One Dozen Cupcakes - FREE!

UPDATE:  Sarah sent me an email on 5/7 saying that there has been a death in the family and she needed to postpone my order.  I'm not sure if she still intends to offer this deal.

I was cruising around on craigslist last night (very bored at work), and I found an ad for FREE CUPCAKES!  I figured it was too good to be true, but since I would do anything for free cupcakes, I looked into it, and it's actually a sweet deal.  

Sweetcakes Cupcake Bakery is a new home-based business in Colorado Springs.  Sarah, the owner, recently moved to town and before opening a storefront, she thought she would spread the word about her delicious cupcakes by letting us have a taste.  Sarah will bake and deliver one dozen cupcakes within 10 miles of Fort Carson for FREE!  I just talked to her and we are going to meet at the Citadel Mall so she doesn't have to drive all the way out to my house.  

Check out her website at www.sweetcakescupcakebakery.com for a list of flavors.  I chose Orange Creamsicle, which is orange flavored cupcake with vanilla pudding filling and orange frosting (doesn't that sound dreamy?). 

Don't worry, I asked Sarah if she would mind if I told friends and family about this and she said to spread the word!  Enjoy!

Baskin Robbins 31 cent Scoop Night

Here's a sweet deal for ya:  Baskin Robbins ice cream for 31 cents per scoop! 

• Wednesday, April 29
• 5 pm to 10 pm
• Limit 3 scoops per person
• Sales benefit the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) National Junior Firefighter Program

Plus, did you know that you can get free ice cream on your birthday if you register on their website?  www.baskinrobbins.com

Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I put advertising on my blog.  I'm just curious... can you blame me?  If you find it really annoying please leave a comment and I'll get rid of it.  I'm sure I'll make big bucks with my avid readership :).

Speaking of yummy treats, here's a picture of Baby after eating her birthday cake (I didn't get any pictures of her eating but will upload a video soon!).  Her first taste of sugar was successful.  I'm sure if she had a tooth it would be a sweet one!  I gave her a huge slice and then felt guilty so I stole it away when she was halfway done (which is probably what I should have felt guilty about; what kind of a mom does that?).  Don't worry, she didn't notice it was gone.   By the way, the brown stuff on the side of her head is not hair, it's chocolate.  That's my girl!  

 (Thanks for the picture, mom!)

Hiking from Mexico to Canada

My sister is on a really long walk right now.  It will take her approximately 5 months to hike 2,627 miles from Mexico to  Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail.  Maggie quit her job as a pediatric nurse in Seattle, donated her gorgeous hair to Locks of Love, then spent a couple weeks dehydrating food and packing 14 boxes to be mailed to various towns along the trail.  She will be walking through desert (watch out for scorpions and don't run out of water!), over mountains (storing her food in a bear vault), and going through several pairs of shoes as her feet swell up to two sizes.  She started the trip alone but will meet all sorts of interesting characters along the way, including "trail angels" -- people who live near the trail and bring food and supplies for the through-hikers.  

If you want to hear all about her adventures, check out her blog at http://www.trailjournals.com/maggiemcdonell.  Don't I have the coolest little sister ever?  

Right before Mags left we went on a quick hike at Palmer Park, only 15 minutes from home and right in the middle of town.  Baby weighs nearly as much as her backpack, so it was good training.  We did the Kinnikinnik trail, which begins just west of the dog park near the Maizeland entrance.  The best part was the "picnic area", which lead us to beautiful views of Pikes Peak.  Near the end of the trail there is a great pavilion with a dozen or so picnic tables that would be perfect for a larger gathering.  This is a good trail for kids (I've gone with a 4-year old!) because there's plenty of shade, fun little side-trails leading to caves, and rolling hills rather than a straight climb up a mountain.  

My mom, Holly, with Baby and me at the picnic area of Kinnikinnik trail.

