General

Back on the air!

Eliana Daddy Jonas Mommy
Hi, everyone!

Yes, Ben, Jenelle, Eliana, and Jonas are still around and doing great!

As with the last time I posted here, my hope is to have more frequent updates in the weeks ahead. For now, here’s links to TONS of photo albums. All of these are accessible via the “Photos” link above or by heading straight to ibenj.shutterfly.com.

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

Wisconsin Marathon 2013 – Ben sets a personal best!

Our Trip to Kauai – a wonderful vacation.

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

Pumpkin Farm (early October 2013)

October 2013

November 2013

Jonas’ First Birthday — if you blinked, you may have missed it. Our little guy is a year old. In fact, he’s 13 months old as I type this. I may share more about this event in a separate post.

Merry Christmas to all!

We mailed out the last of our Christmas letters today. Yes, a little behind schedule, but not too bad.

Whether you receive a “snail mail” card or not, you can enjoy our 2011 online Christmas letter.

Also, I finally shared the Eliana November 2011 album on my Shutterfly site, so you can check that out, too!

Crazy Photo Book Deal

I placed an order on Shutterfly today for one 8×10 print, three 5×7 folded greeting cards, and four 8×8 hardcover photo books. The total was $5.26. How did that happen?

1) Last month, I placed an order for an 8×10 print, and for whatever reason, Shutterfly was having the hardest time producing it. I would wait a week with the order still ‘in processing’, then call and e-mail a bunch of times to complain. This process repeated a couple of times until they finally got it done and sent to me. For my trouble, I received a free 8×10 on a future order and a $20 gift certificate. So, this covers the free 8×10. I had $11.60 of the gift certificate left for today’s order.

2) There seem to be a lot of discount codes for free 5×7 folded greeting cards. I either find them on the site or get them e-mailed to me. Today, I had three such codes on my account. One of them expired today, so I made sure to place the order today.

3) 8×8 hardcover photo books are normally $29.99. Today, they were on sale for $23.99. On top of that, I received an e-mail today with a code to get 50% off photo books because I’m a ‘valued customer’, reducing the cost to about $12 each. On top of THAT, we got a coupon from Similac for $20 to spend on photo books. Funny what you get when you sign up to save on baby formula. And last but not least, Jenelle had a coupon that she got at the checkout at Target for a free photo book.

4) Shipping and handling for all of the above items would normally cost $24.75. However, coupon code SHIP30 allows you to get free shipping on orders of $30 or more. I’m lucky that this code worked, apparently because my total before all the discounts was above $30.

Let’s review this:


$  3.99 -- One 8x10 print
$  8.91 -- Three 5x7 folded greeting cards ($2.97 each)
$119.96 -- Four photo books

$132.86 -- Total before discounts

$119.96 -- The 8x10 print and the 5x7 greeting cards are free
$ 89.97 -- One of the books is free
$ 71.97 -- Photo books on sale today
$ 35.98 -- 50% off coupon in my e-mail
$ 15.98 -- $20 off from Similac

$ 16.86 -- Total (with $0.88 tax)

$ 11.60 -- Remaining gift card balance

$ 5.26 — How much I paid

And that’s how it’s done.

Hang in there

We’ve been traveling every other weekend since early June,  and the weekends we’ve been in town have also been busy.  I’m hoping for a little bit of less-busy time next week when I can post a bunch of pictures and stories of our journeys.  Stay tuned!

As the leaves turn…

We’re doing plenty this month, but not much of it is blogworthy.

We’re both involved at Kenosha Bible Church with various activities. I attended a men’s retreat in Lake Geneva last weekend, which was a nice, relaxing time. For the first time, I played disc golf. It’s harder than you think. I also got to play guitar at each of the four worship sessions. Meanwhile, Jenelle continues to serve as an AWANA leader on Wednesday nights.

With the weather getting a bit cooler, I’m trying to run a little bit more. We’ll see if anything becomes of that.

I guarantee that November and December will have more exciting stuff. Stay tuned.

OctoberBlog

Not much new with us lately, but we’re doing well. In case you’re looking for more content, here’s some photos from a marathon I ran last month.

Also, be sure to read Jenelle’s post from her trip to D.C. a few weeks ago. It includes a link to some great photos. Enjoy!

A little behind

June and early July has been / will be a pretty crazy time for us. Crazy, but fun. I’ll post more as soon as things settle down. Hang in there!

Wishin’

I’ll have an update from our trip to Hilton Head sometime soon.

Until then, I’m pleased to report that Jenelle has updated her wish list. Her birthday is less than a month away. 🙂