Sunday, December 19, 2010

S.S. Marlana (Creative Writing)

S.S. Marlana

Ah, you’d like to know about our ship, the S.S. Marlana? Oh yes, she’s a fine ship indeed. There is more the S.S. Marlana than what meets the eye, though. S.S. Marlana’s primary purpose is taking her passengers on short cruises around the coast. We prefer to keep her close. Why you ask? First, let me tell you about her.

She does best on calm, subdued seas. After all, what ship does not like the mellow waves and smooth sailing? We have routine passengers that travel on this wonderful ship. It’s a fun ship, filled with games, comedians, and fine dining. You’ll never get bored, as you’ll always find something entertaining on her deck! And the food! You won’t find artificial flavors or preservatives from her kitchens or meals. No sir, on the S.S. Marlana we prepare all meals from scratch and cook to perfection for her guests. You should try visiting her bars. Grab a drink and lay out on the deck by the pool. She has the finest liquors and wines. Most often, you will find her guests there, body’s totally relaxed, drink in one hand, eyes closed, enjoying the best ship in our line. Anyone who stays on the S.S. Marlana is quite pleased and has the most pleasurable experience. It is what she does best; makes her guests happy.

However, the S.S. Marlana is rough and tough. This ship has endured her share of trials and has conquered the raging storms. She’s a tough ship, and will take any hurricane, monsoon, thunder, or lightening you throw at her and continues to float along, remaining unstoppable and unsinkable. Oh, I see that look you are giving me, that face tells me you are thinking, “Well, all ships are built to withstand stormy weather.” This is true, I won’t deny, but we have a hidden secret about her. I’ll let you in on our little secret, as well. Hidden within her deck and through the ship are some of the finest, most protective weapons we have. People who sail on her ship are some our most important clientele! Her routine passengers are family, close friends, and young children. These people, being so significant, require the highest security imaginable and the utmost protection. If anyone dares to mess with our ship, or passengers, then those people must be ready for a fierce battle. She quickly transforms into the grandest battleship. Yes, there have been some people stupid enough to mess with our grandest S.S. Marlana, and yes, everyone one of them has lost.

Feel free to come enjoy a stay on this fine cruise, but now you know: don’t mess with this ship.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Baby: Pacifiers Best Friend

The first night he was born, his mom was holding him and he wouldn’t stop crying. He was hot and flushed with fever. The poor cheeks on his face were wet with tears. Pitiful boy, apparently he was just miserable that night. They took him to the NICU for blood work and that is where we met for the first time. He was crying until the moment we met. When the night nurse gave me to him, he stopped crying almost instantly.


I could feel his little body relax. All his muscles loosened as he went into a deeper relaxed state. His eyes began to close. I knew we had a special bond. I’ll never leave you, I’ll always stay with you, I thought.


The baby and I are inseparable. I’m in every photo with him, letting the world know I’m with this boy forever. Sometimes she tries to take me out for a photo and say, “Let me see your beautiful smile!” but the water works begin and I come back to his rescue. I calm him down every time. I have the power!


His first birthday flies by, 18 months comes and goes, and soon enough I see his birthday cake with a number 2. I’m with him every step of the way! I travel everywhere with him, and if I’m ever misplaced, Mom finds me quickly.


The strangest thing is happening though… people are looking at us weird. They look at me now, as if I don’t belong with him. How dare they! Sometimes I hear his speech therapist say, “You know, THAT will need to go soon.”


THAT?! I’m not a THAT! I have a name: Avent Pacifier, and I’m very important!


He’s almost 3 now; one more month until his birthday! I can’t wait to be in all the photos with him for another year. Together forever!

One day, I heard his mother say to him, “You know, if you give up the pacifier then the Paci Fairy will bring you a new bike and take the old pacifiers away.”


How dare she contemplate getting rid of me!


A few days later, I’m left behind in the kitchen, and the little boy and mom come in rolling a bike through the door. He quickly rides out the front door on his new, shiny red, Radio Flyer bike, leaving me long behind on the counter.


Don’t leave me! You need me!


He doesn’t even look back.


