Here is our peanut! 3 months old now!

Well our Renter in Rental #2 moved out at the end of July as scheduled. Since we knew they were moving out we started looking for a renter early, and signed a lease with a new young couple mid-June, which would start August 1st. They were able to move in a few days early since the last renter had already left and had done an excellent job with cleaning etc.

On August 3rd, the GF called my husband and said they had broken up....apparently she found out that he had been cheating on her for a few months now....UGH. They have two kids under the age of 3.

So after a lot of back and forth over who would stay and who would go....they are both moving out now...after only living there for 3 days.

I posted the house for rent again and luckily we got a lot of interest and should be having a new lease signed tomorrow for new renters to move in as of Sept 1st. If all goes well we won't be out anything and will also be able to return the full deposit as I do feel awful for the GF being in this situation with those 2 littles. Hoping to have the new renters be in there for a few years at least.

Yes you read that correctly! MO and I welcomed a beautiful and healthy baby girl a few weeks ago! Those of you that have been here for the last few years (I think that is most of us) know that we lost our twins in 2018 and it's been a very long and hard journey to get baby girl here (13 years, but whose counting...lol). We are so happy and blessed to have her!

We named her Hope. After losing the twins, and everything that is going on in the world now we felt it was perfect for her. We call her Hopie, Hopester and Hopeapottamus..lol.

I am on maternity leave/parental leave till just after the 4th of July holiday. I am soaking up every second with my wonderful little honey!

Holy Smokes! That's over $1000 more then last years total! The Scheels Cards and Visa Cards MO is saving for a new gun, he was saving them for that last year as well, but ended up buying a new softball bat instead so he is starting over on saving up.

Should use some Chili's cards next week, and then Landry's and Outback Steakhouse in January when we are on vacation.

I like having a nice GC balance for when we are trying to save money, but would be happy with between $500-$1000, definitely don't need this much so we will work on using them up.

Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $50.00
Applebees $50.00
Chili's $25.00
Chili's $25.00
Chili’s $50.00
Cracker Barrel $10.00
Discover Cashback Rewards $1537.71
Hobby Lobby $25.00
JCPenney $9.24
Jimmy Johns $35.00
Kohls $25.00
Landry’s Restaurants $25.00
Massage $50.00
McDonalds $100.00
McDonalds $100.00
McDonalds - Free Weekly Sandwich Card
Medora $100.00
Medora $1000.00
Menards $50.00
Olive Garden $10.00
Olive Garden $10.00
Olive Garden $10.00
Outback Steakhouse $25.00
Outback Steakhouse $50.00
Papa Johns $10.00
Papa Johns $10.00
Pizza Ranch $12.00
Red Lobster $50.00
Ruby Tuesdays $15.00
Ruby Tuesdays $25.00
Scheels $15.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $50.00
Scheels $50.00
Scheels $200.00
Target $5.00
Target $21.31
Texas Roadhouse $25.00
Texas Roadhouse $50.00
Texas Roadhouse $50.00
Texas Roadhouse $50.00
Texas Roadhouse $50.00
Texas Roadhouse $50.00
Texas Roadhouse - Free Daily App Card
TGIFridays $25.00
Visa $25.00
Visa $100.00
Visa $150.00
Total $4585.26

Looks like pics in my old entries are not coming up, and I am not able to add pics to my new entries. Anyone else? Do we know if this has been reported?

Thank you!

The twins 1st birthday is this week so MO and I are just trying to survive. It's been awful leading up and we are both totally mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted.

I took the day off of work, and the day after as well to give myself a long weekend. I wasn't sure if I should as I will probably need distractions that day, but I think I have plenty of house work and FB Sales stuff to work on to keep me busy. Plus this way if I just want to go take a nap or just go sit and cry I can.

I just miss my babies so much.

Well my Malibu finally died. It was a 2002 so it's definitely had a long life! I got it in 2008 for $4000 and it made it to 230,383 miles and over 11 years!!



