Friday, May 20, 2011

Las Vegas!

At the beginning of the week, our little family took a jaunt down to Vegas. Ryan had a hearing aid conference that he was invited to, so Rhys and I tagged along. The hearing aid company put Ryan up in the hotel, so it was free for us! YAY! Since I didn't take any pictures, but one, I'll just touch on the highlights of our trip...



1. Meeting one of our newest nephews, Sawyer. He is my brother Jeff's new baby. It was so fun to see him and hold him! I forget how tiny new babies are. Rhys looked huge compared to him. It was great to see my brother and his family as well. Rhys had a blast with my 4-year old niece Halle. She took good care of him.


2. Staying at the Venetian. I've never been to this all-suite hotel before and it was very nice. 3 TVs in our room, plenty of space for Rhys to roam around and a separate tub and shower! LOVED IT!




3. There was a large wall fountain that Rhys loved, so we often went to see it. One time Rhys was looking at it, a teenage Indian boy (like from India), walked up to Rhys and started touching his head and hair. I thought he was trying to get Rhys out of the picture, but then I quickly realized, Rhys WAS the picture. The boy was posing for a picture with Rhys by the fountain. As soon as Rhys realized it wasn't me touching him, he freaked out. The family crowded around us while I was comforting him and kept talking to him. It was very strange.

4. Ryan got a $100 casino chip from his boss. So we took it and gambled the night away. No, no we didn't. We took it directly to the cashier, who informed us (like we were the worst parents in the world) that we could not have a baby on the casino floor. Really lady? You think I like my kid exposed to all this?


5. I love having a baby outside of Utah. The attention you get is ridiculous. Even my sister-in-law got complimented on Rhys. It's fun to go places where babies aren't a dime a dozen. And I have a really cute baby:) (I'm allowed to say that because I'm his mom).


6. I saw Stephanie Nielson and her husband Christian ( I think that's his name) at the hotel. If you don't know who she is, she does the Nie Nie Dialogues. She's a famous Mormon/Utah blogger. Anyway, I never got close enough to say anything, but I didn't know what I would say anyway.


7. My last highlight, was the realization of how jaded I am with Vegas. We go there more than most people, but rarely to the strip. The second I step on the strip, I realize I'm completely bored and want to leave it immediately. I find it fascinating watching all the tourists take pictures of the hotel ceiling and the fountains and all the stuff. I kept thinking, it's just a hotel. I won't deny that it looks cool, but it's a replica of some place else in the world. It's all just weird to me. People save up all their money for trips to Vegas. It's just not my scene, but Rhys LOVED it!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Lastest Obsession

My latest obsession is couponing. I'm addicted. I've been watching that Extreme Couponing show on TLC and was converted. I've always liked the idea of coupons, but I never used them to their full advantage. I think I'm still working on that. Unfortunately, I live in a state where double and triple coupons are not accepted. But if they were, I'd be all over it.

This is a picture of my shopping trip from yesterday. I purchased more than just this, but these were my big savings. In this pic, the total retail price would be about $51 at Wal-Mart. With ad-matching, store coupons and manufacturer's coupons, I paid $11.84. I think that's a pretty good deal. And it's really fun to see if you can find the best savings possible. Another good thing is that we eat/drink all those items- except the Sierra Mist. We don't drink much soda, let alone buy it at the store. But it was free. You hear me? FREE. I couldn't pass it up. I figured if we gave it away, it'd be worth it.
Just to break it down even more, the cereal was $.49 a box, the Fuze drinks were free, and the Sun Chips were $1 a bag. Ryan's favorite chip and I could afford to get him more than 1 bag at a time. Those things are expensive!

I'm excited to keep scouring out the deals and finding items we love for dirt cheap prices. I'll let you know if I have any more cool finds!