coupon binder...

When I started couponing I read about making a binder to hold my coupons.

However, I thought that my coupon file system would work fine for me.

And it did.

For a while anyway.

Then my mini coupon files starting breaking, and I

was wasting too much time fumbling through my coupons.

Time is precious these days, and I am all about simplifying my life.

So, I made a coupon binder.

It consists of a 1 inch binder, 66 baseball card holder pages,

and a bunch of colored dividers.

I wanted the front of the binder to be cute, so

I printed my monogram on a piece of scrapbok paper.

I used some Avery labels from Wal-mart to personalize the dividers in Microsoft Word.

And here are some pages of my binder.

This layout works sooo much better for me.

I am saving much more time (and money).

random...

We had hundreds of these little frogs all over the outside of our house

a few weeks ago. They were about the size of my pinky nail.

Like I said in my last post, my older sister celebrated her 33rd birthday!

She loves purple. She loves houndstooth. She loves Red Velvet cake!

Hope this year is great for you, Paige!

And here is the bargain of the weekend.

My antique Christmas tree topper!

More posts coming soon...

my mind is so full...

so, we went to alabama this weekend. it's always good to see my
parents, my nephews, my sister, and my grandparents.

it is very tiring; to chase a VERY busy one year old around houses that
are not childproof. v-e-r-y tiring!

my older sister turned 33 last Thursday. she wanted Tupperware bowls!
Gotta love the things we want as we get older.

the weather has been so nice. Fall is on the horizon, and that makes me happy.

i got Rowan a Christmas outfit and some cute navy blue shoes for this fall
at a consignment sale.

me, momma, and rowan went junkin' but didn't have much luck. i bought
an antique christmas tree topper for only 50 cents. only deal of the day!

it is very hard to keep up with sippy cups.

i ordered a FREE "purse photo book" from Walgreens.com last week.
it was in the mailbox when we got home. i am very impressed by the quality of
said photo book.

my little boy travels like a champ. only fusses when he is hungry or thirsty.

we went to athens today. we visited our old co-workers. it was bittersweet.
i miss my old peeps from ARMC.

we also went to our old house, that is now our rental house. it was...strange.
kinda sad, kinda happy, kinda weird. rowan wasn't a part of our lives when
we lived there, so that felt weird. it was weird seeing someone elses stuff in "our" house.
our renter is very sweet. she signed a lease for another year! yay! the house looked
great inside and out! She has taken great care of the house in the past year. We are
so glad to have her back again this year. it was a little bittersweet because it brought
back very happy memories of a time in our lives that we will never get back.

we learned some unfortunate news about some of our favorite neighbors.
they got divorced and no longer live in our old neighborhood. makes
me sad and a little sick to my stomach. it seems like divorce is rampant these days.

so tonight, i am thankful for my family. my marriage. our renter, Stephanie. a
healthy, happy, busy baby boy. for good times and good memories. and for
where we are today!

sneak peek...

of Rowan's adorable one year pictures are up on Alicia's site.

Just thought y'all might want to see them!

two things I am loving...

Blogger Reading List!!! It has saved me so much time. I used to go from blog to blog
checking to see if the blogs I keep up with had updates. Now I just log in and then
the latest updates are there for me to see!!! I love it!

Kaboodle. I made an account a few years ago, but never did anything with it.
Basically it is a list-lovers dream with pictures and links to the items you have saved.
I started my Christmas list on Kaboodle because when the time comes
I can never remember the things I would like to have.

Oh yeah, and this darling child!

(And his Daddy too). 

to-do's...

I love this...

I still need to...
get Rowan's one year pictures taken.
do his handprint tin thingy.
take his 12 month picture with his lamb.
write thank you notes for his birthday.
blog about his birthday.

i have already...
started my Christmas shopping.
scheduled our Christmas photography shoot with Two Chics.
bought Christmas cards and address labels.

I made a coupon binder this past weekend. I love it. So much easier and faster to shop now!

I am making him a longall  for Rowan that will hopefully be done before next spring.

We bought greenish-khakish paint for our "office". The color is called Caraway Shield.

I can't wait to see Lauren...hopefully one night next week!!!

We are headed to Alabama next weekend and I cannot wait!

truckload...

of love!

Every day gets better and better.

And every day of love him more and more!

beach favorites

one legged bird.

Rowan's first time on the beach.

love this face.

my boo.

blue birthday cupcakes for our baby boy!

gorgeous lighting.

birthday cupcake on the beach...

and all that was left.

Daddy. Mommy, and Rowan.

he loved the sand!!!

so glad we brought the wagon!

the sun and the fun has tuckered him out.

love this picture.

hello freckles.

thanks for looking!

shades...

these pictures crack me up.

we got these sunglasses for rowan while we are

at the beach.

loving some coupons!

spent 13.77. saved 106.

walked out with 6 Register Rewards and 4 ExtraCare bucks.

And people think couponing is not worth it.

Whatever...

:)

imagine my surprise...

when I discovered my beach memories candle holder had been featured on

Tatertots and Jello!!!

 

And then Cate left a comment saying she featured me on her blog too! Thanks Cate!

 

This has totally got me motivated to do more and share more! :)

 

 

beach memories.

