Scion XB

So.... lately my jaw has been hurting... I diagnosed myself with having the problem of smiling to much! I just bought the car that I almost bought 2 1/2 years ago. My old car , VW Passat, got me around but was falling apart quick. I was already upside down in the loan and it was only going to get worse.

I am so against buying brand new cars. They just typically loose so much value right when you drive them off the lot. So what do I do...(after a LOT of research) I buy a brand spankin new 2010 car. The brand new one was only about $1500 more than a used 2008 or 2009 and it comes with amazing warranties. So why not. It had 23 miles on it when I bought it. I thought I was going to vomit or pee or something. So nerve racking. But don't worry you guys I am ok! This car lot only gets one Scion XB about every 2 months or so and the one they had was the exact color I wanted. So pretty. Its called Stingray metal.

This is how many miles when I got home in my driveway.
Here she is. Not great pictures because its raining outside and its cold.

Her rear end. Looks like a minivan? Hop in kids.

Some people love them (like me) and some people hate them (like Kristi). Haha. Funny story... none of my family new I was even looking for a car let alone got a new one and I pulled up at hula practice on Saturday the same time Heidi and Kristi did. The first words out of Kristi's mouth were "THAT THING IS UGLY" Yes, yelling it because she was across the street. And Heidi says "isn't that what you were going to buy a couple years ago? Why didn't you just buy it then?" Like I said... not everyone likes them and thats ok! I happen to love my beauty! Oh and Kristi...that means I don't have to drive you anywhere! haha.

start of kitchen remodel

Rillz and I have wanted to redo some things in the kitchen. We didn't know what and we didn't have much money. We knew we wanted a new sink, needed a new garbage disposal, tile the counter tops, and wanted to paint the cabinets... just to start. We really want to take down some walls, put new ones up, buy a new oven, blah blah goes on and on. We both didn't have to work at all last weekend. So we got off work at 6 on Friday and said... lets just go look at Lowe's at sinks and paint. We had been looking on craigslist too for kitchen stuff. Well, of course, sinks can burn a whole in the pocket so we just looked. The paint... well Lowe's was spendy on that too, if you can believe that... haha. Walmart was next door so we wanted to look around. We ended up at the paint section. We had no idea what color except to match our window curtain (which has a lot of colors). We looked at yellows.. not quite so we looked at browns... naw... but the red screamed at us. So we picked our shade. And we knew red stinks to paint but we were ready. We ended up staying up til 4:00 a.m. doing the cabinets. Oh and the inside color was a mess up can from Home Depot. So it cost us $1 to paint the inside.

How the kitchen was... dirty counters and all.

So gross... the old inside of the cabinets. We could have been killing ourselves by storing our dishes in these disgusting cabinets. Maybe lead... maybe mold... maybe just nasty shelf liner. Can you say 1970!

We had a long night ahead of us.

Out with the old and in with the new. Hello red! Still dirty cluttered counter tops!

Ta Da. Even with uncluttered counter tops. We are still working on that middle section. It is going to be a wine rack and wine glass area with lighting and glass! I am going fancy on y'all.

The sink we got from craigslist. I researched the sink and if brand new would have cost $500. On craigslist for a perfectly fine used one... $30. A brand new kitchen faucet on craigslist.. $30. I so love craigslist!

The old sink... yuck. It leaked and was cracked and the garbage disposal worked every once in a while. Also, there was no sprayer which drove me nuts. P.S. Rillz hates that green olive plate behind the sink.

So much better. We can fit a whole sheet pan on the right side. Look a sprayer! And look Rillz, no olive plate! The plumbing issue took a while and many trips to the store and many towels to clean up water before it was right! The sink is sooo clean and shiny! That's just water in the sinks that make it look murky in this picture. Since we were up til 4 and were doing Walmart runs... we noticed it was snowing hard for the first time this season! Notice the ghost thing in the bottom left corner of the picture. Yes, I just took down all my Halloween stuff a couple days ago. No need to mention its already Nov. 22. Hello, Mindy, get with the program.


We still have plenty to do. The tile counter tops and wine rack area are next.

50th birthday bash!

