As a follow-up to my last blog entry...

I just printed out some wonderful coupons I was emailed over the last few days: a free slice of pie from Shari's (it doesn't say a purchase is required), 500 Bonus Reward Points for Fred Meyer, a free 16 oz. blizzard with the purchase of another 16 oz. blizzard at DQ, two free bottomless beverages with the purchase of two Gourmet Burgers at Red Robin, and a free steak dinner with the purchase of an entree at Black Angus. Woot!

Free stuff for your birthday (and other free stuff and discounts)

I recently had my birthday and enjoyed a few things for free, and I heard a little later than I would've liked about other birthday giveaways. So I figured I'd start a compilation here. If you know anything free that you'd like me to add, feel free to leave a comment. I will edit this as I find out more information:

ICE CREAM
Baskin Robbins has a birthday club. I got a free scoop of ice cream for my birthday. And they also send occasional emails with coupons. I also got a $3 coupon off an ice cream cake.

Dairy Queen has a sign-up that asks for your birthday. I just signed up, so I'm not sure if I would've got something for free for my birthday, but for signing up you can buy one blizzard and get one free.

MEALS
Black Angus has a "Prime Club." I signed up the other day and got an email with a coupon and another that said, "Sorry we missed your birthday. Here's a steak on us." Sweet.

Red Robin emails a coupon for a free burger on your birthday, and they also email you coupons throughout the year. Joe and I got a free appetizer for no apparent reason not too long ago.

Denny's has a breakfast club I just signed up for. They say they email you offers, and for joining, I received a 20% off email.

13 Coins in Seattle has a dining club you can join for a fee. But Joe and I ate there in December and filled out a comment card (we REALLY liked the food), and since then, I received a letter thanking me for my comment, one for a free dessert for our anniversary, and one for a free dessert for my birthday. We haven't gone back yet, but we do plan to.

Shari's also has an e-club. I'm not sure yet what this entails, but it does ask for your birth month and says you'll receive birthday mailings.

And while looking for other fun birthday stuff, I ran across this list compiled by someone else: Birthday Deals and Discounts.

I also remember being told when I was in Arizona that a local theater let you see a movie for free for your birthday. I don't know if that's available here or where you live, but that might be something worth looking into.

A lot (if not all) of these require some sort of registration first, and if you are worried about spam email, set up a free email account through Hotmail or Yahoo or some other free hosting site and use that email for your registration. Also look carefully at what boxes are selected before sending your registration to avoid 3rd party emails. Then be sure to check your email for your email deals!

I'm so emo right now

Joe and I were watching something the other night where a girl made the comment that she was so emo at that moment, and I told Joe that I say that about myself sometimes.

Yesterday was one of those days. I am so grateful for my mother and the example she has played in my life. Being over a day's drive away from her, I don't get to see her very much at all. And that saddens me. There was a period of time after college where I would go to my parents' house every Sunday after church and enjoy a wonderful dinner. This was great for me because I would otherwise be left to my own devices, and that could've gotten very ugly very quickly.

But then life happened and those weekly dinners stopped happening. They still happened on occasion, and birthdays or other celebrations were often the cause of the get-togethers with whatever family could attend.

Now I don't have the luxury of just driving to my parents' when I miss them. And I don't get to see any of my siblings more than maybe once or twice a year (some less than that). That's really hard on me. Really hard.

So yesterday, I was thinking about my mom and my grandma and all my siblings who are mothers and all my friends who are mothers. And I was so emo. I felt a heart-breaking longing in my heart to be able to be called a mother. But I have to remember that it's not my time table I'm working under, but God's. Often, when I want something, I want it NOW, and this has been something I've been thinking about and wanting for quite some time.

I am so grateful I have such wonderful examples of mothers all around me, because it helps me not miss my mother quite as much when I can see the same kind of love from others toward their children.

I have $50

We had a credit card through Bank of America that we used to purchase some non-essentials. And it had reward points, so we started using it to purchase some essentials and then paying it off so we could rack up the points.

I didn't know what the points were for and Joe said it was stupid stuff, but after getting a letter from B of A that they were going to raise our APR, we decided to stop using the card and close the account so we could keep our old APR. And I wanted to use the points before they said we wouldn't be able to anymore.

So we found the website and decided that a gift card was the best route to go. Yeah, we could've had them send us cash, but we got more credit versus cash, so why not? We picked out a gift card to Amazon.com. I LOVE Amazon.com. Joe's a fan too. We each get $50 to spend, and I'm just trying to figure out what I should buy with mine.

Suggestions?

Oh my goodness!

So funny! Enjoy!

I want to be a magical piano player someday

Joe is finally out of the army! Hooray! He had his last training drill in April, turned in all his equipment (except the uniforms and other items he gets to keep), and got his last reservist paycheck. They are supposed to invite him back to an award ceremony later where he will get a plaque and coin and "some other stuff." He is happy to be done, and I am happy that I don't have to spend one weekend a month without him. :)

We sat down today and looked at our budget. Since I have lost my job, I have been able to temporarily relieve us of some ongoing bills until I am able to find employment and get paid again. We consider ourselves very lucky that we are able to get by without me having this job. It has been tough almost all year because of my being sick, but not having any extra money from my job (and now not having any extra from the army) coming in, we are going to have to make only a few slight modifications in our expenses while I'm unemployed.

And this gives me hope that someday I might be able to be a stay at home mom. Of course, with kids come added expenses, but hopefully Joe will continue to find opportunities to advance in his field, and maybe I'll be able to start making some money myself teaching piano lessons or something like that.

This past week, Ashley (one of our cats) had to be taken to the vet because of "the pirate eye" (Joe's words). By the time I took her to the vet, her eye was mostly better, with only some slight swelling and discharge. The vet thought she might've run into something (I do that all the time, just not usually with my eye!) or been scratched when wrestling with Sandy. She is back to looking healthy again (about $40 later) and back to wrestling and getting into mischief.

We had stake conference this weekend. Joe and I were amused by one of the speakers last night, who didn't enunciate her words carefully and ended up pronouncing words in ways that we found rather humorous. For example, instead of saying effort, she said what sounded more like "effret" and "mugician" instead of either magician or musician (I'm still not sure which one she meant). Then she made up words like "Ecclesiastics" as a book from the Bible and "favoritist" and "story tells". It's a good thing we were sitting toward the back, because I couldn't stop laughing at a couple points, and I would've been distracting to many more people than I was if more people were behind us.