~TrainMama~

I'M A BLOGGER, FOLLOW ME!

2010-07-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

So after the swap ended for the I'm a blogger, follow me swap everyone was assigned 10 partners. We were to visit our partners blogs, read them, leave them a comment and follow them. For an added bonus we could write a blog post about our partners blogs. I mean isn't that what blogging all about *BIG SMILE* I was trying to give everyone a free idea for a blog post ( wonder how many took the idea and ran with it? )

The first blog I went to visit was A.M. Design. This is where I got the idea of taking pictures of items I see in thrift stores (good one huh?). She's even decorated her home with items from thrift stores. She also displayed a 2-D design project that reminded me of the idea I had for my photo alphabet scavenger hunt. Wonder what I am talking about? Visit her blog and take a looksie.....Next there was Three turns to home in this blog you will find crafts, pictures and posts about her daily life. If you like fabric this is the blog for you she makes table runners, does embroidery, quilts and seems to do project after project. That will be me one day:) Now I just seem to start sewing projects, unless they are small ones I can finish those. Ramblings from the animal house makes you seriously hungry!! She takes pictures of all of the lunches she take to work in her beautiful bento boxes. Get this she changes the accessories or little trays that goes inside of the box in all of the pictures. Can you tell I'm jealous? Yes, I want a bento box!!! Do you want to send me one??? Email me for my addy Jmcoupontrain@ymail.com :) I'm just tryin... Anywho...she has made two commitments one trying to take her lunch everyday and two completing the 30 day journal challenge. I plan to look into this 30 day journal challenge, it's on a lot of blogs!! Birth of a Notion is where I went next. She loves to do mail art, decorate the mail she sends! You would be amazed at the things that are used to decorate envelopes and how cute these items look. Next was Welcome to the Life and Times of the Brown's, this documents the daily life of the Brown family including lots of pictures and videos. There are also a few crafts shared along the way :) Living in Dar was the next blog I visited. This blog comes from a family living in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and they share what it's like. Living in Dar also has recipes, tons of pictures, and this great feature called Muffin Tin Monday (all of the food showed on Mondays looks great)! A little bit about SCRAPPINAUNTIE and my CRAZY WONDERFUL CAREFREE life! is where I headed next. There's lots of statements that kind of make you want to write one yourself to tell what you are thankful for. Then she mentions Geo Caching...I keep seeing this on blogs!!! I need to totally google this game or whatever it is, because it seems soo fun. Can you believe she has metals for this *She must be good* She also has pictures of her scrapbook pages. After scrolling through a few more posts I went over to Neomuyeppeo where she talks a lot about her favorite group SHINee and shares some of her art (she's really good). 3stairs was next, I have to say it's a busy one! There's the information from the tweets (a little birdie told me, lol), reviews, giveaways, actual articles, fill-in Fridays and a link to homeschooling resources. There is some good information if you take the time to read it all. Last was 365 day 365 Do It Yourself Projects (no money spent), here I found the milk carton wallet! I am going to make that wallet, blog all about it and post pictures I give my word!!! Besides crafts, we get to share the family's vacation, recipes, and pictures.

I hope you will go check out some of these fantastic blogs I have the honor of following. I would like to say Thank You to all of the followers I have gained through this swap and THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING MY SWAP!!!

~TrainMama~

MY BLOG SWAP ON SWAP-BOT CONTINUED!

2010-07-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

The final numbers rolled in July 22, 2010 for my swap I'm a blogger, follow me. It ended with a total of 109 swap members and was in the # 2 spot in the top swaps on Swap-Bot the last time I saw it. Unfortunately, after weeding out all of the advertising blogs and members with non-working links to their blogs on their page; the swap ended with a total of 104 participants, which in my opinion was a great turn out! As promised I became a follower for all participants and many have returned the favor. I must say it turned out to be a great idea. From this many more ideas have spawn as well. I know for sure I will have many more posts reading others blogs have given me lots of ideas. Specially 104 blogs and yes I read through more than just the first post!!! So many ideas wonder if I can follow through....ONLY TIME WILL TELL :)

~TrainMama~

BE MY BLOG FOLLOWER ON BLOGGER

2010-07-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

I participated in a swap on Swap-bot called Be my blog follower on Blogger. To sum it up it was a blog swap only for those of us with blogs on Blogger. It was a chance for us to get more blog followers. There was a total of 29 people to sign-up :) We each got 10 partners that we had to checkout their blogs and follow. Yay, that means 10 more followers for me and 10 more awesome blogs I get to read!! I loved all of the partners I was paired up with.

