this little thing i could see from my car.
he was about to eat a bee. probably the same bee that stung erik. 
the bee got away. probably my fault. paparazzi and all.
she's pretty. pretty scary. hopefully she doesn't haunt your nightmares.
Friday, August 30, 2013
guess what i found
anyone who dislikes spiders should probably avert their eyes. you've been warned.
he was about to eat a bee. probably the same bee that stung erik.
he was about to eat a bee. probably the same bee that stung erik. 
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
upon further review
i might be making this 
Skinny Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
and thisHawaiian BBQ Quesadillas with Pineapple-Mango Guacamole
as well.meal planning time
it's that time again. so last time i thought i would make all these things:
we had this Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry and it was delish so i should probably make it again. and then i'll probably get boring and just go with some burgers or what not. apparently when left to my own go to's i end up making quiche. i have this self crusting quiche recipe which is amaze. although i don't know where i got and i don't think it was on pinterest so i think i'm going to have to blog it myself. and then give credit where credit is due.
Healthy Chicken Tamale Pie
Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake
which i have to say given my previous resistance to follow any sort of plan i did fairly well. i made skinny enchilladas soon after going grocery shopping (which survived until the end of last week! go me. huzz, not so happy.) and i made cheesy chicken and rice bake... which was eh. it was good. but it really didn't have a whole lot of flavor. i might have added some taco seasoning to it next time. which is funny because after that i made the healthy chicken tamale pie and without reading the recipe thoroughly (go me) i ended up adding almost twice the amount of taco seasoning and then proceeding the eat the entire thing myself because it was just so amazing. and after much pleading from the husband i have been banded from making anything mexican for a while. so when we had the cheesy sausage tortellini it was amazing and much needed delish to our systems. i also made a quiche and i made chicken fried rice last night to finish up the brown rice i cooked for the rice bake and instead of soy sauce i used bragg's soy alternative which i had to get for a hummus recipe i made once and decided i should probably use it for something. it wasn't bad. i thought it was more salty than i remember from last time. plus i had to use broccoli and corn instead of carrots which wasn't as delicious but i'm partial to carrots. they are my babies! get it? baby carrots. love them.
so i still have to make the brown sugar balsamic glazed pork. i think i'm hesitant because the last time i used balsamic on meat it was awful. awful awful awful. so i'm nervous. is that normal? are we just not balsamic meat people? do normal people enjoy balsamic meat? am i doing something wrong? ... fine. i'll try it. maybe.
i also haven't made chimi changas! but mainly because i was shunned from the mex. i want to make them. and eat them all. which unfortunately i could probably do. but huzz says no beans! i kept telling him there was no beans in the majority of the meals i made him but i think he's losing his mind. he did get stung by a bee (yellow jacket) yesterday and i think his brain swelled in the process. his arm looked pretty warped. silly boys.
so since i still have pizza dough i made in my freezer and my mom gave me a freezer full of meat today's grocery shopping day should be relatively uneventful.
i'm thinking maybe for next friday Skinny BBQ Chicken Flatbread and then i promised a chicken pot pie but maybe a
Creamy Chicken Broccoli Pie Pockets will work as well.we had this Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry and it was delish so i should probably make it again. and then i'll probably get boring and just go with some burgers or what not. apparently when left to my own go to's i end up making quiche. i have this self crusting quiche recipe which is amaze. although i don't know where i got and i don't think it was on pinterest so i think i'm going to have to blog it myself. and then give credit where credit is due.
but tonight, WE LEFTOVER!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
today is a new day
can you believe how fast this year is flying by? i feel like it was just january. did summer even exist? can someone who experienced summer please remind me of what it's like?
this was my first summer in two years not training for a half marathon. i feel like i missed out. those long runs may have been painful but at least i knew it was sunny and hot. as opposed to my usual trapped in the refrigerator station.
i'm getting nothing accomplished this week. what is today? tuesday? oh yesterday i made this:
and trust me. it's just as good as described. which unfortunately led me to eat it all. like a HUGE bowl and a half. which maybe wouldn't have been so bad but i spent the weekend gorging myself on this: 
which also was just as delicious as could be. i may or may not have eaten the whole thing myself. hey, husband said he was sick of mexican. i had to...
which all led me to completing day one of this:
because cardio kickboxing is ending this week and seriously, i need to keep at something or i'll go insane. as rough as it looks i finished all the exercises on monday's list in less than a half hour. we'll see if i can stick to this. as we all know i'm not known for sticking with things...
this was my first summer in two years not training for a half marathon. i feel like i missed out. those long runs may have been painful but at least i knew it was sunny and hot. as opposed to my usual trapped in the refrigerator station.
i'm getting nothing accomplished this week. what is today? tuesday? oh yesterday i made this:
and trust me. it's just as good as described. which unfortunately led me to eat it all. like a HUGE bowl and a half. which maybe wouldn't have been so bad but i spent the weekend gorging myself on this: which also was just as delicious as could be. i may or may not have eaten the whole thing myself. hey, husband said he was sick of mexican. i had to...which all led me to completing day one of this:
because cardio kickboxing is ending this week and seriously, i need to keep at something or i'll go insane. as rough as it looks i finished all the exercises on monday's list in less than a half hour. we'll see if i can stick to this. as we all know i'm not known for sticking with things...
