Organizing Ain't Cheap!

Ok, so TheSmellyArmpit is suppose to be about making your life easier right? And recently, I was talking to my sister about one of the greatest inventions for a cartrasher like me. Oh, you don't know what a cartrasher is? You can spot one by peering into their vehicle. There could be a number of indicators to give you a heads up that a car belongs to a cartrasher. One is the dashboard seems to be made out of mail piled up as high as the top of the steering wheel. I don't fall into this category of cartrashers. Another cartrasher is someone like me, food on the floor, toys scattered everywhere, sticky candy or half eaten items on different areas of the vehicle, trash littered here and there, shoes and socks and sweatshirts in one corner, drink straws with and without lids stuck under seats, well you get the disgusting picture. That was my SUV until a week or so ago when we got a Mountainsmith "travel" organizer!

Here's what their website says about it... "Organize your car, garage, or basement with our category leading storage organization system with color coded cubes to keep your gear where you need it most and a protective ballistic hauler to carry it all in. Available in three sizes - Modular Hauler 2 / Modular Hauler 3 / Modular Hauler 4."

I got the one that has 3 totes in it - one for toys, one for food, and one for diaper supplies. I also got an additional cooler tote that folds up nicely and fits in the hauler when not in use. This was SO handy this week because I had 30 minutes to spend between dropping off my two older kids to preschool and when I had to have my littlest at his one year checkup. Luckily, Walgreens is right next door and milk there is on sale right now for $3/gallon. So I got two gallons which fit PERFECTLY in this cooler tote!!! Left them in the car during the appointment and they were still plently cold by the time we got home from the appointment.

So what else to I like about this organizational tool? My car looks WONDERFUL. I can easily pickup a stray toy and throw it in the toy tote which I leave the lid unzipped and tucked back. I'm keeping the hauler behind the passenger seat and the toy tote sticks out a little just behind the console which is a perfect location when wrangling stray toys! The middle tote is filled with snacks and different food items for on the go, and the diaper supplies. This is a great location for it since my baby's carseat is here so if we are heading into a resturant, playground, church, etc, I can just grab a diaper and wipes out of this tote and put them in my purse as I'm getting my little baby out of the suburban.

Ok, so for any other cartrashers, I highly recommend this product! I think it's going to make life much simpler for any roadtrips we go on in the future and definitely has already helped me keep my car looking better. I even vacuums it today! Alright, I had to since a whole canister of Pringles got spilled and then stomped all over the carpet. Still, cartrashers take note this Mountainsmith product is great!

Where to buy? You may be asking. Here are some of the places that carry them... Mountainsmith.com, the Container Store (where we foudn it), the Sierra Trading Co,

Big Blurr

I don't know what has happened here lately. I feel like I'm in some hyperspeed timewarp. Is it because I'm living in my dream home, my children are happy and safe, my husband loves me tirelessly? Maybe. It is because I'm finally being still in the backyard watching my daughter twirl to the music in her head while the windchimes knock together in a faraway place? That's probably when I notice it in the least - the grains rushing through the hourglass. My husband and I holding hands, and I notice the wrinkles and spots and veins becoming more pronounced. Whispers from yesterday reminding me of a different place and giggles of my little baby reminding me of today. Such a span of distance, I have come and hopefully many more miles to go. I hope to always be continually thankful for what I have been given, where I came from, how God has moved through my life and weaved His tapestry of the minutes, hours, and days I've lived. I'm thankful for His mercies that are new each morning. That when at the end of the day, my emotions and body are spent but know full well that never has He and never will He forsake me or leave me. I'm thankful for the promise of eternity with Him in His glory that will not be bound by time. I'm thankful for my savoir and God - Jesus.

Where Has the Time Gone?!

Ohhh I've got to start publishing again on here. People need to know TheSmellyArmpit's tips for making their homes, health, and hearts a little less stinky. :) One great way to help your budgets, and therefore you home, is by couponing! I'm loving the website mylitter.com. Over the weekend I went through my coupon binder with the coupon matchups from this website. Tonight I finally had an hour to spare to make the big trip to the store and stocked up on things we love to snack on like Pringles and Goldfish crackers. :) How much did I spend on these??? Well, the pringles are usually $1.50 at Kroger but I with coupons and the Mega Event(buy 10 participating items and get $5 off) the pringles were $0.75each. Goldfish... ohhh those tiny snack crackers that my kids can eat by the ton. These are regularly $1.99each and with the Mega Event plus sale price, I paid $0.79each! Oh, yea! Total amount spent $87.69. Total coupon and sale savings $60.14 which comes out to be 41%!!! Yipppeeee!

