So we finally did it...we joined Sam's Club!! They built one near us and it is opening up in September! Before this one was here, the closest one to us was 45 minutes. We used to belong to BJ's when we lived about 30 minutes from it but when we moved here, we just didn't feel like joining Sam's Club and having to drive 45 minutes to get there. Now we will only have to drive about 10 minutes!!
They've been set up inside our Walmart trying to get people to sign up and I've been putting it off to check it out. I was concerned about 2 things: would the membership start now and then I miss out on a few months of using it because the store isn't open yet and could I get a beter offer than a free $10 gift card when signing up? In the past, I've been getting things in the mail saying you could get a free $10 gift card when signing up for a membership. I'm pretty sure it has always been $10 and never more than that. Before we signed up we asked about when the membership starts and they said our renewal date will be in September but we can start using it now online and at other stores. Oh and on top of the $10 gift card, we got a whole bunch of coupons that are loaded on our membership card including ones for a free rotisserie chicken, croissants, and dinner rolls!
When we got home I checked out their site to see what all they offer and I found out that we can save some money on my contacts!!! They only want $55.98 for a 3 months supply of the contacts I wear compared to Pearle Vision wanting $91.98. That right there totally makes the membership worth it!! Because even when you add in the $45/year membership, it still saves us about $100! We already purchase some of our products in bulk (toilet paper and paper towels from Amazon and Target.com), but I'm looking forward to being able to save even more money by buying more things in bulk!
And I'm also hoping that our new Sam's Club will be participating in Club Pickup! You can order online and then check-in on your phone when you get there and they will bring your order out to your car! I am all about online ordering when it comes to grocery shopping!!! I don't mind making quick stops to the store with my kiddos, but big grocery shopping trips can be a pain because it makes it so hard to focus on the task at hand with them along!
What are your favorite items to buy in bulk?
Monday, July 31, 2017
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Another month has (almost) come to an end...
I feel like it was just yesterday that I was writing a post about how June was coming to and end and July was starting. And now July is ending soon and it will be August!! Where has this summer gone? I feel like we've done so much this summer but there are still so many things I would like to do!! Here are a few:
1. Get ice cream from the ice cream truck!!
2. Visit my husband's aunt and spend the weekend there. (She has a pool!)
3. Go to a carnival!
4. Hangout with my 17 year old cousin.
5. Enjoy more time outside.
Last summer I said that we would be spending so much more time outside this year than we did last year. Last year we couldn't be outside that much because Little E was only a few months old and couldn't be out in the sun for very long. But now that he's a year and is walking and as long as we lather us all up in sunscreen, we're good to hangout outside a lot more!!
But I'll admit, we haven't been outside as much as we should be. I am limiting the amount of time that I let Big E watch. She's definitely watching less than she used to. She either gets to watch it in the morning before lunch for a little bit or right before dinner. If we don't have anyone coming over to our house or if we don't go anywhere, then we have been playing with the wooden princess dress up sets, our play-doh made with essential oils, doll house, or coloring, just to name a few activities.
I'm going to get into doing some learning activities with Big E in September. I'll give her one more month of just play and then school will be in session! I've decided that I'm going to go back to substitute teaching but only 2 days a week. So that still gives me 3 days a week to do learning activities with Big E. And unlike last year, I'm going to dedicate more time to it. Now that Little E isn't as little as he was a year ago, he doesn't need my attention as much as he did then so I'll be able to take some time out of the day to focus on doing school stuff with Big E!
Have a great week everyone! Look for my post on my Home Chef experience coming soon!
1. Get ice cream from the ice cream truck!!
2. Visit my husband's aunt and spend the weekend there. (She has a pool!)
3. Go to a carnival!
4. Hangout with my 17 year old cousin.
5. Enjoy more time outside.
Last summer I said that we would be spending so much more time outside this year than we did last year. Last year we couldn't be outside that much because Little E was only a few months old and couldn't be out in the sun for very long. But now that he's a year and is walking and as long as we lather us all up in sunscreen, we're good to hangout outside a lot more!!
But I'll admit, we haven't been outside as much as we should be. I am limiting the amount of time that I let Big E watch. She's definitely watching less than she used to. She either gets to watch it in the morning before lunch for a little bit or right before dinner. If we don't have anyone coming over to our house or if we don't go anywhere, then we have been playing with the wooden princess dress up sets, our play-doh made with essential oils, doll house, or coloring, just to name a few activities.
