Smoothies!

Howdy! Well for today's tasty treat, I decided to make something yummy for summer. My mom used to make these smoothies for me in the morning while I got ready for school. I love them.

Ingredients:
1/2 of a banana
1 plain/strawberry small yogurt
1/2 cup of orange juice
Directions:
Add all ingrediants in a blender and let it crush it all up.


Does anyone have any favorite smoothie recipes they would be willing to share? I would love to try them!

Grocery Shopping

Oh, Hi! There is a reason I started with budgeting before diving right into Grocery Shopping. You have to know how much you want/have to spend for grocery shopping or else you don't know if you are saving any money really. My sister really helped me with this. I already had set up my budget but she showed me how to make that money go farther. Here are a few of the tips I picked up:

1. Make a list. If you go in with a plan you will always have a more successful trip. I like to organize it into aisles in the store. From there I put how much I expect to pay next to it. While I shop I put how much I actually spent next to each item. This serves two purposes: the first is seeing if you can spend more in one area and less in another and the second is to keep for your next trip to help you estimate prices. Then, before I check out I add up my totals and make sure that I am under budget.
2. Make a meal calendar. This is important for making the list knowing how much of each item you will need. There is a great template for this on Microsoft Word. When you open a new document go to calendars and you will find it there.
3. Plan shopping trips. I usually go every 2 weeks. I've tried going every week and that didn't work for me and I usually spent more at each trip. Currently, I bought groceries for the whole month (except perishables) and only doing one trip this month. I'll tell you what I think when this month is over...
4. Look over adds and coupons! I'm not very good at this right now. However, I am trying and I have seen a difference. I just go to Walmart with my adds and have them price match everything. I haven't been great at couponing. Partly, because I don't have a printer and I don't get the news paper. I still get the red plum adds so I guess I should be better than I am. Oh well, I'm still working on it.

I didn't think about this but it was mentioned to me that as gas prices go up so do prices on food. SCARY! Anyway, feel free to leave some other tips that you know of, I'm just a beginner with all of this.

President Thomas S. Monson- The Divine Gift of Gratitude

"My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven.

As I close this morning, it is my prayer that in addition to all else for which we are grateful, we may ever reflect our gratitude for out Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ... He taught us how to pray. He taught us how to live. He taught us how to die. His life is a legacy of love. The sick he healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved.

Ultimately, He stood alone. Some Apostles doubted; one betrayed Him. The Roman soldiers pierced His side. The angry mob took His life. There yet rings from Golgotha's hill His compassionate words: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Who was this "man of sorrows, ... acquainted with grief?" Who is this "King of glory", this Lord of lords? He is our Master. He is our Savior. He is the Son of God. He is the Author of Our Salvation. He beckons, "Follow me." He instructs, "Go, and do thou likewise." He pleads, "Keep my commandments."

Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His words. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude.

My sincere, heartfelt prayer is that we may in our individual lives reflect that marvelous virtues of gratitude. May it permeate our very souls, now and evermore. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, amen."

Spick-and-Span Saturday

I made a decision! I decided that I have a few cleaning projects to do anyway so why not blog about it. Plus I always love to see the before and after pics. This will be a fun/hard working day but I'm sure it will be good blogging and make my home a bit more like heaven on earth. Some of the upcoming projects include:

• Getting rid of old clothes
• Organizing teaching materials
• Cleaning the office

This will be a very productive day....I hope! Well before I end this post I want to share this little site. Its got some good tips for cleaning your car. (I will probably try some and share them sometime...my car really needs it).

Dad's Birthday

Hooray for Fridays! It was my dad's birthday a couple of days ago and we went bowling as a family. It was so much fun and the little kids were adorable (as usual). Here's some pics from the fun b-day party.

Now, I just want to add that I take all of my pictures with my phone. That's why they aren't so great. Sorry but crappy pictures are better than no pictures.

Free Magazine Subscription!

Did the word 'free' catch your eye? Well you saw right. I found this on one of my new favorite websites: Money Saving Mom. They have coupons, freebies, etc. Click here for a direct link to the magazine offer.Did I mention it's for a whole year!?! It says it's just Martha Stewart Living but there is also Cosmo, Marie Claire, Seventeen, and many more to choose from. It's a little bit of surveys and polls but I thought it was worth it. Hope you enjoy!

