Winners!

The winner of the My Lip Stuff giveaway is.....

number 39 - TJsMommy

The winner of the Orglamix Mineral Makeup giveaway is...

number 4 - carrielarry

Congrats!!

I'll be emailing you both shortly :-)

Thanks to everyone who entered!!

Winner!

The winner of the Scarlett Craft Moisture Wicking Fitness Headband is lucky number 13! And that is...

~J

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Wordless Wednesday!

And I'm gonna attention whore it up! YEAH BABY!! My new bathing suit! (and some crazy kids I live with):

Beginners Walgreens Trip. Eh.

So I'm totally intrigued by the women (and probably men) I see posting on blogs and message boards about how they get alllllll kinds of stuff at Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, etc and only pay like $1 out of pocket. I've been attempting to figure out how all that stuff works. Walgreens is the closest pharmacy to me (I prefer CVS, but there isn't one all that close-- Boo) so I've mainly been working on learning how to save money there. The Register Rewards seemed a little confusing at first, but it wasn't as difficult as I expected. Anyway, here are the summaries of my first *real* attempts.

1. Rephresh Tampons - $5.99 with $5 RR
Aussie Sprunch Hair Spray - $2.99 with $2 RR
Total: $8.98
RR Earned: $7

2. Honey Nut Cheerios - 2/$5 *plus* $1 off 2 box coupon (so basically 2 for $4)
Milk - on sale for $2.89
Used $2 RR
Total: $4.89
Saved: $5.98

3. Gillette Bodywash - $4.49 (earned $4.50 RR) *plus* B1G1 coupon (so I got 2 body washes and a $4.50 RR so basically both free)
Herbal Essences Conditioner - $2.99 (earned $2 RR) *plus* $1 off coupon (so basically free)
Aussie Opposites Attract Mousse - $2.99
Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo - $2.99 *plus* used buy 1 shampoo get $2 off styling product coupon. (so I got both Aussie products for $4)
Used $5 RR
Total Spent: $6.54
Total Saved: $15.49
Total RR Earned: $6.50

Now, keep in mind this is my first attempt. I see where exactly I made a few mistakes. The first mistake was not being entirely clear on the RR Policy. The Aussie products were advertised as $2.99 with $2 RR. I thought that meant I would be getting $2 back on each (making the total RR earned in my 3rd transaction $10.50). Apparently that is not the case. Had I known that, I would have purchased the Aussie products in another transaction and gotten at least another $2 RR back. Eh, whatever, now I know. I still think I did decent.

If anyone else sees any errors I made, or anywhere I could have increased my savings in the aforementioned scenarios, please do let me know. Another main thing that is holding me back is the fact that I need to get ink for my printer! I need to print a few other awesome coupons to help me out with this. I also need to get some sort of better organization system for the coupons I have. What does everyone else use?

Anyway, I'm hoping this weekend when I'm visiting my mama I can hit up the CVS near her and get some good deals. CVS seems easier to me, and their prices seem better.

xoxo,

Lindsey

10,000 Swing Challenge

This is my third time doing this challenge! I loved it the first two times (well, to be honest, *most* days I loved it, but there were a few that I did NOT love it at all). I think it's an awesome way to get an extra workout in every day without having to go to all that much trouble. It's also super convenient because I can do it anywhere (inside when it's raining or when the kids are napping, outside when the kids are playing, at my mom's house when the kids are visiting, etc). And it's very very simple, using the most basic of kettlebell exercises!

The 10K Swing Challenge is pretty self-explanatory... 10,000 kettlebell swings in 30 days, which comes out to roughly 333 swings per day. Personally, I like nice, even numbers, so I generally do 350 swings a day, unless I'm feeling feisty and decide to do 400, or occasionally even 450. Doing a few extra a day also allows for a few rest days when finding even 15-20 minutes is near impossible. Doing a few extra and staying ahead of the game is awesome because if you DO have to skip a day, you don't have to double up the following day.

You can do any combination of swings you want. What I generally do is set my handy dandy Gymboss Interval Timer for 1 minute/30 second intervals. I do as many hand to hand swings as I can in 1 minute and then rest for 30 seconds. Then I do as many 2 handed swings as I can in a minute, and rest for another 30 seconds. I stick with that pattern for the first 300 swings. And my final 50 are overhead swings. Using the timer really helps me get my butt in gear and it also really really helps me get the 350 swings over with FAST. It usually only takes about 15 minutes to complete my 350 swings. Simple as that!!

The first time I did the challenge, I used my 20lb bell. The second time I used my 12kg bell. I was really hoping to hold off on starting another 30 day challenge until I got a heavier bell, but alas finances did not allow it *sob* Once I get this challenge done, I am going to treat myself to a 14kg (or maybe even a 16kg!) bell :-)

Anyway, I'm going to keep track of how many swings I get done each day in this blog post. I'll just update it daily. It helps me to be able to see what I've done. So without further ado.....

