Free Birthday Goodies!

As I mentioned previously, my birthday is coming up in July. I learned the other day that there are multiple restaurants and stores that give you free items or discounts on your birthday or during your birthday month! I got very excited about this and looked some of them up. I had to enter my email address and some other information for most of them, but I've already started receiving my free coupons! My first two were a free scoop at Baskin-Robbins and a $10 gift card to Victoria's Secret!

Check out my list below and hopefully you too will get to enjoy FREE stuff on your birthday! 

For more information, just head over to their websites.

1. AMF Bowling Center - Free birthday gift
2. Applebee's - Come in for a free dessert and song on your birthday
3. Baskin-Robbins - Join the "Baskin-Robbins Birthday Club" and they will send you an email for a free scoop of ice cream on your birthday
4. Ben & Jerry's - Sign-up to be a ChunkSpelunker at Ben & Jerry's and get a free ice cream treat on your birthday
5. Benihana - Join "The Chef's Table" and receive a Benihana Birthday Dinner certificate worth $30 to use during the month of your birthday
6. Buffalo Wild Wings - Get a coupon for a free dessert to celebrate your birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings
7. Caribou Coffee - Create an account and update with your birthday. They will send you a coupon for a free coffee drink on your birthday.
8. Chevy's - Join "Chevy's Compadres Club" and get a free dessert on your birthday. You may even get to wear the giant sombrero!
9. Cold Stone Creamery - They will send you an email with a coupon for a free ice cream creation to enjoy on your birthday,
10. Cracker Barrel - Come in on your birthday for a free dessert and song
11. Dairy Queen - Join the "Dairy Queen Blizzard Fan Club" and get a free ice cream cone on your birthday and a coupon for a free blizzard when you join
12. Dave & Busters - Get a free $5 game card credit on your birthday
13. Denny's - Come in and get a free Grand Slam on your birthday
14. Dutch Bros. Coffee - Stop in on your birthday and get a free coffee as your birthday freebie
15. Famous Daves BBQ - Join the "Famous Dave's P.I.G. Club" and receive a free food coupon via email on your birthday
16. Fuddruckers - Join the "Fudds Club" and get a free burger on your birthday
17. IHOP - Come in and get a free meal or sundae on your birthday
18. Joe's Crab Shack - Come into Joe's on your birthday for a free piece of cake
19. Macaroni Grill - Come in on your birthday and get a free dessert and song
20. Melting Pot - Free chocolate fondue for two
21. Noodles & Company - Join the "Noodleville Noodlegram" and receive a coupon for a free dish on your birthday
22. On the Border - Join the "On the Border's Club Cantina" and receive a free appetizer on your birthday. Also, when you sign-up you will get an instant coupon for a free bowl of queso or empanadas.
23. Orange Julius - Buy one drink get one free
24. Outback - Come in for a free dessert and song on your birthday
25. P.F. Changs - Come in for a free dessert on your birthday
26. Qdoba Mexican Grill - Buy one entree get one free
27. Quizno's - Free cookie
28. Red Lobster - Join the "Overboard Club" and you will receive a surprise for your birthday via email
29. Red Robin - Join the "Red Robin eClub" and get a coupon for a free burger on your birthday
30. Rock Bottom - Join the "Mug Club" and receive a free appetizer on your birthday
31. Round Table - Come in for a free personal size pizza on your birthday
32. Ruby Tuesday - Join the "So Connected Club" and receive an email for a free burger on your birthday
33. Sephora - Sign-up as a "Beauty Insider" to receive a free gift on your birthday
34. Target - Sign-up for the birthday club and receive random items - I don't know what this one is as I have not tried it yet...
35. TGI Friday's - Join the "Friday's E-Club" to receive a coupon for a free appetizer to use on your birthday. Also, you get a coupon for a free appetizer when you sign-up.
36. Tony Roma's - Receive a free dinner on your birthday
37. Victoria's Secret - Free $10 gift card

As a disclaimer, I cannot vouch for any of these besides Victoria's Secret and Baskin-Robbins so far! Hopefully the others will send me my free stuff too! :)

This is a very long list...I may need some help eating all of this food on my birthday. Let me know if you would like to help! I also may need help being rolled from place to place as I will not be able to walk anymore.

