Birthday wishes!

I would settle for either of these for my birthday gift! HINT! Also anything off my pinterest.com board! March 23 is just right around the corner! You might want to get working on it now. Love you all.

I love free!

Looking for a new perfume? I am! Check this out:

Versace is allowing users to order free samples of their Versace Yellow Diamond fragrance. Check out the page provided to score yours for free!

Use the link here if the links above do not work.https://secure.allure.com/sweeps/versace_yellow_diamond_a/entry/long/

Free Ebook TODAY: Move it mom! Get your body back!

 Grab a free copy of MOVE IT MOM! GET YOUR BODY BACK AFTER BABY.

This is a fun book with practical easy advice to get you back in shape.  I love that not is it free, but it’s advice is also free, no signing up for memberships etc.

This is for kindle, but you can GET IT FOR YOUR PC TOO. Thanks to www.southernsavers.com for sharing!

Scared of Budgeting

How many of you have tried to set a budget and come up completely short? Been there, done that and had my hubby looking at me like why do you do this to us? I have tried Dave Ramsey, Coupons Galore and read every budgeting book I can get my hands on. I have finally come to realization that I have the knowledge on how to do keep to our grocery budget of $200 for a family of four. It comes down to simply to me not cheating. Me seems to be a common problem to why my resolutions do not work. This month, I will stick to it, come hell or high water. As my hubby says, looks like we will be eating lots of deer meat from the freezer this month.

So how do you coupon? How do you set your grocery budget? I swear by this lady: http://www.southernsavers.com/ She is the goddess of all coupon websites! You must check her out. Today when looking through the yahoo homepage, I found this:
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/53/how-to-find-free-stuff.html I would love to figure out how to barter my services to get other things for free. Then I would have more money to spend on groceries and such! In my next life, I will....right?

This month, 1/10/12

Money Spent at Wal-Mart $81.32

(Included groceries and random stock up items from the Christmas Aisle)

Money Spent at Walgreens $19.84

(2 bottles of Pantene, 1 bottle of Aussie Conditioner, 4 Alka Selzter Cold Medicines Day and Night, 1 Bayer Aspirin-120 count, 1 Gillette Pro Fusion Razor) Thanks Southern Savers Goddess!

Total: 101.16

(Holy crap! I have $98.84 left-no more Clearance aisles for me!)

Scared of Boy Stuff

For those that do not really know me, I have a very manly man of a husband. He literally goes from hunting to fishing season and does not skip a beat. This past year, I bought my own bow. It is pink so that makes it a tad more "Chelette" like. Over the Christmas break, I decided it was time for me to become a pro. I can now shoot my little pink bow from 20 feet or is that yards? Which ever it is, I know it is far and my arrows get to the center so that is really all that matters! So I am officially learning all this boy stuff. And the reason why....this little boy. I love that his dad teaches him the basics but I want to be right next to him too as he learns about shooting the target!

Scared of Forgetting People

I still have one of my great grandmother's Kleenexes in  a Ziploc bag so I can remember her smell. Today as I wore one of her shirts, I could remember her warm smile and her loving heart. Oh how I miss and love my Mimi. I wish you could just bottle up these things and keep them safe but in reality the only memory that can last forever is the one in my heart.  

Scared of Forgetting.

My kids do the cutest things. Now I sound like every other mom...of course,  my child is the first one to ever say or look that cute!! Heck, I have another blog that tracks their every movement. http://ourgreatestcatch.blogspot.com I also have about a million pictures of them doing everything from standing, crying, laughing. staring, reading, sitting on the toilet and sleeping. I also have hours upon hours of video. Yes I have a problem. Yet I do not want to forget one moment. They are all so unique and they all put a smile on my face and in my heart.

I found a few ideas of tracking their progress this new year. I will not lie, last year, I tried to take a picture every day. Taking a picture every day was not the problem, keep track of when I took a picture and then sharing it was the problem.  So then I found this...epic fail also due to note cards are easy for a toddler to resort for you.http://pinterest.com/pin/154459462189607400/  Then I thought about the a memory jar-http://pinterest.com/pin/154459462189649963/

As I was trying to make do,  I notice my grocery list pad would be the perfect fit. Somewhere on www.pinterest.com I had seen something similar but now for the life of me cannot find it. So I wanted to make something cute but no time for it now. I started out with a legal note pad, drew a line through the middle (I have 2 kids and did not want to play favorites), then on the far left side wrote down #1-31 and started tracking everything cute, adorable, funny thing my children say or do by the day. In reality it is just a one line sentence about my child for the day.
 What will I do with these? Of course, hoard them and embarrass them one day. But in the mean time, it helps me keep my sanity when J is throwing his 3 year old temper tantrum or my little C is practicing her high pitch scream in the car after a long day of work! This weekend I will work on my cute version for you to track your memories too. Until then, as long as I put it on paper and get it out of my clutter filled brain, I have accomplished another "Scared No More" Task.
Resolution #5: Put my thoughts on paper!

