In no particular order…

1. Take 5 pictures a day that are not self portraits.
2. Appreciate what I have.
3. Live in the moment.
4. Love myself by taking care of myself.
(no smoking, eat right, get exercise, laugh more, be mad less)
5. Show my family that I love them regularly.
6. Have a clean & organized house.
7. Listen to more music.
8. Walk the dogs at least once a day.
9. Eat in more than out and at the table as a family.
10. Be on the computer less.

I’ve been so lucky the past few days. It’s been rainy, overcast and cold. Today we got super windy added to the mix. I don’t really mind the wind when it’s rainy, I however don’t like it much when it’s warm or sunny. Simi Valley seems to have more wind than any place I’ve ever lived.

I thinks it’s a beautiful day out today, and I don’t understand how people hate the rain. It makes me happy. I hate driving in it, but I even found when I worked, I enjoyed working more on rainy days.

I want to sit around all cozy & warm, sipping coffee, and eating soup.

I hope one day I can move to Washington, someplace where it rains all the time. I was born in the wrong state.

I think I’ve uttered one “I really miss taking self portraits!” Since I abruptly gave up in April on Day 297. Today, would have been my very last day of the project. My last self portrait to finish out my 366th day. What a quitter I am! I really wish I would have stuck it out or quit sooner.

I was going through my set of 365 pictures, and while there was a whole bunch of shitty arms length pictures of me right before bed or my feet. There was also some really good shots in there that I am proud of. I will have to go through and pick some of my favorites and put them throughout this post when I’m done typing.

That probably sounds a little narcissistic, but if you’ve read my blog or know me, you know I don’t think I’m anything special.

When I do something, I always do it to the best of my ability. I’m a perfectionist to where it’s painful almost. If I have to do it half-assed I’d rather not even do it. So, to have these shitty pictures (where the only effort I put into them was to grab my camera) in that set, it bugged me. Then add the missed pictures or the deleted pictures…and we have a big ‘ole incomplete shitty set.

I’ve been toying with the idea of unofficially doing 365 again and trying to complete it. Yet this time, I would take all the pictures I did that I liked and recreate those, and fill all the filler shots with creative shots. Then I’m going to make a book! My brother showed me this link where you can make a book of photographs or whatever, and they are affordable, professional quality, hardcover books! I think that would be an amazing thing for my kids to have when I’m dead and gone. I would love to have a full year of pictures of my Mom from when she was younger in a book. I am also going to start taking the kids picture once a week again, and making a book of them for the year. Then one of my dogs pictures, and then another of a collection of my favorite/best photographs. It’s going to be neat!

So, it’s a possibility I will be starting the 365 day project again. Maybe this week…maybe not. Maybe I’ll decide against it after I start. Who knows. No pressure. No rules. I just want to do that damn book!

I have been extra lazy all week. I didn’t do a single thing around the house. Not one, besides cook dinner all week…which was all grilled and easy!

I finally tackled the mountain of dishes in the sink and counter. Seriously, everything we use regularly was dirty besides 1 spoon. An hour later, they were clean! Yay! I hate doing dishes by hand though. It takes so long, and I get all hot and sweaty. I also am dumbfounded on why I wait so long to do them, rather then take 10 minutes at night to do them all.

I’ve washed the kids clothes, got their bag all packed. I’m waiting on their whites to finish so I can put some socks in there for Chase.

These is a couple fly’s in the house. One keeps landing on Betty. It’s annoying the hell out of her. Everytime it lands on her butt, she jumps and turns around all fast trying to catch it. It’s cracking me up.

Here she is waiting for that mofo fly to land on her again. She wants it dead. Ha!

Jeremy just got home about 10 minutes ago. I need to grill some hot dogs and sausages for the kids and us, and then we are headed to L.A. to drop them off, but first we are going to go and hang out with my brother and Agnes!!! She just flew in from Paris on Tuesday, and called me this afternoon to come hang out. So, I am excited about that. I haven’t seen her in a couple years. After the kids leave we will hang out for a while…maybe do something.

So, that’s cool.

My Madre is coming down June 12-15th, then my sister is coming down the 18th-27th…then I am flying to North Carolina July 5th-12th. I can’t wait to go and visit! I just wish Jeremy could go with me, because I will miss him so while I am gone.

Anyway, that is all.

