Big Ass Binder

I've had a few people ask about this amazing coupon binder I have, so I'm finally putting up pictures of it.  It's okay, you can laugh.  This is what I stroll through the grocery stores with - no biggie :)

The binder is Studio C - I believe it's just a regular binder.  The coupon inserts are from Mrs. A's Coupon Organizer. 
I have colored dividers separating pages so I can find each catagory easily.  Breakdown: condiments, snacks, cereal, dairy, frozen foods, pet coupons, cleaning products, medicine, etc. 

Isn't it cute??  I'm obsessed. 

Bring It

I know, it's another post about my dog... please refer to Awkward Positions if you need an explaination. 

Margo is very VERY used to going to the vet.  We'll just say, she's had issues.  Tony normally takes her and then sends me pictures from his phone.  I ran across these the other day and it made me chuckle. 

First time to the vet = scared

Last time she went to the vet = not so much

Bring it, Vet...

To My Mama

I have the most amazing mom - she is wonderful, caring, kind, funny, very extremely athletic, energetic, charismatic, beautiful, giving, creative, talented, and the most self-less person I know.  She is not just these things, I could go on forever.  I sometimes think that she is supernatural :) 

I am so blessed to have her as my mom and more importantly my best friend. 

She has taught me so much and made me who I am today.  So here's to you Mom!! 

Thanks for everything you have done and you do for me...

I might not tell you often enough, but I think you rock! 

Love,

Cal 

Dynamic Duo

Tony's parents came into town this weekend for Rich's birthday and Mother's Day.  Had a great weekend!  Margo and Rich were quite the team.  She had to be beside him at all times... it was pretty funny :)
Sorry Rich, she is the closest thing you get to a grandchild for now! 

Awkward Positions

We don't have kids (yet), so my dog is pretty much my kid for now.  I will (already do) blog about her as if she is my baby.  Sorry if this bores you... she just makes me laugh. 
Here are her top 4 favorite positions...  (apologies for not 'censoring' her privates... she is not very lady like)

Score!!

Another great day for checking my mailbox!!

Full size ReNu contact solution
Full size Redken styling product
Small secret deoderant
Small size Pantene S&C (shampoo & conditioner)
Sample Lorel S&C
Sample Pantene S&C
Cascade Action Paks
OK Magazine
Shape Magazine

Oh and a pair of heels... but I did pay for those :)

Wedding Weekend

Lindsay and Scott got married this weekend!  It was such a fun weekend seeing everyone and catching up.  Here's a few pics! 

Started out the afternoon at Rockabelly...

Got to stop off at 509 (Tony's old house) for a few brews...

Rehersal dinner @ Kites Banquet Room...

We stopped by Kites after the ceremony for a quick drink before the reception...

 

Wally Judge and Rodney McGruder at After Hours.  Story:  Tony tells me he saw McGruder walk by Kites... Emily and I run sprint out the door and down the street yelling 'Rodney Rodney!!'  He is adorable and my favorite.  Then I noticed that Wally was next to him (how I missed that I have no idea... he is 7')

Margo had a rough weekend too... 

We took her to a boarding place in Manhattan where she could run around with other dogs.  Not sure how she would do, Tony and I were a little nervous about it.  (in case you haven't noticed, we love our dog like obsessed parents)  They gave her a report card :) 

Here's what it says: 

Margo played & PLAYED!!! She had a blast with all her friends.  She wrestled from sun up 'til sun down

Yep, sounds about right...

They gave her an A+.  Guess she didn't miss us much.  :)  She was super excited to get home though... this was the position she layed in for at least 5 hours on Sunday. 

KSU - PINK!

They're here!!  We finally got Frank Martin's shoes from the Coachs vs. Cancer event back in October.  I guess I didn't get a good look at them when he wore them at the KSU vs. KU game in January... I think I was busy drinking my nervousness away during that game.  Neither of us realized that they were bright pink!  I guess it makes sense because it was for breast cancer awareness, but that makes them a little challenging to display around the house... 
Someday we will have somesort of bar in our house that we can put them in with Tony's other KSU memorabilia.  Until then they will be kept safe in a box (that is, if Tony lets me take them off the mantle) 

By the way - They are a size 14!

Handy Hubs

Our Tony's big weekend project was lining our flower bed with pavers.  He's been wanting to do it for awhile and we had a free weekend. 

Here's some before pictures:  (sorry some are sideways)

Marg was such a good helper...

Honestly, did I help? Do anything but take pictures? Not really, but I have to mention that I did help Tony unload the pavers from the truck to the garage... those suckers are HEAVY!!  (oh and I planted a flower)

The finished product:

Did I mention that it was raining 99.8% of the time he was doing this??  What a stud. I was really surprised about how awesome it turned out but I should have known with my hubs, the perfectionist, working on it :)

It's a...........

