Speer Family

Kait - playing around with the Mac

2011-12-01T15:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a sweet picture Kait created - drawn freehand and colored in with the Mac.

Love it!

Stumbled Upon an Old Friend's Creativity

2011-06-24T20:53:00.007-04:00

I know a lot of tremendously talented people. And I keep waiting for one of them to actually achieve success.

And, so, it was with great encouragement that I stumbled upon the 7 Layer Studio blog the other day.

I used to go to school with Shelley WAAAAAAY back in our younger days. And I am so excited to see the creative ideas and inspiration showcased at her site. (this photo reveals just one of the MANY projects you'll find from Shelley there)

While it's not a topic I am really that interested in, I thought you might find some great ideas. There's plenty to see and enjoy.

Shelley, it's great to see you doing so well! I hope you keep right on going!
All the best,
Al

Selling a Piece of My History - the Chicken is Leaving the Coop

2011-05-15T10:28:00.001-04:00

I honestly can't believe I am writing this right now.

I have put my chicken websites up for sale. You can read more about the sale at that link.

I have been running the Chicken Coop Plan website for over 5 years. It feels like I'm giving up a piece of my heart by selling it. On the same hand, it feels like that piece of my heart has been strangling me and holding me back for the last 2-3 years. It feels like I should be holding onto the past, even though it's a past that is dead and gone to me.

Anyhow, there is a $250 reserve on the sites, so if they don't go above that they won't actually sell. However, the content included, and the free traffic they generate should be worth WAY more than that.
ChickenCoopPlan.com
ChickenNews.com
Chikins.com

If you've ever wanted to own a piece of one of the first profitable chicken websites on the internet, this could be your chance. Ideally, you probably want to know something about chickens, raising chickens, building chicken coops, and also have a desire to share what you know with other readers.

Let me know if you have any questions?
All the best!
Al

P.S. Just to add a comment to this post - as of Friday 6/3, the reserve price has officially been met on the chicken coop sites.

So... I will be selling these sites, and leaving the chicken market for a while.
It's been good knowing you!

More savings.

2011-05-13T17:13:00.006-04:00

It has been a while since I have shared my grocery savings. Not for there being a lack of them but more from a lack of motivation to post it. So I figured I had better just jump back in to posting with both feet. Here is what I have gotten over the last couple weeks.
Last week Publix had a great coupon in the weekly ad. It was the Gas card. So I tried to make the most of it and I did a couple different transactions so that I could get the most gas gift cards. The total for both transactions before sales and coupons would have been $396.61 And what I paid out of pocket was $157.27. I know that that sounds like a lot but I was able to purchase $200.00 worth of Gas cards! That is a total saving of 61%. Not my "best" saving but it is a great savings on our gas budget for the next month and a half and I was able to get some groceries as well!
Here is the first transaction...

4- Edwards Singles pies $2.99 BOGO used Manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each
making them .49 each

2- Steamfresh frozen veggies sale of .89 each used manufactures coupons for .35 off
each making them .54 each

4- Whole Fruit Sorbet $2.99 BOGO used manufactures coupons for .50 off each making
them $1.00 each.

4- Sundown Vitamins $2.99 each used a store coupons for $3.00 off each and
manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each making them
FREE with a total of $4.04 OVERAGE!!

1- Gallon of Milk $3.75 No coupons used for this

1- Package 1.5lb Ground beef $4.27 I used a Winn Dixie store coupon for $2.00 off
making it $2.27 or $1.51 per lb.

1- Package Boneless skinless chicken breast 1.65lb $4.57 I used a $1.50 off making
it $3.07 or $1.86 per lb.

4- Bags Peperidge Farms dinner rolls $3.00 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00
off each making them $1.00 each.

4- ears corn on the cob .25 each No coupons used for this.

2- Nabisco Single serving packs $5.99 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 each
making them $1.99 each

4- Classico pasta sauces $2.69 BOGO used a manufactures coupon for buy 2 get one
free making them .67 each

2- 8O'clock coffee bags $6.59 used manufactures coupon for $2.00 off 2 making them
$2.29 each

4- Milano cookies $3.49 I used manufactures for free cookies when you buy the
8O'clock coffee so they were all free!

1- Coffee mate creamer $3.79 I used a manufactures coupon for free coupon making it
FREE!!

1- Uncle Bens Ready rice $1.99 used manufactures coupon for a free rice making it
FREE!!

1- 5 lb bag of red potatoes $ 2.50 No coupons used on this

1- Philadelphia cooking cream $2.00 used a manufactures coupon for free cooking
cream making it FREE!!

6- $25.00 Hess Gass Gift Cards ( they were already out of the $50.00 cards) I used
the Publix store coupon for $10.00 off a $50.00 gift card purchase. Making
them $40.00 each
Also for this purchase I used Winn Dixie store coupons for $5.00 off a $30.00 purchase. I used 4 of them for a total of $20.00 off my purchase. These are used before any other store or manufactures coupons So that is how I was able to use that many. The total before sales and coupons was $282.89. And after $112.57.

And Here is my second transaction of that week.

1- Gallon Milk $3.75 No coupons used

4- Sundown Vitamins $2.99 used a store coupon for $3.00 off each and manufactures
coupons for $1.00 off each making them FREE with a total OVERAGE of $4.04

4- Kikoman Fried rice seasoning packages .89 each Used manufactures coupons for
$1.00 off each making the FREE with a total OVERAGE of .44

4- 6 count eggs .99 each used manufactures coupons for .55 off each making them .44
each

4- Bags 8 O'clock coffee $6.59 BOGO used manufactuers coupons for $2.00 off 2 making
them $2.29 each

4- Milano cookies $3.49 used manufactures coupons for free cookies when you buy the
coffee making them all FREE!

1- $50.00 Hess Gas Gift Card I used the Publix store coupon for $10.00 off when you buy a $50.00 gas card. Making it $40.00

I also used a Windixie store coupon for $5.00 off a $30.00 purchase. Total before sales and coupons was $114.14 After, what I paid out of pocket was only $44.70!

I was able to extend my grocer saving into out gas budget! How great is that?!?

So now on to this weeks saving.
The total before sales and coupons would have been $118.08. And after was only $10.17! That is a total savings of 92%!!
This is what I got...

2- Hunts Ketchup $2.45 BOGO used manufactures for .25 off each making them .97 each

6- Vlasic Dill Pickles $2.69 BOGO used store coupons for .55 off each and
manufactures coupons for .75 off each making them .04 each!

4- Hidden Valley Dressings $3.69 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each
making them .84 each

4- Sundown Vitamins $2.99 each used store coupons for $3.00 off each and
manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each making them FREE with a total OVERAGE
of $4.04

4- Publix bakery Bagels $1.69 BOGO no coupons used making them .84 each

4- Welches Grape Juice $3.99 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each
making them .99 each

2- Cokes $1.59 Used a manufactures coupons for free soda making the both FREE!

6- Kraft Homestyle Mac and cheese $2.59 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off
each making them .29 each

2- McCormick Garlic powders $1.99 each used manufactures coupons for .55 off each
making the $1.44 each

4- Yakisoba Noodles .80 BOGO used manufactures coupons for .50 off each making them
FREE with a total OVERAGE of .40

1- Pack Blueberries $2.99 used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 off making them $1.99

4- ears of corn on the cob $1.00 used manufactures coupon for $1.00 off making the
FREE!

2- Bags Dorito Chips $3.99 BOGO no coupon used making them $1.99 each

1- 2 liter Pepsi $1.89 Used Publix store coupon for free 2 liter when you buy 2
doritoes making it FREE!

I also used 2 Winn Dixie store coupons 50 $5.00 0ff a $30.00 purchase. Again taken off before all other coupons! Making my total out of pocket only $10.17 and a savings of 92%!!
Thanks for letting me share!

Toby Mac comes to Lakeland, FL

2011-04-24T11:55:00.009-04:00

We've been in Florida almost 4 years now. And the girls are getting OLD. It's scary to see how fast time goes by.

However, one of the coolest parts of aging children is that they start actually having their own thoughts and opinions about life and culture. One of Kaitlyn's recent favorites is a singer named Toby Mac. He used to sing with a band called DC Talk. They started as a band when I was in college, and were hugely successful. A few years ago they went their separate ways, and have all gone their separate ways in the music industry.

Toby Mac, who I originally thought would fail as a solo artist, simply because all he could do was rap music back then, has developed tremendously as a singer and artist. Kaitlyn LOVES his music, and it has caused me to really listen to his stuff too. I now have about 3-4 of his songs in my ipod as encouragement for my bike commute.

Anyhow, Chris and I splurged a few months ago, and picked up tickets to his show in Lakeland this month. And the day FINALLY arrived to go up there.

So, here are some of the highlights from our time up there:

First of all, you can see a couple pictures of us in line at the show, and inside the building here:
The Joy FM sponsors Toby Mac in Lakeland
Shots of us include #'s 2605, 2607, 2608, and 2818.

And then here are a few shots of us hanging out before, during, and after the show:

Another great thing about the girls new tastes in music, is that it has lead me to discover some bands that I would have never normally listened to.

Here are a few free tunes you might check out. These are some of the musicians that were with Toby Mac in concert.

This guy has the #1 song in Christian radio right now - called Something in your Eyes.
Shon Lock - is the guy in the 3rd picture from the top (above)
You can hear the ShonLock.com song here. Click on the "Enter" button at the bottom. The song auto-plays when you click through.
You can download it on itunes here.

And another band that was pretty cool - was a new group called SuperHeRose, click their name and you'll be able to download a couple of their tunes.
The girls really liked SuperFreak and We Got That. The first and second pictures (above) are a couple of guys from this band.

It was a great show, and we had a good time together. Toby puts on a killer show.
Al

Time to create!!

2011-04-04T16:00:00.014-04:00

So for a while now I have been trying to figure out how to get my creative juices going. It seems like my creative side has been napping for a while. so I saw this idea for an art journal and thought that would be a great place to start. But I also wanted to include the girls in this art journey. So we all made art journals. They are some books that I have had for a long time and I thought what better use that this!
We each decorated out covers.
This is mine...

This is Keeley's...

And Kait's...

Here is a better look at each of our charms that we hung off the bottom of the cover with jump rings.

There is all kinds of things there. Keeley's is kinda hard to see in the photo but the black bottle caps have letter stickers on them and say "Me!" also the blur charm thing in the silver book plate on her cover says magic. And on mine I added come beads that a co-worker made by hand. They are just beautiful!
Kait's has room for more things that she will add as she finds them!
And this is the first page ineack of our journals. For this page I told the girls what I wanted them to say and then let them decide how to get that done.
Kee's...

Kait's...

and Mine...

Keeley decided to paint her background and then stamp and write over it. I love how she did the square, rectangle and heart and then stamped over them.
Kait and I put printed tissue paper on the background then dripped paint over it. Then Kait added chipboard letters and stamped a script samp over them and embossed it with white powder.
I used a die cut to make the gears and embossed them with several layers of embossing powder and then finished them all a bit differently. one by rubbing black paint on, and the other 2 by adding just a little sprinkling of a different color embossing powder while it was still hot. I like how that worked!
Al has even gotten in on the creating! Here is Al's pages that he has done.

Do you see a theme??

I also decided that a Spring garland that I had made a couple years ago looked a little lonely. So I decided to make a banner garland to go along with it. And I love how it turned out!! Here it is hanging with the Spring banner on my old door that is hung in the entry way of our house.
It is a little hard to see it so here are photos of each of the banners.

On the first one the bunny was cut out of a scrapbook paper. The same paper was used for the bunnies on the third and fifth one as well. The eggs I just cut out of plain white cardstock and then inked them and stamped and embossed them to make them look like decorated Easter eggs.
Them Flower cross picture and little chicks with the flower filled egg were vintage images that I found on the web and printed them in black and white. (because I don't have color ink for my printer right now!) Then I colored them in with water color paints. I love how they turned out! Then the cross that is in the book plate I cut out of cardstock and embossed with gold powder to make it look like a charm!
The trims that I used around the edges are different vintage trims that I had in my stash. Actually the trim on the 4th one was actually flower appliques that I got from my mom. I cut them apart 2 petals each and then glued them all along the back of the banner. I ended up having just enough to do the entire banner! Looks great and you would have never been able to tell that they were flowers!
Thanks for looking at our creative endeavors!. Hopefully we will have more to share in the near future!

Some Common Ground at Common Grounds Park in Lakeland Florida

2011-04-01T10:25:00.018-04:00

Now that the weather is starting to really heat up, here in Florida, it's time for most everyone to venture back out into the sunshine.

One of the newest, most-enjoyable places for kids to do that in Lakeland is at the Common Grounds park. This park, which was budgeted at almost $2 million dollars broke ground in October 2007. The park, itself, took almost 4 years of planning to come to fruition. It was scheduled to take almost a year for construction to be completed. It officially opened in January 2009. The park address is 1000 East Edgewood Drive.

Since it's inception, this park has seen heavy traffic from lots of local kids and families.

On the weekends, you can expect a really high turn-out by everyone in the neighborhood. If you want to have a bit of privacy with your family here, you should plan on visiting during a weekday, when other kids are at school. It's certainly not packed, like a Disney theme-park, but it can get pretty crowded on the weekends.

If you're looking for directions to get here, this is the Google map:

View Larger Map

It's pretty easy to find:
Traveling on Highway 37 (South Florida avenue), you would take Edgewood towards the east. Or coming from Bartow Highway, or Lakeland Highlands Blvd., you will head west on Edgewood.

The park itself is on the north side of Edgewood, just across from the Cleveland Heights Golf Course. The park is right next to the tennis courts.

There is no usage fee to play at the park. Kids can play for free to their heart's content. Common Grounds park was designed to accommodate kids of varying ages and abilities, including disabled children as well.

Some of the various features include:

A large tunnel, wide enough for wheelchairs, runs under a hill called Gopher Mountain.
The park itself is shaped like a giant butterfly, and it includes several sculptures of butterflies.
Many of the play structures are non-traditional, modern in design, which kids seem to really enjoy playing on.
It is a conservation park, in that it has artificial turf (instead of regular grass) so no water or mowing is required to keep the grounds maintained.

There is free parking on the south side, right next to the tennis courts. There is also parking along the streets running north beside the park (Buckingham Avenue).

To see some Common Grounds park pictures, please check out our visit.

The concept behind this park has even generated interest from other local communities around the country. It seems, lots of families with disabled children, are desperately looking for places where their kids can interact with their friends and peers.

Al

Fantastic saving!

2011-03-24T20:53:00.003-04:00

Wow, I never get used to the great deals that I am able to work up. It always amazes me and fills with me with such thankfulness.
Before I get to the shopping savings I have to tell you that I was blessed yet again with a sweepstakes winning. Last week I got in the mail a winning Publix gift card for $100.00 dollars! I had entered this sweepstakes last fall and was picked as a first prize winner! How cool! So again I am going to keep track of how far I can stretch this free gift card. And let me say, so far it is looking very good!

And here is what I got this week at Publix. The total for everything before sales and coupons would have been $262.44. And the total that I paid, $11.12. A whopping 96% savings. And I could not be happier as I was able to get a lot of meat for that price. It is always a little harder to get that good of savings on meat but this week everything lined up perfectly.

1- gallon Milk $3.55 I used a Publix store coupon for $1.00 off making it @2.55

8- Kraft Shredded Cheese $2.00 used Target store coupons for $1.50 off 2 and manufactures coupons for $1.00 off 1 making them .25 each

4 Kraft BBQ sauce $1.65 BOGO used manufactures coupons for .75 of each making them .06 each

2- Beachnut baby foods $2.00 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 of each making the FREE!

2- Oreo Cakesters $2.50 used a target store coupon for $1.00 off each making them $1.50 each

2- Publix hot dog buns $1.19 no coupons used on these

4- Oscar Mayer hot dogs. $3.49 BOGO used Target store coupon for buy 3 get 1 free Making them FREE! (for further explanation on how this worked see below.)

4- Oscar Mayer Turkey hot dogs. $2.79 used manufactures coupons for buy a beef frank get a free Turkey frank making them all FREE! because this was a manufactures coupon and the other was a Target store coupon I was able to combine them with the sale and get them all free!

1lb Strawberries $1.67 used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 off making them .67

1- bag Broccoli florets $1.67 used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 making it .67

2 lbs Grapes $1.69per lb. used a store coupon for $1.00 off making them $2.36

6- Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt 4 packs. $2.50 BOGO used Target store coupons for %1.50 off 3 and manufactures coupons for .50 off each making them .25 each

4- Sundown Vitamins 2.99 each used Publix store coupons for $6.00 off 2 and manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each making them FREE with a total overage of $4.04!

22- Betty Crocker Fruit snacks $2.75 BOGO I used several manufactures coupons for BOGO and $4.00 off 4 and an Albertsons store coupon for $4.00 off 4 making tham all FREE with a total OVERAGE of $9.00!

9.2 lbs Ground Sirloin $3.99 per lb I used Winn Dixie store coupons for $2.00 of 1 making it 3.40 per lb or $31.32 for all of it.

12.9 lbs Pork Loin $1.99 per lb I used A Winn Dixie store coupon for $1.00 off and an Albertsons store coupon for buy 1 get 2 free making it .69 per lb or $8.96 for all of it

I also was able to use 5 Winn Dixie store coupons for $5.00 off a $30.00 purchase. This was taken off before any other coupons. So because my total before coupons was $160/something I was able to use all them! That is $25.00 right off the top! Add that to the overage items and I had a total of $38.04! Love it!!
Plus I was able to pay for it with my winning gift card so I technically had nothing out of pocket!

I never did post up last weeks saving. I won't list it all out but here are the final numbers. The total before saving and coupons for last weeks trip was $111.61. And after $7.98! A total saving of 93%! This was the first time that I used my wining gift card so again nothing out of pocket!
So far with my gift card I have used $19.10 and I have gotten $374.05 worth of groceries!! Couponing is so worth the little extra time that it takes to do! I think that is a good return on my investment!

I never thought this day would come.

2011-03-11T16:29:00.003-05:00

So today was a monumental day for me. Want to know why? I shopped with coupons at Walmat and had a good experience. I have tried in the past to shop there and it had been a huge issue. Between waiting for ever in line to check out because there are so few cashiers, to them not taking a coupon because it would make an item free, and then infering that I am stealing from the store because of coupons. But that hopefully has all changed. Walmart has finally updated their coupon policy. You can check it out Here. This is a HUGE step in the right direction for them as far as couponers are concerned! For me the best thing is it very clearly states "Coupons may exceed the price of the item. Change may be given or applied toward the cost of the basket purchase." WOW! This is great!
So I went in today, armed with a print out copy of the policy, to try it out. I had 2 different sets of manufactures coupons that would give me a large amount of overage and I wanted to see how it would work out. And I am happy to say that it went very well. There was not even any questioning by the cashier and she even complimented me on my savings! Now I am smart enough to know that this may not happen every time but I am thankful that it went well this time and will try again in the future. And that is a lot since it has been nearly 2 years since I have purchased any groceries at Walmart.
And here is how I did. I paid $2.75 for all of this. The total before coupons would have been $ 48.85. So that is a great savings of 95%.
Here is a photo and run down of what I got...

