Shopping trip #1

As the second day of the new year dawned (okay, before it dawned) I headed to Albertson's. They had double coupons and there were just a few things that I wanted. Here is the list of things that I purchased:

2 bottles of juice

2 bottles of olive oil

2 gallons of milk

4 packages of hot pocket snackers

My total was: $11.88

Later in the day I headed off to Idaho Falls to go to Target. I only purchased 2 things:

2 Lunchables

Total: $1.00

So my grand total for the first shopping day was: $12.88

Not too bad! I hope I can stay close to this total for every week in 2012!

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Years!

With the new year I have been thinking about what kinds of things I could resolve to do and actually do it.

Last year on a blog that I read frequently (like almost everyday), Fabulessly Frugal, a woman named Mavis made a goal of only spending $1,200 on groceries for the entire year! Isn't that amazing? She is a couponer (like me) and is obviously experienced. So, I decided to try to spend less on groceries. That is the point of couponing, right?

So, my goal is to spend $1,500 on groceries this year. I'm pretty worried but I really feel like I can do it. That would come out to $125 a month. When I would coupon before Addie was born I would spend about $20-$25 on groceries every week. I really think I can stick to this again.

Here are some ways that I'm planning on achieving my goal:

1. Couponing (was that a given?)

2. Get a bountiful basket possibly once a month (I do want us to eat healthy too)

3. Have a garden, last year's was great, I hope we can do that again

4. This also means eating from our pantry more (which is why we have a pantry right?)

Anyway, I am going to try to blog about my grocery shopping experiences so that I stay on track and I have people to stay accountable to. I can use a lot of encouragement and help so if you have any ideas, I'm willing to hear them!

Tomorrow starts a new year of shopping (luckily there are doublers at Albertson's to kick it off right)!

I'm back!!

So, a few months ago our laptop kicked the bucket. Then, about a month later, our desktop also kicked the bucket. Of course, we had no money to fix or buy a new one so they sat dead in our house. The smell was starting to get to me, ha ha, just kidding.

It was very frustrating and all I could think about was having a computer! I never knew I was so dependent on a computer before! Anyway, we have recently purchased a computer and I am back in action! I couldn't be happier. I will hopefully be blogging a little more regularly.

Family Pictures

The last time my parents were here (at the end of May) we had family pictures taken. Here is just a preview of what she took.
Shelby is starting to look so grown up! Here she is by an old red shed out in the country near Rexburg.
Addie looks so innocent. This is by far my favorite picture of her. By the way, that headband is from the Toasted Coconut. If you haven't looked at her stuff check her out on Etsy.

This one is a keeper. It's going to be on our wall soon!

My Momma's Day

My mother's day this year was one of the best. Mostly, because of this girl:
She was sitting in the car Saturday morning and said, "Mom, I have 20 cents to buy you a Mother's Day Present!" She was so proud of herself! What she didn't realize was she had more like $2.00 but I didn't bother to correct her. So, for the rest of the day off and on she reminded her dad that she had to go to the store to buy me a present.
After she purchased a scentsy type thing, she was so proud of herself. Her face when she gave it to me was priceless.
Jordan also made it a good day. He actually got up before 9am, and, then he made me breakfast from scratch! He did a great job.

Have I told you lately. . .

how much fun two girls are? We love having them both in our lives! Addie was a fun addition to our family. She is crazy sometimes and she doesn't just sit by and take stuff from her sister. She is a fighter! She has red hair for a reason! She loves to get her picture taken and she always looks so sweet in them but guess what? She's not always sweet.
Addie is learning new words, like "NO!" She screams it at the top of her lungs when she objects to anything (which is almost everything). But, our family wouldn't be complete without her.

Shelby is also a sweet girl. She is good to her sister. She usually gives into what she wants. She is quick to apologize to her and to help whenever asked (unless she is watching tv or playing a game, just forget it). She is very excited to go to preschool and some day the "big school." I love being home with them everyday. Sometimes I get frustrated and tired but they never make my life boring.

At the end of the day, I love these girls!

My life lately

I feel like I post about my kids most of the time, which is fine with me. Have you seen them? They are cute and they do fun stuff.

But, lately I've been trying to focus on me. Many of you might know that over the last year I've been trying to lose weight and get healthier. My doctor put me on a "diet" last year and I've been working my butt off (literally) since then. This was totally the push I needed. He was really nice about it but he asked me if I was happy with my weight since the birth of Addie. I said I would like to be smaller and he set up a plan of eating 1200-1400 calories a day and walking 3-4 days a week. Since that time I have started Zumba, bought an elliptical machine, and a scale (yeah, I never owned one before), a kitchen scale and healthier food.

So, what was the result?? Well, I have broken a pair of running shoes! Yay! I can't believe that happened. And, I had to buy new workout pants. . . size Medium! And as of right now I have lost over 25 pounds. I'm not done yet but I feel good about where I am and where I'm going.

If anyone is interested some friends and I are going to run in the Teton Dam Marathon 5k so feel free to join us on June 11.