Sunday, January 12, 2014
In This Crazy World-Today's Spiritual Pick Up Sunday Post
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Stock Up Saturday-Food Storage!
Food storage is important for everyone to think about. It doesn't require a ton of space or money if you plan and prepare. I'd like to take these Saturday posts and share some information and tips about where and how to get and store food as well as other supplies for emergencies. Whether you feel there are possibilities of government problems, a natural disaster, or personal financial crisis-this is necessary.
I'll admit that I haven't personally checked out all of the different food storage brands (I think I'll go more in depth and see throughout this year) but I know that I love getting mine from the LDS (Mormon) cannery.
Their store link is here and you can even find a location near you here. There are locations around the US and Canada and they ship for free in the US (the online prices are somewhat higher than if you go to a cannery location because the shipping costs are figured in).
The Starter Kit they offer as described on the website: The starter kit contains recipes, instructional pamphlets, visual aids for teaching family home storage principles, and one can each of flour, red wheat, white wheat, rice, pinto beans, and oats. A case contains 28 lbs. of product. Food items cannot be shipped to addresses outside the United States.
I got a starter kit back in 2003 when I went to college, just in case. We're working our way through eating some of that now (things like sugar and wheat can last over 30 years!) and back then they didn't have the recipes and what not, I think that's great! The starter kit is $31 if ordered online.
As for cost, I just ran to the store for groceries and did a comparison. I also called my local LDS cannery (I'm blessed to have one less than a 10 minute drive away) and got their prices. Since the online cans cost more-the price of shipping is included in the purchase- if you live close, it's worth picking it up yourself!
Looking at the prices, technically Winco wins (except for buying the wheat since they don't carry it) BUT-as I did my price checking here are some concerns I had: I priced out the deals at Winco based on the larger bags they had. What are you going to do with a 25 lb bag of flour? I don't think it's resealable, it's not packaged with an air absorber to keep it fresh, it's awkward for storage, it's not water proof, it's not rodent proof. Will you use it fast enough to warrant opening a huge bag? You'll want to use it eventually, cycling through it even if there's no emergency. The LDS cans are convenient that they come with the recipes and info, stack, don't have water/rodent/air problems, come with lids for when they're opened, and can be shipped for free (how easy!) You don't have to be a member of the church to order.
I do want to say, for the record, that no one is paying me as for advertisement on this post. I am LDS (Mormon)-feel free to ask me questions anytime. I am also a regular Winco shopper :) If you're lucky enough to have a local cannery location then you can also buy these by the can instead of by the case. And for the record, they have more variety of items than those I listed, and their dehydrated apple chips are DIVINE! Let me know if you have any recipes from food storage or other recommendations. Those that can their own food are awesome, I just started dabbling in that myself this year (though it is intimidating!) Anyway, more about that another time-make a goal, maybe just $10 a month if that's all you can afford. Get started on some food storage!
I'll admit that I haven't personally checked out all of the different food storage brands (I think I'll go more in depth and see throughout this year) but I know that I love getting mine from the LDS (Mormon) cannery.
Their store link is here and you can even find a location near you here. There are locations around the US and Canada and they ship for free in the US (the online prices are somewhat higher than if you go to a cannery location because the shipping costs are figured in).
The Starter Kit they offer as described on the website: The starter kit contains recipes, instructional pamphlets, visual aids for teaching family home storage principles, and one can each of flour, red wheat, white wheat, rice, pinto beans, and oats. A case contains 28 lbs. of product. Food items cannot be shipped to addresses outside the United States.
I got a starter kit back in 2003 when I went to college, just in case. We're working our way through eating some of that now (things like sugar and wheat can last over 30 years!) and back then they didn't have the recipes and what not, I think that's great! The starter kit is $31 if ordered online.
