Media Mommy–I am a plugged in Mom. I love my kids, social media–and a good deal!

Again—no formal exercise.. but a lot of running up and down the stairs of my three story house! We moved into this home back in August, and still have a nearly full garage full of boxes. I decided to tackle a couple of those things today. I also (nearly) finished a mountain of laundry.

I’m hoping to get to the Y tomorrow. I have to admit, I feel better after working out. I thought I’d be more run down. It nice to get away from my Blackberry, Twitter, Facebook and the kids.. even if it is just for an hour.

My husband and I just celebrated 9 years of marriage. It’s hard to believe, time has gone by so fast. We had a chance to go to the gym together today. I haven’t been in several months. To my horror, I’ve gained 5 pounds. While I walked the treadmill he challenged me. 100 days of fitness. And we have to blog about it.

I haven’t decided if I’ll actually do it. I want to. I truly want to. As a working mom, I spend most of my time giving to others. I also spend a lot of time feeling guilty about being away from my kids. I don’t get much time for myself.

I often feel like the person I was before getting married is gone.

I have no real hobbies–unless you count trying to save money and pinch pennies. So the idea of taking at least an hour and a  half to go to the gym everyday makes me feel guilty. At the same time, I know getting into shape means I’ll be a better mom for my children and I’ll (hopefully) live longer.

So what do you think–should I take the challenge?

On a side note–this would be a fun way to get some exercise in at work, right?

Today my husband and I took another look at the house we’re planning to rent for the next 2+ years. It’s $200 more than what we pay right now. I’m definitely worried about that. But it’s an amazing home. A place like this in Denver, Colorado Springs or even Tucson would certainly be much more.

While we walked around, I thought about the furniture we currently own. It won’t even begin to fill the place. When we left Arizona nearly two years ago, we got rid of so much. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done that. It was all paid for and in truth I really loved some of it, even though I told myself I was “sick of” the style choices.

Oh well.. it’s just stuff anyway.

What I did find in this home was room for more stuff. More than I ever want to have. The homeowners haven’t moved all the way out yet. But they’ve been living in their new place for about six months. My guess is they don’t need even 1% of what they’ve left behind.

I worry about doing the same thing. Filling the house up, just because I can.

Part of living a more frugal life is not having a bunch of “stuff” around.  I told the homeowners they could leave what they don’t want, we’ll use what we’d like and pass on the rest. I wonder how much they’ll leave behind? I kid you not there were 12 baking pans in the basement.

I’ll keep you posted on this one. In the meantime, it’s time for me to start packing up the current home. I wonder how much I’ll leave behind? Well, I won’t actually leave any of it–I’ll be Freecycling it and donating it, but you get what I mean.

What do you think about the amount of stuff in your home?

Starbucks is giving away free coffee tomorrow—Tax Day. The promotion actually has nothing to do with taxes, it’s more about Earth Day. They want us all to know that if we brought in our own reusable travel mugs–we could save trees.

Year round, they offer 10 cents off your beverage if you bring in your own mug.

While I visited their website to learn more about the promotion, I stumbled across this.

Um.. yum. Now instead of offering up cupcakes on special occasions (like Valentine’s Day) they’re offering them most of the springtime.

So here’s where they’ll get me to spend money anyway, when I am going there tomorrow to get something free.

Must. Have. Willpower.

By the way, if you buy Starbucks coffee to brew at home—keep the bag it comes in. You can take it to your local Starbucks and get a free coffee. Just resist that scone!

Here in TV news there are no “regular” shifts like 8-5. I work whenever I am needed and that means I don’t always get to be home for the big moments in my childrens lives. (As I write this at the end of my shift at work Dad is at home putting our three little Boe’s to bed). It also means taking the mini-moments with them whenever I can.

This morning was the second day of school for my 1st grader. He already didn’t want to get up! J-Boe asked me to sit with him and help him wake up at 7:00am. It was cute even though it was also a bit annoying. We almost missed the bus this morning, but it was worth it for that mini-moment with my sweet son.

As a mother of three and full time worker a spa day is not something I have a lot of time for. Also since I am the main bread winner there isn’t a lot of money for it either. This week I decided to try out a mini spa moment with a recipe I found on another blog. It’s so easy—even I can do it.

Mix equal parts salt, sugar or even brown sugar with olive oil. Then just scrub away at those tired toes and hands. I was surprised how well it worked, plus it changed my outlook. I was able to relax without a big pricetag.

Tell me about your mini moment!