I LOVE Shopping.

I have always had a love for shopping. I am not picky. I will shop for pretty much anything. I started working at Nordstrom in college to pretty much have the option to shop at work. When Garth started his law practice and things were tight, I looked forward to my trip to Costco each week. And then when the law practice was no more and things even became more "tight" I looked forward to my garage sale addiction (I have had it for many years and it hasn't been until recently, my running addiction has replaced it), where I could pretty much buy anything without feeling guilty. Now you can find me at my favorite thrift store, searching for super deals on awesome brands!

Well the past few years, I have grown to love the grocery store. A place were my competitive juices start flowing as I search for anything and everything I can get for next to nothing.

Here are some recent shopping trips from last week's Harris Teeter madness. I added up all of my receipts and found the total before deals (and steals) was around $700. I spent approx. $32 out of my pocket. I got some great stuff!

I am pretty proud of my addictions. One keeps me in good shape and the other keeps our family eating on a dime (and feeds my other growing obsession...LUNCHING...we won't talk about that right now). If only Lindsey Lohan could come to one of our coupon classes!

I know you all want to see what the Porter Family eats, yeah right...the organic food and other extremely healthy items are hidden in the closet (I don't want you to feel bad about your own habits....)

But just for fun, take a look. I can't remember exactly what I paid for each shopping trip, but I can tell you the most was $15 and most of the others were under a dollar.

We want to share our secrets so check out our blog: www.hiptoclipcoupons.blogspot.com

Trail Running Hurts

Yesterday I ran my second trail run. And it hurt. The first hurt because I started with these three ladies pictured below. I gathered from eavesdropping on their conversation, before heading into the other "hurt"(which will be discussed shortly), the 13 miles of hilly trails, that they were around my age, had multiple children and were ALL running in sports bras showing abs of steal! Now that hurts!
The second hurt came when they all wished each other fond farewells and one said to the other, "Heather! Go set another course record!" It didn't take but a second to realize the tiny girl, pictured on the left, was the "Heather" they were talking about. Hurt (and she did win).

The third hurt came when I realized I was all alone crossing this bridge...and why did that hurt you ask? Well, moments before this picture was taken, the photographer captured this lovely moment (pictured below):

Now, it didn't actually "hurt" physically (that came later). It was just embarrassing. Look at how silly I look! And Sommer agreed. This same "silly look" happened multiple times during my adventure. Stumbling was a common occurrence and focusing on the rocky, rooty trail was a must.

Around mile 7, I decided I needed a gu. After opening the package with my teeth and messing with my water bottle, my balance was interrupted by my left foot tripping on a rock. That created a series of events, falling, rolling, moaning and then getting up. I said to myself, "Off you go..." What choice did I have? And no one to see it...I bet one of the photographers would have loved the action shot. I could feel blood dripping down one knee, the other knee aching and back hurting...and 5 miles to go. It hurt.

The rest of the race was constant pain going up steep inclines, dropping quickly down, doing my best to manage the crazy terrain.

The best part came when I found out I was the 10th girl after mile 11. It was there we turned around and repeated the same trail we had just completed. It was so fun to see all of the ladies (did I mention this was a Women's only run)! Encouragement followed. I realized runner 11 was too far back to catch me. Runner 9 was about 20 seconds in front of me but I had no muscles left to try and catch her...hurt too bad.

Coming out of the trees and trail I see Garth...cheering. I finish strong. Beat my personal best on that race by 10 minutes...woo hoo! And got 10th runner overall and 2nd in my age group! And the prize was much better...a nice visor.

So although trail running hurts...it hurts good!

Grizzley Run

(The awards ceremony...I beat that GIRL into the ground...all 60 lbs of her young self)

Nerdy adults getting ready to run the race of their lives...

I ran the Grizzly Football 5k not so much to help raise money for the new field. No, I did it to impress my family. I don't think it worked. I figured since I was competing against a bunch of young boys I had a good chance at taking the win for the ladies! After running along side 400 sprinting boys, the first half mile was sure fun. After 350 of those boys started losing their breath and cramping, I joyously strided on.

I immediately spotted my competition, a young gal (12) galloping along right in front of me. I thought to myself, I must win this, Garth and Ethan will be at the finish with their cameras (and the first race they will see me win)! I pushed onward and passed the young fawn at mile 1.5. After passing cheering crowds of football fans (I pictured them out there for me...yeah right), I knew I had this race in the bag. And then visions of large trophies or prizes filled my head (I have won a race or two and have been pleased with the swag)...I raced on. As I came to the final yards, the crowds filled the sides of the road. Cheers rang out. Spectators yelled out, "Here comes the first woman!" Others said, "Hey, her son is on our team!" I was so excited. I scanned the crowd for my children, Garth...hoping for a camera to capture my big moment.

But I didn't see them. Not for about 10 minutes after I finished. They had stopped over at Chick-Fil-A to grab a bite to eat. Missed the whole thing.

And the prize...a totally lame medal...made out of what might well as be aluminum foil and a thrilling $10 gift card to Model's (I probably have to spent $50 bucks to get the ten off)!

Deep down, I am a champion...even if it is a champion among stinky 10 year old football players!

Run on!

First Day of School

The parents were pretty upset this Tuesday when all of a sudden all of the kids on the street loaded themselves up on this big yellow bus thing. It drove away with all of them so suddenly we didn't know how to react. Tears were shed, shrieking from some of the women were even heard. Where did they go?! How could they leave us to quiet and clean homes for a whole day. And how absurd that Garth and I could go have a lunch date with Jill and David (their kids were on that same bus)!

But here is what three of them looked like before they were taken...5th grader, 2nd grader and 1st grader.

Calvin left earlier that morning, quietly making his way to the gaggle of girls at the stop.

Sommer left even earlier for her first day of high school (where they have 3200 students)!

Happy Day...shhh....I mean totally sad day.

Ashton Turns SIX!

Ashton had a another birthday...how dare he?! His choice of venue...Chuck-E-Cheese! He was so excited to have all of his friends join in the celebrating. He even invited all of his siblings.
Look how excited each one is:

Here is Ethan eating a large bite of pizza.

Here is Sommer reading AND listening to music (I think to drown out all of the little ones). She was a big help being the "token banker."

Calvin looks even more thrilled. Although he did head up the "let's get tickets for Ashton" fund. This helped entertain him. They ended up collecting 3000 and Ashton came home with a high quality stuffed Tootsie roll pillow...yeah right! But he LOVES it.

Tate always is looking to have a good time. He loved the party.

Here is Ashton getting ready to blow out his candles on his requested Skittle cake. Yummy?

We love you Ashton and Happy Birthday!

Alaska!

I know, our trip to Alaska was over a month ago. Life is whirling and swirling by ever so quickly. Our trip was so much fun! Here are some pictures of our adventure.

We enjoyed the Blue Angels Air Show! It was a bit loud but luckily I had a pair of earplugs in my purse!

Here is Tali and Liz, the cutest sisters ever.

And here is Liz waiting her turn to "pilot" the jet.

Sis-n-law, Tiffanie.

Here is my brother Matt who looks quite "grizzly man-like" in the picture.

Here are my darling neices and nephew!

Our "bear."

No, I didn't buy it.

Ethan with his bear!

Here are the boys with Uncle Matt's cool car!

All buckled in and nowhere to go!

Novakovich multi-tasking!

Grandpa and Tate fishin'

Ethan's silver salmon.

Waiting by the river for Grandpa to get a big fish on...

The huge King Salmon Ethan caught.

The fight...

The struggle...

The fishermen...

A small hike...

My cute parents. Thanks for having us!