I'm going to get into doing some learning activities with Big E in September. I'll give her one more month of just play and then school will be in session! I've decided that I'm going to go back to substitute teaching but only 2 days a week. So that still gives me 3 days a week to do learning activities with Big E. And unlike last year, I'm going to dedicate more time to it. Now that Little E isn't as little as he was a year ago, he doesn't need my attention as much as he did then so I'll be able to take some time out of the day to focus on doing school stuff with Big E!
Have a great week everyone! Look for my post on my Home Chef experience coming soon!
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Blue Apron
Last month, my aunt tried out the meal delivery service Blue Apron. It just so happened to be while me and the kiddos were staying at her house for a week and a half. I thought it was pretty cool...you get everything you need to make a few meals, all in one box. So I decided to give it a try! Through an offer that Swagbucks has, I paid $30 and will be getting $20 back!! So that's 3 meals that I'm getting for $10!!!
The box arrived at my house around 3:30 and I was excited! I opened it up and got all the goodies out and organized them by meal. They put a huge ice pack below the food to keep it cool all day in case it has to sit outside for a short period of time.
Even though mine didn't end up turning out quite like the picture, it still tasted amazing!!! One thing I didn't like about this meal though was that it took forever to prep! I think that's the one downside to Blue Apron meals. They give you everything fresh so with this I had an ear of corn, whole radishes, and whole scallions. The meals I normally cook don't require me to do this much prep work so it was definitely different than what I'm used to. I only got the meal plan for 2, so I had to make the kiddos something different for dinner. This night they had pizza!
Mine looked a lot more like the picture than my first meal did!! I think the biggest difference between the 2 pictures is the lighting!! This meal was delicious as well!! I love zucchini!!
Last night I made the third and final meal and this one wasn't a hit in our house. I texted my hubby apologizing in advance for the meal so he decided he was going to get something on his way home from work. I don't think it was anything I did that ruined the meal, it just isn't our kind of food. It was a Japanese-style rice bowl named Purple Rice & Miso Spinach Bowls. I really like the idea of a rice bowl but the flavoring in this one was completely brand new to me.
One thing I struggled with on this meal was the pepper tempura. You made a pancake-like batter, dipped the pepper rings in it, and then fried them in olive oil. I had a weird shaped pepper so I couldn't cut my pepper into rings. And then I couldn't get the batter to stay on the peppers so they didn't turn out the greatest.
I also opted to make hard-boiled eggs instead of soft-boiled, at my husband's request. I really enjoyed the avocado on top. Avocado has recently become my newest food obsession!! And the cucumber and spinach were alright as well. It was just the flavoring that didn't do it for me.
So there you have it, my experience with Blue Apron. Overall I would give it a 9/10. I liked getting all the ingredients delivered right to my door. I've ordered groceries online before but I've never gotten them delivered right to my house! The only thing I didn't like about the recipes is that they aren't recipes I could cook every night. Things would have been a little easier if I was cooking them without 2 kids constantly at my feet. But it did give me new dinner ideas. Empanadas could easily be filled with pretty much everything! I was just browsing through a magazine earlier and saw a recipe where you fill them with pineapple! And rice bowls would be pretty easy to make. Just make some Mexican rice and throw some avocado, cucumber, spinach, and other various toppings on top. I'll just be sure I don't add any of the flavorings from the recipe I made with Blue Apron!
I highly recommend that you check out Blue Apron for yourself! It was a great experience and if I can get it at a cheap price again, I'll definitely be getting more!
*Disclaimer: I was not compensated by Blue Apron to provide my opinions. My opinions are 100% my own.
The first meal I made that night was Sweet Corn & Pepper Empanadas.
I was pretty excited for this one, it looked so good in the picture!!!
Next up was Saffron & Tomato Bucatini Pasta. This one didn't require me to prep as much as the first meal. They even give you a small thing of 2 tablespoons of butter! Pretty much everything is included except for salt, pepper, olive oil, and water!
Mine looked a lot more like the picture than my first meal did!! I think the biggest difference between the 2 pictures is the lighting!! This meal was delicious as well!! I love zucchini!!
Last night I made the third and final meal and this one wasn't a hit in our house. I texted my hubby apologizing in advance for the meal so he decided he was going to get something on his way home from work. I don't think it was anything I did that ruined the meal, it just isn't our kind of food. It was a Japanese-style rice bowl named Purple Rice & Miso Spinach Bowls. I really like the idea of a rice bowl but the flavoring in this one was completely brand new to me.
