Chicago

Our segway tour-it is actually a lot harder to take your hand off than you would think

I haven't posted about our Chicago trip just because honestly I'm not real good at posting. It's about time though. Will had to go to Chicago for work for 3 days and he had a free flight so I used it to go with him. His parents kept the girls one day and my mom kept them another day. Thank goodness they were able to do that so we could spend some time together.

The first night we ate at a place called Lou Malnati's, a local Chicago style pizza place. Last time we were in Chicago we ate at Giordano's and really weren't impressed with the pizza. I was a little hesitant but oh my word, how awesome!! We got some spinach bread to start with which was awesome and then a deep dish italian sausage pizza. It was so good, I can't even explain it!! Then we topped it off with a little cookie and ice cream for dessert. The picture above is us full and satisfied. We then did a little shopping on Michigan Avenue and found my favorite Chicago store, H&M. Probably the only one I could even afford shopping in, but it is the bomb. It is 3 floors of trendy, stylish, super inexpensive clothing. We picked up a few things before I had to have my picture made to capture the night!

We were literally exhausted walking around. I had on boots that weren't very comfortable when you walk as many miles as we did. So we decided to take a ride on a rickshaw. I didn't know that is what these were called until this day but a guy rode his bicycle and pulled us around on our little cart. It definitely beat having to walk even one more step. Very different and fun!

Will looking professional waiting on the subway, or the "L" as the locals call it

The 2nd day we were there we decided it would be neat to take a segway tour around Chicago. We had a lot of fun with our guide, Demetrius, and the only couple from ATL that went with us. Demetrius was from Greece so we really had to pay attention to what he was saying because of his heavy accent.

Before my driving lesson began

At the Shedd Aquarium-Demetrius loved taking pictures so be glad this is all I'm posting of the segways.

Another night of shopping at Filene's Basement-my trooper husband

A quick stop at Ghiradelli for a free sample of chocolate, a little bitty cup of water and some delicious hot chocolate. Notice the smile on my face!

A quick stop at the Hershey store before heading home for the night. Silly hats and tired faces!

Our drive home from Nashville to see our babies. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. This was our delirious driving pic! We had a great trip and I am so thankful for Will's job and the opportunities both of us get from it. I am also thankful for loving grandparents who will lend a hand and let us go do these things. As much as you love your kids, it is so important for your marriage to get away and spend time together!

Stocked up!

The two pictures above are the same thing just a different angle. I wanted to share my recent Publix run. I was in Madison for my dad's birthday and me and my sister-in-law, Shannon, (the coupon lady as she was referred to in Publix) and my niece, Alexis, ran after the party and picked up a few things.

Ready for my total?? For all the stuff pictured, I spent $48 and saved $118!!!! Can you believe that? I am still new enough to this that I get super excited. You probably can't tell what all I got but it does consist of 2 bottles of Fantastic, 3 boxes of spaghetti noodles, 2 vegetable oils, 2 boxes of Ritz ($1.09 total), 2 boxes of mac and cheese, 4 bags of frozen veges, 4 things of cookie dough, 3 boxes of popcorn, 2 things of margarine, 2 things of spray butter, 16 things of crescent rolls or bread, 2 things of cream cheese, 8 boxes of muffin mix (.20 each), 2 bags of muffin mix, a bottle of dressing (.57), 2 boxes of chex cereal, a box of Gas-X (they paid me $1.50 to take it) and 2 bottles of vitamins that they paid me $3 to take.

Shout out to my amazing teacher, Shannon, because I couldn't do it without her. She is on a first name basis with all the workers and even warns them when she things they will run out of stuff because of it being such a good deal. She is also awesome about donating stuff to the 8th street church in Madison or Huntsville one. I am giving her my Gas-X and vitamins to take there. She gave me 2 coupons last night in exchange for a bottle of Lysol that I wasn't going to use. It's amazing the things that make you excited after you have kids! It is so fun to go get so much stuff and not spend a lot for it. I have had to reorganize the pantry several times but I think I found a place for everything. I also went to Target this past week and got Del-Monte vegetables on sale for .45 each. That is cheaper than Sam's just so you know. I bought 3 cases!!! They also have their Campbell's cream of mushroom and chicken and Swanson chicken broth on sale for .50. That is dirt cheap!

We are supposed to be getting 2 Publix in Florence so hopefully that will happen sooner than later and I'll host another coupon class-probably at church-and let Shannon come teach us again how to save in our own town!!! Oh and just so you know, my total last night started well over $100 and I know I had at least $60 in coupons!! It was so fun to see the total drop! Yeah for cheap groceries!!

Shutterfly Shout Out!

Hey friends,

I wanted to give a little shout out to my friends at Shutterfly. They have some awesome stuff on their website that you need to look into. Go here to find great Christmas photo cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery for the upcoming holiday season.

It is definitely hard to choose since there are so many but my favorite Christmas card is Peppermint Bliss-http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/peppermint-bliss-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476. I love the font and the colors most of all but I also love that you can put 3 different pictures on there to show different family members, arrangements, etc. I can't wait to get a good picture to upload for our Christmas cards.

I also love Shutterfly's calendars. You can find them at http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/ . These make great gifts because you can upload all your pictures and have them printed on your calendar. It makes remembering birthdays so much easier and fun when you have pictures to go with it.

Shutterfly is the best place to upload your pictures and share them with friends. http://www.shutterfly.com/upload-pictures. I do this often with my sister-in-law who lives out of town. She also sends me her pictures and when I sign in I am able to save her pictures and use them later for my photo albums. That is definitely one of the things I use Shutterfly for the most!

Thanks to Shutterfly for making it easy to share memories!

Go visit their site today and get ready for the holidays!!