Coupons, Coupons...here I come!!!!

COUPONING EVENT = MIND BOGGLING. 

I didn't really know what I was getting myself into.

Daron fought me tooth and nail to not go.

He even tried to convince me to leave my wallet at home. 

He was so petrified that I was going to spend all this money and that the whole thing was a scam.

Boys. So funny. How come they don't trust us Women with our wallets?

Anyway, I am now on a serious quest to try couponing for myself. I have always wanted to but have just been so unfamiliar with coupons and thought it took way too much time. 

I needed a little PUSH to get me started. 

I definitely got just that!

 

 

The instructor had all of these items sitting on the table at the front (there may have been more I just can't remember all of them). She proceeded to say how, depending on what grocery store you buy at, a person is going to spend around $50 dollars for all of this. She then asked all of us what we thought she spent on everything.

Someone guessed $15 (I thought that was low. I was thinking $18 instead of 50) Someone else guessed $12. 

Then she told us. (This is where  I gasped and my mind was boggled.)

She spent... $2. 87

All I could think in my head was-

THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE. 

It's just not. It can't be. There is NO way. 

She told her story of how her family used to have a grocery budget of $650 for the 5 of them (It is her, her husband and 3 kids). I guess that's pretty standard for a family of that size. She says, now, they thrive on a grocery budget of $213. That includes diapers and acquiring food storage.

Is this a joke or what!? I'm still puzzled by the experience. She then went on to describe how the combination of buying something on sale and with a coupon can make it so things are FREE or the store owes you money for it. I had heard of women before that don't leave the grocery store "unless it is paying them." I never understood what they were talking about. 

Now, I do!

There are a lot reasons people think of to not use coupons. (I was one of them.) I still wonder in my head- is this too good to be true? I'm going for it anyway. It doesn't hurt to try. There obviously was a lot more detail that the instructor when into. This is the 2 second version. I was surprised how many questions the women had. They were definitely giving her a run for her money. She had remedies for ALL the concerns!! 

It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

So yeah, I admit it. I totally fell for the whole thing.

And now that I have semi-convinced Daron, the trial begins. Believe it or not, it is TOUGH to convince this guy!

Will it work for us???????

Only time will tell :)

Are You Prepared?

Alright. I am not posting this to be a "dooms dayer" or cause fear. But this is just darn right creepy.

(this first 30 seconds of this is pointless. you might want to skip ahead)

I literally have been telling Daron for months now that "we need to get 72 hour kits and food storage!" It's pathetic. I mean honestly...how much needs to happen before I get my booty into gear!? What is it that they say? The road to you know where is paved with "good intentions." 

Yeah...that is all I have. Empty words with nothing to show for them. 

It is always in the back of my mind how I really should get those things together. Procrastination is seriously my worst enemy. 

Tomorrow I am getting 72 hours kits.

On Saturday, from 5 - 630 I am attending a little meeting with just a small group of people that discusses how to save hundreds at the grocery store and how to start your food storage. Give me a ring a ling if you would like to come!

I am officially putting an end to this anxiety and feelings of unpreparedness.

Hallelujah! 

Girl Power

Girls Nights.

Why do these make me oh so happy?

I love my husband. Dearly. 

But there is something about a night where you just get together with your girlfriends and have "girl talk." It makes me feel Empowered. Loved. and just plain old Happy. I can't think of anything that can replace a good laugh with your girlfriends.

Saturday night, "the girls" (Me, Ellery, Cat, Jessica and Lindsay) actually saw the Justin Beiber movie. And enjoyed every second of it.

(why aren't you in this picture??)

I just gotta say that boy is BRAVE. I couldn't believe how daring he was and how much he did not care what people said or thought. People told him no. It didn't matter. He was going to sing for you anyway. It was very refreshing to watch someone just be so vulnerable so freely. I feel like we could use a lot more of that in this world.

An unexpected surprise in the movie was this adorable man.

Wow. I love him. He sort of makes me melt. My favorite line was when we were walking out of theater and Ellery goes, "Justin Beiber is cute. But Man, that Jaden is sexy!!"
We all started laughing because we really don't know how a 12 year old can be sexy.
We just know HE IS.

A day with the GIRLS is refreshing and rejuvinating. You get to talk, and talk, and talk. What GIRLS do best.

And of course what girls are notoriously known for...

Shopping.

Not my strong suit. But I am learning. Slowly.To be a part of the YOUNG fam' you gotta learn!

I still to this day have to send pictures to Shalice and ask... "Is this okay?" or "Does this work?"

