Variety Telethon

This weekend is the 84th Annual Variety the Children's Charity Telethon hosted by ABC5. During the telethon you'll see celebrities you know and hear them talk all about the amazing work Variety does for our community. You'll meet children and families who've benefited from the organization. Leading up to the telethon you will also see special stories during our newscasts on ABC5 about the Telethon and Variety. I'm also so proud to say that our company President Ray Cole and his wife Susan are honorary chairs for the telethon this year!
Variety is near and dear to my heart and I've served on the board for the past three years. I'm once again this year raising funds for Variety. I have a donation page to make it easy, every little bit helps!
Here's the link:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=999903&supId=283110498

or call in during the telethon, I'll even be taking calls on Sunday afternoon.

Hope you can tune in this Saturday and Sunday!

Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com

A Great Valentine's Day

I know some people love Valentine's Day and some people don't. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. Although, now that I have children each holiday seems more special and definitely more fun.

My husband and I agreed not to go too crazy with gifts for Valentine's day (both for us and our boys). We are going to emphasize 'thoughtful' gifts or 'homemade gifts' for holidays such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day etc. So this Valentine's day the boys got a little candy and a nice card, my hubby got a nice new razor, some chocolate, and a card (Altogether it cost me less than 3$ with my coupons!!!)

The best part was letting the boys pick out Valentine's and treats for their classrooms at daycare. And they LOVED their parties and their little treat bags. Oh, I guess I should mention what I received from my Valentine... it might be the best gift ever... a paper cutter!!! Yes, that's right a paper cutter to help me clip my coupons. But the best part is that my husband used a 50% off coupon to get it. AWESOME!

Snow & Superbowl

Between the snow fall and a Superbowl party at our house...we couldn't ask for a better weekend! All Lydia wanted to do was play in the snow. So of course we did and mom and dad had some fun too. Even though I could have cared less about the Superbowl teams playing, we had a bunch of friends over. We enjoyed great conversations, food and the commercials.

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

Crazy Coupon Lady? Yeah... that's me.

So I've entered the world of extreme couponing... and it's a blast.

I've always been a very conscientious shopper, but I wouldn't describe myself as frugal. However, since I now have two children and pay a sizeable daycare bill I've really learned to bargain hunt, buy second-hand, sell things we don't use, and now... COUPON!!!

I owe my inspiration to a lovely woman named Anna Fuller. I interviewed her and her family for one of my "Project: Homefront" stories. Part of the reason we did the story on their family was because the person who nominated them told us about what an amazing coupon lady she is and how much money she saves her family. She has two binders PACKED FULL of coupons, and she has an incredible stockpile of goods in her basement! Here's a link to the story we did.

http://www.myabc5.com/category/190187/myabc5com-video?clipId=6626983&autostart=true

Anna gave me the inspiration to get started and I did... Here's what my kitchen table looked like the night I dove in.

And here we are now... I'm a money-saving machine. Well, kind of. I'm still learning a lot, but I'm definitely saving money! Here's my binder!

Thanks for reading, and happy couponing!!!

Amanda

akrenz@myabc5.com

Pierce Family Christmas in Florida

(Lydia with Mima and Papa on the beach in Fort Myers, Florida)

(Jewelry from her Aunt Magdalena and Uncle Justin...she still hasn't taken it off)

(Santa didn't go quite as planned, but her cousin did okay.)

(Yes we are that family)

(Of course she loved the box.)

(This was the picture on our Christmas card, done by hisandherphotography here in town)

(Church at Christmas Eve)

(My sister Magdalena...due very soon)

So I guess pictures speak louder than words. Let just say we had a fabulous ten day trip to Fort Myers, Florida to see my sister, brother-in-law and my parents. It was unseasonably warm while we where there, eighties the entire time with clear skies. We took Lydia to the beach and swam in the pool everyday. What a blast! I'm so thankful to be blessed with such great times with my family! I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas, we sure did.

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

My mom and dad

This is a milestone month for my parents. I don't think they'll mind me sharing. First of all my mom, Deb, turns 60 this month. It's weird for me to think about that because to me she'll always be in her thirties, with a loose perm, playing some mean tennis in the local city league. Of course my mom does and has done tons of other things in her life but that's the most dominant image I have of her in my memory, in my heart. I remember her telling me her thirties were some of the best years of her life because that's when she was raising her three kids. Congrats mom on your 60th, it really doesn't feel like you're a day over 33.

And congrats to my dad. He's retiring December 31st. He's the Davis County Conservation Board Director and transformed a beaten-up, rundown farm and acres of cropland, into a bountiful recreation and wildlife area. I hope people appreciate the work, I know I do because I know the years of hard work that went into it. Way to go Dad, now to some serious hunting and fishing!

Here they are, Rick and Deb Krenz. Two of the most important people in my life.

Bras for the Cause

Bras for the Cause had another very successful year raising money and awareness for breast and cervical cancer. My mom, Jenny came down from Wisconsin to be my date and we had a blast.
If you want to get involved or attend next year learn more on their website: http://www.brasforthecause.com/about-us
All the money raised goes toward providing mammograms and cervical cancer screenings for Iowa women.
ABC 5 is proud to be a sponsor of this amazing event!
Rachel Pierce
Rpierce@myabc5.com

(I helped a little, I'm one of the people on stage.)