Sunday, January 31, 2010

Annual Checklist

Are you familiar with Linda Cobb, AKA The Queen of Clean? If you're not, buy her books and read up! She tells you how to get rid of anything and everything, from kool aid stains, pet stains, hard water stains, rust, mold etc. Anyway, in her book: A Queen for All Seasons (A year of tips, tricks and picks for a cleaner house and a more organized life). She has a checklist you can use for cleaning your house for the entire year. I've actually created a list in Excel and printed it off to keep handy and check off once complete. Since I can't attach the spreadsheet to the blog, I've posted some of it on here for you to see a sample of. If you want the whole list, comment me and I'll email it to you!


Daily
Make beds
Put dirty clothes in hamper
Hang up clothes
Clean up spills
Wash dishes
Wipe counters and stovetop

Weekly
Sweep floors
Dust hard furniture
Dust knickknacks
Do the laundry
Change sheets
Clean sinks
Clean showers and tubs
Clean the toilet
Clean bathroom mirrors
Empty trash cans, put out garbage (clean can if odors remain)
Sweep porch, patio and doormats

Twice Weekly
Vacuum carpets

Bi Weekly
Vacuum stairs
Dust TV/DVD/stereos, etc.
Mop floors

Monthly, Quarterly, Annually and Twice a Year are left to complete the checklist.

Today's Temperature: 70*




Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Battleship

The tanning has been going well. I've burned in a few places and not in others. I'm trying to decide to cover up the burn parts until it evens out with the rest. At least I still have plenty of time to get even coverage.

The past week J and I have busted out some board games. Have you realized how expensive your favorite board games are now? It's $20 for Connect Four nowadays! Occasionally Target or Walmart will put them on sale for $10. J had a few of his own games, so we played Battleship. This was my first time playing Battleship and now I'm hooked! We were at Target this past weekend and Sorry was on sale for $10 since I've played that one before and enjoy it, I decided to buy it to add to the collection. I would still like to buy Trouble, Jenga and Connect Four. I used to play these three games all the time with my mom or brother. It's good to play these games, keeps your mind moving in a different direction, relieves stress, makes you feel like a kid again! I think J wishes he hadn't showed me Battleship as he'd rather play checkers :)

Last week I took my dress to get altered. Bra pads will be added as well as a bustle. I had no idea there were two ways to bustle! I had to have the cute little old lady show me both ways twice before deciding which way to go. It will be ready for pick up on February 17. I just hope the bra pads will be enough for my chest! Since they don't provide any real support or any sort of push. We will be purchasing our wedding bands very soon. I have a great coupon from Helzberg which expires on February 14 that will help for my band. J will be getting his band from Michaels Creative Jewelry. We found Michaels at the Mercedes Benz event we attended. I accidentally tried on one of their 3 carat diamond rings that was prices at $20k. She was a beauty! :) Anyway, J found some wedding bands in their store that he prefers.

Can't wait for the weekend to come!


Today's Temperature: 60*

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Coupon Mom

A quick post about a site for everyone who wants to save money buying grocery's or going to restaurants. Check out Coupon Mom to learn how to save tons of money on items like groceries. Be sure to download the free ebook to learn about couponing and be sure to watch the videos to have a better understanding.

My deal for the day: Target has Tide 32 loads liquid detergent on sale for $5.99. Pair it with the $1.00 off coupon that expires on 1/31 and get it for $4.99. I bought two bottles and used two $1.00 off. Nothing like getting 64 loads for $9.98!! (their regular 1 bottle of 64 loads of detergent is priced at $13.99 in my area)

Go check out Coupon Mom and learn how to coupon and save money!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Rain Storms

It has been raining here all week. In fact the past two days the rain has been coming down all day long, flooding is happening everywhere. Last night Scottsdale had a tornado watch issued. Nothing happened, but they were treating it as a serious event by telling everyone on the news and t.v. weather interruptions on how to prepare for a tornado. They don't even have sirens here or practice their yearly drills like back in the Midwest. The last time a tornado has hit Arizona was 1983 in Mesa. Water pools up in every low spot, wash, ditch, parks etc. because the ground is so hard it doesn't absorb moisture. It's funny to see and hear everyone freak out about the storms we've had the past couple of days. Strong winds, cold temperatures and lots of rain; this was the biggest storm many people have ever experienced in their life and this was just another day in Nebraska to me. The last biggest storm was in 1994.

