Under Construction

I've decided that my blog needs some TLC. I'm getting a little bored with it as it is now. I'm going to be working on it for the next little while...basically whenever I have some spare time. If you are like me (a mother, part-time employee, cook, cleaner, errand runner, etc.) than you know that spare time is rare. With that being said, bare with me and my little blog as I work to make it more exciting.

Flip Flops!!

Who doesn't love a new pair of flip flops?! (And even better for $1 each!). I found this on one of my favorite blogs, Money Saving Mom.

Recently Overheard...

--> "It's going to be a cool day here in Phoenix; the high is only 109." And he was serious.

--> "They should make baby cribs more like hamster cages. That way anytime the baby is hungry, all they have to do is roll over and suck out of the drip bottle."

1930's Wife?

Hmmm....does this mean I'm too nice?

69 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

Rock On!

Happy Father's Day!

I know, I know...this post is a day late, but time escaped me yesterday. I'm sure you know the feeling.

First of all, I wanted to let my Dad and Ron (Adam's Dad) how much we love them!!! Hope you both had a great day yesterday. We had a great Father's Day! Rocklin and I gave Adam his gifts on Saturday night instead of Sunday because I can't keep secrets...I wanted him to open his presents!! (I'm just like my Dad when it comes to not being able to hold in fun surprises).

Daddy and Rock just chillin

Wahoo! Presents!!

Adam got 3 framed pictures of Rock for his office, some navy blue socks and a shoe shine kit!

Rice Cereal? No thanks...

Last night we attempted to feed Rocklin some rice cereal for the first time. He'll be 5 months tomorrow and his Doctor told us anywhere from 4 to 6 months we could give him some. Well, check out the pictures to see how this little adventure went...

Hi Dad. Glad to see you're documenting my first rice cereal experience!

Oh Boy, what do we have here?

OK Mom, I'm ready! First try ...
Hmmm, do I like this stuff? I can't quite tell yet.
Let's give it one more try.
Hmmm, still tastes mushy and weird!

Please Mom, no more!

Seriously Mom, NO more!

Dad, put down the camera and save me!

Phew, are we done yet???

Two years ago today...

...I got married! Happy Anniversary to my love AdamB!!! Here's to many, many more years of Love, laughter, family and a wonderful life together.

And since we're celebrating...this is my 100th post! Hooray!!

Salsa Sorta

I just got a call from my sister-in-law Sarah telling me that she and my niece Brynna just finished off a bowl of salsa sorta for lunch. (Don't hate people...if you had a bowl of Salsa Sorta in front of you for lunch, I guarantee you'd polish off the entire bowl as well!!). Because she is now obsessed with this stuff as much as I am, I told her I'd send along the recipe, but then I figured there may be others of you out there that would love a crowd-pleasing recipe too, so I thought I'd share it with everyone! (And by the way, I can't take credit for coming up with this salsa sorta goodness by myself...I got it from Adam's sister Kristie. Not sure if it's a Birkmeyer family recipe or just one they make a lot. In any case, this stuff is DAAAANG good!!!).

Salsa Sorta

5 avocados, cut into small chunks
2 bushels of cilantro, cut up
2 cans of corn, drained
1 can of pinto beans, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
5 tomatoes, cut up into small chunks
2 bunches of green onions, cut up
1 bottle of Best Wishes Italian Dressing (you probably won't use the entire bottle, but use your best judgement as to how moist (hate that word) you'd like it)
Lime Juice (probably one or two limes...same with the dressing, just use your best judgement)
Seasoning to taste (garlic powder, salt & pepper, etc)

Mix everything in a bowl and waa-laa!! You can serve this with chips or really just eat it all by it's self! Let me know if you make this and if you like it as much as we do!! (Btw...I wish I had a picture to post with this as well because it's also a really pretty dish with all the vibrant colors of the fresh ingredients!). Enjoy!

Little Mister

Here are just a few recent pictures of Little Mister at the request of his Grammy in Georgia.

Rocklin slept like a champ last night (getting up only once to eat, but that is normal for him). Adam usually gets Rocklin out of his crib and puts him in bed with me around 6 AM every morning. Today he slept in until 8:30. WOW.

Thanks to Rocklin's Aunt Katie and Cousin Luke for letting him borrow their exersaucer!! Look at that smile...can you tell how much he likes it?

Drool Much?


Hey, you looking at me?
He refused to turn his head toward the camera, but he sure does love his tongue!
Big blue eyes!

Savings Galore!

Hello, friends. It's been a while since I've posted...we've been so busy lately! Adam's been putting in A LOT of time at work, and I started a part-time job at home researching/recruiting for a game recruiting company. On top of that, Rocklin is getting so active and so fun lately! He's a full-time job alone! We moved and are all settled into our new apartment. Sooner or later I'll try to get some pictures up. It's small, but we've made it cozy and we are loving our new ward!! (And the best part is it meets at 9 AM now instead of 3 PM like our last ward!).

OK, on to the best part... Let me just say if you aren't shopping at CVS, you really should be!!! Today I went to CVS loaded with coupons and 3 different lists of things I was going to buy because they were having some good sales.

Bottom line folks... my grand total was $104.02 and I walked out spending $19.49 out of pocket!!!!!!!!! That's a savings of $84.53. Here's all the stuff I got:No, you're eyes are not deceiving you, there are THREE packages of Pampers diapers (those alone are normally $11 or so each), a Gillette Fusion razor (normally $9.99), FOUR different packages of batteries (and who knows how much those are normally), etc. Here's everything:

3 packs of Pampers
1 9-roll pkg. of Charmin toilet paper
2 Dawn dish soaps
2 boxes of CVS bandages
1 Gillette Fusion Razor
4 cans of tuna fish
1 bottle Huggies baby wash
1 Secret Deodorant
1 8 pk. of AA batteries
3 2 pks. of D batteries
2 bottles of Listerine
2 bags of Chex Mix
2 toothbrushes
2 boxes of CVS cotton swabs

Anyways, the long and short of it is I've started playing the "drugstore game" where you use coupons and rollover the in-store dollars to make the most of your money! I bought everything in the picture in three separate transactions but all during my same store visit. The cashier seemed a little bugged, but I could care less really. I mean a bugged cashier to me is totally worth saving $84.53 in one trip!!

FYI - I've recently started participating in a program called Coupon Sense that my friend Brittany told me about. (Unfortunately the Coupon Sense program is only good for AZ & UT. Sorry my east coast friends!). It shows you where and how to get the best deals. In addition, I use this website a lot to check out scenarios on how to make the most of my CVS dollars.

I dare you to try some of these cost-saving ideas. You'll be hooked; just like me!! If you do try it out, let me know! Post a comment on my blog about the savings that you find. Good Luck!