Friday confessions

Let's do this, shall we?

1. I drank 2 cups of hot chocolate this week. But, I put 3 packs of powder in each cup. So I really drank six cups in 1 day.

2.At home, I don't cover my sneezes. I know, I am gross.

3. I took 4 baths in 1 day. I don't know what I did on Saturday, but I spent the majority of my day bathing. I guess we just need to get a pool.

Fess up y'all!

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Its the Principal of the matter

A few weeks ago,  P was paying our energy bill and noticed something odd, a minimum usage charge.

Looking over it, I started to get a bit frustrated, because P and I are vigilant about turing off lights when we leave a room, running the washer and dryer during off peak hours, and using our heat and a/c sparingly. We have even talked about installing solar panels on our home in order to produce our own electricity, and then sell it back to the energy company.

I ended up calling the energy company 2 times the next day, and both times, the customer service representatives were extremely rude and completely unhelpful.  When I asked for an explanation for the charge, I was told that it was only $9.95, which was not much money, so I should just deal with it.

True, $9.95 is not much money, but for me, its the principal of the matter. The fact is that we work really hard, and will even be a bit uncomfortable in order to save energy. We will bundle up in the winter under blankets and jackets, and in the summer, we keep it warmer than we like in order to save energy.

The 2nd customer service rep I spoke with told me to "use more energy so we don't have to pay that charge."

After speaking with these reps, I was more and more frustrated. It baffles me that we would be charged a fee for using too little energy, and that it is almost like being penalized for being good stewards of our resources.

The bottom line, yes, the charge is minimal, yet it does not encourage me to save, conserve, and reduce my consumption. In fact, I am charged a fee for doing so.

Luckily for us, we live in a state that deregulated energy, so P and I are shopping the market and looking for a plan with a better rate, and a company that encourages and rewards its clients for reducing consumption.

Do you read the fine print on any of your bills? Or, do you do like I normally do and just pay them without looking to closely?

Untitled

Happy Friday!

 

Lets get our confessions on.

1. I got thrown out of our adult league soccer game for cussing at the ref. It is a coed league and this guy came at me full speed and took me out without going for the ball. I could have been seriously injured. The ref said play on, and I had some words for the ref. I then got removed from the field.

2. There are two Allison's on our team. We both have brown hair, and that's the extent of us looking alike. A guy on the other team kept asking if we were twins. I said "yea, we ware twins and our mom gave us the exact same name."

3. P says I raise my voice an octave when I talk on the phone. So when I make calls in front of him, I deepen my voice, and try to sound like a man when talking to people.

 

Fess up!

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Top 13%

I received a pretty cool email earlier this week from my one of my favorite stores---CVS.

In 2013, I was in the top 13% of all savers in the nation who shopped at CVS.
Their calculations do not take into account all the manufacture coupons I used at the store as well.

The price of EVERYTHING is rising, and the only way I know how to stay under budget is by utilizing coupons when I shop.

For us, $755.22 is a lot of money, and we have managed to build an impressive stockpile by combining sales and specials with store and manufacture coupons.

Currently, our stockpile has at least 2 years worth of hair care, razors, cleaning products, laundry detergent, dental care, and make up.  We have about a 3 month supply of paper products on hand right now.

For most people, I think they have a misunderstanding of the couponing process, and those who coupon. There seem to be two different stereotypes: Extreme Couponing and Grandma Couponing.

Extreme Couponing: Thanks to the TLC show, Extreme Couponing, many people think that when utilizing coupons, you have to buy 90 packs of hot dog weiners at a time,100 bottles of Ragu, and must dumpster dive to get enough coupons.

False. Most people who coupon, do not go to this extreme. I have never, nor do I have any plans to dumpster dive for coupon flyer's or buy 100 bottles of mustard. That's just insane.

Grandma Couponing: The shopper is haggling with the cashier over .30C off a box of Wheat Things, and the process takes 10 minutes, the line backs up, and while everyone is waiting for a manager, people in line are starting to grumble.

Both of these are not how I coupon. On average, I can walk into Target, and buy a cart full of groceries, personal care items, clothes, electronics, and books, and manage to save around 35-45% and the process to scan my coupons takes about a minute and a half.

