Swagbucks

For those of you who recently signed up and have asked me how Swagbucks works, here is a brief tutorial from my perspective. Don't take it as the be all end all because I'm just sharing how I personally use it but there are a lot of ways to get SB that I don't even delve into!

#1. SEARCH!! Search everything you do on the internet! By that I mean, when you are going to check your email don't go to the address bar and type in gmail.com (or whatever your email is), instead go to the Swagbucks search bar and type in gmail, THEN find the link and click. Some browsers all you to download the swagbucks search bar right to your window. Mine doesn't so I've just made Swagbucks my home page so anytime I open my browser (Safari) it automatically opens to Swagbucks. Then I have a bookmark for swagbucks at the top of my page so when I'm done checking my email and want to go to Facebook I click on the Swagbucks bookmark then search Facebook! Now this might seem complicated if you don't know what search bars, address bars, home pages and bookmarks are...find someone in your family who does and make them set it up for you :)

#2. COUPONS!! There is a website called coupons.com that you can download and print coupons from.  Well these came coupons are available on the Swagbucks website and you get 10 SB every time you use one! It takes awhile for them to show up but I PROMISE they do eventually!

#3. REFERRALS!! That's what you all are! Each time someone signs up under me I get a match of their first 1000 SB! And you can too!

#4. SWAG CODES!! I don't do these as often because they don't last very long. But if you like the Swagbucks FB page and sign up for their emails they will sometimes send out these codes that you enter on their main page for Swagbucks.

#5. SHOP & EARN!! If you do any kind of online shopping go through Swagbucks first. Then you earn Swagbucks for every dollar you spend.

Those are the main things I do. There are a lot of things you can use your Swagbucks to purchase but I stick mostly to Amazon, Walmart and Target Gift Cards. You can get a $5 Walmart or Target gift card for 500 SB. (Amazon $5 is only 450 SB)

A few things to note:
1. It takes a few weeks to get your gift card so I usually "order" it as soon as I get to 500 SB. You will get an email saying that it is ready in your account and you can either print it out or use it online or on your smart phone.

2. Don't get discouraged if you don't start earning SB right away! I've found that the longer I use it the more often I earn them. I've been using Swagbucks to search for over 3 years. When I first started it seemed like I maybe earned them twice a week and now I earn them 3 or 4 times a day. (although I do spend a lot of time online :p)

Let me know if you have any questions! I'll try to help if I can :)

Cheap is great but FREE is better!

So instead of just obnoxiously posting pictures on facebook of the stuff I'm getting free I figured I would post them here with links to the coupons. 99% of my info comes from Pocket Your Dollars.

Here is my latest find:

Marzetti's Caramel Dips. There are a few different kinds and right now they are 2/$4 at Cub (don't know how long that's going to last). Here is the link for $2 off 1. Most computer will let you print 2 coupons. http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=Q5YVMYY3H2BHW

A few things from this photo (the other stuff I had to double coupons to get free):

Kikkoman Fried Rice Seasoning (there are other seasonings too) $.89 at Rainbow. This coupons is for $1 off any Kikkoman product. http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=VPMTXIMHXGV3W

Duncan Hines Frosting Flavor Packets $.99 at Rainbow this coupons is for $1 off.

http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=JBHLRUTBE2ZSI

Another one I just got but didn't take a picture of is Mountain Dew Kickstart. I guess it's a new kind of Mountain Dew?? Anyway, I got mine at Rainbow but I've seen it a bunch of other places for $.99 and this coupon is for $1 off. http://msm.mysavings.com/offer/offer.asp?id=11469

Saturday Steals-My new part time job...

I love couponing. I have for awhile but recently I started watching "Extreme Couponing" on Netflix. It's pretty crazy! But I got a lot of good tips. I've had some pretty great savings in the past but today was my biggest. Still nothing compared to those ladies on TV but I'm pretty excited about it! Here's how my Saturday went down...

Rainbow was having Double Double Daze which means they will double up to 10 manufacturer's coupons. I don't normally shop at Rainbow because I feel like they're prices are to high to begin with, but they had some pretty great store coupons which can be combined with the manufacturer's coupons that are being doubled. So I set to wrk this morning around 10:30 figuring out what I was going to get, what the best deals were and finding all the coupons I needed. Here is where I spent the next several hours.

