Not So Little Sister

Saturday was my little sister's 14th birthday.

She gave me a hard time for blogging about my dog's birthday and not her.

Completely understandable, of course! 

But I don't typically blog on the weekends 

and yesterday I was busy.

So today my post is dedicated to my wonderful little sister.

The little sister I prayed for. 

The baby I was always eager to help my mom take care of and quickly became the mother hen.

14 years later this baby sister is quickly becoming one of my best friends.

How is this even possible??

How is she going to be a freshman in high school next year?!

My baby sister?!

She is turning into a beautiful Godly young woman.

I am so blessed to be a part of her life and watch her grow.

And also watch our relationship transforms to even more than just sisters.

Although we are 10 years apart and still have our differences, I know our friendship is special and will only be strengthened as the years go on.

Happy Birthday, Ali!

I am so thankful the Lord answered my prayers when I was a little girl and blessed me with such an awesome sister! 

Birthday Puppy

It's hard to believe my not so little pup turns one today!

She was obviously wayyyy smaller than this when she was first born, but it's crazy to see how much she's grown in just the 9 months we've had her. 

She wasn't a huge fan of the hat.

But she did love her Zu-Zu Pet. 

Even though my family always had a dog,
I was never really a dog person growing up. 

And she has now made me into a crazy dog person.

Even with all her water drool.

We are so blessed to have her as part of our little family.

Sorry for the crazy picture overload, but I'm pretty sure if you've caught on that I'm weird and obsessed :) But I needed to document this for her puppy book.


















J/k I don't really have a puppy book. 
Well not an official one anyway...

Extreme Couponer

I am not.

I feel like I have the heart,

and I find the joy in couponing.

I do get excited and think of it like a game.

I have a special coupon binder.

I almost never miss out on steals from Walgreens and CVS.

But as far as being a true grocery couponer, I guess I am missing the drive.

I've been watching TLC's show "Extreme Couponing",

I think it's inspiring 

and pathetic, all at the same time.

I think extreme might even be an understatement for some of these people.

I admire a stockpile.

I admire all the money saved- ridiculous amounts of money saved.

I am pretty jealous.

I do wish I could save that much money.

I feel like the stores around here don't have those crazy sales or double or triple coupons.

Maybe they do, I just need to investigate more.

Here's the other thing though, do these people even buy normal groceries? 

I feel like I try and use my coupons on things that are on sale and that we use.

Key words: that we use. 

Not all grocery staples are on sale all the time.

After watching the show a couple days ago, I was making lunch and I needed some Miracle Whip.

I didn't have any in the fridge, and I was all proud of myself as I went to look in the pantry at my little 

stockpile.  

Knowing that one day it was on a sale and I had a coupon and I snatched the good deal.

I take it, feeling a little cocky {yes, I am was home alone, but you can still have those feelings by yourself}.

I'm all ready to open it and then I catch a glimpse of the expiration date.

December 2010.

Fail. 

How do these people buy 77 items of something and have it last forever?! 

So this awesome deal that I once purchased quickly became a waste of money!

Moral of the story- stick to stocking up on paper goods and toiletries. 

I'm pretty good at that.

Are you a couponer???

What grocery store do you get your good deals?? 

Misc. Monday: Weekend Recap

{one} Friday the weather was finally beautiful {and I think it might be here to stay, but I don't want to jinx it so pretend I didn't say anything} and we spent lots of time outside. The little boy I watched fell asleep on the swing and it looked so uncomfortable, but so cute and apparently not too uncomfortable or he wouldn't have been sleeping.

{two} As the evening came it was getting a little cooler, but everyone {may be a slight exaggeration since I am just talking about the 4 people at Hayward's} wanted to still believe that it was warm and summer-like. I was laughing as I sat in the warm car, parked next to 3 other cars filled with women whose significant other was buying them the first ice cream of the season. Okay, so I don't really know if it was their first of the season, but it was mine and I was thankful for my wonderful husband to stand in the semi-chilled air to get me my black raspberry ice cream with chocolate jimmies. Delish. 

{three} Jimmies = sprinkles for those of you who are from a different part of the country. I think when we were in Florida, they didn't know what jimmies were. For the record, I only call the chocolate ones jimmies and the rainbow ones are sprinkles. And on the same record, I only like chocolate jimmies, not a fan of sprinkles. I love jimmies so much that I've bought a container and eaten them with a spoon.

{four} I don't know why I am bragging about that, I don't really think that is something to be proud of. And to add to this list of honesty I will also add that on Saturday I got another black raspberry with chocolate jimmies. This one was soft served though so it was completely different and doesn't count as the same as Friday.

{five} I was blow drying my hair and I had a little knot that I needed to comb out. While I was combing I apparently put the opposite side of the blowdryer to my head and my hairs got caught in the fan. It smelled. It was painful. I had to rip those hairs out! There was no other way!! So frustrating. This is why a. I just put my hair up in bun on top of my head and b. I miss my shorter hair. Lesson learned: be more careful, the blow dryer is a weapon.
 And of course when it happened my initial reaction was to take a picture in case I need something to blog about. That's how exciting my life is. 

P.S Ignore the lint in the fan area as well, ok. Thanks.

{six} Today is supposed to be 75, but it's cloudy so that doesn't really count. I was hoping to get a lot accomplished, but there is something about cloudy rainy days that just paralyze you and make you glued to the couch, still wearing your pjs and watching silly abc family movies all day.
 Okay, maybe the weather didn't make me DVR the movie or press play...but still.

{seven} Today is my little brother's 21st birthday. Sooo crazy!! Happy birthday little bro {who doesn't read my blog and is most likely not even aware that it exists}!! 

He's turned into some crazy mountain man since living in NC.
The only thing we can do is love and try to look past it ;)

It's That Time of Year Again

When the sun shines all day,

and there's no clouds in the sky,

and the weather warms up,

and all the snow is melted,

and all the obnoxious {primarily white trash, but who's to judge} people find their way to the park.

And Roxie and I sit on the couch by the window

and stalk. 

Apparently stalking isn't complete without something in your mouth.

We have upgraded from the blind cord to a beef wrap.

It could be because the plastic part of the blind cord is no longer there because during the winter months when there were no people to watch we don't just hold the cord in the mouth, but tend to chew it. off.

Or it could be because she is bigger now and requires something a little larger to help in with the stalking process. Who knows. She appeared to be satisfied and people watched like this for about 20 minutes.

Looked a little uncomfortable to me,
but to each their own, right?

So today we are thankful that we could have a window open {not quite warm enough for multiple windows},

and let the fresh air in.

Even if it also means letting the sounds of screaming parents, and sometimes their kids, 

into our living room as well.

Spring is just around the corner,

even though it officially arrived a couple weeks ago. 

NH missed them memo.

Wordless Wednesday: Silly Sisters

Just thought I would brag about my lovely little sisters who are filled with many talents:

So proud.

Big Fat Joke

This guy...

and his shadow = a big fat joke.
via

Whoever invented this accurate test for the winter season is quite possibly a joke as well.

How do we even know if he sees his shadow?

Last I knew groundhog's didn't talk unless they were Disney characters, of course.

So on April 1st, we woke up to this....

On Wednesday it was sunny and 55.

What a tease.

 Punxsutawney Phil should be fired. 

End of story.

So today we are sad.

And SO ready for spring.

Wishing we could be out for a walk.

And longing to be back at the Dog Park enjoying some friends and the sunshine.