Coupons!

As mentioned previously I am a recovering coupon addict. I am still using all the body wash I bought over three years ago! Well this week Safeway was having a screaming deal on cereal and you didn't even need coupons so I went and partook and got a little taste of that good ole adrenaline high from saving money. But I do believe that couponing is actually a waste of money (GASP!!). Hear me out, if I didn't ever coupon I would have never had to spend hours, at least six, weekly cutting out the coupons, looking online for the best deals, and wandering around the store looking for all the great steals that were clearanced. Not to mention if you are going to coupon for food it is typically processed garbage that you get all the coupons for (I said typically, I am aware not all of them are but let's be honest the vast majority are for crappy food). 

I usually don't buy cereal and now I have over 15 boxes and I am $20 more poor than before. Don't get me wrong that is a great price for the amount I got but I would have only bought one or two boxes a month like I typically do and only spent $4. Then I could have used the remaining $16 out of my budget on the fruits and veggies my kids love. However, I have a small doomsday mentality (thanks to my father who is a total doomsdayer) and I feel the need to stock up on EVERYTHING. Well news flash to myself, I am pretty sure if the world is going to Hell in a hand basket it won't really matter what my stock of cereal and granola bars looks like, I should be more concerned about my stock of shotgun shells so I can protect my two boxes of cereal and steal my neighbors food..... .... 

Back to the real issue, I can see the benefit of couponing but when it comes down to the value of my time, forget it. I would much rather chill at home with my babies than wander around the store for hours looking for the best deals. And I don't want that sugary, yummy, processed crap food in my casa anyway, I have enough problems with self control with my amazing baking skills and I can pronounce all the ingredients in the things I make. I can only imagine what the boxed stuff from the store with the list of crazy ingredients is doing to my internal organs.

I will now only stock up on tampons, shampoos, body washes, diapers and wipes. Then when the world ends I will barter with my womanly products for food. That is all.

valentines day

I am just going to come out with it. Valentine's day is such a waste of a holiday, phew, I feel much better. And Big Daddy agrees with me, what dude wouldn't? 

Don't worry, I don't feel this way about only Valentine's day but also mother's day, father's day, grandparent's day....the list goes on and on. I refuse to waste my money on little red boxes of chocolates that taste like wax. Maybe one day when I can buy the good stuff and order a new car for myself for vday. No, not even then because I refuse to be a robot and buy crap just because marketers tell me I need to. News flash, I have a degree in a marketing related field (history...jk it's not history, it's public relations) and I refuse to give into your evil schemes unless it involves me buying mass amounts of cereal and receiving milk for free (I am a recovering coupon addict). 

Do you know what my awesome little family did for Valentine's this year? We woke up and I made eggs, bacon and toast, I make breakfast every morning so this wasn't special. I take that back we usually have sausage and I was feeling crazy and bought bacon. I had also bought myself some pink tulips the night before for a whopping $5 and they were beautiful! The kids got their cute little Valentine's from their daddy (I raided a clearance bin at Winco and got some sweet stuffed animals and plastic dinosaurs for $.15 and some sweet lip suckers). Then I took the kids to the park, we went home and I wanted them to nap for hours, ya right. Then I gave them a bath and B face got out and pooped all over the floor in the bathroom and then walked in it. Happy Vday to me! Then Big Daddy came home and we went to our friends house and had heart shaped pizza for the kids and we adults had yummy Vietnamese take out. That my friends is how Valentine's should be, just a regular day with the peeps you love. 

 

my hair did

I will start off by saying I am not a person who likes to spend any time on their hair. And I am blessed enough to not have to because of all these luscious waves (thanks to having my girls, my hair used to be a lot more  straight but apparently the more children I produce the wavier my hair gets). Anyway, like I mentioned previously I bought a Groupon and went to get my haircut on Saturday. So the lady was nice she was about my age and I showed her the cute pic of the cut I wanted and she ended up doing an A-line bob with no bangs....huh....I don't know about you but when I get a haircut I assume the people cutting my hair know what would look better on me than I do since they went to beauty school and all. So I liked it the day of ish (yes I meant to write ish, it means I am undecided). It seems to be really thick and heavy in the front but fun and frisky in the back. 

 

As a side note can I just tell you that the hair lady asked if I had ever done stand up comedy. That's right, I am just as funny in real life as I am in my head! Big Daddy is convinced she just wanted a bigger tip because she was getting hosed by using Groupon. He's just jealous. Now back to the story.  

My vision when I was going to get my haircut was that it would be short and I wouldn't have to do anything and then it would look amazing all the time because of my previously mentioned waves! I feel like that is a reasonable expectation, so if you are laughing right now...shame on you. Well I didn't get the haircut I wanted and so far it isn't so get up and go like I was hoping. My mother has also been kind enough to point out that it just needs some tweaking and it will be perfect. That is love right there, nothing like telling someone who just chopped off their hair that it needs just a little love. I mean at least my brother was honest enough to just tell me he didn't like it. I don't even know if I like it. I am kind of hating the short in the back long in the front thing, I kind of just want the cut I went in for!! Next time a hair dresser tells me they don't want to cut my hair how I want I will tell them to shove it and leave. If they do what I want I have no one to blame but myself for not liking the hairstyle. And since I have to look at myself everyday I want to feel like a sexy beast and so far I am feeling like the sides are a little to puffy for my liking.

What is the point of this post you might be wondering. I really have no idea. Maybe that I will never cut my hair again. This is the first time it has been this short in approx a billion years, or eight, but who's counting.Will I go back and get my hair cut the way I really wanted? Who knows, that is up to the indecision of my brain.

