Google, what?

Do you find yourself searching online A LOT?  I do.  On any given day you can find me reading up on everything from Blue Whales to cute new crafts on Martha Stewart to dispelling the mysteries of LOST.  I love reading, and I love learning.

So today in my couponing email account I got an email for one of the newsletters I subscribe to.  It said that if you use "swagbucks.com" as your search engine (instead of google.com, yahoo.com, etc.) then you can earn and redeem points.  The lady writing the article said she uses her points towards $5 Amazon gift cards (45 points each), but there are tons of things you can get.  They even have Target gift cards!  So I decided to test it out and see just how easy it is.  I just joined this afternoon and I already have 6 points.  You don't get points every time you use it, it's just random.  According to the article, it takes about a week's worth of normal searching to get the 45 points.  Getting gift cards for things I already do?  I'm in!

If you're interested, you can join here.  You can set the website as your home page, and even add it to your tool bar (like google) so you remember to use it often.  And yes, you get points for referring people, so you should totally click on my link.  I'll let you know how it all checks out.

Cupcakes and Ice Cream and Candy, Oh My!

This week I set a goal of skipping sweets all together.  I decided after Valentines Day and all of the Birthday's at work I had more than my fair share.  Plus I do not think I've ever gone an entire week without dessert in my life.  For someone that has done Weight Watchers since I was maybe 14, I'd say that's pretty sad.  So here I am...day 2 and dreaming of cupcakes.  I decided to take my cravings out on the blog.  You wouldn't believe what looking for pictures of cupcakes can do to you!

It doesn't help that Albertson's had some amazing deals (I love couponing) on Betty Crocker supplies so my pantry is bursting with cake mixes, frosting, and cookies.  Having grocery stores basically pay you (or at least close to it) to shop there is a dream come true!

On an unrelated note, I am so happy to have my husband back!  He's been here in body, but that's about it lately.  He has been super busy with school (Accounting Junior Core at BYU), plus he took an extra assignment to handle the finances for an entry to BYU's Business Plan Competition.  It's for a company that will be making foldable longboards.  It's an intense competition, and everything was due today so...Welcome Home Buck!  Stay tuned to hear WHEN they win.

12 Temples in 12 Months

Buck and I set a goal with our neighbors, the Tiners, to visit the 12 temples in Utah this year.  We made our way to Logan this weekend.  Amazingly it rained the whole time...very strange weather for Utah.  I'll take rain over snow anytime!

We got there for the 12:30 session only to find out that was the designated Spanish Session.  Oh our luck!  We still went to it, but enjoyed the luxury and a headset.  It reminded me of when we lived in Boston after we got married and attended the local ward.  Because there were so many Spanish speaking members, I had to wear a head set in Relief Society.  My heart goes out to anyone that has to do that in the Temple or at Church.  What a headache...literally!

My First Attempt at Couponing

I've recently come to the realization that we spend too much money on food.  Other than rent this is our biggest expense.  I'm sure this is true for most people, but I want a bigger apartment, more clothes, and to vacation more.  That means the money has to come from somewhere!

I hosted a couponing class at my house Monday night with a few of my closest friends.  We learned about a website that uses this easy method of saving coupons from the Sunday paper and printing them online and merging the weekly sales to save you the most money.  It's designed to help you keep about a 6 month supply of food in your house, so you just shop from your pantry instead of the grocery store as needed.

My dear husband accidentally volunteered me to teach part of our stake fireside on Sunday about "stretching your dollar," so I really wanted to get this couponing thing down before then.

I got the above amount of food (valued at about $60 retail at Albertson's) for about $16 using coupons and the sales adds together.  It's not the greatest, but I'm pretty happy for being such a newbie.  Wish me luck explaining it on Sunday!

Now That's an UGLY Sweater!

Because of our different financial situations this year, we decided for each couple to sponsor an activity for the family instead of giving gifts. It turned out to be the greatest thing we've ever done! By each couple having to plan (and pay for) an activity for everyone else to do it forced us to coordinate our schedules and spend quality time together.