Tanning has been going well. I did 8 minutes the first two days and yesterday I did 10 minutes which resulted in some pink/redness. I took today off and will continue tomorrow. Wednesday night I did my free trial at Planet Beach. It included a 20 minute hydro massage, 20 minute full body steam thingy (temps reached 118*), tanning bed for 8 minutes and I opted to not do the luminar facial since it required me buying product for it. I loved the full body steam thing and wouldn't mind going in for that every now and then.

J and I have quit the Fitness Works gym. We have moved onto the Tumbleweed Recreational Park. Fitness Work's was getting to be too dirty and going down hill even though it wasn't too old. I do miss two of the instructors though. I've done the Pilates and Yoga class at Tumbleweed and was really sore after the Pilates class. Since it's city ran, it's kept really clean and orderly.

I also received my new phone this week. I had ordered the LG Lotus for free from Sprint online and it was also free shipping and activation. I've been pretty excited about my new modern phone!



Today's Temperature: 56*

Monday, January 18, 2010

Tanning and Coupons

Today I signed up for tanning. I wanted to be sure I have a tan for the wedding (coming up quick!). I've checked out a few other places before deciding on Fahrenheit Tanning. They had Monday Madness special of purchase 2 months get 1 month free, with it only be $49/month for the basic bed, it was the best deal I could find anywhere! I will start my official tanning session tomorrow on my way home from work. I was really impressed with the saleslady. She was very nice, professional, knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Last week I had visited Planet Beach down the street and was overstimulated! The 2 girls in there were so wired and very Valley (and they were probably in their 40's-50's). Their prices are way to expensive, but I decided to sign up for a 1 day free trial which includes every bed and facial steamer there. This place is considered a spa, which means a machine does the work. They have a hydro spa bed for massage and facial steamers for their "facials". I'll at least get to try it out and get a free tan! Even though I have no intention of using their services at least I can get a free water massage :)

Friday I came home from work early. J had gotten sick last weekend and has passed it onto me. I pretty much changed into my sweats and laid on the couch the whole day. We rented a movie and J picked up a great deal from Bashas! They had a deal where you get a large pizza, breadsticks, salad and boneless buffalo wings all for the low price of $11.99! It was all very good. We had a few leftover buffalo wings so I decided for supper on Sunday I'd use the remaining salad and wings to make a buffalo chicken salad. It was just as good as ordering one in a restaurant.

We didn't get out a whole lot this weekend mostly due to me being sick, but we managed to rent 3 movies:
Public Enemies- really good
The Goods- not too bad, several funny lines/parts, lots of famous actors
17 Again- I like teen movies, so I found it funny, light and decent

Last week I also scored some great deals at Target clothing clearance. I got a sweatshirt for $1.92, sweater shirt thing for $4.28 and love it 'cause it's soft and stylish, fleece v-neck long sleeved for $2 something, collard short sleeve polo for $2 something and a few short sleeved collard polo's for $8 a piece (not sure why the gray one was for $2-last years?).

I also have been doing well with the couponing these past few days. Used $20 of coupons in WalMart the total was originally $70, the coupons took it down to $50. I did well at Safeway, .99 cent 18 count eggs. BIGI Tyson chicken strips would have been $3.99 for 2, but used my $1 off and got 2 bags for $2.99, they also had Angel Soft 12 pack TP clearanced out to $4 (unfortunately I didn't get a coupon printed off for that one yet, so I didn't save my .50 cents) so I only spent $8.

It is supposed to rain all week long. Record!



Today's Temperature: 60*

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Some Updates

I've added the blogs that I currently follow to my blog roll. I read these daily. Some are for fun and others are for couponing. You can receive a lot of advise for couponing and links to print out coupons. I have learned from these ladies how to save some money on grocery bills. Although these ladies can manage to get tons of items for less than $100.00 I am still trying to figure out how they do it so good. Seems like their grocery ads are way better than my stores here. Hardly do our grocery stores have double/triple coupon days. They also don't discount meat items toward the end of the night. It is addicting though. Once you start couponing and get great deals, you become proud of yourself!

One of my all time favorite stores is Bed Bath and Beyond. Not many people know that you can use one coupon per item. I never go there without a coupon, in fact, this is the only way I was able to afford curtains for the whole house! As you know curtains are outrageous to buy. They also don't have a return policy. You can return your items at any time, so if a year goes by and your item breaks...return it. If you don't have your receipt, you get a store gift card. My sister and mom often mail me BBB coupons ($5 off or 20% off) as they don't go as often as I. When I lived back in my apartment in NE I'd get a coupon in the mail and then scour the trash can next to the mailboxes to pick up the coupons people threw away. That's throwing away a lot of money to me! Now I receive the previous owners coupons :) One last thing, their coupons never expire. I've used coupons from 2007! They also would accept Linens and Things coupons, but now that they aren't in business anymore, there's no need. I always have a nice stockpile of BBB coupons.