We don't have anywhere to scrap it close to use, but MO was able to take it to the dump for free.

We took the license plates, CD player and battery. We were able to move the battery into MO's old 1997 Cavalier and we will now drive that as our commute car until it dies. Our other two vehicles are our old truck and our new truck, and with being an hr away from town we definitely need a car for mileage/fuel costs.

When I try to use the search function on my blog it is not working. Anyone else having this issue or know of a fix?

Thank you!

I am getting around 5 SPAM comments everyday!! Anyone else having this issue or know how to stop it?

They are going back and commenting on my entries from years ago...so weird.

MO has been dealing with a "Man Cold" for a week or so and I was doing my best to avoid it.....but it found me. I've had symptoms for a few days but yesterday was the first day I started really feeling sick. I never sleep well since we lost the babies and the night before I was laying there till 5am..UGH! So last night I took a sleeping pill so I could get some rest and fight this cold. So I fall asleep pretty quickly, but wake up with terrible stomach cramps and lucky me I have food poisoning! Thankfully I was able to make it to the garbage can, I haven't thrown up since morning sickness and that is one thing I don't miss!! I took a shower, brushed my teeth and went back to bed. I think what made me sick was I had a few pieces of Fontina Cheese as a snack before bed. I normally use it in cooked dishes, like brussel sprouts, but just thought I would slice off a few pieces and eat it with some sandwich meat as a small snack. If you've never had Fontina, it is a soft cheese, like Blue Cheese. So that is my best bet as to what made me sick. Feeling better from that today, but cold symptoms are still here and I need to get better because we go to Laughlin for vaca in 6 days!! At least hubby is on the mend now so that's good that one of us can take care of the other...lol.

Wow our giftcard balance is crazy! We used several since last year and still the total went up $600 since last January. I really want to get some of these used up, I hate to think of losing any from getting lost, stolen or destroyed. I do have them all together for safe keeping.

I have a day off next week to have a bunch of apts, including a massage so that will use a $60 massage giftcard. I also plan on going shopping that day in between my apts and possibly using up the JCP, Target and Kohls cards, as well as picking up dinner somewhere that we have a giftcard for.

The Visa cards expire in June, we had planned to use those for car seats for the twins. Now we are going to use those to pay the deductible for the truck repair, and maybe also for our rental car when we go to Laughlin in March.

The Scheels cards are MO's and he has been saving those up to get a new gun.

Anheuser-Busch Rebate Card $15.00
Applebees $2.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Buffalo Wild Wings $25.00
Buffalo Wild Wings $25.00
Buffalo Wild Wings $25.00
Chili’s $50.00
Cracker Barrel $10.00
Discover Cashback Rewards $963.13
Famous Dave’s $30.00
Hobby Lobby $25.00
JCPenney $9.24
Jimmy Johns $30.00
Kohls $25.00
Landry’s Restaurants $32.00
Massage $50.00
Massage $60.00
Medora $100.00
Medora $1000.00
Olive Garden $10.00
Olive Garden $10.00
Olive Garden $10.00
Outback Steakhouse $25.00
Outback Steakhouse $50.00
Papa Johns $10.00
Papa Johns $10.00
Pizza Ranch $12.00
Scheels $5.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $75.00
Seize the Deal (Doggie Daycare) $75.00
Starbucks $10.00
Target $5.00
Texas Roadhouse $25.00
Texas Roadhouse $50.00
TGIFridays $25.00
Visa $25.00
Visa $100.00
Visa $100.00
Visa $100.00
Total $3558.37

Today is two weeks since I delivered our twins. It feels like minutes ago, and also an eternity ago.

Both MO and I are doing our best to stay busy and stay positive. It can be a struggle every second... and then I find a few hrs here and there of calm. I wish so hard I could find a way to keep being "ok". When I find those small breaks where I feel "ok" it feels so wonderful to not feel completely destroyed.