We were invited to a BBQ at our friends Erin and John's house.  Erin is preggo and due in Sept.  The purpose of the BBQ was to reveal the sex of the baby.  We were to wear blue if we thought it was a boy, or wear pink if we thought it was a girl.  For some reason, Tony and I have always thought it was a boy.  Probably because John and Erin really thought it was a girl. 
Here is a picture of everyone in their guessing colors.  It was 50/50.  (Andy's in blue boxers...)

And here are the winners!!!

Yay for Baby BOY Brockus!!  We are so excited for them.  They will be amazing parents!!

Grrrr...

I love my dog.  I really do.  Even when I come home to this...

My favorite brown flats destroyed.  I had only worn them about 4 times.  But then I look over at her...

How could you not love this face?? :)

Dear Mailman,

I'm sorry.  Thank you for bringing me goodies every day even though I'm sure you curse my name as you near my house. 

Sincerely,

Callie

I said that I would post the next time I got a big stash of goodies in the mail, so here it is. 

The run down:

Wine Spectator Magazine (get monthly)

Good Housekeeping Magazinge (get monthly)

2 sample bags of Rachel Ray dog food

2 coupons for a free bag of Rachel Ray dog food

Coupon for a free bag of Sun Chips

Glade Oder Eliminator Plug In + Coupons

Bounce Dryer Sheet Sample

Downy Fabric Softner Sample

Uniball Ink Pen

A Plan

Latley I have heard a lot of sad stories about happenings to people that I know, some I know directly and others I know of.  One after another it has seemed.  It makes me take time to think about how truely blessed I am.  I realized that I need to do this more often - reflect on how blessed I really am and remember to not take things in my life for granted.  I keep wondering why such terrible things can happen to wonderful people, but I just read a great quote giving me a new outlook. 

Instead of saying 'everything happens for a reason'.  I'm going to start remembering to think of it as 'God has a plan'.  I feel that this is more comforting. 

He does have a plan and even if we don't like it... I sure don't want to mess with Him. :) 

Lord, please be with all of the families who need you right now. 

Give them comfort. 

Keep them strong. 

Amen. 

Spring Storms

I arrive at work this morning, pull into the parking lot and it begins to pour.  Like pour pour.  I (of coarse) have no umbrella so I grab a random sweatshirt from my backseat.  (this is the exact reason that I have such a selection of things crap in my backseat... I will prove my point to Tony later).  Walk into work, soaked.  All of a sudden it gets super dark outside and the wind is blowing the rain like crazy... followed by a lot of thunder.  Tony and I were emailing back and forth wondering how Marg would handle the noise.

Tony got home at noon and I get this text:

'Marg pees when it thunders'

Can't help but laugh. 

Can't help but hope it wasn't on the couch. 

Can't help but be thankful Tony got home first.

April Fools

I've never been very attached to this 'holiday' as some call it.  Partly because I am not good at playing jokes on people or watching them get worried over something for no reason (I have a heart).  And partly because no one has ever really 'got me good'. 
This takes me to the email from my dear hubbs today saying that his boss chewed him out at the office and wanted him to just work 3 days a week, then stormed out.  He was worried about not working as much and a pay cut, blah, blah, blah.
So I'm feeling bad for him and thinking that maybe his boss was just in a bad mood.  I typed out this long 'i'm sorry' email in attempt to console him.
Reply back : April Fool's!!  Off to get my oil changed.  See you later!

You did it babe.  You got me.  
I didn't think he had it in him.

It's Hip To Save!

As some of you know- I have recently become obsessed with this website called Hip2Save.  http://www.hip2save.com/. 
It's a money saving blog run by a stay at home mom of 3.  She posts anything from printable coupons to current deals at restaurants and stores as well as free sample websites to score free stuff!!  I have quite the stash of sample size shampoo, conditioner, and lotion (just patiently waiting for my next trip).  I'm sure my mailman hates me.  I'll post a pic the next time I get a huge stash of free stuff in the mail. 
Some of my favorite things I've gotten:
Full size Pantene Shampoo
Full size Redken straightening balm
Full size Olay antiaging face lotion
Coupon for Free Duraflame Logs
Coupon for 2 free Excedrin Migrane
Free year subscription to Shape, Cosmopolitan, and Good Housekeeping magazine
And much more!

