Orlando Conference

Then it was off to Orlando for a Renaissance conference with my principal and four other teachers from school. It was the best conference ever!! It provided all of us with so many ideas for our school as a whole as well as innovative ideas for rewarding, reinforcing, recognizing, and respecting the entire school community. It made me think about my teaching style and my philosophy. I have a lot of ideas that I can't wait to try out this year. It is going to be an exciting and fun year. I just know it!!

I had a wonderful roommate, and we had so much fun hanging out and getting to know each other. We went to Animal Kingdom, a concert at the House of Blues, watched fireworks, ate good food, and enjoyed refreshing beverages! The trip was hugely successfully except for Delta's inability to care about its costumers. That is a story for another time.

View from our room of Epcot Center.












Until next time....

XOXOXOXO

WOW!

My summer has truly been amazing! I have had so much FUN and been so relaxed; it is unbelievable. The great thing is I still have 11 whole days before I really have to sink my teeth back into school. INCREDIBLE!!!

Well, a few weekends ago, my friend Rachel let me know at the last minute that she had ONE extra ticket to the Jimmy Buffet concert in Gulfshores, AL. After a split second of feeling bad Wes wasn't going to be able to go, I was all over it!! YES, I was going! You will never believe this..... one hour before we were about to leave, Rachel got another ticket for Wes. YAY!

It was a really fun day, but incredibly HAWT!

 We end the night at Lambert's: Home of the Throwed Rolls. The place where they think this is a salad! :0

Until next time...

XOXOXOXX

Brooke's Bargains

My goal this week was to save 60% or more on the total ticket price. I didn't quite make it at Walgreens, but I am still really happy with the deals I got this week. Check them out....

Walgreens total ticket: 43.59

Total saved: 24.79 (57%)
Total paid: 20.30

CVS total ticket: 53.51
Total Saved: 37.35 (70%)
Total paid: 16.16
Cash back: $10.00

I went to Staples in Pascagoula with my friend, Katie to get some $1.00 and .01 deals for school supplies. We had a little problem with the cashier and computer not ringing items up at the correct price, but once we got everything straightened out, I ended up with some pretty good deals.

Staples total ticket before sale prices: $87.31
Total paid in store today: $43.32
Total Rebates: $9.96
Total Out of Pocket: $33.36
Equals a savings of $53.95 (62%)

If you have started couponing, I would love to hear about your finds.

Until next time.....

XOXOXO

Old Mother Hubbard

Old Mother Hubbard
went to the cupboard
To get her poor self a snack
But when she was there
the cupboard was bare
And so her poor self had none.

She went and planted a garden
So she could entertain at a luncheon.

She went and learned to make pickles and jellies
This put a bulge in her belly.

But best of all she went on a couponing mission
And when she came back
Her pockets were full of this week's commission.

Just wanting to share this weeks couponing experiences with you.

CVS Total ticket: 81.67
         Savings: 41.14 (50%)
         Paid:  40.53
         Cash back: $7.00

Walgreens Total ticket: 14.68
                 Savings: 13.47 (92%)
                 Paid: 1.21
                Cash back: $4.00

Winn-Dixie: Total ticket: 153.07
                   Savings:  72.20 (47%)
                   Paid:  80.87
                  Cash back: $5.00

I know a lot of my readers live in KO. Here is the guide to getting the most out of your CVS extra bucks. http://www.southernsavers.com/getting-started-guides/how-to-cvs/

My goal from this point forward is save 60% or more of the overall ticket price. We will see what happens.

Until next time...

XOXOXOXO

Rain, rain go away

Hurricane Alex has brought tons and tons of rain to Gulfport this week. Our pool is overflowing, water got in our garage, and the gutters overflowed. I just want this rain to go away and come again another day. Like maybe in the winter when I don't want to be outside anyway, and my pool is closed for the season. Yes, now that sounds like a good time for rain to come. :) Well, no really, I know we need rain, but I just don't want it everyday.

Enough with the pity party.... I decided to stop pouting today and be productive. Winn Dixie has strawberries on sale B1G1; so I went and bought 4 packages. I came home and made strawberry preserves. They taste great and look so pretty in the jars.

You are probably asking  yourself, how did she know strawberries where on B1G1. Recently as in last week, I decided that I am going to bite the bullet and start couponing. I tried this 2 summers ago and was just discouraged and did not save much money. A friend of mine on FB is always bragging about her great couponing deals, so I decided to pull her in for a little Couponing 101. She told me about this site www.southernsavers.com. It is AMAZING! This lady named Jenny gave me three video tutorials. Now, I understand that couponing is about knowing what is on sale and then getting a coupon for only the sale items that you are going to purchase.

Well, Jenny does not stop there. She (this is her J.O.B.) pulls all the weekly ads for most grocery stores and drug stories in the Southeast, finds the best deals, locates the coupons (even the online ones) and post them to southernsavers.com.  All I have to do is check the boxes next to the things I want, print my coupons or find them in the listed flyers. WHAT THE HECK? OMG; CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? 

I will admit that even though this sounds so easy, it still took me 3 hours, Sunday, to figure it all out. I had to decipher the lingo she was using and locate the coupons and print the coupons and whatever other things I did that made this simple process stretch out. (Story of my life).

But wait, it gets better. Jenny not only lets you know about grocery and drug store deals, but she tells you about all this free stuff you can get and discounts at clothing stores, shoe stores, all stores!!! Since Sunday, excluding my grocery deals (which include saving $40.00 dollars at Winn Dixie today), I have gotten 20 4x6 prints FREE, 1 8x10 collage print FREE, and 1 lady speed stick deodorant FREE.

I hope this coupon enthusiasm lasts because I could seriously save some money in my budget if it does.

Until next time...

XOXXOXOXOXOX

Pretty in Pink

Last week, a couple of friends and I decided to have a girls night out with sushi and swimming. I made these pretty in pink homemade strawberry cupcakes and Wes so graciously made us all pink watermelon margaritas. I didn't get a picture of the drinks or the friends, but I will next time! FUN TIMES!

Until next time...

XOXOXOXO

Safari Ken

I could not believe my eyes and ears when I found out that Safari Ken was one of the new "stars" of "Toy Story 3".

I have known this vain character for 20+ years!!

I am so proud that he is finally doing something with his life. I never thought he would get out of the toy chest in Hesterville, MS. :)

Until next time....

XOXOXOXOx