skylar, drank Gatorade and popped 3 ibuprofen and hit the hay at 9 pm, and woke up feeling MUCH better.
Speaking of storms, the sky is starting to rumble.
It's weird that Nick is not coming home this weekend, since he's been here the past 3! I was just starting to get used to him being home on the weekends. Boo! But, we'll be going on our 5 year anniversary trip in a few weeks, and then shortly after that he will be home until at least the beginning of January. Then, I'll be the one leaving...and possibly him if he gets into a Graduate program that starts in the Spring semester. (Purdue is one of them...we shall see!)

My sister, Delver and some members of his family are on a cruise this week, and I hope they are enjoying it. I am sure they are, as long as it's not too hot or too stormy. I can't wait to see pictures and hear about their adventures.

I am going to post some freebies, sales and such and log-off as it's getting pretty stormy, and I have to catch up on my Top Chef: D.C. tonight.

If you would like a sample of Gano Excel coffee, sign up HERE

AMERICAN EAGLE is adding an additional 30% off of their clearance items and you can get FREE SHIPPING regardless of your total using 74936062 at the checkout!

I will post more later, the sirens are blaring!

Tanning, movies, and more

Happy Monday!
I didn't do much today, but that is ok. For awhile I managed to venture to the pool to work on my tan a bit more, but it was warm out there...so, what does a girl do in that situation?!?!? She brings a fan out, poolside, of course! The fan made it a little better, but an hour was enough for me.

Kyra and I also managed to watch Men Who Stare At Goats, and it was ok. I would not watch it again because I just wasn't too interested. (Neither was Kyra!) Tonight, after supper, Kyra, Danielle, Denise and I watched Land of the Lost, which was another dud. There were some funny lines here and there, but for the most part, it was horrible. Oh Will Ferrel, that was NOT even close to being one of your best!

It's now time for the rose ceremony on The Bachelorette and then DRAMA! DRAMA! DRAMA! on my Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Coupons:The Special K FREE Pack can be ordered HERE. It includes a Special K Protein Meal Bar and coupons!! I got this on the last time around, and snagged another tonight.

QUIZNOS coupon HERE for a small sub, chips and regular fountain drink for $2.99! Yum! I love their peppers and pickles.
**Reminder** Play your instant win games!

Some games, coupons, and more.

I have been trying to win some of the following games because I LOVE being a winner and getting free things, so you should give it a shot too!!

Dole has a new instant win game to play! Just head on over here to play the Dole Salad Seekers Taste Adventure Instant Win Game! You could instantly win a FREE bag of Dole Salad! Plus, you can play up to 3 times a day until 9/30/10. Even if you don't win today, you may also be able to print a $1/1 Dole Salad Blend or Kit coupon! After you play on the lower left hand side, click on– “Better yet, enjoy delicious savings with this DOLE salad coupon exclusively for you!"

Play the Play-Doh You Can Win! game here! There will be 10 winners daily until 9/30/10, and you could win a $50 gift card. Even if you lose there is a coupon you can print, and it seems to be different each day! When you play, make sure to enter this code KDN185UV9JN34

Fla-Vor-Ice has a new instant win game to play called the Flavor Finder Giveaway! They are giving away over 100 prizes everyday! Just go on over here and enter your email address to get started. My 3 flavors didn't match today, but maybe tomorrow!

You could win a years supply of cereal, 12 coupons, or more from the Honey Nut Cheerios Game! Just head on over here to test your luck. After playing, even if you don’t win, you’ll be able to print a coupon for $0.75 off One Box of Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal, so free coups are always a win!

The following are some new coupons I found:
StonyField YoBaby and YoToddler Organic Milk Yogurt is offering a $1 off coupon, here.

Children's Advil $1 off coupon, here.

Lastly, Nick came home again this weekend so that we could celebrate his Mom's birthday. Yesterday we grilled out for lunch, went and saw the movie INCEPTION, with Leonardo DiCaprio, and had PF Changs for dinner. I stayed awake for the full 142 minutes of that movie, and it was pretty good. It's the kind of movie that makes you wonder, especially about lucid dreaming. I would recommend seeing it if you have the chance. We also went to PF Changs, which was yummy. I had the Dan Dan Noodles...my fave!
Today we played some wii, had some leftovers, and watched The Book Of Eli, which was another great movie. The ending threw me for an unexpected loop, and I love Denzel Washington, so I would recommend this movie too. Nick headed back to Cleveland awhile ago. Here comes a new week. Enjoy!

Becoming a Blogger

So, I have been following a few blogs recently and finally decided I should create my own blog. (With the encouragement of JFarns, too!) I used to be a Xanga kid, so I might as well bite the bullet and become a blogger, right?!

I typically read/follow blogs for finding free samples, coupons I can use, teaching and lesson plan ideas, and for new and exciting recipes. I also like the random updates about everyday life. So, my blog will pretty much combine all the things I enjoy about blogs, but with my own personal twist.

That's enough for now...time to enjoy the weekend.