Ok, so now you are saying to yourself, "Yea, right. Who has time to sit around and clip and organize coupons for 30 hours each day." NOT ME! I've got 3 kids 4-1/2 and younger. I've got a house to clean. I've got receipts to organize for this past year tax returns. I've got a bedskirt I've been trying to sew for 3 weeks now. Ok, you get to the picture. I don't have time to clip coupons.

But... I do have to time to

1. Use a giant three ring binder and a 3 hole punch to put coupon packs in the binder.
2. Use seperators between coupon packs from the Sunday paper and label the seperators with the paper date that the coupon packs came from.
3. Look up coupon matches on sites like mylitter.com . They usually will list the date the coupons were in the paper with the publisher like RP for Red Plum or SS for Smart Source. Now just get out your handy coupon binder, flip through to the appropriate date, pick the coupon pack for either Red Plum or Smart Source, flip through until you find the coupon your looking up and clip!

TAH DAH! Easy as 1-2-3!!!

Hope this information is helpful and you're on your way to saving more money in the new year!!!

Dad-isms

"To dream is a blessing and to set a goal is an way to reach a dream."

Things Toddlers Say

Yesterday morning we had oranges for breakfast. I said, "Do you guys think we should plant an orange tree in our yard?" My little girl replied, "No, no, Mama. We should plant a pink tree!"

One more thing...

I've got something else to say before logging off tonight. I broke 4 ribs clean through on Dec 17th. I should still be in pain since it was only 3-1/2 weeks ago. It should still hurt to laugh or lift things. I am a little tiny bit sore sometimes but nothing noticable. I believe that my God is a healer. I believe nothing is impossible with God... especially something as minute as broken ribs in the larger skeem of things. I believe He has healed me quickly. I'm so thankful for the mercies and blessings that Jesus has shown me in life such as physically not being hurt as bad as I could have when the ladder slipped and mentally through help with counseling and spiritually that I can read the Bible any time and anywhere I want in this country. We are a blessed nation and I'm hoping that our hearts will all return to Him but know that the only person I get to decide that for is myself. Still luckily I can pray and pray for our nation. So there's something else I'm thankful for, prayer. Just the priviledge of getting to talk with God. Anyone else amazed by this??? Oh, yea! I knew there'd be some hand raising for that! God is so good. I don't understand everything in this life and am not suppose to, but I do understand to some extent that God's love is never-ending and He will never leave nor forsake us even in the dark hours of life and the bright sunshiney days too. Praise God for His unfailing love toward this failing soul.

Food Diary - January 11, 2013

Breakfast - Fried egg, two pieces of toast with butter and cherry(oh so yummy) jellie, one orange

Snack - don't remember. I don't think I had a snack but a glass of milk

Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich with only one slice of bread but lots of meat, 1/2 cup cranberries, a spoon full of olives(YUM!)

Snack - 200 calorie pack of fudge striped cookies and a pecan sandie cookie... uh oh my tummy is starting to growl and it's 1:30am...

Dinner - DATE WITH MY MAN! So really should this count? Ok, good. I didn't think so either. Let's just skip this whole part, shall we? NO? Oh, bloggysphere you are such a good accountability partner... So for dinner I chose the pork tenderloin and the chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream... WORTH. EVERY. CALORIE. Which reminds me. I got my dessert after the concert had started and ate a couple bites and then would turn back around to listen to Aaron Tippin sing and then turn around again between songs and take a bunch of bites and then finally he said something about it was ok for me to hurry up and eat my dessert while he was singing because otherwise my ice cream was going to melt. LOL WOW! First off this country music legend was down-to-earth enough to speak directly to this fan and secondly, yep, that's how close I was to the stage! WOW! He even said something about handing my dessert to him to finish it. Obvious, I'm a complete stranger to this person because anyone that knows me knows not to even joke about messing with my chocolate.

Snack - Hmmm... You know what? I haven't had my after dinner snack and was so excited at the concert (and nervous at sitting so upclose) that I only finished off the salad, one piece of pork tenderloin(that was cooked perfectly), and oh yes the entire chocolate dessert. BUT I did restrain myself and not lick the plate clean. WOW this food diary is really paying off. Think of all the calories I saved by not cleaning the plate entirely! And with that, I deserve a snack! Mmmm rice cake here I come! hahaha


Night all!