As for cost, I just ran to the store for groceries and did a comparison. I also called my local LDS cannery (I'm blessed to have one less than a 10 minute drive away) and got their prices. Since the online cans cost more-the price of shipping is included in the purchase- if you live close, it's worth picking it up yourself!
| LDS Cans if bought by the case online | LDS Cans if purchased locally | Winco's best price | |||
| Starter Kit | $31/total | $24.95/total | Not carried by Winco | ||
| Flour | .92/lb | .74/lb | .32/lb | ||
| Sugar | $1.24/lb | .94/lb | .50/lb | ||
| Oats | 1.47/lb | $1.05/lb | .87/lb | ||
| Rice | 1.03/lb | .73/lb | .60/lb | ||
| Pinto Beans | 1.27/lb | $1.01/lb | $1/lb | ||
| Wheat | .84/lb | Didn't ask | Not carried by Winco | ||
Looking at the prices, technically Winco wins (except for buying the wheat since they don't carry it) BUT-as I did my price checking here are some concerns I had: I priced out the deals at Winco based on the larger bags they had. What are you going to do with a 25 lb bag of flour? I don't think it's resealable, it's not packaged with an air absorber to keep it fresh, it's awkward for storage, it's not water proof, it's not rodent proof. Will you use it fast enough to warrant opening a huge bag? You'll want to use it eventually, cycling through it even if there's no emergency. The LDS cans are convenient that they come with the recipes and info, stack, don't have water/rodent/air problems, come with lids for when they're opened, and can be shipped for free (how easy!) You don't have to be a member of the church to order.
I do want to say, for the record, that no one is paying me as for advertisement on this post. I am LDS (Mormon)-feel free to ask me questions anytime. I am also a regular Winco shopper :) If you're lucky enough to have a local cannery location then you can also buy these by the can instead of by the case. And for the record, they have more variety of items than those I listed, and their dehydrated apple chips are DIVINE! Let me know if you have any recipes from food storage or other recommendations. Those that can their own food are awesome, I just started dabbling in that myself this year (though it is intimidating!) Anyway, more about that another time-make a goal, maybe just $10 a month if that's all you can afford. Get started on some food storage!
Friday, January 10, 2014
Fitness Friday-Video with Tips
One excuse that many people have about fitness is that they can't afford a gym and have a small space. There really is no excuse though, as long as you can move your body, you can burn calories! Here's a short video that I made today-enjoy!
Fitness Friday Video
Sorry the video isn't posted directly to this post, google is not being my friend! Just click on the "Fitness Friday Video" link and it will take you to it on Youtube!
Fitness Friday Video
Sorry the video isn't posted directly to this post, google is not being my friend! Just click on the "Fitness Friday Video" link and it will take you to it on Youtube!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
New Plans for this Blog!!! First "Thrifty Thursday"
I've started to have a hankering to blog more. So I've decided to spread out my interests throughout the week with themed posts. Here's what I'm thinking (we'll see how it goes!):
Make it Mondays (Crafting, DIY)
Tasty Tuesdays (cooking, recipes)
Whatever Wednesday (haha, maybe a break day for me, or just different topics)
Thrifty Thursdays (couponing, $ saving tips)
Fitness Fridays (exercise, cooking, etc)
Stock Up Saturdays ("prepping"-emergency food storage etc)
Spiritual Pickup Sundays (what better fitting topic?!)
Sooooo......Here's our first official "Thrifty Thursday" post!
How to Save $ and Stay Sane Without Cable
When I was a little kid, we didn't have extra money sitting around for cable. We were so deprived, we had to do things like build forts, fly kites, make rockets, pretend we were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, have dandelion fights, try entrepreneurial endeavors with the neighbors, play with cars and My Little Pony and other such torturous things. When I got older and we got cable I became a couch potato, and my body has since been shaped like one... :(
Fast forward to college and while not the smartest with my money, I did try to live in some of the cheaper housing off-campus and since it was cheap, that meant none of my roommates wanted to pay for cable either. I served an 18 month mission for my church, no tv there either. After I moved out of my parents' place and really learned what it meant to stretch a dollar and survive on a budget, I couldn't justify the cost of cable. To this day, my husband and I do not pay for cable, and we never plan to.