5- Gain dryer sheets $1.87each I used manufactures coupons for $3.00 off 1 making them FREE with a total OVERAGE of $5.65!

5- Purex 3in1 Sheets .97 each I used manufactures coupons for $3.00 off 1 making them FREE with a total OVERAGE of $10.15!

2- Cupcake paper liners $1.12 each no coupons used.

1- Bobs country sauce $2.14 I used a manufactures for a free sauce making it FREE!

2- Beef Filets $3.98 each I used manufactures for $1.00 each making the $2.98

2- Cocoa Powders $2.44 each no coupons used.

1- Argo Baking powder $1.28 No coupons used

2.5lbs Red Grapes .98lb No coupons used making them $2.45

4- Mission Tortilla Chips $3.19 I used manufactures coupons for $2.99 off 1 making them .20 each

1- McCormik Seasoning mix .98 No coupons used.

I could have paid even less out of pocket but when I was headed to the check out I saw the good price on the grapes and decided to get some! But I would say that 2.75 for all this is great! It was nice to get the overage to use towards things that I needed and did not have coupons for.

So does this mean that I will stop shopping at Publix and switch to Walmart. No way! I have far to many personal issues with Walmart to do all my shopping there. And let me tell you there is no better customer service than Publix. So I will not be switching permanently any time soon. But When I have coupons for things that will make for free or overage items that I can not get at Publix then I will use my coupon money there at Walmart.

More Gas savings this week!

2011-03-10T20:17:00.004-05:00

With the gas prices going up I was super excited to see the $10.00 off gas card coupon in the Publix weekly add this week! And this time the coupon is for any $50.00 gas card not just B.P.! I was able to get 3 $50.00 Hess gas gift cards. And I only paid $120.00 for them. I chose Hess because it is closer and usually a little less per gallon that B.P. So there is a savings of 20% on gas!! I will most likely try and get a couple more before the sale ends. Essentially I am using our gas budget to prepaying for our gas by getting the gas gift cards at the grocery store. So this will be about a month and a half for us!

So now on to the groceries!

The total before sales and coupons would have been $168.99. The total out of pocket $20.30, for a saving of 88%!!

Here is what I got...

12- birds eye frozen veggies .89 each I used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off 4 and Publix store coupons for $1.00 off 2 making them .05 each!

4- Yoplait smoothie bags $2.50 each I used Publix store coupon for $1.00 off 2 and manufactures coupons for $1.00 off 1 making them $1.00 each

1- egg beaters $1.67 I used a Publix store coupon for .75 and a manufactures coupon for a free egg beater. Making it an OVERAGE OF .75!

12- 2 litters soda BOGO $1.89 I used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off 2 making them .44 each

10- Propel waters .50 each I used manufactures for $1.00 off 2 making them FREE!

4- Voskos Yogurt $1.00 each I used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off making them FREE!

1lb- Strawberries $1.67 I used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 making them .67

2.05lb Oranges $1.69 I used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 making them .69

1.75lb- Bananas $1.21 I used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 making them .21

4- Honey Bunches of Oats w/Raisins BOGO $3.91 I used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each making them .95 each

6- Raisin Bran Crunch BOGO $3.99 I used Target store coupons for $1.00 off 3 and manufactures coupons for .70 off each making them .96 each

24- Sargento Shredded Cheese $2.00 I used Publix store coupons for $1.50 off each and manufactures coupons for $1.00 off 2 making them all FREE!!

With Al being a huge cheese fan, and the girls and I also liking it, we use a lot of cheese. So to get it free is HUGE in this house! Also the 2 litters will be perfect to send with the girls for an AWANA overnight lock in next week!

So because the total before coupons was over $75.00 they allowed me to use 3 of the gas coupons. And the manager said it was fine to do them all at once and there was no need to break it into separate transactions. I was ready to do them into 3 transactions but it was nice doing it all at once!
And I also found out that you can use Albertsons store coupons at the Publix I go to, This is news to me so I am super excited about that possibility!! It is the little things that get me excited!!

Latest AWANA Grand Prix Race Cars and Results

2011-03-01T12:17:00.018-05:00

Well, that time of year has stunk up on us again. Yep... It's AWANA Grand Prix time, and we were totally unprepared.

We just got the girls' cars about 2 weeks before our race deadline. And the girls weren't sure what they wanted to do with their cars, so they sat there for... oh... about 2 weeks. And then, Friday night, they realized they HAD to do something, or they weren't going to be able to compete with their cars at our AWANA group.

So, Friday night, they busted their little booties, and finished up their cars.

Keeley ended up going for a Lemony Snickets book design for her AWANA car. The cover of the book opens up on the car to reveal the table of contents inside. We had a buddy cut off the top, because I didn't have the tools to do it. She then added some book spine tape, to tape the top of the book onto the bottom block of wood. And then Keeley went through the painstaking process of painting everything so that it would look like a book. Unfortunately, I was hoping we could do the cover in color, but our printer cartridge only had black and white. Thank goodness Keeley is a very laid-back personality type, so she was happy to go with the lack of color.

Kait, went to the other extreme, and built what looked like a bunch of legos put together in a car shaped block. Her AWANA car was super bright and colorful. And from a distance, it actually looked like legos stuck together.

We thought we might have a chance at getting some design trophies... maybe? Even that was a little iffy, because the girls didn't have as much time to put their cars together as they had in the past. We definitely weren't sure how they would do in the speed department.

However, their results came out great. They did quite well with their AWANA Grand Prix entries for this year. Both of them got design trophies from their groups. And they both got speed trophies. Thankfully, we didn't have a tremendous amount of competitors, but hey... the girls were super excited to do so well again. Especially after our dismal results at last year's AWANA grand prix.

Great job to the Speer girls! I am SUPER proud of them for nailing it once again.
Al

Awana Grand Prix Results from a few years ago.
AWANA Grand Prix beauties
Our cute AWANA Grand Prix car designs

Total Money Hangover

2011-02-26T08:57:00.000-05:00

What would you say, if I told you that you could easily dig your way out of all your consumer debt in the next 3-5 years? And then, what if I said you could do it while remaining happy and healthy, your kids would be forever gratefully loving, and that you wouldn't have to worry about money ever again?

Well, in a way, that is exactly what the Total Money Makeover is trying to convey. It tells you, that it is possible to be out of debt, with very little worries, within the next 3-5 years... and all you have to do is live like no one else today, so you can live like no one else tomorrow.

Well, I'm hear to tell you, that there is only a slight hint of truth to this teaching. Most of the information is not designed for a one income family that makes $40k or less.

The author provides many examples that are purely irrational, or totally impossible, for a normal family on this income to ever hope to achieve.

First:
The upgrading car principle is bull. When you need a reliable car now, you need a reliable car now. You can't buy a crappy car in 4 months, and expect to upgrade every 4 months until you get a stunningly reliable ride. First of all, you need the reliable car now. What are you going to do? Walk? Or ride your bike? You need something now, not in 4 months when you'll be able to afford the worst junker on the car lot. Plus, when you do purchase the clunker, how often are you able to drive it without having to repair it at some point, or not have it break down on you? And how realistic is it to have your wife and kids riding around in a car that you know could break down at any moment? Yeah... I didn't think so!

Personally, you are better off buying the nicer, more reliable car (never buy brand new, but you knew that right?) to begin with, and then paying it off early. And, then, stop buying a new car every two years. That is one of the most asinine things you could do... keep rolling over into a new car purchase or lease every couple years. Buy a good car, and keep driving it until it falls apart.

Next:
The idea that you can just go out, and pick up part-time jobs, to jump-start your savings plan is ludicrous. Sure, getting a second part-time job is easy enough. But, it's not normal if you want to have any time at all with your spouse, or if you want to have a marriage left at the end of your savings spree. And, it's also not recommended if you want to have any time to share with your children.

Let's just look at a quick example. Say, you work 40-45 hours per week. Now, you want to get a second job working 4 nights a week and weekends for 20-30 more hours. So, you will only see your spouse and kids twice a week, for any length of time. Next, let's say your spouse also works a job. So, they are gone more often as well. And now, your kids will have to go into a public school, no matter if you want that or not. And they will still be sitting home, alone, for hours, until you or your spouse get off of work and make it home.

If you want to have a decent marriage, this is NOT the way to do it.

Personally, I think you are far better off trying to run some kind of part-time small business out of your house, and including your spouse in the business with you. That way, you can both spend time together, doing something you somewhat enjoy, and you will be home. Oftentimes, by spending this time, and working together, you create bonds that help build and grow your marriage relationship. This may not be a feasible alternative for every family, but what a great way to save your sanity, your marriage, and your long-term relationship with your kids.

In fact, I think it's safe to say, your relationship with your kids will be hurt by pursuing this type of lifestyle. It's tempting to say... "Oh, it's only a couple of years, it won't be that bad". But, I'm here to tell you that you will never get those years back with your kids... NEVER! If you've ever said... "They're growing up so fast". Just think of what it will be like when you disappear for two years because you have to work extra hours to save up money for your retirement. Really?

In fact, if we were to look at the author as a personal example, we should build a thriving information empire, getting other people to buy into our ideas, and skip the minimum wage part time work altogether. I pick that up reading between the lines of his teachings. Although I've never heard him say such a thing publicly. Just remember this euphemism when you're working all those hours... do as I say, not as I do.

Third:
How many of the people he speaks with on his radio program, have incomes over $50k? Most. How realistic is it, to expect to put his program in place, when your income is barely enough to meet your bills, even when your only debt is a mortgage? I have the answer for you... It's not! Maybe, if you had an under $75k mortgage, like some of the extreme examples in his books. Again, this amount of mortgage is NOT the norm. Sure, all of his examples have home mortgages under $75k, but I've rarely met a person with this little of a mortgage amount. Even our starter home, which we bought 11 years ago, wasn't even under $120k.

I totally agree with his concept of paying off your mortgage. For years now, this has been our dream. Imagine, what your life would be like without a mortgage payment every month. Imagine how much you could save, buy, splurge, donate, or use for fun. Can you see it? This is a worthwhile goal. However, none of his examples or scenarios make it half-as-easy as he makes it seem. And, mostly, it's because of the high dollar mortgages that people find themselves in now.

I guess it's the fact that the author has such a huge following that has me so bewildered. In fact, I am hesitant to publish this article because of the strong opinions people have about his system.

The thing is... he gives dreams, hopes, and ideas to people who have absolutely NO WAY of actually achieving everything he says you can. And, it is in no way feasible to match the examples he is using to make his claims.

The thing is... he is portraying a debt-free lifestyle that is rarely achievable as quickly or as easily as he makes it seem. And the accomplishment of that dream is much harder than the examples and ideas he shares. Most importantly, he is SELLING an illusion of happiness, worry-free lifestyle to millions of people who will have no way to fully achieve the picture he is painting. And he is making MILLIONS off of his product sales, all the while, he is telling you to go ahead and pick up that minimum wage part time job.

In his perfect scenario, a family who is out of most consumer debt and has saved up about 6 months of expenses, will also be in this position:

Saving 15% per month on retirement
Saving some amount per month for your kid's education
Giving 10% to a charity
Paying down extra on your mortgage each month
And still having enough to match all your living expenses, and to continue to live debt free.

I 'am' that scenario. And I can assure you, we are not in a position to do this. We certainly aren't worry free, about our futures, about our jobs, about our home, about our family, or about just about anything. For him to state it so boldly is annoying. And for other people to follow him hook, line, and sinker is also annoying.

Finally:
Now that we've pushed into a couple of big issues I have with the Total Money Makeover system, I want to get into a HUGE misconception that I believe the author spreads with his program.

I call this, the Total Money Hangover.
Having been out of consumer debt for awhile, the light at the end of the 'debt free' tunnel isn't as bright as I thought it would be. We don't have large amounts of money in any of our accounts, and we still struggle WAY more than he says you will.
Just my experience.

I do agree with the debt free lifestyle, or else I wouldn't be living it. However, living this way is NOT all peaches and cream, as the author would have us believe. For the most part - it is an uneventful, and still stressful, way of life. And, imagine, not having anything fun to look forward to in your near future because you're sticking away every extra cent you have to save up for your retirement. And who knows, by the time you get to retirement age, they might tack on another 5 years to when you can actually retire. You might not even make it that long? Who knows?

Ok... rant is over. For now anyhow. Let me know what you think, and how much you despise me now for saying all this?

Al

Great sales at Publix this week

2011-02-17T21:01:00.004-05:00

Wow, what a great week for sales this week!
Let me get right to it. The total before sales and coupons would have been $174.36. After sales and coupons I paid $6.01 out of pocket. That is a total saving of 97%! And I got a ton! In addition to the coupons listed below, I also used 2 Winn Dixie store coupons for $5.00 off $30.00 purchase. So that took off $10.00 right from the start! Great way to start I'd say!
Here it all is...

20- canned Green Giant Veggies. BOGO $1.29 I used Publix store coupons for $1.00 off 4 and a $5.00 off 20. Making them .14 each
20- cans Progresso Black beans .66 I used Publix store coupon for $1.00 off 4 and a $5.00 off 20 making them .16 each
16- cans Tomato sauce .33 each I used manufactures coupons for .45 off 3, Publix store coupons for $5.00 20. See below.
4- Frozen Green giant veggies. $1.00 used manufactures coupons for .50 off each and this finished the 20 things needed for the Publix store coupon of $5.00 off 20. Making it .48 for all the frozen veggies and canned tomato sauce.
8- Wishbone salad dressings $2.89 BOGO I used Target store coupons for $1.50 off 2 and manufactures coupons for $1.00 off 2 Making them .19 each.

2- Lays Chips $3.99 BOGO No coupons used making them 1.99 each

6- Buitoni Pasta $2.19 BOGO I used a manufactures coupons for $1.00 making them .10 each

8- Sargento Shredded cheese. $2.00 I used Publix store coupons for $1.50 off 1 and manufactures coupons for .50 off 2 making them .25 each

3- Kashi cereals $2.50 I used manufactures coupons for $2.00 off 1 and $1.00 off 1 making them .83 each

1- bunch bananas $1.44. I used a manufactures coupon for $3.00 off fruit when you buy 3 Kashi cereals making them FREE with $1.56 overage!

1- bag broccoli $1.00 No coupons used for this

4- Graham Crackers $3.99 BOGO I used a Target store coupon for $1.00 off 2 and manufactures coupons for $1.00 off 2 making them .99 each

4- Scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner $2.00 I used Publix store coupon for $2.00 off 2 and manufactures coupons for $2.00 off one making them FREE with a total OVERAGE of $2.00
That is 97 items for only $6.01. Or to put it another way 6 cents for each item I purchased!
These sales are so good I may have to take some more time to look and see what else I can come up with. But I don't think I did too bad for this weeks grocery budget!

Custom made Nintendo DS Decals and Decorations

2011-02-12T22:29:00.014-05:00

This last holiday season, Chris was able to pull a monster victory on our Christmas shopping budget.

As many of you know, she has been part of the Swagbucks website, which is a way to get extra money while surfing and browsing the web. Throughout 2010, she was able to gather up $175 in Amazon gift cards from her membership at Swagbucks. That money, coupled with some AMAZING Amazon deals, allowed us to get the girls each Nintendo DSi XL's as Christmas gifts. Essentially, we paid about $90 out of pocket, for both of the game systems. Talk about AWESOME savings!

We ended up buying the same colored game system for each girl. So they had the exact same matching systems.

When the girls finally picked themselves up off the floor, on Christmas, they decided that they each wanted to make their games look unique and cool. We did pick up different DSi cases for each girl, but they wanted to add their own personalities to their consoles.

Instead of going out and buying the regular skins from the store, Christy came up with an idea of creating our own custom Nintendo DSi Decals.

Christy used to be an avid scrapbooker, back in the hysteria days of scrapbooking. During that time, she had amassed an amazing collection of rub-ons. Essentially, this is a product similar to a sticker, which you can rub onto virtually any surface, and it will stick to that surface. Almost like a temporary tattoo. These 'rub-ons', as they are called, are primarily sold to people in the scrapbooking market. The coolest thing about using rub-ons, is that you can mix and match different designs and patterns to make your own look for your console.

With a steady hand, and a little bit of creative liberty, you can create some really cool Nintendo DSi decals for your system. Take a look at what the girls came up with in the process of putting their rub-ons on their games.

First of all, we started off with the basic game system console. Both of ours were the same color, so we had do something to give each one a unique look

Next, the girls went through Chris' huge collection of rub-ons, searching for just the right design to match what they wanted their game to look like. This is not an easy decision, by any stretch of the imagination.

After you pick your images, you have to carefully lay the designs out on your game. **Important note** Don't push down on the designs until you have them exactly where you want them. Rub-ons are known to come off and stick to surfaces even before you want them to.
After you have carefully chosen the layout for your designs, just how you want them, go ahead and thoroughly rub the designs onto the game. You will need to do each piece separately, building up your custom decal as you go along.

After you've gone through all the work of putting your own design on your game, now you can admire all of your creative ideas in your one-of-a-kind, custom Nintendo DS decal.

And as a follow-up comment on using these rub-ons for your games, the girls still have their designs on their consoles - and they've been on there for about a month and a half. Admittedly, they are getting a little tattered, but the cool thing is... they'll be able to re-do another custom design when these ones get so worn down that they want to change them. So, unlike adding paint or a permanent tattoo, they get to change their custom look whenever they want, and create a completely new look. If your kids are looking for a way to customize their games, this is a great way to get customer Nintendo DS decals.

a couple of good grocery weeks!

2011-01-17T09:40:00.004-05:00

I never did find the time to write about last weeks trip so I thought I would add it in with this weeks. I know that it does not look like much but it was a great trip with lots of overage!
The total before sales and coupons was $127.04 after I paid $6.18. That is a savings of 96%!!
Here is what I got...