While they were in school today, I went to Ralphs #1, Vons, Ralphs #2, and back to Ralphs #1 again.

And it was fun? Ha! I’m sick.

So…here’s my breakdown…

Shelf Value: $290.82

Out Of Pocket: $129.45

Saved: $161.37

Here’s what I got:

This includes:

3 Snuggle Dry Sheets 70 ct. (.99 each)
3 Snuggle Fabric Softeners (.99 each)
Woolite 50 oz. Laundry Detergent
Wisk 50 oz. Laundry Detergent (.49)
6 Air Wick Air Freshers (all free)
Air Wick Plug-in (Free)
2 Air Wick oils things
2 Deodorants
2 Shick Razors, one with built in trimmer. (alone those would have costs $30)
1 Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor
Glade Flameless Candle (only $2.99 reg. 11.99 meaning I would have never of bought on of these, ever at that price.)
Cottonelle 4 pack
1 Sunsilk Shampoo
1 Suave Body Wash
2 Boxes of Scooby Snack dog treats
1 Pup-peroni Dog Treat
2 Cans of Mandarin Oranges
Aunt Jemima Syrup
3 Boxes of cereal (2 Cocoa puffs & 1 reeses)
Box of tea
5 Boxes of Mac & Cheese
2 Boxes of Pasta Roni
2 Bags of New Cracker Trax
2 Bottles of Hershey Syrup
3 Jars of Ragu Sauce
2 Bags of Ragu Sauce
Ice Cream Cones
Frozen Pizza
2 Bottles of Ajax dish soap
Eggs
Laughing Cow Cheese
Mustard
2 Bags of Hot Dog Buns
Hot dogs
Habenero Sausages
Paper Plates
Styrofoam Bowls
Chef Boyardee Mac & Cheese
Hormel Complete Meal
& Steak not pictured.

It went like this:

*Total off the shelf price: $191.00

*Saved: $88.00 (46%)

This weekend I printed my lists and did my shopping with Jeremy, and here is my breakdown:

*Total off the shelf price: $494.00

*Saved: $263.00 (53%)

It is a little time consuming right now, as I am trying to juggle my list and coupons…but I am going to get a binder, and photo album inserts to put my coupons in so I can see them and stuff. I’m sure I will get faster the more I get used to it. I am actually having fun shopping. It really is like this game, getting the cheapest prices, and stocking up on stuff for cheap.

Yesterday, I kept teasing Jeremy and saying “Isn’t this fun?” and he was sarcastically saying “Oh yeah, baby! This is great!”.

Then we walked out and he looked on his receipt, and said “Okay this is kinda fun!” LOL!

The best is I bring him, and the coupons I have double of, I give him the doubles, and have him check out with the double products so we get the double coupons, and I don’t have to make 2 trips. It cracks me up though watching him…this tattooed guy using coupons. LOL!

Now, I’m a freak and want a deep freezer. LOL! I think in a month or so, I am going to get one, once my stockpile grows and I am spending less at the store for food all together.

Here’s my stockpile for 1 full week:

So, today I got 2 of the Sunday L.A. Times and excitedly tore through it to find the coupons. There have been a few times in my years as a Mom to where I clipped coupons, and I used them for a bit, but the savings really wasn’t worth the hassle.

Well, today I printed two of my lists from The Grocery Game for Vons and Ralphs. I highlighted the items I had coupons for, which was more then I anticipated for one week. It’s going to take a few weeks to build my stash of coupons so I have one for each item on the list, so I can get everything I need. I took out the coupons I will need out of my pile, and printed some more coupons off of The Grocery Game website. Well except for one, because it wouldn’t work. I’m going to have to work on that tomorrow before I head out.

I have never, ever, ever been excited to grocery shopping until today. I can’t wait to go in the morning, and get the things on my list to start my stock pile.