Monday, August 26, 2013
i gave up
it's kinda hard to admit but i completely ruined my no spend month. i still think i did better than i would have. there were many times i was tempted but i realized once the first rush of 'oh i could buy that' passed (which usually happens. that's why i'm always so hesitant to buy anything.) and i realized it could wait... it all worked out.
i don't know if any of this makes any sense. i'm so tired today. i don't know what's wrong with me. i blame the clouds. and the annoying child. i'm not sure which gave me the headache (oh wait, yes i do) but the headache is not helping me move. definitely need to steal some coffee.
the good thing about the nsa was that i was able to keep up with regular posting which i hope to continue to do.
so with that said, here is a list of random things that i have looked at today:
i started my day thinking about trading my chair in for a ball. any thoughts on this matter?
i'm currently on etsy searching:
storage benches
floating shelves
jewelry boxes because i read that your fifth wedding anniversary is wood and after my dear husband told me that we should save up and not really celebrate/buy presents (i know! after i went through all that!) until our fifth and do something awesome...
ipad mini cases because in my dream world he knows all i really really want is an ipad mini since i've been talking about it for the past year.... though i know it's not going to happen. especially since unfun things like struts and brakes need to happen on the 'rolla.
and statement necklaces because i mean really...
in other words, i've been really busy today not spending money on things and dealing with this headache.
i also rsvp'd to two weddings i have to go to alone because the huzz has already used up his wedding card for the year and i'm uploading pictures of the biggest spider i've ever seen. terrifying.
i don't know if any of this makes any sense. i'm so tired today. i don't know what's wrong with me. i blame the clouds. and the annoying child. i'm not sure which gave me the headache (oh wait, yes i do) but the headache is not helping me move. definitely need to steal some coffee.
the good thing about the nsa was that i was able to keep up with regular posting which i hope to continue to do.
so with that said, here is a list of random things that i have looked at today:
i started my day thinking about trading my chair in for a ball. any thoughts on this matter?
i'm currently on etsy searching:
storage benches
floating shelves
jewelry boxes because i read that your fifth wedding anniversary is wood and after my dear husband told me that we should save up and not really celebrate/buy presents (i know! after i went through all that!) until our fifth and do something awesome...
ipad mini cases because in my dream world he knows all i really really want is an ipad mini since i've been talking about it for the past year.... though i know it's not going to happen. especially since unfun things like struts and brakes need to happen on the 'rolla.
and statement necklaces because i mean really...
in other words, i've been really busy today not spending money on things and dealing with this headache.
i also rsvp'd to two weddings i have to go to alone because the huzz has already used up his wedding card for the year and i'm uploading pictures of the biggest spider i've ever seen. terrifying.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
NSA: day 21 i broke bad
welp. i made it 20 days. and then i got this wonderful little email from urbanoutfitters.com: free shipping. three days only. now you may think that this comes around often and i could resist just this once but seriously? i'm weak. and how long i've been waiting for this
............. blank pictures of awesomeness. ok so for whatever reason i cannot link to the pictures of the wonderfulness that i purchased. which is probably good. keep you in suspense. for... ever. because i'm so terrible about taking pictures and uploading them. but it's good. it's really good.
anyhow. i was afraid since it was on sale i'd lose them forever so i jumped. and the i bought the watch because i'd already crashed and burned i might as well sail my ship straight ashore while i'm at it.
............. blank pictures of awesomeness. ok so for whatever reason i cannot link to the pictures of the wonderfulness that i purchased. which is probably good. keep you in suspense. for... ever. because i'm so terrible about taking pictures and uploading them. but it's good. it's really good.
anyhow. i was afraid since it was on sale i'd lose them forever so i jumped. and the i bought the watch because i'd already crashed and burned i might as well sail my ship straight ashore while i'm at it.
Monday, August 19, 2013
NSA: day 19 - weekend recap
and i went crazy.
well, within reason crazy i'd say.
first up, yesterday marked one month until my three year anniversary. three year anniversary's are marked by leather presents. for the first time i think i might follow this tradition. i'm thinking about getting the huzz (shhh don't tell him) a leather watch. but i'm contemplating purchasing it now so i know i'll have it. but do i break code? especially after the roller coaster i had this weekend? you decide. my brain is fried.
speaking of which my $ .88 purchase marked the beginning of the end just as i thought it might. i don't believe we bought anything else friday but saturday husband decided we needed to go to lowes where i found a lampshade i've been looking for every where (it's hard to not buy things based on what month you're in when you live so far away from things. i haven't been to lowes in months. maybe almost a year. so i got it.) and then after all that i've been looking for a spider plant all year. i thought spider plants were easy to come by. i thought everyone had a spider plant. everyone obviously sells spider plants. not so. so after finally finding a hawaiian spider plant i was beyond excited. (of course, then we went to huzz's work for dirt only to have his boss give me spider babies. sooo... now i'm going to create a hybrid awesomeness!) oh and i bought a new pot to put it in (it was $1.80. not breaking the bank) because the roots of those poor hanging plants always make me feel so bad for the little plants. i think i'm going to name my plants. but that'll probably be another post.
then we went to get wine for our phantom of the opera night (LOVED IT!). so needless to say, the money that i didn't spend last week has been spent however i still think i'm under my limit. although i have two more weekends to go and my parent's anniversary is next weekend. and erik said we'd take them out for dinner. (he doesn't want me to have to cook. so sweet <3 nbsp="" p="">
meals we've had so far:
thursday: skinny enchiladas
friday: (erik had skinny enchiladas, i had crackers and cottage cheese)
saturday: erik said we'd order food but i was impatient waiting for him. so i made the most delicious vegetable fried rice with chicken.
sunday: ashley and her lover came over and made us THE most delicious pot roast/risotto.
so nothing that i bought foods for. and we're out of lunch meat. which was expected but still annoying this morning.
well, within reason crazy i'd say.
first up, yesterday marked one month until my three year anniversary. three year anniversary's are marked by leather presents. for the first time i think i might follow this tradition. i'm thinking about getting the huzz (shhh don't tell him) a leather watch. but i'm contemplating purchasing it now so i know i'll have it. but do i break code? especially after the roller coaster i had this weekend? you decide. my brain is fried.