Don't get me wrong, it's not just the price-let me clarify that. We choose to not have tv services mostly because of the lifestyle we want to have. We don't agree with all of the morals portrayed on tv including some commercials. I don't particularly love my husband seeing another woman in lingerie during a Victoria's Secret commercial, call me crazy. We don't want our (future) kids to have access to tv shows that we don't agree with and we don't want them fueled by consumerism. Did you know that young kids can be quite content with handmade and inexpensive gifts? I don't want my kids "needing" the newest expensive toy just because the commercials said so...and you know what? They won't miss out on anything by not knowing about them! In addition to "undesirable" content, I personally decided a long time ago that I don't want to be a slave to my television. I've had friends that skip out on social get-togethers because their favorite TV show is on. I know that when my husband and I visit my parents' place, we can watch TV for HOURS-I don't want that to be an everyday occurrence! Aside from those facts, we would also prefer to save up our money for things like traveling to Europe, lasik eye surgery, buying a house, car repairs, medical bills, and the list could go on!
Doing a quick search online, I found that Comcast has TV & Internet packages for $89.99/month...though that's only for the 1st 12 months..and then it jumps up. We pay $46.99/month for just their Internet services (my work requires I have internet at home, plus we enjoy the connectivity with friends and family). That's $43 a month saved, $516 a year! Without further ado, here is a list of some suggestions I have for you to help you make that transition to awesome savings:
Games!
As you can see in this picture, we have A LOT of board games and card games. This collection has been building for years through our purchases and gifts. We were gifted some for our wedding and for Christmas this last year, and we love it! Have actual social interaction instead of staring at a screen. Exercise your brain! Invite friends over for a game party (before Halloween last year, we had an "Infection Party"-bought gloves and face masks from the dollar store, decorated cupcakes like bacteria, made "cures" [mixed non-alcoholic drinks], and played Pandemic. We "rented" World War Z from redbox-see more about redbox below, and had a friend bring another infection themed movie.)
Exercise~
There is so much fun you can do that is good for your body! In the summer-go for a hike, walk, picnic, bike ride. In the winter-go sledding, build a snowman, shovel the neighborhood. Join a gym or just workout at home. We have a Wii system and while my husband enjoys the occasional game on there, the main purpose of it is for Just Dance and Sports-exercise and fun in 1!
The Library-
My husband has become a bookworm lately, I don't love reading books as much but I've seen more lately that I might just be tempted to go pick out soon. In addition to free books you can read, they have free DVDs to watch! We've borrowed probably half a dozen in the last month, it's awesome! Along the lines of the library, why not borrow DVDs from friends and family?
Invest in DVDs:
Here's a picture of our collection of DVDs. I look out for sales and splurge with amazon gift cards I get from swagbucks. If it's something that you know you'd enjoy watching more than once, why not invest? You can watch it twice or 200 times for the exact same price! Buying DVDs can of course be an expensive habit if you're getting one every week, so like all things, handle with moderation, look for sales, wait for the price to come down.
TV Substitutes...
In the end, there are a lot of hobbies that you could do instead of watching TV but sometimes you just want to relax and go on an adventure mentally, and that's ok. There are free places to watch tv such as hulu and youtube has episodes of some shows. Go to the network's webpage and they sometimes have free episodes to watch. We often "rent" redbox DVDs as well but usually just when we get a free code-sign up for their free text promotions for codes or follow coupon blogs such as Hip2Save.com and they sometimes post free codes! If you do want to pay for more options, look into Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu Plus (I wouldn't recommend Red Box's streaming plan at all). Netflix and Hulu Plus offer free trials and Amazon has discounts for students and you get free shipping on tons of things. Before investing, we did a check on these 3 providers and found that more of the shows we would want to watch were on Amazon Prime and we get free shipping as well! Amazon Prime costs $79/year, so $6.58 a month, still $27.42 cheaper per month than cable...of which we wouldn't even watch half of the cable channels!