I have posted a guide to couponing in the past, and I would be happy to do a refresher if y'all want. The best part is, it really takes me less than an hour a week to plan, and then I shop during the week. It is easy, I promise!

(If you want to see how much I save throughout the year, click on the savings tab at the top.)

Are you a couponer?

Friday Confessions

Happy Friday My Friends!!!

I hope you have had an amazing week, and are ready for a 3 days weekend.

Lets fess up.

1.I stepped in poo on Saturday, and I have yet to clean my shoes. Out of sheer laziness, I have left them laying on the front porch all week long.

2.P and I got into a huge fight.  The fight got a bit out of control and some of the low lights included--dog poo on fingers, the ripping of underwear outside, and someone storming out of the house.

3. I let out a huge burp at the gym. I didn't think anyone was around, but a guy walked up next to me, and just stared at me with a look of disgust.

3. My allergies have been OUT OF CONTROL.  I have been blowing my nose a lot. And I have been leaving my dirty tissues all over the house.

Fess up friends!!!!

She said my name

There I am, somewhere in this photo, just getting my plank on at the  Pure Barre studio. 

As y'all know, I have been taking Pure Barre these past few moths, and it has quickly become a real passion of mine. Pure Barre is a mix of ballet, Pilates, and yoga. It is completely different from any type of workout I have ever done. Every single class pushes me out of my comfort zone, and it is really hard to "phone in" one of the workouts. It hurts so good.

This past weekend, I was at the studio for the 8:15 class and it was taught by an instructor that I have never had before. She has a reputation for being the most hard core instructor there. I was nervous when I signed up for that class, but realized quickly that I needed to get over my nerves and get ready to hurt. And hurt me she did. By the end of class, I was drenched in sweat and my legs were shaking, but I made it through.

Even though the classes are really tough, the instructors are amazing. They are all very encouraging, and just like in yoga, they are constantly moving around the room making adjustments to everyone while we are in a series. They are also really great about complimenting you by name.

I have never been complimented by name.

For the record, I am really bad at Pure Barre.

For someone who has excelled at every athletic pursuit attempted, the fact that I am not the best in class is hard for me. But, I also think it is one of the reasons I keep coming back. But, on Saturday, during the 3rd and file series of seat work, the hardest instructor at the studio said "Great job Allison."

I almost pee'ed on myself out of excitement.

I am whats called a "striver." I am motivated by praise and acknowledgement. Growing up, my dad was very demonstrative in his praise, and now as an adult, I am constantly seeking affirmation.  When they are withheld, I tend to strive even harder to gain someones appreciation and admiration. Often, this will lead to a place where I try to please others.....I become a people pleaser.

In our marriage, I am often guilt of doing things just to gain P's praise. If I cook a new meal for dinner, no matter how it tastes, P has learned that before he can critique, he needs to praise my "valiant effort." I cannot tell you how many times he made a comment about adjusting some spice, or reducing the cooking time that it ends up in a declaration that goes a little something like this "Well, if you don't like my cooking why don't you make dinner." Or, and perhaps my best line is "Fine, if you don't like it I won't ever cook again." And then I reach for the skillet and start throwing everything out. (And yes, I am up for a Tony award for my performances) Poor P.

Suddenly, I realize that I am my mother. She said the same thing to us after one chicken cordon blu dish that went off track when I was 12. My dad and I hated it, and she declared that she too was never cooking again.

For some reason, there is something deep in me that needs affirmation, that needs praise, that needs to be acknowledged.

The negative side, is that it is very difficult for me to give someone bad news. I tend to approach bad news in what P calls the hamburger method. The top bun--start with a compliment and smile--the meat--the complaint or bad news--the bottom bun---another compliment and smile.
For someone like P, who is such a straight shooter, this type of BS drives him nuts. Often, he will tell me to "just say it." Again, that leads to other types of fights and arguments. I know, I am a true pleasure to live with.

Moral of the story---I like praise, but need to be more direct.

Even bigger moral of the story....I got complimented at the Barre!