12- Boxes Special K cereal BOGO $3.99 used a Target store coupon for $1.00/2 6 manufactures coupons for BOGO and 3 Manufactures coupons for $1.00/2 Making the all FREE with a total OVERAGE of $9.00!! Most of this will be donated to food bank!
2- Boxes Cinnamon Life Cereal BOGO $4.39 used Target store coupon $1.00/2 making them $1.69 each
2- Boxes Oatmeal Squares Cereal BOGO $4.39 used Target store coupon for $1.00/2 Making them $1.69 each
4- Jars Peter Pan Peanut butter BOGO $2.49 used a Publix store coupon for $1.00/1 and manufactures coupon for .50/1 making them FREE with a total OVERAGE of $1.02!
2- Bags Planters trail mix BOGO $1.99 used a Target store coupon for $1.00/1 Makingthem FREE
9- Healthy Harvest pasta BOGO $1.31 used a manufactures coupon for $1.00/2 making them .15 each
2- Oreo cookies $2.50 each Used a Target store coupon for $1.00/2 Making them $2.00 each
1- Bunch Broccoli $2.00 (no coupon used)
3lb Bag Oranges $2.50 (no coupon used)
3lb Pears $2.97 (no coupon used)
2- Packs boneless chicken breast $1.99lb used a Publix store coupon and a Winn Dixie store coupon for $1.00 any chicken purchase. Making them both $2.37 or about .73/lb

I was also able to go back later in the week and get 8 more boxes of Special K Cereal. I did not have quite as much overage as the first time because I did not have any more Target coupons. I still had some and was able to use it on a rain check items that I had.

Then this week, the total before sales and coupons was $105.15 and after I paid $13.27. Total savings of 88%!
The great thing about this trip was the garbage bags! They are so stinking expensive! If I had not used any coupons, even with the sales price, they alone would have been $11.00. CRAZY!
Here is everything...

2.5 lbs Red Apples $1.00/lb I used Target store coupons for $1.00 off Produce when you buy Kraft Singles making them only .42 or .16/lb
4- Sundown Vitamins $2.99 used a Publix store coupon for $6.00/2 and manufactures coupons for $1.00/1 making them FREE with an OVERAGE of $4.04!
2- Kraft Singles $2.00 (no coupon used)
2- Kraft Shredded Cheese $2.00 used Target store coupons for .75/1 manufactures coupons for .50/1 making them .75 each
4- Welches grape Juice BOGO $3.25 used manufactures coupons for $1.00/1 making them .62 each
6- Jimmy Dean D-Light sandwiches BOGO $5.87 used manufactures coupons for $2.50/1 making them .43 each
4- Power of fruit boxes BOGO $3.39 used manufactures coupons for $1.00/1 making them .69 each
2- Glad Kitchen Garbage Bags $5.49 used Target store coupons for $1.00/1 and manufactures coupons for $3.00/1 making them $1.49 each

If you add up both weeks the totals would have been $232.19. I only paid $19.45. Under $20.00 for 2 weeks worth of grocery shopping! A 92% savings. WOW!

Interesting new computer technology

2010-12-27T22:39:00.004-05:00

I normally don't spend a lot of time looking at new technologies, and commenting on them. However, I somehow stumbled onto this video tonight, and wanted to share it with you. I believe this is the future of computer technology.

The first 5 minutes of the video are pretty standard ideas that we've seen or heard about lately. Starting at about 5:30 minutes into the video, you'll see some pretty astonishing new ways to look at computer technology. At 6:30 minutes it gets really interesting.

He calls it the Sixthsense.

Anyhow, I mostly wanted to share it with you. In case you don't see stuff like this too often. And to get your thoughts on what he shares about the future of computing.
I was pretty amazed. I think you might be too.

Al

The Many Faces of Lowery Park Zoo

2010-12-19T21:51:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been almost a month ago, but I wanted to share a bit of our time our for Keeley's birthday. She turned 9 back in November, and wanted to head out to the zoo for her event for the day.

We have heard a tremendous amount about Tampa's Lowery Park Zoo, but we've never gone. So, we decided this would be a great day to get out there. On top of that... when you go on your birthday, to the zoo, you get in for free. That was a great price for us, so we took them up on that offer.

The Lowry Park Zoo turned out to be in an interesting part of Tampa. It definitely wasn't like riding up in the West Hills in Portland. This is a much older, more established part of town. There are lots of interesting homes and individuals hanging out as you drive down to the zoo. There was plenty of parking for us, which was also a bit of a shocker. You almost can't go to any 'hot spot' in the this state and expect to find easy parking. However, we parked quickly, and had a relatively short walk to the entrance.

The Lowry Zoo is actually a pretty popular zoo, and has been rated as a top zoo by Parents magazine. And it's pretty easy to see why. We arrived to the zoo pretty late, probably around 11, and we stayed until it closed. It seemed like we were walking from exhibit to exhibit and we still missed a couple of the animals. We didn't miss out on too many, but it just felt like we had to hurry to get through everything. So, it's a pretty large zoo, and you will probably need an entire day to see the whole park.

I think the 'best' part of this zoo is the proximity you have to the animals. I don't know if it's just old, or if the entire zoo was designed to feel this way... but there are LOTS of very close encounters you can have with the animals. And that, I think, is what makes Lowry Park so amazing and popular.

Feeding giraffe
Riding camel
Leaning over the penguin wall
And who knows what else we didn't experience

Here are a few pictures from our time at the Lowery Park Zoo.

What a HAUL!

2010-12-17T15:09:00.004-05:00

Wow this weeks add was great for our family! I got so much stuff that it even prompted the checker to say that she wants to start couponing! And this weeks shopping included out Christmas ham and a couple treats!
So before sales and coupons this would have cost $231.60. And After, what I paid, was just $37.83! That is a whopping savings of $193.77 or 94%.
And lets add another blessing on top of it. I paid with a gift card that I won from a Gatorade/Publix sweepstakes and received in the mail a couple days ago. So technically there was absolutely nothing out of my pocket for all this! And I still have some left on my winning gift card! God is amazing!!
And now time for the photo and rundown of all that is there.

8- bags Oreida Hash Browns BOGO $2.39 used Target coupons for $2.00/2, .46 each

4- Philadelphia cream cheese $1.25 used target coupons for .50/2 and a manufactures coupons
for $1.00 each making them FREE

2- Reddi Whip whip cream topping $2.39 used manufactures coupons for .50 each $1.89 each

16- Nestle Toll House Cookie dough $2.79 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 each
making them .39 each

1- 5lb bag potatoes $2.50 used a $1.00 manufactures making it $1.50

4- 2 liters Coke $1.79 B2G1 used Target coupon for B3G1 and a Manufactures coupon for
BOGO making them .44 each

4- Bottles Sundown vitamins $2.99 each used store coupons for $3.00/1 and manufactures
coupons for $1.00/1 Making them FREE with $4.04 OVERAGE

4- Boxes 4 way Nasal spray $3.99 each used store coupons for $5.00/2 and manufactures
coupons for $2.00 each making them FREE with $2.04 OVERAGE

2- gallons Publix Sweet Tea $2.39 BOGO making them 1.19 each

4- Boxes Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa $1.99 BOGO used store coupons for $1.00/1 and
Manufactures coupons for $1.99/1 making them FREE with $7.98 OVERAGE!

2- Boxes Captian crunch cereal $4.49 BOGO used manufactured coupons for .50/1 making them
$1.74 each
4- Planters Peanuts $3.19 BOGO used Target store coupons for $2.00/2 and Manufactures
coupons for $2.00/2 making them FREE with an OVERAGE of $1.62

2- Wheat Thins $3.39 BOGO used Target store coupons for $1.00/2 and manufactures
coupons for $1.50/2 making them .44 each

2- Triscuits $3.39 BOGO used Target store coupons for $1.00/2 and manufactures coupons for
$1.50/2 making them .44 each

2- Coffee Mate creamers $2.50 each used manufactures coupons for $1.00/1 making them
$1.50 each

2- Froot Loops Cereal $3.99 BOGO used manufactures coupons for .70/1 making them $1.29
each

2- Kraft Salad Dressings $3.19 BOGO used Target store coupons for .50/1 and manufactures
coupon for $1.00/2 making them .59 each

2- Dole Pineapple $1.69 BOGO used manufactures coupon for .55/2 making them .57 each

2- 4 packs Starbucks Frappuccino $4.99 used a store coupon for $2.00/2 and manufactures
coupons for $1.00/1 making them $1.99 each

2- Wesson oils $3.59 BOGO used manufactures coupons for .40/1 making them $1.39 each

1- 8.33lb Ham 1.59lb making it $12.05

Wow, That is what I call a Haul!

How to save on gas for your car

2010-11-29T18:56:00.012-05:00

This weeks Publix sales were not that great for my family. There really was nothing much there. But then I found a gem! There is a coupon in this weeks sales paper that is for $10.00 off a $50.00 BP Gas gift card, when you spend $25.00 in other groceries. So I started working the numbers and came up with a couple different transactions that I did. I was able to get 3 cards, a total of $150.00 in gas, and I only paid $87 out of pocket for it! How great is that!?!

The first one, sadly, I did not take a photo of but it included 4 boxes of Cheeze-its, 4 cans of Almonds, 4 bottles of Sundown Vitamins, and 2 bags of pretzels.

For all the transactions I used a $5.00 off $50.00 purchase Winn Dixie coupon that I found in the Sunday paper. Publix is great in-that they even take these types of competitor store coupons. (Try that at Walmart!) Plus, I had other coupons for all the other items I bought.

So here is photo of the second transaction...

And here is the break down.

4- Boxes of Cheeze-its crackers $3.09 BOGO I used a coupon that was on the box for $1.00 off 2 making them $1.04 each
4- Bottles Sundown Vitamins $2.99 I used a Publix store coupon for $3.00 off 1 and a manufactures coupon for $1.00 off 1 making them FREE with a total overage of $4.04
2- bags Snyders pretzels $2.59 I used a Target store coupon for $1.50 off when you buy a box of cheeze-its crackers. Making them $1.09 each
1- $50.00 BP Gas Gift card. I used the Publix store coupon found in the weekly add for $10.00 off making it $40.00

Like I said before I used a Winn Dixie store coupon for $5.00 off a $50.00 purchase.
So when you take the $10 coupon off of the $50.00 card, and then apply the $5.00 Winn Dixie card, and the overage of the vitamins of $4.04... I paid a whopping $30.96 for $50.00 worth of gas.

This is the last transaction, which I did just this evening...

I got

4- Bottles of Sundown Vitamins $2.99. I used the same coupons as listed above for an overage for all of them
4 - Bottles of Sobe Life water. $1.00 I used a manufactures coupons for Free Sobe that I won from and online game. Making them FREE!
4- Boxes of Theraflu caplets $3.50 each I used a Publix store coupon for $5.00 off 2 and Manufactures coupons for $2.00 off 1. Making them FREE with a total overage of $4.00
This is something that our family doesn't use. We prefer to let our body's natural immunity do its job, and we use things that complement the bodies healing process. However, getting it free with overage, is worth bringing it home even if we give it to someone else.
1- BP gift card for $50.00 I used the Publix store coupon for $10.00 off making it $40.00

Again I used the $5.00 off $50.00 purchase Winn Dixie coupon. So I Paid $25.89 out of pocket of all this

I was able to get $150.00 worth of gas cards for $87.81!

Oh yeah and there was all the other grocery items for that price as well!

Really the only thing I can say is God is Good! I am just amazed at how He is continuing to show me how to make the most of what he has given us. Praise be to GOD!
Chris

Florida Springs Family Bike Tour - Day 7

2010-11-25T10:05:00.030-05:00

As we were planning the route, for our trip, this day was noted as almost 65 miles. And the notes said it contained a lot of rough, bumpy roads, with plenty of highway travel time. So, instead of torturing the girls by riding all 65 miles, we decided to go ahead and rent a truck. PLUS, I wanted my daughter to still 'kinda' love me when we got home. I didn't want a road rebellion right in the middle of the trip.

I'm not always smart, but I think this was a wise move on our part. If I haven't said it before, kids are very strong, but mentally they are not always willing to go along with my whims peacefully.

So, we trekked back to the closest u-haul shop, and rented the truck for the day. It cost a TON of money to do this. But, again, to save my sanity, I think it was money well spent. Unfortunately, don't tell the kids this, but it comes directly out of their Christmas gifts. I'm sure they will appreciate that! Just kidding.

Anyhow, we rented a truck, and threw all of the bikes and gear in the back end. And headed on down the road. Essentially we knocked the entire length of the south side of Gainesville on this leg of the trip. We traveled from Manatee Springs State Park back over to Gold Head Branch State Park. I think we rode 15-20 miles for the day.

We spent the last 2 days at Gold Head Branch. Enjoying the park, and the local town of Keystone Heights. Another point to remember, when you are on your bike... it is ALWAYS several miles back to the closest town from the park campgrounds. So, in the case of Manatee Springs, it was about 6-7 miles. In the case of Gold Head Branch it was 6-9 miles (depending on where you camped inside of the campground). In a car, that's no big deal at all. On a bike, it equals a 30-60 minute ride. That's okay, but just keep that distinction in mind when doing your planning.

Image via WikipediaGold Head Branch State Park is a pretty cool park. It was originally built during the 30's, in the Great Depression, by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corpse). A concept America should have thought about before they threw all of their money at a bunch of bankers. Who knows what we could have done for the infrastructure of our country with all that money. Look at how well built things were back then:

Here's one of the buildings, still standing, from 70-80 years ago. They sure did a heck of a job on the stuff they built back then. Oh well, I guess!

Anyhow, it is a great park. The lake itself is not a spring, so it's not super clear, blue water. But it was SO cool to jump in, and it was absolutely refreshing on a hot day.

The craziest thing for us, was jumping into the lake on the very first night of our trip. We rode 40+ miles, and the girls and I were hot and tired. We were so late getting into the campground, that the sun was setting when we actually got into the water that first night. So, we just wanted to go jump in and feel refreshed. It was delightfully cool, and felt so good to head back down to camp after going for a super fast swim. It was about a mile (or so) from our campsite to the lake, so we had to ride to get everywhere.

Finally, we came back to the lake, at the end of our tour, and I noticed this sign:

So then I told the girls it was okay to go ahead and play in the water:

Actually, after they saw the sign, this was about as far as they would go in the water. And that was about all Chris would let them do as well. I couldn't resist though. I had to get back in. It was SO refreshing, and felt so good. Under normal circumstances, if there are dozens of people in the water, I wouldn't expect a gator to be anywhere near this portion of beach that they have roped off for swimming. It was a bit eerie to see that sign though. It makes you think twice about getting in the water... that's for sure.

Gold Head Branch also has an interesting creature that you can take a photo of. He's called the Mossman. I assume, it's similar to the Bigfoot or Swamp thing stories that have floated around the country for decades. This one is pretty cool.

Then, you get a few shots of us hanging around the campsite, doing what we do best... goofing off.

Finally, a few shots of the other great outdoor activity you can explore at Gold Head Branch. There are a couple of large lakes here for exploring. And with lots of wildlife running around, this has to be a great way to enjoy the area.

I'm sad to say, this is basically the end of our tour. We did have one last day of riding, but it concluded with use riding back to Palatka, FL. It was an inglorious finish, with some of the strongest headwinds and worst traffic of the entire trip.

Waiting for us was Mogwai, our trusty steed. I don't know that I've ever seen the girls happier than at that moment when we pulled into the parking lot, and were finally done pedaling.

Kaitlyn actually admitted that she had more fun on the trip than she expected. But, I don't know that she would have enjoyed one stroke more on the bike pedals than she absolutely had to.

If you have any questions or comments, I'll be glad to help out in any way that I can. Overall, traveling across a part of Florida by bike was one of the coolest things I've ever done. And it was encouraging to know that Chris and I were much stronger than we ever thought at riding. After this experience, a cross-country trip seems TOTALLY plausible.

I think Chris will have more details, and specifics, that I have left out over the length of the trip. But, I hope you've enjoyed checking out the journey.

All the best,
Al

Has it been that long?

2010-11-18T20:17:00.008-05:00

I can not believe that it has been so long since I posted my grocery deals. Thankfully there are plenty of good things to report!
God is continuing to bless us with so much as I am learning to make our money go as far as possible. We have been able to send food each week to a local church for their food pantry. And still have plenty in our pantry and freezer to feed us. What a blessing couponing has been to our family!
First are some of the things that I got last week. This was actually 3 different trips that I combined into one photo. So the total for all of this before sales and coupons was $68.39 and what do you think I paid for it after sales and coupons? I paid an out of pocket grand total for all of this of .87cents! Yes that is right .87 is all I paid for this! That is a 99% savings!!

Here is the breakdown~
12- boxes Garden delights Pasta $1.71. I used a rain check that I had from a couple weeks back for buy one get one deal and then used 12 Manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each box making each box FREE with an OVERAGE OF $1.74

6- bottles Sundown Vitamin D $2.99 each. I used 3 Publix store coupon for $6.00 off 2, and 2 manufacturer coupons for $1.00 off 1, and 2 manufacturer coupons for $3.00 off 2. Making them FREE with an OVERAGE of $8.06

24- jars of Beachnut baby food (again I am not pregnant, it is a great item to donate to food banks!) .55 BOGO I used 2 manufactures coupons for $2.00 off 12 jars making the total for all $2.60
6- bottles Hersheys chocolate syrup $2.19 BOGO I did not use any other coupons on these so they were $1.09 each

8- Mentos gum $1.00 and I used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 off each Making them FREE
3- International Delight Coffee Creamer $1.50 each and I use a $1.00 off manufacturer's coupon on each making the .50 each.

So that makes for a grand total of .86 cents!

And here is this weeks grocery trip. This was a great trip with lots of things purchased including a 23lb turkey for Thanksgiving!! The total before sales and coupons was $189.70 And the total after sales and coupons was $ 27.13. That is a total savings of 86%!
And here is what I got

2- Ritz munchables crackers $3.69 BOGO used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 off each .84 each
2- Bic utility lighters $3.49 BOGO used manufactures coupon for $1.50 off each .24 each

4- Wheat thins sticks $3.49 BOGO used a manufactures coupon for 1 free and another for $1.25 off one and 2 others for $1.00 off one and a Target store coupon for $1.00 off 2 Nabisco crackers. Making them all FREE with an OVERAGE of .76

2- Planters Cashews $4.29 BOGO Used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 off each and a Target store coupon for .75 of each making them .39 each

2- Triscuit thins $3.49 BOGO used a manufactures coupon for free box and another for $1.25 off one making them both FREE with and OVERAGE of $1.25

4- New York style bagle crisps $2.69 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.25 off each making them .09 each

2- Bags Fresh express salad $3.69 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each making them .84 each

1 bag baby carrots .99 (No coupons used for this)

3.11lbs- Sweet potatoes .33 per lb $1.21 (No coupons used for this)

2- Bags Celery $1.69 BOGO (no other coupons used for this) making them .84 each

1- 5 lb bag Potatoes $1.99 used a manufactures coupon found on the bag for $1.00 off making them .99
2- Uncle Bens rice $1.99 BOGO used a manufactures coupon for $1.00 off each making them FREE with .01 OVERAGE

2- Betty Crocker Muffin Mixes $2.59 BOGO used manufactures coupons for .50 off each making them .79 each

4- Sundown vitamins $2.99 used 2 Publix store coupon for $6.00 off 2 and 2 manufactures coupons for $3,00 off 2 making them FREE with an OVERAGE of $6.04

10- bags Birds eye frozen Veggies $1.79 on sale for 50% off used 5 BOGO coupons and 1 $1.00 of 3 manufactures coupons making them .34 each

4- Kraft Shredded Cheese $2.00 used manufactures coupon for $1.00 each and 2 Target store coupon for $1.00 off 2 making them .50 each

6- Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough $2.79 BOGO used manufactures coupons for $1.00 off each making them .39 each

1- Breakstone sour cream $1.00 used a manufactures coupons for .55 off making it .45

2- Jars Dill Pickles 2.79 BOGO used manufactures coupons for .55 of each making them .84 each

1- pack Publix Bakery Dinner Rolls 1.99 used a Target store coupon for $1.00 off making them .99
1- Pringles can $1.75 used a manufactures coupon for free can making them FREE

1- 23lb Frozen Turkey .59 per lb no coupons used total $13.58

It is really amazing how with a little extra planning you can save so much and stretch you money even farther. It takes me an hour each week to go over the sales and write my list and gather the coupons to go with it. So really not that much time at all considering how much I am able to save.
If you have any questions please ask. I would love to help in any way that I can!

