Sending Meals

When I had both babies I found meals to be the most fabulous gift someone could give us.  Especially after having Addie via c-section and having an almost 2 year old running around.  I was so blessed to have my sister come up once we were home from the hospital, she stayed with us for a few days and cooked and freezed meals for a whole day.  It was awesome! Now that my friends are having their 2nd and 3rd babies I really like to make them meals.  I just took a pot of the chicken and rice soup to a friend last week and she was so thankful that we didn't bring lasagna.  One of my friends in Michigan recently had her second baby and as much as I would love to drive up some soup it wasn't going to happen. SO I originally thought of sending them a Honeybaked ham meal, but when I got on their website it was really expensive.  I googled other company's but everything was gourmet and too steep for my budget.  Then I went to Omaha Steak's Website and they had some awesome deals!  They have a ton of daily meal specials to choose from, they have a variety of meats plus dessert and add on specials too.  I went through Ebates and got 3.5% cash back, plus $10 off my order, and I bought one of their daily deals that was about 50% off.  It is scheduled to arrive tomorrow so I'm excited to see how everything turned out.  I'll keep you all posted!

Working From Home

Working from home is kind of like an oxy moron when you have 2 kids under the age of 3.  I always assumed that working from home would be more challenging than it seemed with or without kids, but I never expected it to be this challenging.  I think one of the things that stresses me out on a daily basis is the working aspect of my life. If I were truly a SAHM or one that worked part time out of the house, I think I would actually be a lot less stressed.  Over the past 8 months since Addie was born I have become better with managing my time and getting things done. But truth be told both of my kids have been sick and no one is sleeping so I struggle really hard to work for 10hrs a week.  I know you are probably thinking "well then why are you writing this blog?"  which is totally true, but this is an outlet for me and a guilty pleasure so leave me alone! :) 

A few months ago I was stressing out about my 2 at home jobs, I do marketing/advertising for a realtor as well as HR for a Dr's office.  While I was about to have a breakdown I posted on Facebook that I needed to take a workshop on how to balance working from home.  The first person to respond was a girl I use to work with in college at a local restaurant, she works from home doing graphic design and has a cake company, she also lives alone without kids, she just got engaged.  Her darling response went something like this "...I find that if I find a quiet spot in the house, put on some relaxing music, light a candle and get a big cup of coffee I can work very efficiently!..."  Well isn't that just a dandy idea, so the next day I set out to find the quietest spot in my house.  We don't have any candles at the house other than citronella, so I decided against lighting one of those.  I also needed to find the only room that has a locking door since I needed to be alone and hide from the family.  So taking the advice from my friend here is what I came up with: (watch the video now)

Serene isn't it?  I turned the fan (that obviously needs replaced) on for a little relaxing music.  The problem with my new home office is that I can either sit on the toilet or sit on the floor with my laptop on the toilet but then I kept feeling like Buzz Lightyear was staring at me!

Needless to say, while I do appreciate her kind words they really didn't work out so well for me.  So I would love to offer you some advice into how I make it work and the truth is, I just do.  I work on the couch during nap time and after the kids have both gone to bed.  Lucky for me both of my jobs are computer based so I don't have to pull out a bunch of paperwork every time I need to work.  My time is kept on post it notes on my desktop, which what in the world would I do without desktop post it notes, and I send myself text messages all day long.  The funny thing about this is right after I press send when I hear it ring through I always think "ooooh who's texting me?!?!?" and then I remember it was just me.

Chicken and Rice Soup

A few people have asked me for the Chicken and Rice Soup recipe.  I have made this twice now and really like it.  I also made it for a friend who just had her third baby and they at least "said" it was yummy. The recipe comes from Jessica Seinfeld's Double Delicious cookbook.  I have made a few modifications so I will give you my recipe and put an asteric next to my little tweaks. (We aren't really watching our fat in take so I don't always do the healthy alternative, maybe that will be on next year's resolution list.)