Notice the two computers (this does not include the desktop that was also on)..that gray USB cord got quite a workout going from the printer to one computer to another and another then back again! I spent about an hour trying to print coupons from my Mac laptop but the only ones that worked were the Target coupons (and even those it would only print half of). Everything else printed TINY :( After a lot of struggling and some yelling (at no one) I drug out our ancient, giant PC laptop.

I had to print one coupon at a time but they were finally the right size and I got all the ones I needed! I looked through the online ads on the Mac laptop because the PC is about as slow as molasses.

Eventually I made my way to Rainbow and Target with my lists and coupons! Notice my Rainbow list is twice as long as the Target one. I ended up with 1 bag from Rainbow and five from Target! A lot of what I wanted to get at Rainbow was either already gone or not a good enough price even with a doubled coupon.

Rainbow was frustrating for me because I never shop there so I don't know where anything is. Plus I was nervous about all my coupons working. It took me FOREVER to find the stupid shampoo! It was nowhere near the other health & beauty stuff :( I finally had to ask a manager who was stocking shelves. He laughed and admitted that it was in a totally awkward place and said customers always have to ask where it is...this doesn't seem like a very good business plan to me...but anyway I finally found what I needed!

The retail value of what I purchased at Rainbow was $29.38 and I paid $15.22 which means I saved $14.16. Almost half!

Next came Target. I love Target :) I spend far too much time there but I know where everything is! I had already been to Target twice that week so I knew they had several $5 gift card deals which is one of my favorite things! My list was short but complicated! 

I needed to buy 4-8 Dove items to get $5-10 in gift cards and I had 8 coupons. HOWEVER, there were about 20 different items with all different prices that I could purchase for this deal. LONG Story (and a LOT of calculating) short...I ended up with 4 Body Washes and 4 two-packs of deodorant.  $34.60 worth of product and after coupons and gift cards I paid $15.60 or $1.30 for each item.

Then came the shaving cream. I got 5 cans, 2 of which were free, paid $2.09 each for 3 of them, had $2.05 in coupons which in the end means each can cost me $.84.

Next was the Garnier Fructis Shampoo and Conditioner. They were $2.99 each and I had $2 worth of coupons for each of them so I only paid $.99 PLUS I got a FREE travel size shampoo :)

And then there were the vitamins! I take 2 Vitamin D pills a day and I go through a lot of bottles a year so finding a deal on Vitamin D always makes me happy! I usually end up getting the Nature Made brand because they have a rewards program! Target had a special for buy 3 Vitamin D and get a $5 gift card. I had 3 coupons so in the end I got each bottle that originally cost $4.89 for $2.22.

I got a few other random things and used my two $2 gift cards that I got free through Shopkick, plus another $1.50 coupon.

I ended up doing 6 transactions so that I could use the $5 gift cards right away instead of bringing them back for my next shopping trip. I had to tell three different people who came up behind me that I was doing lots of transactions and they all thanked me and found a new checkout lane ;) The cashier was SO nice and helpful!

After all was said and done I got $131.60 worth of stuff (including my Rainbow purchase) for just $66.53. A savings of $65.07!! Just short of 50%! $60 still seems like a lot but I have to remind myself that the majority of what I got is health & beauty stuff which is typically more expensive.

There you have it! If you made it all the way through this I applaud you! I can't wait to do more couponing...now I have to go clean up my dining room floor...Here's everything I got!

Bedroom Redo

So weeks ago I decided to redo my bedroom. I wanted to do it for less than $50 since I had to use my own money. Plus I like a challenge! See the bottom of the post for my budget vs. what I spent!

I really had no idea what I wanted to do just that I was tired of brown and blue. I began perusing Pinterest and fell in love with gray and yellow.

Now one thing you should know before I start this before & after post is that I'm terrible about taking before pictures. I never remember until I've already started...

The Walls...

Started out brown (the blue flowers were only on this wall)

In process...

End result: gray!

The Curtains...

These were our blue curtains. Notice I forgot to take a before picture BEFORE we took all the drawers out of the dresser...The curtains we had before were a lot longer so I had to hang them up high. I've been wanting to lower them since I got the blue ones but I never got around to it. I was so excited to do it now and in the end I had to fold up the bottom of the new curtains because they were too long! But I wasn't ABOUT to move them AGAIN!

I had budgeted $10 for curtains from Goodwill. I wasn't sure if I wanted gray or yellow. I ended up with Cream and Gray. Since our blue curtains were lined I wanted to make sure I had 2 layers of curtains. I dyed the cream colored curtains yellow and sewed them to the top of the gray. Since they weren't as wide I got a nice set of gray "stripes" on either side of the yellow! :)

 Tada!