Hope that list helps give you some ideas if you want to break out of the expensive cable mold! If you have other ideas, feel free to share them in the comments!
Make it Mondays (Crafting, DIY)
Tasty Tuesdays (cooking, recipes)
Whatever Wednesday (haha, maybe a break day for me, or just different topics)
Thrifty Thursdays (couponing, $ saving tips)
Fitness Fridays (exercise, cooking, etc)
Stock Up Saturdays ("prepping"-emergency food storage etc)
Spiritual Pickup Sundays (what better fitting topic?!)
Sooooo......Here's our first official "Thrifty Thursday" post!
How to Save $ and Stay Sane Without Cable
When I was a little kid, we didn't have extra money sitting around for cable. We were so deprived, we had to do things like build forts, fly kites, make rockets, pretend we were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, have dandelion fights, try entrepreneurial endeavors with the neighbors, play with cars and My Little Pony and other such torturous things. When I got older and we got cable I became a couch potato, and my body has since been shaped like one... :(
Fast forward to college and while not the smartest with my money, I did try to live in some of the cheaper housing off-campus and since it was cheap, that meant none of my roommates wanted to pay for cable either. I served an 18 month mission for my church, no tv there either. After I moved out of my parents' place and really learned what it meant to stretch a dollar and survive on a budget, I couldn't justify the cost of cable. To this day, my husband and I do not pay for cable, and we never plan to.
Don't get me wrong, it's not just the price-let me clarify that. We choose to not have tv services mostly because of the lifestyle we want to have. We don't agree with all of the morals portrayed on tv including some commercials. I don't particularly love my husband seeing another woman in lingerie during a Victoria's Secret commercial, call me crazy. We don't want our (future) kids to have access to tv shows that we don't agree with and we don't want them fueled by consumerism. Did you know that young kids can be quite content with handmade and inexpensive gifts? I don't want my kids "needing" the newest expensive toy just because the commercials said so...and you know what? They won't miss out on anything by not knowing about them! In addition to "undesirable" content, I personally decided a long time ago that I don't want to be a slave to my television. I've had friends that skip out on social get-togethers because their favorite TV show is on. I know that when my husband and I visit my parents' place, we can watch TV for HOURS-I don't want that to be an everyday occurrence! Aside from those facts, we would also prefer to save up our money for things like traveling to Europe, lasik eye surgery, buying a house, car repairs, medical bills, and the list could go on!
Doing a quick search online, I found that Comcast has TV & Internet packages for $89.99/month...though that's only for the 1st 12 months..and then it jumps up. We pay $46.99/month for just their Internet services (my work requires I have internet at home, plus we enjoy the connectivity with friends and family). That's $43 a month saved, $516 a year! Without further ado, here is a list of some suggestions I have for you to help you make that transition to awesome savings:
Games!
As you can see in this picture, we have A LOT of board games and card games. This collection has been building for years through our purchases and gifts. We were gifted some for our wedding and for Christmas this last year, and we love it! Have actual social interaction instead of staring at a screen. Exercise your brain! Invite friends over for a game party (before Halloween last year, we had an "Infection Party"-bought gloves and face masks from the dollar store, decorated cupcakes like bacteria, made "cures" [mixed non-alcoholic drinks], and played Pandemic. We "rented" World War Z from redbox-see more about redbox below, and had a friend bring another infection themed movie.)
Exercise~
There is so much fun you can do that is good for your body! In the summer-go for a hike, walk, picnic, bike ride. In the winter-go sledding, build a snowman, shovel the neighborhood. Join a gym or just workout at home. We have a Wii system and while my husband enjoys the occasional game on there, the main purpose of it is for Just Dance and Sports-exercise and fun in 1!
The Library-
My husband has become a bookworm lately, I don't love reading books as much but I've seen more lately that I might just be tempted to go pick out soon. In addition to free books you can read, they have free DVDs to watch! We've borrowed probably half a dozen in the last month, it's awesome! Along the lines of the library, why not borrow DVDs from friends and family?
