All You

I think I've mentioned it before, but if anyone has been thinking about starting to clip coupons, you have to pick up a copy (at least one...I bought three) of the June issue of All You magazine (only available at Wal-Mart registers). It sells for $2.49 and June's issue has the most coupons ever...$112.55 worth!! This magazine pays for itself over and over!


The best coupons I see right away are:

• $1 off All-Bran cereal - combined with the right sale, this would make for some very cheap cereal if you like All-Bran.
  
• $1 off Cottonelle Toilet Paper - Wal-Mart has 4-packs on sale for $1 now, so with this coupon, it would be FREE! Cottonelle is also on sale at CVS this week if you miss the Wal-Mart deal.
  
• $20 off any Philips Norelco arcitec Razor - this might make a good Father's Day gift.
  
• $4 off any Schick Quattro Titanium Razor, Trimmer, or refill - there will probably be a deal coming up at CVS for these.
  
• $1 off Schick Xtreme3 Disposable Razors - again, I expect a deal at CVS for this.
  

Speaking of deals, here are just a few of the free items I got at Wal-Mart yesterday.

• The Cottonelle deal I mentioned above. 
  
• Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara from the FREE coupon in April's All You.
  
• Hunt's Ketchup free from a coupon I signed up for and got in the mail.
  
• And I forgot to put my three bottles of free Kraft BBQ sauce in the picture...it's on sale at Wal-Mart right now for $0.98 and I had three $1 off coupons I printed off the internet!

Announcing: the Newest Norman!

When I got home from town yesterday, I found a new little wobbly brown calf in our pasture! He is definitely still shaky on the new legs, but he and mama were very camera-shy and hightailed it to the back of the pasture as soon as I came close to the fence. Norm likes this cow and says he's never had any problems out of her, but it's looking like this will be the last calf we'll see out of her. He's talking about getting rid of her before she starts having problems, as she's getting pretty old in cow years. I hate to see her go...I love the brown cows with the white faces the best!

CONSUMED

Yesterday I got to take a little trip to Keystone. My laptop had been randomly shutting off for months, and after multiple phone calls to AppleCare, it was determined that I needed to bring it in for a check-up.




I was only there about five minutes when my handy Apple Genius ran a battery check and gave me my diagnosis: my battery was...CONSUMED. As in used up. He asked if I use my computer frequently...um, you could say that. So, after three hours driving round trip, a total of about 20 minutes in the Apple store (10 minutes of which I was waiting for my appointment and ogling the little white MacBooks), and $138.03 for a new battery, we're rolling again! We'll see how long it takes me to consume this one...mmm, I'm feeling hungry right now!

Book Review: Skinny by Laura L. Smith

A little over a month ago, I signed up with a couple of publishers to provide reviews for their books, in exchange for a free copy of each book I review. I got to pick the book I wanted to review, from the list of their books available. I received my books within just a couple days of signing up, and have finally read and written my review for the first book. Hopefully I can read and review the second book shortly.

The first book I reviewed is Skinny by Laura L. Smith, from NavPress, a Christian book publisher. Click here for more information on their book review program.


Here is my review:

Skinny was a fast and enjoyable read. Melissa is a normal teenage girl, with dance team practice, sleepovers with friends, homework, tests, and boy drama. She is struggling to hold it all together and get control of her life. Melissa works to lose weight because she thinks it will help in her quest to be picked for dance team captain, but in the process she becomes obsessive about what she eats (and everything else in her life). She tries to hide it from her friends and family, but eventually her juggling balls start dropping and she is forced to confess her problems. Only then can those closest to her start helping and show her a way back to a more normal life. Melissa’s faith is also a big part of her life, and she uses scripture and prayer in her recovery.

When most people think about eating disorders, they can’t understand how people could do that to themselves. This book helps the reader understand how those people transition from normal lives to stressing over every calorie. It shows how all of the little stresses in someone’s life can add up to such a huge problem; one that they struggle to keep hidden from those closest to them.

The author could have gone into more detail about the character’s recovery process, but all in all this was a good book and one I’d recommend to any teenage girl or her parents.