Like I said...the curtains were longer than I anticipated so I bubbled the bottom and it's being held closed by a t-shirt rose I never wear.

Over the bed...

I knew I wanted something over the bed. I searched Pinterest for a sign or clever saying and ended up with "You Are My Sunshine"...it seemed fitting with the yellow theme. I bought an old shelf at Goodwill for $1.49, took off the brackets and modge podged letters cut out on my cricut.

I had 2 white picture frames hanging over our dresser for years (only 1 had a picture) so I moved those, added yellow backgrounds and new pictures.

Before...

 After!

Over the dresser...

Like I said the two white picture frames were originally over the dresser. I didn't get a picture of them but you're not missing anything. I tried to hang them asymmetrically and it didn't turn out well, plus one was empty. So, what to put over the dresser now?? While looking through a box for a different picture frame I found a stack of small framed pics that I'd had hanging in our old house. The frames were from Ikea (the cheap kind that don't even have glass). I had stained them but I wanted to keep things mostly white in the bedroom so I painted them. Then because I'm lazy and didn't want to individually hang all the frames I glued them together!

The Other Wall...

I have to have my full length mirror and for most of the time we've lived in this house it's been sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. It was briefly hung but in the middle of the night it fell off the wall, scaring the be-jeebers out of us! 

The one picture that had been hanging over the dresser is one of our favorites so I decided to move it to this wall. I hung the mirror and frame with yellow ribbon to bring more yellow into the room.

The Bed...

I knew I couldn't afford a new comforter so I went back and forth about what to do. I considered trying to dye our old one gray but finally decided to buy some king size sheets and make a duvet. Let me tell you I was NOT looking forward to it but it was really my only option. So I budgeted $15 for sheets at Goodwill. I walked in and went straight for the bedding area and the first thing I pulled out was a king sized gray duvet cover. Yes. You read that right. Exactly what I needed...for $2.99! 

Our old comforter...

The new Gray duvet!

The Lamps...

I actually wasn't sure if I was going to change the lamps because it wasn't really in the budget but since I got the bed covered for $2.99 I decided I could swing it! I found 2 awesome white lamps at Goodwill but they didn't have shades so I ended up getting shades at Walmart. Believe it or not the lamps (including shades) ended up being my most expensive purchase.

The lamps originally had gold trim...

I painted it gray and put a satin sealer over it. It's not perfect but it works!

The Budget...

Here's how it turned out:

                 

Paint - 

(Budgeted) $15  (Actual) $8.97

Duvet - 

(B) $15 (A) $2.99

Curtains - 

(B) $10 (A) $9.96

Sign - 

(B) $2 (A) $1.49

Ribbon - 

(B) $2 (A) $.62

Pictures - 

(B) $2 (A) $2.94

Dye - 

(B) $2 (A) $2.87

Lamps - 

(B) $0 (A) $5.98

Shades - 

(B) $0 (A) $9.94

Total Budgeted = $48/ Total Spent $45.76

There you have it! I love all the new stuff. Jarrod hates the gray. That's life :) 

There's an app for THAT too!

My latest favorite money saving app is called...

Ibotta
This app is full of coupons! Here's the basics:

Choose an item in the list of 50+ and picks ways to earn. Some of them have quick one question surveys, some have a short video to watch, some you can share on facebook. You pick and the money adds up.

THEN, you shop! When you purchase things on your list you take a pic of your receipt with your phone then scan the items barcode and BOOM the money enters your account! It's a few steps but honestly the coupons are really good! I got free chapstick!!

You get $5 just for signing up and $1 for every person you refer.

Click on the name above to join!!

There's an app for that!

I've been encouraged by some friends to blog again. And since I'm always insisting they try new money saving apps they suggested I write a post about them so all the world can join in the fun! :)

Let's start with...

Shopkick

So far I've had this app for 3 months and I've earned $20 in Target Gift Cards. There are other gift cards you can get but since I frequent Target I found them to be the most valuable. It takes 500 "kicks" (which is just a fancy name for points) to get a $2 Target Gift Card. I'm terrible about saving up my gift cards so I basically use them as soon as I get them and just look at it as a $2 coupon off my grocery bill.

The app can be a little tricky to figure out at first but once you get it, it's super easy! There are 5 ways to earn kicks (I only use 4 of them)

1. Walk in the store. Yes it's as easy as that. Just make sure your ShopKick app is open, walk in the store and boom you get kicks! It can be anywhere from 25-200 kicks.