speaking of which my $ .88 purchase marked the beginning of the end just as i thought it might. i don't believe we bought anything else friday but saturday husband decided we needed to go to lowes where i found a lampshade i've been looking for every where (it's hard to not buy things based on what month you're in when you live so far away from things. i haven't been to lowes in months. maybe almost a year. so i got it.) and then after all that i've been looking for a spider plant all year. i thought spider plants were easy to come by. i thought everyone had a spider plant. everyone obviously sells spider plants. not so. so after finally finding a hawaiian spider plant i was beyond excited. (of course, then we went to huzz's work for dirt only to have his boss give me spider babies. sooo... now i'm going to create a hybrid awesomeness!) oh and i bought a new pot to put it in (it was $1.80. not breaking the bank) because the roots of those poor hanging plants always make me feel so bad for the little plants. i think i'm going to name my plants. but that'll probably be another post.
then we went to get wine for our phantom of the opera night (LOVED IT!). so needless to say, the money that i didn't spend last week has been spent however i still think i'm under my limit. although i have two more weekends to go and my parent's anniversary is next weekend. and erik said we'd take them out for dinner. (he doesn't want me to have to cook. so sweet <3 nbsp="" p="">
meals we've had so far:
thursday: skinny enchiladas
friday: (erik had skinny enchiladas, i had crackers and cottage cheese)
saturday: erik said we'd order food but i was impatient waiting for him. so i made the most delicious vegetable fried rice with chicken.
sunday: ashley and her lover came over and made us THE most delicious pot roast/risotto.
so nothing that i bought foods for. and we're out of lunch meat. which was expected but still annoying this morning.
Friday, August 16, 2013
NSA: day 16
welp! i did it dagumit! i broke code. lost all hope in humanity. that's a complete lie. but i did spend $.88 on a gatorade. look at me spending money like i own the place. yes, i did get it for a $1 off but there's my whole no spend month down the tubes. i'll probably start shoe shopping and throwing money at random people on the street now. i'm like a lay's potato chip, once i pop- i can't stop.
ok, maybe not. but i did buy a gatorade. i haven't felt well in a long time. (it comes and goes. i actually read an article recently about children who have stomach problems as a child grow up to have anxiety problems - which for me is actually quite true but i still, unfortunately, even as an adult suffer from stomach problems. the article talks about children who have stomach pains but no real-known cause. i get it. it didn't really speak much about what you can do to help this issue or what you can do to cure it which was a bit frustrating. more frustrating, though, was the response in the comments section. those people are just bitter and seemingly have no idea what they're talking about. maybe they're all suffering from anxiety/stomach pain. mine was diagnosed once. stomach migraines. yup. i'm a freak.) <-- a="" alone.="" already="" better.="" bought="" do="" either="" feel="" for="" freak.="" gatorade="" have="" help="" i="" issues="" it="" leave="" m="" may="" me="" my="" nbsp="" not="" now="" or="" p="" rant.="" sorry="" stomach="" stress.="" the="" to="" told="" way="" with="" you="">
so anyhow, it's friday. only two more weeks to not spend money. i'd say so far so good. i do want a leather watch and an awesome anniversary present and a vacation and an ipad mini and a new bedspread and a bed frame/headboard and a vacation. (i really want a vacation. perhaps an anniversary getaway *day dream*) but overall, i'm pretty happy with my non-spending month. another thing that i only recently noticed is that august has five fridays. who's idea was it to have a no spend month on a week with five fridays? freak.
(oh and i want a new statement necklace. i think i might diy one and see how it goes.)
(p.s. phantom at the opera party at my house! i'm making these:)
ok, maybe not. but i did buy a gatorade. i haven't felt well in a long time. (it comes and goes. i actually read an article recently about children who have stomach problems as a child grow up to have anxiety problems - which for me is actually quite true but i still, unfortunately, even as an adult suffer from stomach problems. the article talks about children who have stomach pains but no real-known cause. i get it. it didn't really speak much about what you can do to help this issue or what you can do to cure it which was a bit frustrating. more frustrating, though, was the response in the comments section. those people are just bitter and seemingly have no idea what they're talking about. maybe they're all suffering from anxiety/stomach pain. mine was diagnosed once. stomach migraines. yup. i'm a freak.) <-- a="" alone.="" already="" better.="" bought="" do="" either="" feel="" for="" freak.="" gatorade="" have="" help="" i="" issues="" it="" leave="" m="" may="" me="" my="" nbsp="" not="" now="" or="" p="" rant.="" sorry="" stomach="" stress.="" the="" to="" told="" way="" with="" you="">
so anyhow, it's friday. only two more weeks to not spend money. i'd say so far so good. i do want a leather watch and an awesome anniversary present and a vacation and an ipad mini and a new bedspread and a bed frame/headboard and a vacation. (i really want a vacation. perhaps an anniversary getaway *day dream*) but overall, i'm pretty happy with my non-spending month. another thing that i only recently noticed is that august has five fridays. who's idea was it to have a no spend month on a week with five fridays? freak.
(oh and i want a new statement necklace. i think i might diy one and see how it goes.)
