I love to save a dime or two....

So as most of you know, I am totally into coupon clipping. This has gone pretty good so far. I look forward to my Sunday newspaper to cut my coupons and even have the security guy at work saving his for me! Well, I have taken my savings to a new level. I have joined www.thegrocerygame.com. **if you sign up, enter my email address for

This website is constructed by Teri. She creates a list each week that suggest which coupons to use and the in-store deals that are going on. Since Kroger is my grocery I signed up for her Kroger list. She lets you in on tid-bits such as the French's mustard was 2.99 on sale for 1.69. I have a .50 coupon which Kroger doubles. So in the end, I paid .69 for mustard. I think it is a good deal.

My only suggestion is that if you do decide to join the game, shop on Sunday instead of Monday night.....they were sold out of a couple of my items because I was a tad late! :(

So is it all worth it? I think so, I spent $47.53 and saved $33.09.

This made my choice really simple......

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry-out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished and wanted to get some fresh air, so he decided to answer the call. As he approached the checkout stand, a distant smile caught his eye ~ the checkout girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love. Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card, punched out, and then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out only to see her start walking up the road.

Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn't possible. He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a babysitter, so he offered to pay for the babysitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday. That Saturday night, he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The babysitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let's take the kids with us." She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, and then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Downs Syndrome. Kurtis told Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us."

Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities ~ just like her first husband and father of her children had done. But Kurtis was not ordinary ~ he had a different mindset. That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids and went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything, Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him, and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with. A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children.

Since then they have added five more kids. So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy at a grocery store in Cedar Falls, Iowa and Brenda the checkout girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and has his Cardinals in the hunt for a possible appearance in the Super Bowl. Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person.

It should be noted that he also quarterbacked the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI...and he has also been the NFL's Most Valuable Player twice and the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player. He established the First Things First Foundation in the spring of 2001 with wife Brenda to promote Christian values and bless the lives of those less fortunate with projects such as trips to Disney World for ill children, building recreation centers in children’s hospitals, helping single moms achieve the dream of home ownership and teaching Special Olympians the football basics. All projects are centered on Kurt and Brenda’s life theme: faith and family come first.


I didn't care much about the Super Bowl this year since my Giants were put out. I think I have had a change of heart. . . GO Cardinals! I get so sick of hearing how so and so got arrested for dog fighting, drugs, dui, and shootings...I like this story much better.

Fun with Football and Friends!

Zach and I have now traveled through 5 states and 1400 miles for a total of 22 hours in the car! We had so much fun cheering on our Rebels in Dallas and then packing up to visit the Schmidt's in Houston. On Saturday we made the drive to Houston to find the most perfect 80 degree sunny weather!

We had a great 20 hour visit with the Josh, Lisa and Mady. We even found enough time to get a bite to eat at my very favorite restaurant Maggianos! It is sooo delish! If you are ever close to one you would be a fool in my book to pass it up. You can never ever go wrong with Rigatoni D! umm ummm yum!

I must get on my soap box about how adorable Madyson is. I mean she is the sweetest, most friendly, and smartest baby! Not to mention she loves her E. What I would do to go back and steal a few more hugs from her. :) Here is a classic story from our playtime! Madyson and I were playing upstairs when she decided she was sick of me saying, "what letter is this?", "Who is that?" , "what does the sheep say?" and so on. She thought it would be appropriate to quiz me and see how smart I was. She handed me a block and said, "Whats that?". I quickly responded "its a block". She looked at me with this "you must be kidding" face and said, NO its RED! I nearly died. So here you go. I am not smarter than a 20 month old!

Aside for my kiddie time, we had so much fun catching up with Josh and Lisa! We did learn a few things about each other in a short period of time. Josh puts on boots and he suddenly talks a little bit cowboyish and that I am the queen of Mario Cart and Donkey Kong. My skills are simply amazing! Wouldn't it be nice to live a tad bit closer together....like 7 hours apart instead of 9.5!

PS- Don't let Lisa trick you into coming to visit her by telling you that the drive is only 7 hours....You might want to do a little investigating before you leave town! Just Kidding...we wouldn't have mind driving 16 hours!


We are still Hotty Toddying here in Oxford! We love some Rebel football!

The Land Sharks cause "Tech"-nical DIFFICULTIES

HOTTY TODDY FROM DALLAS!