Invest in DVDs:
Here's a picture of our collection of DVDs. I look out for sales and splurge with amazon gift cards I get from swagbucks. If it's something that you know you'd enjoy watching more than once, why not invest? You can watch it twice or 200 times for the exact same price! Buying DVDs can of course be an expensive habit if you're getting one every week, so like all things, handle with moderation, look for sales, wait for the price to come down.
In the end, there are a lot of hobbies that you could do instead of watching TV but sometimes you just want to relax and go on an adventure mentally, and that's ok. There are free places to watch tv such as hulu and youtube has episodes of some shows. Go to the network's webpage and they sometimes have free episodes to watch. We often "rent" redbox DVDs as well but usually just when we get a free code-sign up for their free text promotions for codes or follow coupon blogs such as Hip2Save.com and they sometimes post free codes! If you do want to pay for more options, look into Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu Plus (I wouldn't recommend Red Box's streaming plan at all). Netflix and Hulu Plus offer free trials and Amazon has discounts for students and you get free shipping on tons of things. Before investing, we did a check on these 3 providers and found that more of the shows we would want to watch were on Amazon Prime and we get free shipping as well! Amazon Prime costs $79/year, so $6.58 a month, still $27.42 cheaper per month than cable...of which we wouldn't even watch half of the cable channels!
Hope that list helps give you some ideas if you want to break out of the expensive cable mold! If you have other ideas, feel free to share them in the comments!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Yogurt FAIL, Creative Eating, and MORE!
So I found several blogs and youtube videos about making homemade yogurt. I love the idea to save on money and control what's in my food. In the last 2 days I tried it twice....and both times were a fail...and now I'm searching for recipes to use up my "buttermilk". Oh phooey! I'll probably try whole milk and a different brand of yogurt for the starter. I was trying with skim milk and I know it CAN work...something just didn't jive. I saw a youtube video on how to make yogurt from dry skim milk...if you can make it from powdered, then I shouldn't be having a problem. We'll see, once I'm done using up my gallon of buttermilk, I'll give it another try :P
For the next month or 2 a big challenge I've given myself is creative cooking. We're pretty good, thanks to couponing, at having food storage. What we're not so good at: cycling our food storage. I've got a box sitting in front of me with foods that are so expired that I'm too scared to try them...luckily most of them were free with coupons...but still! Last night we used up some stovetop stuffing that had expired by mixing it with ground beef and baking it as a sort of meat loaf stuffing. It was pretty good and I stayed in my calorie limit :) I've got so many tasty ideas lined up, I'll have to share some of my successes! My goal over the next couple months is to spend less than $10/week on groceries, and that will be on fresh fruits and veggies as well as dairy. So far I've only bought the milk and yogurt for my "buttermilk".
I also want to work on a food storage plan this year. My church recommends having a 1-year food storage for your family. It's invaluable in disasters-whether natural, political, or personal. I got really pumped when I found TONS of videos on youtube about how to cook with the basic food storage stuff (like make cheese out of powdered milk-no way!) so I know I can come up with a rotation menu and schedule for items before they expire. For example, if I have a 10# can of dried whole eggs and its shelf-life is 5 years...I can plan recipes involving those eggs and calculate how many times I need to make that recipe in 5 years to keep cycling. Does that make sense? Sometimes things just bounce around in my head like a pinball machine...So if said egg canister has 12.5 cups of dried egg powder, then I'd have to use about 1/5 of a cup of the powder a month for 5 years to deplete a can. Here's the site I'll reference with information on how much food a person needs in a year for storage and how to store safely.
In other news, I'm excited to say that I just signed the hubby and I up for a membership at the Y! I did it mostly for the pool because I love swimming, but I'll enjoy taking advantage of all of the resources there and trying new things. It was a little intimidating...I haven't been to a gym in about 5 years. I know I can continue to lose weight without a gym, but it's harder in the winter and I want to get started training for the sprint triathlon I'll be doing in August with my brother!