What about you? Striver? Direct? People pleaser?

Let me know.

Friday Confessions

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you have had a wonderful week.

Lets do this!

1.I drank dinner, straight from the bottle. P was at a work function and was going to be home late this week. So, I parked myself on the couch and decided to have some vino. I felt that glasses were over rated, so I just drank it straight from the bottle like the classy broad I am.

2.I have been dressing myself from this pile all week.  Some dirty, some clean. I am really not that discriminating.

3.Remember when I said I was going to turn off the t.v. 2x a week. Yea, I have plopped myself down on the couch each night. 

4.I had a meeting one morning at 9:30 about 10 minutes away from my office.  Rather than going in at 8:00, I went to my meeting first, then sauntered in the office well after 10:00.

And now for the giveaway winner. P has selected Stephanie Gossett. Please email me with your address and I will send the VISA gift card to you! Congrats!

I hope you all now how amazingly funny and fabulous you are! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for coming by here each week, y'all make my Friday's the best!

Now Fess up friends!!!!!! 

This year, I resolute to

***DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!**********

When I was little, I always got excited when it was time to start a new assignment, because that meant I got a blank page to work with. I loved the clean and crisp sheet of paper that sat in front of me. It was stark white, crisp, with perfect edges, not a flaw on it.

Fresh starts and do overs have always excited me. You get a clean slate, a chance to erase all the mistakes and try again.

Given that I have never had the patience to be a perfectionist, it never stayed perfect for long. My handwriting is messy at best and I could never stay inside the lines when coloring, so the perfect paper became perfectly messy rather quickly.

But here we are again. I have a shiny new year to do everything over again. I get a start over, I get my redo.

This year, here is what I aim to do.

Health
1.PR in the 5K. With all my foot problems in 2013, this was not something that I was able to do last year, so this year, I am going for it.

2.PR in the 1/2. I have been increasing my mileage, and feeling good, so I think this is in my wheel house.

3.Be more focused, and delve deeper into my Pure Barre practice. Pure Barre is a mix of Pilates, ballet, and yoga. I started taking it earlier this year, and I have found that when I go to the studio and really focus for those 55 minutes, I tune into my body, and I feel myself getting even stronger.

4. Do the splits. As of right now, I can hardly reach my shins. I am so tight all the time, and not flexible at all. This year, I want to do the splits.

Financial
1.Continue to pay extra on our mortgage monthly. P sauce and I have been really good about this, and we want to continue to put extra each month. Even at 50.00 extra a month, it pays off in the long run, because the more we pay now, the less we pay in interest.

2.Continue to systematically invest in our retirement. This is another area where P and I have been  very disciplined this past year. Even on the months when it was hard to save, we continued to make this a priority. P and I have even discussed increasing our retirement contributions this year.

3. Diversify. I have been thinking and playing with the idea of doing something to earn income on the side, and I have done nothing. I want to find a little "side hustle" so that I can contribute more to our financial house.

4. Save 2,000 with coupons. The past 2 years I have saved right around $1,600, but I know with just a bit more focus, I can increase the amount we save.

5. Complete 2 home improvement projects to force appreciation. We have a few projects on the radar this past year, but we never pulled the trigger. This year, we really want to do a few things that not only make our home look nicer, but force appreciation and increase the value of our home.

Personal
1. No TV 2 nights a week. I have been so bad about coming home, turning on the t.v. and zoning out for a few hours. This is neither helpful nor is it productive.
2.Walk one evening a week. P and I did a great job of walking in the evenings earlier this year, but we stopped a few months ago. I really loved our time together. We took the dogs out around dusk, and just enjoyed the quite. Sometimes we talked about our dreams, other times we joked and laughed, and still others we just walked around the neighborhood in a comfortable silence, just content to be together.
3. Read 35 books. I had this goal last year, and didn't reach it. When we first signed onto Netflix early in 2013, I pretty much gave up the written word and watched all the episodes of The Office, The West Wing, and Dawsons Creek.

In 2013, I managed to step outside of my comfort zone on a few occasions, and the results surprised me. I found that I have made friendships and have had some great experiences. I need to continue to get outside myself and stretch a bit.

