Cabin

Last week I was so lucky and got to go to this cabin with a few of my best friends. Keith was supposed to have had the days I was going off and then his schedule got all switched around and the sweet guy that he is, he arranged for his mom to take the kids for me. She's so good to me to help out and let me enjoy a night away.

We left at about 8:30 am and didn't stop talking until 11:30ish that night. I seriously don't know how we could find so much to talk about, but it was a blast. We played a "fun" card game, (I say "fun" because it would have been a lot more fun had I won....!) took a walk and ate a lot of junk food. I even learned how to do some embossing and I painted my toenails without hiding from the kids to do it! I love these ladies and will forever have a special bond with them.

I looked back through my pictures and realized that I pretty much only took pictures of a squirrel they've named "Gutsy"(You'll see why). There is a squirrel that always hangs out by this cabin and will literally eat right out of your hands! It was really the coolest thing! Well, it was actually kind of creepy, I kept thinking we could end up on one of those "When Animals Attack" shows, but we were just fine! At one point the silly little thing just jumped right up into my lap and looked at me like, "Hello? Where's the grub?"

We spotted some deer up there too. I love being in the mountains. Not just for the animals, but the sheer beauty of nature. I think mountains are so amazing, and it probably stems from living without them for years, but I am always amazed to think of this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for us to live in.

I had a wonderful relaxing time and just enjoyed recharging. I think I really needed it. I really appreciate those who helped make it possible for me to go.

Taking it too far

So we all know of my love for couponing and great deals...I've made no secret of that. It's fun and it's always helpful to save money. Lately I've realized that there are quite a few others in the world who coupon and I'll be honest, I sometimes feel a little guilty because I get frustrated when I don't get to a deal fast enough and I miss out. Sometimes I don't want to share my awesome finds. I have to take a step back and realize EVERYONE needs/wants/likes to save money.

So, that said. Smiths is doing their coupon rounding again. I was really excited about it, and then looking at the list there just wasn't a ton of the super great deals that I wanted. I decided I didn't need to go first thing this morning. I'm not patting myself on the back saying that I was so kind to save stuff for everyone else because that honestly wasn't the reason I didn't go...it was sheer laziness. BUT...reading comments others have left on couponing blogs has made me laugh and glad that I didn't go. For instance...

The Smith's Marketplace is Lehi opens at 7am. I was there at 7:45 because I had to do my shopping this morning anyway, and thought I would try and catch some of the deals. The shelves were of course cleared out of all the free or nearly free stuff. I was kind of expecting that, but I wasn't expecting the attitude of some of the couponers. I was embarrassed to be there! Almost everyone I saw had there big coupon binders with them. Some of them even had 2 carts. They were just being very selfish and I was embarrassed to be associated with them as a couponer myself. I walked by one lady and I joking said to her, "Oh you're the one who got away with all of the Texas Toast Croutons!" (She had at least 20 bags in her cart) She snapped back, "I was the first one in the door for a reason!" I really wanted to tell her that she wasn't following the etiquette of of being a courteous couponer, but I felt it wasn't worth the battle. Some people just don't care to share the deals with others. One other lady was standing by the Bounty paper towels and said, "I am not leaving here until they restock this shelf!"

SERIOUSLY?!?! People really acted like that? Has it really come to that? What a sad sad world filled with crazy coupon ladies...please don't consider me one of them :)

1st camping trip of the year

We were finally able to go out camping for the first time this year! Hopefully there will be many more trips to come! It is something we really enjoy doing together as a family. I will admit it's not exactely the easiest thing with a baby, but we're fortunate enough to have a trailer and that makes all the difference.

We went for 2 nights with Keith's parents up to Strawberry and a little campground called Aspen Grove. It was beautiful and cozy up there. The benefit of Keith's new work schedule is we can go during the week instead of just the weekend when everyone else goes. It was so quiet and there were very few other campers there. The cute campground hosts kept giving Gavin suckers each day. Keith, Grandpa and Gavin did some fishing and ended up with one fish they threw back and one "keeper" as Gavin says! The fishing apparently wasn't as great as it has been in years past. I enjoyed lots of time just gabbing with my mom in law and getting in a little bit of reading. I actually felt VERY relaxed despite 2 rough nights with the kids. Each one had one bad night which means I ended up with 2 bad ones :)


I feel very fortunate to have the wonderful in laws that I do. I commented on how I really enjoyed this trip because as we were the last in their family to marry, there has always been quite the group around and I don't get a lot of one on one time with them. I don't mind sharing them, but it is always nice for me to get some alone time with them.


