Saving Sites

For those of you (most of you) that know me well, you know that I'm very much a bargain shopping and love to save money. I figured I should share with you my top 3 favorite savings sites. Some of these might be a bit different than the typical saving sites.

1. Twice
This site allows you to purchase name brand clothing for a fraction of the original cost. It is previously owned, however they have strict guidelines on what they accept to sell. All of the things I've purchased has been in top-notch condition. The other awesome thing- you can also 'sell' your name brand items to them and receive money or store credit for your sale. What could be better? The fact that the shipping to send them your items is free! Neat, right?!? The website is super user friendly too. Love it! I'm pretty sure that since I referred you, you will receive a free $10 to get your started. If you load the app you will get more credit and once you do a 'sell' to them you will get credit again! They often have coupon codes to let you save 10 or 20% too. A great go to place when you need something new. Check it out when you get a chance.

2. Shopgoodwill
Who loves a great thrift score?!? This girl! If you are like me- you enjoy hunting and searching for a great find. Guess what--Goodwill has an online site that let's you do that too! AWESOME! I've been loving it! The set-up is very similar to ebay as far as bidding is concerned. Pay attention to additional shipping and/or handling charges. Some items can be a bit pricey to ship- however bids tend to be lower than that of ebay. An additional awesome thing about this site- they allow local pickup. So for anyone in Muskegon, you can do a specific search and only view items that are located in Muskegon. Then you are dodging the shipping costs. Pretty neat! The search function works great and allows consumers to use a keyword search or a category search. You will be able to find what you are looking for in no time!

3. MyPoints
I believe I've shared this site before- but I love the fact that you can earn free gift cards. On this site you earn points for completing surveys, clicking on email ads, and/or online shopping. Instead of going directly to the site you plan to purchase from- do so through MyPoints first. Each dollar spent will equal points that are distributed into your account. Once you have enough points you can redeem them for gift cards to your favorite store. Sweet, right?!?

So busy!

It's been awhile since I've taken the time to write a post. A ton has been going on in the last few months.

First, we celebrated my lovely grandpa's life with memories, laughter and tears. Since he passed on November 15th, the grand kids were shocked when there was a Christmas present for us from Grandpa. Knowing that grandpa loved the outdoors, wildlife and everything that goes with it, we received awesome metal wind chimes from Michigan in Metal. So touching that this was thought of back in October before grandpa passed away. Tears were shed, but memories will always be with us.

Second, I enjoyed my first Christmas as a wife. So blessed to be married to the one I love! We had multiple family get togethers to celebrate- so blessed for us both to be surrounding with so many people that we love.

Third, we rang in 2014 with friends, laughter and fun! We traveled to three different houses to enjoy some food, games, drinks and of course the ball drop! Next year might not consist of three places, but we just couldn't decide this year!

In between all of those major highlights we've still be busy! This week I'll be trying multiple new recipes. Let's hope I have some good luck with them. All of them have come from pinterest. Feel free to follow me here.

Another exciting highlight- my bestie decided to come back to facebook and join all of us crazies! We still managed to stay in good contact with each other- but facebook always helps too! Looking forward to our mini messages- posts and sharing :)

Until next time...

Sad news

Sadly, just after I posted on Friday- I got news that Grandpa passed away.

He was 100- lived an amazing life full of love and laughter- yet to doesn't ease the pain of loosing someone. We knew time was drawing near- but it was still tough to hear the news. This weekend we stayed strong with our family together- through the tears and the laughter we remembered. Through the stories and the games of cribbage we remembered. Grandpa was a wonderful man who taught so much to his kids, grand kids and great grand kids. He truly was a wonderful man.

Grandpa is now reunited with both the love of his life, and his daughter, my mom. Until the day that I see the three of you again- Love, Hugs and Kisses to all of you- take care of each other!

With true Grandpa spirit, we will be rocking our matching outfits at the funeral on Saturday- just as Grandma and Grandpa did for so many years! We know they both will love it!

If interested you can read his obituary here: http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/muskegon/obituary.aspx?n=ferris-hering&pid=168020464&fhid=21047

Wow week

So it appears that I haven't posted in the last 6 months. I would think of it here and there- and then time would escape me and it just didn't happen.