Happy New Year's my friends. Here's too the next 359 days--I have a feeling they are going to be great!

100 Weeks of Confessions and a Giveaway!!!!

Its Friday Friends, and that means its time for Friday Confessions.

100 weeks ago I let it all hang out, and told y'all all the things that I had done wrong that week. Y'all laughed, and ended up confessing your sins too. Since then, we have met up here each Friday to  confess our sins and laugh at ourselves.  

This week is going to be a little different. I have compiled a list of my favorite confessions, some mine and some are yours (don't worry I didn't tell who wrote what!). And, when we are done, there will be a little give away to sweeten the deal! 

1.I steal candy from my kids trick or treat bags, party bags, ect, and I never fess up if they ask!

2. I talk to my dogs like they are people. 

3.I am in an intense game of Words with Friends with a coworker--I have used scrabble cheat for all of my plays. 

4. I come from a family who considers it a massive waste of time if you do not bring reading material into the bathroom with you. 

5. I run yellow lights. 

6. I spy on my neighbors with 2 different sets of binoculars that I keep on the fireplace mantle. 

7. I have not washed my hair in 4 days. 

8. I can go through 2 bags of chips in less than one week...by myself. 

9. I rarley wash the coffee pot. 

10. I cheated while playing foosball against my 12 year old nephew. 

11. We bought a box of cereal on Sunday night. I ate the entire box by Tuesday morning. 

12.I faked sleeping to avoid sex. 

13. I ate 57 almonds in one day. Yes, I counted. 

14. I show my husband my boogers, but only the good ones. 

15. Most of my panties have holes in them. 

16. Making grilled cheese sandwiches at the first of the week, I cut myself and bled on the cheese. When I noticed, I wiped the blood off then earmarked the sandwich so I could feed it to my husband instead of eating myself. 

17. I have worn my work pants 3 days this week. 

18. I got ready for work so fast I forgot to put on a bra. 

19. I use mens body wash in the shower. 

20. I have not brushed my hair in days. I let my husband brush it for me. 

21. I wore my underwear inside out. 

22. I stole french fries from a customers plate before delivering food this week. 

23. I just discovered what it means to drop it like its hot. Now, every time my husband asks me to do something, I make him drop it like its hot before I do anything for him. 

24. I stuck my hand in the ice machine at work. 

25. My dog french kisses me every morning when I wake up. 

26. I bragged to my husband about the size of my poop. 

27. I watched 20 episodes of The Big Bang Theory this week. 

28. I sharted on the treadmill. Thank God for the little girl in China who made the $2/3 pack of Wal-mart underpants that I purchased immediately following said treadmill incident. 

29. I accidentally drank out of the same cup that my dog did.

30. I pick my wedgies in public. 

31. I went to Chillis twice last week. Both for my birthday and I delighted in 2 free desserts. 

32. When I tuck in my shirts at work, I tuck them into my undies rather than my skirt. 

33. I didn't wash my hands after peeing. 

34. I bought a wet to dry straightener to dry my sweaty hair before work in the morning. 

35. I wore my herbivore shirt while I grilled our chicken for dinner. 

36. I accidentally farted during my massage. 

37. I said I was cutting sugar out of my diet. Then made cupcakes and ate half the batter. 

38. I ate a fermented orange. 

39. I ate an entire box of Morning Star Chick-n patties for a meal. 

40. I watched all the Twlight movies this weekend. 

41. I pooped my pants today on my run. I stopped a few times to suck it in, thought I had succeeded. 

42.I dropped M&M's on the office floor, and still ate them. 

