Hi, My name is Allison and I am addicted to.....

…to Coca-Cola. Of course not full calorie Coke, because the days of drinking my calories are long over, but specifically Diet Coke and Coke Zero. I have Robin D’Anza, a college roommate and bridesmaid of mine, to thank for my recent addiction to Coke Zero. She left a 2 liter bottle at my house last fall, and needless to say, the rest is history. Lucky for our fridge, Tim is not much of a soda drinker. He is however addicted (my diagnosis, not his) to his morning cereal and coffee. Sorry to throw you under the breakfast bus honey, but I have never seen anyone insist on eating “the most important meal of the day” like he does! For Tim, breakfast is a must, and coffee is a close second. Personally, if I don’t have to be anywhere, I don’t think about either of them until my stomach growls or I feel groggy. Tim refuses to start his day without these two essentials. But then again, I am reaching a peak addiction to soda as well, so who am I to judge!

Sadly most of us are addicted to something. Research has shown that TV addiction in the US fits all the criteria of a substance abuse problem! The average household watches 8 hours a TV A DAY! How that's possible, I have no idea, but sadly, I believe it. Fortunately for us, Tim and I aren’t huge television fanatics. Although, I am recently obsessed with the Bachelorrette, and Tim is a self proclaimed Sports (specifically football) Junkie.
Needless to say, silly addictions and obsessions are what make us unique I suppose! I’m not only addicted to Diet Coke, Coke Zero and all things bubbly, but I am also secretly obsessed with anything sweet and chocolately, cleaning my house, BlackBerry messenger  with Joce and Ash and more recently, blogging. WHAT ARE YOU ADDICTED TO!?

COMMON CENTS CREATES CHANGE

I would like to know why the Penny, an official United States Government issued monetary value, is so highly frowned upon!? I think everyone has been at the check out stand, with a line of people behind you, when you decide to not only pay cash (which seems to “take too long” nowadays too!) but give the exact change and have the grandiose idea to unload some of the pennies that are bulking up the change pocket in your wallet. You pour them into your hand and start counting them out; you can feel the optical daggers being thrown at you from the people in line, not to mention the cash register operator is looking at you like you are about to pay in Pesos. WHY?! PENNIES ARE MONEY TOO PEOPLE!!! It’s quirky to me that getting more than $4 back in $1 dollar bills is not only taboo, but paying with anything less than a dime is frowned upon. I know, no one REALLY likes to have change slowing them down and personally, I feel there is nothing worse than getting a bunch of $1 Dollar coins back as change from the post office stamp machines(Why do they do that!?). But when push comes to shove, MONEY IS MONEY HONEY. I find it ironic that in a world, specifically the United States, where we are born and bred to long for wealth and success, we don’t want to acknowledge the “chump” change. I have challenged myself recently to pay cash for as much as possible…and I don’t mean debit card cash…I mean cold hard cheddar. Not to create a penny revolution, but for spending awareness and appreciation of my “penny earned.”

Instead of fearing for our reputation at the register, Tim and I keep a yellow cup on the kitchen counter from, Loose Chains to Loosen Chains-a student led ministry challenging America to collect their loose chain to combat modern day Slavery. According to Real Simple magazine there is $10.5 billion in loose change lying around American households. I certainly don’t want to miss out on that jackpot! A penny saved might be a penny earned, but saving a life one penny at a time sounds priceless to me. What do you do with your loose change?