I hope y'all enjoy!

~Ms. Baseball

Philosophy of Charles Schultz

I was cleaning my desk at work today and I found this thing hanging on my wall that I completely forgot was even there. My boss gave these to my department a couple of years ago and it's been hanging on my wall ever since. I reread it again today and thought it had an interesting message that I wanted to share. 

The following was the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip.

Read the following questions. You don't actually need to answer, just ponder them.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America Pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners. (This one wouldn't be THAT hard... ;))

How did you do?

The point is that none of us remember the headliners of yesterday and those are not second-rate achievers; they are the best in their fields. When the applause dies, the awards tarnish, the achievements are forgotten and the accolades and certificates are buried with their owners, then who is it that influences us the most?

Here is another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with today.

Wasn't this quiz easier?

The lesson is that the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, money or awards. They simply are the ones who cared the most. 

This reminded me that we should spend our time focusing on what is important in life and remember to be ourselves because everyone else is taken. :)

Have a wonderful tonight and tomorrow.

~Ms. Baseball

The First Official Day of Summer

Is anyone else super excited that tomorrow is the first official day of summer? I am so excited! I do love summer and I love that July is my birthday month (yes, I get a whole month to celebrate and Mrs. Bee, you get the whole month to celebrate with me). But really, the first day of summer to me means one step closer to the end of summer which means almost the end of baseball season and then my pitcher coming home for the off-season!

Now, looking forward to the end of summer does seem a little sad because that also means one step closer to a year older as well as to rain and yucky weather again. I would much rather have rain and yucky weather all the time and get to spend every day with my pitcher than to have nice weather and only get to see my pitcher once every two months though. Wouldn't it be nice to have great weather all the time AND see my pitcher every day? Maybe I should reconsider this relocating thing as there are states that are sunny and warm most of the year and he usually ends up playing in them...darn bills and responsibilities always holding me back. ;)

I hope you all enjoy the first official day of summer and the longest day of the year. Take a little time to appreciate the day tomorrow and do something fun!

~Ms. Baseball

Homemade Coasters

One fun part about getting to travel to visit my pitcher is that I get to meet new people. I love meeting new people, but I am always nervous to meet the other players wives and girlfriends. The women I have met in the past few years though are so sweet and so much fun! I've made some great friends.

I got the idea for these coasters from one of the awesome women I met. They were very inexpensive to make and turned out so cute! All you need is scrap-booking paper, tiles from Home Depot, felt, Mod Podge, and some super glue. Put them together, add a bow and you have an inexpensive and fun gift!

The first set I made for my pitcher's sister. I thought I would try something different on hers and cover the top, sides and bottom with the paper in order to completely hide the tiles. I would not recommend this. It was A LOT of extra work and you can't really tell the difference.

The second set I decided to make for myself with my favorite color, pink! Looking at them, I think my momma was right when she said they kind of look like the inside of a watermelon. Haha.

When my mom and I went to Joann's to buy felt, we found the best thing ever for these - glitter felt! We didn't even know there was such a thing as glitter felt. This matched the glitter scrap-booking paper very well!

This was a fun and easy project. You should head over to Wonderfully Made by Leslie to find out how to make these fabulous coasters. :)

Have fun!

~Ms. Baseball

Best Sugar Cookies Ever!

I absolutely love these sugar cookies! They are so delicious! I only bake these cookies for special occasions though because I can barely stop myself from eating them. I baked these this weekend for the special occasion that my pitcher's little sister graduated from college and got engaged! I'm so excited for her! Please note the fabulous shapes of the cookies I made her. Yes, that is a squirrel, a cowboy boot, some stars, a porcupine, and a high-five! :)

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup butter at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 egg well beaten

1 tsp. lemon or vanilla extract (I always use vanilla)

1/2 cup sour cream

Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar, egg, and extract.