What you will need:

• 2 carrots, peeled
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 bag frozen diced onion* recipe calls for 1 small onion, peeled
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 cup white rice* recipe calls for 1/4 cup but I didn't think that was enough
• 1 quart water
• 1 quart chicken soup base*recipe calls for 1 quart low fat,reduced sodium chicken broth (that sounded like water to me)
• 1 rotisserie chicken shredded* recipe calls for 2 skinless chicken breasts on the bone
• 1 cup cauliflower puree
• 1/2 cup carrot puree
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temp* recipe calls for reduced fat cream cheese
• 1-2 tablespoons, lemon juice* recipe calls for 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. Chop the carrots,celery and onion.  Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add the chopped vegetable, pepper and paprika.  Cook until the vegetable soften but do not let them brown.  Add the rice and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, until the ends of the rice turn translucent.
2. Add the water and broth and bring to a boil.  Add the chicken and cover.  Turn off the heat and let the chicken cook in the hot water until it's no longer pink at the bone. 25-30 mins.  Once the chicken has cooked through, remove the meat from the bone,shred it, and return it to the pot. (Since I use rotisserie I never have to worry about the chicken being under cooked, plus I think it is easier and more flavorful this way.)
3. Stir the purees into the soup, in a small bowl, mash the cornstarch into the cream cheese.  Remove 1 cup of the soup and whisk it into the cream cheese mixture until it is smooth and all lumps are gone.  Stir the soup and cream cheese mixture back into the pot and warm through if necessary.  Stir in the lemon juice before serving.

Follow Up

I have received a few emails and comments about my Ahhhhh the Grocery Store post and Meal Planning post, so I wanted to follow up now while it is all still fresh in my mind!

 As for the grocery store and meal planning.  I still plan on going to the grocery store once or twice a week.  With Jason working at one, we go visit poppa alot on the weekends plus we have a little market withing walking distance so weather permitting we go there often sometimes just for the free cookie.    Because our kitchen is so small we I'm unable to keep very much back stock, also Augie drinks lactose free milk which is only sold in 1/2 gallon size (at least the GE brand is) so we always need milk and bread.  My whole reasoning for doing one HUGE shop isn't because I dislike the grocery store or it's inconvenient, I started doing this because I found that I saved a lot more when I did one HUGE versus large shops every week.  When I do my HUGE shop ( I hope I'm not annoying you by my HUGE but it's really that big, it took 2 full carts to get it back to my car) anyways when I do this shop I take the time to sort through all of my coupons, I make a detailed list, search the weekly deals.  I probably spend around 2 hrs on prep time, where as when I did it every week, I would make a mini list, throw all of my coupons into an envelope and kind of just wing it.

With my meals I bought everything for the month that wasn't going to go bad within a few days.  Whenever I make chicken soup dishes I always pick up a rotisserie chicken that day, but I usually have Jason bring that home with him from work. 

If you are new to couponing or want to start doing it more I do have a few pointers to make your shopping trip easier.

• Make a list with coupons.  I like to start with a blank list and go through my coupons first, I'm more likely to forget coupon items than I am necessities.  I go through my coupons and check the expiration date, I put down the product if there is a quantity I must get and then I put a star by it, to remind me I have a coupon.
• I take all my coupons in a greeting card size envelope and take a clothespin with me.
• As I go through the grocery store I stop periodically (always in non congested areas) and I clothespin the coupons that I have used to the cart if I haven't used one and know I'm not going to use it I put it in the discard pile.
• Once I get to the register I always make sure to put any of my BOGO coupon items at the very end.   This way it is easy for the cashier to see the price and they don't have to go through 100 items and I don't have to remember the price.
• After I have loaded all of my items I flip through my clothespin stack one more time just to make sure that I have purchased everything and correctly. 

I find that by putting in the organization I don't get flustered, I'm not inconveniencing anyone by being dis-organized and I usually have a much more pleasant experience!!

I know this post has gotten a little long, I appreciate every one's feedback and I hope I remembered to answer all your questions!!

