Would you like fries with that?

Ahh the new year.....


First: my news years resolution....ready?
New Years resolution is this.....


No fast food!

Yeah, you heard me. I am not hitting anything that has a drive thru. It's going to be a long hard road. I once heard that every 17 seconds some one goes through a drive thru. That's sick. As Americans we are obsessed with the fast and salty.

My goal is three fold:
Save money: we spend tons of money a month on fast food
Get healthy: all that junk can not be good
Loose weight: I think by doing the last goal this one will happen too. Reduce my caloric intake, ya know?


On a more fun note... We got a Kinect. It's pretty sweet! Watching g Zach to the soldier boy is soooo funny! Words can't even discribe!


So for all of you who read this. Happy New Year and may you stick to YOUR resolutions.

Ps. Put yours in the comment box!!!

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due to threat of bodily harm...the last post was deleted

To coupon or not to coupon.....

....that is the question that had been plaguing me and Zach for a while. Where as, he hates my coupons, he knows it makes me happy to save money. I mean who doesn't like saving money? No body! Although, I don't think he is as delighted as I am to save 0.50 as I am.

*note; my shift key has been ripped of by my 8 month old, so i am no longer going to capitalize anything.*

i have a green pocket folder that fits into my purse, i store my coupons there. i love it and am furious with my self when i leave it at home....which happens more often than i would like. zach hates it when i get out the green 'folio and start to thumb through my slips of money saving papers.

One day, while in the baby food isle of target, i began searching for a coupon for Gerber rice cereal. it was buy two save a dollar! a dollar!! Zach then stated "the pope wouldn't have the patience for this..." ooooooooo that was the wrong thing to say at that moment...i was already stressed and guilty b/c i knew zach was getting upset, and that sent me over the edge. *just like now, how Heef is crying at me*
I got really upset...stormed off and thought about tossing the green 'folio in the trash.....
notice i said thought, then my plan changed. i opted to TELL Zach that i had tossed them.

so, when we met up at the check out line...him just as disgruntled as i was, i told him i threw the coupons away....and didn't let it go. each time an item went across the scanner...beep....i told him how much money i WOULD have saved....the angst grew and grew.

i know my goal was to make him think i tossed the 'folio i wanted him to know that i loved the coupons and that using them made me happy and that his pope comment was really hurtful.

long and, for what i am sure is a very boring story short story.....i still have the coupons and used them. the last time i shopped i saved $10, i even had to go back on my way out and use a coupon that was still hiding in my pocket!!

one last coupon issue i need to discuss....

my wonderful mother-in-law was asked to give me her coupons from the sunday paper, as we do not get the paper. she has complied but has also begun to give me every piece of junk mail that enters her mail box1 i will be frank....i hate this. all i want is the Sunday coupons, not the freaking junk mail i already get! i know i should be grateful towards her sweet gesture. but its hard to. its hard to go through some thing that not even 5 minutes before i have pulled out of MY very own mail box and discarded. I know i need to bite my tongue...this is my own problem and she is just trying to be sweet, and it is.....i guess.....no really it is.....



so in the end, it goes with out saying i am excited to see tlc's new show about couponing! i will let you know how it goes!

Awesome

Soooo.....18 year olds don't know as much as they say they do, and I have proof!!

My brother, who shall remain nameless, has a line on my account and this month this nameless hooligan racked up 30 bucks worth of charges from "free" ringtones.
I guess he didn't know there is never any thing that is free!!!!

Jerk face!

luckily at&t graciously credited my account the monetary loss, however, they can not protect nameless what's-his-face from cleaning my toilets or bathtubs!

Ah, gotta love a free house cleaning....well, kinda free......

A lot can happen in a year

...and I am not lying. Since my last post, around this time in 2009, we have increased our numbers by one. Heath Anderson Brown was born April 10, 2010. Because i am bad with numbers I won't list his weight and length and all those facts....they would be wrong. Other than that things are about the same. Oe started school and turned three. He knows all his numbers, letters, colors, shapes, etc....but he also knows the states and is starting to write....very smart his teacher says. Mustard Seed has done wonders with his communication skills and Oe is getting better at being more social.

Zach is the same....working and playing xbox.


I am the same, expect for the extra 20 pounds I have of baby weight. I am hoping to start loosing the wieght soon. This will be a focus of e blog this year. And yes....i will be blogging more. I think it will help with working the stuff out in my brain. And since I have this new iPad I might as well use it for something other than angry birds and plants vs zombies.

2009...One day at a time

Ah, the New Year's Resolution. In the past I have tried once to make a list, but I did not really stick to it. Also, in the past, I based how my year would be on the way I spent my New Year's Eve. This traditionally has worked best for me. However, this year I am going to make a resolution every day. Not make a blanket statement about the year, but base it on a day to day need. *sidebar, the sound on my TV just went away...thank you COX Communications!*

Fun bonus! I am on day two of doing the "Wii Fit Program" I will post how I am doing. I have a goal of 3 pounds in 2 weeks! (ha, that is my fluctuation). Wish me luck! BTW....its super fun!

Because I gave Owen a bath today, I am going to post an after bath pic! Enjoy the cuteness!

Dear Manufactures.....

After opening many a presents this holiday season, a lot of which were toys, I noticed how horribly wasteful the packaging was. So, I am composing a letter to the manufactures of products to cut back on the amount of material used to package an item.





Dear Manufactures,
In recent years it has become quite popular to live a "green" lifestyle. A good amount of companies are embracing this fact and capitalizing on our weakness to be more kind to our Mother Earth. With that being said I am now going to pose a few rhetorical questions to illustrate what I really want to say.

• Charmin, do you really need to wrap the toilet paper in two plastic packages inside one plastic package?
• Fisher-Price, does all your toys need to be a mini-replica of Fort Knox, with all the tape, and cardboard, and twist ties?
• To the makers of Pledge All in One Surface cleaner, could you please make your bottles "openable" so I can reuse them?
• Companies who use blister pack, PLEASE STOP ALL TOGETHER!! THEY SUCK AND I ALWAYS GET HURT TRYING TO OPEN THEM!!! Use a cardboard box!
• What ever happen to paper shopping bags?.....WALMART??? HMMMMM.......
  

I feel like a throw away more packaging each and every year and I would like to say it is because I am able to buy more stuff. Not the case, in fact a recent publication noted that "the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 2006) found that only approximately 31% of the municipal solid wastes generated in 2005 was from packaging-related materials..." Holy crap, that's a lot of crap!!
So, please be more mindful of convince and impact to the environment!


Happy New Year,
Gina L. Brown
Consumer