Scared of Slowing Down

I do everything fast. I talk fast. I walk fast. I type fast. I think fast.

Today imagine my surprise when I was driving home and looked down and noticed I had my shirt on backwards. Score one point for me today.

 I am guilty I need to start slowing down and paying attention to the details. I am still not sure why I am so afraid of slow or no movement but this is definitely something I want to find a balance for the new year. If nothing else for the sake of fashion!

Scared of the Repairs no more!

I cannot take all the credit. As long as I have google at my fingertips, I can almost figure out anything. Our freezer died on us on Tuesday. That evening, I went to look for a new one. After I picked myself off the ground and saw the prices from $1000 to $3000 for something similar to what I have now, I decided I must figure out what is wrong with our refrigerator!

Thanks to my hubby who is willing to try everything at least once, we started taking apart the frigerator. Charleigh also thought she could help. After many google searches and youtube videos, we concluded it was the starter relay switch on the compressor. You shake it and if it rattles, it is broke. How easy is that! 

One part later, one freezer working. 

Do not be afraid to google things like "freezer is not freezing, now what? , HELP me, my freezer is broke." The most amazing part is that someone else has already googled it before you, so just ask. 

Resolution #4: Never be afraid ask for help even if it is from www.google.com or www.youtube.com for visual learners!

Scared of the Scale?

The dreaded scale. I wonder if I stand with on my tiptoes, with no clothes on and hold my breath, will I be skinny according to my scale? 

I am horrible. I still make up excuses why the scale calculated my weight wrong. They include: 

1. It is at the end of the day and my body is carrying around all the weight.
2. The scale is not balanced. 
3. The battery is low so it doesn't read properly.
4. My shoes weigh 3 pounds. 
5. I am bloated. 
6. My clothes weigh 6 pounds. 
7. My three year old must of been playing with it again. 

The list goes on and on. For those of you who have followed me for a while, know that I weigh in on Wednesdays and then post everywhere how much I weigh. Yes toddlers have made me lose my mind. From September to November 15, I was having one Body by Vi Shake a day.

(More information at http:jcsquared.myvi.net) I also hit my magic number 149.6 I had reached my goal and then the holidays came and let's just say I have a sweet tooth. I love everything and anything covered in chocolate. Also working in education, I am spoiled with lots of homemade treats. How can you say no and waste so thank you gifts. Plus I love wine. Mesina Hof  Tribute to Beauty and Sangria are my first loves. So for the last 40 days, I have had food and ate like I would never eat again. 

I was pleasantly surprised that when I stepped on the scale, it was not too shabby. On Monday, I started my Body by Vi Shakes again and have a goal to hit 135. I never seen this number on the scale but it is a goal worth shooting for. P.S. I am 5'8" so you get some perspective.

UPDATE: 1/4/11: I weighed in at 151.6. Very impressed considering the amount of chocolate covered cherries and pie I ate over the last month!

Day 3: Resolution: Be able to step on the scale and not be afraid of what magic number shows up. 

Scared of the Bag No More

I have this bag that carries everything. Things I say I am going to do when I get home, check lists, calendars, galore of lip gloss, mail from school, mail from home and clips of articles that I find interesting. The only problem is the bag is neverending. I did not realize how bad this was until today. I was digging through it for god know whats and there is a pile of at least 20 Christmas cards that did not get sent. Yes NOT sent. Now please remember I am a southern girl with manners. You always send a card with pictures of your babies. Now I know why my mother in law thinks I do not like her-her card was in there. And now I apologize to all the others that didn't get their card. After much debate, my dear friend Jackie convinced me to go ahead and mail them. There's nothing like a little late holiday cheer. Plus my babies are so cute why wouldn't you keep a picture of them all year on your fridge. So today, I cleaned out the bag. NO more loose anything because I retired the bag. If it doesn't fit in my little notepad I carry around or purse, it doesn't go anywhere with me. So if you see me carrying a bag that looks like this-scream at me and shame me in public. Heck, I don't know why I carry it around anyways, it is not like I ever go through it when I get home anyways. Good bye bag!

Resolution #2: Do not have a junk bag that I carry around that really only serves as a weight to help me lose weight. 

Scared of the Shower No More

My shower makes me crazy. The scum on the glass makes it where I have no desire to clean any part of the bathroom. I have tried every gadget, cleaning product to make the scum disappear. Still nothing. I even asked Santa for a brand new shower door so I could start over. Nothing still.
So on my first day of tackling things that scare me, I tackled the shower. My three year old helped! We used a box of baking soda and DAWN. First we wiped the Baking Soda on the glass and the freely put the Dawn on the door. Next my three year old helped scrub the walls and I "reached high" as he would say.
Was it a complete success? No. Was it better than where I started? Yes.
If nothing else, I learned that a 3 year old makes cleaning more enjoyable!

New Year New Resolutions

This year, every day I plan to do one thing that scares me! Watch out world, I have a plan and that is half the battle!