Fun (cheap!) stuff

My latest form of entertaining myself is seeing just how much I can get at the store for as little money as possible. I invested in a $30 printer so I could print coupons at home. I've also been signing up for free samples out the wazoo. Today my free sample waiting in the mail....
3 Atkins protein bars and a carb counter book

Yesterday I went to Wal-greens and got these 3 bottles of shampoo/conditioner and a strawberry kiwi Vita-chapstick thing (which I was surprised I really liked compared to chapstick). My cost after coupons was $10.72 but then I got back $7 in register rewards, so my true total was $3.

And probably my favorite find so far...from Wal-Mart I scored 6 Kotex and a deodorant for, wait for it....$1.05. I was pretty pumped up about this one. With 2 girls in the house I might as well stock up when I can. I'm planning a trip to the grocery store tomorrow where I plan to get some pretty good deals and spend less than $10. This is fun! I feel a possible addiction coming on.

House Arrest

Came back from Bloomington with a very sore throat! It was fun to see everyone and I wish I could've seen more friends. I will let you all know when the next trip is planned!

So I bought my new running watch which I have been referring to as my HA bracelet. As in house arrest. Because it is ridiculously huge! I think a guy could pull it off more than I can. But it is cool that I can start running new routes and it will keep my mileage for me. I normally stick to the same routes because I know exactly how far it is. So this will hopefully help get me in some new territory. I have to get back into a routine. I feel like I've kind of been wandering around without having a regular routine.
Caylea is never without her eyeliner anymore.

My new house arrest bracelet, er, I mean, running watch.

I found Magnus leaning on my bench where I store my sweaters....which I thought was weird...

And then realized he was stealing Jazzie's bone from her. Note it hanging out of the side of his mouth and Jazz pitching her howling fit because she is ticked off that he snatched it.

Found this write up on one of the regular blogs I follow and thought it was really good...

"I walked on hot coals once - barefoot. Across a bed of white hot embers about twenty feet long. When you walk off the fiery path you step into a puddle of water and you can hear your feet sizzle and see steam rise. And lo', thanks to mind over matter, I didn't even blister. Hot damn.
I raced home at midnight, under a full moon, with a note card tucked into my Levi's: "I, Veronica Danielle LaPorte walked on fire. I can do anything."
Would I do it again? Ummm....I....dunno. The evening of that fire walk workshop I asked some of the repeat walkers how it was for them. I was surprised to hear that a lot of them burned their feet on their second walk. "Say whu?! But you already slammed these coals once." The prevailing response: "Yeah, but I got cocky the second time around." Every walk requires a fresh meditation.
Ask any athlete or elite performer. Writers, salesmen, speakers, very big project managers, wide-awake lovers: Success can dull your senses. Each win is a new win, earned with intense focus and an open heart.
Do not take your expertise or natural talent for granted. Stay awake. Hunt. Kill your old material. Listen for new information. Tell a different story in a different way. Crush your gimmicks. Let the page be white. Kiss him like it's your first kiss.
Let your heart race and concentrate. Then and only then, begin."

Holy lipgloss

So to start my weekend recap I'll just say there was a slight interruption in the debt payoff plan. I've done very good at staying out of Target however I had a purse to return to the Coach outlet store. I hit the mother sale. So I took one purse to exchange and walked out with....3. So really only 2 because technically I had already paid for the one right? So not exactly planned purchases but it was a sale there was NO way I could pass up. It was a steal. I walked out feeling extremely happy and didn't really even have any buyer's remorse. So as I start emptying out my purse guess how many lipglosses I dig out....


Ten. 11 if you count the Dr. Pepper chapstick I found after taking this picture. Add that to the 5 I have in my desk drawer at work, 8 I have in my bathroom drawer, and I think it's safe to say I have a problem. Although subtract one chapstick that Jazzie found and devoured last night. I store chapsticks around the house like Jazzie hides her bones.

I've been wanting a dark brown purse for awhile and found this beauty. Also pictured is the new camera case and the scarf I bought for a black purse I already have. The scarf was $10. $10!

It looks grey-ish here but this is the black Brooke style with an awesome dark purple liner. I had been eyeing this style when it came out and liked it so much I contemplated paying full price until I talked myself out of that craziness.

And this pink tote here was on clearance and on sale on top of that. I've been wanting a good tote/carry-on bag. It may not look like it in the pic but it is pretty huge. I'll feel very Jessica Simpson-ish carrying this baby.

And the contents of my current purse upon emptying it out. I don't even know how that all fit in there. My running journal, pen, numerous hair bands and clips, 11 lipglosses/chapsticks, lotion, hair smoothing cream, tweezers, mascara, pill box with numerous pills, RX pills, calculator, mirror, cell phone, Colgate mini toothbrushes (never have tried but one day I'll be glad I have em, gave one to a co-worker one day after lunch before his dentist appt.), keys, eyeglass case which held a lot of lipgloss, 2 mini bottles perfume, passport holder which holds everything but my passport, and my wallet. My camera and case isn't even pictured.

