the GRRRR update....

Ok I'm trying not to be gone for so long these days! So as you know Tyson has been laid off for over a month now and guess how blessed we've been by the unemployment office~you guessed it ZIP! ZELCH! ZERO! NADDA!!!! They keep finding some crappy piddly reason to kick back his claim~I mean you have to be a rocket scientist to be able to fill out the stupid forms!!!! And of course when you try to call you have to wait on hold FOREVER!!! all the while, you are supposed to be making 5 job contacts a week trying to find a job~it's a catch 22 I tell you!

Ok I promise this is going somewhere~we have however been blessed in other ways and so far we are good! so really I can't complain, but DANG! someone needs to get their act together. So then we move on to the Workforce Solutions who is supposed to be helping Tyson get his school paid for~but no one can tell him if this semester is going to be taken care of. And of course Tyson doesn't push the issue, So I got on the phone yesterday to the director of financial aid at the college and found out that the school will be taken care of for this semester if the stupid workforce office will fax a letter stating they aren't going to take care of it. UGH!!! Even the lady I talked to at the college yesterday was frustrated.

So then I came home and looked up his claim status online last night and it said that he will be getting back pay for the last month and we should have it by Wednesday!

WOOHOO!!!! I know their game they want you to get frustrated and forget about it but HA! I've got them figured out and we are going to beat them at their own game!!! I know I'm awful!

So, the best exciting news~we cashed out Tyson's 401K because we had to do something with it and this was the best option for us right now! and now this



is mine all mine!!! I'm so excited because it will free up a large amount of money each month and it's actually paid for before it quits! haha

Today we took Jed and a few of his friends to Laser Tag to have a birthday party. He requested these cupcakes.


I thought they turned out cute.

Here's the latest project Tyson has been up too~he's had big plans for this area of our yard since we moved in 2 years ago and since he's got all this free time on his hands these days he's been working on it.

here's the before




here's the afters







Of course Tyson isn't bored enough yet to replace a part on my car that I've had for um, like 6 months! haha We'll see how long it lasts!!!

*Where have I been?*

Ok Ok I know I've been AWAL but it's been crazy busy (isn't it always?) Anyways, in our Church when the kids turn 8 they have the opportunity to choose to be baptized so Jed turned 8 at the end of February so he was baptized a couple of weeks later. We had lots of famiy come in for his baptism, then at the last minute we decided to go to Oklahoma for Spring Break. Tyson helped my uncle do something things. While the guys were working the girls played and had some fun. We took the kids to the Omniplex which is a Science Museum. The kids got to play on this big tree house and loved it~me on the other hand~I left with a headache! Guess I hate science!!! haha


We really had a good time visiting with cousins and seeing everyone!

The last 2 weeks we have been trucking through school wishing our lives away waiting for summer!

I *FINALLY* bought an embroidery machine from my friend Rachella! I was so excited to get it but I really haven't had much time to play with it. I've been working on this for a friend and ran into some trouble so Rachella came to my rescue! Thanks so much!!!!


Sorry it's crooked but I'm having problems with my computer!!!!
I think it turned out supa cute!!! I'm going to make one for Caroline next b/c her birthday is next!!!

*Wal-greens Trip*

I actually didn't have to wait until Saturday to figure out my deals and go shopping. Since we are hanging out at my mom's and everyone is at work, I've had plenty of time. I took Tyson over to my uncle's this morning and I stopped at Wal-greens on the way. Here's what I got~some of the deals (actually I think all of them) will only be GREAT if you have the coupons from the last few weeks paper.

Wal-greens is running a deal this week on Listerine, floss & toothbrushes buy 3 for $9 and get $6 back in Register Rewards. There was a coupon in the paper for $3 off any 3~so I got Listerine, floss & a 2-pk of toothbrushes for FREE!!!!

then they have buy any 2 allergy products and get $3 back I bought 2 children's benadryl @$3.99 each and get $2 RR~so $3.99x2-$2 in coupons- $2 RR~so I paid $4 for 2 things of meds. WOO HOO .

Then I did the deal again but got visine ($4.99) & sudafed ($3.99) and had $3 off visine & $1.50 off the sudafed so $4.99+$3.99-$3 coupon-$1.50 coupon-$2 RR I paid $2.50 for visine A and sudafed

then I bought a tube of cologate toothpaste on sale for $3.49 - $2.50 Easy saver coupon -$1.50 coupon from the All You magazine. This should have been a money maker but they manager wouldn't give me more than what i was paying for the product so I asked her if she would adjust the coupon down to make it FREE!!!