Then I have to send Daron pictures with this face. Obviously showing that I have no strategy of convincing him to let me get something besides beg.

( I love Kirstin's booty pokin' in there though. Lookin' gooood girl! :)

Then of course there are those items that it doesn't matter how good/bad/great/mediocre you are at shopping your heart just skips a beat when you see it. For me, it was this adorable jacket. Man oh man. I was eyeing this thing like no other. 

(A girl can dream right?)

The best part about being with the girls is you never know what to expect. The whole reason Becca, Kirstin and I took a special trip up to SLC was for this place.

If you look closely, you can see Becca's face is a little distressed. Koo De Ker closed an hour before we got there. 

 Very sad. But it was kinda funny.

 (see that yellow sweater? That's the one becca wanted. SO close yet SO far.)

Now it just gives another reason that we just have to go to SLC again. I sure didn't mind. Maybe next time the missing piece of the equation can be there.

Missing piece= Anna Banana 

A Door That Is Always Open

Yay!

VISITORS!

I love love love when Daron and I have guests in our home.

So far his parents are definitely our most frequent guests. It gets me giddy inside every time they come and stay. Two weekends ago we had my parents for the first time.

It is such a pleasure to have our parents stay with us.

This past weekend was.................

SHALICE AND TREVOR! 

I made Daron take a picture of my cheesy face to show my excitement to pick them up from the airport.

Ya...that's right. I couldn't help it! This is a very rare thing - It is not every day that we get to hang out with this lovely couple.

It's a blast when Daron and I hang out with one of my siblings. I think he really sees more and more why I am the way I am. For example: my favorite part of the weekend was when we got on the subject of Shalice and I mispronouncing/fumbling our words. Trevor was teasing Shalice about how she would say "herbs" (without a silent h) and "thyme" (also without a silent h).

Later, the four of us got on a subject that we were semi- debating and as I finished my last points I proceeded to say, "Alright I'm stepping down from my soap opera. That's all I have to say..."

ha ha ha. Can you believe that!? JUST AFTER we had teased Shalice, I fumbled "soap opera" for "soap box." Don't worry Daron and Trevor got a kick out of that one. I am not hesitant to say that about every child in the Pugmire family messes up their words on a frequent bases (the exception is Aaron- who knows how he became so articulate). The best part is there is no wondering where this endearing quality came from....

The One and Only.

Mama Pugmire.

I can honestly say some of the most memorable moments of our vacations is when my mom says something so backwards that all you can do is laugh. We give my mom such a hard time about this. The truth is we ALL do it. And as much as we give her a hard time, it is something we love about her the most.

For Shalice and I, however, I am a little worried if we are this bad already at messing up our words. I have a feeling we are going to need to start praying now that our kids will have patience with us and be nicer than we were. Heaven only knows that it isn't going to get better from here!

(their adorable nieces on Trevor's side- both of these girls have the most beautiful hair.)

(we enjoyed a day at Trevor's sisters house)

THANK YOU AGAIN to Shalice and Trevor for staying with us.

And Daron and I want all to know that you are always welcome.

The Annual Teaser Has Arrived

Oh baby, Oh baby.

I just gotta say...

There is a SPRING in my step today!

For the first time this year, I felt like spring, just maybe, is right around the corner.

My inclinations first started out with my morning run. I wore the usual gear. Pants, long sleeve shirt with a jacket, head band, gloves thinking it was going to be another nippy morning. 

(kind of a terrifying picture. however, it does remind me of the 3 Ninjas movie which I love- that Daron has never seen. It is a must.)

Boy did Utah give me a surprise today!

Warm sunshine was everywhere. It was making me sweat like a banchie but I didn't mind. Nope! Not one bit.

I even got to wear a SHORT SLEEVED shirt. I honestly can't remember the last time I walked out of the house without a sweater on. And here's proof of my literally transparent arms that show just how white I am.

It's been weeks now that I have wanted to paint my nails a bright spring color. But I have been resisting constantly cause I knew once I would paint my nails this color I just might get ahead of myself.

(I was so antsy to paint them I brought my nail polish to school and did it in the library. Hence why there is a computer in the background.)

It is true that March does this to us every  year. Just teases us with warm, glorious sunshine. Then BAM! Out of no where we will have more snow storms.

