Happy Birthday card

I made this card for my boss as he requested a card for his sister.

I used a template that I hadn't done before from CPS. I used zebra print paper for the back, and then 5 other papers as well as some heart ribbon. It is bright and cheery -- hopefully it'll be a good thing for his sister.

Food, food, & more food!

This week has been full with baking. I started Sunday with No Bake cookies. I'm very surprised that they turned out. Every time I've tried to make them here in Tennessee, they have not set up. I was determined though!

For Monday night, I made Strawberry Shortcake. It was a really easy recipe with biscuits from a can and whipped topping made from heavy whipping cream. We enjoyed this with the members from our small group.

Tuesday night I made a Tollhouse pie for birthday lunch Wednesday. It's just a pre-made pie crust with a filling including chocolate chips -- almost like a big chocolate chip cookie. I also started working on a birthday cake for Thursday. I should finish the cake tonight and then start on making banana walnut bread for a birthday party this weekend.

Running Friend

As you know, I have picked up the "joy" of running over the last several years. Although I've had opportunities to run with a college friend (about 12-13 years ago) and then off and on during the time we lived in Michigan (about 6-7 years ago), it hasn't been but for the last 3 years that I've regularly ran. Sometimes this has been about 10 miles a week, other times just 2 or 3. But, building up the endurance is important to overall health and I'm pressing forward.

Anyway, over the last few months I've had a co-worker that's started running some too. There's a bunch of things going on in her life, and I made this card to let her know I was praying for her.

I used my standard 2"x3" business card with 3 papers. I punched out a circle to put the butterfly sticker on (to help it stand out). I attached the circle with 3-d tape and wrote her name along the bottom side.

More cards!

I made a few cards this weekend for some people at work. I'll have more as the week goes on since there's a couple things happening at the end of the week.

This first card has three different papers. I used a common design that I like to use, with the two patterns of papers, but did a little bit different since you wouldn't have seen what I was writing on the brown print. I added a blue strip to the top and decided not to round the corner in the top right. I added some blue ribbon and a flower sticker to top it off.

This is for a co-worker whose dad just died last week.If you've followed me long, you'll notice this design as well. I originally did this design for a co-worker's project and then have liked it so much, I've continued on using it. I used some paper that had swirls on it and then added the congratulations paper as a band in the middle. I looped some white ribbon through the swirl design to complete it.

This card is for a co-worker whose oldest son is getting married next weeked. I did calligraphy on the inside which says, "May God richly bless you and your marriage."

This last card used 5 different papers and some purple organdy ribbon. I liked how the papers complemented each other. I just added a simple "Happy Birthday!" on the front and a message on the inside - "wishing you a happy birthday!"

This is for a co-worker who has a birthday at the end of the week.

Big Savings!

We had a quick trip to Publix & Kroger today and this is what we got -- $68.17 worth of items for $19.85, savings of 71%. We got a few items for free - milk, deoderant, body wash and they actually paid us to take the 2 packages of cough drops!

We're making a conscious effort to track our spending so that we can do a better job on knowing where our money goes. We want to save some money for a trip to Michigan in June.

Trifle

Here's an awesome dessert that I got the recipe from my friend Judy. This is a trifle with a chocolate pudding mixture, cool whip, and brownies. We had planned to bring it to a friend's house on Saturday night, but she was ill and we got "stuck" with it! You can see that we've already eaten half of it.

Doesn't this just look yummy?!

Big Savings!

It may be a little hard to read these receipts, but there are lots of savings going on!!! In this weekend's shopping venture, $121.67 of product was purchased for $39.43. Both Kroger and Publix have been having special deals over the week. Kroger had their Daytona 500 sale - buy 10 items and save $5. Publix had their Viva Italiano sale buy 20 items and save $5.

This is a savings of 68% or $82.24!!!

So, I'm stocked up on raviolis, soup, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and various other items for quite a while. If you haven't gotten on the bandwagon on stocking up, then I would suggest just taking a few minutes and checking out Southern Savers. Start off by selecting the grocery store that you often visit (tabs on the top right side) and check out the sale flyer match-up that Jenny does. If you can look at what's on sale and pair it with coupons she suggests (either from the newspaper or on-line), you'll be on your way to saving big. The goal is to buy on sale with coupons and stock up so that when the item you use is not on sale and you need it, you can just go in your cupboard and pull one out.