The first blog I checked out was Kelly's Place. She has lots of crafts on her blog. I'm not sure if I liked the shrink dolls the most or the altered barbies. I mean who would have thought to use drinking straws as hair rollers for dolls? She did! Kudos for that :) Second, I strolled over to Kiwifruit83 page. She had two blogs and I decided to follow both because they were two of my favorite things, food and crafts!! In Search of Exceedingly Good Baked Goods was the first one I looked at. This blog tells about places she has visited and eaten at, things she has cooked, pictures and recipes included (that's always a plus!) and even includes some pictures of some very delicious looking Marzipan Fruits. Her second was a craft blog titled Crafty Carrie. Everyone I would like to say THANK YOU TO CARRIE! I have seen many swaps for stuffies and never knew what they were, because the swaps did not have pictures. There was a blog post on this site entitled Stuffie Swap with cute pictures that you all should see. I make stuffies all of the time I started when my son was a baby. I can now join these swaps thanks to you! Careless in the Care of God was the next blog I visited. She has a great two part list of 101 Things in 1001 Days, reminds me a lot of my post My Bucket List. The list is based on a link that led me to a site called Day Zero. I will have to check it out and write about it in another post :) Next was Emmanem Handmade this site has lots of handmade goodies. I loved her mail organizer :) She has tutorials and pictures of places she has traveled to. Remember When...Remember Then was the next blog. I love this because it's one of those flash back type blogs. It talks about everything that happened back in the good ole days :) Have Stamps.....Will Craft... was up next! I have to say she's a very crafty lady. She takes the old and makes it into something new, by refurnishing items or turning it into something new with a new purpose altogether! Great creative work June :) Next, was Run Away Maggie May this blog shows all of her fun adventures. All Be To Galore came next I have to say she is a very talented knitter. I hope to become as good as she is one day. However, at this present moment I can somewhat knit. My rows are very neat, they look great, not bunched up at all. The only bad part is if you pull the string everything comes apart and it's NOT suppose to do that. Moving on.....Longanisa Feet. This is a great blog!! More of a journal type in my opinion she talks about her daily adventures, lots of pictures and thoughts. The last blog on my list was *She Scraps* Yep you got it SHE SCRAPS, LOL! Was that cheesy? This blog has lots of pictures and great ideas! My favorite was the altered ribbon tutorial. She has lots of examples of her crop work and scrapbook pages.

I am really looking forward to reading all the new blogs I am now following and I am truly THANKFUL for my new blog followers as well. THANK YOU ALL FOR READING :)

~TrainMama~

WELCOME TO ALL OF MY NEW FOLLOWERS :)

2010-07-25T04:10:00.000-07:00

First of all, I would like to say THANK YOU FOR BEING A FOLLOWER! I am so happy to finally have someone to read my work. Now I have to think about the words I say and not just type the first thing that comes to mind, lol! Although I will not let my writing take me out of character. I want you all to get an idea of the type of person I am and the things I like to do. I know that without joining the blog swaps and the blog groups I would still be struggling to find followers. I appreciate all of you and love you dearly for taking the time to read the craziness, vents, look at my art, crafts, my family trips and whatever else I decide to include in this blog of mine. I vow to try to keep you entertained as much as possible, refrain from using ungodly words as much as I can and not talk about people, lol! Well, sometimes those facebook statuses are ridiculous and those pathetic females that have half naked pictures of themselves on their page, but can't figure out why they can't find a man needs to be talked about! For my swapping followers I will always keep you updated on all the new swaps I have going :) and those that I think are interesting. Don't seem like I am going to be stopping no time soon. I need feed back haha let's see if you guys are really reading the posts. What do you all think of me starting a blog group on Swap- bot? Leave me comment with your thoughts. I will do another post with all of the details comments and links to those that comment as well :)

Thanks again for being a follower!!

~TrainMama~

JULY BIRTHDAY WISHES!

2010-07-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in a swap on Swap-bot called July Birthday wishes email swap. I thought it would be nice to share this little tidbit w/ my blog readers about me and my childhood as well. So to keep the wishes going I would like to wish all of you out there in the blogging world a HAPPY BIRTHDAY OR HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO YOU depending on when your birthday was.

My birthday was July 4th. CANCERS ROCK!!! I spent it in Jacksonville, FL with friends and family as usual :) We went to a friends cookout and had great food, great drinks, the kids played and we saw some fireworks!!

As a kid I use to hate the fact that my birthday was on a holiday. But as my parents figured out how to work it into a schedule it turned out to be great!! We (my cousins and I) would always spend the night with my Grandmother so we could go to the carnival. We would wake up early and leave without eating breakfast. We would spend most of the day at the carnival until it was time to go eat dinner. It's not like we had not filled up on sweets :) We also played games, the one I hated & was the worst that SHOULD have taught us all a life lesson was the JAIL GAME!! The fake police people would actually chase you! You would pay any amount from $.25 up to $3.00 to have someone put in a cage (the jail) and they had to stay there until they basically begged people walking by to pay their way (bail) out if they didn't have money. The bail was double the amount of what was paid to put them in there. People could donate until enough bail was collected. They only could hold you for an hour. I remember one year after I spent all of my money, my cousins got together and paid the full $3.00. I had to sit for the whole hour!! I begged my Grandma and Parents not to give them any cake but they didn't listen :( However they did get fussed at for leaving me in there :) We always waited about an hour before the fireworks displayed before having cake and opening my gifts. We never went back to the rec center to watch the display we could see it from my Grandmother's yard. We would sit there in our lawn chairs too full to move most of the time. Once the display was over at the recreation center, we would start lighting our own fireworks.

We no longer go to the rec center anymore because it was changed into a YMCA a few years back. But I still go watch a firework display somewhere every year. My son loves them :) Maybe we can get a yearly tradition of some kind going again.

Thanks for reading!!