(p.s. phantom at the opera party at my house! i'm making these:)
Thursday, August 15, 2013
NSA: day 15
i'm starving today. and anyone who knows me knows that when i'm starving i'm irritable. being irritable and having a 10 year old running around the office is not a good combination. so far i've eaten a roasted almond granola bar, a boiled eggs and i'm on my second hand full of almonds. KEEP 'EM COMING!
yesterday was an interesting day. i left work in a pretty happy mood. contemplating getting an ipad mini, signing up for another half marathon in november and after three years at my job i finally filled out the paperwork to be a notary public! I FEEEEELLL THE POWER!
then i went to the grocery store. first, i pulled in and i couldn't park where i normally do. everyone was pulling out. if i had stopped moving i would have been smashed to pieces. awesome. then as i was standing in the deli line waiting for my number to be called, i could feel the tension rising within me. i wanted to punch the "new" guy. hard. in the face. here he is having a conversation with a woman that he wasn't even waiting on when i'm just standing there, waiting for what seemed to be at least 15 minutes. in all honesty, i have no idea how long i was waiting for but i can guarantee you that i could have had all my grocery shopping done by the time they called my number. AND then he got my order wrong. TWICE! TWICE! seriously? i asked for one and a half pounds. first he gave me a half pound. then i just left when he handed me a pound. one pound. i have no patience. then i had this cart that was a work out in itself. constantly pulling. the entire time i was there i could have burst into tears at any moment. or punched someone. but the tears were more likely to happen. it made me fearful for my husband's future. i mean, if i'm this bad now just imagine how i'll be when i'm older and less likely to hold things back? bad. it's gonna be bad.
all this to say, i meal planned. and i spent about $10 -$20 less than i usually would have. which is good. i held back on buying things where i normally would have bought two, i only bought one.
here are the meals that i'm planning on making: (i like giving myself meal ideas but not deadlines. some things i have to make before things go bad but i don't force myself to make things i don't want to eat.)
i spent $128.71 + 16.06 leaves my remaining balance for the month at $55.23. considering the fact that i'm not going grocery shopping again except for (obviously due to stupido) lunch meat and probably milk until the 28th, i might just make it. but i bet since on the 28th i'll need to shop for the next two weeks i'll be over my budget unless i prorate it. aren't i sneaky?
i also bought gas ($36.52) but aside from that i haven't spent anything extra yet. go me! especially since i'm bombarded with emails and online discounts on a regular basis. sure i've left my full bags in random locations but i haven't had any urges that couldn't wait!
yesterday was an interesting day. i left work in a pretty happy mood. contemplating getting an ipad mini, signing up for another half marathon in november and after three years at my job i finally filled out the paperwork to be a notary public! I FEEEEELLL THE POWER!
then i went to the grocery store. first, i pulled in and i couldn't park where i normally do. everyone was pulling out. if i had stopped moving i would have been smashed to pieces. awesome. then as i was standing in the deli line waiting for my number to be called, i could feel the tension rising within me. i wanted to punch the "new" guy. hard. in the face. here he is having a conversation with a woman that he wasn't even waiting on when i'm just standing there, waiting for what seemed to be at least 15 minutes. in all honesty, i have no idea how long i was waiting for but i can guarantee you that i could have had all my grocery shopping done by the time they called my number. AND then he got my order wrong. TWICE! TWICE! seriously? i asked for one and a half pounds. first he gave me a half pound. then i just left when he handed me a pound. one pound. i have no patience. then i had this cart that was a work out in itself. constantly pulling. the entire time i was there i could have burst into tears at any moment. or punched someone. but the tears were more likely to happen. it made me fearful for my husband's future. i mean, if i'm this bad now just imagine how i'll be when i'm older and less likely to hold things back? bad. it's gonna be bad.
all this to say, i meal planned. and i spent about $10 -$20 less than i usually would have. which is good. i held back on buying things where i normally would have bought two, i only bought one.
here are the meals that i'm planning on making: (i like giving myself meal ideas but not deadlines. some things i have to make before things go bad but i don't force myself to make things i don't want to eat.)
Healthy Chicken Tamale Pie
Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake
i'm also planning on making skinny enchiladas. my husband told me his co-worker just found out some bad news so i hope to make his family a little meal to hopefully make it easier for them. also, i'm nixing the sour cream/cream in these recipes. instead i use plain greek yogurt. that stuff is so versatile. i'll probably also make a quiche. i almost always make quiche. (yes i've used greek yogurt in that, too.)
i spent $128.71 + 16.06 leaves my remaining balance for the month at $55.23. considering the fact that i'm not going grocery shopping again except for (obviously due to stupido) lunch meat and probably milk until the 28th, i might just make it. but i bet since on the 28th i'll need to shop for the next two weeks i'll be over my budget unless i prorate it. aren't i sneaky?
i also bought gas ($36.52) but aside from that i haven't spent anything extra yet. go me! especially since i'm bombarded with emails and online discounts on a regular basis. sure i've left my full bags in random locations but i haven't had any urges that couldn't wait!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
NSA: day 13
13 days. it doesn't actually feel that long. then again, nothing has really been that different yet. except i didn't buy wine this week. the huzz did buy one pizza and beer though. i kinda feel like i'm cheating because i ordered clothes from forever21 on july 31st and they didn't show up until the 9th. so i got my new stuff fix. i'm at that point right now where i'm like, what's my problem? i could do this every month and have no problems... but then i find myself looking at shoes and trying to figure out how i can spend money without technically spending money (aka credits and what not)... so not so much fun.
also not so much fun, i have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. i figure if i go shopping tomorrow i can hopefully get groceries that will last us almost right up until the end of this month. but also that includes my parents anniversary AND potential phantom of the opera gathering. (don't judge me because i've never seen it. i get enough of that at home.) all that and stay within the less that $200 that i have left? well, the good news is that i have plenty of meat i think. i could maybe get something special for the 24th and be fine for the rest of the month.
pizza making went well. broccoli and cheddar pizza is a huge hit in case anyone is wondering. i still have some dough so i could make pizza for my parents. that might be nice.
so i guess that's it. i might have more to report tomorrow. so far so good and i'm thinking i could probably stand to do another month of this... or at least be waaaaaaaaaay more conscience of how i spend my money.
also not so much fun, i have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. i figure if i go shopping tomorrow i can hopefully get groceries that will last us almost right up until the end of this month. but also that includes my parents anniversary AND potential phantom of the opera gathering. (don't judge me because i've never seen it. i get enough of that at home.) all that and stay within the less that $200 that i have left? well, the good news is that i have plenty of meat i think. i could maybe get something special for the 24th and be fine for the rest of the month.
pizza making went well. broccoli and cheddar pizza is a huge hit in case anyone is wondering. i still have some dough so i could make pizza for my parents. that might be nice.
so i guess that's it. i might have more to report tomorrow. so far so good and i'm thinking i could probably stand to do another month of this... or at least be waaaaaaaaaay more conscience of how i spend my money.
