And we're back....

A very dear friend suggested that I start back up on some blogging again....and it got a few "likes" on Facebook. I guess that means that people were actually reading some of my wedding and life ramblings. So I decided to take a whack at it again.


Since my last post over a year ago, Griff was promoted from Lieutenant to Captain, we found out that we are going to be in Montana another year and he has gone on training trips twice (as I type, I'm sitting in a hotel like room in Alabama). And for me, well I'm no longer working and unless you've been living under a rock you already know that I get to be a mama in September. Or maybe October. We'll see when this kid decides to make his or her debut.


And what better time then now to show Baby H's first photo.

Baby H- due September 25, 2012!

Do you think it looks like us? A little city girl or country boy in the making. At about 10 weeks in this ultrasound, there's some legs and some arms in there somewhere and a defined head and facial features. And if you could see the flips this kid was doing. Griff says that the baby was just practicing some ninja skills.


But we're about 8 1/2 weeks beyond that first glimpse and there is a lot that has happened in between.
Ah, the stories that I could tell. I promise...I'll keep it PG. Welcome to our journey!

Maybe I should have had a royal wedding

Ah, tis the season for weddings. I mean I should know - we've got 4 in the next 3 months. Ok well 3. One has already come and gone...but I digress. We all know that 2011 will be the year of the biggest wedding since Princess Diana and Prince Charles. As it should be. Prince William will marry Kate Middleton in a ceremony as large as the one of Charles and Diana.

I had been doing a search this afternoon for something related to a wedding gift when Google instantly brought up a website for Royal Wedding souvenirs. Clicking through, it was quite comical to see what some people had come up with. Some of the best I found?

Well you've got the standard William and Kate bobblehead...

And the officially minted coin...

But then you have the crazy ones. Royal wedding condoms anyone?

My all time favorite? Royal wedding barf bags complete with the phrase "Throne Up" on top. What someone might need these for is beyond me but I'm sure people are buying them.

I wonder what kind of souvenirs I would have if I had a royal wedding....

With 14 days left, I'm sure that Kate is sitting pretty somewhere while the whole country of England tends to every last wedding detail. I wonder if she is having as much fun looking at the ways that people are cashing in on her nuptials like we are?

3500 miles and I'm still alive!

3500 miles, 54 hours, 12 tanks of gas, and countless food stops later and I'm still alive. (And I think that I still have 3 friends and a husband!) I should warn you though, road trips are not for the weak at heart. It honestly took everything in my power to get me through the trip.

Take for instance the fact that I consented to driving all the way through the night on our way there just so that we could make an open bar (that was the guys' idea!) but was totally vetoed when I begged and pleaded that we stop overnight on our way back. Not everyone can pull 2 all nighters in a matter of 5 days (hello college!)Or that there were 5 people (3 boys and 2 girls) crammed into a pickup truck that smelled like rotten eggs and sweaty feet by the time we crawled out of it yesterday. Diane and I blame it on the boys.

But it's not all bad. There were is so much that you get to see when you're on a roadtrip. Things that make you laugh and things that make you cry. So here are some of the things that I got to see during this trip.

Your typical "Biggest {fill in the blank} in the World" kind of displays. This one was obviously named the Enchanted Highway (I don't see it either)

 Interesting city names.

 My husband drinking milk from a carton and eating oreos while reading Glamour. That much time in the car can do that to a person.

  

Beautiful sunsets...

  

...and beautiful sunrises.

The Ohio River from atop a riverboat. 

The Cinncinati skyline after a really hard rain. 

But best of all, we got to see two friends tie the knot...



If you asked me yesterday I would have said, "I'm not doing that again for a while." But today, I know that I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Coupons? Yes please!

I can remember going grocery shopping with my mom when I was a little girl and she would pull out that infamous coupon organizer. Instantniously I would groan. Like it was a natural reaction. I vowed never to carry one of those coupon organizers to the grocery store.

Fast forward 18 years. My sister and I are no longer sharing toys or clothes (well she often didn't know that she was sharing clothes) and we are now sharing coupon sites and discussing how to get the most of out each of our shopping trips. Leave it to TLC's new show to throw us into the crazy conundrum of extreme couponing. 

I am determined to be the lady who gets $646 worth of groceries for $6.46. Ok, so maybe I'm not going to be that crazy but man that sure would be nice.

But this could get addicting. Take for instance my recent shopping day. Starting with Walgreen's I walked in armed with my coupons that were clipped from the Sunday paper and my weekly circular. I purchased $120 worth of items (including 3 things of laundry detergent, 4 bottles of shampoo, and razors for Griff) and walked out of there spending $63 with coupons totaling $11 off a future purchase. 

I instantly called the hubs and made him guess how much I saved.

Me: Hun, guess how much money I just saved at Walgreens?

Hubs: {obviously busy doing something else} How much?

Me: Just guess!

Hubs: $5

Me: What? $5? No guess again.

{silence}

Me: Ok fine...{jumping up and down in the parking lot}$50!!!!!!

Hubs: {still obviously doing something else} That's nice.

Someday he'll get just as excited as I did.

Albertsons (our local grocery store) was much of the same story. I purchased $100 in meat including pork, chicken, and steaks and only paid $50. And I'm talking like over 16 lbs. I didn't even bother calling home.


Needless to say, I'm hooked. So maybe my garage won't look like this

{How much BBQ sauce and tuna do these people honestly eat?}

but  I will strive for this

{$0 for cereal? Count me in!}

I guess I'll have to just eat my words about never carrying around a coupon organizer...maybe i can make mine really cute...

And we're off...

Well not quite yet...but we will be early Thursday morning! We're off to Cinncinati on an adventure that most people wouldn't dare to endure. I do have to admit, it's not for everyone. But me? I love a good ol' road trip. You heard right...road trip. As in we're driving....to Cinncinati.

{Cinncinati or bust!}

This is my 3rd time heading off on a cross country trip. Well ok it's not really all the way across the country like my trip from Connecticut to Cali was...or like the big move out to Montana. But it's still far.

Griff and I had a blast on our trip from my East Coast hometown to his Northwest temporary town. When we got to Great Falls I even asked him if we could keep going. The coastline wouldn't be much further. He politely told me no but I knew that it would be something that we would do again.

Since this trip kicks off our wedding season (5 in the next 7 months!) we needed to be as frugal as possible. And since we live in a town that costs at least $500 to fly out of every time (its like they're holding us hostage!), we knew that we needed to consider another option.

We considered it all...boats, trains, and planes...but each one was a no-go. Driving seemed to be the only other option. And we wrangled 3 friends into thinking the same way.

I hope that we're friends when this is all over...