Meal Planning

So as I stated in my grocery post I decided to "try" out meal planning for the month.  Dinner is seriously one of the most stressed out part of my day between Jason and I.  I know it sounds petty but it really is.  By the end of the day, he's starving, I'm tired and so over making choices that we were getting in the habit of ordering out all the time and spending way too much money.  Here are some of the challenges I face with dinner time motivation and meal choice:

• Jason doesn't eat ALL day.  Literally the man will drink a cup of coffee at breakfast and will work through lunch.  He has started eating 2 yogurts during the day so that makes me feel better.  SO by the time he comes home from work he is truly starving.
• Jason is the pickiest "I'll eat anything...oh, except for this, that, this..." eater ever!!!!!
• Augie won't eat anything but noodles or cheese quesadilla's.
• My kitchen; stand up take 3 steps forward-you have now walked the length of my kitchen, turn to the right take 1 step-you are now at my counter, turn around take 2 steps forward-you have now walked the width of my kitchen.  It's "charming", in real estate "charming" means little, small, not much space to work with.
• I don't have a dishwasher,well I do, I am the dishwasher.

So with those hurdles I really needed to figure something out for dinnertime and not make it such a battle.  I have learned with Jason if I just make it he will eat it.  He may not like it but he at least gets one meal out of it.  Whereas if I ask him what he would like for dinner he shrugs his shoulders and says "I don't care" but then when I say well I could make Spaghetti? "Nah" Pork loin? turns his nose up Tacos?"um I'm not really feeling it" I think you get the picture.  So when I was prepping for my HUGE grocery shop I meal planned for the month.  This would take the stress off of me to have to come up with something every day plus I would never have to ask Jason his opinion. 

What I Did
  I came up with 17 meals for the month.  I chose 17 because I looked at it as about 4 meals a week, that would factor in left over night plus Chinese night. I didn't make a calendar, I just typed out all of my meals on a word document and put the recipe source by it.  This way I can just kind of pick and choose and not set myself up for failure with a calendar.  So I just cross them off as I make them.

Our Meals for the Month
  I know I am always looking for good easy recipes,if you would like me to share any of these with you just let me know!
 Huevos Rancheros (DD)
 Mac-n-Chz (FC)
Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie (FC)
 Tacos
 Chik-n-Noodle Soup
 Pork Loin with Apricot Brussel Sprouts
 Spaghetti (Philly Style)
 Salad
 Chili
 Chicken & Rice Soup (DD)
 Beef-n-Noodles
 Chicken Corn Chili (FC)
 Gnocchi
 French Dips
 Tuna Noodle Casserole (DD)
 Enchiladas (Tamatillo Sauce)
 2-3 Bean Soup
      The abbreviations after are new recipes I am trying from new sources. Everything else are things I have made enough to now claim as my own!

The Result
  The verdict is still out.  We are only in week one but so far so good!

Comments

I just wanted to thank everyone who has left comments or sent me messages.  It really does mean a lot to me.  One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog is to help me cope with the loneliness that comes with being a mom.  I think that is one aspect of motherhood that I truly never expected.  I mean how can you  never get a second alone but yet feel so lonely at the same time.   The kids and I have so much fun together during the day but Jason typically has to work weekends and we get a little bored.  So reading your comments makes me feel like I'm having conversations throughout the day and sometimes that's just what I need to shake the winter blues.

Jasmere

I love these reusable snack bags they have on today.  I like this daily deal site because the more people who buy the cheaper the price.
Jasmere Link

Oscar the Grouch

Between the snow,cold temps and sick kiddie's it has been a long winter so far and all of our toy's are getting a little boring.  I got this idea from Augie's daycare, he loves to play it and Addie and I have fun too!  What you will need:

• a large box, large enough for your little one to stand in  and for you to sit in.
• 5-10 pieces of crumpled paper.

To Play:

  Pick a person to be Oscar, they get to stand/sit in the box.  Then say "on your mark, get set, go!"Start throwing the trash (paper) into Oscar's box as fast as you can as Oscar try's to scoop the trash out and throw it back out.

Easy as pie!!! 

Ebates

I started doing most of my online shopping through Ebates around Christmas time.  I haven't gotten my first check yet but I think I'm up to about $10 so far, I'm trying to remember to use it more so I finally added it to my bopkmark bar.
Ebates Link

Ahhh the Grocery Store

Well I did my HUGE grocery shop last night.  When I say huge I mean, over flowing cart, I spent 2 hrs in the store hugs.  I typically save about $125 on my big grocery shop, last night I save $145.37 at the store and  another $50.49 in rebate perks.