Florida Springs Family Bike Tour - Day 6

2010-11-14T18:28:00.028-05:00

Yesterday was a dismal failure with the maps. We missed three different turns we were supposed to find along the way. That was a little bit discouraging. We were hoping, today, that we would NOT repeat that again.

Because of the longer ride yesterday, we didn't expect today to be a very long ride. We just weren't sure how long it would be. So, we got packed up early and headed out for nice, leisurely day.

As we were leaving the Hart Springs campground, we were greeted by a bald eagle. Something I have never seen in Florida. And something I didn't expect to see.

And Kait rounded up this large grasshopper, and wanted to show it off a little bit, before she let it go. Nobody else wanted to touch it. I wasn't going to go near it... let me tell you. AND, she wanted me to remind everyone, that she kissed one of the grasshoppers for part of the field trips to Crystal Springs they do for class.

And then, before we could leave the Hart Springs park, Chris thought I looked so cool that she decided to snap off a couple shots of me riding through. Of course, she had to get the girls in the pictures as well. But, really, I knew it was because I was looking so good in the saddle.

I suppose it was actually because I begged her to take some pictures of us in action. I was like... "Come on babe, get some shots of actually riding the bikes... Pleeease!". She finally agreed once I told her we could get a Starbucks frappucino once the whole trip was over.

Amazingly, we expected to have to travel for several miles to get to the next town. It turned out to be a couple miles down the road. When we realized this, our day just shrank by about 10-12 miles, effectively taking an hour or so off of our travel time. So, we had a little time to hang out.

We stopped in a little town of Fort Fanning, and actually took a picture of the Suwannee River. Although, it didn't turn out to be that big of a deal.

We had a lot more fun posing in the park, taking promo shots for Sunny D with the girls. Of course, Keeley belching right in the middle of the shoot made for a hilarious break from the highly stressful nature of the work we were trying to do.

And then throw in a picture of me, for humors sake. And Chris sitting there relaxing before we headed back out on the road again.

From Fort Fanning, we only ended up being about 10 miles from our final destination for the day.

One of the most important stops for today...

We made it to a town called Chiefland. The first decent sized town since we actually left on our tour. What do I mean by decent sized? They had a Walmart. How amazing is that? No other town that we had passed through, had a Walmart that we could find.

The importance of this stop can't be overstated. Kaitlyn had been complaining about the soreness of her cheeks for miles. And no, I'm not talking about her rosy, red face cheeks. She wanted padding for her booty. Ever since we saw the 'tushion' at Stephen Foster State Park she had been asking about us stopping to get her a seat cushion. And this... Walmart, was our first opportunity to get one for her. Pretty sad, right? 6 days of riding, and this is our first chance to get her a tushion.

Anyhow, we picked up the seat cover and headed out to Manatee Springs State Park. Interestingly enough, the 6 miles to the state park turned out to be some of the most difficult riding we faced during the entire trip, and it was because of a super strong head wind blowing right in our faces. That was actually the first headwind we had come across for the whole tour. And man was it strong. Sometimes, you push, and it feels like the wind is just stopping your forward progress instantaneously. It was a tough trip to the park that day.

However, when we got there, none of the girls were warm enough to even want to get in the spring water at Manatee Springs. Not me, though. I had NO problems getting in. Any time I have ever done any physical exertion in Florida, I get nice and toasty warm. And a jump into a chilly spring is just the perfect thing to cool off with.

There turned out to be a tremendous amount of wildlife at manatee Springs. Here are a few of the local residents we saw during the day.

And, here are a few shots of swimming and scuba diving in Manatee Springs. The girls were too cold to go into this spot, but I was all over it. It felt fantastic! The depth of this spring was actually much lower than the other ones, so it wasn't really possible for me to go down and look inside that well. Plus the velocity of the water coming out of the spring pushed me back quite easily.

It was a gorgeous swimming hole, and apparently the manatee think so as well, because they come back up to this spot in the winter, when the other Florida coastal waters are too cold for them.

I am going to finish this post with a HUGE word of warning about the wildlife at Manatee Springs State Park. They aren't afraid of you. If you think they are... you're wrong. So be careful.

Nightfall had just arrived in our camp. We were finishing up with our dinner, and had packed some stuff into the bike trailer leaning against the tree. We had seen all kinds of animals throughout the day... deer, birds, armadillo. and squirrel. So we weren't expecting much else. Christy and the girls were actually inside the tent getting everything prepared for the next day, and I was messing around the picnic table.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a little animal sneaking up to the bike and trailer. I don't think much about it, because I didn't expect them to stick around for too long. So I glance over and realize it's raccoons.

I didn't expect this, so I actually got up and took a couple of steps towards the bike. And I let out a... 'Hey! Get away from there.' Instead of scaring the 'coon off, it freaking pulled on the velcro to the roof of the trailer and reached inside to grab the bag inside. At that point I realized that just my presence wasn't going to do a dang thing to this animal. I stepped back over to the picnic table, all the while watching the raccoon trying to pull something out of the trailer. I grabbed a hold of some tent poles. And I bounded back over to the bike and yelled, 'Hey! Get out of here!' And I took a wide swing with the pole, slapping the top of the trailer, making this real loud WHAP! I was only a couple of feet away from the coon, so I didn't feel safe (at all) if this thing decided to come at me.

Thankfully, the slap with the pole actually caused it to stop what it was doing, and take a step back. I yelled again, and slapped the tree beside the bike. And then, it slowly stepped back a few feet. It didn't back off much though. It kinda drifted back about 4-5 feet into the shadows, but it didn't disappear. And that was when I realized there were 2-3 of them, all floating just out of the light. Christy came out of the tent and provided me with some back up. And, after a few tense minutes of minor skirmishes and calling out to them to leave, they scurried off into another campsite next to ours.

That freaked me OUT!

I have never had an animal that didn't back down, at least a little bit, when we have been camping like this. And that raccoon didn't give a rat's behind about me being there. It wasn't even phased by me one iota. If I didn't slap the trailer, that thing would have rifled through the entire trailer at its own leisure, and I wouldn't have been able to do a whole lot about it.

That was pretty wild! All I can say, if you ever stay at Manatee Springs... watch out for the wildlife, because they are NOT afraid of you. Too many people playing around and feeding them have caused them to have no fear of people. And it was a little bit intimidating.

After they left, I piled all the bikes up into a big heap, and I wrapped them up with bungee cords, hoping to keep the animals out of them. The armadillos even come out at night, and go around scrounging for stuff to eat. You can hear their feet scraping around in the leaves all around your tent during the night. And after the way they tried to rip into the trailer, I felt like my face might be next. I didn't sleep well that night, I can tell you that.

We have no pictures of the raccoons, because their attack occurred completely under the cover of darkness. Talk about ninjitsu... they must have spent some time in the best black ops training in the country.

'Nuff said?

I sure hope so.

Al

Florida Springs Family Bike Tour - Day 5

2010-11-12T07:54:00.028-05:00

Today, we continued our tour with visits to a couple more Springs.

A bit of editorial comment, if you want the story of the tour please drop down:

A strange thing to me, about Florida, is that some of the natural land features are owned by the State of Florida or the federal government, and some are owned by private individuals. And it's hard to understand why such nice locales are owned by certain citizens and not by everyone in the state. I know a lot of it has to do with profits and money gathering, but on one of our stops today, which I'll explain later, the privately owned piece of property was FAR TOO expensive for what it should have been. I won't say much more about this, but it just seems absurd to me that a place so spectacular could be owned and manipulated by individuals rather than offered to everyone, especially when you compare it to the other publicly owned properties around the state.

I am by no means a socialist... but I guess I'm not sure how forcing people to pay exorbitant fees to get access to a piece of property they should have much easier access to, is a good idea? In the Florida Keys, the land is OWNED by the State, but private businesses are allowed to operate in the Keys while the people still maintain ownership of the property. That seems like a much better idea to me. Let me know what you think after you read the rest of the story?

TO HERE, where we continue the story of today:
After yesterday's visit to Ichetucknee Springs, we were excited to visit a couple more springs today. It's strange, living in Florida, because all you really want to do is get into the water, but because of the gators it's not feasible to swim in the rivers. The ONLY place where it is possible to really swim in rivers, safely, is to swim in the springs. However, in the Summer, they get PACKED with people. But they are sure are fun for swimming, and they feel SO cool and refreshing.

We got a pretty early start out of O'Leno State Park today.

And we weren't sure exactly how far we had to go for the day. Unfortunately, the springs we planned to stop and swim at were really early in the day. We only had about 10 miles to get to the first spring. The first set of springs all lie along the Santa Fe River.

Our plan for the day was to stop at Blue Springs, which everyone we had talked to, had said it was a much better family location. When we got to the spot leading back to the springs, we discovered that the road went back for about a quarter mile (that we could see), and it was covered in sand.
AGAIN!
What's with the sandy roads?
That doesn't work on a bicycle! If you own a business with sandy roads, this is a word of warning, we can't push our bikes down your sand covered road. It's not worth the effort.

So, after that discouragement, we pressed on to a place called Ginnie Springs. It was just a mile or two up the road. We made the turn off to the springs, and we actually were able to travel on a paved road for the mile or so to get back to the entrance of the springs.

**Side note**
It seems everywhere you go, you have to travel mile or two off the beaten path to get to your destination. In cars, not too difficult. By bike, it's a little more daunting to make that one mile trip each way, especially when you have kids traveling with you.

Anyhow, we got back to the entrance to the springs, and realized they were going to charge us $12 for each adult. And I can't even remember what the kids cost? It didn't turn out to be a cheap stop at a swimming hole, like it should have been. Unfortunately, by being privately owned, Ginnie Springs does a MASSIVE business to scuba divers who like to dive in cave systems. There are miles and miles of caving for divers here. The property also has about 7 springs you can get into. So, it is a large, important, money generating, piece of property for the entire area. And it is all controlled by private business.

It wouldn't have been so bad, if they would have knocked off a few bucks, and let us just go swimming. But, nope, they have to charge the FULL pricing of the entire park just to go in and go for a swim.

After doing all that complaining, I hate to say this...

But Ginnie Springs is an absolutely amazing park. The springs are nice. They have a full-service campground. They have a clean general store (with prices that match their entrance fees in steepness). And there is ALL KINDS of activity going on here. Apparently, in the Summer season, the entire park is PACKED with visitors. It wasn't busy, at all, while we were there. But the water felt absolutely lovely.

I guess it might be a little cold for some people. There was an older scuba diver there, who said we were the steel family, for swimming in the frigid water. But, I am guessing, he has spent a lot of time in the equatorial regions of the world. Because, compared to the Pacific Northwest waters, this was still quite warm.

After spending a couple of hours at Ginnie Springs swimming, playing, and eating lunch, we headed off in a westerly direction. Our final destination for the night was supposed to be another privately owned spring with a campground.

Before we got there, we had to bike for 10-15 miles across Wacasassa Flats. Apparently, this area is even flatter than the lightly rolling hills we've been traveling through, so they get the honor of being called flat-lands. Although the trees and shrubbery seemed a little bit different than previous areas we had biked through, I have a hard time telling the differences between the different types of vegetation here.

After we traveled across the flats, towards the west, we then turned to the south. By this time, we had reached another section of the Suwanee River. And there was a series of several more springs here.

We had intended to stop at Sun Springs for the night, to make today a nice, light travel day. However, our instructions and directions hit a snag, and caused us to keep pushing on. As we rode south, we never even saw Sun Springs along the road. So, we kept on riding. And, the place where the next spring was supposed to be, there wasn't a single sign or indicator that we could find. I kept watching, and looking, and we kept rolling along the road.

Christy was like a freight train, she just kept steaming along, expecting to get to the next stop at some point. She was about a tenth of a mile in front of Keeley and I on the tandem.

Finally, after we had traveled WELL past the expected turn, I decided we needed to figure what in the world was going on. However, that meant I had to pull out some Lance Armstrong high speed sprint maneuvers to catch up to her. If you can imagine, seeing something big and clunky (like the Oscar Meyer hot-dog weiner mobile) in a full out sprint race, that's about what Keeley and I looked like trying to speed up and catch Chris.

When we finally caught up to her, I had to yell out to STOOOOOOOP, as we steam-rolled right past her. By that time I couldn't get the tandem to slow down any faster. So, Keeley and I had to roll up another tenth of a mile to slow down enough to turn around and come back to Chris and Kait.

All I can say is it's a good thing we stopped, because when I called the second spring we were planning to stop at, we had already rolled 2 or 3 miles past the turn. I call the guy and say... "Hey, we are on bikes coming south on ___ road. How do we find you?" He says... "Yeah, you'll need to go back and turn at that road. We had our sign stolen last week, and I haven't had a chance to get a new one yet."

Great! That is so perfect! Especially for all of your visitors, who might want to find your campground and visit. They need to be able to find the place if they are planning on visiting. Don't you think?

So, we finally found the right road to turn off of. The funniest part is that even though we made finally figured out which back road to turn on, we still missed the second turn, leading to the entrance of the campground and park. Not only was there NO signage for the park from the highway we were biking on, there was also no sign from the back road directing us to how to get into the park. We actually rode past the entrance road, before realizing... duh... that was the road we needed to turn down.

Talk about INSANE!

A message to all businesses in Florida... if you want us to visit your store, we MUST be able to see that you are there. I don't have business ESP. You need to advertise that you are there, or I can't find you. Make a sign that I can see from the road. Or have a sign on your building that I can see from the road.
OK? OK!

And here's a quick video of Kait taking a dip in the main spring, at Ginnie Springs park.

Florida Springs Family Bike Tour - Day 4

2010-11-09T19:52:00.025-05:00

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty good day, as far as riding distance and nice roads. Although we had a meltdown from one of the girls at the end of the day, due to a laundry misjudgment. We didn't have enough clean clothes, so someone had to wait an hour to get cleaned and pressed clothes to wear for the night.

Thankfully we were able to talk everyone down off the ledge of despair as Christy quickly cleaned the clothes. Here is one of the buildings at the Stephen Foster Culture Center, taken as we were leaving the park the next morning.

This was a pretty fun day as well. We finally made it to another of Florida's great wonders... Fresh water Springs.

However, before got to the Springs, we had about 30 miles of riding through rolling back-country hills. The roads on this day were pretty nice as well, although I still have to rate the roads yesterday at the top of my list. The traveling today went pretty well. Plus, we stopped at a great little restaurant, called the Whistle Stop, in the town of White Springs (I think?). We had planned on stopping in town for a quick meal, and realized there wasn't a whole lot of options in town. We almost kept riding right past the Whistle Stop. Thankfully Christy spotted it hiding on the corner and suggested we at least go inside and take a look. When you walk in the door, the inside seemed much larger than the outside appeared. Almost like the inside was bigger than our eyes.

We rolled in for a mid-morning breakfast. The girls and Chris had cherry turnovers. And I hit the jackpot with a berry scone and some white chocolate sauce. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! If you're ever in town, you should stop in and give it a shot. And no... we don't get a penny for saying so!

After our morning meal, we cruised down to our next stop... Ichetucknee Springs (I lovingly refer to them as the ItcheeTouchMe Springs).

Here we are, stopped in a little road-stop called Wellington, before we visited the springs.

One of the main reasons any person should ever visit Florida is for the water. The beaches are phenomenal, the Keys, the Everglades, and the springs are also pretty amazing. Ichetucknee was the girls' favorite spring to swim at on the entire trip. So, they give this stop a HUGE, two thumbs up. And I agree. It was absolutely refreshing to jump into that 74 degree water during the heat of the day. It was a little cold, at first, but once you're over the shock it's totally worth it.

Here are a few shots of us preparing to jump in, and then enjoying the feeling of the springs.

And, of course, a couple shots of the bikes waiting for us to come back from our little adventure on the water.

After Ichetucknee Springs we finished off the day with a pretty quick, enjoyable ride on a bike trail down to O'Leno State Park. The trail starts right outside the outskirts of Fort White, and it runs almost 10 miles all the way to the park.

Amazingly, we actually pulled off 55.24 miles for the day. We could totally tell that our bodies were starting to get stronger and more adapted to life on the road. I think the refreshing stop at the springs also helped keep us going.

Also, here is a video clip of us enjoying the springs.
The spring is actually a large, 30 foot long crack, running along the bottom of the river. There is a big hole that you can swim into, maybe even scuba dive inside of, but there is a fairly strong current pushing towards the surface coming from the spring. The spring depth seemed to be about 15-20 deep out in the middle. It was great swimming around down there and hanging out with the fish.

Florida Springs Family Bike Tour - Day 3

2010-11-08T21:46:00.020-05:00

After yesterdays hardly-won battle of 54 miles in the saddle, with butt cheeks feeling the pinch, we were happy for this short day to finally arrive. If we had actually made it to our destination last night, we would only have about 30 miles to ride today, but because of the yesterday's issues we ended having to ride 41.67 miles today.

Because of our guerrilla campsite last night, we sprang up and out of the tent this morning, and were on the road within minutes.

Let me interject a quick point here:
Because of the ease of packing all kinds of stuff into the trailer, there were times where we could basically throw masses of stuff inside the 'sherpa' and just keep right on rolling. The trailer was a Godsend at times. We could throw rolled up tents, wet clothes, bags of food, sleeping bags, books, and piles of stuff inside. And it just kept right on rolling. It was super easy to have the trailer and pull it to. If you EVER go on a bicycle tour, you absolutely need to consider bringing along a trailer to help ease your load. Sherpa is about the best word I can use to describe it.

Anyhow...

