I went shopping Saturday and managed to find some deals! I snagged a sweater from Macys for $9.99. It was $39! I ended up buying two of them. I found some really soft long sleeve tops at Forever21 for $9.80. I once again ended up buying two of them. I have a habit of doing that when I find something I like. Especially if it’s something I like that’s on sale or cheap. The best deal though were these:

They were $80 and I got them for $33! How awesome is that? I needed a pair of boots too. I normally have a hard time finding a boot that fits my calves but these fit pretty good! Usually boots are too big in that area and it doesn’t look right. I lucked out this time!

Now it’s time to do some online shopping!

I don’t make these very often. Why? Because they normally never happen. How many of you keep your NY Resolutions? Exactly. This time around I’m going to be working on a pretty easy goal. I’m not going to promise to join a gym, or make more friends or even get out more. Nope. My goal is to put extra money towards my car every month. See, it’s pretty easy.

Right now my Jeep will be paid off in 2013. When you think about it, that’s not really that far off but at the sametime, it is. Does that make sense? Right now my balance is $18,651. I make payments of $406 a month but starting next year, I’m going to attempt to add an extra $100-$200 a month. I’m not going to strap myself over it. If I can’t make the extra payment due to another expense, I won’t make it but I’m going to try. Even if I just do an extra $100 that’s $1,200 a year.

I know, I could be saving that $100-$200 instead but the Jeep is the only large payment I have. It’s really the only thing holding me back from being able to move out. I’ll still set money aside but it just won’t be as much or as frequent. My grandmother is already asking if I’m going to save for a vacation for next year. I told her I’ve started saving for one but it doesn’t have a set time frame. If I have the money next year, great. If I don’t, I’ll wait until the following year or whenever. I’d much rather pay off the Jeep first. If I do that, I might be able to take two vacations a year. Who knows.

Anyone else out there have any goals for 2009?

Need to stock up on TV shows? Buy 1 Get 1 Free! Some of the titles included are Damages: The Complete First Season, Rescue Me - The Complete Third Season and The Shield - Season 1. There are plenty more though! Be sure to check out the sale and see if anything catches your eye.

If you’re a fan of How I Met Your Mother, now is a perfect time to pick up the DVD’s. How I Met Your Mother - Season Two and Season Three are both on sale for $14.99.

If you’re a fan of Scrubs, you can save $10 when you purchase Season 7 and any other season of Scrubs.

You can find tons of other shows on sale at the Amazon TV Store but be sure to act fast! These deals won’t be around for long.

I know what you’re thinking. I’m a reader and this is a simple goal. You’re right. I’m a fast reader and can finish most books in a day. Actually, I can finish most in a few hours. I am adding a twist to this goal though. The books I select for this little reading adventure can’t be True Crime. It might not sound hard but for me it is. It’s the genre I love and enjoy the most but I need to expand. I know, I think I’ve posted about this before but I figure if I make it a challenge I might actually do it.

I’ve been wasting time on Amazon and found a few books that sparked my interest. They include:

Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew

The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero

Dexter by Design: A Novel (It’s not true crime.)

The Colts’ Baltimore: A City and Its Love Affair in the 1950s

The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL

I think it’s a nice range of topics. I think the rest of the books though I’ll just pick up at the bookstore. Maybe I’ll take a few hours one day and just look around and see what I find. It’s kinda hard to do that on Amazon when you really have no idea what you’re looking for. I’m going to start with the first book I listed up there but after that I have no clue on what the order will be. I already ordered it and it should be here any day!

My parents bought me the ClickFree Automatic Backup as a Christmas present. I was a little surprised seeing how my parents really don’t know that much about computers, let alone external harddrives and backups.

The box says it’s easy to use but don’t they all? According to the instructions all you have to do is plug the USB cable into the PC and everything else would just happen. How many times have we heard this with software and programs? Guess what? It actually worked. After about 30 seconds, the interface window popped up on my screen and ClickFree Automatic Backup did its thing. I didn’t have to do anything. It searched for files on it’s own and backed everything up. I didn’t have to click and drag, I didn’t have to install anything! According to Amazon it supports over 350 file types and I believe it. I have everything from MP3’s to AVI files on my PC and even some PHP files and everything was found and stored. You know how I suck at writing detailed reviews but you can find one here, another here and review by a normal blogger here

The products comes in different sizes including 120GB, 160GB and 250GB. I have the 250GB model and still have tons of space left and that’s after around 1,200 songs and who knows how many pictures and videos.

If you’re looking for something that’s easy to use and ready to go right out of the box, this is it. This is NOT a paid review. I was excited and happy about how easy this was to use and thought I’d pass it along. I know how much it sucks to lose pictures and what not because of a computer crash. Don’t let that happen to you! Be sure to pick this product up and backup your memories…or Dexter episodes.

Now that Season 3 is over, I think it’s safe to discuss it. Of course if you’re behind and haven’t seen the last few episodes, you might want to skip this post.

What did everyone think? I know some people are all OMGZ over Dexter getting married but if you’ve read the books, it’s not a shock or surprise. I don’t see it as some huge deal. Perhaps becaues I read True Crime and know plenty of real serial killers have been married with kids, I don’t see Dex having any issues keeping his night job. I wasn’t surprised when Miguel was killed either. It was coming, we all knew that. It was really just a matter of time and I had been saying for awhile that he’d probably frame The Skinner for it. I had people telling me it wasn’t his MO but when it comes down to it, he changes based on the situation. He did the same thing with ITK, his brother. He was forced to change his style if he wanted to save himself. Miguel and ITK weren’t your typical kills, they were animals being put down.