2. Scan items. For some stores there is a list of items you can scan as you walk through the store.

3. Flip through "Lookbooks". Each store on the ShopKick list has "books" you can look through. Basically just advertisements although occasionally there are coupons. The books with blue stars at the top have free kicks inside.

4. Bonus Board. To be honest I haven't totally figured this one out but occasionally something pops up saying I got kicks on my bonus board and I say "Yay!"

5. Spending Money. This is the one I don't use. If you link your credit card to the app then some stores give you kicks for spending a certain amount of money.

So there you have it! Click on "Shopkick" above to join!

Come back tomorrow (or maybe the next day) for another exciting app recommendation!

This poor blog...

...is so neglected :( I feel bad that I really never have anything to say.

Anyway, I started a new teacher blog that I will hopefully keep up with since it serves and actual purpose. Check it out!

School Age is a HOOT!

Refashioned Dress/Shirt

So I've been dying to recycle an old piece of clothing into something new for awhile now. I see all these amazing pics on Pinterest and of course think "I can do that!"

I had a dress that my Mommy gave me that is such a pretty color and so cute on the hanger but unfortunately it and my hips did not get along. So I decided to turn it into a shirt or two.

Original

The quality of this picture is awful and I'm new to Picnik so it's not a great adjustment either. Anyway my idea had been to move the ruffles from the bottom up and make it a ruffly shirt. So I cut the ruffles off the bottom VERY CAREFULLY which if you know my patience level then you know that was very hard for me to do! :)

Unfortunately once I got it cut apart and tested it the way I wanted to do it it didn't look as nice as I thought it would. So for now I ended up with this...

If anybody has any ideas what I can do with the ruffle part let me know!

Chili's Kids Eat Free

Try Again

Well I fell off the Joy bandwagon a LONG time ago but I'm ready to jump back on! Things have been a little tense lately and I've spent many an evening moping around the house. So today I decided it's time for a little joy! Last time I dubbed it 100 days of joy but quite frankly counting UP to 100 can be quite daunting so this time I'm counting down to 1!

So here we go...#100

At work this week I've been waiting...and waiting...and waiting...on a possible change. And I'm still waiting. But in the meantime a different change came about today and I'm super excited! So today I'm finding joy in good change. (And never going hungry! ;))

Feel free to share your joy for the day! God Bless, Vesta

Out of the mouths of moms teachers

So I'm not a mom but I am a teacher and have heard myself saying some funny things from time to time...here are a few from today :)

* Don't lick the baby's head please

* Please don't eat the baby's hand.

* Why are you slapping the baby's head? (baby doll btw)

There are so many weird things I say everyday that I don't really keep track anymore but my all time favorite thing that I will never forget saying is...

* Please don't rub the bread on your armpit!

Click the banner above to read more funny things :)

So...it's been awhile...

Yeah so I fell of the joy wagon...well not completely...to be honest the reason I got behind on blogging about it and about proclaiming it is because things have pretty much been joyful for awhile now :) I kept feeling guilty that I was behind on blogging and I kept forgetting to ask J what his joy was or tell him about mine and then one day I realized it was because I wasn't conciously searching for joy each day I was just enJOYing it!

Now onto other things...

Tonight at small group we discussed (among LOTS of other things) characteristics and attributes of Christ. One thing that I thought about was that Jesus was relational and I suddenly started thinking about when Jesus was in the garden praying before his crucifixion and the disciples fell asleep. I almost started crying thinking about how Jesus just wanted a relationship with the disciples...he wanted them to be there WITH him and instead they fell asleep. And sadly that's exactly what I do...there's so much about Jesus and God and the Bible and Christianity that I don't know anything about or that I don't understand but I know that Jesus wants a relationship with me and 90% of the time I fall asleep (sometimes literally).

On a positive note my class schedule changed for this trimester and it's wonderful! Praise the Lord! :)

100 Days of Joy - Back that thing up!

Wow, so I'm close to a week behind! Don't worry I've still been finding joy :) just haven't been posting it...hopefully I can remember some of them!

