Friday, January 29, 2010

Armstrong Alterna Tile

I have changed my mind on the kitchen floor from Congoleum Dura Ceramic Tiles to Armstrong Alterna Tile.  It's the same type of product.  The reason is that the edge of each tile on the Dura Ceramic is rolled and doesn't come to the edge.  The Dura Ceramic having the rolled edge can start to peel with use.  The edge of the Alterna is covered with grout.  So this is the reason I'm going with it.  The installer came this morning to measure, so we can get this done soon.  The carpet installer is coming to night to measure.  The hard flooring has to be installed before the carpet.  The installer of the Quartz hasn't come yet.  The dishwasher will be in the store today or Monday.  The lights are up and look fantastic!!  Love them.  Already the house is starting to look updated.  I'm busy cleaning clothes.  Until next time!!

YouData

I just joined YouData.  You get paid for viewing ads on the internet.  I just joined.  I let you know how it is going.  Here is my referral link if your interested.  YouData  You get paid weekly via Paypal for viewing ads.  You need a Paypal account and a cellphone.  You need the cellphone for a activation code they send via text message.  

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Free Pen

This is a link for a nice free pen..   Uniball Super Ink Pen  It's for a limited time so act now...

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Paint

We painted yesterday.  I wanted to hire someone to paint, because neither my husband or I wanted to paint the high ceiling.  Well he was laid off this week, so he said get the paint.  So I picked up the paint Friday and Saturday Mom and I taped off everything.  We moved what we could.  Then Monday morning Mom came and we painted.  It took 8 hours and 3 people but we have it done.  It looks great.  We used Pittsburgh Gran Distinction Egg Shell  and the color is Brandied Pear.  It looks really nice.  Even with the refrigerator, stove, outlets and light switches being white, it looks good.  However I'm not thrilled with the paint and my black and white clock.  I guess I will have to live with it because I love my big clock.  I will try to get pictures posted soon.  It's early morning right now and it's to dark to get good pictures.  Today we are going to go and order flooring and the Quartz.  We will pick up the light fixtures, dishwasher and what is need for hook up, so hubby can get that hooked up. 

Get this one, I'm planning on buying the dishwasher at Lowes.  Well we were told by the sales person that we need to get a permit for the dishwasher!!  This is for all new installs of dishwashers, if there wasn't one before.  I was shocked to hear this.  I have never heard of such a thing.  Lowes sells the permits for $40.  You must have one when they come or they won't do the hook up.  If you don't the fine is $80.  Well I find it hard to believe that the $40 for the permit will get to my county.  And I don't see anyone from my county coming to see if I have a permit.  This is crazy.  So my husband will hook it up and install it.  I will take my chances with a fine when the county comes to do an assessment.

We will order the Dura Ceramic floor today the carpet (still haven't settled which, but I will today) and the Quartz countertop.

The back splash tile I want is in stock at Home Depot.  But I have to find someone to install it.   Next update coming soon... 

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Going Rogue Sarah Palin Book

 I just finished Going Rogue by Sarah Palin.  It's a very good book.  If you have the time for a lengthy book this is worth your time.  I'm a fan of hers even though she is a Republican.  She makes sense in her decisions.  However she is very closed minded, once she has made up her mind she is a bull in a china shop.  She looks to Ronald Reagan for her inspiration, however I think she has more of Bill Clinton's ideals and focus.  Although she has a focus and wears blinders on the path to her goals.  Where Bill watched watched every thing coming from the sides and behind to get to his goals.  See how much farther Bill got then Sarah.  I know your probably laughing at how I said that.  I am too.  But it's true.  I think if Sarah wanted a future in politics she should have never taken the job at Fox.  I know she wants to get her view point out there and have people know her better.  But being on Fox is not proving herself.  She needs to act in politics, not just talk about it.  Sorry her political trail ended at Fox.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Kitchen & Living Room update

I'm having a hard time finding the carpet colors I want.  I wanted Berber that is light gold with black specks.  Can't find that.  I did find a tan/gray with black specks Berber however it has a pattern.  I don't know if I like the pattern, it reminds me of a rug.  I still have a few places to look yet.  Once I decide on the carpet then I will find the vinyl.  Vinyl is different then 17 years ago, it's really soft.  I don't know if that will work with Henry's nails?  Does anyone have a active dog and newer vinyl, how doe it hold up?  I know tile would be the best with Henry but I don't want to deal with cleaning and sealing grout. 