We were all freezing when we got up this morning, so stopped at a little store along the road to get soak up some heat inside the store, and then stand in the sun outside. We were like a herd of lizards waiting for our bodies to absorb enough heat to move.

After downing some food and some rays, we hit the road again.

A few miles down the road we hit a historic park, called Olustee Battlefield. It's the site of a bloody Civil War battle that actually ended with the deaths of thousands of soldiers. The Confederate (Southern troops) won this skirmish fought in 1864. Every year they re-enact the Battle right here at the Battlefield in February of each year.

Here are a few pics from the park:

From the Battlefield, we traveled for miles along an amazingly, quiet back country road. We road past Ocean Pond and the campground we were supposed to stay at last night. There were virtually no cars on the road for miles and miles and miles. It was probably the most peaceful road riding of the trip. And it was a gorgeous morning to ride. Not too hot, but plenty of sun to brighten the way.

About 10 miles from the final stop for this day we came to an absolute rarity in Florida... a waterfall. It is at a little place called Falling Creek. The waterfall is a towering 12 feet tall. Multnomah Falls it is not. Being one of only a handful of falls in Florida, we absolutely HAD to stop and check it out. The Falling Church park also has a 100 year old church, constructed with heart pine. The wood is termite resistant, which has allowed the church to weather the years with dignity.

Here are a few shots from our visit:

Here's a clip of Chris and Kait chatting, while we just milled about the Falling Church park. I include this picture because you can also get a feel for the load that Chris carried on her bike. You can see the rear panniers are pretty full. Probably about 20 pounds per bag, although they still could have held more. And then throw the sleeping bag on top of the rack as well.

And, of course, we had to hook up lunch at the nearby Quiznos sub shop. This turned out to be a deliciously, yummy food stop. Unfortunately, Chris decided to pop off a few incriminating shots of us trying to devour our food. Or course, all the other people inside the store were wondering why this psychotic woman was snapping dozens of pictures while the people she was photographing were simply trying to eat. The world may never know?

And the we finished off our day with a really early stopping point. We stayed at the Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center. This is the 'center' of the Suwanee River culture and heritage, birthed by the popularity of Stephen Foster's song 'Old Folks at Home' about the Suwanee. There is a HUGE cultural exhibit building here, where crafters and artisans showcase their work during local exhibits and shows. There were bunches of people invading the building the week we were there for some kind of craft exhibit.

It was actually a pretty nice campground. And, if we weren't just passing through, would have been a great place to stop and explore for a few days. The art, the river, the park, and the town all had a nice comfortable feel to them.

We have since learned that the Stephen Foster tune is the State Song of Florida. WOW! I had no idea. This State Park is definitely worth a stop if you are ever in the area. There were tons of families out riding bikes, playing in the playground, and walking around the park while we were there.

Here are a few pics of Keeley and Chris hanging out at our site. Notice the stunning tan lines on Keeley's legs. Chris lovingly refers to these seemingly permanent tan marks as bikers tans. We all have them, as lovely memories still adorning our bronzed bodies. They might even be worse than farmers tans? I'm not exactly sure? The verdict is still out on that.

The parting shot for the day... our campsite.

Florida Springs Family Bike Tour - Day 2

2010-11-07T10:50:00.022-05:00

Yesterday, we ended up biking 47.65 miles altogether.

Today, was a little sketchy, because we still hadn't figured out the whole map situation. Meaning... we weren't sure which directions would provide the most reliable results. So, again, we started today trying to see which of the options would work best? This was the first 'official' day on the Florida Springs actual tour, according to the GORP directions.

The second day was going to be a BIG day. We were planning on biking about 65 miles this day, and arriving at a privately owned campground, called Ocean Pond Campground, in the Osceola National Forest.

Here we are, starting the day at our campsite in Gold Head Branch State Park. It was pretty awesome, especially the first couple nights of the trip, because the weather was unseasonably cool. Apparently it actually got down into the 50's during the night for the first couple of nights. In Florida, this is MIRACULOUS. And our sleeping bags and gear were more than sufficient to keep us warm.
Because of my confusion with the maps and directions, we actually varied our route from the GORP directions at the start of the day. This caused us to miss one of the Springs that we should have seen along our route. Looking back on it, this was a bit of a bummer. We ended up biking almost 55 LONG, butt-breaking and demoralizing miles this day. And we still didn't make it to our destination.

For the most part, we just passed the time with pedaling and more pedaling and hoping some town would eventually show up around the next bend. It was surprising how few decent sized towns there are along this route. One town, today, was more like a Florida State corrections facility. There were no stores, or places to stop... and yet it was marked as a town.

Here we are, taking a mid-morning break. It was still in the upper-80's, so we had to relax in the shade, rather than hang out in the direct sunlight.

Towards the end of the ride today, it was getting close to 5 in the evening. And we had biked about 50 miles, and it was becoming a little daunting waiting for the next town to show up so we could get some dinner, rest our rears, and take a bathroom break. It seemed like those last ten miles just might not end. And the girls were getting tired, and I wasn't sure how much farther we had to go.

Based on the GORP directions, we figured the town of Sanderson might be a good place to stop for the night, instead of going all the way to the campground. It turns out, Sanderson is NOT a good place to stop. We finally rolled into town, butt weary, hungry, and cranky. And I was hoping to call it for the day so we could relax. But this little town had plans of its own. There are no hotels, no B & B's, in fact there's not much of anything in town. They do have 3 teensy little grocery stores. So we stopped into one store to pick up some fruit and other goodies.

Christy noticed there was a fire station across the street from the store, so we got the idea of trying to put up our tent out beside the station. Unfortunately, the door was open to the station, but there was not a single person to be found anywhere. So, we figured we could hang out for a few minutes and just make sure it would be alright to camp outside there.

Turns out... we ended up waiting for over an hour-and-a-half for the crew to come back from the emergency call they were on. By the time they got back it was starting to get dark, so we were desperately hoping they were going to let us camp there. Here are some shots of us hanging out beside the fire station.

Guess what?

Nope! Not on your freaking life.

Apparently, since 9/11, this is no longer allowed. It may be public property, but it sure as heck isn't open to the public.

Thankfully the crew at the station was good enough to call up the local County Sheriff and have him come out and set us up with something safe. Under normal circumstances we would have been totally on our own to find somewhere to stay. But, everyone at the station had pity on our family, and the Sheriff hooked us up with an outstanding, undisclosed spot outside of town. And, on top of that, he also had one of his on duty deputies come by and check on us throughout the night.

I wouldn't normally say something like this... but I have to give a HUGE thank you, and recognition, to the Sheriff and crew at the Baker County fire station for helping us out. We appreciate the help! And for keeping us out of the 'meth' district of Sanderson, we sincerely thank you!

It was a little crazy when the Sheriff finally found us a spot to stay for the night. By that time, it was completely dark, and I only had one light to use as we rode along the road to our destination for the night. We ended up having to ride several more miles to our stopping point for the night.

At one point, I am riding along in front of everyone else. I can hardly see more than 5-10 feet in front of me. Out of nowhere, this cardboard box leaps out of the grass along the side of the road, and gets tangled up in my front tire. I slam on my breaks, because it freaked me out and almost gave me a heart attack. Kaitlyn comes screaming up behind me, and plows into the trailer with her bike. Thankfully we all kept ourselves upright, no kissing of pavement or anything. But that near crash, made me have to change my shorts when we finally got stopped for the night. And now, there's a nice black tire skid-mark running up the back side of the bike trailer.

We survived the several mile ride in the dark, helped by the Sheriff, who eventually came up behind us and helped light the way for us with his headlights.

Our final stop for the night was truly one of the strangest spots I have ever camped at in my lifetime. We threw up the tent as fast as we possible could, threw all our gear inside, sat inside the tent chatting for a few minutes, and then we all crashed. We were pretty much up with the sun the next morning, so we could get back on the road as soon as possible.

We finished the day at 54.18 miles. And, by far, this was the toughest day of the entire trip. The long miles, the confusion over the directions, and the lack of accommodations all teamed up to make this day as close to disaster as we were going to come.

It was at this point that Chris and I decided we were going to abandon the Google maps instructions, and just go strictly with the destruction's as described by the GORP website. This turned out to be a GREAT decision, although we still faced a few minor issues later in the trip.

Florida Springs Family Bike Tour - Day 1

2010-11-06T09:26:00.027-04:00

Today, was basically a 'getting started' day.

Before we even got on the road, we had a serious test to overcome. The Scion XB is an amazing car. It holds all of us comfortably, and it gets superb gas mileage. And it's manufactured by a high quality company. BUT, it is NOT a large car. The over length is about 10 feet long. And it's not very tall either. In other words, it's not like have a gigantic truck you can throw all your stuff into, and just shoot off into the sunset. With the Scion, you actually have to organize and plan how you will stack everything inside. And in the case of a family bicycle tour... outside as well. Couple that with the fact that we were bringing along 4 family members, 3 bikes (one of them a tandem), a bike trailer, and all of our gear for a week... and we had to make sure we were organized.
If you didn't see this bike tour gear video, you should check it out.

The key to making this work was a handy bike rack we picked up at Dick's Sporting Goods, called the Yakima MegaJoe. It is actually built for 3 bicycles, but when you put it on the back door of a Scion, the car door is only designed to hold 2 bikes. So, we DID NOT put all 3 bikes on the back rack. We stuffed the third bike and the bike trailer inside of the car with us. And, because the tandem is about 3-4 feet wider than the Scion, I actually had to take the front and back wheels off of the bike so it didn't hang out into the other lanes of traffic. As it was we had bike overhang of about 12 inches on both sides of the car. If somebody went by too closely, they could swiped the side of their car with the bike. That also helped cut off some of the weight on the Yakima bike rack.

After I loaded up all the bike gear, I had to stuff the girls inside, on top of everything else. You should have seen me squeeeeeezing them into the back seat with my feet. I had to push, and jump, and cram them into the teensy little space we had left in back.

In truth, they were fine. There were a few dangling bike rims and bags inside the car, but they had plenty of room to sit absolutely still for the three hour drive up. I guess I should mention, Christy had a bicycle bar-end sitting poised right at the end of her nose for the entire drive as well. If she needed to pick anything, though, she was ready to go without taking her hands off the steering wheel. Come to think of it... I don't know why car manufacturers haven't come up with this automated feature yet?

Because of our situation, we drove all of our gear up to Palatka, FL where we could park our car and begin our tour. We didn't want to leave it sitting out in the middle of a parking lot somewhere, so anyone could have their way with it. My Uncle Dwaine, lives up there and told us we could leave the car at his place. THANK YOU for that Uncle!

The great part about starting out from his home, was that he said a prayer for us just as we were heading out. I think that helped keep us safe, and set the tone for the whole trip.

Here we are at the start of the trip. Us and the bikes.

However, by starting here, we had about 35 miles to ride to our destination before we even got to the suggested Florida Springs tour route.

So, I won't go into a lot of detail about the route on this day.

Let me just add one point right now, about maps and planning and bicycles:
When we started planning our route, we used the tour advice (at the above link) and printed out all of their pages and directions. I also thought it would be wise to use the new Image via WikipediaGoogle Maps bicycle feature. So I mapped out our route, and we printed out all the proposed routes.

Unfortunately, about half way through the ride, we came to a key turn in the route. It a street called Holloway road. Because of our confusion following how the directions were stated, we had already rode past Holloway. We stopped to eat lunch, rest a bit, and collect our thoughts.

The lady in the store advised us that we had passed the road a couple miles back. SO, we had to back track a couple miles to find the turn. We rode all the way back to Holloway, only to find that it was a sand covered road. And I don't mean a thin layer of sand. I'm talking inch-deep sand.

If you're not familiar with biking, sand is the arch-nemesis of bicyclers. Tires don't roll and they slide out from under you constantly. The Google bike map route had us traveling on this road for MILES. There was NO WAY, on planet earth, we were going to be able to do it. SO... we had to bike all the way back and take a different route forward.

We probably should have taken pictures while walking up this road, for posterity. But seeing the look of hatred looming over my family's eyes is not something I wanted to share with the world... so I decided not to take any pictures here.

The new route worked out fine, but by back-tracking like that, we added on an extra 5 miles onto our day, plus some exhausting sand trekking.

What a FANTASTIC way to start our trip... let me tell you!

From there, we actually took a superb, brand-new 'rails to trails' bike path into the town of Keystone, FL. Which was excellent! We expected to hit the Gold Head Branch State Park when we got to Keystone. What we found, though, was that we still had 6 miles of biking to get to the park. So, all the excitement and energy we had built up by reaching town, deflated instantly, when we realized we still had 6 miles of riding to do. That was NOT what we had been hoping for.

However, everyone 'Manned Up', and we pushed through to the park.

Now, you would think our day would be over, once we reached the park... but you would be wrong. I'm not sure exactly why, but it seems like every State park in Florida has SUPER long entrance roads. So, we had to bike 3 MORE miles to get to the campground site in the back end of the park. In a car, 2 or 3 mile entrance roads aren't really a big deal. No work, no effort, just a couple extra minutes and you're there. But on a bike, you're talking 10 more minutes of ride time, on butt cheeks that are already quacking (quaking - sp?) and aching?

We didn't take any pictures of the this first day. We did come back later in the week, so I'll put up some pictures of the Gold Head Branch State Park a little later, when we make the trip back around.

Florida Springs Bike Tour Supplies Video

2010-10-30T23:39:00.006-04:00

Super quick...

I just posted up a short video of some of the supplies we took with us on our Florida Springs 7 day bike tour. Yes, that's a bicycle tour, not a motorcycle tour. Sorry!

It doesn't look like much. And yet, the entire back end of the car was PACKED. What isn't included in the video is the tandem bike we also brought. However, that is all of the supplies we brought for the trip all stacked up outside the car.

3 bikes
1 tent
4 sleeping bags
2 sets of rear panniers
1 Bell bicycle trailer for hauling kids (Since this trip, I tenderly refer to the trailer as a Sherpa - it is as valuable for a bike trip as Sherpas are for climbing Mt. Everest)
4 bike helmets
4 sets of bike gloves (DO NOT go cheap on these)
2 sets of clothing for each of us (DO NOT go cheap on the bike shorts - or your butt will HATE you)
And a whole stash of miscellaneous other stuff like cook stove, white gas, flashlight, money, extra underwear for the kids, food, etc.

In general, you should plan to pack as lightly as possible for traveling by bike. However, I was totally shocked at how effective and easy it was to haul around that trailer. I have no idea what it weighed, but I could thrown just about anything in that trailer and drug it along behind me. If you do a tour with kids, I must highly suggest using a trailer for hauling around supplies. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments and I'll be glad to offer my thoughts.

Great write up on Steak n Shake Knoxville

2010-10-30T11:14:00.010-04:00

Check out the great write up on my amigo - Gary, and his Steak n Shake stores in Knoxville, TN.
While we don't venture up into his neck of the woods too often, we did spend some time with Gary a couple of years ago, and we ate at his Steak n Shake Turkey Creek location.

Being in Knoxville, he is right in the foothills of the Smoky Mountain National Park. That is exactly why we ended up in his backyard (see more from the Speer family's Smoky Mountain visit)

If you ever find yourself stopping into one of the most heavily visited free National Parks in America, you might check out one of Gary's restaurants in Knoxville. And, yeah, you can probably tell him I suggested you stop in.
But... I gotta warn you.
The last time I visited, he put me to work cutting up tomatoes... so I'm not sure if knowing me will help you out.

Nice one Gary!
Al

365 Miles of Florida Springs

2010-10-26T20:12:00.023-04:00

Chris and I were talking last night about all the bicycle commuting I've done throughout the years. Even before we were married, I used to ride to work. It's been through so many varied conditions.

rain
pitch-darkness
freezing weather
100 degree heat
fog

In general, I try to avoid extremes like lightning, hurricanes, thunderstorms, etc. And that has worked well.

Recently, though, I was able to accomplish one of my lifelong goals ... a multi-day bicycle tour. My ultimate dream has always been to bike across America. And although this trip didn't accomplish that goal, it is a definite step in the right direction. Most importantly, this shorter bike trip let me know that my original idea is absolutely possible. Which is a great thing to know!

Anyhow...

Chris and the girls decided to humor me, and agreed to a 7 day bicycle tour. We'll be sharing a whole lot more about our trip, but I wanted to share some info about our time on the road.

First of all, here was the area we cycled around for the week. The best way to describe it... a HUGE circle around Gainesville, Florida. I think we missed every single large community in the entire area. I never realized there were so many small towns in Florida without decent sized grocery stores.

Map provided by www.MapmyRide.com

Map provided by Florida State Parks

We ended up grinding out about 365 miles total. That was with very little training and preparation. Although the maximum elevation of 350 feet certainly helped make this task easier. Our main goal of the tour was to explore the 'Florida Springs'. Our focus was based on the tour laid out on GORP's Florida Springs Bike Tour.

The map above is a general route that we took. It is not exact, but close to it and does not show some of the side trips that we took. We biked all of the 'red' marked areas. And we rented a vehicle to shorten the trip by bike (aka - saving the sanity of our children) and cut off about another 80-90 miles from the trip.

Of course, we took dozens of pictures and we'll throw a bunch of those up soon. I just wanted to share a bit with you right away.

One thing real quick - the girls did amazingly well. And they were SO strong. It was a real delight to see Kaitlyn push through some of the physical demands we threw at her. She did AWESOME! And Keeley was great, pushing me from behind on the tandem. She gave me the 'go' juice to push up some of the steeper hills we encountered.

Talk soon!
Al

More Pictures of the Endless Summer Watermelon Ride in St. Augustine

2010-10-20T22:12:00.000-04:00

This one took me a while to put up, but I finally got a chance to add a little bit more about the St. Augustine Cycling Festival 20th annual Endless Summer Watermelon Ride.

They had routes that passed thru St. Augustine. It is one of the most amazing historic towns, America's oldest continuously occupied city.
Some of the special sponsors were:

SERF motorcycle escorts
Champion Cycling
About Bicycles
Lakeshore Cycling
Open Road Bicycles
Donovan Heat and Air
Bicycles Etc.
City Cycle
BikeFitters

You can visit the NFBC website for more details about the ESWR and the Cycling Festival.
www.nfbc.us

Two Cool Things that Happened this week

2010-10-09T16:10:00.007-04:00

While neither of these events are particularly life-changing, I thought they were pretty cool. So I thought I would share.

Image by eugene via FlickrFirst of all, life in the office has been insane for the last couple of weeks. So crazy, in fact, that I had the pleasure of taking off early one day. While I was riding home, this kid leans out the window of his car as they drive by me... and he yells... "Hey, Lance Armstrong!"

Of course, I didn't want to disappoint him, so I nodded my head and gave him a quick wave. I'm sure he probably figured out later, that I was not Lance. However, the comparison, as I was actually riding, was a GREAT compliment to me. So... I have to say, Thanks for calling me Lance.

