I LOVE Target!

I have been consistently couponing for the past few months and I LOVE it! I found this awesome website which helps me get great deals (www.hip2save.com). Look at the wonderful things I scored today!

Here is what I got:

1.) 4 Bottles of Mr. Clean with Febreeze All Purpose Cleaner
(You know, because of all the cleaning my husband LOVES to do....and yes, I'm being serious. ;) Ok, ok, I don't know if he really loves it but he really does a LOT of it! Yes, I am a BLESSED woman! )

2.) 3 Packages of Huggies Wipes
(No, we don't have kiddos yet but trust me, we do LOVE to babysit and do a lot of it! :))

3.) Kandoo Flushable Wipes

4.) 2 Bottles of Downy Fabric Softener

5.) 2 Packages of Pledge Wipes

6.) Fiber One Toaster Pastries
(Ahem, to reward the hubby for all the cleaning he does!)

7.) Market Pantry Frozen Mixed Veggies

8.) Target at Home Wall Cabinet
(Saved the best for last!)

I was good. I didn't deviate much from my, except for the Wall Cabinet. But wait until you hear how much it was! You ready? It was on clearance for $14.98, down from $29.99 and I had a $10 off coupon for a Target at Home Bath Furniture item. But here comes the best part...when I went to check out, it rang up at $7.48! So, I got it for FREE plus coupon overage!! Yay!

The best part is, I only paid $10.27 for EVERYTHING! Plus, I saved $37.81! Gotta love Target!



Beautiful Wall Cabinet....FREE!



Check out all these items!



I couldn't believe it either!



Thank you Lord!

Target Shopping Trip

Today, I went to Target and dragged my husband with me. Let me just say, he is a BRAVE soul for going with me. He is so accommodating...I am a very blessed woman. Look at all the great stuff we scored!

We went to 2 different Targets. We just wanted to see if there were any price differences between both the stores. Guess what! There was (on one item anyway)! Due to the amount of coupons we had, we both stood in 2 separate lines in one store...things go a lot smoother this way.

Combined, we bought $57.41 worth of items for....drum roll please....$19.81!! That's a savings of $37.60! Woohoo!

Take a look at all we got.


Thank you Jesus!








Here is a breakdown of the items you see above.

Green Works Detergent
Price: $11.99
My cost: $5.99

Kellogg's Fiber Plus Bars
$4.08 for two boxes
My cost: $1.00 for both

Kellogg's Fiber Plus Cereal
$2.79
My cost: $1.04

Willy Wonka Chocolate Bar
$2.29
My cost: $0.29

Snyders Pretzels
$5.78 for two bags
My cost: $1.78 for both

Nature Valley Granola Bars
$4.78 for two boxes
My cost: $1.78 for both

Bagel Bites
$2.24
My cost: $0.24

Soft Soap
$0.97
My cost: $0.47

GE Reveal Lightbulbs
$4.00
My cost: $2.50

Juicy Juice
$4.38 for two packs of 8 boxes
My cost: $1.38 for both packs

Bear Nake Granola
$7 for two packs
My cost: $2.50 for both

Sobe Lifewater
$2 for two
My cost: FREE

Chef Boyardee Ravioli
$0.99
My cost: FREE

The weird part is, the Kellogg's Fiber Plus bars were $2.70 a box in one Target and $2.04 at another. Thank God we got the ones with the lower price. :)

Ahh...don't you just love couponing. :)

I won a Chili's gift card!

Sweeeeet! One more date night for my husband and me! There's a game called Ode to Awesome on the Heinz Ketchup Facebook Page. First, you must "like" Heinz Ketchup. Then, you must put together a phrase using the words they give you and the phrase should include the words "Heinz Ketchup" and "Chili's". After putting the phrase together, you enter your e-mail address and submit the phrase.