Ok, now I'm not crafty enough to only have spent $25 after my discounts.  I still spent a huge chunk of change, but I also tried something new and meal planned for the whole month. Gasp!!! Yes the whole month.  I only do this major shop everyother month, I prepare and stock up as much as I can.  I typically spend around $300-$350, but I find that I spend a lot less per week between shops.  When I was doing a large shop every 1-2 weeks I always wound up spending $200 per trip plus $50 small trips.  So for me this way works very well.  Everyone has there own tips for saving at the grocery store and I will share with you what I do.  Remember this is what works for me, I think the best thing to do is to find what works for you.  If you set yourself up to do things that don't work for you, you will end up putting too much pressure on yourself, you won't have fun and in the end you will most likely spend more money or more time than before.

Even before I had kids, I was a couponer, I made a game of it.  I am always trying to out save myself.  So about 3-4 years ago I set out to find what grocery store was the best store for me to shop at. Now, this is something that takes a bit of time, but I do reccomend trying it out, I think you may be surprised.  I know people that shop at multiple stores for different items (my parents for example) they spend a whole day going to the grocery and to Wal-Mart, well they spend probably half a day but they still do this every week and it is just the 2 of them.  I have absolutely no desire to go to 2 plus stores to get things that I could get all at the same store.  Accept for Target, but quitting Target would be like well I just can't quit Target so we won't even go there.  Ok back on track, so about 3-4 years ago I did my big shop at 3 different stores the first was Kroger, then Wal-Mart and last Giant Eagle.  I saved all 3 of my receipts and put all of the like items into a spread sheet for comparison.  When I went to all 3 stores I did all of my "big" shops there so it took about 3 months to make the comparison.  Here is what I found:

• Wal-Mart- I spent the most money there.  They didn't double my coupons and I found I put more into the cart because I "assumed" it was cheaper and they have all of the other random non-grocery items that found there way into my cart. Plus I'm just not a big fan of the stores around here or the people that shop there.
• Kroger- Without coupons or a shoppers saver card, Kroger had the best prices on my common purchases.
• Giant Eagle- With coupons, shoppers saver card and fuel perks, I had the best savings.

So based upon my findings I began to shop at Giant Eagle.  Now on to savings and coupons.  When you shop you need to be brand flexible.  There are certain brands I stay loyal to so I always make sure to stock up when I have coupons. Here is a list of our favorite brand items, that I just won't buy anything else.

• Cottonelle Toilet Paper with Aloe
• Arm and Hammer Laundry Detergeant (For J and I)
• Jiff Peanut Butter
• Auquafresh Toothpaste
• Aveeno Sensitive Baby Wash

Other than those items, pretty much every other item in my cart is based on price and coupons.  Now if you are new to couponing all together here is a simple tip any coupon $.51-$.99 is better than a $1 coupon.  Why?...because most stores double up to $.99   Here is how a basic transaction works, we will use soup.
  Soup $1.50 per can
  You have a coupon for $.55 off purchase of 2 cans of soup
   2 soups = $3
   less your coupon $3-$.55= $2.45
   less store's automatic doubling $2.45-$.55=$1.90
  So you bought 2 soups for $.95 a can
Now we throw in the store savings, sometimes the store brand is not always the cheapest but on the same note sometimes just because you have a coupon doesn't mean that will be the cheapest either. So if you flip through your stores ad before you go to the store you can already have some of your coupon decisions made up.  If we go back to the soup, how people get things free  or super cheap is they search for things like this.
  Store special 2 Soups for $2
   less coupon $2-$.55= $1.45
   less doubling $1.45-$.55= $.90
   So you bought 2 cans of soup for $.45 a can

See it is pretty easy, some of the things I never pay full price for and usually get 50%+ off are toothbrushes, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, canned food, medicine and face wash.

We are very lucky to have Giant Eagle's food perks and fuel perks.  So I always save my food perks and do my big shop when I have 20% off, this allows me to take 20% off up to $300 and they give $.20 off per gallon of gas for every $50 spent.  Plus we get 10% off all GE products since Jason works there.