Friday, August 9, 2013
NSA: day nine
last night i woke myself up trying to convince myself that i could go thrift shopping for a vest and it would be ok because no one would know the difference.
why am i so self deprecating? i don't know. but apparently i want a vest. i've been thinking about it for a while. it's one of those things that no one really needs in their wardrobe but apparently i want one. i'm a freak what can i say. so anyone who wants to buy me a present, i've linked it! i think. i can still accept presents right?
either way, i don't have time to spend thrifting. i'm a busy woman! i have friends and commitments and obligations to adhere to! which is why i spent most of last night re-watching the new girl. don't lie. you did it too.
i think meal planning so far is going pretty well. i haven't run out of food and we've had something to eat every night. last night i had a mini pizza i made to make sure my dough wasn't awful and the huzz had leftover quiche. before that we had coconut chicken and salad. i probably need to make another egg related meal. we have so many eggs. i love it! plus, we still haven't had chicken stir-fry which is on the list of things to make so i have meals for next week sorta planned. i'm getting excellent. until i get super lazy. which is bound to happen soon. like really soon. i'm thinking tomorrow i might be lazy.
but i did find this in my refrigerator so... i'm not too wonderful...
why am i so self deprecating? i don't know. but apparently i want a vest. i've been thinking about it for a while. it's one of those things that no one really needs in their wardrobe but apparently i want one. i'm a freak what can i say. so anyone who wants to buy me a present, i've linked it! i think. i can still accept presents right?either way, i don't have time to spend thrifting. i'm a busy woman! i have friends and commitments and obligations to adhere to! which is why i spent most of last night re-watching the new girl. don't lie. you did it too.
i think meal planning so far is going pretty well. i haven't run out of food and we've had something to eat every night. last night i had a mini pizza i made to make sure my dough wasn't awful and the huzz had leftover quiche. before that we had coconut chicken and salad. i probably need to make another egg related meal. we have so many eggs. i love it! plus, we still haven't had chicken stir-fry which is on the list of things to make so i have meals for next week sorta planned. i'm getting excellent. until i get super lazy. which is bound to happen soon. like really soon. i'm thinking tomorrow i might be lazy.
but i did find this in my refrigerator so... i'm not too wonderful...
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
NSA: day seven
well, day seven was kinda rough. actually shopping in this small town is what made it rough. having people over tonight so i figured i would make a dessert. i went through the cupboards/my pinterest boards to figure out something simple that i could make... i settled on these
s'mores bars. the only items i needed were chocolate bars and fluff. (i even looked up the recipe for fluff to see if it would be less expensive to make it myself... that's a big negative.)
anyhow, so i go to my local grocery knowing that i need four things: milk, lunch meat, chocolate and fluff. in comparison to the amount of time, work, resources, and energy that would go into making fluff - that stuff is wildly inexpensive. i've whipped my own egg whites before. that is not an easy job.
grand total: $16.06. is it just me or is that ridiculous? i mean, the fluff was $2 for the large size because ... well why not it was only $.30 more and i just don't see the point. who wants a little fluff? no one.
but still. four items for $16. that seems like a lot to me. maybe it's just because i'm limiting myself too much.
whatever. so i cooked my delicious s'more treat up and let me say. it seems delicious. i have to wait to eat it and i think in my over excitement of the fluff i overstuffed it because my top does NOT look like that but i can't wait. i put it in the fridge but i'm thinking maybe i should warm it up before i serve it... we'll see.
i also made pizza dough from scratch again. (did i mention friends are coming over for pizza? not just s'mores mess treats? no. oh yea, i actually had a meal plan of sorts.) so get this, i'm so excited about making the dough from scratch again i totally forgot that if you make pizza from scratch you need more than just dough. you need cheese and toppings and stuff. whelp. guess we're going to have to buy us some pizza because i'm not going back to that little store for toppings. no sireee, bob. so we can have cheese or broccoli pizza from scratch and then whatever i decide to order. yes that will come out of my wine money but in the end i think it's worth it.
so here's the break down:
$30.00 out of $50 for hospital fair; remaining $20
$16.78 out of $100 for fun money; remaining $83.22
$16.06 out of $200 for groceries; remaining $183.94 (and i have to go grocery shopping next wednesday. but i found two boxes of cereal in the cabinet! yay me! - i might have to rethink this grocery amount though. we'll see how it goes.)
s'mores bars. the only items i needed were chocolate bars and fluff. (i even looked up the recipe for fluff to see if it would be less expensive to make it myself... that's a big negative.)
anyhow, so i go to my local grocery knowing that i need four things: milk, lunch meat, chocolate and fluff. in comparison to the amount of time, work, resources, and energy that would go into making fluff - that stuff is wildly inexpensive. i've whipped my own egg whites before. that is not an easy job.
grand total: $16.06. is it just me or is that ridiculous? i mean, the fluff was $2 for the large size because ... well why not it was only $.30 more and i just don't see the point. who wants a little fluff? no one.
but still. four items for $16. that seems like a lot to me. maybe it's just because i'm limiting myself too much.
whatever. so i cooked my delicious s'more treat up and let me say. it seems delicious. i have to wait to eat it and i think in my over excitement of the fluff i overstuffed it because my top does NOT look like that but i can't wait. i put it in the fridge but i'm thinking maybe i should warm it up before i serve it... we'll see.
i also made pizza dough from scratch again. (did i mention friends are coming over for pizza? not just s'mores mess treats? no. oh yea, i actually had a meal plan of sorts.) so get this, i'm so excited about making the dough from scratch again i totally forgot that if you make pizza from scratch you need more than just dough. you need cheese and toppings and stuff. whelp. guess we're going to have to buy us some pizza because i'm not going back to that little store for toppings. no sireee, bob. so we can have cheese or broccoli pizza from scratch and then whatever i decide to order. yes that will come out of my wine money but in the end i think it's worth it.
so here's the break down:
$30.00 out of $50 for hospital fair; remaining $20
$16.78 out of $100 for fun money; remaining $83.22
$16.06 out of $200 for groceries; remaining $183.94 (and i have to go grocery shopping next wednesday. but i found two boxes of cereal in the cabinet! yay me! - i might have to rethink this grocery amount though. we'll see how it goes.)