Reading her tips on saving money and how to use coupons to the max really inspires me to do the same.  Since I've started using coupons, I save an average of $35 every time I go to the store.  That adds up! 
I will admit... I was hesitate at first that I was going to feel like a homeless person at the checkout line, and I did, but I've gotten over that because of all the $$ I've saved.  Tony thought I was crazy at first and I don't think he'll ever go to the store with me and my coupons again, but he appreciates my effort.  He was really impressed when we received 2 packets of Rachel Ray dog food samples in one week that included coupons for 2 FREE  bags of dog food!! ($15-$18 value each).
I asked for a coupon organizer for Christmas and man did I get one!  It is the best thing ever!  I don't even care that I am that crazy coupon lady.  In fact, I've had multiple people compliment me in the store.  I was at HyVee yesterday cruising down the frozen food isle with my coupon book and this lady stopped me and wanted me to show her how I did it.  She was impressed and now I know that not everyone thinks I'm out of my mind.  However, I do feel bad for the people behind me in line... sometimes.  :)

Ducks & Guns

I was asked to volunteer at a Duck's Unlimited banquet with Gina and Emily.  We were going to be selling raffle tickets - No problem right?  About a week before, we come to find out that our easy job of looking cute and selling raffle tickets turned into looking cute and being bartenders!  Maybe the worst job for the three of us... not just because we had never bartended before, but because we were in charge of serving other people drinks instead of ourselves :)  Not to mention there was about 350 people there.
So, we show up and the guy in charge is asking us if we've ever done this before... 'no'.  He gives us the 'uh oh we are in trouble' look and wants to put an 'experienced' bartender with us.  We confidently tell him that we have drank enough in our lives to figure it out and he lets us be. 
We heard through the grapevine that we were the hit of night... maybe because we were cute, or maybe because we were serving strong enough drinks that everyone thought we were cute...
I will proudly say that we succeeded with no fatalities and no angry customers.  Only suggestions for next year... lighten up on the pours (the drinks don't need to be 1/2 and 1/2) and save the caps to the bottles (so we aren't left giving away Jim Beam shots at the end of the night as people walk out the door). 
We even had time for a picture:

And here are the souvineers we came home with... pink ducks unlimited hats and a wooden mallord. 

KKKKK SSSS UUUU WILDCATS!

How bout them cats???!!!!  I have had so much fun following them this year and couldn't be more proud of my boys!  Even with the 3 loses to KU - damn those jawhawks! 
I love Frank Martin more and more each game... he is so wonderful!  I'll admit, I was mad when Huggins left (the real reason being that I bought a 'Huggieville' shirt for $30 and he annouced he was leaving about a week later.  I almost mailed it to him asking for a refund)  but Frank has been a great surprise and staple for our school.  Even though every one says he is 'one scary dude'... this happens to be my favorite expression of his...

I'm so excited to see what the Cats will do in the tournament and ready to cheer them to victory.  If we somehow make it to the Final 4... Tony and I WILL be there :) 

Purple... get ready to roll!  Come onnnnn CATS!!!!

Green Beer!!

I'm a little late on posting a Happy St. Patty's Day post... but none-the-less, here it is anyways!

What a wonderful holiday!  I secretly wish I was Irish so I could truely celebrate and not feel like a fake - but all in all I LOVE everything Irish.  Green - love it.  Beer - love it.  Irish jig music - LOVE it!  If I could go anywhere over seas again, it would be Ireland.  My fam and I pub crawled our way through Ireland in the summer of 2004 and I couldn't get enough of it.  I like to think that is the reason I am not a beer snob.  However, I will admit I don't love Guiness...  hush, don't tell the Leprechans!  Harp may be my favorite beer... my mom and I even have a little hand sign for it.  Looks something like this...

On Wednesday, Tony and I decided that we had to celebrate this amazing holiday.  In Tony's words talking to Rizzo on the phone 'It's a drinking holiday... Callie is getting antsy'. 
Tony got off work at 1:00 (I guess his boss was antsy too) and when I got home we made our way to Fred P. Otts.  Now, this is no Irish bar but it's close to our house and we figured it wouldn't be too busy.  Don't get me wrong... if I had the choice, I would have had my butt on a barstool at Kellys in Westport about 8 am.  But when you get off work at 5, it's hard to be motivated to face the drunkards - even with green beer.  So to my surprise, P.Otts had green beer!  And Irish music!  And a lot of people in green!  YESSS!!  We called my parents and they came to meet us.  Dad ordered a small Guiness at first... silly move.  From there on out we all stuck with the biggies...  What a fun night it was!!  :)  Cheers!!! 

Best/Worst Movie Ever!

So Tony and I wanted to watch a movie last night and decided on Marley & Me.  Thinking it will be cute since we have Margo now.  From the second Marg hears a dog bark... she is hooked.  Jumps off of my lap and onto the ottoman directly in front of the TV.  If she could have gotten any closer - she would have.

If you haven't seen this movie, it is adorable.  It goes through the stages of getting a puppy and having it grow up with you as your family grows.  However, it is by far the SADDEST movie I have ever seen.  I don't think I've cried that much over a movie since My Girl.  I would like to say Tony cried too, but that man is a steel trap.  Clearly has no heart :) ... kidding.  After it was over he did say - 'why would anyone ever make a movie that sad??'  Even with the tears, I would recommend this movie to anyone that has a dog or has ever had a dog.  A must see - plus, your dog will actually watch it with you! :)