Yard in Spring!

It's been a while since I've yard update.... but that doesn't mean things haven't been happening out there!  I wish I could take credit for the amazing blooms that have popped up, but alas, that was two owners ago.  She was quite the gardener, or so the neighbors say.  Thank gosh they are annuals so we get to keep enjoying their beauty!

We have our first rose of Spring.  According to the worn, faded tag in the ground it is Enfant de France....a very fragrant rose.  I hate the smell of rose perfume because it gives me a headache, but not this beauty.  The smell is so full-bodied: vanilla-ey, musky, sweet... DIVINE.  Today I sprayed some anti bug and fungus stuff on our bushes because I noticed a few of the leaves had some rust on them.  Roses require maintenance, but they are sure pretty.

And then there are the peonies in the back yard!  They haven't started to bloom, yet, and I'm really hoping I don't miss them when we are out of town.  Peonies are my favorite flowers of all time!  I am seriously so excited to have fresh flowers in the house :)  Ahhhhhh!

Then there are these I have no idea flowers... 

Charlie and I also mulched the back flower bed.  Everything is so lush and green and totally revived itself and came back to life!  (I don't know if you can see, but there is a Crepe Myrtle back there, too!  It will flower beautifully all summer!)

We LOVE our landscaping, and all the surprises have been so fun.  But then there is the grass.  Let's back that picture up:

Honestly, the back yard isn't so bad.  We are on a fertilizing and weed-spray regimen, and there is some patching that needs to be done (the "off" green spots are all weeds)...probably about 25-30% of the back yard.  But it is fixable.  We are cutting the grass on a really high setting to help weed-out (literally) and let the grass take over.  We will do some digging and overseeding in the fall (the best time in our region).... listen to how legit I'm sounding!  ;)

But then there is the front yard.  Oh, Lord have mercy.

This wouldn't be so bad if the homes on our street didn't have IMMACULATE lawns.  I mean like flawlessly perfect, not even a twig on the grass.  It's insane.  I feel like the failure yard of the street, but there is nothing we can really do about it at this point in the season and with having put pre-emergent down.  The yard hasn't been properly maintained in years and needs and over-haul.  As you can see, there is grass, but there is lots of brown (and a lot of the green you see are just weeds)...

Despite that our yard is clearly the suckiest one, we can take solace in the fact that as we improve it, we get to take complete credit.  Ah, hard work.

But don't worry, we haven't been all business.  Charlie is finally starting to feel/act more like himself after his surgery.  Good enough that we had some friends over last night for dinner... they treated!  It was so nice!  We had high hopes of having a fire pit, but the high winds (tornado producing in some parts of NC!) prevented that from happening.  So we used the microwave.  Nom, Nom.  Love me some s'mores!

I love Goodwill :)

My pillows that I have been wanting finally when on sale at Target!  YAY!  I was so happy, and Luna was, too.  She has decided she loves to snug herself to them...much to my chagrin.  Of course, since they are my favorite, newest thing room, she is going to rub her stink all over it.  Nice, Luna.  Nice.  She is blanket and pillow obsessed.

I also got a side table at Target on sale for $40 (down from $80!!). I decided to dress it up, but I refused to spend a lot of money...that's where a trip to the Goodwill comes into play. 

I love the Goodwill.  I really do.  Plus I feel like we are doing a service to the community by shopping there, and we give back all the time.  When I was growing up my mom used to donate a lot of things to Goodwill and tell us to gather things in our room for "the poor."  (Which is funny that I now frequent there--at least once a week).  We're not "poor," just looking for a bargain, and there is nothing wrong with that!  Be prepared to sift through a lot of crap, but when you find the right thing it is totally worth it.  Here's our new table and what we scored at G-will:

First there was this round basket for .99 that I decided to turn into art.  We needed something simple over the table, and it was just perfect.  I just turned it so bottom was up.  It adds texture and is a copy from something I saw out of a Pottery Barn catalog.

Then there was this candy dish...I have a sweet tooth.  What can I say?  It was only .25 cents.  (And no, the candy didn't come in it and yes I washed it...weirdo ;) )

And then there was this basket.  It was the same one that I have seen in Target for $19.99.  I paid $2.99.

And then there was my favorite find, which made Charlie roll his eyes because he doesn't understand my obsession with white ceramic animals.  I love them.  This little elefante was only .99 cents.  I was so happy to have found him!  His name is Paco.  And his trunk is up, so that's good luck :P

And there's my new pillow that I love so much :)  Would you laugh if I told you I made Luna move to take the picture? Hehe.

Thoughts on "Extreme Couponing"

I've been couponing (seriously) for about a year now.  We didn't start couponing to supplement a lost job or out of extreme necessity, but rather because I realized by reading a few blogs that people were getting things like cereal, toothpaste, and deodorant for free or close to it all the time.  Charlie and I want to be able to enjoy the fun things in life like travel and experiences, and this was one way to get closer to that dream and fulfill our "date night" fund.  And so it was: enter my scissors and the daily paper.

