No Parking

...in the tree in front of my office building, apparently.

The price of 2 Utah BCS bowl tickets?

For Chris and I, it's $14.68.

Last week the University of Utah held a food drive competition with BYU, like they do every year the week of the big game. The MUSS, in an effort to increase donations, held a student competition. The student to donate the heaviest poundage of non-perishable boxed or canned food items purchased on a $15 budget (before tax) would win two tickets to Utah's bowl game.

If you've read any of the below posts, you know I'm sorta good at this kind of thing. When Chris found out about this competition, he called me pretty excited. And if you know Chris, you know he doesn't usually get excited about things.

So with three day's notice, this is what we came up with, using as many internet-printed and sunday-paper-clipped coupons as we could rummage up:65 Canned tomatoes

42 Baking Soda
24 Progresso Soup
21 Del Monte Veggies
16 Cake Mix
6 Baking Powder
4 Corn Starch
1 Canned Bean
1 Canned Fruit
= 180 items weighing in at 172 pounds

Total cost out of pocket: $14.68

Apparently we were the heaviest donation by far - no one even came close to us. Bowl-game, here we come! Who says it doesn't pay to shop with coupons?



Conversation preceding the below picture...
Me: "Chris, sit in front of the food and smile so I can take a picture."
Chris: Lays down on the ground underneath the food and makes an "it's falling on me" face. "Take my picture like this, first!"
Me: "Why? Can't you just smile like a normal person?"
Chris: "No, this way is much cooler! It'll look like the food's going to fall on me!"

....Seriously? Do all guys do this or am I the only one married to a two year old!

BCS-Bound, Baby!

Go Utes!

(Hey, look --I actually got them to hold still and smile for the camera!)

Jeremy, Chris, Sam, Devin, Jaron, and Corey before the big game.

*Note to all the eligible ladies out there: Aren't these guys cute? If you're in the market for a hookup, call me! I'd love to get a few of these boys married off so Chris and I can do something other than play rock band with "the guys" every Saturday night (no offense guys, still love you). Married friends are a good thing!

Twilight

This is where I was on Friday night.
I've seen it three times and counting!

Thanks girls, for a fun night!

Thanksgiving

(Me doing some testing at work last week)

In the spirit of November and Thanksgiving, I thought I'd post a little bit about what I'm thankful for lately.

Last week when I was running an errand for work, I drove past the location of a company that I interviewed with my senior year of college as I was job hunting -- we'll call this company Parrco. I actually interviewed at 5 or 6 places, and I got offers from all of the companies I'd wanted except for Parrco. I couldn't figure it out -- I'd felt so good about my interview there, and I felt really comfortable with the work atmosphere. But they kept stringing me on and never actually got me an offer in-hand.

The day came that I was supposed to start letting companies know whether or not I'd accepted their offers. I had planned on turning down all of my offers in hopes of getting one from Parrco (stupid, I know). I sat down on the steps outside of one of the buildings on campus and dialed my current company (we'll call them Bellco) to tell them I was turning down their offer. The president of the company began to ask me questions as to why, and to give me his thoughts on my situation. All of a sudden, I felt so calm and comfortable, and right then I knew I needed to accept this job.

I called with the intention of turning them down, and ended up accepting the job where I've been now for almost three years. I know without a doubt that this job was the right place at the right time for me, and I've absolutely loved it.

Where is Parrco three years later? You know, the company I wanted to work for but never got an offer from? Out of business. Technically they got bought out by another company, underwent many changes, and they're not what they were anymore.

Long story short - this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for my job, and I'm thankful for the guidance and revelation that each of us can receive if we desire it. I know that without it, I wouldn't be where I am today or as happy as I am today.


...and if any of you read this entire post, you deserve a gold star. :)

Monday Drugstore Deals

A little bit slow this week with my Monday drugstore info, but nevertheless, here it is.

There is a great P&G deal at Rite Aid this week. Buy $25 worth of P&G products and get a $10 Rite Aid gift card back by mail. There's also a $5 off a $25 purchase coupon good til the end of December when you sign up at Riteaid.com, so you're really paying $10 for $25 worth of stuff. And if you have coupons, it's even better!

I bought 20 boxes of Puffs (with lotion!) and 1 Febreze Noticeables kit. It cost me $0.79 + tax after coupons and rebates. I don't think I'll be needing any more tissue at my house for a good while!


Amazingly enough, I DID actually fit them all under the bathroom sink where I store tissue. Phew!

Stayfree at Smith's

Smith's is also having some good sales this week - not to be outshadowed by Albertsons'. Their Stayfree products were on sale for $2.50, with an additional $5 off at checkout when you buy 10 packs. I had 8 $2 off MFQs, so it ended up costing me $4 for 10 packs, or $0.40 each. That's a savings of $27.


Can a girl ever have too many feminine hygiene products? I think not.

(Chris, being the good husband that he is, never complains when I come home with more bags of it even though I already have a bathtub full. I think it's because the more I have on hand, the less likely it is that he'll ever have to go to the store and buy any -- because, ugh, how embarassing would that be?!)