Spaghetti Thursday

One of the best parts of living where we do is the fact that Jason and Cheryl (and now Baby Miles) live right next door. We've been neighbors for about a year and a half now, and I'd say that on average we eat dinner with them about once a week. We usually go over there, sometimes we go out to eat, and occasionally Ben grills something over here -- but as embarrassing as it is to admit it, I've never cooked anything for them. Kinda crazy, huh? It's mostly due to the fact that I don't really cook much to begin with and partially due to the fact that Cheryl's cooking is amazing, which intimidates me to say the least, but tonight, that changed. Tonight was "Spaghetti Thursday". :)

Over the past few months, I've been offering to make them spaghetti (one of the things I actually know how to cook!), but for some reason or another, it just hasn't happened. However, when we were over there this weekend, I decided enough was enough. I asked the Sotos which day of the week worked best for them, and Jason immediately started calling it, "Spaghetti Thursday". As goofy as it sounds, I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but I think it went pretty well, and I'm pretty sure they liked it. At least that's what they told me.

After dinner, I decided that we needed to have a photo shoot since I hadn't taken any pictures of Miles since he was a week old.
Isn't he precious? He'll be 6 weeks old on Saturday.
Believe it or not, we took almost 10 pictures just like this, and this is the best one that we got.
Obviously, Ben was just as thrilled to have his picture taken as Miles was.
Needless to say, the photo shoot didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped. Oh well, better luck next time.

Babysitting Will

Today after work, I babysat one of my favorite little boys.
Will and I spent most of the evening outside, which is definitely his FAVORITE place to be. He ran around the yard as fast as he could, jumped as high as he could (which is one of the cutest things I've ever seen!), and fell down over and over again. Oh the energy of a 22-month-old little boy. :) He didn't even want to stop to eat his dinner until I had the brilliant idea to let him eat it outside at the patio dining set. He LOVED that. I realize that when you're the parent that you can't give into their every wish, but when you're just the pseudo-aunt, I'm pretty sure it's okay to be a total push-over like that. Plus, he did say "ease" (a.k.a. "please") to just about everything, so how could I say "no" to that? ;)

Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pictures of our fun evening as I would have liked mostly due to the fact that they all looked like this.
Needless to say, he has a lot of energy. Just looking at that picture makes me tired. Speaking of, I think I'm gonna head to bed soon. I'm a little on the tired side, and I'm pretty sure that picture does a good job of explaining why. :)

This Past Weekend

On my way home from work on Friday, I saw this beautiful rainbow, and that's when I knew that this past weekend was going to be good one.
When Ben got home that evening, we went to The Melting Pot for dinner. We had never been there before, so when Groupon advertised a daily deal ($40 worth of food for $20) a few months ago, I decided to go for it. We weren't really sure what to expect when we got there, but I was glad that Ben thought to make a reservation earlier that day. Apparently, everyone was there to use their Groupon (it expires at the end of this month), and it was packed! The host walked us through the restaurant to the back and sat us in a very private square-shaped booth with a burner on top. Ben decided that since we were on a "date" that we should go all out, so that's what we did. We decided to go with one of the Big Night Out 4 Course Dinner "package deals" and were so glad that we did. We had the spinach artichoke cheese fondue as an appetizer, salads, and our entrees included a little bit of everything -- lobster, shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, tuna, pot stickers, mushrooms, potatoes, and broccoli. Everything came to the table raw, and our waitress told us approximately how long to cook each thing in the boiling pot. It was so much fun! And as if all of that food weren't filling enough, we finished the meal off with dessert. Milk chocolate fondue with all sorts of things to dip -- strawberries, cheesecake, rice krispies treats, bananas, pound cake, brownies, and marshmallows. Needless to say, we were stuffed when we left!

On Saturday, we spent the day at the YMCA in Buda volunteering at the Special Olympics aquatic competition. Overall, it went really well. There were 439 races total (79 more than last year!), so our schedule was pretty tight, but with the help of a few very awesome volunteers, we actually finished ahead of schedule, which is pretty much unheard of. Ben's parents also came to help out, and they had a blast. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures (I was too busy running the volunteer table in the morning and then timing for lane 6 in the afternoon), but I do have quite a few good stories.

• At one point during the morning, a group of three women were standing near my table talking about how much they loved one particular athlete named Nancy. They talked for a few minutes, and after two of the ladies walked off, the older lady explained that the other two work in the office building that her daughter Nancy cleans. Apparently, Nancy makes and gives out invitations to all of her friends and co-workers for all of her competitions, and these 2 particular ladies had driven all the way from Cedar Park to watch her daughter swim. Pretty cool, huh?
• While timing the athletes in lane 6, I quickly learned that it wasn't enough to keep track of just their time. At the end of each race, almost every athlete pulled off their goggles and looked to their left to see who had come in before them. Several of them would then ask me, "What'd I get?" At first I thought they were asking for their time, but I soon learned that that was not the case when they would reply, "No, what medal did I get?" Keeping track of their time was easy, but keeping track of their time and keeping track of what place they came in? Not quite as simple.
  
