Autumn Project - 1st Attempt Successful!

My first attempt at part of my "Autumn Project" was a success! Today I spent 2 hours going through grocery sale ads and coupons, then created a meal plan for the week based on what was on sale. I was introduced to this awesome website, http://theobsessiveshopper.net/, which is where you can go, put in your area and pick the stores you want to look at. It then tells you all of the sales they have going on and coupons you can print out (thanks for the tip Lisa!). I did have to download the coupon printing software (took all of two minutes) and then I was able to search through manufacturer coupons that are good at any store.

Anyway, just from the coupons I printed out, I saved $15 (and that part only took about 15 minutes). After I printed out coupons, I then looked at the four main grocery stores that I go to to see what kind of sales they had. I made a list for myself in Excel with the Store, Item, and sale they had going on. In half of the cases, I was able to find an item on sale AND have a coupon on it (this saved me another $15). For those of you new to this like me, Walmart will match anyone's price and honor coupons. The only thing Walmart doesn't honor is buy one get one free sales (found this out the hard way today). Anyway, I then took my shopping list and created a meal plan based on what I already have at home and what I was going to buy on sale/with a coupon. Then I added a handful of things I needed that were neither on sale nor had a coupon for, but were necessary to complete my recipes. Finally, I took my shopping list (which I printed out from Excel to make things easier for the teller at Walmart for price matching), my coupons, and the ads (which I had just received in the mail two days before).

Shopping at Walmart did take longer than normal, but then again I don't normally shop at Walmart so I didn't know where everything was, plus the place was crazy busy. In the end I got $110 worth of groceries for only $61, a total of $49 in savings! Not too bad for my first attempt at shopping the sales and clipping coupons. I guess this is like making $24.50 an hour.

Now, I did get a few things I don't normally get (like some holiday treats that were on sale), so the jury is still out as to whether or not I will actually lower my overall budget for the month. Either way though, I do feel pretty good about my first coupon/sale experience. In the end, I probably would have bought those holiday treats anyway, just because I'm craving them like crazy, but at least this way I saved money. :)

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!

24 week picture

It's been 6 weeks since my last pregnancy picture, so here is a picture of me at 24 weeks. Now I think I actually look pregnant. I looked at my 18 week picture and compared the two, it actually made me sad to see how much fatter I look. I just have to remember it's baby, not fat (at least I hope it's mostly baby and not fat!). Sorry it's pretty blurry, we took it on my camera phone at night before bed time (hence the pajama pants).

The best part you actually can't see, and that's what my shirt says. I love it! It says, "Does this baby make me look fat?" I have another funny pregnancy shirt that says, "Somebody's kicking me!"

The Apple Mom

I just got back from Walmart where I saw the funniest thing, and I have since decided I have a new woman to add to my list of mothers I look up to.

I was on my way up to the cash register to buy my laundry detergent, after I spent probably ten minutes in the Halloween candy isle thinking how much I wanted to buy the candy, but knew I shouldn't (what are they thinking putting the Halloween candy isle next to the laundry detergent anyway!?). Anyway, as I'm walking to the registers I see a young mom, probably about 25 (because anyone younger than me is now considered young) walking into the store with her adorable 3-year-old girl. In this particular store when you walk in the food side you walk right into the produce section. So the little girl and her mom are walking and talking when suddenly, the little girl spots the apple display. She stops mid-sentence, her eyes bulge out of her head, she starts clapping her hands, and screaming in the most excited 3-year-old voice I've ever hear, "Mom, look, apples!" Then she takes off running toward the apples as fast as her little legs could carry her, all the while gleefully screaming, "apples, apples, apples..."

I looked at the mom to see if she had a surprised look, but no, she was just smiling and said, "Yes, honey apples. You may get some." Wow, watching this little girl one would think she spotted Princess Island or Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory, but no, she was this excited over apples! And her mom didn't seem the least bit surprised. Like, "Oh yeah, my daughter gets this excited over apples all the time." All I have to say is, You go Apple Mom! and Can I be like you when I grow up into a Mom?