Some of you might have read on Heidi's blog about the surprise party we had for my dad. I was so excited for it when planning until it started getting closer. Kristi was in charge of invites (which were awesome), Heidi was in charge of making the cake (so yummy and really neat looking), Heidi also did decorating with Noelle (very creatively done), and I was in charge of food. Oh and the guys helped with whatever we told them to do. So naturally as time got closer I stressed a little more everyday. Cooking a whole luau menu for 100 people?!? And it doesn't help that my oven is half the size of a normal one. When the party was all said and done I don't know why I stressed over it. I didn't do any of the cooking anyway! :) I helped shop for all of it and transport it and rented the chafing dishes and whatever else needed rented. Thats about it. Rillz was so kind to help out with it! I mean, it is what he does everyday. Without him I would have cried my way through cooking (or more like burning) all the food. Everyone helped with the food too. It was a really fun party and with all of us doing our parts made planning a party easier for everyone. My dad claims he had no idea, which I believe him. My mom did a great job getting him to the church building without him suspecting anything.

This is the cake Heidi and Ren made. It was really good tasting too! They have gotten really good at making shape cakes with fondant. Heidi makes her own fondant which tastes so much better than the store bought.

Here was the room setup


This was one of the centerpieces. I like how they turned out.

Here is the entrance table with pictures of my dad and a lei for everyone.

This was taken right when my dad walked in. He looked so happy.

My Aunt Cathy came from Arizona just for the party. This is my dad noticing her there. That was very unexpected for my dad to see her at the party.

This is the hula group in our newest costumes. I think the costume is so cute! Wow check out my white legs and arms.

Well, that was the party. It was a blast! Happy 50th birthday dad! We love you.

Who ate the chicken?

So I didn't work until 11 this morning and I thought I would plan ahead and get out chicken to thaw out and rolls to rise for when I came home at 8. Rillz got off work at 6 and let the dogs out. They came back in the house and Rillz went into the back bedroom. He heard a dog whining and thought they needed to go out again until he noticed the plate with the chicken was EMPTY. Yes, 4 big pieces of raw chicken were gone without a sound! I don't know who did it but Malu looks sure looks guilty with a stomach ache laying around. Well... so much for dinner. Take out anyone?

Malu's new accessories

So Ren has been working really hard on Malu's dog collar. He is an amazing crafter and since he loves Malu he wanted to make a leather collar for her. (Which Ren probably regrets to volunteering himself for the job). Rillz thought it would be cool to put shark teeth on it. When we were in Hawaii we went and got the shark jaw from the shark his uncle caught when Rillz was in 6th grade. Anyways, this is how it turned out...

The shark teeth kept cutting through the string and so Ren had to sit there and file all of them down in three different spots. Wow patience! It is a gorgeous collar and we love it so much but unfortunetly our clothes, couch, blankets, and Simon do not agree with the shark teeth too much. So it is a special collar for going out for walks, to the pet store, and when others come over to the house. We also don't want the teeth to get ripped off.


Also, I am a non-believer in clothes for dogs. But, we got Malu and she HATES the cold. Her body cannot handle it. So we actually bought her a coat for practical reasons. Now I am a believer that some dogs really do need clothes. I hate to convert into a believer to tell you the truth but it gets cold in Idaho and, until she learns how to use the toilet inside, going outside is unavoidable. It really is cute though and she doesn't mind it being on. P.S. make fun of me all
you want for buying my dog a coat (because to be honest if I was reading someones blog about dog clothes I would say its dumb).

The fur around the neck shows her personality well... prissy. We take her on walks and she will not step in a puddle or muddy area for the sake of her pretty little paws. What a girly girl.

FYI: Simon does not get doggie clothes because he has plenty of warm hair and would hate to wear one anyways. Thats all I have for you on Malu. Ok peace out.

Pumpkin Carving

First of all, Brent and Noelle moved to Boise! They are living with my parents for a while and going to BSU starting this Spring! This Sunday we all got together for dinner because Noelles parents were in town. We were sitting around and decided to get together again the following day for a pumpkin carving contest. We set rules where we could use anything to carve our pumpkin except explosives, fire, pretty much anything that would blow up the house and we had 2 hours to do it. We all had SO much fun! This was Rillz's first time ever carving a pumpkin!

Rillz's first pumpkin carving...the hawaiian islands and a KA for kanak attack. Great job

Oh yeah pumpkin guts!

This was Rens. Of course outstanding. He wasn't able to finish it in 2 hours.

My dads. He used some electric tools and it sounded like we were in a dentists office when he was working on it! It turned out really good though.

Here is Brent going extreme like always. He is very artistic!

Noelle didn't think her Twilight pumpkin turned out. But when it was lit up it looked awesome!