• Between the races, I often talked to the athletes that were lined up at the "ready bench". I had met Brittany earlier that morning, and while she was waiting for her turn to swim, she told me all about her boyfriend in the green shirt with the blue sticker. I asked her to point him out to me, and who did she point to? That's right -- Ben. My response was, "You're right. He is cute." I didn't have the heart to tell her that her boyfriend was actually my husband.
• I overheard Kyle introduce herself to most of the athletes that she was timing, ask for their name so she could cheer them on, and then tell them that she would be keeping time for them. One sweet female athlete's response was, "You promise?"
• And last, but not least, one of the male athletes that came in first place looked up at me as he grabbed onto the side of the pool and exclaimed, "I swam so fast that my pants fell down." You gotta love the honesty.
  

At the end of the day, we were pooped. We came home to rest for a little bit, and after Ben mowed the yard, we decided that neither one of us really felt like cooking, so we went to Serranos for dinner. Right after we ordered, Abby and Allen walked in, so they joined us. Even though we only live 3 miles away from one another, Abby and I don't get to see each other nearly as often as we like to, so it was fun catching up. Let's do it again soon, Abby. And maybe this time we can even plan it out ahead of time. ;)

On Sunday, we went to church, ran a few errands, and then caught up on a bunch of house stuff that we have been neglecting. We did 6 huge loads of laundry and thoroughly cleaned both the inside and outside of our cars, and although it doesn't sound like much fun, it was actually really nice just spending the day at home with Ben. I love the fact that he doesn't have to work all weekend anymore, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Friday Savings

On my way home from work today, I stopped by both CVS and Walgreens. Between the two stores, I saved a total of $47.48 and only spent a total of $1.70 (including tax). Plus, I now have $19.80 in ECBs (CVS money) and $1.50 in RRs (Walgreens money). I agree that I'm addicted to using coupons (the first step is admitting it, right?), but with savings like that, how could you not be?

Here's a picture of what I bought at CVS.
My total without coupons or sales would have been $39.12, but using coupons (including one for $5 off a $30 purchase) and $13.75 in ECBs, I got everything shown above for only $0 (although I did pay $0.12 in tax). I saved $39.12 or 100% off of the original total. I also received $19.80 in ECBs.

High Octane Energy Chews -- $1.99
Get $1.99 in ECBs (rain check from last week)
FREE after ECBs

Nature's Way Alive! Energy Multivitamin -- $10.99
On sale for $9.99 (rain check from last week)
Get $9.99 in ECBs (rain check from last week)
$1 off (here)
FREE +$1 moneymaker after coupon and ECBs

Schick Hydro Shave Gel (8.4 oz) -- $3.99
On sale for $2.79
Get $1.80 in ECBs (limit 1)
$1 off (8/8 SmartSource)
FREE after coupon and ECBs

Christophe Beverly Hills Shampoo (travel size) -- $2.99
Free trial size product (coupon that printed at the coupon machine)
FREE after coupon

Right Guard Total Defense Deodorant -- $4.59
On sale for $2.99
Get $2 in ECBs (limit 3)
$3 off 2 (here)
FREE + $0.50 moneymaker after coupon and ECBs

Quaker Instant Oatmeal -- $4.99 Buy 2 of these.
On sale for $2.50
Get $2 in ECBs when you spend $5 (limit 1)
$1 off (here or 9/12 RedPlum) Use 2 of these.
$0.50 each after coupons and ECBs

Here's a picture of what I bought at Walgreens.
My total without coupons or sales would have been $8.36, but using coupons, I got everything shown above for only $1.46. I saved $6.9 or 83% off of the original total. I also received $1.50 in RRs.