The last thing I bought was 2 things of degree deodrant they were on clearance for $1.79 and i had 2 .75 cent off coupons not quite free but cheap enough for me.

If I figured right I paid $5 something for all of these things since I got $10 back in RR~I am excited! :)

now I need to get my CVS items together! haha

Blogger Confessions...

1)What is your blogger name? You Are My Sunshine

2)When is your birthday? November 6~bet you can't guess where my momma got my name huh?

3) How long have you been blogging? since 2005~wow, that's a long time!

4) Who tagged you? Kristi~well she didn't tag me personally but I picked it up off her blog!

5) Tell me your 5 most favorite body parts? hands, ???

6) What do you wish most for your birthday? being pampered

7) What color are your nails now? clear

8) Any depressing thoughts lately? yep, yesterday when my hip was killing me~I thought it sucks to be getting old

9) What's your next 1 month's plan? hum, start walking/running again, work my my food storage, get our garden going, get Jed's room together

10) At what age did you have your first crush? 1st grade i think, philip smith

11) Did you attend any school reunion after you graduated? yes, I went to Tyson's 10 year reunion with him but haven't been to any of my own. really don't care to go to any

12) Are you a clean freak? well i play one! haha

13) Which era do you wish you were born in? 1950's

14) Are you a vegetarian? nope

15) How many pillows do you sleep with at night? Just one

16) Are you a light sleeper or I-don't-care-if-there's-a bomb sleeper? I-don't-care-if-there's-a bomb sleeper

17) Do you secretly wear comfortable grandma panties when your husband is not around? No man is worth passing up comfort!

18) What is your ultimate dream job? a crafter that actually sells her wares? lol

19) What is it your hubby does that annoys you the most? he acts like a perfectionist over crap that doesn't really matter!


20) What is your dream car? convertible mustang

21) Do you easily wake up in the morning? nope~i hate mornings

22) Do you like hairy men? goateed men? no to the hairyness~i guess i have to say yes to the goatee b/c tyson has one

23) What would you prefer? two hour spa, two hour foot massage, or 2 hour Thai massage? 2 hour spa

24) Have you ever wished you had a different name? Yeah, but I really can't remember what it would be~I'm good with Autumn now~it's kinda grown on me


25) What is the most extreme sport you have ever done? really? I think I'm pleading the 5th on this one!

26) Do you prefer traveling in Europe or Asia? Never been to either

27) What is your favorite food? Mexican~isn't that a food group?

28) What is the most embarrassing moment you had on a date? hum, the 5th again? no really I can't remember any~so maybe that means there weren't any!

Tag your it!

Another Random Post...

Hum, let's see I guess I'll start with Tyson..He is officially unemployed, he has received his last check and his great severance package (haha). He has several projects going on around the house that kept him busy this week, along with school. He passed his EPA Certification class, so he's done with his Mon/Wed class~WOOHOO!!! His garden is starting to grow pretty good and we already have sprouts~it won't be long! He got his first practice A/C job last week when ours froze up. These are the coils before

see that little piece that is pulled away kinda~yeah that's how thick the crap was on the coils.

After


No wonder the thing didn't work. While we were trying to figure out the problem Tyson was letting it thaw out and it leaked into Jed's room on the carpet, so we had to pull up his carpet~(creating another project for ourselves!)
Jed is starting baseball this week and he is excited about that. He is also getting baptized on Sunday~he is very excited about this!

Caroline is well, just Caroline! She's reading up a storm and enjoying school.

Heather's cheer team got 1st place at their competition this weekend. She is getting ready for all of the fun end of the year stuff for 5th grade! It's hard to believe she'll be going to middle school in just a few months!

We are all looking forward to Spring Break next week! It can't get here a minute too soon! The kids are going to OK for a few days & I haven't decided if I'm going or not!

*Saturday Shopping*

I really don't have time to coupon during the week so I save it for Saturday's since we aren't really busy anyways (usually)

So today I hit Walgreens & CVS~I did pretty good.

Here's my Walgreens haul:


I spend $10.07 from my Gift Card on these items. The foil made me a few cents b/c it was .89 cents then I had $1.00 off coupon for each of them. For the Oust I had a coupon that was buy 1 get 1 free then I can get $2 back on my card! The best deal was the Secret deodrant~it was on Clearance for $2.59 and I had a $2 off coupon! I have never found deodrant that cheap! The calendar was on clearance for a buck and I needed a new '09 calendar so I splurged!

Then I went across the street to CVS I spent quite a bit more there but I was please with what I got.