43. I have not shaved my legs in 3 weeks. 

44. I openly picked a massive wedgie at the store last night. 

45. My alarm goes off at 4:45 every morning. I have not gotten out of bed before 6:30 once this week. 

46. I swallowed every pice of gum I ate this week. I ate probably 10 pieces. 

47. I kiss my dogs on the lips. 

48. I passed gas at Home Depot and my in-laws walked up right afterwards and stood in it. 

49. This week, I have broken a blow, pitcher, and a glass. 

50. I talked on the phone to a friend while pooping. 

51. I peed without washing my hands. 

52. When I have to spell the word banana, I sing the Gwen Stefani song to myself to make sure I spell it correctly. 

53. I reused the same coffee filter 3 days in a row because grocery day isn't until today. 

54. I ate chips for breakfast. 

55. The guy at the store had an accent. So I spoke with an accent too. 

54. When running with my dog, I don't let him stop to sniff or pee, so he will pee while running. 

55. I picked up a penny off the floor of a dirty bathroom floor. 

56. I have eaten out every day this week. 

57. I spilled coffee on a library book. Then confessed to the library. Then had to pay an exorbitant price to replace the book. 

58. I drank my dinner in the form of red wine last night. 

59. I killed a plant by pouring boiling water on it. 

60. I had gas, so I waited until my husband pulled the covers over his face as he was going to bed, the released. 

61.I cried openly at work.

62. I have worn the same socks to work every day this week. 

63. I put business cards in my bra. 

64. I had an off site meeting at work this week. When it finished, I went shopping rather than go back to the office. 

65. I ate more cookie dough than I baked into cookies. 

66. I had ice cream for breakfast. 

67. I bought a large package of Oreos last night. That package is already in the trash. 

68. I wore the same shirt to work 2 days in a row. 

69. I picked up my dogs poo in a bag, then left it in someone else's yard. 

70. I ate so many cookies, I know it was in the double digits. 

71. My husband criticized my hair. I responded "If you don't like it, go to beauty school to learn to fix it you big queen."

72. On Monday I made cookies for a dinner I was attending on Tuesday night. I ate so many I had to buy some at the grocery store on my way over. 

73. Sometimes when I sneeze, I sneeze on my husband. 

74. We got Subway for dinner. I ate my entire footlong before my husband finished his 1/2. 

75. I farted in my office, then a co worker came in to talk. 

76. I had a bag of skittles, and them them away. Then dug them out of the trash. 

77. I drove on the wrong side of the road to bypass school pick up line nonsense!

78. My husband ran 18 miles. I ran 11. Who took the nap this afternoon? Me.

79.I had road rage and yelled at someone, and didn't realize my window was down. 

80. I ate more candy that I gave away at Halloween. 

81. I got into an argument with my dog. 

82. I am too quick to judge people..there is this girl at my Crossfit gym who wears low cut tank tops and her fake boobs are always on display and she immediately annoyed me. I talked to her this week and she is probably the nicest person in the gym. 

83. I unbuttoned and unzipped my pants before going into the restroom stall at work. 

84. I threw a banana peel out my window. 

85. I have not plucked my eyebrows in 6 months. 

86. I lied to my sister in laws face about liking her food, then my husband came in the room and outed me. 

87. I talked about my bloggy friend like we know each other in real life. 

88. I have been late to work every day this week & I am already planning on leaving super early today since the boss is gone. 

89. We were at a party and I looked through the hosts restroom cabinets. 

90. I drove down a 1 way street. 

91. There is an apple core laying on my coffee table that has been there for 3 days. 

92. I am way over my Christmas budget.

93. I ate candy off my coworkers desk. 

94. I took change from my coworkers desk. 

95. I wore the same pants, shoes, socks, and sweater to work this week. 

96. I am marathon training and have run 3 miles this week. 

97. I pick my nose while driving my car and rub the boogies on my car seat. 

98. I walk around my neighborhood at night and stop in front of houses with the window open to see inside their houses. 

99. I played on my iPad while taking a bath.

100. My boss gave me a cookie. I threw it away, but told her it was delicious.

There they are, the top 100 confessions from the past 100 Fridays. You guys are too funny!

Now for a little giveaway!

I have a $100.00 VISA gift card for you. This is not a sponsored post, this is $100.00 of my own money that I am giving to you, my friends. Each week, you make me laugh, and smile, and I want to give something back to you.

To win, all you need to do is leave me your confession in the comments. P will randomly select a winner, and it will be announced on Friday, January 9th. Giveaway open to US residents only. (Sorry--fine print on the gift card)

Fess up my friends!