Buck and I sponsored an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest. Each couple was invited the day after Thanksgiving (plenty of time to find a truly ugly one). We started the evening with hot chocolate floats, and then headed over to the Danile Stowe Botaincal Garden to look at Christmas lights. We each had numbers on our backs (1-6) and tiny slips of paper for random strangers to vote on the sweater they thought was the ugliest. These little papers went into the ballot box that my Mom is holding above. We had a blast, confused a lot of people, and spead Christmas Cheer all around! By the way, if the shoulder pads didn't give it away, I won with my Step-Dad as a close second.

My Sister and Brother-in-law sponsored cosmic bowling way out in Gastonia. We had a great time there as well. The bowling alley was complete with "cosmic bowling" shoes and projected music videos out on the lanes. The highlight of the evening was when "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band came on and the entire bowling alley proceeded to sing along. Ahh, I love the south. Buck and I had never heard the song (probably because I've been listening to Christmas Music since Halloween), but have since downloaded it. It will always have a special place in our hearts.

My Mom and Step-Dad sponsored a train trip Downtown to see the exibit "Pompeii" at the local children's museum. We enjoyed learning about this ancient city that was tragically burried under volcanic ash. We also saw an IMAX movie about Greece. IMAX theaters are the best! While we waited for the movie to start, we got to play around the museum's circus exibit. Buck and I took the plunge and tried the tight rope. We polished off the day with a wonderful meal at a Greek resturant.

We had such a great time, it may become a new tradition!

Happy Birthday Buck!

On Sunday we had a little birthday dinner for Buck, even though his birthday isn't until this Friday.  With traveling back to South Carolina, we wouldn't have had time to celebrate it then, so we squeezed it in early.  Who doesn't like stretching out the birthday celebrations?!  My grandparents serving as missionaries on Temple Square were able to make it, as well as our neighbors (the Tiner's), Buck's accounting group, and the Tingey's.  These are the real party animals since they stuck around the longest (married people know how to party too!) so we rewarded them with some Christmas crackers.  Check out the awesome crowns and prizes!  I mean an eye patch?  Who wouldn't be happy with that?!!

We also took a Christmas card picture for Buck's Parents to send out.  Isn't Garrett's outfit the best?  It's from his favorite Aunt and Uncle of course!

Merry Christmas Mon!

For Enrichment this week, we had a lesson on traditions.  We talked about creating and preserving ones we wanted to use with our relatively new families.  The lesson was pretty good, but nothing stood out to me of things I wanted to plan on doing with our tiny Bagwell family.  After the lesson, we went around the room sharing one tradition from growing up that we enjoyed.  For some reason they started with my good friend Jessica, and I was second!  I don't think well on my feet, so I didn't even get to share my favorite family tradition.  Even though we no longer do this, I would still consider it a tradition because (1) I remember it from my childhood and (2) we did it for more that one year.

As a family (and by family I mean my grandparents, their five kids, any spouses, and any children) we would pile into our wonderful copper van (like the one Lani later drove to high school).  By pile, I mean we would sit in every nook and cranny of that "funk wagon" that would (to the naked eye) clearly only hold seven tops.  We would don our favorite Christmas attire, unload at an unsuspecting friend/neighbor's home, crank up the stereo, and sing (or Christmas Carol rather) to "A Reggae Christmas."  If you aren't familiar with this album, you are surely missing out.  My parents discovered it on a trip to the Caribbean (I believe) years ago, and originally purchased the cassette.  For some reason, it's the only Christmas music I can't get sick of.  I even sent some of the hymn-like (but still groovy) songs to Buck on his mission to sort of break him in before hand.

Even if Buck and I don't pile into an ugly copper "mystery machine" and embarrass ourselves to all of our favorite neighbors, I at least hope to always have the sounds of the Islands in my home at Christmas.  After all...all I want for Christmas is a real good tan, right?

Although this is my favorite, there are several others I would love to carry on.  We weren't allowed to look at ANYTHING without our parents being up, which I think is only fair.  We also HAD to have our teeth brushed (which is strange because we usually brush them after breakfast) before we could dive into the living room.  This was excruciating, but we couldn't stop giggling the whole time!  I also grew up with a different Christmas tree (and theme) every year.  Although Buck and I don't have the space or money to do this yet, I plan on designing a Christmas look for my home every year as well.  Oh, and we will have a fake tree.  I think real trees are a waste of money and energy.  I'm not opposed to a very small one in addition to our family one, or a wreath.  I like the smell, but who doesn't?