Sunday, August 30, 2009

A Softer Room


I finally got around to taking a picture of our new rug in the living room (meaning, I finally actually cleaned up the living room enough to take a guilt-free photo).


Ta-da! I like how it has a pattern, but with a consistent color. Our room is already small enough, and I was afraid a heavy pattern would be too busy. But I love this one!! It helps soften the wood and makes the room very cozy - aaand - doubles as a furball collection device...

Summer Blooms

I think one of my favorite flowering plants is Lantana. The little flowers are so cute and colorful (pink and orange combo - so summery!) and the stuff seems to grow like crazy here. We scored a bunch of hanging baskets of Lantana at HD for only $.99 -- I'm preeety sure they were marked incorrectly! But it's growing great, and Lantana seems to be one of those sneaky annuals that really is a perennial - less work for us - woo!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

New Homeowner!

I really had a great time this weekend in Knoxville - it's always great to see family, friends, and get a little taste of the hometown.

My BFF in the whole wide world - JoBeth (or JoBeast if you would prefer that) - got herself a fancy pants new condo!! She was able to take advantage of being a first time home buyer and also got a great price - all while getting a place that needs a little TLC, but will look exactly how she wants it before she even moves in!! I was super impressed (and very jealous) of all of the projects she is getting done before she even moves in - it will be like a brand new place when she does! I saw the before, and I can't wait to see the afters. I should have taken a picture of the gorgeous green glass tiles she has picked out to go around her fireplace.. so cute!


good numbers

Here we are in the best asset in the house - a Harry Potter closet.

good hp

She is dancing for joy in her enormous closet (that makes my tiny closet cry with inadequacy).

good closet

Isn't she just the cutest little homeowner ever???? I wish there weren't four hours of driving separating us, or I would be over there every day. I guess I will just have to settle for slumber parties when I come to town!!
good front

good porch

JoBeth has been my GF for years and years - we met around sixth grade on the neighborhood swim team and haven't looked back since.


She's the mac to my cheese.

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Friday, August 21, 2009

Slow Summer

I would love to say that the reason that I haven't posted in a while is because I have been filling up these last few weeks of summer with awesome activities. Really, it's just that I haven't really done much worth noting...

However, I am excited to be going home to Knoxville this weekend to see my family and friends. Tony is happy to be staying home and playing Xbox guilt free...

We have done a few little projects around the house that I have yet to photo - a new rug (finally!), some cabinet hardware updating, and most excitingly - we ordered a new fridge and stove to replace our oooolllllllddd ones we have now. They don't get here until Sep 1, so I will have to be patient - but I will have some great before and after photos!! (And I'm very scared of what's lurking behind our stove...I've never ever looked...)

Is it bad that I kinda want it to hurry up and be Fall?? (I do love Fall...) August is usually the WORST summer month here in GA, but it's been pretty mild... making me long for non-humid days and leaves and pumpkins!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Asian Chicken Salad


This delicious recipe comes courtesy of Kacy. It's easy and healthyish and makes lots - good for lunch, dinner, and leftovers!

Salad Ingredients:
16 oz pkg coleslaw with carrots
1 cup toasted
almonds
1/2 bunch green onions (chopped)
1 green, 1 yellow, 1 red pepper
(chopped…for a total of 2 peppers)
2 pkgs ramen noodles, oriental flavor
(cooked and crumbled) *save the seasoning for the salad dressing

Chicken - Zaxby's or Chick-Fil-A nuggets chopped
up (don't bother trying to be healthy and using regular chicken - you will be
disappointed)


Dressing:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup oil
Dash of soy sauce
½ cup
vinegar
2 flavor packets from ramen noodles

Mix together and you are ready to go!!
I'm loving peppers these days -- red, yellow, green, orange -- they look so festive and bright and are a veggie that's a-ok on my plate :) And we just planted a few pepper plants - hopefully we will soon have free peppers!
Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Photos the Free Way

I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one, but...

I've said this before, but I'm pretty much a
paparazzi, and it's only gotten worse since I've been blogging, since I feel the compulsive need to document every mildly interesting thing that goes on in our lives...

We would be broke, and buried in little paper foldover envelopes, if I got all of said photos developed. I come close... There's just something great about holding a glossy photo in your hand, framing a great picture, or flipping through an album.

There are a million places now to get digital prints developed, but here's a list of the "new customer" freebie deals out there on the main sites:

ArtsCow.com offers new customers 600 4x6" and 600 5x7" prints (1,200 total)

Snapfish offers 50 free prints
dotPhoto offers 50 free prints
CVS.com offers 50 free prints
PhotoMama.com offers 50 free prints
YorkPhoto.com offers 40 free prints
AdoramaPix.com offers 25 free prints
FujiFilm offers 100 free prints via coupon code "prints"
PhotoWorks offers 50 free prints
ClarkColor.com offers 20 free prints
MyPhotoAlbum.com offers 20 free prints
Fotomat.com offers 15 free prints
Shutterfly offers 25 free prints
Winkflash offers 50 free prints via coupon code "WF95WF27 "
Meijer offers 50 free prints
Kodak EasyShare Gallery offers 20 free prints
Ritzpix.com offers 16 free prints


Now I haven't tried out all of these, but I have done a few and they've worked like a charm.
Snapfish is my favorite photo site - can't say why exactly, but they were the first site I used, and their photos are always cheap ($.09, or less if you prepay for 250+ at a time), are shipped very fast, and are always a great quality.

Plus, they always have at least one helpful coupon code floating around in space. I have never purchased photo prints without some type of discount - if one service doesn't have a coupon code working at the time, I will use a different site.


Free Shipping is the best (am I the only one who HATES paying shipping on ANYTHING??? It just seems so wrong...), but often there are deals for buying 50+, 15% off, or something of the sort. I usually just Google "snapfish coupon code" and one of the first sites that pops up will have something (RetailMeNot usually pulls through). And if you get on the email lists of these companies, they are always sending offers, discounts, and free stuff (yay for marketplace competition!)

So if you became a new member on each of the sites above, that's a lot of free pictures!!! I ordered over 600 wedding pictures a while back, and only paid around $30 total - not bad! (And yes, they are all in one massive album that's actually pretty nice considering it's mammoth size)

Does anyone else have a fave photo site? Coupon site??
Did anyone else have to buy a whole new computer because you crashed your laptop with too many photos even though you had an external hard drive...??? Not saying that was me or anything......(sorry again Tony)


[Photo list from DealNews.com]
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