You Get What You Pay For

Yesterday the whole family (we have two family visitors in town this week) went out to the beach. We went to Fort Ord Dunes State Park. It was so beautiful out there and I love the walk to the beach. You have to walk through a valley between two big sand dunes. There are plenty of pieces of driftwood out there to sit on and get comfortable. The kids wore bathing suits and tried to brave the cold water, but mainly played in the sand and enjoyed trying to dig to China.

The adults had the most fun. We had bought an awesome kite from REI before heading out. I was a little hesitant about the price of the kite. The most I have ever paid for a kite is probably $10, but I wanted a really cool kite like you see all the other people flying. REI is awesome about returns, so I was willing to take a chance on the kite. We ended up paying $57 for the Jazz stunt kite...not the most expensive one, but not the cheapest.

I am sure you can find this kite online or somewhere else cheaper, but we are fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of people and we wanted to fly a kite THAT day. All you planners out there can do some price comparisons. Anyway, I had an awesome time flipping and zooming this kite at the beach. It would make all these great noises as it zoomed through the air. It had two lines and was for beginners, so it was very fun to learn how to control it in the air. It was a kite dream come true. I have always hassled with kites and run as fast as I could to make them get air, but this one was so easy. I guess you really do get what you pay for. Now I am thinking about the more expensive one for the next trip. Just saying and praying!

Celebrating Your Travels with Home Decor

You can share and celebrate all the places you have been and seen in unique ways. I like to use wall art and creative home decor. There are so many options and ways to get creative, but here are a few of my favorite.

I love my grouping of vintage postcard prints for all the states we have lived in. Still need to add a California print, but then that would mess up the symmetry. Some say "Greetings from" and some are the states with interesting landmarks marked. I ordered the foam backed prints from art.com and framed them myself.

One of my dear friends in Alaska had a map that she put different colored pins in marking their travels. You could have a different color pin for each person in your family. It was a great conversation piece and one that everyone talked about. I love, love, love this one from Frontgate. It is magnetic and even has an engravable magnetic plaque. I would rather my kids use the magnets to mark the places we have been.

Speaking of magnets, buying state magnets and arranging them on the fridge is a wonderful thing for the kids to do. It would be fun to search for and collect them on each trip.

There are some really great pillow options out there too! The felt state shaped ones on the end are customizable. You can get different colors and have the heart placed anywhere you want. I bought one of these for my Sis-in-law from http://www.alwaysfits.com/, but you can purchase them from a seller on etsy as well. Better yet, make your own! The first pillow is the cheapest of the three, and has a vintage feel, and the middle pillow is hand embroidered and can be found at http://www.uncommongoods.com/. All of these would make great gifts!

Another different home decor idea are lampshades. Below are two that I found online while shopping around. The first shade is covered with vintage California postcards. The second ones from uncommon goods have the "greetings from" motif. Not sure if these would go in my house, but they interesting none the less.

I try to pick things up as I go. If I can make a sled work in California, I am sure anyone can make any treasure work in their home.

I think the best home decor ideas to help me celebrate and remember all the places I have been are the ones I pick up on my travels. Oftentimes they are the most inexpensive (or free) but precious things I have. So I will try not to be afraid to display those things that help me remember and see where I have been and where I am going.

Just saying and praying!

Extreme Couponing

Today I tried my version of the extreme couponing thing. The best I have ever done before is clip a coupon and hope I remember to use it, so this time I wanted to take it a step further and shop the ads and print online coupons. I wanted to give this couponing thing a real good effort. Well here is how my one stop couponing shop went.

My grocery store had a special where I could buy 3 boxes of cereal and get 3 free, then I stacked on two manufacturers $1 off coupons (printed from the internet). So, my 6 boxes of cereal cost $9.28. Not bad considering I got three different kinds.

I used a store coupon I had for some beans, an internet coupon for fruit snacks, and really studied the weekly ad to make sure I was buying the right things at the right price.

I did find one surprising coupon online. It was from KC Masterpiece. They had a coupon for $2 off pork ribs when you bought one bottle of their BBQ sauce. That sounded like something I might enjoy for dinner tonight, so I printed the coupon and hoped it would work on the pork ribs. I had no idea you could use coupons on meat, but low and behold my pork ribs ended up being $2 less. When I asked an associate where the BBQ sauce was, she said I had just missed a buy one get two free on KC masterpiece products. That would have been an awesome thing considering there is also a KC Masterpiece coupon in the sunday stuffer (I was just too lazy to go looking for the paper). So if I had bought that stuff 2 days ago I could have gotten 3 bottles of BBQ sauce for around $1.69 and have still gotten my $2 off the pork ribs. Can you see how this could be addicting?

All in all, I spent 63.08, and thanks to coupons and buying store specials I saved $42.75. That is 41%! Not bad for my first time. Downside, I spent the WHOLE morning looking at the weekly ads and scouring the internet. Not sure if it is worth it, but I will definitely try it again. Today I am happy I saved a little money on things we buy anyway. Just saying and praying!

Constant Tourist

As a military family, we are constantly moving from state to state. For some of you out there this might seem like a terrible thing to have to do, but for me it is so much fun (I am really just trying to convince myself here).

So here are my top ten reasons I love to move (for those of you in the same sort of boat, make a top ten for yourself...who knows, it may make the next move a little easier)

10. Moving is an excuse to get rid of things you no longer need or like.
Go ahead and have that yard sale!

9. You can turn your move into a vacation.
I like to plan fun hotels to stay in like The Great Wolf Lodge, or pick interesting side trips along our way.


8. While packing or unpacking, I always find those long lost treasures I forgot I even had.
This last move I unpacked a box with the cutest little antique ice cream dishes that I had purchased years ago and were not unpacked from the previous move. They are now proudly displayed in the china cabinet.


7. The kids think it is Christmas.
I swear mine kept asking if they could unpack more "presents". I kinda feel the same way. I really enjoy opening the boxes!

6. You get to meet and make new friends.
Although it is hard to leave friends when you move, moving has afforded me the opportunity to meet the most interesting people. I have made wonderful, lasting friendships that take one phone call, text or email to start right back where we left off. Friends, I love you all.

5. Moving makes me realize how small a world we really live in.
It happens every move...I meet someone that went to my same college (WAR EAGLE) or knew one of my friends from high school and many more crazy coincidences. The military aspect makes the world feel even smaller. We tend to bump back into other military friends all the time, and look forward to the next time it happens.

4. I think I get a little bit more organized every move.
Not sure how many moves it will take to get to Martha Stewart status, but I am well on my way.

3. Moving is an excuse to buy new things!
I have friends that bought a travel trailer just for their cross country move. For me, I just moved to California, so I think it is high time I buy some rainbow flip flops!

2. Every time we move somewhere new, family wants to come visit.
I consider this a huge positive. I love sharing my life with my family.

1. I get to be a constant tourist!
I try to make the most of every new place. I want to see it all and find every tourist trap I can.

Here's to my friends from all different lands.
May your next travels be safe and full of fun!
Many blessings for my two traveling brothers.

Just saying and praying!