I was glad to see Dexter forgive his father as well. It’s one thing to train someone to kill but to actually see it is another. Dexter needed to get over that. Really, if it wasn’t for Harry he would’ve been caught or in trouble, maybe even dead, a long time ago. I am interested to see how the storyline about Deb looking into Harry’s CI’s is going to play out. Deb isn’t dumb and she’ll be able to put stuff together. She’ll be able to find out that Brain was Dexter’s brother and from there, who knows what else she might uncover. I hate to do this but going back to the books, Deb knows his secret. She’s always known but it would be interesting to see how the character would react finding out later on. Sticking with Deb, I hope they keep her romance with Anton. I feel bad for her in that area. I’d like for her to have a “normal” relationship with someone who isn’t a serial killer and who isn’t old enough to be her father.

I don’t understand why they brough up Rita’s first marriage. Was it to show everyone has secrets? I think it would’ve been better if maybe they hadn’t divorced but instead he had died. See where I’m going with this. Maybe she’s more damaged then we, or even Dexter, know. I just think it was random is all. I didn’t love it or hate it, just thought it was odd and random.

I do have one hope for next season. I’d really like for them not to have another serial killer. It seems that every season they have one. Enough. Can we do something different? Can we please skip a season with that? I know S2 it was Dexter but still, you know what I mean.

All in all, I enjoyed this season. It had the twist and turns we’ve come to expect of the show. Jimmy Smits did an amazing job and really brought Miguel to life. We got to see Dexter grow and evolve even more. I’m really looking forward to next season and can’t wait to see what happens.

If you want more Dexter stuff, check out the Dexter Amazon Store.

House, M.D. - Season Four is available for only $23.99! That’s a savings of 60%!

The Office - Season Three and The Office: Season Four are only $19.99 each! It’ll be easy to catch up with your favorite show with those prices.

Amazon has Heroes - Season One on sale for $23.99. They have Heroes: Season 2 for $19.99 as well.

If you enjoy the show Weeds or haven’t had a chance to check it out because you don’t have Showtime, now’s the time! You can pick up Season One for $14.49. You’ll save $15.49. If you’d rather just stock up on the show, Weeds - Seasons 1-3 (Amazon.com Exclusive) is on sale for $55.99.

If you’re like me and can’t believe Grissom is leaving CSI, be sure to check out the Amazon CSI: store where you can pick up past seasons on sale. You can relive those great Grissom moments over and over.

Amazon has plenty of other TV shows on sale as well. If you’d like to see more, just check out TV Central. Be sure to jump on it though! I have no idea how long these deals or prices will last.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday!

Now it’s time for the typical “What I Got” Post! I actually didn’t get much this year but it was expected. While in Mexico I had family pay for certain trips for Christmas presents. My Grandparents paid for one of the parks and my parents paid for the other. My Aunt & Uncle paid for the dolphins and my other Uncle paid for the actual trip. You can see why I wasn’t expecting much! I sis get a few things though.

Dad’s Side:
$40 in movie theatre giftcards
$15 GC for Wendys
$40 Cash
$45 Best Buy GC
An Ornament

I was excited about the movie giftcards. I don’t go very often because it can get a little expensive. I just have to wait until a movie comes out that I want to see!

Parents/Sister:
Diamond necklace
$200 in Visa GC’s
GPS
PC Backup
Spongebob Undies
Michael Phelps Book

Mom’s Side:
Long Sleeve Top
Dale Jr. Shirt
DS Game
2 Ornaments

I’ll probably end up taking the $200 and the $45 for Best Buy and putting it toward a laptop. I’ll have to see what kind of deals are out there. If I find a good one I might just use one of the $100 Visa GC’s and use the other one for clothes or something else. The Phelps book I finished yesterday and it was pretty good. It talked about the Olympics, his training and a little about his life but not too much. It was an easy read. I was a little nervous about asking for the book though because I’ve read other “written by the athlete” books and one was beyond boring. Yes, Dale Earnhardt Jr I’m talking about you. Luckily, this one wasn’t.

My parents and sister really enjoyed the presents I got them. Thankfully the zoo membership stuff arrived in the mail on Christmas Eve and I was able to wrap the actual gift instead of just information I printed off the zoo website. My sister is excited to have her own dolphin. I’m sure she’s telling people at work right now that she has her own real live dolphin swimming around somewhere.

What did you guys get? Anyone get a real surprise?

I love the Chipmunks!

The next book in the “Dexter” series, Dexter by Design, is now up for pre-order! It won’t be available until August 2009 but why wait?

Here is a little summary from Amazon.com:

The macabre, witty New York Times bestselling series (and inspiration for the #1 Showtime series, Dexter) continues as our darkly lovable killer matches wits with a sadistic artiste—who is creating bizarre murder tableaux of his own all over Miami.

After his surprisingly glorious honeymoon in Paris, life is almost normal for Dexter Morgan. Married life seems to agree with him: he’s devoted to his bride, his stomach is full, and his homicidal hobbies are nicely under control. But old habits die hard—and Dexter’s work as a blood spatter analyst never fails to offer new temptations that appeal to his offbeat sense of justice…and his Dark Passenger still waits to hunt with him in the moonlight.

The discovery of a corpse (artfully displayed as a sunbather relaxing on a Miami beach chair) naturally piques Dexter’s curiosity and Miami’s finest realize they’ve got a terrifying new serial killer on the loose. And Dexter, of course, is back in business.

Right now Dexter by Design: A Novel is selling for $16.47 but that could always change.