I saw this idea in the Southern Living at Home catalog several years ago.

I love these candle holders (I have two.) because they have so much versatility.

I have used them as vases, candleholders, and now as a picture frame.

 I added a little craft sand from Wal-mart.

Then I added a 4x6 picture of Rowan in sepia tone that I printed

at CVS for 19 cents.

I added some seashells and sand dollars we found 

while we were at the beach.

I had some leftover jute from Rowan's party that

I tied around the base.

And there you have it. A very quick and easy

reminder of our beach memories.

And I never want to forget my sweet

boy crawling around on the beach, splashing in the saltwater,

and eating handfuls of sand.

I am linking up to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party.

invites.

These are the invitations to Rowan's 1st Birthday party.

When I saw them I knew they were the ones.

emmie kate

meet emmie kate.

a new precious, beautiful bundle of love.

she belongs to our friends Libby and Ken.

her big brother is Luke.

we love them.

i made this wreath for them so

they could hang it on their front door.

everyone who passes by will know

a new baby GIRL has been born!

we can't wait to meet Miss Emmie Kate next week!

quick and totally random post.

i think about blogging all the time...just can't quite get back into it. don't know why.
Maybe this is a start.

we need milk.

i {heart} diet coke.

i got the new Christmas with Southern Living today in the mail.
totally giddy about it. can't wait till Christmas.

speaking of Christmas...going to "the" mart on Nov. 10.
Let me know if you want anything.

went to Joann's tonight. it's brand-spankin' new. in macon. i loved it!

today...i am very thankful for my job. i really do like it.

rowan discovered the moon while we were at the beach.
it was awesome. to see the world through his eyes.

ROWAN is ONE! WHOA...where did time go. Still haven't blogged his
birth story.

haven't blogged about the beach, or his birthday, or his birthday party either.

my camry has 192, 596 miles on it. and still going strong!

getting ready for the next house project...closing in our "sitting room" which
is home to our computer. installing french doors. painting it a fresh blue color.

my mother-in-law is keeping Rowan this week. so thankful for her.

i am the most tan i have been in 2 years...motherhood.

lauren is my bff. her son is the funniest little guy i know.

i love to vacuum.

i want a new couch.

my husband is the bomb diggity. rowan loves him. even though he bit him for the 1st time
yesterday. :(

i have 2 thousand-and-something gifts 2 grow reward points from pampers diapers
and don't want to cash them in.

nothing beats your own bed. and pillow.

i thought i was fat in high school and college...yeah, whatever.

and finally...

this is a picture of Rowan at the beach for the first time, on his first birthday!

I made these on picnik.com. saved them to a disc. printed them at walgreens.
adhered a magnet to the back. placed them into a cellophane bag. tied them up with jute
and ribbon. and voila...his birthday party favor!

ok...good night.

dining room

So after seeing board and batten everywhere in blogland...

I started wanting it in our dining room.

So I researched it, read tutorials, and then talked it over with Alan.

Of course, my handy dandy husband was all about it.

We started it about three weeks ago...

(I use the term "we" loosely. We all know Alan did most of the work.

And he did fabulous at that!)

and tonight we finally FINISHED it.

I love it!

So here is the dining room before we moved in.

Even though I love red, and I had a red kitchen in Athens...

I was ready to see this "paprika" color go away.

Here is the dining room after we painted the room chocolate brown.

(Notice the red candles still on the table...gotta get rid of those.)

So here is the room in the middle of putting up the board and batten.

We also added window molding and door trim.

I need to take a real "after" picture now.

I found a chandelier at Goodwill that I like better than the

one that was already here.

I painted it using some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint.

Alan hung it tonight.
I just need to recover the shades I bought for it.

(the old one is gonna be listed on craigslist if anyone wants it.)

Hopefully I will get the true "after" minus any accessories

taken and uploaded soon.

(I have been having issues with uploading my pictures

and photoshop will not open...ugghhh)

I have an excellent blank slate to work with...

just don't know how to accessorize at the moment.

Moving on to the next project...

(Thanks Boo, Love you!)

eleven...

months, that is.

Rowan turned 11 months yesterday!

I am just finding it so hard to believe.

At eleven months...

You my sweet, precious, 24.2 pound boy are...

wearing size 4 diapers.

wearing size 12-24 months clothes.

saying "mama" and "dada".

We think you said "dog" yesterday at your

G-ma and Papa's house.

cutting your third tooth.

enjoying riding in your red wagon and playing

in your baby pool.

just like momma when you get hot...those cheeks turn bright red!

eating lots and lots of table food.

You tried chicken and a peach for the first time on Saturday.

You loved both of them!

so BUSY! Momma feels like a broken record. I constantly

tell you "no-no". We have started "popping" you on the hand.

(This stage makes me feel like I am a horrible mom.)

still taking 3-4 bottles a day...

but we started introducing whole milk last Friday.

So far, so good!

still takin two naps...well sometimes it is only one long one!

destroying the house. You love to knock stuff off of tables

and throw stuff. Oh...just making momma crazy.

showing no sign of walking...and I am so ok with that.

such a joy!

We are so glad you are ours and

every day we love you more!