Well I think this post is long enough, I can tell your eyes are getting droopy.  I'll talk tomorrow about my month meal plan idea!!

I stopped by Old Navy today and all of their Clearance was 50% off!

The Grocery Store

I went to the grocery store tonight.  I was there for two hours and it took me an hour and a half to put it all away.  I will post more tomorrow about my savings and my plan of attack.  I'm trying something new this week and I meal planned for the whole month. I must admit I'm pretty exhausted!!

Amazon Baby Bargain Mondays

I just received an e-mail from Amazon saying that it was "Baby Bargain Monday".  There's nothing that I need right now but still wanted to share.
Baby Bargain Mondays Link

Stay tuned, I'm gearing up for my monthly grocery shop tonight!!

Oprah and I

Not to sound cliche but ever since I began staying at home I started to DVR Oprah.  I've always liked her show but never could call myself an "ultimate viewer".  Now that she is in her Farewell Season she keeps talking about these "a-haa" moments and this weekend I had two of my own...I realized that Oprah and I (and all mommas) are a lot alike. Now I have to admit the frigid temps outside have left us couped up inside for the last 4 days so I may be pulling at strings here, but stay with me.

The other night I was watching Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes and they were filming she and Gayle's trip to Yosemite.  At one point in the show the producer explained to her that her last morning they would go fly fishing for an hour and then mule riding for an hour.  Oprah was not pleased at the length of time and requested that they just get the shot for the mule riding and then call it a day.  At first I thought, well isn't she a poor sport, you wouldn't have to twist my arm to do those things.  Then Oprah said  to the camera (I'm para-phrasing) "...this is still work to me, I would love to go fly fishing and mule riding...by myself without you (pointing to the cameras) all around me, this is work and I'm ready to go home."  A-haa!! it hit me, Oprah and I were living parallel lives! Well not exactly parallel but I totally related to what she was feeling at that moment.  Although I love what I do, staying home with the kids all day, this is still work for me.  Often (well everytime) Jason gets home from work he changes out of his "work" clothes, changes gears and gets to unwind and relax.  I never get to have that experience, I'm not complaining, well maybe just a wee bit but I know he sometimes looks at me with the expression of "well I wish I could have stayed home all day and not gone to work."  I know this is a normal feeling for both working out of the home as well as in the home mommas because I remember having the same feelings when I worked full time.

My second moment came today when I was watching her episode from Friday.  Oprah is in Australia on and had a slew of Ausie born Actors and Musicians on.  She was interviewing Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban and they were discussing the flight over, when Oprah brought up that she played Scrabble on her I Pad.  Nicole simply asked her what her highest score was and Oprah's whole face lit up and she looked at Nicole and said "403, thank you for asking, I've been waiting for someone to ask me that"  And once again I felt like Oprah and I could sit and have coffee and I realized that I am the Oprah of my house.  I'm sure that most people don't ask Oprah questions about herself, they probably ask things about all the frills that surround her.  You could tell that her response to Nicole was so genuine and so authentic.  There are days when I crave for someone to ask me something about Christy.  I realize now that I sometimes go days without ever hearing my name.  My favorite name of all is momma, but there is a part of me that still needs the identity of Christy.  This is one of the reasons I started this blog, to talk, to relate to have Oprah moments in my day to day life.

So I think for the rest of Oprah's Farewell Season I will look at Oprah a little different and realize if you put the fame, the fortune and all of the frilly stuff aside we really aren't that different.  I will never know what it's like to be hounded by the paparazzi but my kids sure know what it feels like to be stalked by the mommarazzi!

** I did not take this picture of Oprah and I...wouldn't want to get in trouble for copyright.

Mamapedia

My friend Regan introduced me to this site over the Holidays.  I typically get e-mails from them a few times a week and their deals last for a few days.  I was able to get a gift card to Back to Basics 1/2 off, it's an online toy catalog with old school toys, think the toys you played with as a kid, Snoopy Snow Cone Maker, Licoln Logs you get the idea.

I think it's definitely a site worth adding to your inbox.