I found the dishwasher I want.  It's a Bosch with stainless steel interior.

The Quartz countertop was easy to pick out, however I'm still getting estimates.  It's very expensive. 

Deals at Pick N Save

Here's what I got today for $9.42
10 Ronzoni Pasta
2 Fisher Peanuts
4 bags of Bugles
4 cans of tuna
1 Dozen eggs
2 Coffeemate Creamer
Loaf of Bread
Hot Dog Buns
Hamburger Buns

The Ronzoni Pasta was B1G1F and I had $.75/1 coupons.  I could use 10 of those coupons. 5 of these were doubled.    Fisher Peanuts were B1G1F and I had $1/1 coupons, used 2.  Tuna was priced matched with Festival ad coupon ($.38 each)  The eggs were price matched with Festival ad coupon $.68.  The Coffeemate Creamer was $.52 each because they were the Christmas favors.  I had $1/2 coupons so I paid $.02 each.   The bugles, buns and bread were all on sale and basically a filler to get my total to $25 so that I could double 5 coupons.  I saved $42.52.  Nice

Free GE Fluorenscent Bulbs

Ace Hardware has GE Fluorescent Bulb for $1 each, there is a $1 coupon to print at Coupons.com and there were some in the Sunday Inserts a few weeks ago.  I price matched these at Walmart.  I got 4 free.

Walgreen Deals

Today I got
3 boxes of Kleenex for $1.87 with coupon and store coupon
Colgate Max Free with coupon and Register Rewards
Thermocare Trial Free with $1.00 profit with coupon and Register Rewards

I ended up with $5 Register Rewards to spend next time.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Here we go!!

I'm starting my journey in redecorating my kitchen and living room.  My husband and I built this house in 1993.  My husband designed the house.  We then took his plan to an architect to have the "offical" plans for the builder.  Our builder was my husbands cousin.  We were to break ground in February 1993, however it started raining, didn't stop for a few months and the ground was to wet.  We did all the contracting ourselves.  So by the time we broke ground we we're high all the subcontractors lists.  The basement was dug in mid June and we moved in Labor Day of that year.  Everything fell in place.  We did much ourselves, with help from family and friends.  Well now 17 years later it time to replace the worn flooring, countertops, lights and install a dishwasher.  The kitchen and living room hasn't been painted since we built.  However there has been some touch ups here and there.  I'm so excited to finally have the kids old enough that they aren't rolling their cars, horses and building with Lincoln Logs or Lego on the kitchen floor.  Please follow my blog on a step by step adventure!!!




I didn't have a dishwasher put in when we built because I really didn't want one.  I really wanted a built in range and cooktop.  So I talked my husband into the built ins instead of the dishwasher.  We had custom oak cabinets made for the house.  (They were very expensive, the price of a brand new car at the time.  So they are stay just as they are)   When we designed the cabinets for the kitchen we had a cabinet next to the sink that we could take out with ease if ever we wanted a dishwasher.  Well the time has come.  It should a "easy" job to install it.   I have never had a dishwasher except for the restaurant where I work, which is a commerical dishwasher.  So it should be an interesting adventure right there.  I know that I want a dishwasher with stainless stain interior.  What do you like and what would you not be able to live without as features??  Love to hear your ideas and experience. 

My flooring in the living room will carpet again.  I really like my berber that I have in here now and will be looking at that again.  However I would to have a gold and black carpet, we'll see if I find any.


The kitchen will be vinyl again.  But the highest grade that I can find.  Because with Henry running around all the time on the floor I can see where his claws have dug into the floor.  The floor we had installed when we built was a very low quality floor.  Also with my daughters computer chair rolling around by her computer, which in the kitchen I can see major wear in that area.  So I have to go with a very high quality flooring in the kitchen.  I would love to have tile, however I don't want to deal with grout and we don't wear shoes in the house so in winter tile floors would be cold.  Hardwood or laminate is out, we have to much stained wood in the house for that.  The contrast would be to much.