~TrainMama~

MY BLOG SWAP ON SWAP-BOT

2010-07-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share my excitement about my blog swap on Swap-Bot "I’M A BLOGGER, FOLLOW ME!!!" It's going GREAT so far :) Out of all the swaps I have hosted, it's the first to make it into the Top Swaps. Right now we have 33 participants and 27 with the swap on thier watchlist. I promised to follow everyone that joined. Today I had nothing to do so I took my time and started going through some of the participants blogs. I have to say they have some fabulous blogs!!! I have a lot in common with most of them. I am not even half way through the list. I was suppose to just browse to make sure the blogs were not just advertisements and really talking about their hobbies, crafts, life and things. Boy did a few of them catch my interest! I have to admit, I will be following a lot of blogs after the swap is way over. Specially the scrapbook and craft ones. I could get lots of cool ideas from those blogs I never could have thought of trying on my own. Thanks to all that have signed up so far, I can't wait to see what the out come is going to be. TO BE CONTINUED......

~TrainMama~

My Top (ISO) In Search Of Coupons

2010-06-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

Email: Jmcoupontrain@ymail.com to set up a swap!

______________________________________________________________

Here is a list of the top ISO coupons I am looking for :

Energizer Batteries
$1.00 off Any Tyson Product
$2.00 off Red Baron Pizza or Pizza By The Slice
Totino’s Pizza Rolls
Nesquick Milk Powers or Syrups
$1.00 off Any Oscar Mayer Lunch Combinations
$1.00 off Dish Detergent
Pillsbury Toaster Strudels
Scotts Toliet Paper
$1.00 off Washing Powder (Gain, Tide, Arm & Hammer, Sun)
Kid Cuisine meals
Coca-Cola products
Buy 10 Get 2 FREE Kool-Aid Packs (never see these in my area)

Top 5 ISO:

Buy 10 Get 2 FREE Kool-Aid Packs (never see these in my area).
$1.00 off Washing Powder (Gain, Tide, Arm & Hammer, Sun) .
$1.00 off Energizer Batteries.
$1.00 off Dish Detergent.
$1.00 off Any Tyson Product.

WEEKLY INSERT ISO LIST:

ALL YOU MAGAZINE

Chips Ahoy $1 Expires 12/31/10
Fast Fixin's $1 Expires 12/31/10

8/1/10 SMART SOURCE

Act Mouthwash (16.9oz+) $1 Expires 11/30/10

8/8/10 SMART SOURCE

Butterball Oven Roasted, Deep Fried, Honey Smoked, or Cherry Wood Smoked Fully Cooked Turkey Breast $1.50 Expires 10/31/10

8/15/10 SMART SOURCE

Tyson Any’tizers $1 Expires 11/15/10
Tyson Frozen Breaded Chicken $1 Expires 11/15/10

8/29/10 RED PLUM

Libby’s Canned Vegetables $1/3 Expires 11/30/10
Libby’s Fruit Products (excludes tropical fruits) $1/2 Expires 11/30/10

9/12/10 SMART SOURCE

Banquet Fruit Pies 50¢/2 expires 11/7/10

9/12/10 RED PLUM

Jimmy D’s Product $1 expires 1/31/11
State Fair Product $1 expires 12/31/10

Printables:

STORE SPECIFIC ISO:

Harvey's, Winn Dixie, Publix, Subway, McDonalds, Hardee's, Huddle House

You may view my full Coupon Wishlist here.

Thanks for taking the time to read, I hope we can swap :)

~TrainMama~

My Coupon Wishlist

2010-06-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

Email: Jmcoupontrain@ymail.com to set up a swap!

______________________________________________________________

*I LOVE Q’S FOR FREE PRODUCTS *I will take multiples of Q‘s, especially any BOGO FREE Q for items on my list *I use IPCS (color only) *I take store specific coupons, would love to receive rain checks from any of the stores listed below *ISO Tyson labels for my sons school *Unused Postage Stamps would be a nice treat (Forever & .17) *I can’t use expired, baby or pet coupons.

**Dairy**
*Milk
*Yogurt, Go-Gurt, Danimals & Danininos
*Ice Cream, Frozen yogurt
*Butter, Margarine (Sticks & Spread)
*Coffee Mate (Powdered Only, flavored ok)
*Kraft or Sargento Shredded Cheese
*Kraft Parmesan Cheese

**Bread** (Whole Wheat, is ok)
*Bread
*Sun Maid Raisin Bread
*Flatbread
*English Muffins
*King Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
*Hamburger Buns, Hot Dog Buns & Sub buns
*Tortillas
*Any Brand Croutons or Strips

**Meat & Produce**
*Any Produce
Fresh Express Bagged Salad
*Vlasic Pickles, Sandwich Stackers or Relish
*Any Meat
*Any brand Lunchmeat
*Any Oscar Mayer
*Ball Park Hot Dogs (no beef or angus)
*Pepperoni
*Bacon
*Sausage
*Tennessee Pride Sausage
*Any Jimmy Dean Product
*Tuna (no fillets)
*Any LLOYD”S Product
*Any Curley’s Product
*Lunchmates, Lunchmakers, Lunchables

**Baking**
*Sugar (Granulated, Brown & Powdered)
*Flour (Unbleached & Cake)
*Vanilla Extract
*Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Yeast
*Cornstarch, Cornmeal
*Cocoa Powder
*Baking Chips
*Blocked Chocolate
*Pam Cooking Spray
*Any Vegetable Cooking Oil

