"Coupon-ing"

So recently I have come across a bunch of coupon/freebie/deal blogs & websites. If you haven't looked at stuff like this, go, now! It is pretty amazing, I have yet to try it (a lot of the deals require using two coupons, which I never knew but most stores let you?) but I am excited to try my hand at it the next time we go shopping! If you're interested, the links are on here, under, "show me the money". Oh, but the one thing I did try was the ziploc one, seriously all I had to do was put in the address I wanted it shipped to, (NO email, phone number, card, sing-up for membership . . .) and within the next 4-6 weeks I am supossed to recieve a 50 pack of ziploc bags & a fresh seal container. Let's see if it's all a hype!

Jewels

Our little puppy, Jewels. Her birthday is February 9, of this year & we got her almost exactly 2 months later. She's the first little addition to our family & we just love her. We got her from Brett's Aunt Julie, and when she was offered we actually went home without her. It took the whole next day of me begging & telling Brett it wasn't such a big deal, and if you have read previous posts you know I have been asking him for a puppy forever. Brett was just scared, really. Well we finally went to get her & she stole Brett's heart almost right away. I often remind him how he once said, "I just don't want a little puppy running around here." The next couple of weeks were a little tough, waking up with her in the middle of the night (puppies can supposedly be a little bit like new borns, I'm told), but I didn't even care. Little Jewelzie has grown up so fast & I didn't even notice! Looking at some of these pictures from just a few months ago, I can see the changes. She is no longer quite as fuzzy, both ears have perked up (they were half perked when we got her, so cute. They went from that to one up one down). Also, she isn't pudgy like she was when she was super little. She has such a funny little personality, she knows the word "No" and is usually pretty darn good, but will also "tell you off" if she doesn't want you tell her no. She is a very quick learner. And she can play a little too rough sometimes! She also has "little dog syndrome", she doesn't always seem to get how small she is. She often, well all the time, is jumping on her little hind legs, usually to try to see things, or just for no reason at all. She really loves lying on the top of our couch to look out the window & wait for Brett to come home. She has fallen off the couch before with excitement because she saw his car! & nestling her little body or nose into small places. She used to be afraid of stairs but loves them now & is always trying to find a way to run up them. She LOVES kids & meeting new people, everyone that comes to the door, even if it is the "cleaner salesmen", mailman, whoever she thinks they her best friend. She is so good with not begging for food too much! She gets frustrated and will let out a bark every now and then, but tries so hard to stay back, away from the food. She gets car sick & alergies. She her weekly bath & blow-dry (I have to, I won't have my house smell like wet Jewelzie!) She loves cuddling and nestling her body & nose in small places. She loves to scurry underneath small places such as trunks, the bed, anything she can work her way under, almost like it's a playhouse. She even seems to enoy being zipped up in my jacket. She follows us both around the house, our little shadow, and yells at me when I come out of the bathroom 'cause I wouldn't let her in. She is so attachted to Brett, when she was little we had a baby gate in our old house to block of the living room, so that we could keep an eye on her. Brett would come home, step over the gate, and there she would wait crying, jumping & whining for her pal to come & say hello to her. As a matter of fact the two of them are napping together right now. She loves belly rubs too. Sometimes we aren't sure weather she is a cat(she makes wierd whiney noises resembling a meow), bunny(she hops constantly), mouse or dog, but we just love her, all 2 & 1/2 lbs of her!

No this is not her puppy purse, I just put her in mine to see if she'd stay

Blurry, I know but this is her trying to run up the stairs at our new house.

Bundled up like a burrito, snuggling. She actually thinks this huge down blanket is hers, and freaks out jumping all over it whenever we get it out.

Yes we were finished with the box!

Sometimes she gets a little bit picked on & dressed up when we get antsy waiting for Brett to stop doign weights.

She really loved that duck.

Mister, "I really don't want a puppy."

She really just like to try to rip her scarf, not wear it.

But it sure is cute, when I can get it on her.

That duck used to be bigger than her! She thought it was her buddy, and I am not lying I SWEAR she used to hump it! Honest! We had to get rid of her best friend because he was all torn-up & she started to eat the cotton. Bye, lover.

Also, she thinks she is way viscious. She hates it when I clap, I dont really know why, but it is really funny.

See how pudgy she was!

Very first picture. I had her wrapped in a towel on the way home because I was so afraid she would pee on me lol

Take me out to . . .

The Ball Game! A couple of months ago Janet asked Brett & I if we'd like to go to a Dodgers game in Cali. I have never been to a major league game, so of course we said yes! The trip doubled as a visit to Brett's Grandma Barbara too.