The Chips Ahoy cookies were B1G1 free, then I had a coupon for $1 off when you buy the cookies AND 1 gallon of milk so I did that for both gallons of milk. The wheat thins were B1G1 free and then I had $2 off/2boxes. Then the cereal was the same thing B1G1 free then $1 off 2 boxes so it made my cereal $1.39ish a box. I did that twice. The South Beach bars were 2 for $5 then I had 2 $1 off coupons so that was $1.50 a box. The shampoo was $4.99 but it was a rebate so that was FREE!!! The toothpaste was .88 cents and I had .75 off so I paid .13 cents for that~not quite free but close enough for me. The contact solution was $14.99 for the double pack but then I got $3 ECB's back. I usually buy it at Wal-Mart but this was a much better deal and I didn't have to go to WalMart! The pita chips were $1.65 on clearance and I had $1.50 off coupon. I'm not sure if they will be any good but for .15 cents I figured we could try them! My original told was $64.something then I walked out paying $24 after coupons & ECB's. I had to walk out of the store with a basket b/c I had so many sacks. I was so excited!

The Sink Window and a few other things

So I ran back to HL tonight to get some more trim so I could finish the window above the kitchen sink. I knew if I didn't get it done tonight it would never get done.

before



after



I'm just tickled PINK! haha I am going to start looking for a new bedspread so I can be on the lookout for some fabric so I can Mis treat my bedroom windows since they have no curtains either.

Another project we worked on tonight is this megaphone Heather got a couple of weeks ago at a cheer competition



She wanted to put feathers around it so I let her



the turquoise doesn't really go with her room but that's what she wanted! We are going to put her name on it in wooden letters also.


The last project we worked on before going to bed is pulling Caroline's loose tooth. It's been loose forever~



We also signed Jed up for baseball~He's pretty excited.
All in all it's been a busy day!

Mistreating my Windows (AKA decorating 101)

My bloggy friend Holly at Marathon Bird posted about this great blog The Nester. Over at the Nester, she discusses home decorating at it's finest! Well, I saw the "mistreatments" Holly did on her windows and I have seriously been looking forward to Saturday all week so I could work my kitchen windows over! I have 3 windows in my Kitchen/Dining room and we've lived in our house for 2 years exactly! Here's the befores





Here's the afters



The first photo is the 2 windows in the dining room together! I'm so excited about my new windows (not the blisters on my fingers!)

I have to run back to HL to get some more trim to do the window over the sink!

Thanks so much Holly for sharing that great website! I can't wait to do my bedroom windows!

*Random Man*

Ok so that's a joke b/c on the morning show on the radio they have a bit called *Random Man* but this post is going to be random so it's fitting. haha

I took a picture of this guy at the cheer competition (which I have yet to update about) anyways, I can't remember if I've ever seen a man on stilts before and I thought it would be cool for the youngins'



I told you *RANDOM*

Ok so the most exciting thing in my life these days is on Wednesday nights Tyson will take ALL of the kids to church with him and I get an hour by myself~not much but hey I'll take it! So tonight I sat down with my coupons & visited HotCouponWorld and scoped out a few deals. After they left the casa, I headed out to CVS and picked up a few things.


Here's the details~

I didn't do Fantastically GREAT but I did pretty good if I must say so myself!

cologate $2.99 Get $2.99 ECB's then I had $1 coupon so THEY paid me to take it home.
Suave bodywash~buy$6 get $2 ECBS then I had $2 off 3 so for $2 I got 3 bottles of body wash
Herbal Essences Shampoo~$2.99 each get $1 ECB I had a coupon for $3 off 2 .99cents for 2 shampoos
Gillette Shampoo $4.99 each get $3 ECBs I had a coupon for $2 off
and $1 off
Kleenex~buy 1 @1.49 get one for 1 cent so I bought 4 and then I had 50 cent coupon~not a great deal but they'll get used.
Cereal~buy 3/$10 get $1 ECB~then I had $1 coupon~again not a great deal but we'll eat it.
Oral B toothbrushes~2 pk for 5.49 get 2ecbs & then I had $2 off coupon

When I walked in I scanned my card at the coupon scanner and got $5 off $25 so I used that also.

I ended up spending $26.57 and got 15.99 in ECBS I'm pretty happy! :)

Wow What a Week!

I know I've said this before but there are times I have no clue how we get from Sunday to Saturday~the week just seems to fly by & of course the weekend is ALWAYS too short. And really I can't tell you what was going on this week that made it go by so fast, but it sure was a quick one!

A few weeks ago, Nicole from LittleMissMatched emailed me and asked if I would like to do a product review for them! I was so excited~No one has ever asked me to do this!

