5 Question Friday!

I love the fun Friday post opportunities blog world offers! Today at My Little Life, are 5 fun questions to answer!

1. If you could, would you go back to high school? Probably not, unless it was for the "fun" days....homecoming, prom, and the last day of school....otherwise I'm in love with my life now and enjoy embracing the future!

2. If a genie appeared and granted you two wishes, what would they be? (And, no saying "more wishes".) 100 acres of plush rolling hills, trees, and open pastures with a really long brick ranch style home with a white fence running up the long driveway AND...health and happiness for my family in all of our years to come.

3. What kids show do you secretly like? Well, if Full House counts, I DVR every episode and watch at least 1 a day...sometimes more than that!

4. What is your beverage of choice? I love, love Diet Dr. Pepper with lemon!

5. What is something that you would change about yourself (or are working to change in yourself)? Becoming more positive about things and remembering everyone is fighting some type battle...be nice!

Show Us Your Life--Money Tips

This week Kelly from Kelly's Korner is showcasing Money Tips...one of my favorite adult things! My obsession with saving money came right after I turned 16. I got all of this birthday money and gas money and put it in my purse and poof! It was gone before I turned around. Why? Well I had free reigns to fast food restaurants, could go shop whenever, etc. because I had a car. From that point on I tried to save. When I graduated high school and got lots of graduation money, I put it all in savings. I decided I would maybe buy myself a new cell phone before college. I saved all the way through college, putting my paychecks (which never amounted to much!) in savings and when I needed money I would transfer from savings to regular funds online. I had saved enough by the end of college for half of our down payment for our home! It paid off!

Here are a few tips I use frequently....

1. Pay with Cash
I use cash whenever possible to pay for things. I like "big" bills, $20s, $50s, $100s, and let me tell you, it's hard to break a $50 for a shirt you really don't need. I have somewhat convinced Kody cash can be your friend, but he hasn't mastered it all yet....I don't use cash for gas or groceries, those are usually much larger purchases than I have the cash for.

2. Plan menus and grocery shop accordingly
If you read my blog regularly you know I plan menus for 2 weeks with most of them being new recipes. What I do is, find at least 10 meals to have for the 5 week days for 2 weeks. I plan on cooking 1 weekend meal (being a Friday or Saturday night) and usually that's something we grill. We try to only eat out once a week, but it doesn't always work that way. I then make my grocery list by the recipes. I put down what we do not have and then what extra we may need, breakfast food, snacks, etc. We go shop and I typically spend around $100 for 2 weeks worth of food. I was shopping for 1 weeks a time and spent just as much because I played the looks good, so I'll grab it game. **Here's a good tip, take your husband to the store, so he's aware of what things cost...if he's like mine, he had no idea, and then is against buy 6 different kinds of fun Pringle flavors, just because the can is cool.**

3. If you have a loan, pay more than the amount they ask for...
It's no secret, we have 2 car payments. We are however paying off Kody's faster at the time, it should be paid off by the end of the year, pending anything major happening. Then we've decided until we can't, we'll put the amount that we used to pay on his loan, on mine, along with my monthly payment. Hopefully we can get my Yukon paid off in 2 years!

4. So much of my check gets put into savings. Then, if I need it I can transfer it over, but otherwise that's money in the bank!

5. Shopping...

I love to shop, but I don't just shop and buy things because I like it. I ALWAYS stop and ask myself, Where will this go? Is there a place for it on the wall/shelf/etc.?, Will I still like it in a year? How often will I wear it? If I can't give myself good answers to those questions then I don't buy it. I rarely ever buy anything full price. I either have a coupon or it's on sale....and I have good reasons of needing it.

6. Going out

Like I said, we don't go out to eat often. Just on the weekends normally. And we hardly go on large dates. We hardly ever go to the movies, because that's $20 a pop, and we can rent it for much less, we don't go bowling much, or anything else that costs much more than dinner. We seldom go out separate, because that's not really fair to the other one.