Night falls. I’m still sitting here. The counter is getting cold, it’s dark, and I’m feeling alone. In the other room, I hear them talking, “No more pacis! The Paci Fairy is coming tonight to take them away.” I suppose the Paci Fairy will take me where I’m needed now, since he has betrayed me and left me.


Mom is approaching me. I feel myself lift into her hand. She must be taking me to the Paci Fairy now. Except, I smell something… like bad food and dirty diapers. Darkness is encroaching.


No! No! How dare they throw me away!


“Bye bye pacifiers, he’s a big boy now,” she says, and drops me into the trashcan.


Lies! Lies!


[By MLH Weber]

(c) 2010 MLH Weber


You have permission to share this story, just please be sure to write my name at the bottom, since it is my own creation. You can add my blog address too! :) :) :)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Friday, June 4, 2010

Happy Birthday Myles


Happy 3rd Birthday Myles.

Today Myles celebrates his first birthday in Heaven. I bet they are having a grand party there for him. Who wouldn't want to party up with Jesus and all the angels and saints? :)

We love you Myles. Thinking of you today Michele.


Wednesday, June 2, 2010

3 CENTS Rite Aid spectacular :)

Okay, and the BEST deal by far at Rite Aid:

I paid only .03 cents for these items at Rite Aid!
Coppertone: $8.99 - $2 in-ad coupon - $2 Rite Aid adperk coupon - $2 off manufacturer coupon, which would have made it $1.99 (still an AWESOME deal for Coppertone!)
Veet Hair Removal: $6.49 - $3 manufacturer coupon - $3 ad perk coupon made it .49 cents
Clearasil: $5.29 - $2 off manufacturer coupon - $3 off ad perk coupon - .29 cents
Red Vines: (yeah, Elijah just had a sweet tooth... lol) .88 cents
BUT WAIT! my subtotal was $21.65, so I used my $5 off $20 ad perk coupon -- and I handed this to her BEFORE handing her all my other coupons, bringing my subtotal down to $16.65, then I gave her my coupons which totaled $18... bringing me to -$1.35, so add in tax (don't ask me how tax works, I get so confused with all that, but the receipt says tax was $1.38)... made me pay .03 cents!
Check out my receipt:

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Even more awesome deals

Here's Sunday's shopping adventure at Target:

And a breakdown:
All four of the baby wipes (Pampers, my favorite!!!) were on clearance for $1.74. Remember that $8 monkey maker I made on the Gillette body wash last week? I used that to buy the four boxes of Pampers! -- so basically it was FREE!
Ban d.o. was on sale for $1.99, plus $1 ecb's, plus I had a .75 manufacturer coupon = .25 cents!
U by Kotex -- FREE! (Walgreens sale for $3.49 - $2.50 in register rewards, -$1 off coupon)
Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes: .99 cents! (Target -- $2.99 - $1 manufacturer coupon - $1 Target coupon)
Aveeno Baby Wash -- Now, if any of you have kids with sensitive skin, you know how much more pricey Aveeno Baby is versus generic or Johnson & Johnson... but all the other stuff gives my boys terrible rashes, so Aveeno it is! Aveeno is on sale this week at Target for $4, plus I had $1 off manufacturer coupon for being signed up on Aveeno's email list... so $3 for Aveeno baby!
Secret Clinical -- Again, another "fancier" item... but I like how dry it keeps me, especially when I know it'll soon be hitting 100+ degrees here!! So it's usually $7.29, but I had $1 off Target coupon (it was about to expire), plus $1 off manufacturer coupon, which made it $5.29... PLUS, inside the box was $15 worth of coupons!! All coupons I'd use too! I feel like I already made my money back!

Here's yesterday's trip from Walgreens:
Again, more free pads. Same sale, I just found more coupons to print off from the U by Kotex website!
The best part... MOOOORE free Always Pads!! The register printed me off extra coupons for a FREE package of Always (up to 18 ct). Gotta love FREE!

Reach toothbrush -- FREE! (Sale for .99cents, then used $1 off coupon)

Neutrogena -- $2.89 each, but Walgreens has a promo, if you buy 3 Neutrogena items, you get $10 in Register Rewards back! So it was $8.67 before tax for the bars, but I got $10 in Register Rewards! I paid for that first, then continued shopping for the rest of the items...