According to Heinz, they are giving away 157 Chili's gift cards, per day, valued at $30. There are also 2 grand prices for a $500 Chili's gift card and a year's supply for Heinz Ketchup! I always wonder how they calculate a year's supply. I mean, how much do folks really go through each month? Can you imagine if you won that though...never ending meals of meatloaf, fries, burgers...anything with ketchup! Anyways, you can play to win, once a day, until August 1st.

I couldn't believe I actually won a $30 Chili's gift card! Thank you Lord! Woohoo! You guys should play and let me know if you win! ;)

I HEART COUPONING!

A few months ago, I subscribed to the Sunday paper. Let me just say.....my eyes have been open to the world of couponing! It's a lot of effort and work but it's so worth it! Now, I won't even buy anything if it's not on sale. I feel like I'm throwing money away if I do! Let me tell you about a sweet deal I scored this week on milk. (We go through milk like it's water so this was a HUGE deal for me).

Yesterday, I bought 2 cartons of Smart Balance milk for...drum roll please...$.33 (total) with no problem. Tonight, I went to buy 2 more cartons. When I went to the check out counter and handed the cashier all my coupons, there was a negative balance of $.42. Well, he said that was not possible. Therefore, he took away one of my coupons...oh well. I ended up paying $1.77 for 2 cartons this time...still really good. So, in total, I spent $2.10 for 4 cartons of Smart Balance milk. Normally, they sell for $3.49 per carton! If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself. (Plus, I played a game on Kroger.com and won a FREE Bob Evan's side dish, valued at $3.49!)

There are folks out there who are so good at couponing that they get their milk for free....I'm still working on getting there. ;) Now, if I can only find a good deal on toilet paper. ;) If you have any tips, let me know.




Smart Balance Milk...yum!






See the savings for yourself...93%!




83% savings this time...but still not bad, huh?!

Worry

The past week or so, the Lord has been dealing with me about sin in my own heart. I have made a habit of worrying about everything, big and small. So much so that it has become a way of life for me and I didn't even notice it. Until last week. I've been going through some personal health issues. Nothing too big...but I made it big in my own head. This afternoon, I have an appointment with a specialist and I have allowed myself to worry and be paralyzed with fear.

When I think of sin, I think of lying, stealing, coveting, etc. For some reason, worry just doesn't come to mind. In reality, the definition of sin is: Deliberate disobedience to the known will of God; To violate a religious or moral law. Furthermore, sin separates us from God. In Matthew 6, the Lord commands us not to worry. God, in His own gracious and merciful way keeps gently reminding me that worry is a sin. Period. When I worry, I show God that I don't trust Him. Nothing good can come out of it. It hinders my walk with the Lord. It affects the relationship I have with my husband. If I allow it, it might even affect our children.

Starting this week, I am making a conscious effort not to worry. I've recruited my husband to help me with it. Each time I worry, I stop myself and confess 2 Timothy 1:7: For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, of love and of a sound mind. I am also learning to pray more and just give each situation over to the Lord. He is the only one with the power to change any and all situations. I will confess...it hasn't been easy to let go and do this. However, it feels so great to just cast all my burdens on my Heavenly Father.

This morning, I was reading a great article about worry by Jill Briscoe. If you'd like, you can read the article by clicking on the following link: http://www.tellingthetruth.org/common/productbrochurehandler.ashx?id=7e462745-d34a-427b-bbf9-79ae59b76df6.

Thank you Lord for loving me as much as you do. No matter how many times I fall, you pick me back up and keep on loving me.

Off to Virginia!

Tomorrow, I will be going to Reston, VA to visit my sweet Uma Chitthi, my darling cousin Abisha and my dear Raj Anna. It's been over 5 years since I've seen all of them! I can't wait!! On Friday, I will be going to Virginia Beach to see my best buddy, Grace. She's almost done with Law School and I've been promising her a visit for 3 years now. Finally, the time has come! Gracie, we're going to have a blast!
So long Texas and bye sweetheart.....I'll really miss you.