Day 24 (Saturday) - Today I found joy in getting things done! AND in hanging with hubs!
So I had class today...which is ok because I enjoy these classes AND I met with my advisor and finally put all my classes on paper! Sadly I discovered that I can't student teach in the spring of 2011 because there aren't 12 weeks of school left...SO I have to wait until Fall of 2012...BUT at least I have an actual date for it now! And that should make those of you who don't want us to move happy... ;)

Also when I got home from school J and I were going to go to Red Lobster but he was on call for work and he got called in right before I got home, so I went with him. Now going on a call with hubby doesn't sound like the most exciting thing because mostly I just sit in his van while he goes and fixes people's furnaces (don't worry, he leaves it running for me!) but I really like going with him. There's something sexy about a hard workin' husband...just sayin' :)

Day 25 (Sunday) - Today I found joy in sleeping in.
Alright...I skipped church...there I said it. I overslept in the first place and had a monster headache and I haven't slept in in weeks. So I slept until noon, ate lunch and by 1:30 I was ready for a nap! ;) Although I never actually did go back to sleep but I did laze around all day...

Day 26 (Monday) - Today I found joy in shopping with hubby!
I can't believe I just said that...But really I did. We have put off going to Aldi for over two weeks...our cupboard were BARE! So we just bit the bullet and went. What I like about shopping with hubby is that we always get done so quick...I seriously take forever when I'm by myself...even when I'm trying to hurry!

Day 27 (Tuesday) - Today I found joy in setting up my classroom observation FINALLY!
So my observation starts on Friday. I've had this all set up with my job for over a week and my first paper is due on Saturday BUT I didn't actually have a school to go to until today! PLUS I get to go to Meadowcreek Christian School! I observed a junior high class there last year and I just love the school and can't wait to go back!!!

Day 28 (TODAY) - Today I found joy in kiddos.
Just when I think they're going to drive me up the wall (it's been a long week again!) they go and say or do something absurdly cute or sweet or smart and it's all over for me. I'm in love with them all over again. I imagine this is how a parent feels except I get it x7 each day! Lucky me :) Plus I get to send them home with someone else! Although I get the frustration x7 too...so it's a toss up...But seriously I've had some major cases of the terrible two's in my room the last few weeks...testing and trying my patience at every turn but when one of them holds out their arms for a hug, or lays their head on your shoulder when you hold them, or sits next to you and watches you cut out paper hearts for ten minutes without moving, or gets excited over a box of paper, or picks up toys without being forced, or makes and adorable face while singing the Monkeys and the Alligator song during the "along comes Mr. Alligator" part, or falls asleep on their own at naptime, or sleeps ALL THE WAY THROUGH NAPTIME!, or tells you when they have to go potty, or gets excited to "go potty" everytime someone mentions it, or sings the "Who is here today" song all by themselves when no one is watching (or at least they THINK no one is watching), or carries around a baby doll holding it close and kissing it's head (then throws it across the room when daddy comes to pick them up...but whatever), or gets excited about "circle time", or carries their carpet square all the way across the room alone even though the "square" is almost bigger than they are, or helps a smaller child get a chair for lunchtime...I could seriously go on and on...but all these things and more are what make me love my job!

What's your joy today?

Oh and here's an updated picture of our box :)

100 Days of Joy

Day 23 - Today I found joy in a GINORMOUS box!
So yesterday I call hubby from work and he say's "I got a present for you. You can use it at work." and I ask "What is it?" because I hate surprises and he says "It's a box." The normal persons response would be "A box? Gee thanks..." but my response was "YAY! Is it a big one?" "It's huge" says hubby "It's an oven box. I don't even know if you'll be able to get it in car." And now picture me jumping up and down gleefully at the thought of this box to which hubby responds "You're crazy."

Move forward to today when I pry open the back of hubby's work truck at 7:15am in the FREEZING cold and see THE BOX! He wasn't kidding, it's HUGE! GINORMOUS even. I pull it out, drag it across the driveway and manage to just barely get it in my car. I'm a rearview mirror driver so I got a good look at the top of the box all the way to work because I kept forgetting it was there. I drug it inside my classroom at work then told all my co-workers to come see the present hubby got for me! Everyone of course loved it (although probably not quite as much as me)and the kids loved it most of all! They grabbed books and climbed right in. How two years olds know without prompting that a HUGE box is a GREAT place to enjoy a book is beyond me but they're right! I wish I had a huge box to crawl into sometimes.

My kids LOVE boxes, of all shapes and sizes...we have a whole corner of our classroom dedicated to cardboard boxes. One is long and skinny and typically gets turned into a boat, several are average sized diaper boxes which get worn as hats, used as cars or even shoes. One is painted like Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars (courtesy of me thank you very much) although he is torn on the side so he has to remain stationary while the others get pushed and pulled around the room all day. We also have the "pumpkin house" which is an orange box with black stripes, a door and windows. The pumpkin house is used for reading books, hiding from Miss Vesta, spilling tears or playing peek-a-boo with friends. And NOW we have the GINORMOUS box! I can't wait to see all the things they'll use it for!