Second:
I have begun writing articles on a more consistent basis. I was attempting to write one article a day for 25 days. Starting on September 27th, I have published 16 live articles on a website called ezine articles. That website is one of the top 115 websites in the world, so it gets a lot of visitors, and some great interest from readers.

I was surprised to receive this in the mail this week, after publishing a few of my articles.
I have reached the platinum level author status at ezine articles. While it is not a big deal, it was still pretty cool to get this gift pack from them in the mail. WOW! Thanks to ezine articles for a great platform to publish on, and for recognizing your authors for their input and importance.

And if you want to check out the articles I've been writing, you can take a look here:
Kelson Spear
Some of you may know, I've been a part of this topic for a while.

Al

Watermelon Ride in St. Augustine, FL 2010

2010-10-02T22:03:00.005-04:00

Not too long ago, we all ventured up to St. Augustine for the weekend. They were having a big cycling event and a bike ride. I was hoping for some great classes, vendors, and just maybe some great deals on some bike touring gear.

As part of the weekend, the Boy Scouts put on the Watermelon Ride that started at the St. Augustine amphi-theater. I had to drag myself out of be at 7:00 to get there for the start of the ride. But I did it.

Here is the opening parade of cyclists as they left the starting area. I can tell you the entire parking lot was PACKED with cars. There was barely walking room. I don't know many people showed up for the ride, but it seemed like several hundred cruised past me in this video.

I also grabbed some pictures out by Highway 95, in Elkton, FL as the riders sped by our hotel. I'll probably put a few pics up a little later.

If I got a shot of you, let me know and I'll add your name to the list.

Al

92% Savings at Publix!

2010-09-24T15:15:00.005-04:00

It has been just about a year since I started super couponing and I am still just as thrilled when I get good savings as I was the first time. I never get tired of getting things for free or pennies! And don't forget about getting paid to take things home as well!
I am truly amazed at how God has provided this for our family at a time when we really needed it. I can now stock our pantry, freezer and bathroom cupboards for less than half of what I was just a year ago. And back then by the end of the month there was not much left over. Now I could go a month or more with out buying anything and we would still have some left. And I have been able to donate so many things to a local shelter and church food pantry that I never could have done before. Not with out making my family go with out anyway. God truly does provide all things!
So this weeks grocery trip I saved a whopping 92% On everything that I got! The total before sales and coupons was $ 106.91 and what I paid after sales and coupons $19.40! Can you believe it!?
This is what I got...

2- Emerald Peanuts $3.19 BOGO I used a $1.50 off 2 coupon from RP 8-15 .84 each
2- Bags baby carrots $1.99 BOGO I used $1 off Target store coupons for each FREE!
2- Maxwell House Coffee $1.99 I used a $1. off Manufactures coupon for each .99 each
5- Schick razors .99 each I used a $2.00 off 1 coupon from an insert making a total overage of $5.05!
2- Nestles Toll House Cookie dough $2.79 BOGO I used $1.off each from Here .39 each
2- Wishbone salad dressings $2.89 BOGO I used a Target store coupon from Here and a
Manufactures coupon from Here for each .19 each
20- Cans of Green Giant Veggies $1.29 BOGO I use $1/00 off 4 that I found at the store making
them .39 each. I will be donating 10 of these!
4- A1 Steak sauce $4,29 I used a Publix store coupon for $1.25 off 1 and a manufactures coupon
for $1.50 off 1 on each making for a total overage of $2.42!
2- Crunch master crackers $2.99 BOGO I used a $1.00 off 1 from Here on each .50 each
2- Hostess Mini doughnuts $2.99 BOGO $1.50 each
6.5lbs- Gala Apples .99 per lb. $5.99 for all
4.5lbs- Bartlett Pears .99lb $4.46 for all.

Here we go again!

2010-09-16T20:51:00.012-04:00

At first I thought that this would be another not so good week. But after looking again, I found several good deals! Very good actually! The total This week before coupons and sales was $127.33. And after coupons and sales I paid $7.72! That is a savings of 94%!
Here is a little bit more of a break down of the savings. The total saved just by shopping for the sales was $55.87. And the total value of the coupons that I used was $63.74.
So if you still think that using coupons is more hassle than it is worth, you may just want to think again!
Here is what I got!

2- Bags Doritos chips BOGO $1.99 each
2.5- lbs Oranges Sale of $1.49 and I used a Target store coupon for $1.00 produce. (this is not such a great sale price for the oranges but Kait was really craving them so I thought this price along with the Target coupon made for a good deal!)
4- Lbs Grapes Sale of .99/lb I used another Target store coupon for $1.00 off produce
6- Ore-Ida Steam and Mash Potatoes BOGO I used a manufacture Q and a Publix coupon
Making them FREE with $2.47 Overage!
6- Heinz Homwstyle Gravy $1.59 I used a Manufactures coupon and Publix coupon to make them FREE!
4- Quaker Oats BOGO $1.31 each I used a $1.00 off 1 manufactures coupon for last weeks inserts making them $.31 each
2- V-8 Fusions juice BOGO $1.99 each. I used a $1.00 off 1 from Here Making the .99 each
4- All Laundry detergent BOGO $2.99 each I used a Target store coupon for $2.00 of 1 and a Manufactures coupon for $1.00 off 1 Making them both FREE!
8- Yoplait Yogurts Sale of .50 each I used 2 .50 off 4 manufactures coupon from Here making them .37 each.
8- Kraft Homestyle Mac and Cheese BOGO $1.49 each I used a BOGO coupon from Here
Making the all FREE!

There are a few coupons coming out in this Sundays paper to go with this weeks sales. So I will be headed over to get more things this week. One of those things is canned Veggies. They are on BOGO this week and there will be a coupon for that brand in this Sundays paper, so I will be getting them. I also happened to notice, tonight while shopping, a sale on some coffee creamer, and they had some blinkie coupons right in front of them so I may end up getting some of that too.
But even if I spend another $15.00 I will still be well under budget this week. And I will most likely be picking up more grapes and pears as well. I still have some Target coupons to use! There is also going to be a 1/2 off sale on all Kelloggs cereal this Saturday and Sunday. I have a few coupons so I may pick some up as well. We are very stocked on cereal so I will just have to see what the prices are for some of the cereals that don't go BOGO and see if it is a great deal. I will be sure to post again after my next trip!

What I got this week!

2010-09-10T22:21:00.013-04:00

Well the sales were not as good for me this week. But for sure that does not mean that there are not good deals to be had.
So before sales and coupons the total for what I got would have been $59.89. And the total that I paid after sales and coupons $10.09! That is a savings of 84%!

Here is all that I got for the small amount of $10.09...

1- Maxwell House coffee $1.99 I used a .75 off Q that I had. Final price $1.29
12- Beachnut baby foods BOGO .55 I used a coupon from the beach nut website for $1.00 of 3. So the Final price for all of them was an OVERAGE of .70!
6- Boxes Golden Grahams, Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. BOGO $3.99 I used 2 $3.00 off 3 coupon that I had making the final price .99 for each!
4- Baily's Coffee Creamer. $1.25 each I used a $1.00 off 1 Q from the Bailys creamer web site. Making them .25 each!
2- Gallons Milk. $3.29 each and I used a coupon for buy 3 General Mills cereals and get a free gallon of milk So the final price was FREE!
4 - Jars of Barilla pasta sauce. $2.75 BOGO and I used a $.75 off from 8/29 Smart Source insert. Final price on these - $.63 each.

So for me this week there was nothing much there, but still worth a trip to get free milk. Especially since the girls finished the milk that we had this morning.
And I will be watching to make sure that there are not any other coupons that come out this weekend to make for better deals with this weeks sale. So who knows I may end up making another trip.
But for now this is it!

This weeks Publix trip!

2010-09-02T20:53:00.012-04:00

This weeks sales are pretty good. The total for all of this before sales and coupons was $176.10. And what I paid for it, $28.70. That is a savings of 84%! WOW, GOD IS GOOD!! And I will be submitting this receipt for a $10.00 mail in rebate. Taking that into account it makes for an even better savings of 90%!

Here is what I got and the coupons that I used for each.
4- Bags Lays Chips 3.99 BOGO and I used a $1.00 off 2 bags that I got right in the store from tear pad right in front of the chips Final price. $1.50 each
4- Wisk Laundry detergent $4.49. I used a $3.00 off 1 coupon from the 8-29 Red Plum insert This will be donated to a local food bank and shelter. Final price $1.49 each
4 Lbs.- Bartlett Pears sale price $.99/Lb, total $3.96.
4- Sundown Vitamin D $2.99. I used a Publix store coupon for $3.00 off 1 and a Manufactures coupon found right on the bottle for $1.00 off 1 . Making for an overage of $1.01 each.
4- Schick razors .99 each. I used a $2.00 off coupon from a smart source insert a few weeks back. Making for an overage of $1.01 each.
5- Kraft shredded cheese. $2.00 each and I used a $5.00 off 5 coupon from Here and I stacked it with a Publix store coupon for .55 of 1 from Here Final price .45 each.
2- Ball Park beef hot dogs $3.99 BOGO I used $2.00 off 1 coupon that was available on facebook making each package FREE.
5- 16 oz Breakstone Sour Cream. $1.00 each I used a $5.00 off 5 coupon from Here Making
them FREE.
2- Yoplait Yo Plus yogurt 4 packs $2.50 BOGO I used a $1.00 off 1 coupon from Here making
them .25 each
15- Uncle Bens ready Rice $1.33 each I used a $1.00 off 1 coupon from the 7-11 Red Plum insert
making them .33 each. These will also be donated to the food bank.
2- Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce $1.79 each. I used a $1.00 off 1 coupon from Here making the .79
each.
10- Mueller Whole Wheat Pasta $1.39 BOGO I used a $2.00 off 5 from Here Making them .29
each. This will also be donated to the food bank.
4- 12 packs Pepsi and Mount. Dew. They are on sale for buy 2 get 2 free making them $2.39
each. I used $1.00 off 1 Target store coupon from Here making them $1.39 each.
1- Pepsi Max 2 Liter $1.50. I used a Coupon for Free Pepsi Max coupon when you buy 2 ball
park frank hot dogs that I found at Winn Dixie. Making it FREE
1- Publix Hot Dog Buns. .89 I used a get Publix buns free coupon that I found right by the hot
dogs so they were also FREE!

And here is a purchase that I made yesterday at Publix. The total before sales and coupons was $36.70. And the total after sales and coupons was $3.35. I used the last of the gift card that I had won from awhile back so all that I paid out of pocket for all this was .03cents!

I got...
8- Boxes Raisin Bran Crunch 3.99 BOGO and I used $1.00 off one manufactures coupon that I found on the boxes and a $1.00 off 2 Target store coupon from a Red Plum insert a few weeks back. Making them .50 each
2- Healthy Harvest soups. 2.39 BOGO and I used $1.00 off 1 manufactures coupon and a .50 off Target store coupon making for an overage of .61 for both.
So because of the overage with the soup total for all of it was $3.35. That is less than the cost of one of the boxes of cereal!
If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer and help you get saving like this for your family. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment here or e-mail me.

Another video clip from Clearwater Marine Aquarium

2010-08-22T20:38:00.004-04:00

This was a great, males only dolphin show at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. We all really enjoyed visiting this place. The animals were great to watch. And this show was one of the best.

Test Driving a Trek T1000 Tandem Bicycle

2010-08-21T21:22:00.009-04:00

One of our latest ideas, is to take a bike tour as a family. Finally, we're kicking around the idea, after 3 years off the road here in Florida. I'm not sure the girls are too excited about it? I guess we'll have to see how it goes when we get there.

Anyhow, here is a brief, 20 second clip of us test riding a Trek T1000 tandem bike. We're thinking about picking this up for our trip. It's a pretty nice bike. And, it's more expensive than any bike I've ever purchased before ... ouch!

Just thought we'd share.

WOW! That's all I can say.

2010-08-18T19:07:00.003-04:00

If you thought Minority Report was interesting ... check this out:

Beyond Minority Report

This vision of the future eerily matches Minority Report, and GRI knows it. "Minority Report is one possible outcome," admits Carter. "I don't think that's our company's aim, but I think what we're going to see is an enviroment well beyond what you see in that movie--minus the precogs, of course."

What do you think?
And I thought my every day life was bad enough already. Now, we'll be looking at this shortly.

Got to love Target!

2010-08-15T09:56:00.003-04:00

So take a look at this photo and guess how much I paid for all of this.

If you can't make it all out there is a cute purse, 2 lightweight running jackets and 2 4 packs of ladies socks.
So what would you guess? $50.00? $30.00? Here is a little help, the regular retail for all this would have been $68.95. Well here is what I paid for all this $0.00!!
Yep that is correct! I did not make a mistake. I paid absolutely nothing out of pocket for all this. The purse and jackets are on clearance for $2.50 and $4.98. I used Target store coupons that I got right off the web site for $3.00 off any Marona purse and $5.00 off any C9 by Champion apparel. So after coupons they were free. And the socks were on sale for $5.00 each and with the $5.00 off coupon they were also free. And thanks to the tax free shopping weekend there was no tax and so nothing out of pocket!
Unfortunately, I don't think they are still available on the Target site. You have to be quick to print those type of coupons because they never last long. But they do have the fairly often!
By saving them and looking for clearance items you can very often get free or super cheap items at Target. Just another reason to love shopping there! The expiration dates on these types of coupons are anywhere from 2-3 weeks out to 2 months. So plenty of time to look for deals
Let me know if you score any deals! I love to hear about them!

99% SAVINGS!!

2010-08-12T21:31:00.007-04:00

So this week was fun! There are lots of things to tell you all about but I will start with the trip to Publix that I made this evening. And my what a trip it was!
The total before sales and coupons was $91.39. And after sales and coupons $1.10! That is a savings of about 99%!! And actually because one of the cereals was actually less than the price in the sales paper after all the coupons were scanned in I would have been owed money. So to keep that from happening I threw in a pack of gum! So I ended up paying them instead of them paying me. Thankfully I had a wonderful checker and she was not at all rattled about the possibility of having to give me money back for my groceries. But I said no worries I will just get this pack of gum! She ROCKED!! I used the gift card that I won for the total so there was NOTHING out of pocket!!
Also I will be sending this receipt in for a rebate that is offered Here for purchasing the Kelloggs Frosted Mini Wheats. So I will be making $3.90 for this weeks purchases!
This is what I got...

8-Ronzoni Pasta BOGO $1.39 used .75off/1 from Here Final price -.44 for 8
8-Schick razor packs .99 each used 3.00off/2 from 7/11/10 RP insert Final price -4.08 for 8
4-Sundown Vitamin D $2.99 each used $6.00 off 2 Publix store coupon and $1.00 off 1 1 manufactures coupon found on the bottles. Final price -4.04 for 4
6- Frosted Mini Wheats BOGO $4.19 used $1.00 off 2 Target coupon from here And .70 off 1 manufactures coupon from right on the box (p.s. We don't like to eat this with milk. We like it as a snack! Super Yummy!!)
6- Capn Crunch BOGO $4.49 used $1.00 off 1 Target coupon from Here And .50 off 1 from 5/16/10 RP insert
1- 5lb bag of Potatoes. $2.99 used 1.00 off produce Target coupon from Here
1- Bunch Broccoli $2.00 used $1.00 off produce Target coupon from here
1- Pack Dentyne gum $1.19 no coupons used for this.
I did also use a Target coupon that was for $5.00 off purchase of $50.00 or more. (Total from before coupons!) Leaving me with a total to pay of $1.10!

I also thought that I would give you a bit of a "how to" for couponing at Publix.
Publix has great coupon policies and are generally very coupon friendly.
For the Buy One Get One sales you can use 2 coupons. One for the item you are "paying" for and one for the Free item.
They also will allow for "Stacking" of one Publix store coupon and one Manufactures coupon per item. So eventuality you can use 2 coupons per item. One manufactures coupon and one Publix or Competitor store coupon.
And they take Competitor Store coupons and will allow "Stacking" with a manufactures coupon as well. So you can see how you can really add up on the savings! Different Publix stores will consider their competor stores by what is around them. The 2 stores that I shop at the most will take Winn Dixie, Target and Save-a-lot store coupons. There are a few others but these are the ones that I get coupons for the most. Always ask at customer service what competitor store coupons they will take. They are so helpful there!
That is a quick start to getting great saving at Publix! If you have any questions please ask and I would love to help you so that you can get great grocery savings also. It has been a blessing to my family and I would love to bless others with the knowledge to do this for their families.

Also you may be thinking "how in the world is her family surviving on 12 boxes of cereal and 5 lbs of potatoes?" Well that is the key to couponing! You want to stock up when the things that you use go at the lowest price. This will keep you from having to buy them at full price. So this may look like our diet is very unbalanced because I have stocked up on other things we have a very rounded out pantry and freezer! And by using overages I can get fresh foods cheaper as well. We still eat plenty of fruits and veggies! I just buy what is in season and on sale and we love it!

Chris

And Al wanted to add in this P.S.
We are standing there in the checkout line at Publix. The checker has scanned all of our groceries, and she comes to the end of the pile of coupons Christy has brought with her.

And she says ...

"Oh, it looks like I owe you money!"

Can you imagine hearing that when you walk out of the grocery store. I almost fell over when I heard it. And, it wasn't because we wrote a check for over the amount we owed. Nope! She actually owed us money to walk out of the store, because of all the coupons Chris brought in. All I can say is ... WOW! That is pretty freaking cool.

But, Chris added in a pack of gum at the end so we could pay them something, instead of them owing us. What an absolute thrill, to go grocery shopping and get so much stuff for so little.

A Winter vacation during the middle of the Florida Summer

2010-08-08T20:07:00.009-04:00

Recently, Kaitlyn celebrated her 11th birthday. Please no comments about how old I am getting, I beg you! I already see it every morning when I get up, I don't need reminders from others.

Anyhow ...

As part of our celebration she asked if we could spend a day at an aquarium. Christy was able to get a great deal on the entry fees to Clearwater Marine Aquarium, so we decided that would be a great place to go.

Turns out, it is a fantastic marine aquarium to visit. While they have sea animals there you can check out, they are also, primarily, a rescue and re-habituate facility. Which means, they are trying to help these animals recover so they can go live back in the wild. And since the Clearwater Aquarium is right down the street from one of America's best beaches, you really can't go wrong paying them a visit.

Here are some of the highlights:

- A petting and feeding tank with rays (they feel like silky, soft, velvet to the touch)
- An excellent series personalized touch tanks with live sea creatures (sponges, crabs, and urchins)
- Huge sea turtles
- And several dolphin tanks

One of the most important visitors to the Marine aquarium is Winter. She is a dolphin who was caught in a crab net at three months old, and had to have her tail fins amputated. She went on to re-learn how to swim without them. And the aquarium also had a new tail fluke donated and designed for her to help her swim again.