I have already picked out new lights for the kitchen.  Just waiting for them to go on sale.  I have a large hanging light over the 5 foot island and a matching hanging light over the sink.  Those will be replaced.  I also have spotlights in the ceiling.  My kitchen is so well lit that I think we could land a jet.  Then over the kitchen table there is a ceiling fan with lights.  The fan and lights will stay.  They we're replacement a few years ago.  The lights and fan in the living room will also stay because they are newer also.



The kitchen and living room is white.  I've thought long and hard on this.  I think it will white again.  I would like a color, however first and fore most I have a large hanging clock (3 feet around) which is black and white and I really love and have no plans to get rid of it.  Next all my light switches and outlets are white, really don't want to replace those.  Plus my refrigerator and built in oven is white.  Now that is the last reason because I'm ready for a new refrigerator.  It's a side by side and I'm not especially in love with it.  There isn't any room in the freezer part.  I would love to have a freezer on the bottom.  However the refrigerator and freezer works great.  So if I have it in the budget it might get replaced and the old one would be sold.  The oven door is white and that could be painted.  In our old home we also had a built in oven that was green and we painted it white and it looked brand new.  So that is fixable to be another color.  But my clock is the biggest reason with going with white again.  I really love this clock.  I will hire someone to paint this area for me.  I usually do all my painting myself, however we have cathedral ceilings with 2 skylights.  I know your saying so what.  Well I'm not good on a ladder.  I get on the second step of a ladder and the ladder starts to shake because I'm a wimp when it comes to heights!!!  My husband is great on a ladder but hates to paint.  Well he hates the part of painting around wood work and such.  So this project will be hired out.  Now I just have to find someone that wants to do this job for a picky person.  I hate paint on my wood work!!


Now for the countertops.  I'm looking at Quartz for that.  I have a 5 foot island that we use all the time.  That's where we eat every meal except for holidays.  We do everything there, cook, do projects, homework, making sausage, fix anything and everything.  It's the heart of our house.  I have laminate.  It is so worn in the work areas and the island.  The island will have larger over hang on each end.  The one end will have at least 8 inches added on and the other end will have 4 inches.  And the width will stay the same.  I need more room because we always have my kids friends over, so larger eating area would be great.  I have done the measurements.  I have a tons of countertop, 54 square feet, without the new longer ends on the island.  This will be a pricey item for the kitchen, but it will be well worth it.  I want quartz because it doesn't need any care such as sealing etc...  Very durable.  I need that bad.  I don't know anyone that has quartz, all my friends and family either has granite or laminate.  So if you have any advice or opinions on quartz I love would to hear about it.


There will a few small things that I haven't mentioned yet.  But will blog about it when the time comes.  I will take before and after pictures as this project gets started.  Now that I have an idea of what I want in certain areas.  Now the search begins.  Colors and price will be the biggest things on my mind.  I have a budget and I must keep all my wants within that budget.  I also want to buy a new TV in the living room.  The old 50 inch analog big screen will go down stair for the kids to play the Wii on.  I have a good idea what I want 52" or bigger Sony or Samsung.  So that will have to fit in the budget too.  I will give you all the details afterwards so keep on eye on my blog!!!  I will do updates all the time.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Build a Bear


My daughter collects Build a Bear.  This is her collection.  There is roughly 75-80 regular size animals and then she has about 10-15 small or babies that match the big animals.  Most of the animals were bought at rummage sales.  She loves every one of her animals!!  Some times I will buy something that she already has or I buy a duplicate of an animal just for the clothes they maybe wearing or it has sound.  Some of her animals don't have sound.  So if I find one with sound I will buy that one and resell the one she had without sound.    She has a ton of clothes.  Kind of funny when very few are actually wearing clothes in the picture!! LOL.  The one things that she really wants is the bow for her Hello Kitty.  She didn't have one when we got her.  So next trip to the mall we are getting the bow...  if BAB has one.  We are going to try this coupon, I would like to share...  $5 coupon expires 2-5-10 

I would like to share my great experience with Build a Bear.  We had bought a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at a rummage sale.  The nose didn't light up.  This is the older style deer.  I thought it was just the battery, so we took it back to the store.  Hoping they would open it up, I would then go and buy a battery and they would stitch it back up.  Well after talking to the clerk in the store.  They convinced me to send it to the BAB hospital in Texas and they would fix/repair if for free.  So ok, lets do it.  The clerk said it would take about 2 weeks.  So after two weeks and no deer.  I called the store at the mall.  They called the hospital and I got a call from the doctor in TX.  Sad news was there was a defect in the nose and it couldn't be fixed.  However they offered to send a coupon for a different animal for free or they could put sound in the deer and send it back.  Well I know this old style is rather rare and probably worth some money even with the nose not working.  So I took her up on the offer of sound.  So in a few days I got a box from the UPS man with from the hospital.  There was Rudolph all brushed out, with sound and a brand new Santa hat.  I was so impressed.  They really do take care of their own!!!  

