Weekend Round Up - Outing, Kids, and Reading

Not much took place this weekend, but I feel like I should post anyway (for you few followers that are dying to know what we're up to... haha!). 

Saturday we made a quick visit to Cityfest (Auburn's big outdoor event held by Parks&Rec). I just wanted to see what the yearly hype was about, but it was hot, so we didn't stay long.  Lots of booths filled with crafts and things and some live music.  Maggie had the time of her life smelling all the other dog smells. 

Sunday was my last day in the nursery at church (City Kids).  I have absolutely loved keeping the kiddos during the service.  Even at such a young age, they each have their own personalities and I've learned each one of the usual's by now.  Most Sundays are a little chaotic with lots of diapers to change, making sure no is swapping sippy cups or pacifiers, and calming mommy-missing blues.  But I will miss it all.  I've volunteered for about a year and in that short amount of time I've watched them grow.  They learn to crawl or walk and start talking, then they grow out my class and move on to the "big kids" room. It's bittersweet.

I spent the rest of Sunday engrossed in The Help (while Jesse and his friends were off shooting each other with airsoft guns). I made myself go to bed last night before finishing it so that I wouldn't be up so late.  It is by far the best book that I've read in a LONG time!  If you haven't read it, you should. End of story.  I'm sure you've already heard about it, so I won't give you a summary, but it's a must read for every Southern lady.  It is written so well.  Southerness just seeps from the seams of it, making me smile laugh at many of it's references. I have not seen the movie, because I haven't finished the book yet. I'm looking forward to seeing it soon, though!

"All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries." - Aibileen Clark, in The Help

Needtobreathe

Anyone heard of the band Needtobreathe?

Well, they are a pretty awesome group of guys from South Carolina who have topped the charts and racked up on Dove awards for the past few years.  And they came to Auburn last night. And I pretended to still be a student so that we could go.  :)

They are a rock band that you might have heard on Christian radio waves, singing this:

or this:

It was awesome!  They had a great live show.  So glad we got to see them!

Recyclebank Points

If you happened to have signed up on Recyclebank (from my previous post on rewards programs), you can earn up to 140 points by taking several pledges! They are all found HERE on one page.  100 points will get you a $10 off $30 at Bed Bath and Beyond, or choose other rewards like magazine subscriptions.  This is a great opportunity to earn quick points!

Click HERE to sign up for Recylebank if you haven't already!

If you want to earn lots of additional points, make sure you also do the Passport for the Planet activities!

Weekend Round Up - Drugs, Furniture, and a Home

This weekend we headed back to Birmingham for Jesse to do his "in-processing" before he starts his job - aka a drug test and a crazy test.  

I window-shopped while he took care of business. Then we headed over to our future apartment complex to pick out the specific apartment we will be living in!  It just happens to be different than any of the other units in the complex; it was a trial run for updating.  So we will have brand new kitchen appliances, faux granite countertops, and freshly painted kitchen cabinets!  It looks so much better than the others!

Since we are bringing very few furniture pieces with us, we need to get new pieces to fill our new place, so we did a bit of furniture shopping as well.  We purchased a mattress and have decided on a bedroom suite, but those details will remain under wraps until I have photos to show you all!

Earth Day

****So, I thought that I published this post on Sunday, but apparently I hit the wrong button and only saved it.  I am VERY disappointed, since I was trying to celebrate Earth Day with you all!  I hope you enjoy reading about it anyway.****

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

In case you aren't familiar, Earth Day falls each year on April 22.  It's the celebration of environmental awareness movement that started in 1970 and is still celebrated today.

It's important to take care of our planet.  While we may not be here forever, each generation should get to enjoy a land that hasn't been junked up by those before them.  We Americans consume- a lot. And are quite wasteful compared to other countries.  I've made it a personal goal to be less wasteful and more aware of my impact on the world around me. How, might you ask?

We recycle.

I thought it was ridiculous how much trash only two people could produce, so we started recycling to cut down on what we send to the landfills.  We have 4 bins set up to collect: cardboard, mixed paper, plastics, and aluminum & glass. Right now our so-called "bins" are really various sized trashcans that are lining our hall to the extra bedroom. This is not a very good system, but we've been dealing with it for a while now.  Hopefully we can come up with something better in our new place.  Auburn has a pretty decent recycling program.  However, they do not do curbside pickup at our trailer, so we make trips to the recycling center where everything is labeled, and you just dump your recycling right in!

We use reusable shopping bags.

It takes a while to get into the habit of remembering to take these to the store, but I've finally caught one.  Except one time recently where we made a big Walmart trip and I had a bit of a panic attack at the number of plastic bags that was used for our items.  Reusable shopping bags can hold SO much more than the plastic ones, and they are super durable.  Plus, fewer bags = fewer trips to and from the car!

We use a water-filtering pitcher & have re-fillable water bottles, instead of buying bottled water.

These are the best travel bottles we've ever owned. They keep your drink of choice cold for a long time.  If you add ice, there will still be some left at the end of the day!

I can only speak for myself on this one:  I am conscience of the amount of water I use during my morning routine and nightly routine.  I turn the water off while brushing my teeth and washing my face so as to not waste so much.  There is no point of letting all that just wash down the drain.

