blogging thoughts

I really enjoy reading blogs.. well all except mine. I am really struggling with navigating all the in's and out's of blog designing.  I think my blog looks pretty good for doing it all myself.  I am certain there are other cool tricks I could try to spice it up, however again that takes hours on end of researching blogger instructions and then an attempt to execute it.

My next step would be to get more followers.  I am thrilled to have 10 followers.. but that could be quite a bit higher.  So I am going to set a goal of getting up to 20 followers in a weeks time.  Will you help me?

Of course I must mention the blogs that bring me daily inspiration....    little miss momma,  momma go round, the pleated poppy, love stitched, miss-mommy.  

A big thank you to the the above blogs.. they keep my creative juices flowing..

WIWW military

We were recently blessed with the opportunity to have family pictures taken by the military housing office here on base.  They put out a message on facebook looking for families willing to offer up their home to take pictures of for future promotional materials.  I responded quickly and we were chosen along with a few other families for the shoot.  I am overall pleased with the pictures.  My husband would rather he wasn't wearing cammies, but the office requested he be in uniform.  I chose a very simple outfit for this shoot.  Maybe too simple,  but my thoughts were not to draw too much attention to myself with anything too flashy.  I just kept thinking they are really trying to showcase the homes and not necessarily us.

Our breakfast table looks like this everyday..  NOT!

Shorts:Merona for Target

Shirt: Gap

Flops: Roxy from The Buckle

Earrings:Buckle

Boys:Gap/oshkosh

Hubby:cammies courtesy of us govt.

Coupon Clipping

Forget Extreme Couponing,  that is totally unrealistic in the military and probably in civilian life as well.  25 bottles of ketkchup??   come on now!

I am all about saving money and finding a deal (see new bedding post)  but it takes a little more effort than clipping a few coupons on Sunday to really see a difference.  I recently attended a couponing workshop that was hosted by our battalion.  The speaker was incredible and so knowledgeable about couponing,  especially couponing in Jacksonville NC.  Here are a few tips I discovered

-Big city newspapers  (raleigh,charlotte) have more and different coupons on Sunday than say for example the Jacksonville or New Bern paper.  Only a few places around here carry the Raleigh paper so get out and get one early.
-If you cannot locate a big city paper there are coupon clipping websites you can order the inserts and have them mailed directly to your home.  There is a small expense but totally worth it if you can find a good deal.
-Southernsavers.com  or hip2save.com  are excellent resources to get info on upcoming coupons that will be coming out in the paper.  This way you can know ahead of time if it is worth the mad dash to get a newspaper.
-also look for printable coupons online!  I just found a $1.50 k-cups coupon last night!!  they can be used just like regular coupons.
-CVS   best little drug store to get tons of things for FREE!   I cannot believe I did not realize this before.  I will post the later in greater detail about saving a CVS.  Southernsavers breaks it down really well if you want to research ahead of time
-Be organized!   I recently invested in a coupon organizer.  This organizer was made a by a local Jacksonville couponer who makes them on the side.  You can most definitely make your own,  but this was easiest for me!

Note I chose a zippered organizer to keep my kiddo's out and to prevent me losing any coupons

alphabetized and tabs to divide sections

My stash!!  all nicely displayed and easy to see while shopping.

It is easy to get a little crazy when couponing.  I make sure I coupon on items that I use and not to overstock items because being a military family we could move at any given moment!

Happy Couponing!

anthropologie inspired bedroom

My thoughts on decorating:
-i love anthropologie (clothes and home items)
-i am attracted to cool tones
-absolutely no americana (even though we are a military family,, you would have no idea looking in our home,,  no pictures, flags etc.)  i am just over "that"  look
-i love challenging myself to recreate an "expensive" look from anthro or PB for cheap!!
-i love clearance items from target

So I have pretty much been drooling for at least a year over the textured anthro bedding....  i just absolutely refuse to spend the $$$     For example this king anthro quilt below is $288...   yeah not in my budget

Sooo...   insert a year over drooling for this style of bedding.  Drooling online.. drooling inside the anthropologie store to the point I know they thought I was some sort of shop-lifter.

Forward to the present and my second favorite store.. Le Target.   I spotted this bedding in the clearance section and knew it had to be a mistake.  The price-- $29!!    Now the size-- King!   score score!!    Then I discovered another in a size Full for $19.   same color.. but okay you cannot pass up $19!  

I left Le Target on a mad dash to get these babies on my bed and my guest bed...  here are the results!!

And  here is the set in the "little"  guest bedroom...

So $288  for one quilt   or $50 for two  (including shams).  I know these quilts aren't as textured and dramatic as anthro,  but I will keep them  :)

Thrifty.Crafty

Babe is gone the entire month for training and what better way to occupy some free time by doing a little homemade artwork... for cheap... I mean super duper cheap!

So I recently took a trip to a local thrift store not knowing exactly what I was looking for.  Just some good old fashioned "digging".   And I came across what appeared to be an old window frame,  it had potential,  however is screamed Americana.   I despise anything Americana in decorating terms.  But I spent the $10.  After I got home I removed the horrid red/white/blue fabric that was tacked onto the back and saw more shabby potential.   I then fluffed up my lovely coffee filter wreath for an extra "depth"  and voila!

You can learn how to make your own wreath courtesy of LMM.   Hoping to change it up somewhat closer to the holidays etc.   But for now I will keep it like this   :)

WIWW wedding edition

A few weeks ago babe and I jetted off with our BFF's to a beautiful wedding in NJ.  This was my first trip to Jersey and I must say I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful the state is.   Anyway,  here are a few pics of the occasion...

dress:   white house black market
shoes:  ross 4 years ago
earrings:  buckle

WIWW

Here is my second installment of WIWW.  I did have more than one outfit this time so I would say this is a success.

So I sported this outfit on Friday when it was super duper HOT!  I know the waist needs something... maybe a snazzy belt I am thinking but this entire outfit is all from Target minus the shoes which are Jessica Simpson.

So Saturday I wore this dress down to Wilmington for a riverboat cruise.  It was to celebrate our most recent graduates of dental hygiene school  :)      Everything pictures is from Target  (seeing a pattern here?)

Here is what I wore to church Sunday morning.  Top-Target, Shoes-Jessica Simpson, Leggings-Urban Outfitters.

Remembering to take these pics are kind of hard for me,  but at least I remembered a few times!