And here are the pics of my non did hair, aka, shower, put in some mousse, sleep on it a few nights, you know. One before when it was long and one just taken today. Don't mind the blurriness, I am still trying to master this whole "selfie" thing. I think it might be my new favorite hobby.

lets seeeee

Well, since October I have not been running as much as I should, been doing some Zumba and I have recently started planking for at least one minute everyday. Can I just say that I seriously feel like I am getting buff from the planking. Big Daddy makes fun of me saying it isn't that hard but you know what he couldn't even do it for one minute with one are, such a weakling.

As far as the weight loss contest. We never even weighed in at the end, I guess we all decided we didn't really care and we were truly to broke to pay up in the end. haha, so I declare myself the winner! yay me!!! I decided scales are the devil, and am now going off my belt. The more holes I am down the better. My brother started this liquid diet through his doctors office three weeks ago and has already lost 23 lbs. What a cheater! Slow and steady wins the race...or maybe just takes longer to reach their goals...who knows.

I bought a Groupon yesterday for a haircut so now I actually get to cut my hair. I am typically one who always asks people how they think I should cut my hair, especially the man. His usually response is he doesn't care, but I always just assume he likes my long sexy, luscious locks. Well with this new and improved self I am trying to create. I am making decision about me, myself and I all by myself and telling others to bite themselves (I haven't had a chance to do that yet but I am anxiously waiting). Big Daddy on the other hand is rather excited I don't bore him with the same questions over and over and over and over and over and over again. 

You may not know this about me but I am one of the most indecisive people I have ever met. It runs in my blood. So I am trying to make one decision and just live with the results. Seriously, going through a drive though with me can be a challenge for all those involved because there are toooooo many choices, so I will decide, then change my mind, then change my mind again. It really is lots of fun, I don't know why the people around me don't seem to think so. I have noticed I have passed this trait on to lil Sas and I am hoping to help her nip this "condition" in the butt. I swear we have too many choices in our lives sometimes (but I will leave that for a different day). So here is to the new year and making decisions quick and never looking back. With that said here is a pic of what I am going to cut my hair like! So exciting.

Well that is enough fun for today.

it continues

Well here I am eight years later (more like months, or something...who's keeping track?) and I am in a weight loss contest (by % lost) with my brother, dad and big daddy. The winner gets $100 and the bragging rights, which are most important...obviously. But aside from that little contest I have a personal one on one weight loss contest with my brother. The winner of this contest has to buy the other one a $100 new skinny outfit.

This contest started at the beginning of the month and the final weigh in day is January 1, 2014. dun,dun,dun. So far I am winning! Or so I thought I was the first week until I was informed they were calculating it wrong and I am LOSING. How lame is that? Anyway, so far I have lost a whopping 2 lbs and he has lost 11, and I continue to sit at the bottom of the weight lost scale. But no worries I will be triumphant come January because I have started running 3+ miles a day and do Zumba (oh ya, this all came about because everyone kept saying Zumba wasn't a work out and it pissed me right off so I told Justin (my brother) I would kick his trash in a weight loss contest and I will only do Zumba and run). So here's to reaching my weight loss goal of 160, only 40 lbs to go!! Seriously....but that is a whole other post.

My skinny fat self

I figure we better get this out of the way asap. My shoulder angels are not good vs. bad they are my skinny self vs. my fat self, and I'll be honest things between them can get hostile.

It goes a little something like this, my skinny self (she dwells on the right shoulder...rather attractive, always wearing her bikini ready for the beach with her perfect tousled long hair blowing in the wind. Not to mention the smoky eyes like all the Victoria Secret models. I tell ya, she looks good! ) loves fruit and veggies, always wants to run and workout, is extremely addicted to Zumba and always up for a good competition.

My left shoulder dwelling fat self is a sight to be seen, sitting there in her La-Z-Boy recliner wearing her comfy sweats with a messy side pony tail, snacking on a box of Krispy Kremes and four dozen fresh baked cookies while watching The Kardashians. She has the life!

 As you can probably guess my life is a constant battle with the skinny self trying to prevail and drown my fat self in the ocean. However, as luck would have it, somehow my fat self escaped from the left shoulder and is currently sitting on my skinny self while I sit here typing this post and shoving cake box cookies in my mouth. I don't even like cake box cookies!!!!

Alas, the battle continues...may the skinny self prevail.

Welllll Hellllloooo There

Hello blogging world. Let me break down what is going to be happening on this blog for ya real quick... but first an introduction. I'm Joelle, I am 27, a college graduate, once had a job full time out of home job, now I have a full time in home job (that is being a mother for those who didn't catch that), I also have a very, very small part time job online which I do from home.

I have two little girls, lil sas and b face. I am well aware anyone with 3/4 of a brain (1/2 just wouldn't cut it) could google me and find out my children's names where I eat, what I dreamed about last night, what I am currently thinking about...but for my own peace of mind that is what they shall be called on this blog. My husband shall be named big daddy, and that is all in the family for now.

I used to blog quite often, it was a wonderful blog. It's remnants are here www.itkwib.wordpress.com , minus some of the awesome content I deleted in a weak moment. It died because I started working online and couldn't handle blogging and working and my child and I HATED Wordpress.com! I started out on Blogger and then converted to Wordpress and it was by far the worst decision of my life to date.

So I am starting fresh and will blog about whatever I like, I have no aspirations to be the best and make millions, this is merely for my brain. I have realized expressing my feelings helps me relax, and since big daddy is never in the mood for talking all night long so I can get in all the words I need to in order to reach my talking quota for the day, I will just blog. Wow, that was a long sentence. I, for one, also have many great ideas that need to be expressed somewhere for the world to stumble upon!!

And that about sums it up. Please enjoy the happenings of my brain!