We had my postpartum visit a few days ago. No answers as to why I went into pre-mature labor as the pregnancy was 100% healthy up till then, and I had just had a regular OB apt 10 days prior to going into labor, and there were no issues or red flags at all.
So I am very scared that if I am ever lucky enough to get pregnant again, that the same thing could happen, since they don't know the cause, therefore no way to help prevent.

I have a few family and friends who have been making sure I am still breathing. My Mom, my BF and MO have been awesome. MO especially, he is obviously dealing with his own loss and grief with this, but he still holds me up everyday, and his goal is to get me to laugh and smile at least once a day, which he has accomplished each day...which in itself is a miracle.
I am so incredibly lucky to have him, and that really does keep me going through each terrible minute.

Also my two dogs have been an enormous help. They know mama is so sad (and some part of me thinks that they miss and mourn the babies too) and they comfort me every chance they get with cuddles and kisses. Dogs are simply amazing.

Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers. We are doing our best to continue on for our babies and be the kind of parents they would be proud of. One day and one step at a time.

I’m so so sad to share this news, but as you all know, after many years of waiting my husband and I were expecting twins. We now have two angel babies watching over us.

💗Ember Lynne 👼
💙Bridger John 👼

At 21 weeks I unexpectedly went into labor and was hospitalized. They were able to stop my labor and put me on 100% inverted bedrest. We did everything we could possibly do to keep our sweet babies safe in my tummy. After 11 days of hospitalization, constant monitoring and full bedrest, I went into labor again at 22 weeks and 5 days and they weren’t able to stop it this time.
We lost both of our babies. 💔 Bridger’s heart rate was lost sometime in the night, he is very handsome and was our first sweet angel. Ember was born and we got to hear her cry, she was taken to the NICU and she fought hard for about 4hrs before they took her off the ventilator because there was nothing more they could do for her. We got to hold her as she passed and our baby girl princess was our second angel. I lost a lot of blood after I delivered them and became unresponsive so they had to take me to the OR and do a blood transfusion. My husband stayed with Ember while I was in the OR and she even grabbed his finger. They were both little fighters from the start. We are obviously completely heartbroken. The outpouring of love and support from friends and family has been overwhelming and so appreciated. They are missed and loved more then they will ever know.
💗💙💗💙💗💙💗💙💗💙💗
💗Ember Lynne 👼
💙Bridger John 👼

My husband stayed with me in my room every single night, I dont know what I would do without my wonderful husband being my rock through all of this and making sure I knew he was always there no matter what I needed and how lost I was/am feeling.

Well the Jeep is totaled out, so that stinks, but in good news we are getting a lot more back for it then we anticipated!! We bought the Jeep in May 2016 for $5200.00....and insurance valued it today at $5096.33!! So they only show the value went down $100 since we got it 27 months ago! Basically got to drive it for $50 a year! SWWEEEEEEETTTT!!!!

Our ded is $500, but since it was a non-collision accident (deer, rather then another auto, etc.) the ded is only $250, so we are getting back $4846.33!!

So happy!! We will need to get a new vehicle sooner then later but for now we will make it work with our car and truck until we find the right fit for a new vehicle. We will use some of the money for medical bills and put the rest into savings for now.

When MO and I were driving home from softball on Monday night we hit a deer on the highway. MO was driving (thankfully) and two deer ran onto the highway right in front of the Jeep. There was also a vehicle passing us on the left lane at the same time, so hitting the deer was the best option over hitting the other vehicle or going into the ditch and possibly rolling the Jeep. Luckily MO was able to hit the breaks and lessen the blow to us, so it wasn't a super severe impact in the car, we and our 2 dogs who were also in the vehicle are all totally fine. The deer was not and our Jeep is probably totaled. MO contacted insurance and our roadside assistance towed for free to a local bodyshop. We should find out in the next few days if it is a total loss or not, but we are thinking it will probably be totaled out. It's too bad as that was our nicest and most reliable vehicle. But everyone is safe and that is all that matters!