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
NSA- day 6
day six...
ever notice when you want to give up something ... like you're going on a diet or giving up spending extra money for a month... that's the month everyone wants you to have cake and go shopping and do lots of fun things that will never be offered again (in my mind)???
this morning i found out that they are having the last fitness cruise next monday night. that means that if i want to do it (and the hubs and i had talked about doing it) i'd have to forgo my wine date. forgo wine date? i think it's $20 and it's the last time they're doing it this summer. decisions, decisions.
aside from that so far so good. well, if you're me. erik, on the other hand, is running low on milk and had a peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch today. due to his distaste for the roast beef i got last week/refusal to have a salami sandwich and my $200.00 grocery limit/not going to the stores closest to us restricts my ability to get him new stuff. he's so fussy. and he doesn't want egg salad which is ridiculous because i have a ton of eggs. so i'm not sure how that's going to fair. i'm thinking i might just breakdown and get it nearby and take it out of the grocery money because i refuse to drive all the way to the grocery store tomorrow.
i moved some money into savings too which makes it look like i have no money and therefore my desire to spend money is more limited too. day six is a piece of cake.
and now i want cake.
ever notice when you want to give up something ... like you're going on a diet or giving up spending extra money for a month... that's the month everyone wants you to have cake and go shopping and do lots of fun things that will never be offered again (in my mind)???
this morning i found out that they are having the last fitness cruise next monday night. that means that if i want to do it (and the hubs and i had talked about doing it) i'd have to forgo my wine date. forgo wine date? i think it's $20 and it's the last time they're doing it this summer. decisions, decisions.
aside from that so far so good. well, if you're me. erik, on the other hand, is running low on milk and had a peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch today. due to his distaste for the roast beef i got last week/refusal to have a salami sandwich and my $200.00 grocery limit/not going to the stores closest to us restricts my ability to get him new stuff. he's so fussy. and he doesn't want egg salad which is ridiculous because i have a ton of eggs. so i'm not sure how that's going to fair. i'm thinking i might just breakdown and get it nearby and take it out of the grocery money because i refuse to drive all the way to the grocery store tomorrow.
i moved some money into savings too which makes it look like i have no money and therefore my desire to spend money is more limited too. day six is a piece of cake.
and now i want cake.
Monday, August 5, 2013
lynn and keith
lynn and keith got married saturday. their ceremony made me cry. yes. i'm usually a crypot but somehow i usually manage to keep it together at weddings. this one got to me. it was totally beautiful. i'll always remember the streamers hitting lynn in the face while she said the lovely promises to her husband to be. the way everyone was dancing so hard on that poor old barn floor that i could barely stand still. photobombing every picture possible due to the captain kirk death punch. (i just added the 'death punch' part.) the socializing with all the wonderful people who love lynn and keith so much. the hang over that the captain kirk's left me with even though i only had two and a half and i left at 10:30 to go home to bed. we were only the second people to go home, only after elsah and van, her 7 month old baby.
congratulations you two. friendship is the best part of marriage.
NSA-day five
day five.
eek.
ok. so i couldn't resist my friday night wine date with my husband. but i did limit myself. i mean, you don't want me to have a mental break down or anything do you? i did limit myself to two bottles of wine. and he limited himself to two bottles of wine. so together we just might make it through.
it does kinda feel like cheating that he isn't doing a no spend month because i definitely get away wiht a lot more. for instance, last night (completely hung over day due to wedding extravaganza) we had a chicken parm sub thanks to hubs. therefore, i have no actually cooked since... friday? thursday? do nachos count? i keep planning on making this coconut chicken dish that looks amazing on pinterest but i haven't gotten around to it.
the update: so friday afternoon i got out of work early (1ish). i went home, spoke with my neighbor who is going through everything imaginable right now (cancer in her lymphnodes, not sure how bad it is, stage 3?, dumb boy problems, trying to work everything out... it's a mess. i feel so bad for her.), then i walked to the post office, bank, back to the office to drop off mail, and home and there was my sweet husband! yipppeee! so we went to his parents house because the traffic was ridiculous and there's only so many times you can make fun of people trying to park before it realy just isn't funny anymore.
there we got to spend some time with his parents before his sister and her husband showed up. it was really nice to get to spend time with all of them. we laughed and ate dinner (yep, round one emily not cooking). at some point, we had been there for what hubs declared was long enough and we went home. i went to the fair and spent $25 of my $50 limit on frames. so many frames. i bought big frames and little frames and one frame that was so huge that i decided i was going to fill it with corks and make it into a cork-board. i bought one frame just because it was pink. i bought another frame because it had a picture of a gigantic spider in it and hubs does not like spiders so i thought it was rather funny. that was my most expensive frame. $9. least expensive was 25 cents.
oh and i spoke with the most delightful old couple who own most of the frames. they own a barn. now i can frequent it whilest not on spending limits. won't hubster be proud. i wish i could have taken a picture of him as i'm walking across the street with my two bags and hands full of gigantic frames. i have far too much fun with this.
