Extreme Couponing Target Edition

My name is Kelly Glynn and I am an extreme couponer.  Well, in truth, I try to coupon and do pretty well.   I have loved that show Extreme Couponing since returning from China.  I am always amazed at these people ability to get items for free to pay for other items.  Let's not talk about the fact that these people may in fact have some hoarding issues and focus on the fact that their grocery bill is less than $10 a month.     Today, I slayed the coupons and made them cry a little.  I looked through the Sunday paper and clipped all the coupons I believed we may use in the next month.  Target had some great coupons for their store and some of those items also had a manufacturer coupon too.  At Target you can use both for double the saving! I went prepared for good things to happen and was only shopping for those items with coupons.  A very hard thing to do at Target when they have such great things.  None the less, I powered through with tunnel vision and only got the items I was planning. I have learned a few things from the show.  First thing is to split your transactions if need be.  This is just what I did and it worked really well for me.

Transaction One - Cleaning Product Galore

Total Coupons- 3

All three coupons were for a $5 gift card on another purchase.

6 pack of Klennex and 2 items from Scrubbling Bubbles, Pledge or Windex

8 pack of Viva and 2 items from Scrubbing Bubbles, Pledge or Windex

Scott Bathroom Tissue and 2 items from Scrubbing Bubbles, Pledge and Windex
They had a bonus on the Scott Tissue for a free Cottonelle Cleansing Wipe package with purchase!

Total                                           $ 53.37
Christmas Gift Card                    $ 25.00 (Thanks Abe)
Out of Pocket Cost                    $ 31.06

Now remember I am taking away $15 in gift cards and most of the items purchased were on sale.

Transaction Two- Sparkling and Smooth

Total Coupons- 7

Tom's Tooth Paste - Target Sale for 2 for $5 and $1 off coupon I received for shopping on Earth Day!
Tom's Coupon $2 off any two product
Tom's Coupon $2 off any deodorant

Schick Hydro
Both Target and Manufactures coupons for the disposable and regular razors.

Zyretec $7 off

Total                                       $ 36.67
Gift Cards from Above            $ 15.00
Out of Pocket Cost                 $  24.80

Again, all of the items I purchased were also on sale! My total Savings this trip was $65.02

Happy Dance Inserted Here!

I only spent $55.86 and we have cleaning products, paper products and personal items that will last for the summer! 

Remember to Breathe

Day 3-
My "weekend" has been hectic this week.  Tuesday, I went to the hospital to get some refills and Wednesday went out to lunch with some friends.  We had wonderfully awesome Xiao Longs and wantons. (which is really pronounce like that only smush the vowels) I walked all over Suzhou during the lunch outing then it was off to Shanghai for a lovely dinner with a dear friend.  I walked some more and had a great dinner.  Today, I had to go reup my visa for a month.  You know it's not good to be illegal in China.  Deportment blah blah blah.  I did some more walking and finally arrived at the visa place.  Do you get the hint that all you ever do in China is walk? After, a taxi, train and bus ride I finally arrived home at 7pm.  I was set on doing my podrunner podcast before dinner so I stretched, order dinner (delivery no its Degrino) and left my house.  It was much easier this time.  It felt super fast and I was done in no time at all.  I am having a problem with my breathing during the running bits.  I forget to breathe.  Then I am like oh no I forgot to breathe again in the nose out the mouth to try to slow it down but it worries me.  Isn't running supposed to be relaxing.  I need to get this breathing thing under control. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Keep on Keepin' on

Day 2
So, I weighed myself at the Walmart. You are probably asking yourself why are you weighing in at Walmart? Well, I live in China and do not own a scale. So, I used the (free) scale aisle at the Walmart to help me.  Sadly/stupidly I wore jeans.  I weighed myself on every working scale in the aisle.  I wanted to make sure they were accurate.  The highest showing 88kg and the lowest showing 86kg.  I decided to take the middle of these so I currently weigh 87 kg.

Beginning Weight- 97.5 kg (215lb)
Current Weight- 87kg (192lb)
Total Loss- 10.5kg (23lb)

It's Time.

Day One- 

It’s time.  It is time to get my life in order.  It is time to get my health in order.  What I have been doing isn’t working and so what does that mean? If what you’ve been doing isn’t working then change it! That is one thing I have learned here and I have had the freedom to do this.  So IT IS TIME!

Fitness Goal 1- Finish Podrunner intervals first day to 5k podcast

Weight loss goal 1- 170lbs by the time I return home. 43 days.

I just completed Podrunner 1^st to 5 week 1 today.  It was a half hour and I did well.  The walking is easy because all I ever do in China is walk.  It has been great conditioning for this. If you can walk a solid 30 minutes then you can do week 1.  So it’s some walking and then I believe to be a minute of running.  My goal was to do my very best at the running parts and not stop for the entire 30 minutes.  I was successful in that.  After every minute of running I found myself saying “thank god!” I even had to talk my way through one of them.  Come on you can do this just a little more.  I went .6 miles in 30 minutes of running and walking.  Bonus I did not get hit by a car or bike.  (This is kind of a big deal in China) Have you ever tried to cross a street in China?  Nightmare.