Mamapedia Link

Amazon Diaper Deal

When you have 2 in diapers you can easily spend a small fortune on diapers.  I spent the first 2 years of Aug's life and first few month's of Add's clipping my $1 pamper coupons, or buying them when my Giant Eagle Food Perks had reached 20%.  I had bought them at Sam's club but it was a pain to get to, and when I would buy them at the store I never had room in my cart for the big cases. Until...my dear friend Regan forwarded me an e-mail that has changed my life!! It's funny because Regan is a crafty momma and a cloth diaperer who only uses disposable on random occasions, but none the less I owe her big time for sharing this with me.  Come to think about it I should probably treat her to a girls night out because of all of the money that we have saved!!

Here is how it works:

• Receive 30% off diapers  plus free shipping by ordering your diapers using Amazon Subscribe and Save (S&S): Subscribe & Save Link
• You can order up to 3 cases and choose how often you would like them delivered.  Once you order them you can just go back into your account and cancel auto-ship.
• Sign-up for Amazon Mom, they will send you coupons in the mail, I just got a $10 off purchase in the baby store. Amazon Mom Link
• Check your Momma magazines, typically I find a 20% off Diapers coupon in Parenting The Early Years, Parents and American Baby.
• Check the code on the coupon if the first letter is an S that means it is stackable and you can use 2- 20% off coupons!!!

Ok, I know this might sound a little overwhelming, but it is super easy and the savings speak for themselves.  Here is an example, stay with me, I hope I don't confuse you!

Tonight I just ordered diapers for Add she's Pampers size 3 (we are a Pampers family. It's one of my fave brands.)
   Pampers Baby Dry Case of 204 $40.88
    I bought 3 taking my total to $40.88 x 3 =  $122.64
    Less the 30% off discount using S&S $122.64 x 30%= ($36.73)
    After the 30% $122.64 - $36.74 = $85.90
    Less the 20% off coupon from magazine $85.90 x 20% = ($17.18)
    After the 20% $85.90 - $17.18 = $68.72
    Less the $10 off coupon I received in the mail from Amazon Mom
    After the $10 off $68.72 - $10 = $58.72
       So I bought 612 diapers for $58.72!! So that's $.09 per diaper.
       I took it one step further this time because I had purchased an Amazon $20 gift card off of LivingSocial for $10 and applied that too!!

Whew, I know it sounds complex, but it is really easy! I hope my math is right, Aug likes to hold my hand while I'm typing. Post any questions you may have and I will make sure to let you know whenever I uncover a new Amazon Diaper Coupon by labeling the post.
 
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New Year's Resolution

Since losing my job 6 weeks before Addie was born, we have been trying to be more creative with our finances.  I would love to tell you that we had a savings of 3 mos salary but we didn't. So when we got 2 weeks notice that we would no longer be getting my pay check we were kind of like "now what".  I truly don't believe that we live "way" above our means, we have no car payments, I drive a fabulous 9 yr old mini-van that my brother and sis-in-law so kindly gave us for free, we live in a modest 1950's cape cod that we got for a stellar deal, so realistically we should be able to live off of 1 income easily. Right? Um yah that's another one of those "in a perfect" world statement.  So for the last 9 mos, I have curbed our spending but that still wasn't enough.  And that is how my New Year's Resolution was born.

My Goal for 2011 was to make this SAHM/working from home gig work, lose the baby weight, read more, watch t.v.less and ultimately spend less everyday.  So I devised a plan, every day I say a dollar equals a minute, my daily quest is to exercise,read and listen to music more than I spend.  So on the big bill days for example our water bill is aprox $250 every 3 mos, so when that bill is due I have to spend 250 minutes exercising,reading and listing to music.  (Combined of course!!)  Now I would love to tell you I get to read books of my choice but typically my reading consists of A Fly Went By, Good Night Gorilla, you get the picture, it's still reading none the less and time that we aren't watching t.v.

Now you may be wondering how this plan is working out for me so far...the answer is really well.  Our spending has definitely decreased, I don't get as seduced to go on a mindless trip to Target just to get out of the house where I somehow always spend $100 with out knowing what I actually bought.  Now every time I pick something up to buy even if it's at the grocery I ask myself these 3 questions: 1) Do we really need this? 2) Can I live without it? and 3) Is it worth X amount of my time? (Since $1=1 min)  I find that changing my perspective really does change my attitude towards buying things.  Because at the end of the day what may seem like an $8 item translates into, with dinner, bath and bed time do I really have 8 minutes tonight to exercise more? Answer probably not.