On the topic of health and exercise, here are a couple "fitsperations" I made today:
This was me at the end of the year-30 lbs down. I'm excited to keep slimming down!
For the next month or 2 a big challenge I've given myself is creative cooking. We're pretty good, thanks to couponing, at having food storage. What we're not so good at: cycling our food storage. I've got a box sitting in front of me with foods that are so expired that I'm too scared to try them...luckily most of them were free with coupons...but still! Last night we used up some stovetop stuffing that had expired by mixing it with ground beef and baking it as a sort of meat loaf stuffing. It was pretty good and I stayed in my calorie limit :) I've got so many tasty ideas lined up, I'll have to share some of my successes! My goal over the next couple months is to spend less than $10/week on groceries, and that will be on fresh fruits and veggies as well as dairy. So far I've only bought the milk and yogurt for my "buttermilk".
I also want to work on a food storage plan this year. My church recommends having a 1-year food storage for your family. It's invaluable in disasters-whether natural, political, or personal. I got really pumped when I found TONS of videos on youtube about how to cook with the basic food storage stuff (like make cheese out of powdered milk-no way!) so I know I can come up with a rotation menu and schedule for items before they expire. For example, if I have a 10# can of dried whole eggs and its shelf-life is 5 years...I can plan recipes involving those eggs and calculate how many times I need to make that recipe in 5 years to keep cycling. Does that make sense? Sometimes things just bounce around in my head like a pinball machine...So if said egg canister has 12.5 cups of dried egg powder, then I'd have to use about 1/5 of a cup of the powder a month for 5 years to deplete a can. Here's the site I'll reference with information on how much food a person needs in a year for storage and how to store safely.
In other news, I'm excited to say that I just signed the hubby and I up for a membership at the Y! I did it mostly for the pool because I love swimming, but I'll enjoy taking advantage of all of the resources there and trying new things. It was a little intimidating...I haven't been to a gym in about 5 years. I know I can continue to lose weight without a gym, but it's harder in the winter and I want to get started training for the sprint triathlon I'll be doing in August with my brother!
On the topic of health and exercise, here are a couple "fitsperations" I made today:
Friday, January 3, 2014
The Gratitude Bug-have you caught it?
I'm in my 3rd week of having "the crud". In the lungs, coughing, sore throat, stuffy nose, you know the stuff. Coughing so hard you nearly throw up...those are good times! As I have gone through my morning, I took a moment to scratch the surface of my blessings. Here are just a couple:
Sleeping in: I'm grateful to my mother-in-law who over a year ago referred me to work for my job, where I get to work from home at my own pace. I'm grateful for my boss for being extremely flexible and paying me well enough to not worry about getting out of bed at an exact time and slave away at work. I'm grateful for my husband leaving me in bed to go to work-a job that is less than ideal during his Christmas break from school, so we can have financial stability (in case...for example...I make myself go to the dr and get antibiotics).
Breakfast: Breakfast was homemade apple sauce with flax seeds and almonds. I'm grateful for my parents giving us the leftover apples from their tree and giving me the crockpot a few years back, which I used to make the applesauce. I'm grateful for the hand blender that my in-laws gave me for Christmas that I used to blend it up :) As I prepared my breakfast bowl, I counted the calories I was about to eat and am grateful that my brother has challenged and supported me in being healthier and losing weight. I'm grateful for a husband who supports me in my weight loss and holds the keys to the safe that has the chocolate locked up (per my request lol). I'm grateful for the healthy example of my mother-in-law who has taught me many things about eating more naturally, I continue to learn more and more! I'm grateful for my sister who first introduced me to myfitnesspal.com where I have successfully lost the first 30 pounds since last July. I am grateful for technology to take pictures to remind myself of my success and motivate me to keep going, to connect me with great friends in a biggest loser challenge where we support each other, to let me learn new tips and find motivation on pinterest. I'm grateful for my landlords who let us turn their basement into an apartment and give us a killer rental rate, so I could cook, blend, eat, and contemplate the blessings of my breakfast.