One thing I struggled with on this meal was the pepper tempura. You made a pancake-like batter, dipped the pepper rings in it, and then fried them in olive oil. I had a weird shaped pepper so I couldn't cut my pepper into rings. And then I couldn't get the batter to stay on the peppers so they didn't turn out the greatest.
I also opted to make hard-boiled eggs instead of soft-boiled, at my husband's request. I really enjoyed the avocado on top. Avocado has recently become my newest food obsession!! And the cucumber and spinach were alright as well. It was just the flavoring that didn't do it for me.
So there you have it, my experience with Blue Apron. Overall I would give it a 9/10. I liked getting all the ingredients delivered right to my door. I've ordered groceries online before but I've never gotten them delivered right to my house! The only thing I didn't like about the recipes is that they aren't recipes I could cook every night. Things would have been a little easier if I was cooking them without 2 kids constantly at my feet. But it did give me new dinner ideas. Empanadas could easily be filled with pretty much everything! I was just browsing through a magazine earlier and saw a recipe where you fill them with pineapple! And rice bowls would be pretty easy to make. Just make some Mexican rice and throw some avocado, cucumber, spinach, and other various toppings on top. I'll just be sure I don't add any of the flavorings from the recipe I made with Blue Apron!
I highly recommend that you check out Blue Apron for yourself! It was a great experience and if I can get it at a cheap price again, I'll definitely be getting more!
*Disclaimer: I was not compensated by Blue Apron to provide my opinions. My opinions are 100% my own.
Monday, July 24, 2017
Everything Everything
When I was unpacking the bag that I sent along with Big E and Little E when they stayed with my dad and step-mom, I found the book Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. My step-mom sent it along to let me borrow it. I had seen previews for the movie based on this book so I was excited to read it! I started it the next day and got about 1/4 of the way through with it!!
It is now a week after I started reading the book and I am proud to say that I am finished! I actually finished it on Friday, so it took me a total of 5 days to read it! If I didn't have kids, I probably could have gotten it finished in 2 days!
I definitely recommend reading this book! The main character, Maddy, has a rare sickness that causes her to have to stay in her house or else she could risk getting realy, really sick. One day, a new famiy moves next door and she eventually starts IMing a boy that moved in. I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to give away anything else. To find out what happens next, you'll have to get the book and read it for yourself!
I guess this movie was only released in certain theaters and I can't find one near me so I guess I'll have to wait till it comes out on DVD, but I can't wait!!
It is now a week after I started reading the book and I am proud to say that I am finished! I actually finished it on Friday, so it took me a total of 5 days to read it! If I didn't have kids, I probably could have gotten it finished in 2 days!
I definitely recommend reading this book! The main character, Maddy, has a rare sickness that causes her to have to stay in her house or else she could risk getting realy, really sick. One day, a new famiy moves next door and she eventually starts IMing a boy that moved in. I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to give away anything else. To find out what happens next, you'll have to get the book and read it for yourself!
I guess this movie was only released in certain theaters and I can't find one near me so I guess I'll have to wait till it comes out on DVD, but I can't wait!!
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Our new living room!
We'v been wanting to upgrade our living room for a while now so this past weekend while the kiddos were at my dad and step-mom's, we finally got the chance to do just that! I don't have any before pictures, but we didn't have much room for toy storage and there was just a small entertainment stand beneath the TV. We used to have the TV on the stand but then we decided to mount it on the wall instead. So we got rid of that stand and now our living room looks like this:
We got 2 sets of 6 cube storage units and my hubby screwed them together to create this. And then we got 12 bins to fill the bottom cubes so we could fill them with toys. The top cubes just hold the bigger Little People toys, plus one of them holds the computer that is hooked up to our TV.
I have always wanted our living room to look like this! It is so much more organized now and it looks a little bigger because the cube system sticks out 7 inches less than the entertainment stand did! I've been to some of my friends houses that have living rooms that look similar to this and I've always wanted mine to look that way as well cause it looked so much neater than what my living room used to look like!
I'm still working on getting the rest of my house looking super organized and clean. I wrote in one of my most recent posts about doing the 10 week organizing challenge that that is going alright so far. That first day I got all of our paperwork out of the filing cabinet and put it in 4 piles. So far we've only gone through 2 piles, but I plan on getting through the last 2 piles within the next few days so I can get the stuff back in the filing cabinet! Stay tuned for the update on that project! I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!