**Condiments, Sauces, Seasonings**
*Any Brand Syrup
*Kraft Mayonnaise
*Any Brand Ketchup
*Any Brand Mustard
*Any Brand BBQ Sauce
*Heinz 57
*Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Tomato Puree
*Hunts Manwich Sauce
*Classico Pasta Sauce
*Louisiana Hot Sauce
*Any Brand Salad Dressing
*Any Newman's Product
*Any Mrs. Dash Seasoning
*Kitchen Bouquet
*Any Brand Brown Gravy Mix
*Any Brand Taco Seasoning
*Any McCormick Seasonings, Spices or Gravy Mix
*Any Brand Croutons

**Frozen**
*Kid Cuisine meals
*Any Freezer Queen Banquet & Michelina's Frozen Meals
*Any Tyson Product
*Any Perdue Product
*Pillsbury Microwaveable Frozen Biscuits
*Pillsbury Toaster Strudels
*Pillsbury Crescent rolls or Biscuits (tube)
*Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
*Aunt Jemima Frozen Breakfast Items
*Waffles, Pancakes, French Toast Sticks
*New York Garlic Texas Toast, Breadsticks
*Pepperidge Farms Frozen Garlic Breads
*Taquitos, Tornados, Mini Tacos
*Fruit Naturals, Fruit Chillers
*Luigi’s Real Italian Ice
*Any Fruit pops or Popsicles
*Any Whole Fruit Product
*Freschetta Pizza
*Red Baron Pizza or By The Slice
*Totino’s Pizza Rolls
*Birdseye & Green Giant Frozen Veggies
*French Fries
*Any Gorton’s Product
*Armour Frozen Meatballs
*State Fair Corn Dogs
*Any Fast Classics Bag
*Any Fast Fixin’ or Fast Fixin’ On The Go
*Any Edwards Pies
*Any Sara Lee Product

**Canned, Dry Mixes, Pastas**
*Any Cake Mix
*Any Brownie Mix
*Any Muffin Mix
*Any Taco Kits
*Zatarains Rice Mix
*Mahatma rice. Success Rice, Uncle Ben’s Rice (Boil-n-a-bag ok)
*Betty Crocker, Idahoan or Hungry Jack Instant Potatoes
*Hamburger Helper, Asian Helper
*Mullers Spaghetti or Elbow Noodles
*Drink Mix & Singles (Crystal light, Wyler's light, Kool-Aid, Country Time)
*Kool-Aid Packets
*Coffee (Any except instant)
*Nesquick Milk Powers or Syrups
*Any Dry Soup Mix
*Stove Top Stuffing
*Hormel Compleats
*Banquet Complete Meals
*Any Campbell’s Soup
*Any Swanson’s Broths
*Any Brand of Canned Fruit (Any Fruit)
*Any Brand or Canned Vegetable (Any Veggie)
*Any VanCamp’s Beans
*Any Bush’s Baked Beans

**Snacks**
*Fruit Snacks, Gushers, Fruit By The Foot, Fruit Roll Ups
*Dole Fruit Bowls or Gel Fruit Bowls (no parfaits)
*Granola Bars & bags of Nut Clusters
*Quaker Rice Cakes & Minis
*Slim Fast Optima Meal On The Go Bars
*Nutri Grain Bars
*Ocean Spray Cransins
*Mentos Gum
*Ritz or Town House Crackers
*Graham Crackers
*Lance Sandwich Crackers
*Captain Wafers
*Vanilla Wafers
*Pepperidge Farms Goldfish
*Lay's Chips, Doritos, Pringles (chips, snack packs), Cheetos
*Microwave Popcorn
*Planters Peanuts (Roasted, Lightly Salted, Honey)
*Any Slim Jims
*Kellogg's Rice Krispie Treats
*Any Little Debbie
*Oreo’s (Cookies & Cakesters)
*Hershey’s Bliss, Hershey’s Candy Bars
*Pieces Candy in a crunchy shell

**Health & Beauty**
*Bubble bath or body wash (adult or kids)
*Bar Soap (Dial, Caress, Ivory, Dove - something light my son has sensitive skin)
*Liquid Hand Soap (Any brand)
*Tampons, Pantiliners, Sanitary Napkins (Any Brand)
*OPTI-FREE Replenish Contact Solution
*Scope, Listerine, Toothpaste, Toothbrushes
*Secret & Degree Deodorant (for women)
*Any Aveeno Products
*Any Suave Product
*Any NYC Product
*Any Disposable Razor (for women)
*Any Shaveless Hair Removal Product

**Paper Products**
*Toilet Paper
*Paper Towels
*Napkins
*Paper Plates, Saucers & Bowls
*Zoo Pals Paper Products
*Reynolds Wrap
*Reynolds cupcake papers
*Cut-Rite Waxed Paper
*Saran Plastic Wrap
*Crock Pot Liners
*Ziploc Bags or Containers
*Kleenex, Puffs or Scotties Facial Tissue
*Envelopes
*Printer Paper, Card stock, Photo Paper
*Digital Photo Prints or Albums