The current Gold Canyon promotion is buy a 26 oz. Heritage candle and you could Strike it Gold! Receive a gold coin in your candle and win up to $5,000! By purchasing a 26 oz. you automatically receive free product, free shipping or other free offers. Also, check out the new Soy aromatherapy products.



Today's Current Temperature: 64*

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Gold Canyon Candles

I am now selling Gold Canyon Candles! Since I've only been in Arizona for a year I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet new people and network. I bought my first candle from a lady at work who was doing a fundraiser for her sons football team. I've heard a lot about the candles from coworkers and wanted to check these great candles out! I've tried so many different brands including Partylite and nothing is comparable. Gold Canyon candles are by far the best! Not only do they burn evenly, last hundreds of hours; their scents are superior to any other candle on the market. They offer more than just candles! From their air fresheners, car fresheners, household cleaning products and body products every product is made with excellence.

You may purchase your Gold Canyon products by visiting my website at: www.mygc.com/vickimick. If you have any questions, please use the Contact Me tab.

Thank you for your patronage!

Vicki
demonstrator id: 219289

Monday, January 4, 2010

Need to Lose Weight...again

J and I have started walking this past weekend. This is my attempt to loose some of this weight gain. I need to start working on my eating/drinking habits though in order to take full advantage of this. For the past month, I have been back on the major coffee drinking every single day. Sometimes 2 cups a day! I don't add creamer to it, but add plenty of sugar. Sugar is what I need to cut out! So, I need to get on the green tea/black tea band wagon again minus sugar and omit pop and see if maybe I can scale back on the coffee. Sugar is your biggest weight gain enemy. I need to start eating fruits and veggies and lay off the starches! I love potatoes and bread, so maybe in just moderation. The weather has been decent enough to walk outside without being too cold. The goal is to walk 3-4 times a week at about 45 minutes to an hour each time. Our gym membership is going to expire very soon, so we will need to weigh our options about that. Should I get a bicycle? The only goal this time is to get rid of my November-December bulge. Just need to have this gone by wedding time, which means I'll have 3 months to shed 7 pounds :)

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy New Year!

A new year and a new post! To recap the month of December... J and I saw the Nutcracker for our first time. We saw it at the symphony hall downtown Phoenix and ate beforehand at Mi Amigos. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but enjoyed it. The same week I had taken the 17th off to prepare for the Christmas party. Did lots of baking and cooking including a pork loin cooked in the slow cooker that turned out great! I made a few of my favorite Christmas desserts which some of them were my first time making them on my own. They turned out great, just like mom would make :) The 19th was the big Christmas party. We had a decent turnout of 17, not including us. The majority were our neighbors. They were really thrilled to have been invited and all got a chance to talk and get to know each other more rather than the usual "hello" and wave exchange. This year I'd like to have a BBQ. I had intended to have an end of summer BBQ, but time got away from us and decided to have the Christmas party instead. The rest of my weekend was pretty mellow. I had also taken off that Monday in which J and I saw The Blind Side and had lunch at McDuffy's. Uncle B decided to throw a Christmas party on Christmas day. He had a good turn out as well, with 20 people. Between all of the food and eating habits this past month I have managed to gain weight back from what I had lost. It's really the only time of the year that I like to eat a lot! We've also rented several movies and saw Couples Retreat and Up in the Air. We saw The Hangover and Four Christmases again. We've registered at Bed Bath and Beyond/Target and I just ordered our invitations. I finally tackled that calendar for my parents and if anyone is thinking of doing that be sure to start early as it is very time consuming. I also quickly threw one in for us to have at our house. We went to The Temple in Mesa to see the light display and drove through Ahwatukee to see all the amazing lights and creative light decorating. Had M and B over for the Holiday Bowl to watch Nebraska kick butt against Arizona(0-34)!! Went to the Insight Bowl game compliments of Tony (again) to see Iowa State win by one point against Minnesota (13-14). I decided to take on selling Gold Canyon Candles. Love these candles! Dishwasher was installed and working wonderfully! New disposal installed courtesy of J :)

Everything I just wrote was not in any particular order, but I wanted to throw it all out there. I'm sure I'm missing a few items.

I'm sure this new year will hold just as many adventures as 2009 had. Many more places to explore, honeymoons to take, vows to exchange, vacations to be had, maybe some house hunting or updating. I can't wait to see what this year will have in store for us!!


Today's temperature *70