In the process of the amputation, she has become a worldwide inspiration to war veterans and other disabled community members who have found, in her, a spokesman who reaches to them across racial, social, and political boundaries. That may be a little over-dramatic, but it is definitely a cool story. So cool, in fact, that there is a major motion picture that will be starting next month based on Winter's tale. It will star Harry Connick, Ashley Judd, and Morgan Freeman.

Here's a video I took of Winter in her tank.

We'll put up some pictures and more videos in a few days, when we get the chance.

If you're ever in the area, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is definitely a worthwhile stop along the way.
Al

And then ... the World Was Flat

2010-08-01T22:38:00.016-04:00

Not too long ago, a friend invited me to check out a book that's been on the market for a couple of years. It's called The World is Flat. I first heard about this book at work ... some random comments from bosses, managers, and other co-workers had circulated around the office for a while. At the time I didn't read it.

However, when my friend suggested it, I picked it up and started checking it out. So far I've read about 175 pages of the book. He's laid out a very convincing argument about how the world is shrinking, becoming more integrated across countries, and shifting away from American leadership.

To be fair, I haven't read the whole thing, but I also don't plan on it now. Since I started reading it, every time I pick it up I get depressed, worried, stressed, and irritated. It's almost as if the book has a spirit of depression enveloping it. I had been reading it, and then I spoke with Chris about how I was feeling, and I decided enough was enough. No matter how good it is, I'm not going to put myself through this torture just because he is a brilliant author.

I do plan on browsing through it to find out how he suggests coping with the flattening of the world, but I don't intend on spending one single minute longer being sucked into his world of hopelessness and his reckless agreement with, and condoning of, corporate profit mongering. I've had it with many of those sentiments. They suck! Even if you agree with the 'thinning of the herd' mentality, I hope the herd runs you over for your blatant disregard and disrespect for the value of a human.

What do you think of the book?
Most of all ... what am I missing here?

Al

I have a lot to catch up on

2010-07-29T21:45:00.009-04:00

So it has been forever since I posted any of my shopping deals. And it has not been because I have not gotten good deals or I stopped shopping with coupons. Sadly the sales had not been as good and I was making very small trips for only the best deals. Most of the things on sale we just would not use. So with so few things to take photos I just did not have the motivation to post them.
But that has changed this week!
Today I made stops at 2 stores, Winn Dixie and my favorite, Publix.
But before I get into that I want to tell you something really cool. I WON another Publix Gift card!!! This one was for $100.00 again! WAHOO!! What a blessing!

This one was from 7UP and Publix!
So here are my grocery trips that I made today. The first one is from Winn Dixie...

The total for all this before sales and coupons was $113.73. I paid $8.64! A savings of 92.5%. And I got back a $10.00 off coupon for my next purchase! So if you take that into account it was like I made $1.36 for all these things. I did 2 transactions so that I could take advantage of one $10.00 of coupon to get more items. Here is what I got...
14-Boxes of Kellogs cereal
6-Boxes of Fruit Kellogs snacks
3- loaves of Whole Wheat bread
3.5lbs. Grapes
4- Pack Klondike ice cream bars
6- Boxes ziplock bags.

And this is my Publix trip...
The total for all of this before sales and coupons $129.45. And the total after was only $7.93! A savings of 93%! I used my winning gift card to pay for it so really I had nothing out of pocket and it was all free! And this is what I got...
2- bags Sun Chips
4- bottles Sundown Vitamin D
1- 8oz package fresh Mushrooms (yum!)
8- cans Old Orchard frozen Juice
4- Schick razors
12- Glad Cling Wrap
24- packs Sprouts Organic Baby food (NO, I am not expecting! After coupons it was free and I thought it was a great thing to donate!)
2- bottles Rice Vinegar
1- bottle Sesame Oil
2- boxes Lucky Charms cereal
8- boxes Go-Gurt Yogurt
1- Kraft Olive oil Mayonnaise
1- bottle Suave Shampoo
1- pack Cream Cheese
And here is the really long receipt from Publix with Keeley to show just how big it is.

The Battle of the Buck

2010-07-28T21:54:00.000-04:00

It has been terribly frustrating over the last year. Saving money, spending as little as possible, cutting back in so many ways, using very little credit and diligently paying it off every month, and mucking through a bunch of b.s. hoping to get ahead.

At times, it can feel like you are alone, fighting in a battle that no one else seems to be fighting. I never understand how some people can keep spending, and doing the same things they've always done, when things seem so tough?

However, I read these articles today, and saw some connections that I thought were interesting.

#1 - How to get ahead in today's economy
The first point, in this article, was that YOU don't deserve a job. I thought that was an interesting idea, considering how much of the world's economic progress has been based on America's stability. Truly, Americans have been the backbone of the last 100 years of economic development. So apparently, the mantle has moved from America to other, more industrious countries now? In America's economy, today, employers are finding more ways to cut back and keep their costs lower. And this author, throws out this quick jab pointing out how useless we workers really are:

"Employers these days have little tolerance for staffers who complain about doing more with less. But they reward workers who solve problems and make the company more productive. Once the recovery picks up, they'll be the ones in line for raises and promotions."

OUCH! That comment smarted a little bit ... especially when you think about how hard you work, how much you are asked to get done, how much time and energy you invest into your employer, and how little you get in return for it. They'll reward workers ... ? Really? When? How long will that take? Do you mean ... after they've traded all the jobs they can to India, or Indonesia, or China? They'll start rewarding those employees by paying them $.10 more per hour? Is that really what employers will do?

In fact, here's an article that describes what I think employers are ACTUALLY doing with the massive productivity and stagnant pay they are dishing out right now:

The reality of frugality

To be sure, many shoppers, especially the wealthy, are buying into the recovery.

Some economists put their hopes for the economy in the rich, who are spending more freely than the rest of the population. They hold out hope that this will encourage more hiring and stimulate spending by the less wealthy. More spending could increase companies' revenue, which allow them to boost hiring and pay. And that would lead their employees to spend more.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. returned to a first-quarter profit as more travelers vacationed on its ships and spent more money on board. And makers of luxury goods are benefiting from a release of pent-up demand for jewelry, watches and high-end furnishings.

High-end retailers have reported blowout results. Nordstrom's revenue in stores open at least one year jumped 16.8 percent last month. Saks' surged 12.7 percent.

McClaren Automotive has announced it will debut a $200,000 sports car in the U.S. next year. And business is picking up faster at high-end hotels than at mid-priced and budget hotels.

However, I don't see any benefit coming to lower and working classes right now. I see no break from the day to day level of idiocy going on across corporate America. Sure the wealthy may be spending, but that's because they have it to spend. I don't know any lower or middle income person right now who has more to spend. Do you?

Sure, we may have more savings. But, that's because we're tired of getting stripped and robbed by people who don't have our best interests at heart.

And ... as if to prove my point ...

Check out this op-ed column from the New York Times, Bob Herbert:
American workers forced out of jobs for what?

I am, and have been, wrong on SO MANY things about average American people. They always tend to do the things that I would never expect.

But, it does give me some hope ... especially in the light of the thriving growth of the political tea party over the last year ... that even though the wealthy (above) continue unabated in their lifestyles, normal consumers may have the last word.

Why? Because ...

"consumers fuel about 70 percent of the economy, their tightfisted habits means the rebound could stay unusually sluggish"

I'm not saying that sluggish spending will help consumers. I am saying that ... if well positioned ... consumer spending could catapult honest, locally-based, ethical businesses, over-and-above the rampant slashing, burning, and destruction most huge, multi-national companies are trying to do right now.

As a consumer ... you have the right to choose the battle for your buck. Aim your spending choices wisely, and you could actually fuel a recovery that lasts for all the right reasons. Not just in rewarding some corporate suckety-muck who feels it's his obligation to splurge when and where he wants, in an effort to fuel the 'recovering' economy.

Al

A Bit of Snorkeling on the Choppy Keys

2010-07-26T22:00:00.002-04:00

One of our primary goals was to get to the Florida Keys again so we could enjoy the great underwater environment with the girls. They seemed to LOVE it last time. So we were decided to splurge a bit and go back out snorkeling with them. But Chris was able to score some great Buy one get one coupons so we got half off our Snorkel trips! Always looking out for a deal!

These pics are from our trip down from a couple of months ago. I'm just finally getting the chance to share them.

Now, we've gone out with 3 different snorkel boats - and we even made it out BEFORE all the oil that BP has released into the Gulf hits the entire coastline and screws up most of the ecosystem. Unfortunately, it turned out to be fairly poor weather, so we had to put up with some super choppy water. However I would prefer vacationing out on the water over almost anything else - even if I had to put up with a little bit of sea sickness.

Here were a few pics from our trip this time:
This is one of the boats that we went on.

One of the many Barracuda that we saw. And he is even one of the smaller ones.

And this is one of the rare Kaitlyn fish!

On the Road Again

2010-07-17T17:01:00.003-04:00

This was an interesting sight that greeted us getting off the highway the other day.

The driver was SO anxious to get back on the road that, I guess, he forgot to hook his trailer back up to his truck.

Cool!

Twitpic - Check out what climbed out from under my desk today

2010-07-06T19:19:00.010-04:00

I was sitting down at my desk this morning, getting ready to start working, and this little monster slid out from under my desk.

It shocked me a little bit. I definitely wasn't expecting it.
I'm not too good with this species, but thankfully Tim was willing to take a hit for the team. Well, it tried to bite him, but I guess it's teeth weren't long enough to do much damage.

It's definitely not something we see everyday, even when there are thousands of strange creatures running around down here.

Up To?

2010-07-05T19:01:00.010-04:00

Hi,
I apologize about the LONG delay in writing. Even though it's been quite a long time since you've heard from me, it's not because we haven't been doing anything ... although ... we haven't really been doing anything.

Truthfully, I have been working on a book in my spare time. It's taken me an extra month to get it to where I really wanted it. But, I didn't really want to rush the process. I want to be proud of what I've written.

Anyhow ...

Here's the reason I am writing today. I would like to ask for a minute of your time, and see if you will offer your opinion?

Over to the right, over there, is a survey.

I will probably update it with new questions over the next few weeks, but right now I truly need your help in giving me guidance on a title for my book. Please let me know what you think?

If you like one of my current ideas listed, please choose it.
Here are my current titles:

10 Minute Content
Supersonic Content
One Minute Content
Instant Content

If you don't, please submit a different idea in the comment section below. I'll make sure and look through all of the ideas.

As you can tell, the book is about writing. Specifically, it's about writing content quickly, in short bursts of activity.

Finally, I want to thank you for taking the time to help me out in completing this project. I will be having this book professionally edited over the next month or two, and then going into the self-publishing process. If you've read this far, I have one last request from about 5 people. I would like to have about 5 people read my book for me, specifically to offer me editing advice.

If you would like to help me, and read the book, and then you decide you don't think I should have written it ... I don't really want to know that. It doesn't really help me ... I still plan on publishing it whether or not you think it should be used as toilet paper.

However, I truly want you to ready through it and offer me corrective advice and suggestions so I can make it a helpful tool.

Thanks so much for you time!
If you're interested, shoot me a comment below, or send me a message on facebook, or send an email. If you don't know my email, and you want it, let me know in the comments below.

Talk soon!
Al

Disney's Orlando Hollywood Studios Update Part 2

2010-06-13T07:52:00.001-04:00

As we explained a little while ago ... we were able to pick up some SUPER cheap visits to Disney's Orlando locations by donating a day of our time. On our last day, we decided to head back to Hollywood Studios for two key reasons.

They have two of the absolute best Disney rides
- Hollywood Tower of Terror
- The Rock n' Roller Coaster
Both of these rides turn out to be our family's favorites. They are both absolutely awesome, adrenaline rush rides - for us and for the kids.
We all agreed that we had to take the Disney character drawing classes. We had taken two last time (the Toy Story alien and Bolt), and they were fantastic. On this visit we decided to take as many of these classes as we could.

Here are some pics from our trip. We'll start with the Disney drawing class pictures. As you can see ... in 20 minutes you learn to draw (with pretty amazing results) people's all-time favorite Disney characters.

Here's Dale

Here's the Genie

And Mickey Mouse

And Uncle Scrooge

Finally, here's Tigger Too!

And to top it all off, Keeley had the awesome idea for this sweet picture at Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror ride. The first time you get on this ride, it's an adrenaline rush because you're not sure what's going to happen or when? It really messes with your head, which is great. The lines to this ride are consistently shorter than most other rides because most people are afraid to ride it.

After five or six trips you come up with something sweet like this:

We have to thank Keeley for such a KILLER idea! Check out the guy right behind Kait. Yep! That's exactly how it feels the first time you ride the Tower of Terror. And his face absolutely shows it. We were laughing so hard at this pic, we HAD to buy it. What a great memory.
The girls love it!

SOCIAL Media

2010-06-12T18:51:00.000-04:00

It's odd to me, how social media has become such a HUGE part of life lately. It's as if everyone wants to be a part of some community and share their identity with others in that group.

What's strange for me, though, is the concept that while people are willing to share their personal / private lives within their social community, no one is making the leap to create social workplaces. By that I don't mean socially connected workplaces, because you know every profiteer on the planet is trying to get socially connected so they can make money off of it.

What I am referring to ... is why there aren't more socially OWNED businesses. If we were truly attempting to become socially connected, wouldn't we also try and step into socially owned workplaces? I don't mean socialist ... as in government owned. But I mean socially owned. As in, a group of people would think of partnering together to create a company that they could run together. They would pool their money to buy supplies, equipment, and the things to make the business work. And they would all share in the income and profitability of the business.

This is what I have been expecting to see, especially the more I see popularity of social media. But, so far, I'm not seeing very much of the idea of social ownership of businesses. I am hoping and praying the concept will start catching on. But, it seems, that as far as business and income goes, the idea of 'SOCIAL' ownership may be too foreign to a bunch of independent Americans.

That's too bad! Personally, it would make me extremely excited to bring my skills and strengths to a group of like-minded people so we could help ourselves grow, rather than helping a bunch of 'fat cats' continue getting overweight.

For an example of what I'm talking about ... check out the documentary by Michael Moore - "Capitalism, a Love Story". Personally, I'm not a fan of his movies. But, in this particular show, he interviews several people at a bread company who co-own the business. That is what I am expecting to start seeing from our up-and-coming, socially connected generation.

My Amigo, Mr. T, (aka Circle of Two) Going live in Downtown Lakeland

2010-06-06T08:29:00.024-04:00

I've known Tim for a couple of years now. He is a rare type of person who always makes me laugh, and brings levity to conversations even when it's a heavy topic. And I love it!
Why?
Because we are in desperate need of seeing things in a lighter frame of mind. He never steps away from intense, and controversial, ideas ... but he's not afraid to take a light-hearted view of the situation.

Here were a few pics Chris took of him playing at the last show we saw. In the middle of a blazingly hot October evening.

See details for his upcoming show ... below. He'll be playing on June 16, 2010.
I can't wait to see him play live again. Catch you soon as Circle of Two.
Al

clipped from campaign.constantcontact.com

Tim Hutchins is "Circle of Two"
Circle of Two

Local musician Tim Hutchins, musically known as "Circle of Two", will perform on Wednesday, June 16th at the Farmers Curb Market over the lunch hour from 11:45 - 1:15.

Tim, 31, is one of those rare things known as a native Lakelander! He identifies his musical style as acoustic pop / folk /rock. He performs a mix of familiar covers and his own original songs.

Tim Hutchins is "Circle of Two"

Money making at Target!

2010-06-04T14:42:00.002-04:00

So I finally made it to Target for all the great gift card deals that they have going. The last day for the sales is this Saturday so you still have just a bit of time to get these deals for yourself!

I paid $16.84 out of pocket for all of this but I got back $25.00 in target gift cards! So that is a Money Maker of $8.16!
Here is the break down and the coupons that I used:
10- Smart Ones frozen meals. On sale for 1.84 each, Buy 10 get a $5.00 gift card. I used this coupon $5/10 Here These actually taste really good and are perfect for work lunches!
3- Olay regenerest facial wash 5.99 each
3- Olay Toners. 2.99 I am not sure if these are sale prices or not but when you buy 2 you get a free $5.00 gift card. I used 3 $5.00 off Olay regenerest coupons from a P&G rebate coupon book and for the Toners I used a $1.00 off any Olay cleanser from the 5-16 SS insert.
10- Sobe life waters are on sale for 1.00 each and when you buy 10 you get a Free $5.00 Gift Card.
There is a great BOGO coupon. Here and a Target store coupon for .50 off one on the Target site. I had Al print out 2 of the BOGO and 2 of the Target coupons so that I could use them all in the transaction.
1- Bounty basics paper towles .99 and I used a coupon from an insert a few weeks ago. Sorry I don't remember what one. But it was A Target store coupon. I was happy tp see these restocked because I had gotten some before and they were never back in stock to get my last free one! No gift card deal with this one.
The total after coupons for all of the above was 26.84 and I used 2 other gift cards from prior purchases. Then I got back 5 more $5.00 gift cards for another time!
Sometimes Target is just awesome for deals. I so love being able to get them at one of my favorite places to shop!
I think that I may go back and get some more of the Smart ones and Sobe waters. But I will have to see how our Saturday is first.
Let me know if you get any of these deals, or others that are there this week!

More deals this week grocery trip...

2010-05-30T14:06:00.001-04:00

So this week I hit up both Winn Dixie and Publix.

There is a sale at Winn Dixie for this barbecued pulled pork. I usually don't buy this type of thing but since it was free., well then why not? They are on sale for Buy one Get on Free. And I used a blinkie coupon that is also for Buy one Get one so they were both free!! I went 2 times and I was able to get 10 packages. I have a couple more coupons so I will try and hit them up again before the sales ends.There are only 9 in the photo because we had one for dinner. The rest went in the freezer. SO much for clearing the freezer out before Hurricane season is here.
Total before sales and coupons $59.90. Total our of pocket 0.00!! Total saving 100%!!!

Then at Publix I got this...

Unfortunately I already sent the receipt in for a rebate offer and I lost the paper that I wrote down all me savings amount. But I do remember that I savings was $120.00 and I had a total saving of 91%. And I sent in for a Kraft rebate of $10.00. And the Mini Wheats cereal I will use to get free movie tickets! So it was kinda like I was paid to shop yet again!
I got:
4- Boxes Frosted Mini Wheats $1.25 each
2- Gallons Sweet tea $1.14 each
5- Shick Razor 2packs FREE with $1.01 overage each!
4- Bic Razors 4 packs FREE with .56 overage each!
2- packs Q-tips .15 each
2- Ocean spray juice .99 each
8- Packs Rice .12 each
1- Bag Snyder's pretzels .50
4- Kraft salad dressings .24 each
2- Lowers marinades .11 each
4- Kraft Bar-B-Q sauces .07 each
4- Oscar Meyer hot dogs .49 each
2- Edys ice cream $1.55 each
4- Cool Whips .36 each
2- Heluv-a-good dips FREE
4- Planters Grover Cashews FREE with overage .25 each

The $10.00 rebate is a Kraft Summer food rebate. Unfortunatly the only way to get the rebate form is from Kraft First Taste Panel and they have to send it to you. So I can't direct you to a place to print it. But the Fee Movie tickets offer is just on the boxes of marked Kellogs boxes. So you can cash in on that deal yourself!