She sent this generous package of MissMatched socks for the kids & I~

(I've lost the picture on my computer~I'll find it and post it later)

Thanks Nicole~I think these socks ROCK!!! There's no keeping up with just 2 and they are super soft~I know that may sound wierd BUT they are! I'm browsing the website trying to decide which ones to buy next! Caroline wore hers to school with shorts and several of her kindergarten friends wanted her mom to buy them some! I"ll have to pass along the website! haha

This past week Caroline's class celebrated the 100th day of school~our counts got a little off thanks to Hurricane Ike but they had a great time! Here she is decked out in the cutest 100 day shirt ever~I decided she was the cutest little girl in Kindergarten that day.





You really can't tell but I appliqued 100 on the front then she has 30 foam flowers and 68 bows then bows #99 & 100 are in her hair! See I told you she was the cutest little girl in Kindergarten!

This last picture is a project I did for a friend


I thought it turned out cute!

We had a Mix & Mingle last night with the members of the new Spanish branch that will be meeting in our building starting today. It was kind of a last minute get together but we had a good turn out! They were so friendly! I can't wait to get to know them better!

Friday when I came home from school this is what I found

Yes, my friends that is a garden in the making! Tyson informed us that it was EVERYONE'S garden meaning we all had to work in it! I'm actually kind of excited~I've wanted to do a garden for quite a while now but not quite this big! haha

There ya have it my friends a week in review! Sorry it's been so long in between posts!

The Last 2 Weeks

Sorry I've been MIA but things around here have been crazy with Tyson starting school~he's gone 4 nights a week so that leaves me to do homework, supper, baths, etc. kinda like a single parent. By the time I get computer time I really would rather go to bed so I do~!

The last time Heather went to Activity Days the learned some things about babysitting~she was really excited about everything she learned. They even showed the girls how to make homemade playdoh~she promised Caroline she would make her some. I was very impressed she did it all by herself!


Here's the kids playing out on the trampoline~I can't wait for warmer weather so I can send them outside more often!




Here's a picture of Heather & I at her Cheer competition last weekend~They got 2nd place and then 1st this weekend.
We have several more to go for this season! At the competition this weekend they had various vendors she got this wooden megaphone that had glitter on it and then there was an booth that sells glitter eye shadow and the lady did Heather's eye's up for FREE! haha



The last great thing is I had 3 $2.50 off coupons of Electrosol Gel Pacs and CVS had them on sale for $2.99 of course they were out of them so I had to go to walmart so they would price match~My coupons expired today so I HAD to use them. I got 3 boxes for $1.59~I think this is my new favorite product! They would have been free had CVS had them b/c I had extra care bucks but I guess that $1.59 isn't too shabby either!

We celebrated the SuperBowl with our friends the Adams & we had a great time hanging out with them!

Have a great week!

~My Word for 2009~

I talked about goal setting in this post

New Years Goals

and I mentioned picking a word for the year~I don't ever think I got around to picking a word last year~

This year my word is going to be ENJOY!!!

Sometimes I tend to get caught up in the stress of life & I forgot to really ENJOY things that are happening around me! Maybe I'll get around to ordering a necklace or a ring to wear daily so I will be reminded DAILY of my word!

One thing I've been ENJOYING lately is reading the scriptures with my family~each night we pile up in our bed and we read one chapter together as a family~some nights it means the kids get into bed later but it's worth it to know that they are learning the principles of the gospel and that we are able to have those teachable moments with them!

So go ahead and pick your word, then be sure to post about it!

I'm a Genius!

and you'll be so excited to call me your friend! I figured out how to get the pictures off my internal memory of my camera! WOOHOO!!! Can YOU feel the excitement?

I've kinda been out of the blogging mood anyways so that kinda helped my excuse for not blogging!

Several of you asked what Tyson was going to go to school for~He's going to get his HVAC certificate. It's a year long program and he should be finished in December. It will be a rough 2 sememesters but we'll live and I'm sure it's not the worse thing we've been through or will go through~He's applied for several jobs but he hasn't heard back from any of them. Something will work out though~

So last weekend Caroline lost her first tooth~it's official I have no more babies! It was kind of funny though because she has a wart on her foot so we were trying to doctor that up so while Tyson was doing that I was wiggling her tooth. I told Tyson it was pretty lose and so we got some dental floss and tied around it and it came out. She had the most surprised look on her face THEN when she realized she was bleeding she started screaming crying! Of course now she's got another one that is lose and it won't get ready fast enough~as we were sitting in Church yesterday she said "will you punch me so my tooth will come out?" It was all I could do to keep from busting a gut! haha




The other exciting thing that happened this week~I got to try a new product for free.