7. Keeping your utility bill DOWN

I'm pretty stingy when it comes to our utility bill. I'm a light Nazi. If you aren't in the room, the light needs to be OFF...if you aren't watching the tv, TURN IT OFF! And here's our big one right now, if it's not even the middle of May...we don't need air conditioning. We have already had some days where it's been 80+ degrees, and we haven't turned it on. By the time we come in at night it's cooler, and then when we settle down and sit still, it feels fine! We keep the fan on at night if it's warmer and maybe even open a window. Here lately the house has been 68 degrees, a little nippy in the mornings, but perfect at night. I am constantly reminding Kody to turn things off, but he's getting used to it. Our bills lately are around $85 a month. In the winter we have a wood furnace and that saves us a TON of money. It's nice warm heat too! :)

Really we just watch what we have and try to save what we can. Kody's motto used to be, If I die tomorrow I can't take it with me....Somewhere that has mainly changed and he understands we are saving for our future, our children, and what we want later on in life. We don't go without much, because we have a nice home and land, nice cars, clothes on our backs, and good food to eat.

I just strongly believe it doesn't hurt to save, you never know what will happen and when you will need money in the bank to help you out. Also, have health insurance! What a scary life to live if you didn't have it. I'm off my soapbox for now!

I love helpful tips, so I can't wait to read everyone else's!

At least tomorrow is Friday...

My blog is usually full of cheer, but today I'm just not feeling that way. So I'm sorry if you read this and think, wow, what a complainer...but it's my blog and I can complain if I want to. :)

I've had a headache for 9 days now, minus Saturday & Sunday. Perhaps it's work related? I'm not really sure, maybe allergies? Who knows. My job isn't really stressful and I love it, so I don't think it's work related. Although I did feel fine until I got to work this morning and then it started in. Medicine doesn't help at all, I've tried different things. Caffeine doesn't help, tried that. I drink lots of water throughout the day and that doesn't cut it...I'm getting frustrated. I made myself an appointment to get checked out tomorrow. I tried to get into a few family practitioners in my town, but the earliest was September/October for a new patient...Um, really, OK, I hope the headache is GONE by then. I finally got into a nurse practitioner, so we'll see what she says. I would place bets she will say, it's probably sinus related....sorry, nothing I can do. @$%#$%#$^%##%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I pretty much feel that way!

Our plumbing situation isn't a quick fix. And never think you are too good to wash dishes in your bathroom sink, because I did it last night. I'm not going to use the tub though, I refuse. I did make dinner, despite not having a kitchen sink or dishwasher and it was really good. It was this Lemon Chicken recipe from Kelly's Korner....make it tonight! Super good! Our problem stems from piping in the yard. Kody has dug a hole and went to buy a sump pump (of course he couldn't borrow the 4 that were offered to him, has to buy his own!! GRR!) and is going to pump out the water of the hole tonight. He cut the piping that drained the sink and dishwasher and has to fix it tonight, hopefully. We're either going to have to rent a backhoe to finish the job or hire it done. I'm hoping it's just as cheap to hire it done. I would rather someone come do it and leave and the job be done. Kody is always really handy and can do almost anything, but it takes him time and I don't know how long I can go with this mess! He's also really stubborn and cheap when it comes to a job and having someone else do it. Maybe my thriftiness is going a little too far on him. Like my mom says, Call the man!! I'd rather call and have it done today!

I had to go to a funeral today for a 21 year old boy I went to high school with. I work closely with his sister and that's the reason I went. It was horrible, enough said.

This weekend it's supposed to rain. That won't help our plumbing problem since the ground is so saturated already with last week's rain....and that's why water isn't pumping out properly. It's all too technical for me....don't ask questions.

I need a vacation. Hope you all are having a better day!

Sunshine Award!

Kendra from Kendra Diaries gave me my first blog award! I'm really excited and wanted to THANK HER so much! :) Go check out her blog, it's super cute!

“The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging world.”

Of course, awards come with rules…

1. Put the logo on your blog (sidebar)and/or within your post.

2. Pass the award on to twelve bloggers.

3. Link to the nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and the link to the person from whom you received this award.