P.S. I registered with another email account and took the same quizzes, challenges, pledges, etc. and got 2 more magazines. Three 1-year magazines subscriptions fo' free? That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Bendin' it like Beckham.

Hello people! It's workout time baybee! For this week, I decided that my workouts usually need a little friendly competition. I need to know what I'm working for and usually that involves a race, beating a time, or in today's case scoring some goals. One of the best ways for me to work out is playing soccer. I'm nuts for it. I've played my whole life and I'm still convinced its the best sport on the planet...and so is the majority of the earth so don't try arguing with me about that, mmmk? Anyway, I just wanted to post that even if it isn't playing soccer, a sport can be a great motivator for working out. It helps keep your mind off of the strain on your body, you get to meet great people, and most importantly you get to win (JK). So, go outside with your spouse, friends, or family and kick,throw, bump, hit, or dribble a ball around. Or even better, get a team together and join a rec league. Shameless plug: if you need a sub for any sport give me a call. I'm a sports slut...I'll do it anytime, anywhere. (TMI?)



The Glory Days



Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Cups

Time for Brinner? I don't know about you but me and my husband love breakfast for dinner. Thanks to a wonderful episode of Scrubs we lovingly refer to it as Brinner. Well if you want to add a new little something to your Brinner repertoire you should try out this recipe. It's really good and it was pretty easy to make. It's also really good for an appetizer. Here's how mine turned out:

They looked a lot like the picture on the website, this one is just not a great picture...sorry! If you try them, let me know how they go or any tips/tricks you used. Thanks!

Budgeting Part 2

Mo' Money Mo' Problems! I wish I could find that one out the hard way. It sounds great to be rich someday...but that day is not today so onward to budgeting. I think the easiest/crucial part of making a budget is to just analyse what you spend in a month. The formula for my budget is this:

Income-Needs*=Savings

*Needs includes car payments, food, rent, utilities, and wants. I think that is so important that you budget for your wants too (i.e. clothes, going out to eat, candy runs at work, etc). It is very important to know where every dollar is going for two reasons:

1. Fraud! There are so many scammers out there and if you carefully keep track of every penny you will know which charges are yours and which ones aren't.
2. Saving money! If you give yourself a limit you will spend less than if you  just shop without a dollar amount in mind. It will also keep you from overdrawn charges on your checking and building interest on your credit cards or overdraft accounts.

I keep a very tight budget and look at it every Friday to make sure my bills are paid and my money is where it's supposed to be. There's a great template for budgeting here. Also, America First has nice budgeting calculators to see how you can save by changing your budget. Have fun with your money!

Mother's day Afterthought.

Hey there folks! After mother's day I thought about how much my mom means to me (and hopefully you did too). I also started thinking about what it means to be a women in the world. We joke that during women's conference it's all about building up womanhood and during the priesthood session the men get bashed about everything they do wrong, but I think that there is a reason for that. WARNING: the following my come off as being a hard-core feminist that is not, however, my intention. Women are put down, demeaned, and attacked everyday by the media and society. We are forced to look at magazine's, TV commercials, and movies that show us what we "should" be. It is something that I really hate but on Mother's day, we celebrate the women who drive minivans, cheer at soccer games, have hips that don't lie, have bad hair-days to help with science fair projects, and go without make-up to drive their kids to school in the morning. These women are real and they are beautiful. They are our moms. I don't know anyone that can say they that they think their mom isn't beautiful. Mine sure is...right?

Girls, lets remember our moms when we look at our wrinkles, muffin tops, and kankles and know that she thinks your beautiful in every way.

Service Saturday???

Greetings! I still don't know how I feel about Service Saturday. I mean I want to serve others just don't want to post about it. So, Service Saturday will be going away...so sorry. However, this means that I need some help with coming up with another project to do this day. I have some ideas but I'd love to hear what you think or what you would like to see or even what you like to read on other blogs. Let me know and I'd love to get a new hobby to blog about. (Austin, my husband, said I should do Sexy Saturday... I think this blog should stay a little innocent.)