Gavin really enjoyed going on walks and seeing all the "chipmunks". There was one the 2nd day that had been hit by a car and was dead in the road. We passed by it and I told Gavin that the chipmunk probably didn't listen to his mommy to watch for cars. When we passed back around, there was another chipmunk by the dead one and Gavin said, "Look mom, it's the Doctor chipmunk!!!" How sweet is that?!?! He also made Grandpa walk all over with him and later one night he told me he wanted to go for a walk. I got up to go with him and he informed me, "Not with you, Mom. Just with Grandpa." He really enjoyed the time with his grandparents.

Serenity now...

..is always the first quote that comes to my mind when I think of "Seinfeld". We are avid Seinfeld watchers at my house, to say the least. I'm pretty sure Keith could quote just about every episode. So, for his birthday I surprised him with tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld's stand up act. Gotta be honest, Keith really didn't seem all that sure about it. I was looking for some big excitement over it so then I started to be unsure about whether or not we would have a good evening. Over all, it turned out to be a good night!

Before buying the tickets (or rather, paying my mom to do it so Keith wouldn't see the transaction! Thanks, Ma!) I Googled the show to see if anyone had said it was really crude. I'm not a fan of laughing at disgustingness and I know Keith would hate that. The reviews said it was a pretty tame show, so I figured we could handle it. It was actually even less crude than I thought it would be. And it was fairly funny! Definitely wasn't the same as the show, but worthwhile. My favorite part was that after the act, he came back out and answered some questions from the audience. I think I liked this because this wasn't just a routine and he really was funny even when he was answering these unplanned questions. Someone asked about a Seinfeld reunion and he said that could possibly happen awhile down the road. He said they'd probably wait until all 4 careers went down the toilet...I'm hoping he was just being funny and there is actually a Seinfeld reunion show one day.

BUT...wouldn't you know that out of the entire Abravanel Hall we would get stuck sitting next to the most ANNOYING laugher! It was AWFUL! I kept trying to reason with myself and say well at least she's enjoying herself, but it was honestly THE MOST obnoxious and LOUD laugh. Yes there was even a snort at one point. Her date wasn't much better, and they laughed this way at absolutely every joke there was. And they were the kind where they liked slapped their knees and rocked their torso back and forth.... The title of this post is not just in remembrance of my favorite Seinfeld quote. Let's just say I found myself thinking it a lot tonight :)

Baby bum...

I absolutely HATE not having clothes on my kids. Is that weird? Not that I don't think their chubby legs aren't cute, but I am so not a let-my-kid-run-around-in-their-diaper mom. That said, how cute are these?!?!

Cake Balls and Frugal deals

One day about 2 weeks ago I got all sorts of free stuff in the mail. I know I look like the biggest weirdo, but free stuff is fun. A couple of these coupons were for completely free, full-size items. Can't beat that!

Here is my frugal deal from Smith's. I'm always a little bummed that they took Albertsons away because I got the best deals there. Add insult to injury, Utah doesn't do double coupons like every other state. Smith's had a promo for 3 days a couple weeks ago where they would round any coupon that was below a dollar up to $1. So .25 coupons became $1 coupons. It was so exciting I could hardly stand it. I was seriously giddy. I know, I know, you're all holding up a big "L" with your fingers and pretending to put it over my forehead. Joke all you want because here is what I got for just $13...

My awesome friend Barb was having a bake sale for Autism awareness. One of her darling boys has autism and she is a great example to me with how hard she works for a cause. We need more people in this world like Barb. Her son, Isaac, cracks me up. One day at Barb's he looked at my very pregnant belly and asked me if I was full. I really was very full :). Although I know sometimes Barb would like to hide her head when Isaac is a little overly honest, I think it's a character a few more of us could use. Anyway, here are some cute cake balls I made for her bake sale. I was going for the "these look like chocolates look but they are really cake" look. And they were YUMMY! I can't wait to make some more cake balls! They were a little time consuming so I need a good reason to make them!

I can't do things oraganized. I just can't. I swear I have tried, but I apparently need creative chaos to accomplish anything. So there was a big mess after the cake balls and I turned it into some art....ok, art by my standards. I don't consider myself artistic in any way, trust me!