I love to read each of these blogs daily. The daily updates are my treat and I look forward to each time they upload a new post on my dashboard! So here are the 12 people who I would like to pass this award onto:

1. Emily at Just to Keep in Touch

2. Jess at A Little Bit of Everything

3. Ashley at the Happily Ever Afters of the Lancasters

4. Megon at Oliver Lane

5. Annie at Dump Trucks, Babies & Everything Else

6. Lynsie at Inside the Life of Lynsie Gabel

7. Jennifer at Joshua Brody Francis

8. Melissa at Love, Marriage, and (Someday) a Baby Carriage

9. Amanda at The Reeds

10. Lyndsie at A Love Worth Waiting For

11. Ashley at Ashley's Avenue

12. Ashley at Day to Day Life in the Hamby House

If you haven't check out these blogs, they are all wonderful, inspiring girls! Like I said, I love to read each one of these and their daily updates and never miss a post!

Top 2 Tuesday--Favorite Things of SuMmEr!

The Undomestic Momma is at it again! She's got a new blog look too and I'm in love with it, go check it out.

I'm not quite sure I can narrow SUMMER down to 2 favorite things, but I will sure try........


1. Kentucky LakeMy in-laws have a house on the lake. It's such a fun place to go, especially when we're all 8 there in the 3 bedroom house with 1 bathroom. Makes for an interesting stay. We do have a lot of fun and I've got several Thompson lake weekend memories, and can't wait to make more. I can see that house in a few years when we all have kiddos...oh what fun the cousins will have!!

2. Laying out!

I just love a good book, drink, sunglasses, and the sun out nice and hot! One summer I took a chemistry and political science and I would take my books to the pool!! This 8-5 job really screws up my tan!!!!

Go link up with Taylor!

Monday already?

Here it is, Monday again! I don't usually blog much during the weekends, so I'll catch ya'll up on what went on at the Thompson house! Friday I started the weekend off RIGHT with a massage. Oh boy, it was much needed. My left hip has been uncomfortable for over a year now and she really worked on it. :) I left a happy girl. Kody and I met up and we met my parents and Alex, who was home, at the First Christian Church for Kiwanis Pancake day! They have this event in the spring and fall and it's a tradition the Prewett family has...we always go. It was a Friday night this year which made for more difficulties, but we made it work. They were tasty too, I hate making pancakes at home, so I normally just wait for Kiwanis Pancake day.

Afterwards in the pouring rain Kody and I went to Wal-Mart to get our 2 weeks worth of groceries. He was pretty tired and draggy by the end of the trip, but I like him to come along to see how much things cost. :) Sneaky girl! We do though usually spend around $100 for 2 weeks, that's by planning out our meals! We are saving lots of money doing this. Dave Ramsey would be proud!! Once we got home we were in bed early. We both were tired from the long week.

Saturday I got to sleep in for awhile. I went over to my grandparent's house and helped them on their basement for a couple of hours. I went by Mom's and had her trim my hair, (She used to cut hair so she's legit! ;)), and then went home to wait on Kody to get home and get ready for Rockbridge. Rockbridge is a Trout Ranch on a spring with an old mill that's now a bar area. We love to go there and go often. It's about an hour away on really curvy roads. I made it fine though. We had a drink outside in the old mill house and then went on in to eat. Here are some pictures of the Mill area...Inside where the bar is, where you can sit and look at the water....

From the opposite side, here you can see the whole Mill Dinner was great, as it always is there. We had the smoke salmon appetizer and it's to die for! We also had some potato skins for Dad & Alex...yummmmm!

