the grocery game

Okay, i just had to share the longest receipt i have ever had, over 9 feet long! I was not even at Costco. I joined The Grocery Game (an Internet coupon helper site) and saved over 60% off my bill. A full shopping cart at Albertsons for 145.62 saving 217.43. Also I bought so much Campbell's soup I received a 400 dollar credit for Eliza's school! KILLER BOOTS MAN!!

Thanks to Hilary and Kelley for the tip of The Grocery Game!

Fairhaven 15K run...what a great weekend

some of you know that i had been training for a 15k run. it was in bellingham last saturday. my college friend hilary and i (mostly her) planned a weekend invited a 2 other moms, to run and relax and it was awesome!!
carrie, kelley, hilary and me
i was nervous, excited and kind of sick about the run, the train up and back by myself and sharing a relaxation weekend with 2 women i hadn't even met yet(and hil which i was thoroughly looking forward too!).

me, hilary and carrie still cold. we hadn't started

running yet and the sun was behind the clouds still ;)

i also, wondered if i had trained enough and could actually run/jog the 9.3miles. i was pretty sure i could finish, but i really didn't want to end up walking several miles of the race! the last 2 races i had been in i finished in great positions the lake run in lake oswego 2006 i was 814 out of 816! yes total runners not age group...too hilly was my excuse! the deschutes dash in bend i came in at a whopping 64 or 65 of 68 total runners! now this was pathetic! i was very disappointed and not very motivated to keep it up after this. not that i was trying to win by any means but second or third from last!!! so, i really had 2 goals in mind first, finish second, don't come in in the bottom 10.
still waiting for the horn

so here i was at the start of the race

isn't that a great picture, totally me!

thanks kelley!

it was a slow start but once the 595 runners were spread out a bit it got much better. i ran/jogged all but about a .25 of a mile. this i walked so i could down some goo i had been told really helps your long run
Here is hil coming in ar 1:29:59! Way to go hil

here i am coming in at 1:52:09

here is carrie coming in at 1:54:56

Yes, we it did!

i was slow but steady and i did not come in in the bottom 10! yeah!!! i was 486! 109 runner/joggers/walkers came in after me!! can you tell i am excited about that!?!
when finished running we totally expected to be completely wiped out but that didn't come until a much later. we were all so excited to have finished and so happy with our times the adrenaline was really flowing. we followed up the run with some fabulous massages at the chrysalis spa and spent a few hours there just relaxing, looking out at the puget sound it was great! then we did some window shopping, ate gellato and mexican food, then back to the hotel for a movie and snacks (chocolate/diet cokes) in bed!

i loved this weekend it was great! i met some awesome women. carrie and kelley! and it is always a treasure to spend time with hil gotta love that women! so motivating! yes i love you hil! thanks till we run again 1/2 marathon january? hehe

3rd Grade!!

This is the first year we didn't get to see Eliza off on the first day of school, Grandma got that fun task! Eliza was so excited! One of her favorite friends is in her class for the first time....Chloe!

It has started already they are planning their clothing to match or coordinate! How fun! I hate to actually write this but I will for a memory because we all know I won't remember come next year or maybe even next week! You will see why in a minute! I am really revealing part of my inner self in this story and I'm not so sure it is a fabulous quality!! ;)
About a month or two before school started I had decided that we had plenty of cloths to start the school year, and it's not the same now as when we were growing up when you really only got cloths for back to school, Christmas and Birthdays. So I thought, do we really need anything? No! So, we bought one outfit for the first day of school. Eliza didn't even notice the difference. In fact I think she would have been ecstatic if I had pointed out that we weren't spending the last few days of summer shopping instead we spent them at the river! So lets fast forward to a week before school. Eliza and her friend Chloe had decided that they wanted to wear black and white on the first day of school. Eliza and Chloe had planned what they were wearing and both of them were quite excited about their plan. All but me...the outfit we got her for back to school was not black and white, she was planning on wearing a dress that was a couple years old! I knew I shouldn't even care but I could not let my 3rd grader go to school on the first day in old cloths! My problem not Eliza's. So for several days I just bit my tongue and said nothing. But really come on I guess I am too vain. I couldn't do it. I talked with my BFF Jill and she agreed with me that definitely new cloths on the first day. But she thought I should just make Eliza wear what we had bought. (internal turmoil!) I just couldn't break her little heart, it was set on matching her BFF Chloe! And why should I care, if Eliza is fine with wearing old cloths why couldn't I be? But, I could not mentally deal with it. Alas, in the middle of the night a couple days before school started I envisioned a dress. I knew I had some left over scraps and other pieces from some formals I had worked on this summer and decided to make her one! It looked a little bit different in my head but I do think it turn out awesome!

Eliza loved it!!

She was so excited when she saw it and both of us where happy! I got my new cloths and she got her black and white! With no money's spent!

I was however sad that I missed her first day of 3rd grade, Grandma said it was great! Eliza rode her bike with her friends and called grandma 1/2 way there and then on the way home. She is growing up so fast! I can't believe she is 8 and in 3rd grade! We are cherishing every moment!