100 Days of Joy

Day 22 - Today I found joy in HAPPY HAIR!
So one of my little girls at work who is two always has her hair in a ponytail and one day she started pointing to her hair and saying happy hair and my co-worker and I FINALLY figured out after several days I think that "Happy Hair" means pigtails! We confirmed this with her mother when she said that once the girl had not been happy with just one ponytail so she put two in and said "there, are you happy?" So now happy hair is the thing to have in Miss Vesta's class and nearly every morning all the girls (with hair...) stop at the "beauty shop" (a.k.a. the blue chair) to get happy hair! Some of the boys ask for happy hair too but I have to tell them sadly that they don't have enough hair... :(
I wish I could show you pics of my kiddos happy hair because their's is WAY cuter than mine! But here's my happy hair for you...

100 Days of Joy

Day 21 - Someday's it's REALLY hard to find joy...

Today was one of those days. CRAZY kids at work who test and try my patience for 8 hours straight...homework homework homework to do on my lunch break...figuring out how to fit 20 hours of classroom observation into a 40 hour work week plus school and once again homework...ridiculously cold weather...a trip to the chiropractor for tension headaches...it just seemed like it would never end and even if it did all the things that made today bad will STILL be there tomorrow...

BUT in spite of all that I came home, had dinner with my hubby and some quiet time and all is right with my world. Joy at last ;)

100 Days of Joy - Behind Again!

Day 18 (Sunday) - Today I found joy in portable Mike.
If you weren't there you probably won't find it funny ;)

Day 19 (Monday) - Today I found joy in hubby making me dinner!
I had to work late on Monday so I didn't get to the gym until after 7pm. Hubby finished working out then went home and made dinner for me :)

Day 20 (Today) - Today I found joy in hubby...
Ok I know it seems like hubby is my go-to joy but seriously when I have a bad/looong day at work (like I did today) coming home to my wonderful hubs is about the best thing a girl could ask for!

100 Days of Joy

Day 17 - Today I found joy in a quiet space and finishing homework early
I went to the library after class today and worked on homework. I'm such a procrastinator generally but it's so nice to get stuff done early and the library forces me to do that. I love the library at school, it's so quiet!

100 Days of Joy

I tried to post yesterday's joy last night but blogger wasn't working so here's yesterday's and today's...
Day 15-Today I found joy in music.
Whether you have the same taste in music as me or not doesn't bother me. Believe or not I actually have quite a broad range of musical tastes. I LOVE listening to classical (99.5 FM) and we listen to it everyday at naptime at work. I find it calming and sometimes intriguing! I like Third Day and Sara Groves, Ginny Owens, lots of different country musicians, Metro Station, Honor Society, Grits, Kris Kross (they'll make ya jump jump), I even enjoy a little Metallica now and again and yes we all know I LOVE the Jonas Brothers. Well I love their music, I don't actually know THEM. too bad...but my rambling point here is that I JUST love music. It feeds my soul, it makes me smile, sometimes cry, shout, dance. It moves me like nothing else can. I went to see Nick Jonas and the Administration in concert tonight and what struck me was the intensity with which he sings. That was a weird sentence but anyway he is obviously moved by music. Music brings people together, it tell stories, it lets people express themselves. I just love it and I always will!

Day 16 - Today I found joy in far away friends.
Well this kind of comes from yesterday but it spilled over into today so there. I have a group of friends who live far away from me. Most of them I've never met in person and we don't have a TON in common but we get each other in many ways. I'm sure we won't all keep in touch forever but I know they understand things about me that other people don't. Plus they make me smile and they give really good pep talks.

100 Days of Joy

Day 14 - Today I found joy in the little things!
--Found my favorite earrings in the whole world which I thought I'd lost at the gym, lying in the snow outside my car this morning!!

--One of my kiddos wearing a toy construction helmet and pushing it down on his nose which wrinkled up his skin and made him look like a Star Trek creature which made me laugh...a lot!

--Getting to work on time AGAIN :)

--Getting permission to leave early tomorrow so I can make it to the Meet & Greet in time!

--Finding a 7th row ticket online tonight :)

--Hubby starting dinner before I got home.

--A visit to the chiropractor to hopefully get rid of my headaches!

--Getting my car washed FINALLY!!!

--A happy heart <3