As for the Revlon hair dryer, my other one pooped out on me, so I've been on the look out for a new one. Well this one was on sale for $12.99 at Walgreens this week! Therefore, I used my $10 register rewards towards that, plus my $2.50 register rewards I'd gotten from buying all the pads, and I needed one more "filler" item to make all the coupons work with their Register Rewards, so I let Elijah get some clearance paints... .69 cents!! I paid only about a dollar plus tax out of pocket.

Target deals yesterday:

Sobe Life Water: Sale for $1 each, buy 10 get $5 gift card... I used (4) Buy one Get one Free coupons, plus (4) .50 cent off Target coupons... which brought my total down to $4 plus I got a $5 gift card! Profit of $1 :)
Finish Automatic Dishwashing Detergent Dispenser: Temporary price cut for $5, plus I had a $3 off coupon... made it $2!
Extend-a-Clean Scrubbing Bubbles: .69 Cents! Usually $8.69 I had a $5 off manufacturer coupon, plus a $3 off Target coupon, which brought my total down to .69 cents! I also have a $5 Gift Card coupon when you purchase this product, so I'm going back today and getting more for a money maker!
Olay -- I bought 2 Olay items and received a $5 gift card (they had the promo with other items, I just needed some Olay!) Plus coupons! Got the moisturizer for $6-something, Facewash for $2-something, plus I got a $5 gift card back, which made each item very inexpensive!
Clearance Dove -- $1.74 for each massive Dove body wash... plus it has a free sample in each!, Dove deodorant was on clearance for $2.50 for a 2 pack, plus $1 off Target coupon, plus $1 off manufacturer coupon -- made each deodorant .25 cents each!
I also got 2 packages of Bounty paper towels for my parents, and got a $5 gift card back for that too!

I ended up leaving with $15 worth of gift cards!

Just wait till my next post about my AWESOME deal at Rite Aid... it was so cool, it deserves it's own special post. :)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

More sweet deals

Yes, I'm on a deal hunting rampage. LOVE IT!

Check this out:


There's more stuff I've gotten this week, but couldn't grab it and post it all... but here's some of the kick-butt deals I found.

Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce (I bought 2): .50 each (Albertsons sale, plus coupon)
Hunts ketchup & Heinz ketchup (okay, I got a little carried away... I bought 5 Heinz and 1 Hunts, I'm supplied for a year, LOL!): $1 each!!!!!! (Target & Wal Mart)
Farmer Johns hot dogs: FREE! (Stater Bros sale + coupon)
2 packages of Kotex pads, and 2 packages of Kotex pantyliners: FREE! (Target clearance PLUS my coupons made it free!)
Gillette Body Wash: better than free!, they paid me $8 CVS extra bucks to take it! So I actually made $8 for getting this! (I also had a buy one get one free coupon, which is how I got 2!)
Blistex 3 pack (which I'm always using this kind, and always losing them): $1.48 (Target clearance)
Listerne Whitening PreRinse: FREE! (Target clearance + coupon)
Pantene Hairspray: .88 cents (Target clearance + coupon)
Suave deodorant (one of my favorites!): .25 each (Stater Bros sale + coupons)
Green Works laundry detergent -- I usually make my own laundry detergent, but I got this for my mom: .48 cents!! (Target clearance + coupon)
Little Swimmers diapers: $3.49 (Walgreens sale + Walgreens coupon + Manufacturer coupon) -- and for those that don't buy swim diapers... that is an AMAZING deal! Usually they sell for $10!

Oh, and I also got a FREE Airwick i-motion spray thingie. You know those ones you just hit a setting and it sprays automatically... yup, FREE! (Target clearance, because it was "repackaged" plus a coupon)

CONGRATS TO MY UPLINE!!

My upline, Richard Garay, just won Stampin' Up! 2010 Artisan Award!

He's an amazing upline and deserves this more than anyone else!!!

CONGRATS RICHARD!!!!!!

(check out his awesome site: http://www.thefunstamperscorner.com/)

Saturday, May 22, 2010

May Adventures

For those that don't know -- I take classes with National University. Our classes are set up on a monthly schedule. Pretty intense, I know! A class every month! This month's class is "Literary Theory," and oh my GOODNESS am I getting my butt kicked. Not to mention this month started off rough... I had a stomach bug, the kids were sick, and we took Elijah's pacifier away... and it all happened to fall at the exact same time! OY!