The Spring...A man doing a little fly fishing Me & Kody
My parentsKody, Alex, & Mal...nice picture of KT...haha
For dinner I had Monterrey Trout, which is kind of spicy....it was good! We had a nice meal and some really good laughs. Earlier in the day I found an OLD New Kids on the Block Barbie and he was hilarious looking. He had a blonde rat tail. I actually put it in my purse because I knew my Dad and brother would think it was hilarious. He looked like my Dad's friend, Dirk, who is stuck in the 80s.....so I said Dirk would enjoy dinner with us.....you can't see his rat tail here, but you can see his gold earring, he had a ring to match. LOL! The only problem with getting him out was he was naked....oh boy this embarrassed my brother, especially after Kody put him face down in Alex's baked potato while he was in the restroom..... Sunday was a good day too. Crappy weather, but hey, I was off, so I won't complain. We went to church and Sunday school. Sunday School was good, we learned about Tough Love, especially during the teenage years. After church we ran home for awhile and then went back in for lunch at Mom & Dad's with my Mom's side of the family. It was Alex's farewell lunch. We had taco salad...scrumptious! We were lazy there for awhile before going home. We watched Monsters & Aliens last night, the Pixar movie and it was cute. We called it a night early!

It's a blustery spring day today, tonight after dinner we are going to attempt to mow. Hopefully the rain is over. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, taking my MaMa & Nandad to Springfield for Dr. appointments. We are going to squeeze in some shopping! ;)

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

I just used random.org to choose the WINNER of the giveaway!
True Random Number Generator Min:1 Max:21
Result: 9

That winner would be my birthday friend, Jess Ladd! Jess, contact me with your information, exactly what you want on the tile, and all that fun stuff. Check out her blog girls, it's her birthday!

Thanks to everyone who participated. I will be doing more giveaways, it's just a matter of time!

Happy Friday!

Show Us Your Life--How I Met My Husband!

Kelly's Korner is doing a fun Show Us Your Life today, How You Met Your Husband! This is really one of my favorite stories to tell. Sit back and relax, maybe even go get a snack, because this will be long.

Here's the story of how we met...
It was the end of September 2003, my Junior year of High School, and my friend Jessica and I were cruising the town like we would any other Friday night. Living in a small town (11,000), we knew almost all the regular cruisers....a Nissan Extera stood out to us and we said, "Oh those are college boys!" We started following them and finally got them to pull over at Wendy's. There were 3, and we immediately recognized the driver. I believe I said outloud, "Aaron Randolph?!" Aaron was Kody's best friend and was originally from my hometown, but later moved to Jackson, MO. Aaron was a cute kid, wild, but not really my type. I was more interested in his passenger. We all went inside and they got some food. I talked with Kody for awhile and then we said our goodbyes. I went home that Friday night and didn't think much else about him.

Saturday...I was cruising around town with my friend Courtney, her boyfriend at the time, and this boy they were trying to set me up with. I was clearly wanting to leave his presence so when we went through Auto Zone (aka, teenage hang-out spot) I begged her to let me out. She did and I stood around and talked to people for awhile. THEN...the Extera pulled back up. This time a few more guys from WP were in it...since they knew Aaron. They invited me to go ride around so I felt comfortable since I knew the guys driving....Kody and I started talking. We talked about our families while everyone else was probably jamming out to Now 14 or whatever was popular at the time...we talked about religion, what church we went to, if we went, size of family, parents' occupations....etc, etc, etc. He finally said you really are the type of girl I want to marry some day and I agreed he had many of the same characteristics as I did and how we'd probably be a good match. We ended up at Wal-Mart and you know those cheesy, fake diamond rings? Well he bought one and "proposed" in Wal-Mart. How corny I know, but it was sweet. I was rushing them to take me back to my car because I didn't want to be late for my curfew. We exchanged numbers and I really had high doubts I would never hear from him again.

An hour later he called, we talked, and he continued to call back every night after 9...when cell minutes were free. I was strict though, at 10, I went to bed so we didn't talk more than an hour most nights. He played football and couldn't come back until season was over. Him and a friend returned the beginning of November. They stayed with people they met and we hung out and he met my parents. I remember after he left on Sunday my Dad said, "This IS NOT a realistic situation."