**Baby Products**
*Baby lotions, powders & wash (makes a cheap bubble bath).

**Drinks**
*Capri Sun, Kool-Aid Jammers, Hi-C, Minute Maid Juices, Juicy Juice (bottles or boxes)
*Fruitables
*V-8 Splash, V-8 V-Fusion
*Any Orange Juice
*Tea bags
*Gatorade
*Coca-Cola products
*Bottled Water (no deer park or nestle)
*Vitamin Water
*Tea Bags (Any will do)
*Sunny Delight
*Any 100% Juice
*Snapple
*Sobe

**Cleaning Supplies**
*Fabric Softener
*Washing Powder (Gain, Tide, Arm & Hammer, Sun)
*Oxy-Clean Powder
*Oxy-Clean Stain Remover tablets
*Purex 3-in-1 sheets
*Clorox Bleach & Clorox 2
*Dish Detergent
*Trash bags
*Pine sol, Fabuloso
*Scrubbing Bubbles
*Lysol Spray & Cleaners
*Clorox Spray & Cleaners
*Windex Glass Cleaner
*SOS Pads
*Any Mean Green Product
*Comet or Ajax Cleaner

**Household**
*Energizer Batteries
*Any Scotch Packaging Tape
*Any Glade Products
*Any Febreeze Products
*Any Air Wick Product

**Other** (Store specific, I would love to receive rain checks from any of the stores listed below)
Subway, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy‘s, Dairy Queen, Hardee's Popeye’s, Sonic, KFC, Krystal’s, Shoney’s, Huddle House, Zaxby’s, Taco Bell, Harvey’s, Winn Dixie, Publix, , Kroger’s, Piggly Wiggly, Save-A-Lot, Wal-mart, Kmart, Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreen’s, Staples, Bath & Body, Old Navy, Champs, Foot Locker, Foot Action, Gap, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Fred's.

**Printables**

Checkout My ISO LIST!

THANKS FOR READING MY COUPON LIST LET'S SWAP!!

~TrainMama~

I HIT THE COUPON JACKPOT :)

2010-06-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, started out as a pretty good day for me. I went to the grocery store to pick up my WIC. Chatted with my cousin Melissa for a while. Then, I went to the post office to pick up my mail. I had 3 envelopes from coupon swaps waiting on me. I received one 30 coupon train from the train I conduct *BIG SMILE*! A 40 Food only coupon train and my partner from the last coupon train on yahoo sent me an envie with 248 coupons!!! I bet her binder is awesome :) All I can say is "THANKS MELANIE" The minimum to send is 30. I thought I was hooking my partner up sending her 50, but my girl Melanie really hooked me up!! I was like a kid in the candy store.

I started thinking about the sales paper I browsed through earlier that morning. Our Harvey's has Kraft Mayo on sale this week 2/$4 and I have two coupons for $1.50 off. I can get 2 Kraft Mayo's for $1.00, NOW THAT'S WHAT'S UP!! I also received two $2.00 of Domino Sugar (4lb. bag) w/ the purchase of 10 pks of Kool-Aid. Our Harvey's has Kool-Aid on sale 10/$1.00 (no limit) & I have a coupon Buy 10 Kool-Aid Packs get 2 FREE. Can't wait to see what other's I can use! SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!

I found some great coupons amongst them all. I can say I had a great coupon day :)

~TrainMama~

My Bucket List

2010-06-25T02:39:00.000-07:00

I just completed the Bucket list swap on Swap-Bot and thought I would share my list with you all! Just so you know Kelin (Ke) is my son. I have been working on my Bucket list for about a year now. Of course I could not share all of the items on my list some of them are kind of personal. The items listed are not in any order, I just grab my notebook and write the idea as they come to me. Sometimes I have them wrote on a post it and add them later. I was thrilled to see a swap like this otherwise, I would have never admitted I had a list, lol!

Here is my list:

Visit as many states as possible.
COMPLETE, not just start a scrapbook (not album).
Purchase my own house.
Plant a garden (I was a teenager the last time I planted a garden).
Get a degree!
Have a bake sale.
Go to a garage sale.
Take Kelin apple picking.
Take Ke to Sesame Street Workshop.
Take Ke fishing.
Take Ke to a Major League Baseball Game.
Take Ke to the Okefenokee Swamp.
Go to the Hershey Factory in Hershey, PA.
Take Ke to the Crayola Factory.
Take Ke to the Jelly Belly Factory.
Go on a road trip :)
Take Kelin to Carowinds (Theme park). I use to go there every summer w/ my aunt and her family as a teenager, it was so fun! My cousin and I always got to go back the 2nd day by ourselves, it was great!! They add new stuff every year. I bet that place is huge now, it's been 11 years since I been.
Get CPR and First Aid Certified.
Take Ke to Disney World.
Visit the Chocolate Show in New York in November.
Go to Sea World.
Go to the Candy store in Savannah, GA. (The one Paula's always shopping at, lol!)
Eat at the Lady and Sons in Savannah, GA (Paula Deen's Restaurant, make a reservation I hear the wait is forever)
Start trying new recipes so I can continue typing and complete my family cookbook (heirloom).
Create a great coupon binder!!
Learn to SAVE BIG using coupons like the people I read about :)
Continue to lose weight 30 lb goal for this year! I CAN DO IT!!!
Have a interesting blog with lots of followers that leaves tons of comments and great input :)
Write a Living Will & Testament.
Learn to knit correctly, lol. My projects are very loose and can be pulled apart....smh!!
Live long and die happy :D