This is my favorite picture. The sign said "90% said we couldn't"...WE DID.

What a great day to be an Ole Miss Rebel. It was so much fun cheering the Rebs onto a victory with 40,000 other Ole Miss fans! The atmosphere was to much to put into words but it was a great experience. From Chanting "SEC" to waving our flags as hard as we could we were simply exhausted after the game. I am not exactly sure where my Rebel team was for the regular season game we lost but the showed out tonight....HOTTY TODDY!!

Happy Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe New Year!!

We are Texas bound tomorrow morning for the Cotton Bowl and to sneak in a visit with the Schmidt's!

HOTTY TODDY!!!

BRRRRRR...Its cold in here!

Friday, Dec. 26. Zach, his nephew and I took off to Nashville....for the day! Call us crazy, but we did it and had a great time. We finally got to Nashville about 12:30. Perfect time for eating at the Aquarium Restaurant. We all had great meals and a good time watching the sharks swim by as we nibbled on a shrimp or two!

With our bellies all full we headed to Oprylands ICE! Exhibit. This is a truly unique experience. If you love to be cold and see really cool things then this is the place for you. Where else in Tennessee can you go into a 9 degree building and see 1.5 million pounds of ice transformed into a GRINCH wonderland? Words really cannot describe what we saw and I am not sure the pictures can either but here you go!

At the end of the Grinch display they have a huge Nativity scene. It is pretty amazing!

A Merry Little Christmas...

Can you believe it, Christmas has come and gone. Maybe it flew by to fast for me since I had to work on Christmas Eve. I now know what is one of the most depressing things ever...driving to work and passing other families going to Church or to spend time with their family and friends. Well with it all said and done, I made it. I survived working Christmas Eve and I actually pretended to be really happy to be a work to see if I could brighten at least one patients day!

So lets back up...

Christmas Eve: I had to work the night before so I came home bright and early to wish my love a happy Christmas Eve. I only got three hours of sleep before I woke up. I guess I was filled with anticipation and excitement?! I knew it would only be a few hours before Zach would be so shocked about his Christmas gift....a 52 inch flat screen. It was so funny because we received a package from Crutchfield that Zach saw. He was dead set that he was getting a Tom Tom for Christmas. If the boy can't find himself around Oxford yet-we are in big trouble! So the delivery boy pulls up in a unmarked white van and of course Zach gets paranoid because he is clueless. I open the door and then demand Zach to help the little guy bring in the box. This is when he figured out what was going on. He was so excited and couldn't believe I had actually pulled this off. I was very thrilled for him....but whoa what was I thinking. He is permanently glued to the TV. Then off to work I go.

Christmas Day: Zach's family tradition is a Christmas Breakfast. It was very tasty and really fun, even with 3 hours of sleep in a 30 hour period. We had some great food and good company but I must admit the best part of the morning was this "Crazy Santa" game. This was the first year of a new tradition. Zach's parents hid 2 fifty dollar bills in the living room and we all had to search for them. Whoever found them got to keep them. It was very frustrating as well as entertaining. . .for the parents at least. All 6 of us wandered around like a bunch of goofballs for a good 15 minutes. I found myself searching the best places, the tree, the deer heads, pictures...everywhere. After staring at this one particular deer head for 3 minutes at least I gave up on it. Shortly after, Margaret, my sister-in-law walked right up to it and yelled "I FOUND IT". I was pretty upset about this because you do know I am very competitive. So on to searching we go....long story short. I found the 2nd one....in the exposed ceiling beam knot hole. Did you follow that? Meaning in a really random place that no one would ever look- I still don't know what made me look there. I am glad I did!

To finish out Christmas Day, Zach and I had the family over for dinner. It was suppose to be my Grandparents and Mom and his family. My Grandparents got sick so Mom came to Celebrate with us. We had a great time cooking, cleaning and pretty much doing the normal run around to get things ready! (UGH this is getting long). The food was decent but the company was better! ;) Mom gave Zach some "runny (maybe suppose to be running, this is just what I have always called it) money" and he is super thrilled about spending it on something great. I got my juicer we already discussed, Mama Mia, two shirts and a ped egg...I am really excited about that!

I think I will get to my pedegging I had planned! Merry Christmas to you and your families!