And it wasn't! I was 17 and he lived 3 1/2 hours away. (It's shorter now because of lane extentions). We continued to talk and he came to visit a couple more times and my parents warmed up to him. I wanted to meet his family so bad, so December 27th we were in Munford, TN visiting my great-grandparents for Christmas and his parents drove the 3 hours down to meet my parents and take me with them. I had a blast in Jackson, met his whole family and really liked the town. We had this long distance relationship for almost 2 years. He moved to Nashville after he graduated in 2004 to go to his diesel college. That lasted a year and he moved back just as I moved into the dorm in Cape Girardeau at SEMO. We went from being 3 hours away to 10 minutes. We spent a lot of time together but I had to see if it would work with us being in the same town. And it did! I graduated from SEMO in 2008 and he moved to West Plains with me, thankfully got a good job, and so did I. We bought our house in March before we were married in October. We finally got engaged October 2008, 5 years after we met. This year we will celebrate 7 years of being together. Seems unreal to me!

God has truly blessed us, we are each other's best friend and have lots in common. Our lives were quite parallel, which just makes me think fate brought us together! Here are some pictures (I took pics of pics, so sorry for the bad quality) of our lives apart, and then together!

Kody had a love for animals early on, as evident in this picture above...quite the dresser back then too.

I've always been pretty bright eyed, ready for what's going to happen next! And how could he resist a girl who loves popsicles, almost as much as he does?

I think Kody was a looker from early on....

Plus he was a family man, and that's very important to me....

He loves his Mom and Dad....

His brother & sister....

And Big Trucks....

He loves to hunt...

And some things never change, these have all remained the same!
How could he resist me? I love my brother...

I was a looker early on...hahaha, those are Easter egg halves...

And a girl who loves a motorcycle? Well that's just the cherry on top!

By marrying Kody I've added 2 new sisters, (2 new brothers too, just didn't have a picture)Kody has added a new brother, and we both now have an extra set of parents who we love dearly!

And together, we love our furbabies very much!

We are so blessed to have each other and two supportive families. We are excited for where our journey will take us, together!

5 Question Friday!

Friday means 5 Questions and Show Us Your Life...some of my favorite posts. I'm saving my Show Us Your Life for tomorrow. Five Crooked Halos has 5 new questions for us!

1. What was the first car you owned? 1996 Pontiac Sunfire was my first car. I only drove it for 3 months before I wrecked it. The first car I owned, that I'm paying for is my Yukon! And I'm glad to pay for it, at least it's better than my last car, never was very dependable!

2. What song are you embarrassed to know the lyrics to? "If You Wanna Be My Lover" by the Spice Girls...

3. Have you ever had stitches? Somehow NO...I just knocked on wood...I've had several accidents.

4. What was your first job? besides babysitting and working at my Dad's jewelry store, student worker in the Southeast Missouri State University Accounting office. HATED it!

5. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character? Oh my gosh, love Sesame Street. I love Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Mr. Snufalupagus--sp?, etc.

Home Grown Goodness!

Here's a garden update for all those interested...While dinner baked last night we took a walk through the garden to see what all had popped up! The corn looks great, the 5 rows are very obvious now, with it standing around 3-4 inches! Looks so cute!Our strawberry plants have berries popping out of several of the blooms. That's VERY exciting for us since we both have love addictions with strawberries! We have some squash and zucchini popping up as well, tonight it was actually twice the size. The rain that came today, fast and hard, helped out a lot. The garden hadn't had any rain water this year. Where there were just tiny, tiny green bean leafs sticking out, there's not taller stems with leaves! Amazing! I didn't get a picture of those tonight though. Our tomatoes, okra, and hot peppers seem to be thriving as well!

The tulips are in full bloom and are so pretty. This is probably my favorite color of my favorite flower. I'd call it lipstick pink...

Hope these pictures put a little cheer in your Thursday evening. I'm ready for tomorrow, it has been a busy week, but it's gone by fast...thank goodness! Tomorrow afternoon I am taking off work early and my Mom is treating me to a massage! Bless her, I need it. My hip's been killing me and shoulder today. It's always something.

Please keep my friend Jamie and her husband Jake in your prayers right now. They lost their baby right before she was to be induced. They really need lifted up in your prayers right now. Thank you.

Have a great Friday!