Waterfall Canyon

Date Night Day! My husband works every Friday night so most of our dates are during the day. A couple of weeks ago we decided to visit a place that is pretty special to us. Waterfall Canyon! This was our first date, first kiss, and where we got engaged! Pretty awesome, right? Well, we chose a great day for hiking. There was a ton of water coming down and it was such a perfect temperature for hiking- a little warm on the way up and then when you got to the waterfall it cooled you down. I love him!

Potted Present

Hello again! I'm really happy about this post because there are pictures to go with it (I love it when people put lots of pictures on blogs). This all started with needed a Mother's Day gift for my wonderful mother. I ordered a canvas picture of the grand kids for her and it turned out horrible and it came 2 days before Mother's Day! PANIC! What do I get her? I know that she loves plants so I thought I could just buy her some flowers and call it good. Then inspiration kicked in! And this is what happened:



Pot $7, vinyl $1, flowers $5. Project total: $13!

Needless to say, she loved it! I started thinking this would be a fun summer wedding gift for friends. You could get  different colored vinyl and put their names and the day they got married or just initials with some embellishments. Leave a comment and let me know if you could like this as a gift? I definitely would.

Run, Forest! RUN!

Aloha! Today's workout is just a simple run around the neighborhood. Last summer, my dad started to get into running. He eventually wants to run a marathon. Anyway, he's been signing up for all sorts of 5k races. It's very cool to see a 57 year old do these kind of things. I think my dad is Super Man. Anyway, for Christmas my dad signed up my siblings, my husband, and I up for the Ogden Marathon Relay. We drew legs of the race and I got the end which is only a 5k (3.2 miles) . My dad got the hardest leg which is 5.2 miles and mostly uphill. He's such a trooper! I went with him last Saturday to run the actual leg and it was H.A.R.D. It starts in Eden, my the soccer fields and ends at 'The Oaks' restaurant. It was a pretty tough run but I just want to say that taking a run outside in the fresh air was so nice, and the valley is such a beautiful place! If you have any favorite running spots, leave a comment so I can try it out. Thanks!

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Ready for something delicious? This recipe is so yummy it literally melts in your mouth. I first tried it at a dinner night with friends from my ward and it was so delicious I had to get the recipe. It sort of reminds me of peach cobbler... just the cobbler part though. Anyway it is delicious and my family loved it when I made it for them for Sunday dinner.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 oz) box of yellow cake mix
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (you can also use margarine)

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 (16 oz) box powdered sugar
• 1/2 c. butter, melted (again margarine works just as well)

Garnish Ingredients:

• Whipped Cream
• Strawberries (diced)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, egg, and 1/2 cup melted butter at medium speed until combined. Press into the bottom of prepared pan; set aside.
3. In another large bowl, beat cream cheese at low speed until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly add remaining 1/2 cup melted butter, mixing well. Pour evenly over cake mixture.
4. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until center is slightly set. Cool completely. Garnish with whipped cream and strawberries.

I didn't take any pictures of this when I made it but you can just imagine a beautiful yellow cake layer on bottom, a creamy center, and a garnish of whipped cream and strawberries. Next time I make this I'm going to try to top it with peaches because I think it would be really yummy. It is so delicious! Try it and be sure to leave a comment how you liked/didn't like it or any suggestions. See you tomorrow!

Budgeting Part 1

Welcome to another Money Monday! Today I wanted to talk a little bit about budgeting. Ever since I was little, I've budgeted my money. I like knowing where every dollar cent is going. Anyway, I just wanted to start with some simple steps toward setting up an effective budget.

1. Know your income, what you spend, and what you want to save.
2. It's recommended that, of your income, you put 10% toward donations, 10% toward savings, 25% toward housing, 10% toward debt, 45% toward living expenses (groceries, utilities, etc.). Read this article for more information.
3. Talk to your spouse about what money you get, where it goes, and your future financial goals (house, vacations, school, etc.). Honesty is key!

I'm not an expert but these are just some of the things that work for me. Have a great Monday!

