I am having a rough time dealing with my Gabriella turning one.  This past year flew by and I feel like she never really was a baby...it all was a blur!  Between moving into a new house, the wedding and everything else that happened, this year flew by! 

It seems like yesterday I was writing the post about her arrival. She is such an amazing part of our family, I don't know what we did without her.  She loves to make us laugh and smile everyday, I can tell she is going to be the family joker.

Happy Birthday Gabby Goose!  (Or Gaga, as she calls herself)

Peanut Butter for the first time.  She was a fan.

Obviously needed a bath after the PB mess.

On the way to the Y to play with her friends!  Tutu is necessary, of course!

Loving her new phone.  "Hellllo?"

Starting out with the coupons early!

Princess Gabby!

"Mama, you are embarrassing me!  Enough pictures!"

True pain.  This is why I don't wear jewelry.

Beautiful cake made by our friend Sophia.

Burned out birthday girl!

We can't wait to see what this next year brings! 

Favorite things from Costco

We love the double carts at Costo, although we still need two now that G is sitting up.

It's pretty obvious we love Costco.  I have started to do my shopping monthly and our first trip is always to Costco (followed by Aldi).  They have great prices and we love the food samples....it helps keep the kids from squirming too much!  At first we weren't sure if the membership was worth the money, since you can't use coupons there, but we have learned it saves us so much money!  Now that we have been members for a year, we have tried out so many great products.  We have way more than five favorites, but I narrowed it down to must-haves (kind of...).  You know I love to ramble, especially when it comes to talking about shopping.

Here's my Top 5:

1. Bread/Carbs.  We love the organic wheat 2-packs.  For $3.99, it freezes well and is perfect for everyday sandwiches.  We also love the pita pockets, pizza crust, English muffins, sandwich thins and Flatout wraps.  Let's face it, we will never be on a carb-free diet!
2. Produce.  If you have little ones who eat like I do, the produce is amazing.  We buy the big bags of broccoli, berries, whole pineapples and sweet potatoes.  We freeze a lot, too.  If you search on Pinterest, you can find out how to freeze anything!
3. Ground Turkey.  It's our favorite lean ground type and it is only $2.99 lb.  We don't eat much beef, so we stock up when we go.
4. Alcohol.  If you are a wine drinker, be sure to shop at Costco.  The prices are great!  Also, big bottles of alcohol are at amazing prices.  We stocked up for the wedding and saved major money.
5. Kid Snacks.  Although I don't usually like to buy snack bags, they are actually cheaper by ounce this way at Costco.  Our favorites are Annie's bunnies and Veggie Straws.  Perfect for on-the-go or picnics.

Honorable mentions: Baby wipes, chicken stock, pesto and Prego sauce.

What do you love to buy at Costco?

Meet Mrs.Evans!

I am officially a Mrs!!!  Not that life has really changed, but our marriage was an exciting day for us.  We have been together since 2005 and it was about time! We had a small ceremony in my hometown and the weather was absolutely perfect.  I have been frantically planning for the past 5 months and it turned out very well!

We went on a 5 night honeymoon to Mexico and it was just what we needed.  It was hard to leave the ladies though, but we knew they were in good hands.

Give me a beach book, sun and a margarita and I'm a happy girl!

My hubby!

Pool bar = best invention EVER. 

Now we can relax and enjoy our summer and Gabriella's first birthday this week.  Where did the time go?

Any words of wisdom for us?

*GIVEAWAY!* UPrinting die-cut cards

Create a custom business card!

I have been shopping around for business cards for a while now.  Yes, I know I am not officially working right now, but I love to spread the word about my blog.  I came across this website and I absolutely love the die-cut shapes!  They look very unique and the website helps you create a custom card.  I am so excited to see mine!

Even if you aren't in the market for business cards, you could make some "Mommy Cards".  I was also thinking about making these.  You put your information and give them to other Mamas at playgroups or wherever you may meet new people.  It's a quick and easy way to exchange information!

Check out the UPrinting.com website and you can win a set of your own cards!

Enter below!!  Contest ends on Tuesday, June 19!

Prize Information:

• 250 Die-cut Business Cards!  PLUS free shipping! 

Restrictions:

1. This giveaway is open to US residents only, 18 years old and above.

2. No prize substitutions allowed.

3. Winners are allowed to win once over a six-month period.

4. Only email addresses used for the giveaway will be eligible to claim the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"You should assume that I will receive free print products in exchange for the post. Any and all reviews posted are based solely on my own experience and may be atypical. Please practice due diligence in making any related purchase decisions. Interested to hold a giveaway like this? Please sign up here.”

Spread the word! Operation: Kid Equip

I am so happy my fellow blogger friend Mrs. Weber's Neighborhood told me about this cause.   Operation: Kid Equip is a Michigan based program which is trying to raise funds to get books in the hands of homeless children.  Their goal is to raise $15,000 by August.  Did you know that there are 31,000 homeless children in the state of Michigan? 

The stats on the site are very eye-opening.  I had no idea there were so many children in the Kent County area!  Even if you don't have the funds to donate, please spread the word as much as you can!

Here are ways to help:

Tweet:

Help provide books to all of #Michigan’s homeless students with @OKE_News here: http://bit.ly/L1SHhu #OKEBooks

Or simply spread the word on Facebook.  Every little bit helps!

 

Garden time: round two!

Last year, we lived in an apartment and our gardening attempts were very sad.  We had a crazy neighbor who was sabotaging our garden and a location with no sun.  No bueno!

This year, we are starting off with a fresh plan.  We have a big, sunny backyard waiting for a garden.  Also, the twins are old enough to "help" with the planting the seeds.  I really think they will enjoy helping me this summer...especially once they realize they can eat what we are growing!

We started off buying seeds from Menards.  It was a great way to get the girls excited.  They picked out what they wanted to grow and we came home with one of those big grid seed starters (I'm sure there is a real name for that...).  This was in March.  Remember that big sunny week we had?   The seeds were growing great and I was so excited.   And then the cold weather returned.  But of course, we live in Michigan.

From that point on, our seeds were dwindling and finally ended up being useless.

This counts as a workout, right? I may or may not have a glass of sangria waiting for me on our deck...

Flash forward to this week.  Ricky built a garden box and we are ready to plant.  I am very optimistic, despite the fact that none of my planted seedlings made it.  We just shelled out a few extra bucks to buy plants.  Is that cheating?

If you are a gardener, please give me any tips!  We are planting tomorrow and pretty much crossing our fingers Rambo doesn't destroy it.

Stay tuned!

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Last time I posted a fitness magazine deal, people loved it!  So here is another great deal for you.  Make sure you enter the promo code to get the discount!

I love this magazine for the quick workout tips and recipes.  One of my favorite recipes from the winter was found in a fall issue: turkey meatball minestrone.

Happy reading!