This week has been a wow week for me. Not because a bunch of good things have happened, but rather, a bunch of mixed emotions and struggles this week (with happiness built in between too). Things aren't going very well for my 100 year old grandpa. He took a few falls, went into the hospital to discover a blood infection and has since been at the Hospice House. Things aren't looking good. I mean, he is 100- we know he has lived an amazing life- but knowing you are going to loose someone still isn't easy. It's a tough time to go through, but we know in the end he will be in a better place. Last night they did a pinning ceremony for my grandpa. They do this to recognize veterans. It was a great ceremony, attended by extended family, even though grandpa slept through the entire thing!

In addition to that, I have a twisted and pinched nerve that has prevented me from fully turning my head this past week. I visited a chiropractor for the first time in my life- and saw a bit of relief that day- but the pain has persisted. Not a fun thing to deal with.

On happier notes, a few fun things happened this week- First, I won two tickets to the Big Ten Championship Football Game, including pre-game festivities, a hotel stay and a $100 gas card to get us to Indy! I'm super stoked about it- and although Brent isn't an Ohio State, or Michigan State fan (who will most likely be playing)- I know he secretly is excited to go for the experience. Second- I attended my first ever Cheerobix class last night. It was amazing! A great workout that went by quick and included a ton of laughs! I can't wait to go to the next class on December 4th- so fun! Hopefully by then I will have a full range of motion instead of this crummy pain!

I tried to upload pictures of most of these things- and blogger doesn't want to work- so this is all you get for today! :)

Wedding Whoops!

I've been pretty good with the entire wedding planning bit. I've been organized and getting things done on my to-do list. Last night Brent and I finished our last pre-marital counseling at the church. Afterwards I was talking to Sara regarding our invitations. It dawned on me- that we need to order them ASAP! So my to-do list today includes calling the company and ensure the turn-around printing time still fits with our mailing timeline. The invites have been on my mind, I just never got around to the actual ordering. We are pretty excited about our choice though! I can't wait for our guests to see them too! Too fun! I would share here, but that would ruin the surprise, I guess you will just have to wait and see!

Do you ever find yourself forgetting to do important tasks? I hope it's nothing too important.

On other wedding details- we had our food tasting last week. It went great! We narrowed down our food choices and boy were they yummy! I can't wait for everyone else to enjoy the yummies too! This weekend I plan on figuring out reception centerpieces and searching for our unity candle for the ceremony. Who knows, maybe I'll work on other details too! Any suggestions are welcome!

Happy Wednesday friends!

Throwback Thursday- 2007

The shirts Sara and I are wearing- pretty much sums us up! Girls weekend to Chicago. This picture is of Sara and I at Ikea!



Cathleen was living in Chicago at the time- she met up with us to enjoy dinner, drinks and games at Dave and Busters- so much fun!



On the way back to Michigan we stopped at the zoo in Michigan City! Great time with great friends. Makes me want a girls weekend again soon! Love you gals!

So...the thing is...

I'm excited that I've lost 50 pounds. The journey hasn't always been easy, but I feel such a sense of accomplishment!

But you see...there are other things that go along side weight loss. One of them being clothes. Clearly with the loss of pounds, there has been a change in clothing size. Thankfully my great friend Kristyn has passed along clothes as she has grown out of them (as I do once I've grown out of mine too). However, yesterday (a nice and sunny 70 degree day) I wanted to wear shorts or capris and learned that I didn't have any that fit. I will admit it is more fun to go clothes shopping now- it's much better than it was 50 pounds ago. Although, being on a budget, and saving for a wedding doesn't make spending money on clothes very fun! So, I'll slowly be adding things- buying at thrift stores, using sales and clearance prices and taking hand me downs from friends.

Since I've recently joined the gym I've purchased more workout clothes too. I had some luck finding these at JcPenny and Old Navy. Hopefully these pants don't fall down! (Don't laugh! I had that issue!) Soon on the docket to purchase will be some new athletic shoes too. If anyone has suggestions on shoes- I'd love to hear them. Remember though- I'm on a budget.

So you see...the thing is....along with exciting and accomplished things- comes unexpected challenges. I guess that's life! If everything was always good and exciting they wouldn't call it the roller coaster of life!