5 years and still in love...

This picture was taken July 4, 2004


Does it ever get old? Or can you still be in love with someone after being married for 5 years? Because I don't want to ever stop loving you.

The clock was ticking down. She told him "two weeks"....two weeks to propose that is. As each day passed, she would remind him of his time limit he had left. But she knew in her heart that even if the time limit had expired, she still loved him and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She would wait until he was ready, no matter how long it took.
He was the "one" for her.
Yes.
...She would wait.

My short story is a true story. It started out as joke with Joel. After a year of dating, I had decided to help Joel move things along. He was slow when it came to girls. I mean it took him 2 years just to ask for my number. I was not going to be an old maid any longer than I had to! It's funny now that I think about it. It's even funnier because I did not like Joel at all (until about a month into talking to with him did I really entertain the idea of liking him.) I thought he was "butt ugly" as someone reminded me not too long ago. But marrying Joel was the best thing I ever did. I had a lot of emotional hang ups, and his patience and love for me (though I was emotionally damaged) helped me to be a better person. He helped break down walls I was so afraid of letting crumble.

And so today Joel, I want to tell the world how much I really do love you. Marriage is not always easy, but who ever said it would be. We are two different people. We're bound to disagree on a few things. But through it all, you're still my knight in shining armor. You still make my heart melt. I love you so much. I couldn't have asked for a better husband; a better teammate; a better partner to dance with in this "dance" that we call life!

I love you with my whole heart!

Always and forever,
Angela



Our Wedding day: October 29, 2005

Shaving money off the grocery bill...

So about a week ago I came to the realization that our grocery budget is just getting WAY out of hand. I mean $100.00 for two adults and one breastfed baby should be enough for two weeks right? Well...I keep going over budget, and so I started doing some research and looking at how people save money by couponing. I happened upon two websites that have helped me here and here. Talk about pointing me in the right direction.

I have always shopped sales and stocked up when something was on sale that I use. I can't tell you when the last time I bought face wash (maybe like two years ago because I stockpiled).

So yesterday as I was perusing cuckoo, she mentioned a deal on huggies. Since I am trying to stock up on diapers when they are on sale (to help keep my grocery cost down) I decided to swoop up on this deal.

Here is the deal I got:

I bought two packs of Huggies pure and natural diapers at $8.99/ea and two Colgate toothpastes at $3.69 and $2.79, but they were buy one get one free, so I only had to pay for one. NOW, here is how I made a killer deal.

I used store coupons and manufacture coupons to shave $13.00 off my total. I combined Rite Aid's $4.00 off (a $20.00 purchase), with two Huggies *MC $3.00 off/ea, a Rite Aid **SC for Colgate for $1.00 off, AND a Rite Aid **SC for $2.00 off Huggies.

That made my out of pocket expense of $10.39....BUT it doesn't end there. The Huggies had a +UP reward of $2.00 each. +UP rewards are like a gift certificate to the store, so yes I did pay for it, in actuality they gave me some money back and its like I paid $6.39 for all my items.

Killer deal if you ask me. What would have made it even sweeter is if I also had a *MC from Colgate. that would have dropped the price of the toothpaste I bought from $2.69 (because I had $1.00 off already) to I dunno probably $1.69, depending on the value of the coupon.* Manufacturer's Coupon**Store Coupon

I think I'm gonna like this couponing thing! It sounds confusing at first, but once you get the hang of how to stack coupons...it's so worth the time you spend clipping them.

Until next post,

6 Weeks of joy

The last two weeks have been busy. We went to see my Mom up in Groveland. It was a relaxing weekend spent with family. While were were up there we decided to visit Yosemite National Park. What a lovely sight. I had never been there, and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was (although there were a lot of people there, it still was so pretty).

I found out that travelling with a newborn is not the easiest thing to do. The trip up there should have only taken 2.5 hours, but it took us almost 3.5 hours. We had to keep stopping and feeding/changing the baby. BUT THE DRIVE BACK......oh that was a nightmare. We got on the wrong highway coming out of Yosemite that took us out of the way, and so instead of getting home in a reasonable time of maybe 4 hours...it took us 8 hours. We stopped constantly for feedings/changings, and poor baby. By like 7:30pm all Josiah wanted was a little TLC...so we stopped in Modesto and ate and gave a little TLC to the baby. After that he didn't mind the last hour of drive in the car. Next time we go on a road trip, I'll be better prepared, and know what to expect.

Josiah also had his 1 Month DR. appointment. He now weights 8lbs 5oz. I couldn't believe that in a month he gained OVER 2LBS. This kiddie loves to eat. Next Dr. appointment he gets his vaccines. I am doing some research to see about an alternate schedule that way he doesn't get so many at once.

Until next post,