A lot of people ask me about couponing--especially recently since Extreme Couponing on TLC has aired.  They tell me they want to start but they just don't know how or just wonder what I think about it.  Especially after people see the show, they are left jaws on the floor going...

"Thaaaaaaat's....not normal.  I hope Kathryn isn't like that."

And that's why shows like Extreme Couponing really yank my chain.  (Here is a clip of the show if you have never seen it).

COUPONING IS SO NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE EXTREME!

I don't teach couponing classes, and I don't have a stockpile of 357 deodorants or 900 Jellos.  That is insane, and in my opinion, hoarding.  I don't "dumpster dive" for coupons and I NEVER spend 6 hours..or 3...or even 2 at the store.  Ever.   The show portrays people that have used the system as crazy and obsessed.  They make it seem like to save big at the store your job needs to be couponing, you have to special "order" coupons from online.

I save about 50-70% at the grocery store.  Charlie and I used to spend about $110-$120 weekly at the store, and now we spend about $50-60.  Some people could probably get it lower, but we eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day (at least), and there are very few coupons for fresh things like apples, strawberries, carrots, etc.  Eating health is important to us and a $6 total just isn't realistic or necessary for our family. 

If it interests you, here are some tips that I've learned along the way that have cut our grocery bill by more than half.  We eat normally, and we shop normally.  I don't have a stockpile that takes over my home.  We have a pantry upstairs and a pantry downstairs that holds the majority of our purchases.

1) SUBSCRIBE:  Get 1 copy of the Sunday paper per family member and a Subscription to All You Magazine.  You get more free items this way (and the cost of these subscriptions more than pay for themselves). 
2)  LET THE INTERNET DO THE REST.  People have already done the work for you!  You don't have to sit there and match up deals!  I live in the south so I used www.southernsavers.com  I click on my store of choice (Harris Teeter, btw).  I check the list and match up my coupons from the paper and All You.  I print other coupons to combine with the paper/magazine.  My store doubles all coupons up to 99 cents.

Example deal:

• Cereal A is $4 a box.
• It is on sale for buy one get on free (you only need to buy one because they both ring up at 1/2 price--this is a trick the stores use to get to you buy more!).  It is now $2
• I have a 75 cent of 1 box coupon.  This coupon doubles to $1.50.
• I buy the cereal for 50 cents a box.  I have 2 copies of the paper, plus a printable, so, in theory, I could get 3 boxes for .50 each, or $1.50 total.  NOW THAT'S A DEAL!

3)  FILE, DON'T CLIP.  When the Sunday paper comes, I file the Smart Source and Red Plum in a filing box.  When my website tells me I need the Clorox 55 cent off coupon from February 16, I go straight to that file and clip just the coupon I need.

If this is all going over your head, Jill Cataldo concisely explains couponing (more or less) in this video.  She completely shares my mentality behind couponing.  She saves a lot of money, but she isn't walking out with 18 grocery carts of things she will never use.



  If you want to try it out, start small.  Maybe you go to the store with 3 coupons and use them.  Then you get better and start adding more and find a way of making your list that works for you.  Happy (cheap) shopping!

Easter candy...

...is my favorite!  An now you can apparently buy Cadbury eggs by the dozen!?!?  How did I not know this before?  ...and then you can store them in the fridge, or easily in your cupboard.  Brilliant.  Bring on the twelve packs and the sugar rush. 

Sorry, y'all.  I feel like I'm constantly talking about Cadbury eggs around Easter time.  It's hard for me to resist their chocolately goodness every time I am in CVS.

"Will that be all m'am?"

"Nooooayes. Yes.  I mean no, give me one, I mean two of these Cadbury eggs.  Why not make it three?  I'm here, right?"

They sort of hate me in CVS.  (Not to mention that my couponing hobby turned addiction often requires me to make several transactions.)  I am overly nice to them, though.  If you are a CVS cashier, I will suck up to you like nobody's business!!!

Here are some random things I feel like sharing on this mosey Monday:

• Charlie's healing is coming all well...he can finally move around again, and he even made dinner tonight, which was really appreciated after I didn't get home from work until 6:30 pm.  (And if you are among the people that think teachers are 'lavishly paid' and have way too much vacation time and an easy schedule, imagine me shoving my precious Cadbury eggs up your nose.  Yup.  I went there.)  
• Luna is skinny...I mean bones!  She was fat for a while...

And now she is a bean...

We are upping her food again.  I know you probably think I am a horrible pet owner and not feeding my dog.
"Don't you listen to your dog's needs??"

Yes, I do.  Luna is spoiled as two year old Cadbury eggs!!!  Even when she was fat she was still constantly searching for food and eating things like grass, clovers, woodchips, and rabbit poop.  She is not normal. 

•  I'm still going 3-4 times a week to the gym.  And I look the same.  Darn it all.  I think it may be the Cadbury eggs I eat.
• The weather has been PERFECT in NC lately.  Sunny, just enough rain to keep the grass and flowers beautiful, and a perfect 75 degrees.  What more could you ask for?

Off to get a fix of TV and chill for the night...I could use it!  Is Spring Break here, yet???