So, I feel like this month has been non stop, and I've barely had time to think. On the bright side, Elijah has been paci-free for nearly 3 weeks now! YAY ELI!! My parents had their annual Derby Party... ALWAYS fun. My sister and her fiance came out to visit for the Derby party, my mama's b-day was earlier this week, and some other random stuff going on between now and then... mostly play time with Aunt Laura, Hyrum & Adelaide. :)

Here's some photos!

Derby Party

My mom's 60th b-day
(no, I didn't have 60 candles, so I had to make do with this!)

SCORE!


Alright, so I'm pretty excited about this... Laura & I went to a "Something for Nothing" class, and it was all about how to save money with coupons. Now my friend (shout out to Katie Nelson here!) taught me some of the ways of awesome-couponing-adventures last year, and also taught me to store my coupons in a binder (GENIUS!)... but now since Laura and I are on this adventure together, we've REALLY gotten all into it.

So I've gotten all the stuff in the photo for under $5 -- some of it was even free!

I thought I'd share some awesome scores I found this week with sales, clearance, coupons, etc:
Herbal Essences shampoo - FREE! (CVS)
Suave Professionals Shampoo - .30 cents (Target)
Sunsilk Conditioner: $1 (Wal Mart)
Jergens Natural Glow moisturizer -- I had 2 of these but gave one to my mama -- FREE! (Target)
L'Oreal hair color - $1 (Wal Mart)
Right Guard D.O. for the hubby -- .75 cents each (Walgreens)
Colgate Pro Clinical toothpaste -- .99 cents (CVS)
Bounty Basic paper towels -- yeah we already have tapped into them... in fact, I think we already used them and I grabbed another roll of Bounty... anyways -- FREE! (Target)

I also got salami & bologna at Ralphs for .50 cents! And some other totally smashing deals.

I started totaling how much money I saved this week -- all on things I usually buy (foods, dog food, cat food, diapers, wipes, etc) and I've already saved $113+ AND got a $10 gift card back from Babies R Us AND a total of $10 gift cards back from Target...

Oh, and I won a 10 minute calling card from some sort of Colgate sweepstakes promo. I don't know the last time I used a calling card, but hey, you never know!

PRETTY COOL!!!! :)

Monday, April 12, 2010

Easter page!

For those that are local - I'll be offering this page for the $5 Wednesday Craft -- this Wednesday, April 16th, at 6PM.

Enjoy!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Projects to share

I needed a slightly masculine thank you card, here is what I came up with:

Easter Card:

and a modified composition notebook... made to MY liking!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

"Recipes by Design" - Recipe Exchange










Come join me for an afternoon lunch to exchange recipes with the Recipe by Design box found in the Spring Occasions Mini! You can also find it in my online store. The box is only $24.95 and is full of 64 recipe cards, 8 divider cards, one cooking tips and measurements card, and 11 sheets of self-adhesive die-cut embellishments; all stored in a functional magnetic storage box!

Bring your favorite recipes to share with others, and receive new recipes from everyone participating to start filling your box with delicious recipes! Lunch will be served at my home (using a recipe to exchange, of course!).

You can order the box through my online store, or place the order direclty through me for $25 (that means I'll cover the shipping and handling!). Take advantage of this one time offer from me!

Don't forget Sale-A-Bration is going on until March 31st! That means if you order any products for $50, you get a FREE Sale-A-Bration item! You can order two recipe boxes - one for you, and one for a friend or family member, add some adorable ribbon to your order to decorate the box, and you'll receive a FREE SALE-A-BRATION item!

To allow time to order the "Recipes by Design" kit for all who participate, please RSVP by Wednesday, April 7th.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

HIGH DESERT HOME SHOW!

I had a wonderful time this weekend at the High Desert Home Show! I met some great scrapbookers, stampers, and overall very friendly people! Thanks to everyone who came!!

Here's some pictures Patrick took of me at my booth, and a few pictures of the demos I showed.





"Pun Fun"

"Sale-a-bration" example


My Digital Studio card demo

My Digital Studio scrapbook page demo