We got 2 sets of 6 cube storage units and my hubby screwed them together to create this. And then we got 12 bins to fill the bottom cubes so we could fill them with toys. The top cubes just hold the bigger Little People toys, plus one of them holds the computer that is hooked up to our TV.
I have always wanted our living room to look like this! It is so much more organized now and it looks a little bigger because the cube system sticks out 7 inches less than the entertainment stand did! I've been to some of my friends houses that have living rooms that look similar to this and I've always wanted mine to look that way as well cause it looked so much neater than what my living room used to look like!
I'm still working on getting the rest of my house looking super organized and clean. I wrote in one of my most recent posts about doing the 10 week organizing challenge that that is going alright so far. That first day I got all of our paperwork out of the filing cabinet and put it in 4 piles. So far we've only gone through 2 piles, but I plan on getting through the last 2 piles within the next few days so I can get the stuff back in the filing cabinet! Stay tuned for the update on that project! I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
School is back in session...
Well, not really. But for me it kind of feels like it is. To keep up with my teaching degree, I have to have so many hours of professional development in a given time period. I don't know what made me think to look, but yesterday I logged on and saw that I still need 126 hours by June 30th, 2019. That may seem far away, but it will be here before you know it! And if you divide it by 2 years, that's 63 per year that I need to get! There is a way for me to take free courses online through the PA Department of Education but most of those will only give me about 5-10 hours per course, so that's anywhere from 6-12 courses per year, depending on how many each course gives me!! So I need to step into high gear and start taking some courses!
Yesterday I signed up for "Organizing Physical Space" and "Setting Expectations for Learning". They are both only worth 5 hours each so they shouldn't be too hard. The greatest part is that I have 90 days to complete them. There are no due dates for anything and it's all at my own pace. I can go however fast or slow I want. But my plan is to get them done as fast as I can so I can get as many done as I can!
I've said before that I will probably wait until both or one of my kiddos are in school before going back to substitute teaching, but I'm starting to rethink that now. It would be great if I could find someone to watch them once, maybe even twice, a week so I could go back to subbing. Even if it is just one day a week, that would at least get me back into the classroom and into education field. I feel like I'm so lost when it comes to the education field because I've been out of it for 3 years now and I'm sure a lot has changed!
So now I'm on a mission to see if my plan is possible!! If I have to wait another 2 years until Big E goes to Kindergarten then I will, but if it's possible for me to start subbing again this fall, then why not? Have a great Tuesday everyone!!
Yesterday I signed up for "Organizing Physical Space" and "Setting Expectations for Learning". They are both only worth 5 hours each so they shouldn't be too hard. The greatest part is that I have 90 days to complete them. There are no due dates for anything and it's all at my own pace. I can go however fast or slow I want. But my plan is to get them done as fast as I can so I can get as many done as I can!
I've said before that I will probably wait until both or one of my kiddos are in school before going back to substitute teaching, but I'm starting to rethink that now. It would be great if I could find someone to watch them once, maybe even twice, a week so I could go back to subbing. Even if it is just one day a week, that would at least get me back into the classroom and into education field. I feel like I'm so lost when it comes to the education field because I've been out of it for 3 years now and I'm sure a lot has changed!
So now I'm on a mission to see if my plan is possible!! If I have to wait another 2 years until Big E goes to Kindergarten then I will, but if it's possible for me to start subbing again this fall, then why not? Have a great Tuesday everyone!!
Monday, July 17, 2017
10 Week Organizing Challenge
I was browsing Pinterest the other night, one of my hobbies, and I came across this, A Ten Week Organizing Challenge for Your Whole House. I know I've written about things like this before where I said I was going to do something every week or month, but this one I'm actually sticking with!!! We just reorganized our living room (post to come soon) and I'm determined to organize every other part of my house!!! So this Pinterest find couldn't have come at a better time!!
So week number 1 is paperwork and command centers. I definitely need to organize this area because I feel like there is paperwork everywhere!!
There are 3 main areas I'm working on this week: the table, the hutch, and (not shown below) the filing cabinet in the master bedroom. At the link above, it shows how to organize paper clutter so I'm definitely reading that and getting some ideas for how to stay more organized with all of our paperwork!
Today is just going to be a day of planning out what I'm going to do. I will start organizing tomorrow and then post my results when I'm finished!! Happy Monday everyone, have a great day!!