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Trojan called Security Tool

Man!!!   Yesterday my husbands laptop got a Trojan Called Security Tool.  Wow it was nasty.  I spent 3 hours trying to figure out what to do.  Then another 3 hours fixing it and running anti ware programs to clean it up.

This is what I did.. short explanation

First restart the computer, when it's starting up before everything at start up is loaded.  Hit Ctrl, Alt and Delete all at the same time.  That will bring up the Task Manager.  Click on the Processes tab.  This thing was a 8 digit number which happened to be the first on my list.  Click on it to high light and then at the bottom click on the end processes.  This will shut down the nasty Trojan so that you can get online.  Then go to Malwarebytes Anti Malware the download is free.  Download, install and run it.  Then follow instructions to quarantine all infections.  It will take care of Security Tool.  Then make sure you update and run your other anti spyware and adware programs.  Then I also download Firefox on my husbands computer.  A week ago I downloaded  IE8 on his computer and in that week he had 2 different problems.  My daughter and I both us Firefox on our computers and don't have any troubles.  So now all the computers in the house are using Firefox.  We'll see if that helps.

Friday, January 1, 2010

75% Christmas Mechandise

Make sure you check out your favorite stores for 75% off clearance Christmas.  Right now Target Stores Holiday items are 75% and Walmart should be 75% or should be in the next day or to.  You can stock up on bows, wrapping paper and much more.  Remember to look for plain red paper that you can use for Valentines Day.  Plain paper is great for other occasions so stock up now.  Buy lights, cards, napkins, paper towel etc... for next year.  Just remember that you have bought it and where you have it stored, so that you don't buy it again before Christmas next year.  Watch for toy sales.  Target has many toys right now at 30% off, but wait Target's toy clearance will go to 75% by mid January.  This sale is great to stock up on low priced toys for next year Toy's for Tots!!! 

Best Year For Different Things

2009 was the best year so far for my store Different Things. Everyone who has checked out my store and bought something THANK YOU  !!  I'm having a great time!!!  I'm hoping for a bigger and better 2010!!  New things will be coming soon. 

My Journey With Farrah by Alana Stewart

After Christmas I read My Journey with Farrah by Alana Stewart.  It's a good book.  Alana Stewart is Rod Stewart's ex-wife.  She was Farrah Fawcett's best friend.  She took the long hard cancer journey with Farrah.  Alana did all the filming for the documentary which aired on NBC shortly after Farrah's death in June of 2009.  The book follows the documentary and tells a little more details of what Farrah went through.  Since I took the same journey with my father during this same time, I could relate to much of what she was saying.  If you can the chance to read this book do it.  It's not a tear jerker of anything.

Swagbucks

I'm really liking this search bar I've earned $15 Amazon gift card so far.  I've only been doing this for 6 weeks.  Easy I do alot of searching so it's perfect for me.  If you want to sign up use my referral link to the left.  Its worth the extra bar!!!

Its' the First of the Month

Since it's the first of the month all the online printable grocery coupons have reset.  So if you printed your limit they are now reset so you can print more.  Plus there will be no offers.  So check out http://www.coupons.com/
and  www.smartsourse.com and www.redplum.com  print what you need.  You should be able to 2 each coupons twice.

Time to clean out your coupon binder or file

It is the time to clean out your coupon binder and file now.  Your binder will be half it's size after you clean it out.  But don't worry this Sunday there will be lots of inserts.  The rumor is there could be up to 5 different inserts.  So this weekend is the weekend to buy extra papers, ask your friends, go to the recycling center or trade for more of the coupons you will use.  This is a great online source  couponkutters.com  They are quick, reasonable and have alot of coupons I want!!  Go for it!!!!

Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year!!