Day 1: 350 swings
Day 2: 350 swings
Day 3: 350 swings
Day 4: 350 swings
Day 5: 350 swings
Day 6: 300 swings
Day 7: 350 swings
Day 8: 350 swings
Day 9: 350 swings
Day 10: 350 swings
Day 11: 350 swings
Day 12: 350 swings

A Few Good Coupon Sites!

Hi all!! Just wanted to post a few links to some sites I regularly visit to try to save some money... I totally love coupons!! These are the basic couponing sites that I personally use, but if you know of any others, feel free to comment to let me know :-) Thanks!!

I'm a Sugar Doll

I got a new award :-) Alison from Life and Times of ALISON & JUSTIN deemed me worthy of this fabulosity... Here it is:



Isn't it purty?

This award comes with the following rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Share ten things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 10 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!
4. Contact the bloggers and let them know you've picked them for the award.

Sooooo here I go!

Thank you Alison, you're such a sweetheart!! I'm glad I was able to inspire you to try kettlebells out, I LOVE when people decide to give the workouts a shot. I can't wait to hear how you like it! But from what I can see, you don't *need* to change a thing about yourself, you're the kind of pretty that makes us average girls feel totally inferior. ;-) That, and you are one half of possibly the most attractive couple I've ever seen!

Now, here's 10 random facts about me (I'm not that interesting in general, so forgive me if these 10 things are a little weak, haha):

1. I've never seen Twilight *gasp* nor do I ever want to. Sue me. I think the premise sounds stupid, but to each his own.

2. Basset hounds are my most favorite animals ever to walk the planet. They are so adorable with their huge sad eyes and their giant floppy ears. I was lucky enough to own one for 10 years and I miss her so much, she was the perfect dog for me. Low maintenance and lovey dovey. *sigh* I always say she is going to reincarnate into another basset hound, so here's hoping *fingers crossed*

3. My biggest pet peeve EVER is when women wear sandals and don't polish their toenails. I'm sorry if this applies to you, but it just makes me cringe. And I definitely practice what I preach because I've never been without super cute toes at any point in the last 10 years... sandal season or not. And another interesting tidbit on that same topic-- I've never had a pedicure in my life. A professional one, that is. I do my own toes once a week and they look fabulous. Strangers always stop me to compliment them. Yup, my mommy used to do nails for a living when I was a kid and I learned everything just from observing. So why pay $25 when I can do it free myself?

4. No matter what time of day it is, or how recently I just ate a meal, I'm still hungry. Seriously. My stomach is a bottomless pit and I don't think I can honestly say I've ever felt truly "full".

5. Which leads me to my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving! Not only is it my birthday, but I get to eat ALL. DAY. LONG. And it is generally accepted as okay to be a huge pig. So nobody judges me for stuffing my face for a whole day straight.

6. I'm a huge huge bookworm. I don't have as much time to read anymore (not since my oldest child got big enough to crawl and yank books out of my hands!), but any chance I get I stick my nose in a book. I've loved to read my whole life. I started out reading Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins/Kids/High. Then as a teen I made it my goal to collect every single VC Andrews book (my favorite is, of course, Flowers in the Attic). Nowadays I love Jackie Collins (mindless and trashy and FUN fiction) and Sophie Kinsella (she is just hilarious, I feel like I could be a character in one of her books because they are as endearingly simple-minded as I can be at times). I don't branch out much from my favorite authors and therefore I have read every book by all of the aforementioned authors a gazillion times each and love them even more every single time.

7. I'm very self conscious about..... wait for it..... the veins in my arms. Something you probably don't hear often, no? But they bug me. I'm proud of all the work I've done on my body, but my veins, more than anything, make me uncomfortable. And it's not like there is anything that can be done about it!

8. Ever since 7th grade I've had people tell me I look like Alanis Morrisette. And every single time, they start out with "you know who you look like?". And I say "uh huh yep Alanis Morrisette THANKS". Clearly I do not take it as a compliment AT ALL. I don't think she's attractive in the slightest :( But if I had a dollar for every time I heard that comparison, I'd be driving a Ferrari right now.

9. My signature is in all lowercase letters. I don't know why. It's probably because uppercase L's are a pain to write in cursive and the lowercase l is easier to scribble.

10. I can't sleep unless I have my 2 favorite pillows in the exact proper positions. There's 6 pillows on my bed, but don't try to switch the pillow cases and fool me, because I can tell my pillow from across the room in the dark without my contacts in. My pillows are my besties and we get along so very well. I don't know where I'd be without them. Probably awake still?

And here are the 10 bloggers I'd like to give this award to (in no particular order):

Aubut Life
Boobies, Babies & A Blog
Chubby Cheeks Thinks...
Flirty Diva Tees
Kindred Spirit Mommy
Love Comma Ashlee
Taming Insanity
A Gal Needs... At Least 2 Blogs
Midget Momma $1200 Budget
Shopper Gal

I'm super tired, so I will hand out these awards in the morning. Nighty night!

xoxo,

Lindsey