Saturday, July 15, 2017
The Bold Type
While I was at my mother-in-law's, I got to watch one of my shows, The Fosters, live instead of watching it online after it aired. After that was on, there was a 2 hour premiere of a new show on Freeform called The Bold Type. This show was inspired by the life of Joanna Coles, the chief content officer of Hearst Magazines, which produces magazines such as Cosmopolitan and The O Magazine. It follows the lives of the people responsible for the global women's magazine Scarlet.
There are 2 actresses in this that I was especially excited to see! Aisha Dee, who plays Kat, was previously in the Freeform show Chasing Life which I loved and was so sad to see end! And Katie Stevens, who plays Jane, came in 8th place on season 9 of American Idol!! I knew as soon as I saw her in the show and then saw her name appear, that I knew her from somewhere, and of course it was American Idol!! For those of you who don't know me personally, I used to be super obsessed with American Idol!
But anyway, back to the show The Bold Type. I am now obsessed with this show!! The three main characters, Jane, Kat, and Sutton work for a magazine called Scarlet, which is similar to Cosmopolitan. Jane is a newly promoted write for the magazine, Kat is the social media director, and Sutton is an assistant. It is just great to watch these 3 friends work together and the show explores issues such as sexuality, identity, love, and fashion. Freeform (formerly known as ABCFamily) has been producing great TV shows for a while now and they definitely didn't disappoint with this show!
But anyway, back to the show The Bold Type. I am now obsessed with this show!! The three main characters, Jane, Kat, and Sutton work for a magazine called Scarlet, which is similar to Cosmopolitan. Jane is a newly promoted write for the magazine, Kat is the social media director, and Sutton is an assistant. It is just great to watch these 3 friends work together and the show explores issues such as sexuality, identity, love, and fashion. Freeform (formerly known as ABCFamily) has been producing great TV shows for a while now and they definitely didn't disappoint with this show!
Friday, July 14, 2017
I am back!
So from July 5th-July 12th, me and the kiddos were at my mother-in-law's down by the beach while my hubby was on a work trip. I've decided that from now on, anytime my hubby has to go away for work, me and the kiddos are going to either have someone come stay with us or we'll go stay with someone. It definitely makes it more enjoyable for me when we do either of those while my hubby is away. Plus, it gives me some help that I otherwise wouldn't have if it was just me at home with the kids for a week. I honestly don't know how single parents do it by themselves 24/7 so huge props to all of them out there!
Our week away was great! I missed my hubby like crazy though and was so glad when this past Wednesday came around! Here are some pictures from our trip.
Our week away was great! I missed my hubby like crazy though and was so glad when this past Wednesday came around! Here are some pictures from our trip.
So now that me, the kiddos, and my husband are all back together again, it's time for the kiddos to head off to my dad and step-mom's for the weekend!! We had this planned way before my husband's trip and our trip to the beach was planned, but it couldn't have come at a more perfect time! We've been away from each other for a week and now we get a whole weekend to ourselves!! We're going to kick off the weekend by enjoying a nice meal out together! I'm letting him pick where we go but I gave him 2 rules: it has to be a place where we eat the food there, not carry out and take home and it can't be fast food! That second rule got added because he tried to pick McDonald's. We also might go see a movie at some point but the one thing we will be doing the most of is video gaming!! We've been so busy the past few months with other work trips that my hubby had, visiting family, and having family visit, that we haven't had that much time to play anything. And while I was pregnant with Big E and then after she was born, we would play video games all day long on Saturday and Sunday. But as she got older and started doing more than just sleep all the time, we had to say goodbye to those video gaming weekends. It will be nice to just relax and spend time with each other for once! This will be the first time we've been completely kid-free since May 20th, 2016. That was the last weekend before Little E was born and Big E went away for the weekend. Since Little E has been born, Big E went to my dad and step-mom's for the weekend but Little E hasn't gone with her yet because of me breastfeeding him. But now that he is no longer attached to me, we can start sending both kids away for the weekend! We're going to start doing this once a month! It's nice for us because it gives us some time to spend together without the kids which is great for every marriage. And it's also great for my dad and step-mom because they don't get to see the kiddos that often since we live about an hour and a half away.
Well, I've got less than an hour until the kiddos wake up from their nap then I'm gonna love on them as much as I can till 5:30 tonight when my dad comes to pick them up! Have a great rest of your Friday and a great weekend!
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