Heidi and Katie (Noelles mom) didn't want to carve pumpkins so they made pumpkin seeds...soooo yummy!

Here are a couple collages.

Here are all the pumpkins and how they turned out!

Kristi made the cute owl, Noelles is the one on the right. When lit it looks like two faces. Really neat looking. Jeff made a Thomas train (of course) for Gunnar, with tracks all around the pumpkin!

Sick like a pig...

Yes, I have the flu. "Most likely the swine flu" says the guy at Primary Health who saw me for less than 5 minutes. So 2 hours later (yes waiting with other sicklings and feeling like I am going to pass out I had to wait 2 hours) 133 dollars later (because I have no insurance) I was told there was nothing they could do for me. I have been sick since Friday night. Chills, sore throat, major headache, major muscle aches, dizziness, tired... I don't do well just laying around my house. But when I do get up to do something I get so darn tired and dizzy. And sitting here all by myself I stink! I have taken a shower every day but being very immobile my body finds extra stink balls in itself. You know its bad when you just smell your own stank (maybe thats the pig side of the flu coming out in me). I am going to work tomorrow whether my body likes it or not. Don't worry, after today I am contagious free! So good luck to ya'll healthy humans out there and I hope you stay unsick. Alright to the shower I go...oink oink

What a great day after work...

So today I worked from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Very typical lately. Work was fine. Jack was kinda sick and we were out and about and had a major poopy blow out. Needless to say the car ride home was just in a diaper. He is almost 3 so I have no need to cart around extra clothes for him (so I thought). Anyways so gross. But I get off work and go to Fred Meyer for a fantastic couponing deal and then to Albertsons for some more. While being on a coupon high from saving killer loads of money (ok maybe not that much) I walk up to the door to open it and at the doorstep (really no step there but doesn't that word sound nice, doorstep) there was a free sample of fiber one granola bar and cereal with coupons. And I walked into my house and my nose filled with heavenly delight. Rillz had made a crock pot dinner this morning so it would be done when I got off work. Oh my gosh... I thought it smelled amazing but the taste was even better. If I didn't have my own personal chef I would just be eating out of boxes, like crackers, lunchables, or really whatever I get with couponing. Don't get me wrong, I cook. But it is very bland food and cooking stresses me out. Baking I can do and love it but cooking... oh boy. God must have given me Rillz so my future kids can eat decent meals without me going psycho in the kitchen. Tonights meal was very thrifty might I add. A roast I got on sale and veggies picked from my parents church garden. Let me explain... my parents neighbor had extra property and thought it would be a great idea for a ward garden. Anybody in the ward can come help and pick fruits/veggies from this garden. What a blessing for those people struggle. But those people struggling didn't take advantage of it as they would have hoped. On Rillz's day off (Tuesday) he went over to visit my mom and Ren and Kristi had told him about this garden. Of course Rillz wanted to see the veggies. He got eggplant, cucumber, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, zucchini, and some other veggies. So it was a great night!

So this was actually last friday when I had this great night. I just didn't have time to write about it this week. I was very very busy working a lot!
This was the samples I received from Fiber One.
I paid $3 for these 5 lunchables and got $5 in catalinas back (catalinas are like coupons that spit out at the register for use on anything in the store on my next shopping trip.) So I got paid $2 to buy these.
This was all $5. I get plenty of snack foods for very cheap!
These were the free veggies from the garden.
Such a yummy dinner! He makes great food with flavor. It tasted and smelled much better than it looks in this picture.

couponing, family, jon and kate plus 8

Ok so I got my most comments on the couponing lysol post. I have said it before but I love couponing. It takes lots of time and practice. My least favorite store ever to shop at (Albertsons, because it is always the closest store and pricing is twice as expensive as Winco and Walmart) is now my most favorite store ever because it is the closest (now it is convenient) and has great sales with the ability to double manufactorers coupons. You know those coupon inserts you get in the Sunday paper and you cut out some that you think you will use and always forget about them until they expire? Well I now get 4 sunday papers for those coupon inserts and cut ALL those coupons out. I put them in my coupon binder and then wait for a sale or a great price on something. Target and Walgreens are also great couponing stores. I just choose to mostly go to Albertsons.



Here are my deals this week...

10 cans of Tomato soup
20 cans of Chicken Noodle soup
2 Tony's Pizzas
4 Ken's salad dressings
3 Campbells soups at hand
All for a total of 7.72
Oh wait and a $5 catalina which means $5 dollars off my next purchase of anything at Albertsons. So really it was like paying $2.72 for all this.