Mix in sour cream.

Combine baking soda and salt with flour. Slowly add to creamed mixture.

Chill dough for at least 2 hours. Once chilled, roll dough out on a well floured board or surface. I just cover the counter with wax paper, add flour, and roll the dough out on the counter.

Cut cookies with floured cutters. Bake at 400 degrees about 6-10 minutes (depending on thickness). Let cookies cool completely on a wire rack before icing. Believe me, I have been in a hurry and added the icing too quickly...it can get ugly! :)

Icing

Warm 1/2 cup butter to room temperature. Cream butter in mixer and gradually add 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar. Add 1 tablespoon milk. If necessary, add more milk one table spoon at a time until the frosting is creamy and spreadable, but not runny. Add food coloring if desired. I also add 1 teaspoon of meringue powder. This will allow the icing to harden slightly which makes it easier to wrap the cookies up as gifts.

During Christmas time, I like to cut the cookies in different size stars and stack them to make Christmas trees. The little Christmas trees make super cute and tasty gifts. I couldn't find a picture of any of my Christmas trees that I made, but this is an example of what the trees look like (mine don't quite look like this somehow though):

I love to find reasons to make these fabulous cookies. I purchased a tub of 100 cookie cutters from Bed Bath & Beyond (for $9.99 after coupons), so I can make cookies in all shapes and sizes for any occasion!

I hope you enjoy!

~Ms. Baseball

Couponing!

I'm sure you have seen the famous, highly paid baseball players like Derek Jeter and A-Rod and thought to yourself that all baseball players must have it that good, right? Haha. I'll let you in on a little secret...let's just say that most Minor League Baseball players are not playing for the money. :)

Despite the lack of money, I still need to be able to afford to go visit my pitcher. Traveling the United States to visit him can become very expensive. So since our finances can be a little tight, I have found a fun hobby to save money. I have started couponing. I don't know if you have seen the show "Extreme Couponing," but this is what started it all for me. These people are amazing! If you have not seen it, I would suggest checking it out! It airs Wednesday nights at 9pm on TLC! I do not coupon to the extreme that these individuals do because I have found that true extreme couponing takes A LOT of time and would pretty much be a full time job. BTW, if any of you figure out how I can make this a full time job while still being able to pay my bills and go visit my pitcher, please let me know! ;)

Today I stopped by Target to purchase band-aids. Unfortunately, the other couponers beat me to Target and the store was all out of the children's band-aids I was planning on purchasing for $0.13 per box. Luckily, I was carrying all of my coupons on me (as I always do). So instead, by searching in the clearance section for other items that I had coupons for, I was able to purchase a large bottle of Olay body wash, an Olay body bar, 2 large tubes of Crest toothpaste, and a travel size tube of Crest toothpaste for only $2.66. My total savings today was 76%.

I have 4 coupon organizers that I always take into stores with me because you never know when you will need your coupons. In fact, the last time I traveled to visit my pitcher, I took all 4 of the coupon organizers across the country with me. My coupons are organized by like items with grocery coupons taking up 2 of the organizers, sundries taking up 1 of the organizers and the last organizer is miscellaneous coupons. The miscellaneous coupon organizer is my favorite because it's pink and my momma bought it for me! The other 3 I purchased from one of my favorite stores, the Dollar Tree. :)

I have found that by clipping coupons, searching in the clearance items, and using websites to match sales to coupons, I can save quite a bit of money on most anything I want!

Below are a few of my other purchases:

~$3 Spent & 85% Savings

(I got paid to buy the oatmeal!)

~$22 Spent & 63% Savings

 ~$50 Spent & 60% Savings

 Less than $22 Spent & 60% Savings

Less than $6 Spent & 75% Savings

(I got all 9 of the mashed potatoes for FREE!!)

Less than $2.50 Spent & 80% Savings

(I get a lot of free candy!)