See...the sun comes out and so do yellow balloons! (Not really, this was my attempt to support "Guitar Unplugged"...... until a security guard at the library yelled at me to cut it off :( said it would set off the fire alarm. ha that was great)

The point is...every year I don't let myself get excited about the warm weather because I know that it isn't officially here. This year though, is different. I've decided. I am not going to let the future snow storms stop me from feeling this heart bursting anticipation for the warm, spring days ahead.

Just gonna' soak it all in... 

The Cougar In Me

6 more months and I am a college graduate. 

6 more months and my time at BYU will have officially come to an end.

This is very bitter/sweet for me.

My time here at BYU has been an experience that I will never forget. I feel that it is time to move on with my graduated husband and explore the life that doesn't include school. It's funny that I complain all the time about school; yet, I can't really imagine my life without it. 

I honestly feel sad when I think about how I won't be walking BYU's campus on a weekly basis. This place, for me, is like no other. There are opportunities and circumstances here that are so unique, so special. This institution has made me a better person. Not just because the wonderful opportunities of things like devotionals (which are amazing) but also because of the people I was able to associate with. 

This past weekend I had the unique opportunity of tagging along with my parents to their PLC (President Leadership Council) meetings. One night, they took everyone to the basement of the library where we were able to look at "Special Collections." I had no idea this place existed. It was incredible.

Did you know that the young man who dropped the atomic bomb was a Mormon!? A good looking one at that! My mom and I about died when we saw his picture. He was adorable. (don't worry, I am allowed to say that). It was sad though. He was so young. Basically a boy. He didn't talk about it for 50 YEARS. His wife had no idea that he was the one that did it. He didn't talk about it until the end of his life. 

We got to see so many things like this. There were actual diary entries and letters of the prophets and Apostles- with their own hand writing. There was an original Book of Mormon and the Book of Commandments. The librarian over special collections said that they recieved their Book  of Commandments for $1500. Today it is worth 1 to 2 million. 

The last day, President Uchtdorf spoke to all the members. (Luckily, family members were invited! I didn't feel as out of place). He was hilarious. I have never seen him so funny. He was crackin' jokes everywhere. He mentioned how General Conference was coming up. He said he feels like it comes up every two weeks. He then proceeded to ask if anyone had any good ideas for a talk he could give and to please submit it to him! 

(Sister Uchtdorf had the cutest laugh. It was so contagious)

I left the weekend feeling so uplifted and full of so much gratitude for the opportunity I have had to attend this university. There is good and bad in everything. Of course, if you want to, you can find plenty of things that are "wrong" with provo or this university. But that is a choice. 

BYU will always have a special place in my heart. I am a cougar fan through and through. (Whether we have Jimmer or not :). 

Concern For the One

The very first blog post I made on this thing talked about how I was getting rid of the good old facebook and entering the blogging world. I mentioned how I would have some "extra time" and that I needed to figure out something good to do with it. 

I am so very happy to say that I actually used this extra time for good. Can you believe it?? I kind of can't. Time managing has never been my strong point. Is it anyone's? Only super women...

Anyway, what did I do?

Read a book :) for LEISURE. That's right. I read a book in my new little free time.

A great book at that. 

Today I finished President Monson's Biography called To the Rescue. 

Being completely honest, this book was long and at times hard to read. There are so many people and places that it sometimes was hard to keep up with (for me). But in the end, it was worth every second. I couldn't believe how many times this book made me cry. It was so incredibly inspiring. 

Summarizing this book is practically impossible. There are so many wonderful stories. I want to list them ALL. Unfortunately, that would take days. So, my 2 second version of why you should check out this book is-

it will teach you 3 very important things.

1. how to LEAD

2. how to SERVE

3. how to LOVE

My favorite quote about President Monson in this book is by Elder Neil L. Andersen. 

"President Monson's heart is like the heart of the Lord. President Monson would treat the janitor cleaning the banister the same way he would treat the ambassador from Russia who comes in to visit him. Because of his sense of eternal nature of people, he doesn't see the world in terms of economic or social status. He sees as the Lord would see, and he reaches out." 

What an amazing quality to have. After you read this book, you will feel just a tiny ounce of how our Heavenly Father feels for each of us. There is story after story telling how President Monson showed so much concern for the one soul. 

At the end, the author Heidi S. Swinton lists several quotes that President Monson lived by. These were some of my favorites.

~ "Decisions determine destiny."

~"Your decision to think right, choose right, and do right will rarely if ever be the easiest course to follow."

~"You do not find the happy life--- you make it."

~"Life is like a candid camera; it does not wait for you to pose."

~"The door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people's live."

President Thomas S. Monson is truly a man of God.