(photo from thedailygreen.com)

The products you buy also sends a message to producers.  Lots of manufacturers are getting these signals from consumers and changing their ways- from less packaging to fewer harsh chemicals, "green" products are more available on the market than ever before.  I am trying to replace some of our everyday products with more natural or eco-friendly for our own health and the environment's.  Remember our "green" frying pans from Christmas?  And the DIY Laundry Detergent?  I also recently replaced all of our cleaning products with Method products.  (Thanks to Target coupons + manufacturing coupons, I got each for 99cents!)

And this is my favorite face cleanser:

So I wouldn't classify us as "tree huggers" just yet, but every little bit helps!
What do you do to help better the world we live in?
Here's a link to a quiz to determine your ecological footprint and ways to reduce it. I was required to do for a class (Global Consumer Culture) my 2nd year at Auburn and thought it was pretty interesting.

3 Ways to Get Stuff for Free!

I wanted to enlighten you all about some rewards programs that I use to snag free money or prizes.  Did you think there was no such thing as a free lunch?  Well, you're pretty much right, because you do have to do at least a little something for these rewards programs, but if a few clicks a day gets me closer to a giftcard or cash I'm willing to do it! Here are my 3 favorites:

Perhaps the easiest rewards program is Ebates.  All you have to do to earn cash through Ebates is log into your Ebates account before you do your online shopping.  Search their database for the online store you will be shopping at, and click on it.  You will be redirected to your store's website, and Ebates will track to see if you ordered.  You will earn money according to the percent of rewards Ebates is offering.  Sometimes the percent cash back will change - your store may be running a bonus %!  Ebates also houses coupon codes, so you may score even more savings!  Here's a peek at some percentages:

It may not seem like much, but it adds up.  I have earned $36.87 since sometime in 2010.  So it's not the quickest way to earn rewards, but it's easy (if you remember to go to Ebates first).  Of course, the more online shopping you do, the more money you earn.

If you would like to set up an Ebates account to start earning, please click HERE.  You will get a bonus $10 giftcard to Target, Barnes & Noble, Magazines.com, or Home Depot when you sign up.  (And I will make $5 - only if you click through my link!)

Swagbucks is a points-based rewards program.  You earn points for using swagbucks as your search engine, taking a daily poll, viewing special offers, taking surveys, and other ways I haven't explored much of yet.  If you use Firefox, Internet Explorer, or (recently added) Google Chrome as your web browser you can install the Swagbucks toolbar, which gives you quick access to ways to earn and your rewards points total.

Once installed, just hover over the "Earn" tab on the toolbar and choose the way you want to get points.  Each day I try to take the "Daily Poll" (1pt), view the "NOSOs" (this stands for No Obligation Special Offers - all you have to do is click Skip or See Next Offer a few times and you can collect 2pts without giving out your info to any of the offers listed), and search a few separate times through Swagbucks.  When you make a search, you are awarded points at random.  I've received as many as 33 points to as few as 3 points per search.  And you don't get points for every search - again, it's random.  So next time, instead of Googling, use Swagbucks and work your way to a freebie!
So far I have earned 1,155 points since November 2011 (granted, I have just recently started trying to earn more points once I realized how easy it is).  I've cashed 450 points in twice to get Amazon gift cards - the ultimate reward prize in my opinion. (You can get anything off Amazon!)  There are many other prizes/giftcards to choose from.
Also, you earn points off of every person you refer - so if you would like to start an account, please click HERE!

My next favorite rewards program makes me smile twice - once for freebies, and once for promoting ways to better our environment!  Recyclebank rewards you for recycling and taking time (usually a couple of minutes) to learn about ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle. I've learned some surprising things about products through the activities I've completed so far, such as: Pantene now makes some of their bottles out of sugarcane to reduce the amount of plastic used in production and make the bottles more biodegradable. You can also earn 50 points by recycling Kashi cereal boxes!  Once you sign up for an account, you can start earning points by clicking on the "Earn Points" tab and taking quizzes (very short, promise!) or making pledges.  You can use you points to purchase coupons or giftcards.   I cashed in 100 of my points for $10 off $30 purchase at Bed, Bath, and Beyond!  You can also score free magazine subscriptions, such as Woman's Day or Good Housekeeping for only 125 points!
Click HERE to set up a Recyclebank account!

If you have any questions about any of these sites or how to earn points, leave a comment below!

Weekend Round-Up: School, Home, Matrimony

This weekend has been a long, eventful one to say the least.

On Friday, I went to UAB School of Optometry for Spring Visit (pre-orientation).  I had a great time getting to know my classmates and learning more about what's ahead.  We also were able to mingle with current first year students (we are matched to a "sponsor") and got great advice about starting school, Birmingham, and where to live.

Jesse was wonderful enough to drive around Birmingham for the full five hours I was in orientation trying to find us a home to rent.  Unfortunately not much success was found, but we had also planned to check out a couple of apartment complexes.  We did find an apartment we like, and think it's "the one,"  but I'm not going to share any details yet until it's final!

Saturday the most awesome thing happened.... my sister got married!!!! I am SO excited for her and Jeff, and their happiness just radiates from their smiles!  Tara and I had a little sister bonding that morning as I took her to get her hair and makeup done. 

Soon after, she was walking down the aisle:

Jeff was very excited to see his bride:

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Jeffery Moseley!

They had a little something up their sleeves for the rest of us. Click the photo below to see their first dance:

Congrats Jeff and Tara!

I love you, Sissy!