Fun Stuff and “The Autumn Project”

This last week I've had the opportunity to do quite a few fun things. Here's the fun list from the week:
1st – I went to the What a Woman Wants Expo with my mom. Okay, so I was honestly a bit disappointed with the vendors there (specifically there's a really yummy bread vendor that has been at every expo I've ever been to at the Sandy Expo Center and they weren't there), but it was still fun. My favorite booth was a game booth where they sold all kinds of card and board games. I got two new games, Five Crowns and Ticket to Ride. Both are way fun and I recommend them!

2nd – I went to Oktoberfest at Snowbird with my mom. Again, I was a little disappointed with the lack of vendors there, but there was still some cool stuff. They had the Yo-Yo World Champion there who was doing some cool tricks, a German band with all kinds of fun instruments and German songs (lots of polka and yodeling type stuff), and of course, yummy Brats (although I won't be eating one again for the rest of my pregnancy since I paid for it that night when I was throwing up). The best part though was when we took the tram (a big box with 50 people in it hanging from a cable hundreds of feet above the ground) up the mountain to 11,000 ft. Then we hiked down a bit and rode a ski lift back down (which takes 22 minutes because we were so high up). It was actually quite beautiful, a little scary that high up, but fun.

3rd – Adam and I went to the Barnum & Bailey Circus with our friends Megan and Dan. Adam and I hadn't been to the Circus in years so that made it that much more fun. My favorite part was probably the dog show (it inspired me to try and train my dogs to do cool tricks) and the seriously cool disappearing tricks. Adam really liked the disappearing tricks too. Seriously, how do you make an elephant, tiger, person, etc. disappear when the cage they're in is off the ground? Way cool.

4th – My friend Megan and I went to the Miley Cyrus concert. I haven't been to a concert in three years, so this was way fun. Plus, it was Miley and as nerdy as this is, I love her! It was pretty cute to see all the kids there and how excited they got. Miley put on a great show, even though she had the flu. At one point in the show she had to run off stage to go be sick and her back up singers had to finish the song without her. Then they took a 5-10 minute break and then she came back on and finished the concert. So, thanks Miley for putting on a great show even though you were sick!

That's been my busy, but fun week!

Now for my new project, which consists of two parts. It's Autumn (my favorite season!) and that also means it's pumpkin season! I love everything made from pumpkins: pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin everything! So, my first part of the project is to try a few new recipes this Autumn. What I will do is make a different pumpkin recipe at least once a week and then I'll post the recipe I used and the results of my recipe. If I have time, I'll try to even do two new pumpkin recipes a week (maybe one treat and one dinner type recipe). If any of you have any really good pumpkin recipes, please send them my way!

Second part of my Autumn project is to use coupons! I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but I've never been a coupon clipper before and I've never been into looking at the grocery store adds. Prior to being a “housewife” I also worked 50 hours a week and I went to the grocery store on my way home from work, which ever store was the most convenient, even if they were more expensive. Since I've been staying home I've been able to cut our grocery budget in half just by planning in advance dinner every night so I just buy what I know I'll be cooking. Now I want to see if I can cut my grocery budget even more by paying attention to sales and coupons. So, for you more experienced budget shoppers out there, please send me your secrets! One thing I'm planning on doing is making a list of foods I buy regularly and what the “average” price is for these items. That way when I see a sale ad or coupon for one of these items, I'll know if it really is a good deal and if it's worth buying a lot of this item on sale. I'm a huge Excel fan, so I'll be making myself a nice little spreadsheet, possibly even breaking it up by the stores I regularly visit. If any of you have ever done something like this and are willing to share, please do!

I'll continue tracking my spending and compare my October and November grocery spending to my August and September grocery spending (Quickbooks is my favorite tracking tool! It is a must have!). Wish me luck on my two-part “Autumn Project,” and please send me any tips or recipes you have that can help!