We usually get giftcards from MO's employer for Christmas, but they didn't do giftcards this year, so no Visa or MasterCard GCs. But we still have a very large balance. The ones for restaurants go quickly in the summer time when we have softball. Menards and CVS are always revolving balances for resell items. Medora is a tourist town and MO won a giftcard there that we can use on food, hotel, entertainment, souvenirs, etc. So we will try to plan a weekend vaca there this summer.

Applebees $2.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Applebees $25.00
Buffalo Wild Wings $25.00
Buffalo Wild Wings $25.00
Buffalo Wild Wings $25.00
CVS $5.00
CVS $10.00
CVS $10.00
CVS $40.15
Discover Cashback Rewards $503.95
JCPenney $9.24
Kohls $25.00
Massage $50.00
McDonalds $100.00
Medora $1000.00
Menards $23.39
Menards $29.79
Menards $50.00
Menards $102.73
Menards $111.48
Menards $299.68
Outback Steakhouse $25.00
Outback Steakhouse $50.00
Papa Johns $10.00
Papa Johns $10.00
Red Lobster $50.00
Scheels $15.00
Scheels $25.00
Scheels $25.00
Starbucks $3.72
Target $5.00
Target $16.00
Texas Roadhouse $50.00
TGIFridays $25.00
Total $2907.13

Well that went straight out the window...that's where!

we were doing good at tracking spending till Christmas Shopping and Black Friday shopping hit. Things went crazy. So much shopping so many stores.

Besides all the Christmas shopping, tons of deals for resell, and normal needs, I also got a new laptop on Black Friday (Mine is 4 years old and slow as molasses so it was time).


Now that our renter is moving out we need to get even more serious about tracking and reducing our spending. I do think we were doing a good job until the holiday shopping frenzy happened. So hopefully we can stay on track and start 2018 on a good note!

Just one week after our basement renter moved out, we received notice from our renter in Rental #1 that they will be moving out as of 2/1/18. This renter has been in there since we started renting the house in Sept 2015, always pays rent on time, no problems whatsoever.....we are really sad to see them go!

This rental is in the very small town where we live and right now the housing market is terrible here. So many houses for sale. Population is only around 3K. It's very difficult to find renters.

Plus the renters that were living there had started building a patio on the back of the house with our permission. So they took off the old steps and poured concrete. Now it's Dec and they are going to move out and we have no steps on the back of our house.....UGH!

At least we have two months notice, and we can lower the rent to help find a renter too, but this was definitely not what we needed when we are trying to bulk up savings for medical services in 2018.

Boooooooo!!!!!

MO had a young man living in his basement in an extra bedroom when we started dating, then when we got married and moved to our new house, he had moved with us since we have 4 bedrooms and lots of extra room. He paid $400 a month and that extra money went right into savings and was a big help to us. Sadly he has decided to move to CA to live with his GF.....so after 3 1/2 years of the extra money, that is over.

It's a big hit to the finances. We were putting $1300 a month from rent for all of our rentals into savings, so we will have to lower that to $900 and try to continue to work on limited spending (which was going really well till Thanksgiving/Black Friday Shopping went nuts).

On the plus side now we have the 2nd bathroom back and will have another extra bedroom to use for guests or whatever we would like to use it for.

We got 1 more No Spend Day under our belt. I think we are doing "ok" Definitely could be doing a little better. I have noticed we are doing better at not grabbing little items when we are close to getting a no spend day. At least we stop and think about it!

I think we could do a No Spend Day today, then tomorrow we are going Christmas Shopping and I am going to try to get as many gifts done in one day as I can.