saturday, being the loving wife that i am, i brought my dear hubs a bowl of cereal. around noon i met up with friends and little ones and erik's other sister came over to go back to the fair. i spent $5. so grand total of hospital fair spending left me with many many frames. two mugs. and $30 of my $50 total spent.
lunch i ate a hot dog and some nachos (with salsa, chicken and cheese). which is good because at the wedding we didn't eat until after 8. getting ready for the wedding i was really proud of myself. after only watching about six hair and make up tutorials i actually used three different eyeshadow palettes and three to four different make up brushes. this is huge for me. i'm usually more of a sweep, eyeline, macara go girl. erik told me at the end of the night that i looked great so i'd say overall success.
the wedding should probably be a different post but it was beautiful and wonderful and made me cry. but i drank one too many captain kirks and therefore i spent all day sunday hungover. sleepy. went for a run (4 treadmill miles split by 1.58 at 1% incline/2.86 miles at 0% incline at a 9:05 pace). hung out at erik's parents until i decided that i needed to be fed since i'd only had an english muffin, a granola bar and some chips so erik bought us a sub and we spent the early evening hanging out with my parents looking at an astro van as ol'blue dissolved into a cloud of steam.
overall, great weekend.
amount spent: $16.78
tonight. quiche.
eek.
ok. so i couldn't resist my friday night wine date with my husband. but i did limit myself. i mean, you don't want me to have a mental break down or anything do you? i did limit myself to two bottles of wine. and he limited himself to two bottles of wine. so together we just might make it through.
it does kinda feel like cheating that he isn't doing a no spend month because i definitely get away wiht a lot more. for instance, last night (completely hung over day due to wedding extravaganza) we had a chicken parm sub thanks to hubs. therefore, i have no actually cooked since... friday? thursday? do nachos count? i keep planning on making this coconut chicken dish that looks amazing on pinterest but i haven't gotten around to it.
the update: so friday afternoon i got out of work early (1ish). i went home, spoke with my neighbor who is going through everything imaginable right now (cancer in her lymphnodes, not sure how bad it is, stage 3?, dumb boy problems, trying to work everything out... it's a mess. i feel so bad for her.), then i walked to the post office, bank, back to the office to drop off mail, and home and there was my sweet husband! yipppeee! so we went to his parents house because the traffic was ridiculous and there's only so many times you can make fun of people trying to park before it realy just isn't funny anymore.
there we got to spend some time with his parents before his sister and her husband showed up. it was really nice to get to spend time with all of them. we laughed and ate dinner (yep, round one emily not cooking). at some point, we had been there for what hubs declared was long enough and we went home. i went to the fair and spent $25 of my $50 limit on frames. so many frames. i bought big frames and little frames and one frame that was so huge that i decided i was going to fill it with corks and make it into a cork-board. i bought one frame just because it was pink. i bought another frame because it had a picture of a gigantic spider in it and hubs does not like spiders so i thought it was rather funny. that was my most expensive frame. $9. least expensive was 25 cents.
oh and i spoke with the most delightful old couple who own most of the frames. they own a barn. now i can frequent it whilest not on spending limits. won't hubster be proud. i wish i could have taken a picture of him as i'm walking across the street with my two bags and hands full of gigantic frames. i have far too much fun with this.
saturday, being the loving wife that i am, i brought my dear hubs a bowl of cereal. around noon i met up with friends and little ones and erik's other sister came over to go back to the fair. i spent $5. so grand total of hospital fair spending left me with many many frames. two mugs. and $30 of my $50 total spent.
lunch i ate a hot dog and some nachos (with salsa, chicken and cheese). which is good because at the wedding we didn't eat until after 8. getting ready for the wedding i was really proud of myself. after only watching about six hair and make up tutorials i actually used three different eyeshadow palettes and three to four different make up brushes. this is huge for me. i'm usually more of a sweep, eyeline, macara go girl. erik told me at the end of the night that i looked great so i'd say overall success.
the wedding should probably be a different post but it was beautiful and wonderful and made me cry. but i drank one too many captain kirks and therefore i spent all day sunday hungover. sleepy. went for a run (4 treadmill miles split by 1.58 at 1% incline/2.86 miles at 0% incline at a 9:05 pace). hung out at erik's parents until i decided that i needed to be fed since i'd only had an english muffin, a granola bar and some chips so erik bought us a sub and we spent the early evening hanging out with my parents looking at an astro van as ol'blue dissolved into a cloud of steam.
overall, great weekend.
amount spent: $16.78
tonight. quiche.
Friday, August 2, 2013
NSA- day two
dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuhh.. day two
ok so yesterday i spent a moment calculating my entire month of july to figure out where i spend my money, how much i spent and where i could/need to cut back for my no spend month.
here's the breakdown:
30% of my income is spent on what i deem "necessities". this includes rent, electric, internet, netflix (i mean.. come on), phone and gym. these are all things i have to pay and cannot change what i pay.
student loans make up another 23% of my income that i cannot change. that's a total of 52-53% of my income. awesome student loans. thank you. and they want to increase what i pay. i want to punch them in the face.
so other things that i need to pay but could potentially change the amount are groceries and gas. in the month of july i spent 26% of my income on groceries and gas. (approx. 22% on groceries and 4% on gas. i go no where. yay!)
other things that i spend money on that i don't really need to are what i call extras (random shopping trips, gifts, etc.), extra food (this includes going out to eat and times where i run to the grocery store in town - mondo bucks), and liquor. some days i deem liquor as an essential. last month i spent a total of 40.5% of my income on these things (extra- 28%, extra food 6.4%, liquor 6%).