Spiritual Sunday

Happy Sabbath to You! This is going to be a more personal post so be ready. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-Day Saints (Mormon). I believe in Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, Joseph Smith, the power of Temples, modern revelation, the Book of Mormon, and much much more. These posts will be short and sweet with just a thought, scripture, quote, or song that testifies in what I believe are the most important things in life. My life wouldn't be complete without adding a little spirituality and neither would my blog. Come back next Sunday for the first Spiritual Sunday post!

Also, today marks the day when I was sealed to my best friend, soul mate, and eternal companion! I love him so much and I can't imagine being without him. Thank goodness I get him after death too! Alright, I'll stop with the gushy romance talk. Have a wonderful Sunday!




Isn't he a stud?



Service Saturday

Buenos dias me amigos!Well today is a day that I don't know if I'll be posting a ton about. I want it all to be about serving others, but I'm having a bit of an internal conflict that by serving others to blog about is kind-of not really serving them but serving me. Does that make any sense? Anyway, I think that I might just tell you what I did and post some pictures but not tell you who it was for...unless I want to...
Anyway if this day gets neglected don't you fret, I'm either cleaning, reading my kindle, serving someone and not telling you about it, or sleeping (I sleep a lot). Have a wonderful weekend!

Fun Friday!

Hi there folks! This is another day that I am way excited to blog about because it's pretty much open to whatever. I wanted to call it fabulous, fierce, freaky, fun, friendly, Friday but I decided that fun pretty much covers it all. This day is all about fun things I've done over the week. Some upcoming posts are going to include: dates with the hubby, girls night out, me-time, and family frenzy. WOOT WOOT give it up for Fun Friday!

Thrifty Thursday!

Sup! Hello my little stalkers. I hope all is well and that you are finding joy in laughing, crying, making-fun-of, and/or smiling about this blog. I know I've had my share of making fun of many a blog, so do your worst! Anyway, I'm really excited about starting Thrifty Thursday! It's going to be tons of fun! I already have lots of ideas for this day including redecorating old trunks, ditto designs (refashioning clothing), and lettting you all know about the steals and deals.
Let the thrifting begin!!!

Workout Wednesday!

Hello and Welcome! Or welcome back if your returning for more fun stuff. So, today is going to be pretty straight forward. I'm trying to be better at exercising and being active. Let's face it, when I got married I kinda let myself go... I'm not huge but I do have a muffin top, which sucks. I want my body to be healthy for two reasons. The first reason is because I have a pretty scary family history of illness (mom-arthritis, dad-heart disease, grandma-diabetes). I'm pretty much doomed...not really but I figure if I start taking care of my body now I will at least be prevent some of it. The second reason is to be an active mom. I want to play soccer and race my kids and fight off kidnappers (hopefully that one will not have to happen, but if it does I want to be ready). Some of the things you are going to see on Work-out Wednesdays are soccer games, conditioning for races, strength exercises, work-out videos (from the 80's!), and just general workouts that I'm trying! Later Skaters!

Tasty Tuesday!

Hello Again! Well, I just want to give you a quick preview of what I want to have on these oh-so-delicious days of the week. I'm not a great cook, however I think it's fun to bake and cook. It makes me feel like a good lil' wife...
Anyway, here's what the future holds for Tasty Tuesdays:

Thanks for stopping by!

Money Monday!

FIRST POST! I'm excited but mostly nervous....I'm a pretty big hypocrite to be starting a blog because I think they can get very silly and the person writing them often gives too much info. However, I needed something to do over the summer and I like the blogs that aren't too much like an open journal ready for me to stumble upon. I love the blogs that talk about life in a happy way and involve projects. It's my personal opinion, this is, after all, my blog. So, you post what you post and I'll post what I post. Capeesh?
Anyway, if you look at the bottom of the blog you will notice that I've given myself a topic for each day. I'm not going to be able to post everyday but I'm going to give it a try! Today is 'Money Monday'. I thought for these first few posts I'd just give you a hint of what the day is going to be about and some sneak peaks into projects or future posts!
Money Monday is going to be all about finances! I work in a financial institution and I feel I have some knowledge to give, but I mostly want to research options and see what readers think too. Anyway, here's a look at some of the future Money Mondays have in store:

And much much More!
I'm definitely not an expert so this will be lots of fun to learn!