Shopping at CVS

I made a trip to CVS during my lunch break today and came back with the items pictured: 2 bottles of Pantene, a new Schick Intuition Razor (which included 2 cartridges), a bottle of Revlon nail polish, a new Colgate 360 Surround toothbrush for Brandon, a tube of Colgate Total, a bag of dark chocolate Hershey's Bliss candies (heavenly!!), and a bag of my current weakness - Sour Patch Kids. After turning over my coupons & $0.99 worth of Extra Bucks I earned on a previous trip, my total came to $33.80. Sound high? Yeah, a little...except for the fact that attached to my receipt were several more Extra Bucks totaling $18.99. That brings my total down to $14.81. Not bad, especially considering how expensive Pantene & Intuition razors are!

Tomorrow, I will go and finish picking up the rest of the items on my list (that I intentionally broke up because I knew I was getting the Extra Bucks), which include the special currently running of five 12-packs of Coke products for $13, as well as one or two other items which are on sale, have Extra Bucks, AND I have coupons for...I should be able to get out of there with all my items for little or no more money out of my pocket, plus some EBs to spend the next time. Yay!

I want to give a shout out to dealseekingmom.com for the sale/coupon combos they list for specific stores every week. Be sure to check them out before your next shopping trip!

Gone Fishin'

Last Friday when I got home from work, Brandon & I decided to take a spontaneous drive to one of his fishing spots he's been going to lately. I haven't been fishing with him in years - he's just recently taken it back up - and I didn't know where this particular spot was. Let me tell you - it was out in the middle of nowhere, down a non-existent road that I could have sworn we weren't going to make it down in his little pickup! I was told to keep my arms in the truck and we'd be fine. "Mmm hmmm...we'll see," was my thought as the tree limbs surrounded us and we bounced through a dried out creek bed.

The place turned out to be really nice and peaceful once we finally got to it. We sat up our chairs, and he baited his hook and started fishing. I explored a little and then killed time taking photos and playing with the apps on my phone, periodically stopping to look at whatever he was pointing out to me...turtles, fish swimming around his line, etc. It was a nice, quiet evening. I really enjoyed spending time with him outside and away from the TV, which is what a lot of our evenings revolve around. It meant a lot to me that he invited me to go along. :)

Here are a few more pics that I took while we were there. Click them to see a bigger version.

Here we are right after we got there and set our chairs up.

This old chrysalis was on a tree near where Brandon was fishing. I thought it was really neat.

Despite all the large shapes we saw swimming under the surface and the numerous worms that were taken from his hook, this little bluegill was the only thing he caught. Fortunately for the fishy, he was too small to do anything with, so he got thrown back.

Cypress Knees

We took a little walk down the "road" before heading home and found these huge rocks. It was pretty, but it was getting really late in the day and we were out in the middle of NOWHERE so I was glad to head back to the truck afterwards!

Ella's First Pool

A few weeks ago I went to see my niece, Ella. She's such a cutie pie!! It was a really hot day, so my dad blew up the little swimming pool his wife had found for her. He filled it with water, and my sister & I took her out to see what she thought. She loved it!! Here are a few pictures I got that day. Love this little girl!!

Visit to Keith & Shellby's

A few weeks ago, Brandon, Tyler, and I went to visit Keith & Shellby and their boys at their apartment in Birmingham. We hadn't been there before and were looking forward to spending the weekend with them. Abby & Justin came down from Nashville as well. We were a little pressed for space, but that was OK!

We got there around 8:30 Friday night. Jayden & Evan were waiting for their uncles to arrive! Brandon & Tyler played Guitar Hero with them for a long time. As you can see by the picture, their room is full of Auburn decor. Considering we are Ole Miss fans, I referred to it as being "infested" with Auburn. Evan asked me, "You don't go for Auburn??" in an incredulous tone. "Um, no, not quite." LOL! Anyway, Brandon started calling Evan & Jayden "Little Aublets" and so their band was "Tyler & the Aublets." It was pretty funny.

Saturday was pretty laid back, which was exactly what we needed. Shellby & Tyler cooked us an awesome breakfast of biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs, and smoked sausage. We all ate and then got ready to spend the day at the pool. Abby & I made a quick trip to Publix to pick up some things to throw on the grill for supper, and then we joined everyone else there. Keith had reserved the kitchen next to the pool, so that was handy. We had a place to put our food & drinks and also a gas grill right there where he grilled hamburgers & hot dogs for lunch.

Hanging Out at the Pool

At some point during the afternoon, Brandon took a break & went back to the apartment and got a rack of ribs ready for supper. Here his is with his sisters. They cooked in the oven on low heat all day, and then that evening, he grilled them with BBQ sauce. They were great! After I had my fill of the sun, I went back and seeded, stuffed, and wrapped nearly 30 jalapenos. I had forgotten to pick up rubber gloves at the store, so needless to say my hands were on fire the rest of the weekend. The peppers were awesome though!

Sunday after the meeting, Brandon, Shellby, Tyler, and the boys spent some more time at the pool. I had done pretty well the day before, but even with SPF 30, I absolutely cooked on Sunday. I was miserable the rest of the week!! It was worth it though - we really enjoyed just relaxing and spending time with Jayden & Evan. They are so funny!

We hated to go home but knew we had to get back, so after a few hours at the pool, we loaded up the car and headed back. We were all tired, but we had had a great visit with the family!