Some things I am going to get are:

2- Ragu Pasta Sauce 26 oz.- $1.00 ea. (reg. $3.19 ea.)
2- Wisk Laundry Detergent 50 oz.- $1.49 ea. (reg. $6.49 ea.)
3- Renuzit Adjustables- $.64 ea. (reg. $ 1.99 ea.)
2- Lever 2000 Body Wash 18 oz.- $1.99 ea. (reg. $ 5.99 ea.)
2- Neosporin Plus Pain Antibiotic Ointment- $2.99 ea. (reg. $ 5.99 ea.)
2- Band- Aid Bandages 40 ct.- $ FREE $ (reg. $ 3.99 ea.)
2- Revlon Slant Tweezers- $ FREE $ (reg. $ 3.99 ea.)
1- Nature’s Way Rice-A-Roni- $ FREE $ (reg. $ 1.89 ea.)
2- Dial Liquid Hand Soap 7.5 oz.- $1.09 ea. (reg. $ 3.19 ea.)
2- Duracell Coppertop ‘AA’ or ‘AAA’ Batteries – $1.50 ea. (reg. $ 4.99 ea.)
2- Wishbone Salad Dressing- $1.00 ea. (reg. $ 3.86 ea.)
2- Ragu Fresh & Simple Pasta Sauce Pouch- $1.00 ea. (reg. $ 2.99 ea.)
2- Reynolds Aluminum foil 75 sq ft.- $1.00 ea. (reg. $ 4.49 ea.)
2- Hefty Paper Plates 50 ct.- $1.00 ea. (reg. $ 3.19 ea.)
2- Woolite Detergent 50 oz.- $2.99 ea. (reg. $ 7.79 ea.)
2- Wisk Laundry Detergent 50 oz.- $2.49 ea. (reg. $ 7.49 ea.)
2- Schick Quattro Titanium Razors – $3.99 ea. (reg. $ 9.99 ea.)
2- Tums 60-96 ct.- $1.50. ea. (reg. $ 4.59 ea.)
2- Dial Body Wash 18 oz.- $2.79 ea. (reg. $ 6.19 ea.)
2- Kellogg’s Smart Start Cereal – $1.50 ea. (reg. $ 5.19 ea.)
2- Kraft Singles Select 12 oz.- $2.00 ea. (reg. $ 5.49 ea.)
2- Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh Singles 4.6 oz. – $.16 ea. (reg. $2.99 ea.)
2- Chinet Cut Crystal Cups 18 ct.- $.50 ea. (reg. $ 2.99 ea.)

TOTAL
——————————————————————————————————————————————
$217.98 without coupons
——————————————————————————————————————————————
$65.88 with coupons and the help of The Grocery Game my new BFF
——————————————————————————————————————————————
$152.10 savings
——————————————————————————————————————————————

Which will also already have my stockpile for laundry detergent and body wash very close to being complete! I’ll have 4-50 oz. of laundry detergent plus 2-50oz. of Woolite detergent which I never would buy normally because I’m cheap. And 4 bottles of body wash!

I’ll let you all know how it goes tomorrow when I get home with pictures of everything I get.

I feel like I’m going to go in there and just rip them off! HaHa! So, if you feel inspired after seeing those numbers to go and sign up…please use my email as a referral! Purty Please! The website does this for all 50 states, so your store will be on there, with the coupons you get. It’s pretty simple, and the list tells you ho much the item costs, the sale price, how many to buy like if it’s 2/$4 and you have a coupon it will tell you to buy one or whatever, tell you what coupon to use, and where the coupon is from and what date, your price with the coupon, and the % you save. There is also a website with a lot of helpful people! It really is like a game to see how much stuff you can get for the least amount of money.

Loves it!

Usually everyday I don’t go anywhere so I don’t spend money. I love when 3 days have gone buy and I haven’t spent any money on anything with the exception of food.

I’ve learned that cooking dinner costs about as much as it does for us all to eat fast food everyday…so that is a huge reason I don’t cook on top of the hating to cook part. I hate going to the grocery store and buying groceries for lunches, breakfast, and things like eggs, bread, milk, butter and finding that I spent $100 and didn’t even get stuff for one dinner.

Last night I was watching the news, and there was a segment about The Grocery Game. You know those women who are fanatical about clipping coupons, and can buy $150 worth of groceries for $30? Well this lady put together this site, and does all the work for you in telling you where the deals are and what they are, and she makes lists for your grocery stores/drug stores in your area, and compiles these lists with deals coming up, coupons that are out or in the store and how cheap you can get these items, and a lot of them are free. So what you do is stockpile stuff and build up to a stockpile of stuff you use that will last you 12 weeks, because I guess that is how long it takes for the deals on items to come back around.