I had taken a 1/2 day off on Friday (which I hardly ever do, I recently told my boss I know I found a job I enjoy when I carry over PV days) to drive to the outlet so I didn't have to deal with the weekend crowd. When I got back into town I went to Barnes and Noble and read some mags in the cafe. I haven't done that in forever. It was nice. Came home and cleaned then ordered pizza. Went to the store (Gerbes, which is Krogers in Bloomington) and found a cashier named Shyla. Random. Remembered why at one time I loathed Pizza Hut when I ordered for carry out. Showed up 30 mins later like they said to. Stand there for 20 mins. while being told "it's almost done." Only to then have some guy come out of the back and say they were just now putting the pizza in the oven. Um, seriously did you just tell me they were just putting it in the oven? I was not a happy camper. But he promised me it'd be done in 8 mins. and gave me some free pizza so all in all it was just inconvenient. Went home and watched Real Housewives of the OC.

Saturday worked for awhile. Against my better judgement decided to run to the mall to go to Victoria's Secret to stock up on my favorite lotion (Candy, baby is the bomb although I went a little crazy and got a bottle of Plumdrop too) while on sale. I really don't enjoy going to the mall at all anymore and it gives me anxiety. Got my lotion, came home and watched a movie about running and read some running blogs. I love reading blogs but the problem is I get hooked on a person's blog then start checking out the other blogs they recommend and get lost in blog-world for hours. Talked myself into going for a run outside this morning since it wasn't too cold. Managed to go 3.5 miles and felt pretty good. It took me 3 minutes longer than my normal time but since I've been off for almost 2 months I figured it could've been worse. I went to record my run in my log book and decided to total my miles from July thru November last year. I started the log book in July and before that wrote my runs on my calendar. From July on I ran 179 miles. I roughly estimated my miles from March-June and I had been running more those months. Rough guess is I ran approximately 400 miles last year. My goal is to double that this year. Just for fun I figured I'd average a 10 min. mile x400 miles=4000 mins/60 mins an hour=over 66 hours of running. That's a bit crazy to think about.

I purchased the Nike+iPod system a few months ago and for something so simple for some reason I can't figure it out. (insert Shyla-moment joke here) So I've been eyeing this watch. It's bulky and more than I want to spend, but the thing does it all except give you a massage afterwards. I think it'd be pretty awesome.

Resolutions

I have been extrememly lazy this weekend. Took Jazzie to the vet yesterday and thought it was pretty funny to watch her reaction to a cat since she's never seen one before. Today watched a marathon of The Office Season 4. Caught up on the blogs I read, tried to start studying for some insurance education but couldn't quite get motivated enough to do it. Didn't want to leave the house today but had a thirst for hot tea and realized I have no tea. So dragged my lazy self to the store, bought tea and gummy bears, and filled up the car with gas. That's about as productive as I got. Thinking of spending the rest of the night tonight in bed reading. How can I have not done anything this weekend and it still went by fast? So I've been thinking a lot about 2010, hoping of course for a better year than 2009. Here's my main resolutions for the year.
Pay off some major debt. To do this I will need to never step foot in Target.

Balance working and finding time for the things I like to do like read....

and scrapbook

Plan a trip somewhere warm and beachy for later this year or early next.

Increase the # of push ups I can do. I started out last year so good and have slacked off the past couple months.

Make some significant strides (pun intended) in my running. Starting with getting back into it since it's been awhile since I was able to run. Now it's so freaking cold it's hard to get back in. I'm thinking of setting a big goal, maybe a half marathon in September? I'd have to work pretty hard.

In addition to these bigger goals I'm also hoping to not cry every single time I watch Grey's Anatomy, educate myself whenever possible, and consistently get more sleep.

And a few things I'm looking forward to...

Vegas with friends I miss a lot!

And floor seats to this concert. (This book is probably the best Xmas gift I received this year)

2010

It's been awhile since my last post. My laptop charger died on me so I had to order a new one. I am really hoping 2010 will be better than 2009 but so far no such luck. Got pulled over on New Year's. Just got a warning. Only 37 minutes into the New Year and it kicks off with getting pulled over. Great.

One of Jazzie's new Christmas toys

A present to myself, a new chair to read in.

The dogs made out pretty good this year.

She wasn't loving the jacket.

I know I haven't posted much lately and I will post again soon. I haven't been up to doing a whole lot of anything the past few days. In a funk I would really like to get out of.

Haircuts

Magnus and I both got our haircut last weekend. They gave him a nice little holiday bandana. I still haven't taken it off. I think he's getting annoyed with it.

And my new dark look

I'm really loving it.

I think Magnus is missing his fur when he goes out in the cold.

Caylea's Christmas present from my mom. She loves them so much I can barely get her to take them off!

Brrr...

It is cold outside! I didn't really want to put up a tree this year, but Caylea really wanted to so we put it up this weekend. And I'm glad we did. I managed to find some holiday spirit while putting it up and when I expected to feel sad decorating I actually felt hopeful. And I'm loving sitting on the couch with just the tree on and fireplace. Cozy.

I was a little confused to start....

Magnus was not budging from his favorite spot on the floor to sleep. He wasn't ready to share his space with a tree.