93% Savings? Yes Please!

Here is what I got today:
So it's probably evident that I don't have a lot of hobbies! I've taken up extreme shopping as a new hobby and it's working out pretty well. As a result of some strategic planning, coupon cutting and using stores rewards programs, I spent $5.92 on all this stuff today. The total cost of all of this would have been $80.59! So, um.....if you trust the math of the English major, I saved 93%! As much as I would love to have you over, give you a glass of tea, and explain to you in painstaking detail how I did all of this, I can see you cringing from here, so I'll spare you the details unless y'all just reeeeally want them.

To put things in perspective, take that pack of Huggies diapers for example. The regular price for those is $11.00 (not that I have EVER paid full price for diapers). Basically, I spent about half the cost of ONE pack of diapers and got ALL this stuff!

Go me!

Happy Mother's Day!

Dear Mama,

First of all, you were right. About what? About pretty much everything!

Second, I'm sorry! For what? For being dramatic, for being a slob, for only cleaning the entire kitchen ONCE, for that time I made you cry at the Sizzler for being so darn bad and ungrateful.

Also, Thank you! For what? For forcing me to make friends, for getting me little surprises, for cooking a good meal for me every day and making restaurant trips (even fast food) a treat, for coming to my many thousand sporting events, for not letting me wear too much makeup, for making me bring home decent grades, for teaching me to save money, for letting me learn some things the hard way, for letting me talk about nothing on the phone and for loving all the people that love me.

Love you Mama!

My Goings On

It's been a long time since I've posted and boy, we've had a LOT going on. I'm still pregnant and feeling more so every day! Right now, I'm 21 weeks!


Some days I feel huge but this picture doesn't look like it for some reason.

In case you didn't know.......

The blue blanket means we're having (another) BOY!
Jason and I have narrowed our choices down to 3 names. He won't give me free reign so I told him to choose between the 3. He's really, really procrastinating. Right now, his name is Mister Baby Robinson but if his DADDY hasn't made a decision in a few days, he's going to become Cletus the Fetus.

He may not have a name...

But he has a diaper bag!


Also, we color coordinated for Easter :)


My sweet Joe gets better looking every day! I just don't know what I'm going to do with him!


Today, on the way to school, Joe and I saw the most gigantor turtle I have ever seen:

My Dad thinks he was a gopher tortoise, about 12-15 years old and not even full grown!
I wanted to put my shoe in the picture for perspective but I was afraid he would bite my foot off (turns out they're gentle). From my estimate, he was about 2 feet long from his nose to his tail. His shell was like a serving platter!

Last, but certainly not least, the bittersweet news.

My dear, sweet Grandma passed away March 30th. She was just a wonderful person. She was well loved and well taken care of. I already miss her so much, but I know, thanks to my Savior Jesus Christ, I will see her again! She is no longer sick, she is no longer missing her husband, and she is rocking her only baby boy.

Thank y'all for reading and I'll see you again soon!

God Sent Me to Big Lots Yesterday.

Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. God has blessed me immeasurably, but I'm not sure he has a vested interest in me saving 70% on a dining room suit. Ask and ye shall receive, right?

A little bit of background on the subject of my dining room. You can read more about my chronic lack of dining room furniture here. We have a beautiful formal dining room that up until yesterday, held an old couch.

Jason and I had decided to spend some of our income tax refund money on a table at least. For the past 3 months we have been "looking" at furniture. Jason's looking includes just that, looking. No action. We picked out something we liked at a local furniture market and considering the price, figured we could have it made into coffins when we die because it would be the LAST table we ever bought. We didn't even entertain the idea of buying the gorgeous china cabinet because we hope to send our children to college one day.

Fast forward to yesterday. No table...still waiting. Here's where the story gets tricky. Completely unrelated to everything you just read: Jason's office chair has scratched the hardwoods under his desk until he is one tiny scratch away from working in a bean bag. He finally got sick of me curling up into a ball and crying in the corner about it and suggested that I go to Staples and get him a floor mat.