11/1 - NO SPEND DAY #1
11/2 - $108.49 Fuel for all 3 vehicles
11/3 - $7.07 I had a Drs apt out of town so I got breakfast and coffee.
11/3 - $10.94 National Sandwich Day at Subway, 2 Ft long subs and a drink for dinner
11/4 - $13.34 Out of town for the weekend, picked up lunch on the drive.
11/4 - $24.34 Dinner out of town
11/4 Fuel (don't have the amount yet, the transaction is still pending)
11/5 - $18.27 Breakfast out of town
11/5 - $23.21 Eating out for dinner (LAZY)
----------------------------------------------------
11/5 - $175.09 Monthly Cable and Internet Bill
11/6 - NO SPEND DAY #2
11/7 - NO SPEND DAY #3
11/8 - $24.99 Fuel for going out of town for Dr
11/8 - $20.00 MO Haircut
11/8 - $17.15 Breakfast while out of town for drs apts
11/8 - $1.25 CVS Deals
11/8 - $7.43 Tractor Supply (not sure what MO bought)
11/9 - $7.25 Breakfast for MOs BD
11/9 - $23.12 Lunch for MOs BD
11/9 - $49.00 Dinner for MOs BD
11/9 - $56.93 Fuel for truck for hunting
-----------------------------------------------------
11/10 - $40.00 MO picked up food while hunting
11/10 - $75.00 Monthly Work Internet Bill (This will be reimbursed by my work)
11/10 - $28.67 Fuel while hunting
11/11 - $17.58 McDonalds breakfast while hunting
11/11 - Pop (UGH!)
11/11 - $18.82 Fuel
11/11 - $27.74 Fuel
11/12 - $5.40 Snacks? Not sure
11/12 - $5.00 T-shirt I bought off local FB site
11/13 - $9.71 Drug Store
11/13 - $91.86 Bath and Body (some to keep, some to resell)
11/14 - NO SPEND DAY #4
11/15 - $68.14 Verizon Monthly Phone Bill
11/15 - $10.64 Grocery Store

The trend only 10 days in is very clear, fuel and eating out = $$$$$$$.

MO is out of town now hunting so I am sure he will have a few more gas fills. Hoping to get our 4th No Spend Day on Sunday.

Also planning on doing all Christmas Shopping on one day to get it all done and out of the way.


11/1 - NO SPEND DAY #1
11/2 - $108.49 Fuel for all 3 vehicles
11/3 - $7.07 I had a Drs apt out of town so I got breakfast and coffee.
11/3 - $10.94 National Sandwich Day at Subway, 2 Ft long subs and a drink for dinner
11/4 - $13.34 Out of town for the weekend, picked up lunch on the drive.
11/4 - $24.34 Dinner out of town
11/4 Fuel (don't have the amount yet, the transaction is still pending)
11/5 - $18.27 Breakfast out of town
11/5 - $23.21 Eating out for dinner (LAZY)
----------------------------------------------------
11/5 - $175.09 Monthly Cable and Internet Bill
11/6 - NO SPEND DAY #2
11/7 - NO SPEND DAY #3
11/8 - $24.99 Fuel for going out of town for Dr
11/8 - $20.00 MO Haircut
11/8 - $17.15 Breakfast while out of town for drs apts
11/8 - $1.25 CVS Deals
11/8 - $7.43 Tractor Supply (not sure what MO bought)
11/9 - $7.25 Breakfast for MOs BD
11/9 - $23.12 Lunch for MOs BD
11/9 - $49.00 Dinner for MOs BD
11/9 - $56.93 Fuel for truck for hunting

Well we had a No Spend Day on the 1st and after that.....not so much. We were out of town 3 of the 6 days, so we ate out, which I suppose we could have packed sandwiches or something, but would have been pretty unrealistic for us to not spend some money on food. However the Subway for dinner on 11/3 and the dinner out on 11/5 definitely weren't necessary. I belive we can have a No Spend Day today and tomorrow (Wed I am out of town for Drs. again), which would put us at 3/9 days which seems good to me! Already eye opening how much we spend on convenience food! I decided to bold the transactions that could have been avoided.

