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Donate Expired Coupons to Military Families Overseas

Thank you for your interest in the Coupons for Troops program.

Coupons for Troops matches stateside families with military families serving overseas to provide them with coupons. Military commissaries overseas accept expired coupons up to six month past the expiration date. Since it is difficult for families overseas to find coupons I started the program to help provide them with coupons from families back home in the states.

Please  visit the FAQ page to learn more about the program and sign up.

Thank you for supporting the troops with coupons.

by admin -

Julie and Julia ~ Left me Hungry for More…

I am not a movie critic, in fact I rarely watch movies. I cannot remember the last movie I watched, but I think it was Enchanted, which strangely enough starred Amy Adams, who is also the star of Julie and Julia.

Since the movie Julie and Julia has the blog world buzzing, I decided to post my thoughts on the movie in case you were deciding whether to spend the big bucks and hit the theatre this weekend.

This movie is based on two true stories, the life of Julia Child and Julie Powell. I think everyone has heard of Julia Child, and every blogger dreams of becoming Julie Powell – a blogger who gets a book deal… and then a movie deal, and then is played in the movie by an absolutely adorable actress, Amy Adams. Well, actually I think I should be played by Angelina Jolie, ( I mean she does have a boatload of kids, just like me).

Back to the movie, since I don’t really know how to write a movie review I’ll break in down into bullets, my specialty.

Good Points:

  • Great acting: Seriously, Meryl Streep plays an amazing Julia Child, the voice, the mannerisms, so believable. Whoever plays Julia’s sister is perfect too. Great casting for this movie.
  • Great relationships: The love between Julia and her husband Paul is so real on screen. There is great chemistry between Meryl and Stanley Tucci. The relationship between Julie and her husband Eric draws you in as well. It was difficult to remember that these were actors.
  • Food: Do not go to this movie hungry. Within the first 15 minutes you will be starving. The food photography is excellent and everything looks so good you can almost taste it.
  • True to Life: The ups and downs of blogging is laid out for everyone to see. When Julie gets here first comment there are high fives and cheers. There is a constant wondering of who is reading her blog. Eventually the blog starts to take over her life… (cough, cough, not that I would know anything about that)

Bad Points:

  • Potty Mouth: While there is not a ton of profanity, there is some, and it is so unnecessary. Not that it is ever necessary, but this movie would have been better had the nasty language been left out. A quick glance at Julie Powell’s blog made me realize that they toned down the language for this movie…
  • Disappointing ending: I do not want to spoil the ending, but let’s just say the movie didn’t feel over when it ended. I left wanting more, wanting closure, and I didn’t get it.

Wrap Up

I liked the movie, but really wished there was no foul language. The acting, story and cinematography were excellent. It was a technical masterpiece, but left me wanting something more. While I was watching it, I didn’t want it to end, but when it ended I felt I needed 5 more minutes. Almost like a book that was missing the last three pages. All in all, I liked the movie and don’t regret spending the $17 (gulp) on a date night with my husband.

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by admin -

Don’t Dwell on the Problem, Find a Solution

Today was a really, really bad day. The transmission needs to be replaced in one of our vehicles, and then this afternoon my 3 yo spilled a glass of water on my camera and laptop. The good news, my camera still works. The bad news, my laptop is fried.

When it happened I didn’t get too upset, I was probably in shock. As the day went on, I started thinking about all the things that were on my computer (which had not been backed up in forever) and started getting more and more upset. My computer is my brain… I do everything on my computer from shopping, to paying bills, to scheduling, to homeschooling, to editing my photos… My photos! The thought of losing my photos was too much and around dinner time I just wanted to go to bed.

I talked with one of my friends about the whole thing and she told me to focus on a solution and stop dwelling on the problem. She was right, although it took me a few hours to get out of my funk. Dh and I talked it over and figured out that a $50 USB docking station would allow me to transfer all my information off my hard drive and on to another computer in our house.

While I have lost the convenience of my laptop, I did not lose thousands of pictures, emails, files, and other information I had on my computer.

Lesson #1 learned ~ back up your  data on a separate hard drive frequently. We have a hard drive for this very purpose, but I got busy and didn’t take the time to back up my computer. If you do not have an portable external hard drive for your computer, buy one! I know I write about about saving money, but backing up all your data for under $100 is a wise investment. We were fortunate that my hard drive was not damaged and could recover the data.

Lesson #2 learned ~ When toddler spills a glass of water on the computer, immediately unplug the computer and, if it is a laptop, remove the battery. I hesitated removing the battery and had I been quicker I might have a working computer.

As for the car, there is no $50 fix. I am thankful we have our emergency fund to cover the cost of replacing the transmission.

So today was pretty crummy, but only when it comes to the material things. My kids had a great time playing with their friends, we had several of our friends drop in throughout the day, and everyone went to bed tired and happy. And that is what matters most…

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