For some crazy reason, (I didn't even fuss) I said okay and planned on going all the way across town to Staples to purchase said floor mat and then continue my day with grocery shopping. As I was leaving Staples, I decided to go in Big Lots because my Mom saw in their sale paper that they had Crocs for $10. (I hate crocs, they were for Joe)

Please note that in the 2.5 years I have lived here, I had been in Big Lots only once.

So I walked over there.

And the most amazing thing happened.

The dining room suit I fell in love with but had resigned myself to the fact that we would never get....

WAS SITTING IN THE BACK CORNER OF BIG LOTS FOR 70% OFF OF RETAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BROYHILL people!!!

I may or may not have shed a tear or eleven.

We were able to get the table, 8 chairs, and the amazingly gorgeous china cabinet for less than I would have expected to pay for the table and chairs. AND we may still be able to afford coffins one day!

It weighs about a million pounds and is completely disassembled, but maybe by Thanksgiving we can have it put together!!

I capped off the day by spending $71 and saving $85 at Publix. I'd call yesterday a success!

Things I Will Never Understand

1. Gigantor hairbows on little girls


2. Gigantor hairbows on grown women


3. Why THESE types of outfits (for boys) are available in sizes up to 5!


4. Hair that's both black and blonde at the same time (on purpose)


5. Twilight....There I said it!


There are many things in the world I don't understand, but these are just a few that have been troubling me lately.

In other news, I am 15 weeks pregnant, the baby is the size of an avocado, and I'm tired as poo!

13 Weeks

How Far along? 13 weeks

How big is Baby? About the size of a lemon (3 inches)

Total weight gain/loss: a grand total of 1 and a half pounds.

Maternity clothes? Yep. There's no way around it with the jeans!

Stretch marks? I hope it's not possible for me to get anymore!
Sleep: What the heck is that?
Best moment this week: Visiting the Doctor and finding out that everything is just fine.
Movement: He/she is dancing around but I can't feel it yet.
Food cravings: Lemons, anything bland because every time I eat if feels like I swallowed a giant flaming soccer ball for at least an hour afterwards.
Gender: We find out April 12th.
Labor Signs: none, thank goodness!
Belly Button in or out?It's in for now.
What I miss: Sleeping on my back, sleeping on my stomach, sleeping.....
What I am looking forward to: Finding out the baby's gender in a few weeks :)
Milestones: reaching the 2nd trimester

In other news, guess what Joe sings in the morning when he wakes up...(when he's not whistling)

The Canadian national anthem.

Let that sink in.....

I HAVE to delete the NBA all star game off the DVR...like, NOW!

12 Weeks

This week, Baby Robinson is about the size of a peach. So, why is my abdomen the size of a peach pie?



Hmmm.......

I think this picture captured the least flattering angle possible. I also think the outfit had something to do with it.

I am outraged. No. Not really :)

Instead of wondering how I grew so dramatically, lets talk about my hair.

This hairdo happened completely by accident but I love it. I am going to try it again to see if it was just a fluke. This was the most effortless thing I have ever done to my poor hair. It was the result of 1. not drying my hair before bed, and 2. messing around too long to straighten it in the morning.

In addition to having a very good hair day, I came across the jewel of the Nile today. There is a resale shop in Pelham called Encore. I thought they only sold furniture and stuff but it turns out they have a very good sized selection of clothes.

There was a small maternity rack that I thumbed through and found a pair of jeans and some Old Navy bermuda shorts. I though I had done pretty well since maternity consignment almost always yields early 90s pastels and shoulder pads. So I get up to the register and one of the employees says they have just received a bunch of maternity clothes but haven't had the chance to price them or put them out but that I could come in the back and look.

Sure, I say.

My lands, this was one fashionable pregnant woman who consigned these beauties!

Not a shoulder pad or tent like empire waist in sight! I may go back and get a few more things. So in all, I got 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of shorts, 1 skirt and 4 shirts for 43 dollars!

Nothing makes my day quite like reaping the benefits of my cheapness!