ThermaCare HeatWrap -- $2.99
On sale for $2.49
Get $1.50 in RRs
$1 off (here)
FREE after coupon and RRs

Reach Dental Floss (55 yd) -- $1.79
On sale for $0.99 (in-ad coupon)
$1 off (3/7 or 5/16 RedPlum or here)
FREE after coupons

New Jobs & Blister Beetles

Ben started his new job with APAC today. I intended to get a picture of him before he left for work this morning, but considering he left before I was even out of bed, that definitely didn't happen. He spent most of the day getting things set up, so he didn't get a whole lot of "real" work done, but he did find out that he is going to be primarily estimating the paving for commercial and TxDOT jobs, so he's pretty excited about that. He also mentioned that his office is the size of our living room, so that's not too shabby either. :)

As of today, Holly technically has new job, too. Although she is currently still at Barton Creek, in a couple of weeks, she will be the new Marketing Coordinator at Accruent! Last week, she contacted them about a position that they were looking to fill in their Austin office. They were looking for someone with a degree in either communication or marketing, 1 to 3 years of experience in marketing, event planning, and sales support, the ability to function under pressure, a positive attitude, a high level of enthusiasm, and a drive to succeed. I knew that she was perfect for the job, and apparently, so did they! Based on everything that she told me, it sounds like a great opportunity career-wise. Plus, she will be making more money and will have weekends and holidays off, which I am very excited about. I've missed her!

In other random news, I'm pretty sure I was stung by a Blister Beetle this weekend.
On Saturday night, while Kyle and I were "helping" Steve and Ben do the wiring on their truck lights, one of the bugs that was flying around in the garage landed on my neck. I thought it was just a june bug, but as soon as I swatted it off, I realized that it had stung me. I couldn't imagine what it could have been since I only saw june bugs and some other type of beetle-looking bug. My neck turned red and stung a little at first, but to be honest, since I knew it wasn't a bee, wasp, or yellow jacket, I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until today that I noticed 3 little burn-looking marks on my neck and decided to do a little "bug research".

I'm pretty sure the bug that stung me is called a Blister Beetle; however, according to what I read online, Blister Beetles don't technically sting or bite but instead produce cantharidin, a highly toxic chemical that causes blistering upon contact with skin. Awesome.
I read online that the blisters should go away by themselves in a few days, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they do. It doesn't sting or itch, but needless to say, it's not the most attractive thing in the world. Stupid Blister Beetle.

Weekly Deals at CVS and Walgreens

I meant to post all of this earlier this weekend, but I guess I got so caught up in enjoying my weekend that I completely forgot! After work on Friday, I stopped by both CVS and Walgreens to hit up the "weekly deals". Unfortunately, because the deals run Sunday through Saturday, these particular ones are no longer available, but since I already had most of this typed up, I figured I'd post it anyway.

Here's a picture of what I bought at CVS.
My total without coupons or sales would have been $37.03, but using coupons (including one for $5 off a $30 purchase) and $10 in ECBs, I got everything shown above for only $1.70. I saved $35.33 or 95% off of the original total. I also received $10 in ECBs. I also learned yesterday that if CVS is sold out of one of their "weekly deals", you can get a rain check for the sale price AND the ECBS. Therefore, I got a rain check for both Nature's Way Alive! Energy Multivitamin and High Octane Energy Chews, which will both be "free" after the ECBs.

Nivea for Men Active 3 Body Wash -- $5.99
On sale for $4.99
Get $4.99 in ECBs (limit 1)
FREE after ECBs

Skintimate Shaving Cream -- $3.99
Get $3 in ECBs (limit 1)
$0.75 (8/1 SmartSource)
$0.24 after coupon and ECBs

Tylenol Precise Cream (2.5 oz) or Heat Patches (3-4 count) -- 7.99
On sale for $5.99
Get $2 in ECBs (limit 1)
$2 off (here -- CVS)
$2 off (9/12 SmartSource or here - manufacturer)
FREE after coupons and ECBs

Campbell's Select Harvest Soup -- $3.49
On sale for $1.50
$1 off (here)
$0.50 after coupon

Sensodyne Pronamel Toothpaste -- $5.99 Buy 2 of these.
On sale buy 1, get 1 50% off
$1 off (coupon from dentist - manufacturer) Use 2 of these.
$1.50 (coupon from coupon machine - CVS)
$2.74 each after coupons

Here's a picture of what I bought at Walgreens.
My total without coupons or sales would have been $38.70, but using coupons and $2 in RRs, I got everything shown above for only $12.52. I saved $26.18 or 68% off of the original total. I also received $7 in RRs.