I am not sure on my current weight but at my last weigh in a few weeks ago at a friend’s house I was down about 27 lbs from my first weigh in at Weight Watchers Shanghai.  I think.  I will go to Walmart and weigh myself today or tomorrow.  I figure I have about 18 lbs to go before I return home.  Do able? I don’t know but I am going to try.

Podrunner Intervals also available on iTunes podcasts. FREE!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Hello Friends,

Well today is my birthday.  I am now 28 years old. As you may know in a few months I will returning back to Chicago. I really liked China and the lessons it has taught me but that is for another post.  I am here to ask for a birthday favor.  For my birthday this year I would like my friends/family to help me find a job.  I will be returning home right before Christmas and would be able to start said job later December or early January.  I am looking at many different options and thought I would ask for help.  I am looking at both teaching and non teaching positions.  I have had the opportunity to do some training here in China and LOVE IT. So as I prepare for my life at home I will be looking into new and old opportunities.

In both jobs I would like them to be:
Full Time
Full Benefits
Good Salary
In the Chicago land Area (Able to drive/train from Tinley Park/Oak Forest Areas)

Teaching Positions :
I am certified K-9 self contained and I have endorsements in Social Studies and Language Arts.
I would feel comfortable teaching as low as 2nd grade but would prefer to teach 5-8th grade.

Non Teaching Positions:
This is a new territory for me.  I am looking at jobs within many different types of companies.  I think I would like to stay within the education sector but it is not required.  I have come up with some of the possible positions for me.  Here are some but they are not limited to these: training and development, human resources representative, recruiter, consultant.  Basically, I am good with people and would like to continue to educate them in someway.

So if you know of an positions open if you would just think to yourself "would Kelly be good for this job?" These are just guidelines and I appreciate the help and any job to be thrown my way.  Below is the link to my amazing resume feel free to check it out and forward it to anyone you see fit.  They just need the link to view.

Kelly Glynn Resume

Thanks for all your amazing help and support,
Kelly 

New Home. New City. New Center

I know I haven't posted in a while and I promise to update about all the fun stuff I have been up too in the last month soon.  This post is about Suzhou and all things Suzhou.
  
New Home and New City
We arrived in Suzhou after a very long train ride from Beijing.  I moved to a new apartment in Suzhou Industrial Park about 1 km from my work.  It is a beautiful 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment.  I even have statlite tv and internet that seems to work pretty well.  It is about a 1/2 block from a mall that has Walmart and other good stores.  Suzhou is a beautiful place and I have only been to the SIP.  I hope next week to visit downtown and old town Suzhou.  It is called the Venice of the East for a reason and I want to see everything it has to offer.  I will let you know that there are a lot of trees and birds here.  Something you don't see in Shanghai.  The people here are very nice and no one seems to be in a hurry like Shanghai.  I will post pictures of my apartment when I get everything unpacked.  


New Center
We opened our center on New Years Eve.  I did three demos and we signed up two new learners.  It was so fun.  My assistant trainer is Wei.  She is amazing and we seem to be a perfect pair.  She is so organized and does everything before being asked.  I am so lucky to have her.  Our classroom is Andy's Bedroom a Toy Story themed room.  I love it so much! My computer background is Buzz Lightyear with his minions of Little Green Aliens.  It makes me laugh because its me and my little children. :) I have to create little tokens to get the kids when they do well.  If you have any Toy Story theme ideas please let me know.  


New Address

Here is my new address.  Mail here is very strange.  Letters, envelopes, books, medications and other things get taken in the mail.  If you are going to send something it is best to send a medium to large box.  USPS offers the flat rate boxes to use.   The box may get opened if they here anything "lose" in it.  If you have any questions please let me know.  

  

Kelly Glynn

C/O Disney English Language Learning

Horizon Resort (South Gate, Phase 3) No.68, Suxiu Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, Peoples Republic of China 215021

华特迪士尼英语培训（北京）有限公司

江苏省苏州市工业园区苏绣路68号天域花园三期南门

Cracking Myself Up

I have become one of those people who wears their Ipod ALL THE TIME.  I know I hated those people in America.  What in the world do you need to listen to your Ipod for when you are grocery shopping, they have music on for you to listen too.  I know it has been quite a transition and I am still trying to accept my new label.  Here are the reasons behind it. 

• People are not talking to me
• Everyone is speaking Chinese and I don't understand them
• If I don't I talk to myself
• It is hard for me to walk or do things without some type of sound
• It keeps me moving
• Taking the metro can be tedious day after day

You ask yourself Kelly what are you listening too.  Well friends let me tell you.  I listen mostly to podcasts.  I download the Eric and Kathy Podcast from The Mix.  I didn't listen to them before I left because I knew I would do this.  Each podcast is roughly 45 mins and it is the perfect length for my trip to and from work.  I am almost all caught up.  When I listen to it I find myself laughing outloud.  Now I get stared at anyway because some people have never seen a white girl before.  But when I listen to the podcast I laugh on the metro or when walking and people REALLY stare at me.  I find this hilarious and people must think I am crazy.  When I am not listening to Eric and Kathy I listen to the music I have on my Ipod.  It has become my best friend here. 

Side Note: Does anyone have a pedometer they are not using and want to send to me?