Raise your hand if you think my husband lives like a king

I love the days when my husband works from home. It's not like we get to hang out together or anything. We both sit in the same room and do our own work. However, just knowing that he is near me makes my day. Also, we get to have lunch together...it feels like a date. :)

On the menu today: Parotta with Chicken Salna/Chalna. Parottas are buttery, pillowy, flaky morsels of bread. Chicken Salna is a curry made with chicken, onions, tomatoes, coconut and lots of spices. In Tamilnadu, these dishes are often served together. We brought the Parottas from India. They were made by Amuda Akka, a wonderful woman who works in my in-laws' home. I made the Chicken Salna using a recipe I found online.

Here is a picture of this lovely lunch. Hope you enjoy! Happy Friday. :)



Parotta with Chicken Salna....yum!

Our trip to Jaipur

Finally, the long awaited post about our recent trip to India (particularly Jaipur). :) We had a fun time in India with our families. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary (on February 8th) in Jaipur. My sweetheart planned the entire trip. He is such a great planner! Also, our uncles and aunts wanted to bless us by sending us on this trip. We are incredibly grateful to them!

We stayed at The Sheraton Rajputana. It was one of the best hotels we've stayed in. The customer service was amazing. Our room was gorgeous and not to mention so comfortable! The pillows on the bed were so soft that I wanted to steal them! Don't worry though...I didn't. Our favorite part of the hotel was the breakfast buffet. It was unbelievable! They had everything you can possibly imagine! After eating Indian food for 3 weeks straight, I was more than ready to have an American breakfast. My stomach just doesn't handle spicy food very well. They also had plenty of Indian food on hand, which made my husband very happy. :)

My uncle and aunt arranged for a tour guide to take us around Jaipur. The first night we were there, we went to a place called Chokhi Dhani. Chokhi Dhani is set up like a typical Rajasthani Village. We watched a puppet shows, a couple of Rajasthani dances and went on a manually run ferris wheel (my personal favorite). A man jumped on the ferris wheel and start spinning it around by jumping from one end to the other. It was crazy! We also had a traditional Rajasthani meal. We were shocked at the amount of ghee (clarified butter) they used but the food was good.

The following day, our tour guide took us to the City Palace. Along the way, we stopped at Hawa Mahal, which forms part of the City Palace. Hawa Mahal is a palace in Jaipur which was built in 1799. It was built so that royal ladies could observe everyday life in the streets without being seen in public. Once inside the City Palace, we went on a fun, elephant ride. Our rider was trying to overtake the other elephants! Some things in India never change! ;) The City Palace includes the Chandra Mahal and many other palaces and buildings. The architecture of all the palaces were striking. The rich, colorful tones of the palaces were breathtaking.

I could go over all the different palaces but I don't think I can do it justice. If you'd like to know more information, please check out this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Palace,_Jaipur. We also did quite a bit of shopping. Jaipur is known for it's gems, silk paintings, rugs and block printing on bed linens and clothes, among other things. We didn't get any gems (sigh) but we did get some bed linens. We also bought puppets, clothes, costume jewelry and shawls.

Below are some pictures of our trip. If you want to know more about this beautiful city, feel free to e-mail me. Enjoy the pictures!

Our beautiful hotel, Sheraton Rajputana


Rajasthani dance at Chokhi Dhani





Manual Ferris Wheel



Enjoying a traditional Rajasthani Meal. (Doesn't my sweetheart look cute??)



Elephant ride at Amber Fort



Hawa Mahal



The City Palace

I've been a very bad girl

This is my apology post. I haven't blogged in quite some time. No excuses....just didn't blog. The good news is though, I have SO much to blog about! We just got back from our trip to India and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Particularly our trip to Jaipur. I have lots of beautiful pictures to show you. Pictures which were taken with the Canon Rebel T1i that my sweet honey got for my birthday. :) Is he the greatest or what? I've been using this camera for 3 months and LOVE it!! Anyways, stay tuned for an update. Happy Saturday!