Vicks DayQuil and NyQuil (20 count) -- $7.49 Buy 2 of these.
On sale for $5.00
Get $5 in RRs when you spend $10
$1.50 off (8/29 P&G) Use 2 of these.
$1 each after coupons and RRs

Colgate Toothpaste -- $3.49
On sale for $2.99
Get $2 in RRs
$1 off (8/29 or 9/12 SmartSource)
FREE after coupon and RRs

Chex Mix (8.75 oz) -- $2.99
On sale for $0.99
$0.50 off (here, here, or here)
$0.49 after coupon

Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons (18 pack) -- $5.29
On sale for $3.99
$2 off (here)
$1 off (September coupon booklet)
$0.99 after coupons

Kleenex (100 count) -- $1.99 Buy 3 of these.
On sale for $1.19 (in-ad coupon)
$0.50 off 3 (8/15 SmartSource)
$1.02 each after coupons

Writing Support Group

Ben sent me an email today titled "Writing Support Group" and attached the following picture.
Because he is between jobs right now and has this week off, he has spent a lot of time in the front room typing away at his thesis proposal. Unfortunately, because he had to leave College Station in such a rush over 2 years ago in order to be in Austin with me, he wasn't able to start it before he left. Like I told him though, starting it is by far the worst part, and I promise to be there to support him in any way that I can. I'm just glad that Annie and Bubbs are willing to step in when I'm not there. :)

Labor Day Weekend

Ben and I spent a long Labor Day weekend in Destin, Florida with the Liggetts.
We got up bright and early on Thursday morning to catch our 5:30 am flight, had a brief layover in Atlanta where we met up with Jeanne, and then caught our flight to Panama City.
As soon as we got to Destin and out of our rental car, we hit the beach.
The sun felt great, the water felt every better, and as you can see in the pictures, there was hardly anyone else out there! We had a feeling that the beaches would fill up more over the weekend, but it really wasn't nearly as crowded as we thought it was be. It probably helped that we stayed in a condo as opposed to a hotel though. The areas located directly in front of the hotels were covered in umbrellas and people, but the beach located directly behind our condo was a lot more private.

Our particular unit was the second one to the left in the picture below -- #19. It was right on the beach, had a deck on all three floors, and was HUGE -- 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 2 living areas, 2 kitchens, and a laundry room!Unfortunately, I only got one picture of the inside -- looking out the living room window and into the ocean, but to be honest, we didn't really spend that much time inside. There were too many other things to do!
Most days, we just hung out on the beach, and Jeanne floated in her "princess float".
I just happened to snap this picture right as Kyle kicked a fish, freaked out, and was running back to shore. Ben called it her "reverse Baywatch" run.
We rode scooters all over Destin and dreamed of living in one of the huge homes on the bay.
A closeup of our beautiful windblown hair.
We rented a kayak for a couple of days and went out to the second sand bar where the water was so clear that we could see all the way to the bottom. We also did a little bit of snorkeling out there. Kyle dove down and got a sand dollar off the bottom, and not long after I got in, I saw a baby shark. Needless to say, that was the end of snorkeling that far out.
My one-of-a-kind mother-in-law.
She fed the seagulls...
... did yoga (although, in all honesty, it looked nothing like yoga to me)...
... dug huge holes...
...and buried herself in them.
I'm pretty sure that she'd agree that "relaxing" just isn't her thing. :)
We sat out on the back deck in the evenings and enjoyed our beautiful view.
We went to Walmart almost every night to buy whatever we forgot during our previous trip.
We never saw any oil, but there were a couple of days that the beach was covered in sea hares (sea slugs) that had washed up and then died. People that had lived in Destin for years and years had never seen anything like it and talked about how they thought it was a result of the chemicals that BP had dumped in the water to disperse the oil.
We went on a snorkeling tour that took us out to the very tip of the opening between Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
We had lunch at Fudpucker's and saw the live alligators.
We all agreed that the fact that there was a guy in the dirty water with the alligators was a whole lot scarier than the actual alligators themselves.
We went on walks along the beach in the afternoons and at night with a flashlight.
Tony drove in from Atlanta on Sunday, and we all went out to dinner to celebrate Kyle and Steve's 30th wedding anniversary.
Jeanne secretly told the waiter that it was their anniversary, so after our dinner, he surprised them with champagne.
Afterwards, we went out on the back deck to feed the remainder of the hushpuppies to the fish just as a fireworks show was starting across the bay. Jeanne said that she had to pay extra for that. :)
A family picture.
We ate lots and LOTS of wonderful seafood. Some of us (ahem...Kyle) had either a steak or a burger every time that we went out to eat, but I took advantage of being so close to the gulf. I had grilled mahi-mahi, fried crab claws, deviled crab, snow crab, squashed crab soup, oysters rockefeller, red snapper with lumb crab meat, peel and eat shrimp, seafood gumbo, tuna dip, and stuffed shrimp. It was heaven...
Tony had surgery on his ACL a few weeks ago, so we decided to put his huge sling to use.
On Tuesday morning, we made one last trip to the Waffle House for breakfast, said goodbye to the beach, and then drove back to Panama City to catch our flight home.
Thanks again to G and my mom for watching A&A while we were gone and to the Liggetts, Jeanne, and Tony for such a wonderful vacation. We had a BLAST!