11/1 - No Spend Day!
11/2 - $108.49 Fuel for all 3 vehicles
11/3 - $7.07 I had a Drs apt out of town so I got breakfast and coffee.
11/3 - $10.94 National Sandwich Day at Subway, 2 Ft long subs and a drink for dinner
11/4 - $13.34 Out of town for the weekend, picked up lunch on the drive.
11/4 - $24.34 Dinner out of town
11/4 Fuel (don't have the amount yet, the transaction is still pending)
11/5 - $18.27 Breakfast out of town
11/5 - $23.21 Eating out for dinner (LAZY)

Alright it is Day 1 of Gazelle Savings!

Having two rental properties, holidays coming up, and normal spending, NO SPEND is not very cohesive for us, so I am going for a Noted Spending November. Trying to track all spending for the month and hopefully keep it to a minimum and savings to a maximum!

Today is a normal work day, this evening MO has basketball and I will work some OT and then plan on watching Game 7 of the World Series. We shouldn't have any spending today!

MO and I have been talking and gearing up for 6 months of "gazelle like intensity" from November to April. We were going to focus on cutting costs as much as we could, no casino trips, no eating out, no cases of beer/pop in the fridge, no un-needed spending, and at the same time me doing more OT, making FB sales (which are going amazing BTW) and MO coaching Bball and earning that extra money. We wanted to ensure that we can payoff the Mom Loan by March/April and then bball is over and we could go on vaca and celebrate having the Mom Loan paid off. We were already planning this (making freezer meals, stocking the pantry, discussed in detail, etc.) and then yesterday we found out we are probably going to have a $20K medical bill coming up.

So for now we will not be looking to make any early payoffs, but just to keep our heads above water mentally and financially. We are still going to do our 6 month gazelle, but instead of planning on using it to payoff the Mom Loan, we will be holding it to see what we will owe for the medical and hopefully not go severely backwards on the debt total. We do not have a time line yet for the procedure, but probably not till early next year. I do have health insurance as well as about $6K in my HSA account. I also changed my elections for next year to start putting money in the HSA again (I had it up to $10K at one time but weekly tests/apts/ have drained a lot). So my paycheck deductions are going to double from about $80 a paycheck to $160 a paycheck.

We are back and we are ok!

We got to Vegas on the afternoon of 10/1/17, that evening was the attack.

When we got there in the afternoon, we checked into our hotel at The Linq and started walking down the strip to meet some friends to do some gambling at Planet Hollywood. We got to PH many hrs before we were planning to meet up, so we were gambling and drinking, typical Vegas for us. I was sitting at a machine and I just had this awful feeling of dread. I told MO I feel awful anxiety right now. I feel terrible in my stomach, like a ball of stress. I think I am having a panic attack. This made no sense to either of us, as we are on vaca, and a slot machine with a beer is one of my favorite places to be! I felt like I was going to puke, and like I was going to a job interview, or to give a speech. A terrible panicked feeling. But no reason???

I tried to shake it off and thought I just need a few drinks to relax. So we had some beers and met some friends and I started to have a lot of fun and let go of the worrisome feelings I was having.

Hours later we left our friends and started back in the direction of the The Linq (heading away from Mandalay Bay). At some point in time (I can't remember when), we did hear that there was a shooting at Mandalay Bay. That was the only information we heard. I assumed it was some type of a domestic shooting situation, plus we were about a mile down the strip from Mandalay Bay so we didn't think much of it at the time since we had no details.