Ok, so you're probably tired of hearing me count your blessings. Go count some of yours :D
Sleeping in: I'm grateful to my mother-in-law who over a year ago referred me to work for my job, where I get to work from home at my own pace. I'm grateful for my boss for being extremely flexible and paying me well enough to not worry about getting out of bed at an exact time and slave away at work. I'm grateful for my husband leaving me in bed to go to work-a job that is less than ideal during his Christmas break from school, so we can have financial stability (in case...for example...I make myself go to the dr and get antibiotics).
Breakfast: Breakfast was homemade apple sauce with flax seeds and almonds. I'm grateful for my parents giving us the leftover apples from their tree and giving me the crockpot a few years back, which I used to make the applesauce. I'm grateful for the hand blender that my in-laws gave me for Christmas that I used to blend it up :) As I prepared my breakfast bowl, I counted the calories I was about to eat and am grateful that my brother has challenged and supported me in being healthier and losing weight. I'm grateful for a husband who supports me in my weight loss and holds the keys to the safe that has the chocolate locked up (per my request lol). I'm grateful for the healthy example of my mother-in-law who has taught me many things about eating more naturally, I continue to learn more and more! I'm grateful for my sister who first introduced me to myfitnesspal.com where I have successfully lost the first 30 pounds since last July. I am grateful for technology to take pictures to remind myself of my success and motivate me to keep going, to connect me with great friends in a biggest loser challenge where we support each other, to let me learn new tips and find motivation on pinterest. I'm grateful for my landlords who let us turn their basement into an apartment and give us a killer rental rate, so I could cook, blend, eat, and contemplate the blessings of my breakfast.
Ok, so you're probably tired of hearing me count your blessings. Go count some of yours :D
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
SHIP SHAPE! Long time-no see!
Hello!!! So...there are many things in life that I succeed and fail at. My hobbies and interests ebb and flow. Apparently blogging is one of those things as it's been a while. I was looking for a post of mine to refer a friend to and I noticed I had 145 page views last month...cool! Since I haven't posted in several months, it kinda makes me feel good to know that my stuff is still worth stumbling upon. I noticed that I also had a couple of my pins re-pinned-that makes a girl smile :D
So what has this diy-couponing-crafty gal been up to? A lot of this and that with life. Lots of work, husband's in his 2nd and last year in school, and since I posted last time, several months and pounds have melted away. July 27th of this year I talked to my brother and he motivated me to work on my health. It wasn't some epiphany....I think the time's just right. So for the past 4.5 months, I've been using myfitnesspal.com to track my food and exercise Monday-Saturday (Sundays are my day of rest/free days). I'm 28 pounds down and hoping to reach 35 pounds down by the end of the year. It feels great (and I still have lots left to go!)
Here is a picture from Christmas 2011
These 2 mugshots are from July 27, 2013
These 2 were taken December 7, 2013
Just under 1.5 lbs a week, slow and safe :) Not sure if you can see the difference, but I'll post updates as I continue. I like the saying "A year from now, you'll wish you started today".
I've been couponing as well-some great black friday sales including items I'll be wrapping for donations with the girls in my church youth group tonight. Fun stuff :)
So what has this diy-couponing-crafty gal been up to? A lot of this and that with life. Lots of work, husband's in his 2nd and last year in school, and since I posted last time, several months and pounds have melted away. July 27th of this year I talked to my brother and he motivated me to work on my health. It wasn't some epiphany....I think the time's just right. So for the past 4.5 months, I've been using myfitnesspal.com to track my food and exercise Monday-Saturday (Sundays are my day of rest/free days). I'm 28 pounds down and hoping to reach 35 pounds down by the end of the year. It feels great (and I still have lots left to go!)
Here is a picture from Christmas 2011
These 2 were taken December 7, 2013
I've been couponing as well-some great black friday sales including items I'll be wrapping for donations with the girls in my church youth group tonight. Fun stuff :)
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