Thanks for reading my bucket list, I hope you enjoyed it :)

~TrainMama~

PC MYSTERY

2010-06-25T00:28:00.000-07:00

On June 14, 2010 the day started out great! I sorted and organized my coupons using my new system and even cut recipes out of a few magazines. I separated all of my coupons into the categories for my swaps I recently blogged about in my post Coupons & Swap-Bot.com. I even trimmed up all of the ones I received from my other swaps and trains. So when I send out my coupons they will be all nice and neat :)

I read the first 4 chapters in my book. So far so good! It still has my attention so that's a very good thing. I think I'm going to like it. I just have to find more time to read!! I let my son play outside in the yard while I read most of it. It was awesome, but the rain has been keeping us inside lately.

After getting my son off to sleep. I felt great and wanted to blog about my day and tell how productive I was! I tried to log on to the net, but a message popped up! I thought I had a virus because it said: "POTENTIALLY UNWANTED ACTIVITIES" I clicked the the button to remove it but it just kept popping back up and would not stop. Since I could not get it off I called my great hardware protection team to do a virus check. I stayed on hold for what seemed to be an eternity, but really ended up being 49 minutes before I actually spoke with a service rep.

I did make the most of my time! While I was waiting I pulled out my envie labeled coupons to be sorted. These are coupons I keep from swaps, trains, newspapers, etc. I trimmed them up nice and neatly and sorted them by date. I have been planning to make a list of all coupons I have including the expiration dates, but I did not make it that far. Guess I will save it for another day. I can say it was time well spent waiting because I got to watch Law & Order: SVU as I waited also. I love that show.

When the rep FINALLY answered my call and after we tried all kind of tricks to get a connection. We discovered that my anti virus system deleted my nic card info. while doing a virus sweep. He said there must have been a virus connected to the information so the scan deleted it during a clean up. Bad thing about the situation was, I had my nic card replaced and the guy did not give me a disk containing the info. So I was out of luck :( But the problem is resolved now so all is well :) I'm free to blog and finally get caught up. At least I was writing my ideas down.

~TrainMama~

Reading List

2010-06-12T01:49:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm still up! It's crazy I don't write an entry for almost a month and now 3 in one night, WOOO WHOO I'M ON A ROLL!!!! Anywho, I was checking my email and I received an email from my good friend Michelle, it was an invite to a site I had been repeatedly hearing about. So of course I signed up on yet another site because I had been hearing about it. I can always delete it if I don't like it. Well, it has a section for a reading list!! My goal was to start back reading this summer. My son is in the Summer Reading Program at the Library and I joined the Adult and Teen group as well. I remember a time when I could always be caught with a book in my hand, I'm not quite sure what happened. But I plan to start back reading again.

Sex In The Sanctuary by Lutishia Lovely was a book I read March 2010 and it was FANTASTIC!!! I would DEFINITELY RECOMMEND this book to anyone that is looking for a good down to earth drama! This book talks about things that actually happens in real life and does not sugar coat it, lol! I can't make quotes because the best parts are the parts I don't want to give away. But there is a crazy lady in the book, relationship and marriage problems, gossip and nosey old ladies, lmbo! I will be reading the others in the collection for sure.

The next book I read was a great one too. It was kind of shocking. It was recommended by so many people. So I gave it a chance even though I was iffy about it:

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd I also read this book in March 2010. I LOVED IT!! This is another book I would DEFINITELY RECOMMEND!! I tried to watch the movie before and could not get into it. But reading the book I understand exactly why everyone was casted for their parts, they fit them perfectly. This book was so heartwarming and Divine. I would really love to see the movie now.

The next book would have to be a do over for me:

All She Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin was the last book I read. I read this book in April 2010. The reason for the do over is that I did not get to finish this book :( I liked it but because it was confusing at times, I would say it depends on the other persons taste and reading style rather or not they would like it. I would recommend it to a friend but not to a stranger they would think I was crazy! There were times when I had to flip back to see who a person was. At the beginning I did not understand why the chapters were the way they were but as the book went on it was easier to follow. I would definitely like to read it over and finish it this time.

Hometown Favorite: A Novel by Bill Barton & Henry O. Arnold is the book that I will begin reading tomorrow!! I purchased this book at the Dollar Tree for $1.00, lucky me because this book is advertised between $13.99 and $11.99. I'm not sure how good it is but it has a 4.4 out of 5 star rating and the description sounds really interesting. It is foreword by Chris Sanders former wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans. Sounds interesting, guest I will see what it is all about tomorrow. Until next time.

~TrainMama~

Coupons & Swap-Bot.com

2010-06-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

I need to sort through my coupons. I have a new way of organizing the coupons I am trading and need to get it completed, I keep starting and stopping. I am hosting like 8 coupon swaps on Swap-bot. So I am sorting them by swap category as well, only for the coupon specific ones. The first two I hosted went well, their on their second round. They have more people this time which is a major plus. I have also added a few specific coupon swaps so I can better my coupon binder! Some examples are BXGX OR JUST FREE COUPON SWAP, $1.00 OFF COUPON SWAP, $1.50 OFF COUPON SWAP, $2.00 OR HIGHER COUPON SWAP AND $4.00 OR HIGHER COUPON SWAP.