*I am having trouble placing pics so you will have to scroll down to see them*

We were a little concerned about bringing Jewels, in the months before the game we were hoping she'd be potty-trianed fully so we could bring her. Well she had it down pretty good come June so she got to come! I will admit she gets car-sick, so the vet gave us some pills, but I just didn't want to drug her unless she was miserable. Plus you have to like fast the puppy for 2 hours so we decided to see how she'd do without it. I put her in her little bed, in the back seat, and she just kinda laid down, for a while. But right before Mequitte she puked. And I know this sounds gross, but she didn't eat it, either (usually they do). So come the next rest stop, I was scrubbing a doggy bed and trying to give little Jewels water. I felt so bad for her. After that she did absolutely wonnderful, she didn't go to the bathroom at all (it was like she was in hibernation) and she jst slept on my lap the entire drive. I swear 90% of the time she really is the best little dog. Oh, and I don't wish to have the nick-name "Paris" but I bought a little puppy bag to put her in. I never thought I would put a puppy in a bag but seriously, it is WAY handy. On the way we stopped at Del Taco (Brett's parents stopped too) and brought her in in her bag. It is kinda discreet, except when she pokes her head or butt out lol. So Janet came over to Brett & was like, "You can't have her in here!"laughing her head off. But I told her people bring their dogs through Bullochs all the time & if they ask us to take her outside we will, but we were in Baker & I wasn't about to leave her in a hot car. It was pretty funn though, 'cause I think Jewels has intuition, she really looked like she was trying to be good & keep her head down. No one said anything, and she just sat at my feet while we ate.



Once we got to Brett's grandmas it was really fun. She is so sweet, she was actually flying back from Florida as we made our way to California, yet she still found time to make up all of the beds a week in advance so it'd all be ready when we got there.



OH and they have a huge black lab named Charly, and Jewels is so afraid of dogs. People, she will meet & greet, just loves anyone who comes to the door & thinks they are there to see her. Dogs, forget it, she will cry. After weeks of being a chicken she had just gotten used to Brett's family dog, a yellow lab, Shanai who is about 12 years old. She frequently chases her around the house barking & taunting, begging to play (and Jewels is a 2.5 lb Chihuahua mix). But Shanai is just too old. So we thought she'd be scared of Charly too, and Janet & Brandma Barbara thought Charly might try to eat her, and she was scared, at first. But the next day they were the best of friends, chasing each other everywhere. Until Jewels would decide she was sick of him smelling her & tease & dive somewhere she knew he couldn't fit, or job on the couch, as if to say, "Ha ha". It was just like a baby sister & big brother, 85 lb. Charly just couldn't understand why he couldn't get on the couch too, and would try. Jewels is such a little instigator, she would actually sit on someone's lap & paw his face and snap. Brave little dog.



Also apparently a lot of "gang-banging" has been going on in the parking lots of the games, and I was so scared! So I asked Brett's mom if we could ride with them to the actual game. Hello it is in LA! Brett's brother Matt thinks I'm kinda a freak, and maybe I am, but I just can't help it! As we got out of the Denali I was like "Hope your rims are still here when we get back." And Brett's response was, "You have to take off the wheels to that on this car, the wheels & the rim are the same thing." Which made me feel pretty dumb.



But anyway . . .The baseball game was a lot funner than I thought it would be, it is so much different to be there in person! And we saw a classic ball-game proposal . . . during the "kiss me" stuff . . . so cute! We of course ate "Dodger Dogs", but sadly our weren't grilled all the way. I didn't know that was the norm until hours after we had had ours, and I looked over and saw another person's, and theirs looked way better. But oh well you have to have a hot dog at a baseball game! Sadly, the team we were there for lost, but it was still fun! Oh, and Brett's grandma made a HUGE breakfast (she always does) the morning of the game, so yummy!

Don't mind the sick glasses, I had ordered my contacts like a week before and do you think they got here in the "two-three days"? Nope.


Dodgers

Brett's family, they had way closer, way more expensive seats then us, but we were happy anyway :) At least we could see the whole game without binoculars & could read the score! ha

Dodger dogs . . .The crazy-busy traffice on the way out of the parking lot afterwards. Looks like Christmas.
Jewels cooped up in Charly's ginormous cage while we ate breakfast. No, Charly is not in there too.

The Fourth

We had a pretty fun fourth of July this year . . . except I forgot to take any pictres! This year we went to Janet's (Brett's mom) for a BBQ with bunch of their friends. It was SO good! There were all kinds of chicken tha everyone brought, hot-dogs, ect.

