The Kitchen is done! but downsizing isn't fun

This was a really busy week, in honor of the Royal wedding I thought I would get my Cinderella on, and scrub the floors.  I could not believe how much junk we have, and how many extra utensils we have.  We had 4 different types of silverware,and a skillet that has never been opened! So I took pictures, put them all in a box, and posted them on fortlewisyardsales.com. That's when the fun happened. I was getting lots of offers, some for the price listed others for insanely low.  I thought that 44 pieces of mostly Oneida silverware should go for about 25 dollars, I had a girl ask me if I would go 5 dollars! So anyways I had a lady say she wanted the silverware and the skillet and would pick up the next day.  When she got to my house I noticed her truck was just loaded with other items. (red flag as a possible flipper)  She goes, "will you take 20 for everything"? *cough* I told her I wanted 35 that was the price agreed on, and I still had other offers.  She told me she didn't have the money so she would go look in her truck, she came back with $40 and told me if you can break it to $35 I'll give you $35. Well I never have any cash on me, so I said "do you have a check book"? I used USAA deposit mobile app on my Ipod and put her money into my account instantly.  So I got the items sold at the price I wanted. Now to get the rest sold, ugh! But at least when we start to wrap up the kitchen  in July and put it into boxes it won't be as embarrassing. Who wants 50 Tupperware bowls falling out on them. :)

Saving Money, and getting some great tips with my new book!

I was so excited to see that my book "That Military House" came so fast.  I couldn't wait to start reading and get some ideas.  Well I've just started reading and I love it. Instead of saying PCS think about it being a Positive Change of Surroundings. I told that to Kevan and he loved how that sounded. The book goes room by room telling you what to keep, sell, donate which will really help me since I'm looking around starting to freak out that I don't know where to begin.  I think the room I'll start with first will be the kitchen, it has the most "stuff" that I can start to go through. 

Kevan got off work alittle early today so I was able to go to the commissary for some much need groceries.  I've really been working hard on clipping coupons, contacting companies for coupons, and even got my Mom involved in mailing me coupons. My favorite score today was my money maker, Heinz ketchup was $1.10 and I had a $2.00 coupon times 3!!! Also after reading over other money saving blogs I found that you can use alot of coupons on travel sizes and get some money back, got razors, and some shampoo for free plus a little extra. The only thing about the commissary is you can't stack coupons like you can at Target or Aafes, you either use their military coupon or manufacture. Also that surcharge can hurt at the end, almost 10 dollars in surcharge when my final total came up.  Which isn't fun in a state that doesn't have a food tax.   Also I've learned at least at the Fort Lewis PX they don't like it when you use printed coupons.  They almost always will call a manager over to look over them to make sure its valid.  To avoid this if a really good coupon pops up I try to see if you can get the company to mail it instead of print it at home (saves the ink too) This is also nice because most of the time you can only print a coupon twice, having it mailed you can use each member of your family and get it multiple times. The way to do this is click the link for the coupon which will take you to its  print screen, scroll to the bottom and click the "help" link. It will usually say we are sorry your having issues printing our coupons allow us to mail it to you. Today Lysol sent me the printable they had posted on Facebook earlier this week, so basically it will be a freebie based on the prices I saw at the PX earlier this week.  I love saving my family money, I fill like its another part of my job as a stay at home Mom! :)

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the best day we've had in Washington in months.  The weather was perfect, lots of sunshine.  We went to our church in Lakewood for an Easter Egg hunt, and the boys had a blast.  Kevan's Mom met us there, and was such a huge help with holding Jonah so we could get some great pictures.  Elijah was losing patience at first due to the wait,  but once they started so fun songs he cheered right up. Elijah raced for the eggs, and got about 8 so he didn't do to bad considering he was in the largest group of kids.  It was so nice of the church to give each child who participated an Easter basket, it really made Elijah's day.  After we went over to Kevan's folks for lunch, dinner, and let the boys play in their backyard. While we were there Jonah showed us how much he is growing up he can say DaDa, and Kitty now. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.  Kevan and I both are going to really start working on our weight, after seeing pictures of ourselves I think we have the motivation we need to really start getting to it. I really want him to have no worries when he leaves in June for school about not being able to do his best because of his PT. I have faith in him that he will do great, just would rather him feel more confidant about it when he gets there.

That Military House

So today I was on Facebook and saw that USAA was promoting a book that helps military families with an upcoming PCS.  I had some amazon.com credits so I was able to purchase this book used for around 9 dollars.  I'm really excited to get some possible tips on getting this house ready for a move.  Just thinking about it worries me, Kevan is going to be gone and then as soon as he gets back he's gonna want this house ready to go for our move.  I'm so lucky that I have a lot of family around to help me get ready but it is still stressful to think about.  Its also hard not knowing where we are going until a month or less before we move.  Kevan has a 3 day weekend since Easter is this Sunday so I'm sure he'll be happy to have a break from training his replacement at work.  I was so proud of him this week, he passed his PT and got outstanding scores from his commanders brief for his recruiting packet. The first week in May he has another meeting with the head of the hospital for a final interview for his packet.  (glad its not me, I get all tongue tied just thinking about it)
I'm really glad to be moving, I love Fort Lewis, but I'm not a fan of this area.  Its been a real culture shock for me. Today on the news a Seattle school changed an Easter Egg hunt into a "spring sphere" hunt.  Oh Good Grief! I mean even the word Egg is now offensive? I can just imagine saying to Kevan, "Babe can you run to the commissarry and pick up a dozen spheres, we're gonna have spheres and bacon for breakfast tomorrow!"  LOL Anyways that is my random vent, I apologize. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter Weekend! God Bless!