I am hoping that these specific coupon swaps will help me build a better binder by helping me find coupons of higher value. After all that is the real reason we are clipping coupons right?? So far I have members signed up for all of the swaps except for the $4.00 or higher. But there is still time the deadline is not here yet. All participants are asked to create a coupon wishlist section for their profile to help their partner find more of the coupons they can use. I plan to continue with these swaps and do them as a monthly swap on swap-bot, so if your a member look them or me up. I'm QUEENQUISA on Swap-bot!

~TrainMama~

BUSY, BUSY,BUSY!!

2010-06-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! I can not believe it has been almost a whole month since I have written an entry in my blog. Like I really need to do better, lol! I have been so busy. I plan to write all about it and catch up though :) I mean it all happened at once my son's last day of school was his birthday. His party was that weekend. The summer reading program began. My cousin's boyfriend was killed! I had to go give emotional support and come back waaayyyy too early. I know she still needs me, but I have a ton of things to do. I don't understand I thought you were suppose to chill in the summer. Instead I am busier than I was when my son was in school, maybe it's because I have him all day. I said that boy was a busy body, lol!
Well, I will just start w/ my day today. Today has been a crazy one! It has been extremely hot in South GA for some reason! Well, it stormed so that may have been it. My son and I went for a little daily outing. We went to our Friendly Express to order a pizza and while I was there I was able to use a coupon :) You know using a coupon is always a plus!! Well, I usually get my 2 - 12 pk of sodas from Flash Foods, but they were $7.99 and Friendly Express had them for $5.99. My coupon was buy a 12 pk of Coke and a 12 pk of Sprite or Sprite Zero and get $1.50 off. Hey that was a good deal 2 - 12pks for $4.49 now dats what's up! Good thing about it is I have 2 more of those coupons :) I'm loving my coupon train! Well, after we gathered our pizza and sodas (mine, he drank juice) we went to get the mail. The storm started after we made it home :( the lights went out so we played quiet games after eating. Now he's fast asleep :) and I'm playing on the net as usual!
~TrainMama~

My Awesome Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well, last Sunday was Mother's Day :) I woke up full of excitement. Why.....my son started Head Start in August. I'm still so proud of him! Anywho, I picked him up on Thursday (there was no school on Friday) and was handed an arm load of stuff & told Happy Mother's Day by the teacher's and remaining kids in the class. I am always one of the first parents. I hate fighting to get out of the parking lot...ugh(smh...crazy look)! Mrs. James, My son's lead teacher, instructed me not to open or peek at my gifts until Sunday! I really had no intentions of waiting. In fact, I thought I would really open them as soon as I got home. LOL....I know where's the fun in that. Idk...I never get any presents for holidays anyway. I never really get more than a card from family members, getting a gift was exciting for me!!

I was babysitting my little cousin that day, so her and my son wanted to go outside and play. That took my mind off of the gifts. I took my son, Ke-lo (nickname given by my little cousin Mahogany a.k.a. Hoggy) I took him inside to change into some play clothes. While inside I manage to hide the gifts although he was asking for them repeatedly. He wanted to show them to me I told him we had to wait until Sunday because that was Mother's Day. So I had to hide them up high with him asking for his toys he made for Mother's Day...lol! I did not realize he watched me put the gifts up. Saturday I walked by and wanted oh so badly to open the nicely wrapped box with the pretty little ribbon tied around it. But I didn't, I said to myself "Why do it now? You only have one more day to go." Then Sunday morning came.....Mother's Day and the LONG wait was over!!!!

After eating breakfast and a quick clean up, my son walked to the closet, pointed to the top shelf and said open that. I laughed. That's when I realized that he watched me hide the gifts...lol! Good thing he had no way of getting up that high, there is no doubt in my mind he would have tried to get them down! I pulled everything down and read the card first. I think my little man was more excited about showing me the items he made for me than I was to see them :)

I love this card. Ok yes, I opened and looked at this when I picked him up on Thursday. I wondered why he only wrote his first name (Kelin) when he can write his first and last. He told me those other markings and letters says Happy Mother's Day...lol! Thanks Boo......Great job for a 3 yr old!!!

(I know wrong date on my camera...lol!)

Then after I read my card and admired my MOM wall or door hanging first picture! I tore into my box....WOW! Is what I was thinking. My son was so into telling me how they made each item. They always let them decorate the boxes. They colored the construction paper and glued paper cutouts on the boxes they used for Valentine's day. Some of you are probably thinking this woman needs to get a life but I am a first time mom. So I get very excited about all of the little things. My mother still has items I made for her when I was in elementary school. I just know I am gonna have items from my son I'm scrapbooking already and he's not even in grade school! Besides, I don't really care what you think this is MY BLOG....BAHAHAHAHAH!!!! So you can stop reading if you wanna I'm about to keep rambling on..... A hand print....priceless! Everything came with a sweet note. This is the items that was inside the box. A good bit in my opinion. My sister said it was a lot. My nephew is in the second grade and they did not even make cards for their moms. I thought my nephew might have just lost it so I called a friend that has a son in his class, she was in just as much disbelief as my sister. They didn't make anything!!