Thanks for letting me share again!

An Introduction to Couponing

2010-05-21T18:28:00.001-04:00

I've spent a little bit of time talking with friends about couponing and how to do it all to make the most of your money. And LOTS of good questions have been coming up about trying to get into it. Unfortunately, because I don't live as close to some of you as I used to, I can't easily chat with you anymore.
However, I wanted to take some of the most essential ideas and share them with you.
First of all I don't want you to think that just because you don't have a Publix to shop at you can't get as good of deals as I can. There are many places that I get things for free and super cheap including Target, Walgreen, CVS and even Walmart. (I very rarely ever go there because I hate Walmart!)
For instance Albertsons and Safeway will put out Doubler coupons in their weekly sales paper sometimes. These are so great and will make for lots of things that you can get for free with them. My suggestion is to get as many copies of those sale papers as you can. ask your family, friends and neighbors if you can have the ones that they will not use. I so wish that some of the stores around here would double coupons even some of the time. There is just so much that can be done with them! But I am thankful for what I do have.

Here are the things I think are KEY to making it work:

My best advice ... is that you take it slow, especially when you are getting into it.
There is no need to get every deal out there on your first time out. It will take some time to get it all down.

Start collecting coupons! Each week in the Sunday paper is the first place to start. The general rule of thumb that I follow is to buy as many papers as there are people in your family. So each week I buy 4 papers. This way when something is on sale and I have the coupon for it, making it a great deal , I will be able to buy enough to last me till the next time it is on sale and I have another coupon. Keeping me from having to pay full price for it in a week, or 2, when that first one is gone or used up. You may be thinking that I am crazy for paying for that many but think about this. I pay $1.25 per Sunday paper, so for 4 I am paying $5.00 each week. With those coupons I am able to save anywhere from 85-95% on my entire grocery bill each week. I save far more than I am paying out for the papers. But again ask family, friends and neighbors for the inserts that they won't use. I get tons of inserts sent to me by my Mom. Where she's at, they mail out the Red plum coupon inserts in everybody's mail (I am jealous!) In her community there is a recycle bin near the mail boxes and those who won't use them put them there. My Mom collects them and sends them to me. It's like having Christmas every couple of weeks. Thanks Mom!!

Now, if there is a coupon in the paper (that I know about that will make for a free item of something that we use often, or will make for great overage), I buy even more papers.

For instance a couple months ago, there was a coupon for $4.00 off one knox product. That coupon alone made for $2.66 in overage, because a box of Knox gelatin in only 1.34. Publix allows you take an overage, so it was worth it for me to buy more, so that I could have that overage to use on the rest of my grocery purchase. That week I bought 6 papers but then went to ebay and got 20 more of just that coupon.(more on ebay later.)

As far as organizing those coupons... my system is to just keep the entire insert, write the date that it came out on the front, and file it an accordion holder. Then when I am making my weekly list I can go to the insert that is listed and get the coupon I need. Now you may wonder why I don't cut them out and store them that way. Well the answer is simple, I would never be able to keep up with it! They would pile up on me so fast that I wouldn't be able to keep up and I would never be able to find what I wanted. Maybe for others clipping them is the way to go, but not for me. Also, another thing to think about if I was clipping them, I would be tempted to think, I will never buy this thing so why keep the coupon.

But here is why you should keep them all. If you were able to get that item for free would you be willing to try it? Or maybe if you were able to get it for free you would be able to donate it. There are things that I have gotten because they are free, or better yet have overage, that I know we will not use. But that does not mean that they are not something that someone else can't use. Right now I have 4 boxes of things that I have gotten for nearly free, free, or with overage that I am going to donate to a local church food pantry. Everything from food, cleaning supplies and personal care items. They are so happy to get donations, and all it takes me is a bit of time to clip the coupon and go to the store to be able to supply them items to bless others with. How great is that!?!

Next ... go to the web sites of the grocery stores that you shop at, and try to find their coupon policy. Every store has a different policy about accepting coupons. Read through each to get an understanding of what they accept.

Look for things like ...

Do they take internet printable coupons?
Will they allow overage on an item?
Will they allow you to use a Store coupon and a manufactures coupon on the same item?
If they double coupons, up to what amount will double?
Do they take competitor store coupons?

Read through each one, and if there is something that you don't understand (or is unclear), go to the customer service desk and ask. That is what I did and they were more than happy to help me. Remember that they want you to spend your money, and coupons, at their store. They will help you to understand their policy. They will be a very helpful tool to your couponing success. And while you are there ask if they have any store coupons that you can get!

As a general rule, most stores allow you to stack 2 coupons - 1 manufacturer AND 1 store coupon per item. (I'll add more thoughts on this later, but for now just keep in mind that you can typically use 2 coupons per item).

Next go to web blogs and sites that list the weekly sales match up with the coupons that are available. Make your grocery list from that. Also if you are having a hard time finding a stores coupon policy there are usually links on these types of sites.
If you're from the Pacific N.W. (You know who you are!) - this is one of my favorite places to start -
becentsable. Here by clicking on a store that is near you, and find a match up for that store.
For instance this is one that I have found, from the site above, that works well for some of the stores in the N.W. http://www.frugallivingnw.com/
And here are a couple of blogs that I check out before heading out the door to Target or Walgreens.

There are subscription sites that will do the match ups as well. Some paid and some free. The Grocery Game is one of the ones that you pay a monthly fee to get the match-ups e-mailed to you for your area. I did a free trial with this site. For me I found that I had was able to find more accurate information from free blogs. And the information that I get comes to me much faster than the information that I got from the grocery game. For instance, I can get the weekly Publix sales add, complete with coupon match-ups, on Monday for the sale that will start on Thursday. Giving me lots of time to look things over and get things ready.

Also from that same blog I get updates daily, sometimes several a day, of unadvertised deals. This is HUGE! Knowing that something is on an unadvertised sale before I am at the store so that I can have the coupon already when I go instead of having to go back to the store at another time to take advantage of the sale is wonderful! The grocery game sent out the weekly sales with match ups on Sunday, 4 days after that sale started. And it never updated or listed unadvertised sales. So I could have missed out on some great deals if I had only used them. For me it just did not work. I canceled the membership before they started charging me. Plus, typically, the people running the blogs are more them happy to answer any questions if you ask them. It was much harder to get help from the pay site. Of course, this is just my opinion, if you like give it a try for yourself and see what works for you.

Also check out a couple different sites for the stores you shop. Not every one can get it all. Some are better than others! This helps and only take a couple extra minutes to do and can help you see something that someone else may have missed.

When you are comfortable with grocery stores, then add in drug stores - like Walgreens, CVS and Rite aid. There are good deals to be had there, too, but they are a bit more complicated and best left till you have the grocery stores down.

Mostly, take your time, ask lots of questions and start small. There is no need to get all the first time out. In no time you will become more comfortable with it and reaping the rewards of a full pantry!
Please feel free to ask anything and everything that you may not understand. I would love to help and give any advice that I can.

Thanks,
Chris

Camping in the Keys

2010-05-16T22:43:00.000-04:00

So ...

We've been planning another trip to the Florida Keys for months. Mostly, so I could forget about office life and all the stresses there. But also because our first trip down was so exciting, when we got to go snorkeling with the girls. We knew, we just had to try it again.

So, this past week, we were finally able to make it happen. In order to save money, we chose to camp at John Pennekamp State Park. Here's a little bit about the experience, and what we would suggest for anyone thinking about doing the same thing in the future.

First of all:
We came in early May (10-13th) in an effort to beat the heat. WRONG idea! Maybe in another epoch Florida was cooler ... but not now. The first day we were there was in the 90's, and even though the other days were cooler, it was still blazingly hot. There is NO WAY you could possibly sit in your campsite exposed to that heat all day, and enjoy yourself.

I suggest planning your vacation so that during most of the heat of the day, you are out doing other activities. You'll want to leave the campsite by about 10 AM, and plan on returning after 5-6 PM. In fact, the heat was so bad, the first night none of us slept well.

Here is out campsite - just to prove we were there.

Point Two:
If you are going to camp at this campground, during the months of May through October, I would suggest you have air conditioning.    Otherwise, your camping trip could be miserably hot. We were able to survive the next two nights by buying an oscillating electric fan, so that it blew on us all night in the tent. If we didn't have the fan, none of us would have slept for three nights straight. While that's certainly survivable, it's not really a benefit, when you're on VACATION.

Third Point -
When you look at the picture above, you'll see a couple of blue mosquito repellent devices sitting on the picnic table. We were fully expecting to do battle with swarms of mosquitoes on this trip. Surprisingly, there were hardly any mosquitoes. There were, however, thriving colonies of 'no see 'em' bugs. These are tiny, little fly like creatures (almost to small to see with the naked eye), that bite like piranha. The scariest part is that they come out during the day. From dawn to sunset you will get gnawed on by some invisible force that you can't defeat. Unless you are wearing long sleeve shirts and pants, you will get bitten by these God-forsaken creatures. And unlike mosquito bites which stop itching after a day or two, these bites keep right on itching for days. We have been home for three days now, and we are ALL still scratching as if we have chicken pox or some other rash like illness.

And remember this, about these bugs, no matter if you stay in a tent or an RV ... when you walk outside ... they are waiting. You will NOT be immune from their powerful onslaught. So, even if you stay in an RV with the coolest A/C on the planet, you will have to face the 'no see 'ems' eventually.   This is simply a friendly word of warning.

All that being said ... John Pennekamp State Park is an outstanding campground. It's a little bit pricey, but compared to the other options in the Florida Keys ... it's a bargain.   And the campground itself is superb.

The bathrooms are large.
The bathrooms are clean and well maintained.
The bathrooms have excellent showers.
There is running water at the campsites.
There is electricity at the campsites.
There are dozens of activities right at the State Park
Including scuba, snorkeling, glass-bottom boats, kayak rentals, public beaches, a great visitor center with aquarium displays, and boat rentals.
Killer breezes on the beaches of the park.

In general, this State Park is a top notch park, with amenities that are superior to most parks we're seen in Florida - BUT you have to be able to get over the three hurdles above to enjoy the campground to its full potential.

And finally, there are some additional visitors to the campground. These were also very cool to see, right by our campsite.

The first one ... if you look at the picture above, you'll see a tree just over Kaitlyn's left shoulder. Just beyond that tree, about 8 feet, is a small creek. This lovely creature was right back beside the creek one morning as we were getting ready to head out for the day.

I would guess this iguana was about 4 feet long. Chris wasn't going anywhere near this thing.

I wouldn't want to meet up with one of these out walking on a trail. I was standing about 10 feet away from it, and I didn't want to get much closer.

And this little guy was pretty cute. They build massive holes in the ground, and come crawling out about sunset. Every time this one tried to come out, he saw us standing there ... and quickly ducked back into his hole.

Al

Disney Hollywood Studio's Best Kept Secret

2010-05-14T21:28:00.000-04:00

A couple months ago we shared that we were able to be a part of the 'Give a day, Get a day' with Walt Disney World here in Florida. After participating in a local clean-up event, we were allowed to upgrade our one day into 4 days for a small fee. Which we gladly accepted.

One of our days was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios. In general, this is our favorite park. This is THE park we have chosen as our last place to visit with our bonus days. I'm sure everyone has their favorite Disney park they like to visit. And most likely, Hollywood Studios won't be the favorite park on most people's lists. But, for us, this park has almost everything we are looking for.

And, in fact, there is one super special place that we almost missed out on completely. You see ... at Hollywood Studios you will find an unassuming building that walks visitors through the history of some of their animated movies, and through the processes involved in creating a character. For most visitors, it isn't an actual ride, so it's kinda boring. But if you take a moment and visit a special 'unmarked' room inside of this exhibit, you'll be able to take a short class on how YOU can draw a Disney character. Each class is 20 minutes. And they try not to repeat any characters ... all day. So at every single class, you will learn how to draw a completely new Disney character.

This class was so fun, that it inspired us to want to go back to this park again ... I suppose the Rock 'n Roller coaster, and the Tower of Terror helped as well. But this class ... was in a word ... Inspiring. I highly suggest it for anyone who ever visits this park in the future. It is totally worth it.

Here are some of our drawings - for your ... umm .... viewing pleasure.

One note I would add about drawing pictures, which I never knew before.

One of the instructors told us that every second of a Disney movie is made up of 24 picture frames. Every Disney movie has about 90 minutes of play time. That equals almost 130,000 picture frames for a Disney movie. So, even if your one drawing doesn't look that great ... probably by the time you get done drawing 130,000 of them, you'll be a little better at the drawing process. That's a GREAT thought to keep in mind about the concept of 'practice'.

It has been a while

2010-05-07T16:18:00.003-04:00

Wow, I guess it has been a while since I have shared my shopping savings. This could be a big post!
Here is last weeks grocery trips. They include one to Winn Dixie and one to Publix. I decided to take a photo of them all together because it was easier that way.

Total before sales and coupons $220.04 ( for both stores) Total after paid out of pocket $16.22 . That is a savings of 93%!
From Winn Dixie I was able to get 20 Jars of Classico Pasta sauce for FREE. Yes you read that right free! They were on a store sale for Buy one get one and I had manufactures for Buy one Get one so that made both of them free!! Also not pictured is 5 packages of steak that I was able to get for 4.00. It was on sale also and I used a manufactured coupon for $1.50 off one package of beef when you buy 2 jars of Classico pasta sauce. Great savings in my book!
Then Publix. I used a $10.00 off a $50.00 or more purchase coupon That I got on my purchase from Winn Dixie. It was great to go and use it right away at Publix to get even more savings!

4- packages of Dannons crush cups yogurt.--$1.00 each
2- Breakstone sour cream-- .48 each
1- package Oscar Meyer hot dogs--$1.10
4- family sized bags Tostitos chips-- $1.49 each
4- Bags Lays Kettle chips-- FREE
2- Old elpaso dinner kits-- .86 each
4- Mission flour tortillas-- .59 each
2lbs Tomatoes--1.99
4- Deans veggie dip-- .25 each
2- Right guard deodorant-- FREE with overage
4- Digiorno Pizzas-- S2.00 each ( only one in the photo, the rest were in the freezer)
2- Kraft Parmesan cheese -- .99 each

And then here is todays trip. Again I included both Publix and Winn Dixie. Here it is...

Total for everything in the photo before sales and coupons. $171.13 (both stores) Total after sales and coupons that I paid, $11.87!! Another savings of 93%!
At Winn Dixie I got the cover Girl Make up. There are 6 Powders and 4 liquid foundations! It was on store sale for Buy One Get One and I used a Manufactured coupon for Buy One Get One. So all I had to pay that stop was tax. And as an added bonus there is a catalina deal going where if you buy $30.00 worth of cover girl you get a coupon for $10.00 off your next purchas. And I got another $10.00 off $50.00 purchase. So I will use both at Publix in the next couple of weeks for more great savings!
And here is what I got at Publix...
4- Bags Lays Chips-- 2.00 each
2- Dove deodorant-- FREE with .71 overage
5- Schick razors-- FREE with $5.05 overage
4- Ears Corn-- .25 each
2- Hidden valley Dressings-- FREE with .31 overage
1- Package Tomatoes-- $1.50
8- Poptarts-- .69 each
1- Package Hot Dog Buns--$1.99
4- Nature Valley Granola Bars-- .49 each
2- Nabisco mini packs-- .49 each

They also had the deal where if you buy $25.00 worth of groceries you can get a $50.00 BP Gas card for only $40.00. So I took advantage of that deal again to get saving on our gas!

There are some coupons that are going to be in this coming Sundays paper that will make for more Free things from Publix. So I am planning on getting our papers early in the morning and going back to Publix to get the free things and another Gas card! I can't wait!!

Thanks for looking and letting me share!
Chris

50 Great Reasons to Join Swagbucks Today

2010-05-04T00:05:00.000-04:00

We talked to you a few weeks ago about a great new service we've been using for a while ... called Swagbucks. It's a site that rewards you for using their website.

However, there's one great reason to join Swagbucks now:
From now until Noon, May 7th (PST) you will get 50 Swagbucks for signing up for your FREE account.

Join Swagbucks HERE, and then enter this code - SWAGNATION5
for your 50 Swagbucks to start off your account.

In addition to the free bucks for joining ... Swagbucks are calling this the 'Week of Wins'. All week, your chances of multiple wins in a day have increased dramatically. Today, I have already won 4 times, for a total of 57 Swagbucks. PLUS there are several other ways to earn bucks on their site ... giving you plenty of opportunity to build up Swagbucks quickly. So join here to start building up your bucks!

Our Swagbucks account has allowed us to redeem $110 worth of Amazon gift cards. This is one of the easiest and simplest ways I know of to earn extra spending money online ... for doing stuff that I would already do.

Your Swagbucks account is FREE.

Chris

Speer Family

Kait - playing around with the Mac

Stumbled Upon an Old Friend's Creativity

Selling a Piece of My History - the Chicken is Leaving the Coop

More savings.

Toby Mac comes to Lakeland, FL

Time to create!!

Some Common Ground at Common Grounds Park in Lakeland Florida

Fantastic saving!

I never thought this day would come.

More Gas savings this week!

Latest AWANA Grand Prix Race Cars and Results

Total Money Hangover

Great sales at Publix this week

Custom made Nintendo DS Decals and Decorations

a couple of good grocery weeks!

Interesting new computer technology

The Many Faces of Lowery Park Zoo

What a HAUL!

How to save on gas for your car

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Great write up on Steak n Shake Knoxville

Check out the great write up on my amigo - Gary, and his Steak n Shake stores in Knoxville, TN.While we don't venture up into his neck of the woods too often, we did spend some time with Gary a couple of years ago, and we ate at his Steak n Shake Turkey Creek location.

Being in Knoxville, he is right in the foothills of the Smoky Mountain National Park. That is exactly why we ended up in his backyard (see more from the Speer family's Smoky Mountain visit)

Nice one Gary!Al

365 Miles of Florida Springs

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Check out the great write up on my amigo - Gary, and his Steak n Shake stores in Knoxville, TN.
While we don't venture up into his neck of the woods too often, we did spend some time with Gary a couple of years ago, and we ate at his Steak n Shake Turkey Creek location.

Nice one Gary!
Al