MO was hungry so we went past our hotel, and through Harrah's (which was absolutely packed with people) to Casino Royale and got some food and were gambling there a bit more. Casino Royale is a very tiny place, it is nothing like the big resort/casinos. We were standing together in the middle of the casino talking about heading to bed. All of the sudden everyone started screaming and running towards the back of the building. I screamed for my husband to run and I ran towards the back of the building. There isn't really anywhere to go in that small casino so I ended up hiding behind a partition wall that separates the food court area from the casino. Many people ran past me and hid in a cleaning closet. I remember thinking the shooter will open the door and shoot them all and they will have no where to go! While I was hiding I called 911, but no one answered, obviously by that time the entire strip was in a panic and I am sure they were getting thousands of calls. I was sitting behind the wall trying to be as quiet as possible and thinking the shooter would walk around the corner and I would be done. It was so terrifying! Then my husband walked around the wall. Instead of running he had gone towards the panic to see what had happened and how he could help. I am glad he is brave and wants to help people, but wow that was so scary! He said he didn't know what scared everyone that caused them to run, but no shooter was in the casino.

We ran out the back door into an alley trying to get back to our hotel without going onto the strip. We went through a parking garage and got to the back side (non-Strip side) of Harrahs. We walked in and the entire casino was a ghost town. Not 20 mins before there had been thousands of people when we walked through, now there was no one but a few security officers. We walked all the way to the front of the casino, we wanted to go quickly to our hotel next door, but to do so we had to go out on the strip for about 40ft. The entrance was blocked off by security and a women was there arguing with them to let her leave. Security said they still did not know where the shooters were and that no one was allowed in or out.

We turned around and went back through the casino thinking we could get to our hotel by the monorail walkway. When we got there, another security guard was blocking that entrance and said the monorail is closed due to the security issues. We let him know we just want to go across to our hotel. He allowed us to go across the walkway and have our room keys ready to show security to let us in to get to our rooms. A little old lady was behind us and she said she was staying at The Linq too but she didn't know where her husband was and she wasn't sure if she had a room key. We took her with us and got to our hotel.

The elevators were a mess with people trying to get to the safety of their rooms. We go in an elevator full of people. There were 2 girls in there with us, I would say in there late twenties and they clearly had a lot to drink. They said people were shot by Mandalay Bay and had died. They said they were on the strip and saw someone run by with a gun and police were chasing them. We assumed that was why everyone had panicked and run when we were in Casino Royale.

We finally got back to our room and turned on the news. Since we were in Vegas we had all of the local news channels and everything was crazy with coverage of the shootings. At that time they were reporting 2 people killed, 24 injured. We sat in bed in shock watching everything and messaging family and friends that we were ok.

We went to bed late and woke up early. We turned on the news, the deceased count had gone from 2 to 50, then 58, then 59. Injured over 500+.

We talked to other friends in Vegas and found out what had happened at Casino Royale had also happened at many other casinos on the strip as many false reports had come out of shooters in other casinos, so it was a wide spread panic that went like a wave down The Strip.

We stayed in our room most of that day and near our hotel. The next day our reservations were down on Fremont St. so we moved down there for the rest of the strip. Police presence was much more prominent everywhere, which makes you feel safer, but also made you worry more. Everytime there was a scream you wondered if it was someone winning or if something bad was happening again. We came home yesterday and I am so happy to be home and safe.

Thank you to everyone who "checked" on us!
Prayers to everyone effected in Vegas and all across the US.

Im having issues with being able to load pics again on my blog, and also with getting some weird errors where it thinks I am not a human......anyone else having issues??

We leave for Vegas tomorrow! YEAH!!!!!

Due to previous trips, we have a lot of comps that will help us cover a lot of the costs.

-This trip is for my SIL's 21st BD, so my in-laws generously purchased the flight tickets for all of their kids and spouses as a Christmas present, so the flight is free!

-We are staying 4 nights at Harrah's properties which MO gets free nights at based on previous play. MO was able to get the rest of the family/friends discounts on their rooms at Harrah's. We are also staying 3 nights on Fremont St. and we have free rooms at several hotels there, so we were able to get the entire group free there!

-We are going to go to a BD dinner for SIL and we have $100 dinner voucher for that, so that should be close to free for me and MO(expensive restaurant, plus drinks + tips, we may have to pay a tiny bit OOP).

-We also have $100 worth of free food vouchers for Fremont St.