Walgreens had these on sale last week for 3.49 but my walgreens was out of them so I got a raincheck. I went to check the other day to see if they had anymore & i was in luck! So I got them~I had a coupon for 2.25, then there's a rebate this month for 1.50 through walgreens! so THEY paid me to try these gel pacs and guess what~I LOVE them. They work good in my dishwasher and don't leave a mess that I get when I use powder soap! I love it when I come across good deals like this!

Also, this lady at our church orders chicken from the local chicken plant~so I ordered 2 boxes from her this time I got 30 lbs of chicken for $36~WOO HOO!!! I love good deals!

I'm posting some more pictures from my camera over at the photo blog!

Have a Great MLK day!

Show Us What You've Got...

as I've mentioned before it doesn't take much to get me excited..So imagine my excitement when I received an email from Nicole at LittleMissMatched telling me she had found my blog & my earlier post about their company. She also mentioned in her email about this FABULOUS (in your best HS Musical voice~haha) contest they are running over there!

Here's the details (and if you win you'll have me to thank!)

Project Sock Contest

and they are offering some FABULOUS prizes! I so hope one of us wins!!!!!

Let me know if you are entering~(My girls are going to design some Mismatched Socks!)

Happy Missmatching!!!!

~What a Blessing~

Tyson has been trying to get registered for school this week~of course you can't just go and be done with it, there's always something you didn't bring or you didn't know you would need. Tonight we went to register for his classes~We were expecting to have to pay 1/2 of the tuition, but we talked to the most AWESOME lady, who was the director of the Financial Aid & she was so helpful! Since Tyson's plant is closing, they (the college) is paying for 6 credit hours for the employees who want to take classes. She gave Tyson a $250 "scholarship" which paid for 1/2 of his tuition! Of course since they do financial aid based on last years taxes we didn't qualify for anything BUT since the plant is closing, they are willing to re-work his finanical aid paperwork to see if we'll qualify~if so we'll be covered for the rest of his balance, otherwise we'll just have to pay the remaining 1/2 and then books. I could have just climbed over that lady and hugged her neck, I don't think she really knew how much we appreciated all of her help!

I know that this is because I have been working on being a better tithe-payer & I am so grateful that I have the Lord watching out for us!

If I can figure out how to get the pictures off my internal memory of my camera, I'll have some pictures to post soon! haha

Yes, I'm Still Alive

and it's kinda funny b/c I still check my blog everyday to see if someone has left a new comment~yes, I know I'm a total dork! haha

Since I had to go back to work last week, of course it's kicking me in the booty! And to be quite truthful, I really haven't felt like blogging~I think maybe I might be a little depressed b/c I hate the unknown~but I've been getting out to walk (and log some miles on NIKE+) so I feel better~and really quite frankly, we've been busy!

I'll be back tomorrow night with a variety of news!

Have a great day!

My First

A while back a friend that I work with asked me to do a Bible verse in her baby's room~I've kinda put it off because I wasn't real confident in my skills (haha~do I even have any?) I told her we would do it over Christmas break, so I set out to do it today! It wasn't hard at all~We were both so excited with how it turned out! I can't wait to do some more around the house!

Are you Goal Setting this Year?

I have a few goals that I would like to accomplish during 2009, but I will save those for another post.

I found myself really successful at my Picture of the Day attempts several times this year~I am going to try to do this for 365 days this year but I am making a separate blog for those pictures so if I decide to make them into a book it will be all in one place.


Here's the link

Autumn's Picture of the Day

I can't promise there will be lots of journaling, but there will be lots of pictures.

Another project I've started is a running blog mainly as a journal. It's private at this time & I don't know if it will ever become public, but if I decide to make it public, you'll be the first to know!

Also, are you choosing a word for 2009? You can find out more about it here Ali Edwards. I'll give you time to think about that one before I share what mine will be.

Hope you are off to a great start!

~Oh What a Night~

For some crazy reason we were really excited about New Years Eve this year~even Tyson who really would probably rather stay at home. We were supposed to get together with some friends from Church & then go out to some other friends for fireworks~but our friends from Church ended up being out of town so we went to the friends we were doing fireworks with~we had a great time & really enjoyed spending time with them~This are my friends Michelle & Pam from school~They are really great & I am blessed to be able to call them my friends!




Here's a picture of all the kids that were there last night with us! They all enjoy playing together so we never hear a peep out of any of them~



The kids enjoy doing fireworks






here's us at midnight~



Thanks Michelle & Kevin for a great time!

Happy New Year!!!