Addicted to white :)

We finally took the plunge and painted our mantle white.  I was hesitant to do it at first, but after posting my space on a [the nest].com and asking the general consensus, everyone said that seemed like the thing to do to help updated the space.

So, we cracked out the paint brush!  We think it makes all the difference:

Before:

Progress: (we had to tape the brick because the mantle wasn't removable)

After:

 I think I'm kind of addicted to making things white... I'm armed with a paint brush and dangerous!

What have we been up to?

It has been BUSY!  Whew.  The good news is that Charlie's surgery went really well, and he's now on the mend...on the couch, while I get to wait on him hand and foot. :)  Yay surgery!  He's in much more pain now (and his meds make him very sleepy), but in the future his "pipes" will be so thankful he had it.  Thank you for your prayers and kind words.  Luna is the faithful sidekick good for cuddling and cleaning up any scrap of food he may have dropped on the couch.  I had Friday off work to take him in, and I think I was more nervous than he was for everything... Charlie is such a positive guy.  I seriously snapped this shot 5 minutes before we went in...and I didn't even ask him to smile :D

This weekend was a "weekend in" for us.  So, while Charlie sits here watching the Masters (and there are crazy tornado/thunderstorm warnings outside), I decided I would do an update post on little changes we have made throughout the house that I haven't blogged about and don't warrant their own blog post.  I will warn you, they are pretty boring.  So if you care to see, here are some little updates we've made.  Don't say I didn't warn ya. ;)

Kitchen Nook before:

Kitchen Nook after:  (Curtains: clearance bin at BB&B, $9.99 a panel.  Chair cushions: clearance from Walmart, $5.95 each)

Light fixtures before, straight from the 80s:

 Light fixtures now: 

They are much improved, and they give off soooo much more light, but I'll be the first to admit, they look a lot like boobs.  I mean...really... a giant boob greets you at the top of the stairs.  Thankfully they were "free" from Lowe's (due to cashing in some credit card rewards), so if we choose to change our minds in the future, I'm not out an arm and a leg.   Charlie says he like them, which makes sense because he is a man and probably in his sub-conscious the whole "boob thing" draws him to them.  Oh well!

Laundry room:

 I found this quote from Target and I thought it was a positive reminder to read every day :)  It was free thanks to a gift card from a student (I think they retail for $16).

Some hanging flowers to add color to the yard:  (Yay Walmart!)

FIRRREEEE PITTTT!!!!  North Carolina spring is the best time to have them...and they make outdoor parties really fun!  This was a splurge from Walmart for $39.


I did stop by a few garage sales today to see if I could find a bedside table for the guest bedroom.  No luck.  There were lots of clothes and children's toys.  I did find these beautiful dried hydrangeas, though!  A woman was selling all sorts of dried flowers like a European market in her driveway.  It was beautiful.  (I wish I would have taken a picture).  The hydrangeas are dried a dyed, but they look alive and lush... so much better than the fake ones.  They were $1 and the vase was 25 cents from a garage sale across the street :)

We also decided to paint the mantle:

It took three good coats of paint to get it looking the way I wanted, but it was worth it :)  I'll give you the full update when everything is dried and put back the way it should be!

Spray paint action!

Since we moved in I have wanted to change our fireplace.  I HATE the fireplace doors.  Dingy brass 80s ugliness.  They were installed in '86 when the house was built.  Does that make them vintage? ;) ;)

I dreamed of these for added coziness:

But they are a whopping $184 dollars!  Definitely not a part of the budget....

So, we opted for a quick, cheap fixer-uper that I saw on HGTV.  Spray paint.  Yup, thank you Sabrina Soto!  Here's what we picked up.  First, two cans of Heat Resistant Spray paint and a spray paint attachment gun.  We spent under $20 for everything.

 


First we had to remove the doors...it wasn't as bad as we anticipated (or as online lead us to believe), but it was DIRTY.  Twenty years of dirt, dust, and grime had accumulated between the brick and and door.  Ew!

The most time consuming part was cleaning the doors and taping and newspapering the glass windows.  Here are the doors after all the spray paint has been applied!  (It took two good coats).

There was a bare hole in our wall for about 48 hours...thank goodness for good weather!

Here are the afters!

Again, here is the before, before:

And after! 

I used this website to guide me, but if you attempt this yourself, here are some tips so you can learn from our mistakes:

1.  Un-installing the fireplace mount is easy, it's getting it BACK that's the hard part.  Study everything carefully when you take it apart...and take pictures if you have to. 
2. Do your hand a favor and buy the spray gun to attach to the can.  Best couple bucks I ever spent.
3. Tape carefully and expect this to take lots of time (if your doors have several windows).  Also, remove the paper right away so you can clean the glass and remove any paint that splattered on.
4. Prop your doors up do spray rather than doing it flat (I used a stool that I covered with a drop cloth).
5. No need to use primer if you used the same spraypaint I did.  Rustoleum doesn't require it!

It was a fun, pretty easy project...and I think I'm addicted to spraypaint!

Up next???  Painting (not spraypainting ;) ) the mantle white so it stand out! :)