-We are bringing 2 $50 giftcards for Outback Steakhouse which we redeemed from our Discover Cashback Rewards (Free!), not sure if we will use both of those, but at least one as there is an Outback on the strip so that will cover another meal. We also got an extra $50 GC to give to my in-laws as a thank you for paying for the flights.

-The rest of our meals we will do a lot of slices of pizza or grabbing a sandwich at Subway or McDonalds or other cheap options. We are movers and shakers, so won't do too many sit down or expensive meals.

-All drinks are free while we gamble!

-Lastly we have a couple hundred in free slot play. When we get free play we always play it through, which is required, and as soon as we have played it through we cash it out and put it in our winner pocket to go home, so we should get at least a little something back from that, and maybe more!

So other then gambling, this should be a decently cheap vacation. We do both love to gamble (hence all of the comps), but we have a good strategy to always pocket our winners, so hopefully we have a little luck and come home with some good $$$!

Recently MO got a VM that he had won something in a raffle and to call to claim his prize. I said "Oh I don't remember you telling me you bought a raffle ticket" and he said "Oh yeah I didn't tell you because it was a $100 raffle ticket". WHHHHHHAAAAAT!
LOL! Apparently his sister was raising funds as she is a coach and he bought a $100 raffle ticket to support her sports team.

So he calls to find out what he won and it was a $1000 giftcard for a historic tourist town near us! We can use the GC for golfing (they have a nationally ranked golf course), shopping, dining, horse back riding, lodging, and their big draw which is an outdoor musical. So free vacation!!

I did call and check that there is no expiration date and no fees so good on that too. I don't think we will have a chance to go this summer as we are pretty booked up, maybe early fall or next year.

As part of his Christmas bonus MO got 2 $250 Visa Giftcards from his employer. We hadn't used them yet, I prefer to save things like that and use them for something special instead of just frittering them away. But I knew they assessed inactivity fees if the cards aren't used within 12 months, so we were going to make sure that we at least used them once by December of this year.

Yesterday MO was going to town to run some errands and our CC bill for the month is already pretty high due to car repairs, so I suggested he take one of the Visa Giftcards for the errands and that way they will be activated. He called the 800 number on the cards to confirm the balances and found out we had already been charged $14.50 per card in inactivity fees! Apparently the employer had purchased them many months before they were given to us! Which of course we hadn't thought about. So we lost $29 due to that. MO did use some on each of the cards yesterday so we won't get any more fees for another 12 months at least.

We plan on taking at least one of the GCs with to Vegas to pay for eating out as that should be pretty much our only expense other then gambling.

So lesson learned! Don't assume GCs that you receive were just recently purchased!

So I went out of state last weekend to do bridesmaid dress shopping, everything went great, lots of fun with the bride and the other bridesmaids....then on the long drive home I get a text that the wedding is postponed?!!? No details. WTH. Thank goodness I didn't pay for my dress yet! Hoping everything works out because the Bride and Groom are really the best and so great together.


Then totally separate.....we thought it was weird that our family friend (FF) was moving out of our rental #2, he isn't buying a house, or moving in with someone new....he told MO he was moving because "he is a wanderer, and he has been there too long and needs to move on".....super weird. He only pays $600 a month for half of a 4 bedroom home, with fenced yard, hot tub, 2 stall garage, etc. It's a great deal and I can't image he can get a better deal somewhere else.

Then a few days after FF gives his notice, my BIL calls to tell MO, that his wife told him she wants a divorce....and she is moving into an apt with her BF....our FAMILY FRIEND/TENANT. Everyone is shocked and upset. I have thought for a long time that SIL and FF were too close, and I even called her out on it once, but of course she denied it and said they were just friends. UGH. I feel so terrible for my BIL, FF was one of his best friends, and he had no idea about anything. Also BIL's brother (a 3rd brother to MO and BIL) was living with FF this whole time that the sneaking around was going on! Very brazen SIL I have....