It cost $10 for one store, and $5 for each additional store every 8 weeks. There is a 4 week trial offer right now for $1, so I signed up. I was looking on the message boards of some of these womens stockpiles, and I am in awe!!! It’s like there own little grocery stores in their homes. It would be awesome to be able to run out to the garage and grab some shampoo or a razor from your stockpile when you run out. Like right now, I need laundry detergent and fabric softener and dryer sheets…and I don’t’ want to go to the store. It would be awesome if I had a stockpile and I wouldn’t need to do that.

This is totally going to make it cheaper to eat at home, and for me to save money.

I feel like I just found this little secret or something, and I’m so damn excited about getting the Sunday paper to clip coupons.

If you go sign up, be sure to refer me and use my email: steph at blue – bus dot com.

I woke up in a good mood today. Last night was really nice. Hee. I have a lot of things I want to work on this year. A lot of changes I want to make.

I plan to work on:

• Me. Physically & Mentally. I just want to be a healthier person all around. I want to be happy in my mind. Not so negative. Closer with my Mom. Seriously forgive her for everything and start fresh. Be the best Mom I can be. Be the best girlfriend I can be. Stop feeding my face with crappy foods, and drinks. Exercise and get to a weight where strangers don’t ask if I’m pregnant. So, I plan on riding my bike, and eventually getting some Yoga DVD’s. Any DVD’s anyone can recommend would help greatly.
• Finances- I want to start saving money. Try to get my credit on the track to some sort of recovery, although I’m not even sure that would do anything for a very long time.
• Keep up with the House- I want to clean regularly. I used to be such a good cleaner. My apartments where always clean and decent. Now, I really let it go to hell, andhardly ever clean.
• Stop being lazy- Really I’m lazy in every aspect of my life. I think this is the one key to a lot of stuff that bothers me about my life. I am lazy about every single thing.
• Do PPP every single day (including weekends) until I have enough money to buy a laptop.
• Which in turn will make me blog more.
• Quit Smoking! Both Jeremy and I. Tomorrow is the day!!! Honestly, I have little faith in myself or Jeremy. I know that’s a bad way of thinking when you want to accomplish something. Yet, I really, really like smoking. Like a lot! It is so intergrated into everything I do, that it’s so hard to even think about not smoking. I know it’s expensive, gross, and unhealthy. I have a whole list of reasons to not smoke, and the only reason I have to keep smoking is I like it. I’ve tried to quit before and failed. Jeremy said he tried once a long time ago. I have a little more faith in myself then in him though. Maybe he’ll surprise me. That would be a great accomplishment though. Financially it would be so rewarding. Like close to $450 a month rewarding. Craaazy! This I think has a huge affect on me and my laziness. After my first cigarette of the day, I feel tired and like I need a nap. Every day. I will be wide awake even have energy, and I smoke and then I just want to sit and go on the computer or wtch t.v. It’s weird, but I know quitting will help inmy lazy factor.
• Have sex more often then every few months. I think sex definitely has a positive effect on people. After sex you always feel happier, sexier, and a little bit on your game. Or something like that?
• Clean the backyard!!!!
• Fix up the Bug, like I wanted to!
• Photography- I want to seriously push myself to learn more about photography and take more pictures. I want to take pictures every day of not just my face sitting in then chair. I know I have it in me, and can be a good photographer, but for some reason I can barely grasp any of it. It’s confusing and hard, and no matter how many times I read about things, they don’t stick. I also want to put out major effort on the last 6 months of my 365. I usually take a picture of my face sitting in my chair, because my camera is ont he tripod right nect to my chair. It’s always at like 1am too. So, I am making myself take my picture during the day. I don’t know how I am able to turn something I like into a nusance. I seriously believe I’ve made it this far. Here’s to making the last 6 months awesome, and something to be proud of.
• Take a picture of the kids every week for a year.

I know I wanted cold weather, and have been looking for it since summer. However, I realize I don’t dig the cold at night. Well I don’t mind if I’m home, but if I have to go out in it, I get so cold. I am grateful though that I don’t work at the last job I was at. They used to have the A/C on in the winter when it was super cold outside. The mornings were in the 40’s last year, and the A/C would be going. They wouldn’t even turn it off during the day. Then they took the space heaters away, because someone left one on one night. So, I would literally have to wear layers. Most days I’d where a shirt with a hoodie, and then a sweatshirt on over it, zipped up. I contemplated bringing in gloves, and a little blanket to throw over my legs. It was that cold inside. Anyway, glad they fired my butt!