Baby's 1-year Portraits

Baby turns one tomorrow!  This year went by so quickly.  Here are a few pictures of our little angel in her Easter dress:

Actually...it is rocket science

Nick is graduating with a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs next month, which is an amazing enough accomplishment alone, but check this out:

• He received straight A's throughout the entire degree, even with a newborn baby at home
• He was named "Outstanding MS Graduate" (in other words, #1 in his  class)
• He defended his thesis, "A General Perturbations Guidance Scheme for Electrodynamic Tethers with Libration Effects", (???), a couple weeks ago and it will soon be published
  
• More good news career-wise coming soon

I would post a cute picture of Nick in his cap and gown, but he refuses to attend the potentially boring graduation ceremony (I don't blame him).  Congratulations, Nick!

Baby Tricks Videos

Baby does lots of tricks.

1. Sticking her tongue out
2. Clapping
3. Shaking her head "no"
4. Throwing her arms up and diving backwards, sometimes when we are not expecting it

5. Eating finger foods
6. Weirdly squishing her cheek into her shoulder, which unintentionally creates one squint-eye

7. Being extremely cute (we did this to her twice, and the first time she was much more pleasant about it but it was not caught on tape)



We love you, Baby!

Sweet Deal: Staples Paper Freebie

"Um, I think we have more paper than Work".  -Nick

I'm discovering that being a SAHM is very different than being a DINK (Stay-at-Home-Mom vs. Dual-Income-No-Kids.  Keep up with my acronyms, people!).  I've always been cheap; now I'm scary-cheap.  I routinely check websites like Coupon Mom and Deal Seeking Mom to find out about deals you can get when you combine coupons/rebates and sales.  By spending a little extra time researching before making my shopping list, I've been able to save some money and start a small stockpile of items we use all the time.  The only problem is that I often get excited about a good deal only to find that our local stores don't carry that specific size, have sold out of the item, don't accept my coupon, or don't have the same sale prices that these national websites list.  

Whenever I find a great deal at our Colorado Springs stores, I'll let you know about it.  

Yesterday, I found a deal on Common Sense with Money for reams of paper at Staples.  Apparently, they are changing their packaging so they're offering a $5.99 rebate on a $6.99 package.  Even better, they accept competitor's coupons, so you can use this $10 off $50 Office Depot coupon.  I can confirm that our Staples on Powers Blvd. is indeed offering this sale and rebate, will accept this coupon, and as of yesterday, had plenty of this paper in stock (although I did have to ask them to get more from the backroom).  Staples has a really easy rebate program through their website, too; it took about 2 minutes to submit and I will receive my rebate within 4-6 weeks.

Here's what I did:

8 reams of paper @ $6.99 each:  $55.92

$10 off $50 Office Depot coupon:  -$10.00

Rebate of $5.99 each:  -$47.92

Total Cost:  -$2  (yes, you will actually earn a profit)

Now we have enough paper to last for the rest of our lives.  I just need to find a place to store it...

Welcome to my new blog!

I have recently discovered the world of blogging. I suppose they call it the Blogosphere. What did I used to do with my time? Maybe I did productive things, like clean out the refrigerator. Now I'm addicted to entering giveaway contests and getting ideas for cute crafts that I will never make.

One of my new year's resolutions was to take advantage of the beautiful hiking trails in Colorado Springs more often. "Baby" is getting heavier every day, and I'm not exactly in fourteener condition, so I turned to Google to find suggestions for easy local trails. So...are there are no blogs dedicated to hiking trails in Colorado Springs? Or local restaurant reviews? At least nothing that my search engine skills could detect.

Maybe there are people out there who would appreciate posts about:

• Baby-friendly hiking trails within 45 minutes' drive of Colorado Springs
• Unique, affordable mom-and-pop restaurants
• Sweet deals found locally, from coupon/rebate freebies to cheap entertainment ideas
• Sabey family updates, including too many pictures of my sweet little angel Baby
  
• Miscellaneous tidbits, such as book recommendations, gardening adventures at high altitude, and recipes

Thank you for visiting my blog, and please take a moment to leave a comment with any content suggestions. Come back soon!