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year? I would love to hear, or if you have any question's you ask your self!

Zulily

I love looking at the daily deals on this site, they have some really unique kids clothing plus they always feature something for Momma too! I purchased Aug a pair of Croc boots 50% off last week, I'm so excited for there arrival.  He has double wide feet so we are very limited on shoe choices.
 Zulily Link

Navigating Through My Mind

I have a lot of dreams and ideas for my blog, so I really hope that you will stick with me as I begin to add layers.  I decided that I should probably list a few things, key words and other tid bits that I will use throughout my blog.  I will be tagging things so that you can use this as a resource if you would like.  I find that lists are sometimes the best way for me to navigate through my mind, so I hope you like lists too!!

• I'm the first to admit that I get a lot of idea's from other sites, so I will always give credit where credit is due.  I don't want to inundate you with a ton of material, so I will incorporate all of my favorite sites in time.
• I'll be tagging different posts that I think can be used as a resource.  Here are the tag idea's I have so far:
• Daily Deals- these are Daily Deal sites that come to your inbox or FB page
• MQuest Fave-these are my favorite items and sites
• MQuest Original-these are deals that I have discovered all by myself
• Diaper Deal-these are coupons that go with the Amazn Diaper Deal
• My intention is not for this to be a daily deals site.  I won't be scouring ad's or sites every morning to post.  Honestly I don't have the time and there are hundreds of other sites that do that for me, so why would I!
• I'm not the "best" shopper in the world, I could do a lot more, but frankly what I do works for us.  Yes in a perfect world, I would sit in my coupon room, where I have everything neatly organized, while my kids play quietly in their room or are sleeping soundly in their beds 5 mins after I lay them down sleepy but still awake.  Well that's just not my reality, in my world I'm nursing a baby who refuses a bottle and acts like she is superman and it is her cryptonite, my active 2 yr old is running around the house saying "momma wook at me, come play momma" and who will only go to sleep if his lovey is snugly under his arm.  Did I mention I'm his lovey?  And we live in a 2 bedroom home, so you get the picture!
• I will be totally open and honest with you.  I let it all out, the good, the bad and the ugly of marriage, motherhood, being a woman and life in general.  I feel like as women we isolate ourselves by constantly making ridiculous expectations of ourselves.  There have been so many instances where I will be talking with a friend on the verge of a meltdown,divorce, nervous breakdown and she'll say "oh, that's totally normal, same thing happened to me" and I always think "What?!?!? Well why didn't someone tell me that before!"

So there you have it, a sneak peek on how to navigate through my mind, wouldn't want you to get lost.

No More Rack

I'm not sure if you have heard of this site but I'm really digging it! They have HUGE discounts on a variety of items from makeup to toys. They send you the deals everyday at 11:50am and the deals go live at noon.

Sign up I think you'll like it!
NoMoreRack Link

Amazon $20 for $10

I L.O.V.E. Amazon! Today on Living Social you can buy a $20 gift card for only $10. I have found the best diaper deals through Amazon, which I will explain in a later post!

Invite to LivingSocial

Pull Up A Seat

Like so many other people I wake up everyday wondering what the day will bring.  I also am on a quest to learn something new, find a good deal, make my kiddies happy, save money, and some days just get through the day in one piece.

I'm starting this blog for multiple reasons;

1. Encouragement from some friends and family, who may in the end be the only one's who follow me. :)
2. I love sharing things with others.
3. I get really excited about good deals.
4. I'm a SAHM and don't get a lot of interaction with other adults.
5. I have a passion for writing.
6. I'm a born marketer, I could be a walking-talking ad for the products that I love.

I hope that you enjoy my daily quests and that they inspire you to go on and share some quests of your own!  You will find that I am a totally random person and my posts will be all over the place so just to forewarn you; you never know what you are going to find on here.

Thanks for reading!
Christy