It takes some time to search for coupons and cut them all out, but it is definitely worth it! I think I am going to invest in a paper cutter though. My favorite places to find coupons are:

• The Sunday & Tuesday newspapers
• Coupons.com
• SmartSource.com
• Redplum
• Safeway Just4U Coupon Center (add coupons to your club card!)
• Target.com
• And by searching company websites

I will warn you that most of the coupon printing websites will require you to download a coupon printer, so they can track which coupons and the amount of each coupon you have printed. 

Couponer's websites can also be very helpful for matching coupons to sales and finding the best deals. I greatly appreciate that they do the hard work for me! A few of my favorite websites are:

• Happy Money Saver (I especially LOVE that on this website you can click on the store deals you like to create and print a shopping list!!)
• Thrifty and Thriving
• Frugal Living NW

Couponing has become kind of an addiction for me! I have only been couponing for about 2 months, but I have found that I become a little sad when I can't use a coupon to purchase something and have to pay *gasp* full retail price. :) Now that I have realized how much money you can actually save by couponing, I'm not sure I will ever be able to do without!

Let me know if any of you have found any other websites or helpful tricks!

Until next time...

~Ms. Baseball

My Random Friday Thoughts

As I have said, in being a baseball "wife" I am away from my pitcher much of the year. This leaves more time for me to spend really thinking. I don't know about you, but the longer I allow my mind to wander, the more random my thoughts become. I often find myself contemplating strange things, so I have decided that I will give you an insight into my thoughts today.

So do you ever have those conversations with people about life and the meaning of it and what the heck we are all doing? I had one of those conversations this week. It really got me thinking. It's strange to ponder the fact that we are just a tiny dot on this earth and an even more minuscule dot in the whole universe. 

As a small child, most of us think the whole world revolves around us and rarely think of other people around the world. But as we grow older, we gain a larger sense of the world and realize that there are billions of people and very few really know anything about us. 

I was thinking about my life and how lucky and fortunate I really am. I feel very blessed to have a loving family, a wonderful boyfriend, and a fantastic group of friends, just to name a few things. When I feel like something "terrible" and "earth-shattering" has happened to me, I always try to stop and take a step back to really get a good look at my situation. Those things that seem so awful to me, are often not really that bad. There are people in the world struggling with much larger issues than mine. Instead of worrying about my small problems, I should be praying for and trying to help those whose situations really are terrible and earth-shattering.

I really enjoy quotes. One of the wonderful women I work with (let's call her Chipmunk as this is her nickname she recently requested) has a dry erase board hanging up at her desk. Every few weeks, I find a new funny, inspirational, random...or just plain stupid quote to write on Chipmunk's board. It keeps us entertained. So since I love quotes, I would like to share a few of my favorites with you:

1. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 (I also like the surrounding verses: Matthew 6:25-34)
2. "Life's too short to wake up with regrets. Love the people who treat you right and love the one's who don't just because you can. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Kiss slowly, forgive quickly, laugh uncontrollably. Never regret anything that made you smile. And God never said life would be easy, he just promised it would be worth it." (I think technically this is more than one quote, but it's a good smorgasbord* of thoughts).
3. And the quote that can currently be found on Chipmunk's dry erase board: "Work like you don't need the money, dance like no one is watching, love like you've never been hurt, and sing like no one is listening."

I hear the weather here in the Pacific Northwest is SUPPOSED to be beautiful this weekend, although, I have learned that you should rarely trust weathermen. 

I hope the weather is wonderful wherever you may be this weekend and that you can get out and ENJOY IT!

~Ms. Baseball

*PS: I thought I should offer you the definition to the word "smorgasbord" as I enjoy this word greatly and just looked it up on Wikipedia to determine the spelling. Smorgasbord: "In English this refers loosely to any buffet with a variety of dishes. In an extended sense, the word is used to refer to any situation which invites patrons to select whatever they wish among lots of pleasant things." (Thank you again Wikipedia). :)