* i've rounded up on a few number so it's not exact. plus i paid some medical bills. oh and my income randomly decreased (stupid taxes) so my income is less than it was. but i did get a bonus. ok let me just tell you my whole life story while i'm at it right? never mind. moving on.
so here's the plan:
so i guess we'll see how it goes from here. i probably won't post saturday or sunday but i'll try to keep a record of what i do at the fair and how i'm doing with meals. (i think we're going to be eating a lot of eggs. and i already miss my sweets.) i had to pull $100 out of savings yesterday to pay my rent so i'm starting today with $3 + my paycheck. day two is already awesome.
i'm also going to try to remember my 31 miles in 31 days (hopefully more) but i have a 5k i want to fly through in september so i better get started.
ok so yesterday i spent a moment calculating my entire month of july to figure out where i spend my money, how much i spent and where i could/need to cut back for my no spend month.
here's the breakdown:
30% of my income is spent on what i deem "necessities". this includes rent, electric, internet, netflix (i mean.. come on), phone and gym. these are all things i have to pay and cannot change what i pay.
student loans make up another 23% of my income that i cannot change. that's a total of 52-53% of my income. awesome student loans. thank you. and they want to increase what i pay. i want to punch them in the face.
so other things that i need to pay but could potentially change the amount are groceries and gas. in the month of july i spent 26% of my income on groceries and gas. (approx. 22% on groceries and 4% on gas. i go no where. yay!)
other things that i spend money on that i don't really need to are what i call extras (random shopping trips, gifts, etc.), extra food (this includes going out to eat and times where i run to the grocery store in town - mondo bucks), and liquor. some days i deem liquor as an essential. last month i spent a total of 40.5% of my income on these things (extra- 28%, extra food 6.4%, liquor 6%).
* i've rounded up on a few number so it's not exact. plus i paid some medical bills. oh and my income randomly decreased (stupid taxes) so my income is less than it was. but i did get a bonus. ok let me just tell you my whole life story while i'm at it right? never mind. moving on.
so here's the plan:
- i have $50 from a previous bonus. that is my money allowed for the hospital fair. anything over that will dig into my
- $100 that will be my spending money for the month. (aka $25 per week in wine.)
- i was going to try to limit my grocery money to $200 which i might do anyhow but we'll see how that goes considering i'm going to be
- limiting all extra food money and all extra money. that means no presents for emily. no itunes. no extra stuff at the grocery store. oh and
- meal planning. yuck. but that's how we're going to use up all that random food. last night we had tortilla chicken and i used those stinkin' corn tortillas that have been hanging around forever. the only way i could make them delicious again.
so i guess we'll see how it goes from here. i probably won't post saturday or sunday but i'll try to keep a record of what i do at the fair and how i'm doing with meals. (i think we're going to be eating a lot of eggs. and i already miss my sweets.) i had to pull $100 out of savings yesterday to pay my rent so i'm starting today with $3 + my paycheck. day two is already awesome.
i'm also going to try to remember my 31 miles in 31 days (hopefully more) but i have a 5k i want to fly through in september so i better get started.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
no spend august
so it's official. i've decided to do a no spend month. and as day one is halfway over i'm already regretting it. i want wine! i need wine! someone get this girl some wine! i should have thought this through a little better.
things i did think through:
i already got my parents an anniversary gift. but i didn't wrap it.
i know what i'm wearing to the wedding i'm going to saturday. so that's out of the way.
i sent amy a card for her anniversary (hope you get it!) but i forgot about all the other anniversarys this month so obviously i'm a terrible friend.
i went grocery shopping yesterday. (not that i'm not going to go grocery shopping at all but i'll probably limit it. when i go shopping i always try to over buy like there's going to be a food shortage or i'll never be able to go grocery shopping again. - actually that's only half true. i try to grocery shop for the month. i hate that stinkin' store. so this month will be about only buying what i NEED and meal planning... or trying to.)
i am planning on giving myself an amount of money that i'm allowed to spend this month. i was thinking one paycheck worth but i think that might be too much. and i still need to figure out what's included and what's not included. like the hospital fair is this weekend and it only happens once a year so do i allow the money i spend there to count as i could get things that i need/want for the house for super cheap or does that go towards my allotment?
the plan is to pay my bills and not get anything extra. we'll see how this goes. i feel like i live this three months out of the year anyhow but now i'm making a conscious effort to keep track of these things.
like i'm refusing to buy myself lipstick. darn me. but i did allow myself to buy a headband on forever21 yesterday so i guess i'll survive.
i'm going to give my financials a look over and i'll be back with specifics. hopefully. unless i fall off the wagon. day one. no wine. lots of tude. no good.
things i did think through:
i already got my parents an anniversary gift. but i didn't wrap it.
i know what i'm wearing to the wedding i'm going to saturday. so that's out of the way.
i sent amy a card for her anniversary (hope you get it!) but i forgot about all the other anniversarys this month so obviously i'm a terrible friend.
i went grocery shopping yesterday. (not that i'm not going to go grocery shopping at all but i'll probably limit it. when i go shopping i always try to over buy like there's going to be a food shortage or i'll never be able to go grocery shopping again. - actually that's only half true. i try to grocery shop for the month. i hate that stinkin' store. so this month will be about only buying what i NEED and meal planning... or trying to.)
i am planning on giving myself an amount of money that i'm allowed to spend this month. i was thinking one paycheck worth but i think that might be too much. and i still need to figure out what's included and what's not included. like the hospital fair is this weekend and it only happens once a year so do i allow the money i spend there to count as i could get things that i need/want for the house for super cheap or does that go towards my allotment?
the plan is to pay my bills and not get anything extra. we'll see how this goes. i feel like i live this three months out of the year anyhow but now i'm making a conscious effort to keep track of these things.
like i'm refusing to buy myself lipstick. darn me. but i did allow myself to buy a headband on forever21 yesterday so i guess i'll survive.
i'm going to give my financials a look over and i'll be back with specifics. hopefully. unless i fall off the wagon. day one. no wine. lots of tude. no good.
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