It's Been a Long Time Comin'

Well six years ago, I set off for my first semester of college, excited and a little nervous. I planned on finishing in four years and moving on with my life. Now, six years later, here I am counting down the days until I graduate with a masters degree. I feel like I have been in school for quite some time and am a little nervous to find out what life will be like without all the classes, homework, professors, and classmates. On the other hand, I cannot wait to come home for the night without thinking of all the homework I should probably be doing. Instead of having two jobs, an internship, and classes that I have to keep straight, I am ready to focus on ONE job. Don't get me wrong, I know a job will be a lot of work, but I am anxious to upgrade my status from a full-time student to a full-time employee. As of today, I have 46 days and 19 hours to go until I am done! For good! I cannot belive I have almost made it. Graduating and working full time seems a little intimidating right now, but with this advice by Dr. Seuss, I am sure to find my way...

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.

Dr. Seuss

A little less than boring January

Over the last month, we have had lots of visitors, have gone out of town, and have been battling colds. However, Kyle and I are feeling much better now and had a good time with all of our family despite feeling a little crappy in the meantime. Here are a few pics from the last few weeks of craziness.

After we enjoyed a weekend with Kyle's parents, my mom and two sisters came into town for a short trip, and we had a blast. I felt like passing out at the end of each day because we went from morning until night into every store we could think of and stayed up too late to maintain any sanity for the next day.

I also made them "hike" up to Hole In the Rock to get a view of the valley. A hiker looking out onto Phoenix was rather bummed as we came up in our flats and jeans, because he was feeling quite proud about hiking up in his mountain shoes and other hiking gear. We had to check it out before we hit the mall.





























IKEA especially made us tired and verrry hungry...

   

 

The weekend after my family came to Phoenix, I went back home to Vegas for a good friend's bridal shower...It was so fun to see everyone!

 

It was a fun past few weeks, but I am glad to have felt a little caught up this past week. Can't wait for more visitors and more trips home!

Provident living...I think

This post is to follow up with the other great deals I have gotten at Walgreen's the last few weeks.This post will exemplify how one can roll over the rewards and "make money" while couponing. Days like this at Walgreen's are pretty fun! I went in with $11 in Register Rewards (seen in my last post), paid $4 out of pocket and came out with the following items...



AND...$26 in Register Rewards! Yeehaa! Definitely a good week at Walgreens.

Salute to Walgreens

Over the holidays I was a slacker and didn't do much couponing. Fortunately, I am getting back into the deals at CVS & Walgreen's again. Because I let all of my register rewards and extra care bucks run out, I had to start back over again at both stores (meaning I had to spend some money out of pocket). However, I am here to say that while couponing is sometimes very time consuming....it is so worth it! This post is a little preview of some of the great deals that Walgreen's and other stores provide if you are willing to do just a little work. It is also for the cashier at Walgreen's who rolls his eyes when I roll my cart up to the counter. The following deals are far from being "deals of the day," but they are not too shabby to get the year started off!

On my first trip back to Walgreen's, I acquired the items below...2 bottles of Jergens lotion, Finish dishwasher tablets, 2 boxes of Chips Ahoy cookies, 2 boxes of Ritz crackers, 2 Reach toothbrushes, two tubes of Neosporin lip balm, and Revlon eyeshadow. All of this cost me $11.65 after Walgreen's and manufacturer coupons.

But the best part is...I got $11 back in Register Rewards (RR)! So basically I broke even, and got all of that stuff!

 

To roll over my money, I used my $11 in RR again on Monday. Below are all of the things I purchased this week...15 bottles of Gatorade, Bounty paper towels, 2 Wet Ones, 2 bottles of shaving cream, Tostito's Chips, Tostito's Salsa, Bayer Aspirin, and Quaker Rice Snacks. All of this cost me only $19.42 after RR and manufacturer coupons...it would have been less, but we needed paper towels, and Kyle hasn't had Gatorade in awhile!

 

And again, I got $11 back in RR for next time!

Wahoo, I love getting free money when I am buying things we need...if you want to learn more about all of this craziness, visit www.moneysavingmom.com!!