Here is my shopping trip tonight...
3 boxes of whole grain cheez-it crackers
5 Air wick i-motion air fresheners
2 Glade candles
3 palmolive dish soaps
1 Gillete Fusion Power Razor for men
All this for $13
But wait, if I send in rebates for the dish soap I get it free! So $4.50 back.
An air-wick freshener is $12 for one by itself. With coupons I got each one for .50 cents. So crazy!

So thats kinda how I get everything cheap. It takes time and a lot of practice but I really enjoy it and is SO worth it.

Next thing on my mind...

Blogging! I think it is so amazing that I can now get to know my relatives through blogs. I LOVE it. I get to watch Danielle and Clay's new puppy grow up, Amy and Mikes struggles and blessings with cancer (and it is how I found out about Kanya being so rude), Megan and Gregs adventures abroad and re-adjusting to the U.S.A., Aunt Pennys crying over peaches moment (p.s. tell your kids to blog... everyone is doing it, it is SO the cool thing you know), Liz and Shadd's beautiful pictures (I so wish I could take pictures that well and display them so nice too) and congrats on your new growing baby girl, my sisters of course, and everyone elses life too. It is a way to stay connected and really feel like you know your family. I love reading ALL the blogs and getting to know everyone a little better. I love you all and I thank you for sharing your lives with me. That has been on my mind lately because I just feel blessed for this kind of technology and dedication from all of you to create a blog.

Next order of business...

Jon and Kate plus 8. I LOVED the show, notice the d at the end. But it has gotten out of hand with their celebrity profile. I think Jon is an idiot personally. Hello you have 8 kids grow up and be mature for the kids. The earing is just stupid and the comment about missing out on your 20's because of the kids was just stupid. First of all those kids were planned. Its not like they were oopsey babies (maybe having 6 at one time was a bit unexpected) but still be responsible. You are not a celebrity so stop acting like one. What made me write about this anyways was the MSN.com page it has different things displayed and one was "Guess which celebs have had hair implants" and has a picture of Jon on it. Since when was he considered celeb status. And Kate, I think she was really bossy to Jon. But she would have to be a picky, clean freak, organized lady to have a controlled household with that many kids the same age. I applaud her and her efforts for the kids. She could have a better hairstyle but at least she is not trying to gain celeb status like Jon is. Oh and the show used to be my favorite to watch now it has moved down the list considerably.

Anyways thats all. Good night. Hopefully I will write about Hawaii next.

Back from vacation

So I have been back from Hawaii for 4 days. I don't want to do ANYTHING. The time change has been killing me. I can't seem to wake up before noon and go to bed before 2 a.m. My allergies are crappy and my skin is so stinkin dry. In Hawaii I had no allergies and my skin was so moist and smooth. And the weather was amazing! I got no tan (as expected) but I also didn't get sunburned (which is a miracle). To sum it all up... Hawaii was amazing and I am not ready to be back in Idaho. I will post lots of pictures and stories when I am at home. (and when I find the energy to do so)... I don't even feel like couponing right now (that is huge for me because I usually LOVE couponing.) Hopefully I will be back in Hawaii in June 2010. For more to come...

Thrifty Deals

Finally pictures!!

So this morning I went to Albertsons. I got 5 containers of lysol wipes and 1 box of Granola Bars. Before coupons I would have paid $20. After coupons I got all this for $.89. Thats right, not even a dollar. And $.40 of it was tax. The lysol wipes were free and the granola bars were a whopping $.50.

So this is one I did a while ago. 10 pasta/rice sides, 5 wish bone dressings, 4 ragu pasta sauce, 8 skippy peanut butters, 4 mayos, 3 warm delights, 2 brownie mixes, 8 deoderants, 4 vasoline lotions, 5 suave body washes, 2 simply cookies, and 4 boxes of klondike bars. I don't remember how much I should have paid but after coupons I paid $13.82. Yes people, $13.82 for all this. Sometims I surprise myself with the deals I get!

Here is another thrifty deal... my moms garden. Ren built these two planter boxes and Jeff hooked up the watering system. My mom must have one amazing green thumb. The tomatoes are SO delicious and there is plenty of squash and zuccinni.


What the heck is my mom watering the zuccinni with. Steroid water? Look at the size of this thing. The 12'' ruler looks like nothing in comparison.

The very right one is a typical size for a zuccinni. Good gardening mom! I love eating your veggies!