I was going to make this ice cream cake with angel food & layer of blueberry & strawberry ice cream . . . got a special pan for the angel food cake too . . . the directions said NOT to grease the pan, so I didn't. BIG mistake. The whole cake stuck to the inside of the "special" pan . . . so since my cake was pretty much messed up at that point, I had to make another plan. I was freaking out and Brett was trying to tell me it was okay, and I was like, "How is it okay the cake is demolished!". I have to hand it to Brett, 'cause everytime something doesn't go right I tend to get way anxious and prob. a little mean. So I racked my brain trying to figure out how o fix the mess. If ever one of my moms cakes would go wrong she'd turn it into a trifle. A trifle is layered cake, pudding, berries, ect in a clear punch-bowl looking thing. So that's what I did, only with the ice cream . . . also had fresh berries. But, mind you I had to call my mom (she lives in Florida) to ask what order she thought I should layer everything, I call her for just about everything, usually cooking related, the conversation goes, "Hi Mom, how are you? Hey, how do I . . ." When we were first married I was a freak about cooking & raw meat & making sure things were abslutely done, so she got a lot more phone calls back then. Brett laughs at me all the time and said it's a good thing she always gies such good advise! And it is! It turned out WAY yumy & everyone said it was beautiful too.

After the BBQ everyone headed up Leigh Hill to watch the kids set off their fireworks. Now, when we went to Brett's Moms we brought our little puppy, Jewels. Janet always calls her, "my grandaughter" & loves to see her. So Jewels was busy making friends with just about everyone, especially the kids. She was the center of attention. So when it came time for fireworks I didn't want her to be left alone & scared. So I brought her with us . . . NOT such a great idea. The minute the first one went off, she was still on her leash & she cried & cried & started running. So I decided to hold her, while Brett and I watched. Not so grand either, she kept clawing & climbing her way up me & scratching the heck out of my neck. The solution? I zipped her inside my jacket, where she stayed pretty-okay, with her nose nestled in my sleeve. I looked pretty funny too, like some sort of deformed preg lady, but hey it worked! Also, this adorable little boy who had played withehr earlier wandered over to "comfort" her. He was only about 3 or 4, and very friendly! He kept petting her, kissing her, rubbing her neck & covering her eyes, "So she won't get scared." I said, "You are doing such a great job, making her feel better." and he said,"Yeah, because she loves me." By the end of the night he was bascially sharing a chair with me, holding Jewels. One of his last questions was, "When is her birthday?" I told him February 9. And he said,"Can I come to her birthday?" lol what a cutie! If ever we had a birthday party for Jewels, he'd be top on my list :)

So Bad . . .

with blogging lately! But, I thnk I am going to start up-dating it now . . . just realized there are not even pictures of Jewels, our puppy, on here and we got her about 3 months ago :). Also, I have created a new blog for my cakes, Tu-Shae Treats, as seen top right. Hopefully more to come!

Fall, Fall, Snow?

Just some Fall pictures from '08. And no I am not confusing the seasons we actually did get a snow storm in October, which is actually normal for Utah. I guess you could say it was our welcome back from sunny Florida. At least we got some good use out of our fireplace! Don't mind Brett's boxer shot, I wanted a picture of our rental house in the snow . . .

What a god hubby, choppin' the wood.

My awesome witch I had to get at Bullochs, she has strippy socks too! And this is what happens when you are not too adamant about racking up all of your leaves . . . a life size amount! And PS I did it help with this, in fact I initiated it just for the record for the pics don't show it :)

Halloween 2008

Sweeny Todd & Mrs. Lovett

Little baby Nicky, ain't he cute?! Chubby little guy!

So this one is from last year . . . I sewed the costumes but come to find out there aren't any pics on the computer of them . . . just this bad one! Will find a better one later . . . check out my sick wig!

Sewing away . . .

So I always seem to give myself huge projects, and every Halloween it is costumes for Brett & me. Last year it was Jasmine & Aladdin I made the costumes at his Grandma's house due to lack of sewing machine, and they are so sweet they bought me one! This year I had to compromise with Brett & be something "creepy" and not so cutsey so we went with the dark Sweeney Todd. Also sewed these costumes, this time from the comfort of my home! But I had to do it quickly because we got home from our Hooneymoon right before! Halloween Brett's cute Grandma Camille always has a little party for all of the relatives & she makes all sorts of goodies! It is so fun to see all the kids in their costumes! Here's some pics!