A whatnot, Dishtowel, and hand lotion. The teapot and teacup were wonderfully colored! A paper teapot with a teabag & note :) and paper tea cup with a teabag.

Oh I love my son! He made this Mother's Day the most special one so far!!! I know there will be many many more. Moments like this let's me know that those 29 hours were oh so worth it......ALL :)'S!!!!

~TrainMama~

Finally Started My Coupon Train Group :)

2010-05-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about starting a coupon train for over a yr. Well, I finally did it! Wednesday night I was searching the net trying to find a few trains to join. I am in one & I get lots of coupons, but I could always use more! Some sites said you had to join & complete so many swaps before boarding the train. Can you believe one site said you had to complete 100, like O~M~G! Well, I am already on a couple of swap sites and I swap in my Yahoo groups too. I figured I could find a group on Yahoo instead & just join a train. There were so many that were inactive, but they had hundreds of members. I just figured I would create my own :) So now MY LEDGEND OF THE COUPON EXPRESS will begin. I even have a couple of friends to add. Hopefully, the first round will start next wk w/o any problems! I am always looking for new members so feel free to leave me a message @ JMCOUPONTRAIN@YMAIL.COM. Want to join my group visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Coupon_Express2010/ . I have added some links and messages on how to get free coupons, sites to be added to manufacter's mailing lists, a site for store policies for using online coupons & more. I plan to add more info as I find it. We don't have a ton of memebers yet, it's only been running for a few days. But I know within a few months there will be a full house. So go on and pass the word on about The Coupon Express! I also plan to create a group for my Recipe Train. If you are interested in joining my recipe train you may send me a message @ JONISRECIPETRAIN@YAHOO.COM .

I hope to add you soon :)

~TrainMama~

The Link To My Group Coupon Express Click Here To Join:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Coupon_Express2010/

My Recipe & Coupon Trains And How I Run Them!

2010-05-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

I figured I would write a post to let those interested know what recipe & coupon trains are and how I run my trains :) I do my trains a little differently than most people. I give each rider a partner & they send them a envelope of recipes or coupons weekly. This way everyone receives a package every week (just contact me if you don't). To me this way is more fun & you get more coupons :) Usually Names & Addresses are listed on a roaster in the order the train will go. The conductor places a certain amount of coupons & the roaster in an envelope & mails it to Person 1. Person 1 then takes out all they like & replaces them w/ the same # they took out. Then mails it to person 2. This continues until the train reaches home, the riders also take out any expired coupons along the way. Problem is sometimes the trains does not make it back home. Getting coupons in the mail every week builds up your supply fast. The best part is you will get coupons you would have no knowledge of, due to the fact they never print in your area. That is really what interested me in trains the most. Different coupons print in different areas. But you do get a lot of the same ones you already have. Having multiple coupons are good for stockpiling & stacking! I assure you that all you need to get started is just 1 cooking magazine or 1 Sunday Paper worth of inserts!!! That is a Guarantee. After all you will be receiving a swap every week and the items you are not interested in you can use to send to your partner.

INTRUCTIONS FOR THE RECIPE TRAIN:

For the recipe train you will send 15 - 20 recipes to your partner weekly by snailmail. You may send more but please check to ensure correct postage. The recipes you send can be handwritten, printed, recipe cards, cutout doesn't matter as long as they are legible & of good quality. Please do not send torn or worn recipes. I receive plenty of cooking magazines. I have tons of recipes left over once I cut out the ones I want (just an idea). U can also pick up recipe cards and recipe booklets from supermarkets, or cut recipes out of newspapers & sales papers. Remember you can always pass on recipes that you are not interested in. Be sure to tape all four sides of your envelope with strong tape.

TO JOIN SEND AN EMAIL TO: JONISRECIPETRAIN@YAHOO.COM type Coupon Train for the subject.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE COUPON TRAIN:

For the coupon train you will pick a minimum of 30 coupons you are willing to pass on to someone else - Sender’s choice. Although you may receive a wishlist with your partners info. it's just to help find coupons they are in search of. The coupons must be for brands that are available across the nation, not local things that won't work somewhere else. Printed coupons are ok as long as they are of good quality and does not make up the bulk of your swap. Internet coupons should be legible and say "Manufacturer Coupon." There should be a valid remit address for the manufacturer and a scannable bar code. Use more Manufacturer's coupons than printed!! Use coupons from the Sunday paper, magazines, blinkies, mailers, etc. These may be extras you have or the ones that you would usually throw away. Make sure that the coupons you send are not expired and the bar codes are in tact. Don't worry if you receive coupons that you can't use in your swap save them & pass them along to someone else. Be sure to tape all four sides of your envelope with strong tape.

TO JOIN SEND AN EMAIL TO: JMCOUPONTRAIN@YMAIL.COM type Recipe Train for the subject.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING:

What I will need from you is your mailing address, email you would like to use, and if you have a Coupon Wishlist (items you buy on a regular basis or are in search of) & Recipe Wishlist (type of foods or recipes your in search of) you may include these wishlists also. They may help you receive more of the items that you want & need. I hope to add you to one (if not both) of my train(s)! If interested just send your info. to the appropriate email above :)

Hope to add you soon.......

~TrainMama~