SMOKIN Deal!

Yesterday I went to Michaels to look for just a few small things I needed for my scrapbooking. I was walking around browsing through the aisles when all of the sudden, I saw these die cut alphabet sets on clearance for $9.97.

Now, that normally wouldn't be a big deal, except for the fact that these sets are normally...$149.99!!

I thought that couldn't be right that they were that cheap, I thought maybe they left off a number or something, so I peeled back the clearance sticker to see the price behind it, and sure enough they had previously been marked down to $69.97.

I have been wanting a die cut machine for years, but had given up on ever getting one because it was all so expensive! But, the machine itself is between $50-$100 depending on what kind you get. The alphabet sets are the most expensive thing at $149.99 a piece! The alphabet was what I wanted the machine for the most, so I had just given up on ever getting one...until yesterday!

I couldn't believe how good of a deal I was getting! They had 6 sets there, and I got 3 of them. (Now I wish I would have gotten all 6) So I got those 3 alphabet sets, and a bunch of other small stuff that I actually went to the store to get, all for $53! The alphabet sets alone, full price would have been $450! Talk about sale of the season! I don't think I will ever find another sale that good on anything ever!




Last night, Dan and I went to 2 other Michaels to see if we could find any other sets and get them also. The other stores were completely sold out, but one of the stores did have some other cute dies & embossers that are originally $9.99 on clearance for...$.97! So I got the 4 that they had, a heart, a gift, a flower and a "Lets Party!" die.





This weekend, my friend Marie is coming down to stay with us and scrapbook with me. We're going to go Friday night and split the cost of the smallest $50 machine, since we only need that one for the small dies we have now.

Plus, with my purchase yesterday, I got a 40% off any one item coupon in my receipt; so we're going to use that with the machine and pay about $15 each for it!

I am very excited to start using my dies this weekend and add a whole new element to my scrapbooks. I was looking through them the other day and was noticing how plain they are compared to what you might see in the store or somewhere like that. I had just been thinking how much I wished I could afford to add some really cute new stuff to them...and now I can!

More to come after I use them and find out what they're all about...

4th of July

Dan and I were able to take a quick little getaway trip to Las Vegas and St. George, UT for the 4th of July weekend. We left Friday night and drove to Mesa where we dropped our dogs off at my mom's and stayed the night with Dan's grandma.

Saturday morning (July 4th) we got up early and started our drive. We left around 7am and drove to Kingman where we ate lunch at the traditional Wendy's. (We couldn't imagine going anywhere else)


Then we got back on the road and drove to Las Vegas, only taking us about 20 minutes at Hoover Dam. We parked at the MGM and walked all around the strip. We wanted to try to go see the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, as neither of us have ever seen it with all the times we've been to Vegas. So we thought we'd walk down there so we could take pictures, etc. Not the best plan...as it was over 100 degrees and this was around 2pm...we were both sweating like pigs by the time we got to Mandalay Bay, so we decided to can the idea and take the tram back to the Excaliber. We went over to the Coca Cola world to sit and rest with an ice cold Coke, and then walked over to the M&M world to look around.





We started running short on time, so we went back to the car and drove over to the temple to take a few more pictures.



We left then, and drove to St. George, UT. We have only been there once since we've been married (which was the only time I'd ever been) and probably our closest friends Wes & Tiff Webster live there and have come here to see us a ton of times...needless to say, we owed them big time.

We stopped on our way in to take a few pictures of the temple at sunset. Wes called just as we were leaving the temple wondering where we were; when I told him "we stopped by the temple on our way in" he responded with "yeah, that's what I thought..." lol He knows us too well and our love for taking pictures of temples.





We went to The Pizza Factory for dinner, as recommended by everyone who lives in St. George. It was fantastic! We went to watch the 2 fireworks shows that were battling each other before going back to Wes & Tiff's.



The rest of the time we really just relaxed with the Websters, caught up with each other, and played the Totally Insane Card Game.

We left Monday morning to come home, this time getting stuck for an hour and a half at Hoover Dam...we were backed up in traffic 4 miles before we even got into the dam. But then we went on to Kingman, where we stopped again at Wendy's for lunch. We reminiced about almost exactly 2 years prior when we hit the coyote just south of Kingman, on our way home from St. George the first time. That turn of events that ended in our Trailblazer being in the mechanic shop for over 2 months, Dan's mom being in what could have been a very serious tragic car accident in OUR Trailblazer, and Dan's grandfather passing away. All within the first 2 months of our marriage...it was fun to reflect back on that time in our life and how we got through it and grew so much together because of it all.



(Where our trailblazer finally died and we were stranded for hours after hitting the coyote and having no cell phone reception at 3am)

We were able to stop by my grandparents' house in Surprise, AZ on our way back into Phoenix. It was very fun to sit for a few minutes and visit with them, as we never go out there and Dan had never been to their house. We only ever get to see them at my mom's on holidays.

We picked up our dogs in Mesa around 8pm on Monday evening and started the very familiar drive back home. It was overall a very relaxing and much needed trip. Although it was quick, and we wished we could have stayed longer, we were very grateful for the ability we had to getaway for a few days and spend some time with our friends.

Next trip...Minneapolis, MN in August...it's coming quick!