Housewiffery

Back in the days when I had a full time day job I used to think to myself, "I could never stay home and not work. What would I do all day? I think I would just get too bored!" Well because of my high risk pregnancy, I have now been doing this for about a month and I keep thinking, where did the day go? Every day I have a To-Do list a mile long and I only seem to get through half of it. No wonder why my house seemed to be messy all the time and I rarely made dinner when I worked full time!

Now, granted, I do still do some work from home a little and I babysit a beautiful little 4 month old, but just the "house wife" work alone keeps me busy pretty much all day every day. Plus, I do probably move slower than average person with the whole fatigue of pregnancy, but it's amazing how NOT bored I am. It's also been interesting how "domestic" I'm becoming. Amazing because I never considered myself domestic nor did I ever really want to be domestic. For example, this weekend I canned my own jam (first time experience) and this morning, I woke up early and made blueberry pancakes from scratch, packed my husband's lunch, did dishes, laundry, went to the grocery store, cleaned the kitchen, and worked out. That may not sound like much, but for me, it really is.

Anyway, the thing that has been the most surprising to me about staying home, is the response I get from people. When I run into friends I haven't seen for a while or people in my neighborhood, the normal question is "where are you working" or "what are you doing for work?" My answer, is I'm actually just being a housewife right now. Honestly, from my perspective, from that point on in the conversation a lot of those people just look down on me. I've had people ask what do I do all day, what do I do for money, how am I going to survive financially, etc. They all know I'm pregnant and expecting a baby in a few months, and yet, somehow I am suddenly less of a person because I'm choosing to stay home.

In my opinion, whether you work outside the home or are a housewife/stay-at-home mom, you can be just as much of a contributing member of society. And no one has the right to judge you about your choice to stay home or to go out of the home and work. I know wonderful women in both scenarios and they are wonderful wives and mothers. Either way, that is a very personal choice that only they can make, and it is no one's place to tell them otherwise.

The Dog and the Kitchen Sink

Yesterday two funny things happened that I can't help myself from blogging about.

First, this weekend I was on "bed rest" because I had hurt myself from a fall on Thursday (not the funny part), and my doctor told me to stay off my feet and rest for the weekend. At one point my sweet dog Shady wanted to sit/lay by me, so I let her up on the couch with me. She sniffed my belly then layed her head on it. A few seconds later my baby boy decided he liked Shady and started kicking me. Shady must have sensed his movement because she immediately sniffed my belly again and then licked it right where I had felt the baby move. So Shady and baby boy had a little bonding moment. It was so cute!

Second funny thing. On Friday night Adam got us a Red Box movie since I couldn't go out. Then he went and picked up dinner (since I couldn't really stand long enough to cook and I wasn't able to go grocery shopping for needed supplies). When we finished eating dinner we could not find the Red Box movie anywhere. We spent the next hour searching everywhere we could think of where the move could possibly be. Finally we gave up and decided it must not be anywhere in the house because we looked everywhere it could have been. Then, on Saturday, I was feeling much better so I decided to be a good wife and do dishes. Sure enough, half way through emptying the sick I found the Red Box DVD still safely in its case. I couldn't stop laughing when I realized we lost the DVD in the kitchen sink! Apparently when Adam was clearing dishes from the table Friday night he had the DVD in his hand and it ended up being put in the sink right along with the dishes. Go figure! So next time I can't find something, I'll remember to check the kitchen sink!

Things I love...

For some reason I'm in an especially good mood today and I just feel like blogging about some of the things I love, so here you go:

• I love being married to Adam, and I love Adam! Thankfully I married a man perfect for me, even if I haven't always recognized that. I'm so grateful to have someone to share my life with and I can't imagine life any other way!
• I love my baby on the way! I know I complain about pregnancy a lot, but I'm seriously glad to be having this baby and I can't wait for him to be here.
• I love my dogs! Shady and Rolo seriously bring so much fun and laughter into our lives. They both do some hilarious things and they are both so sweet. I love coming home to these two fun animals that are always so excited to see me, even if they are a little naughty from time to time.
• I love my family and friends. It's great to have so many people care about you and to share in the joys and stuggles of life.
• I love my pregnancy pillow!! I haven't known a good nights rest since I got pregnant until I got this wonderful thing. It was worth every penny and I highly recommend it to everyone! (even those not pregnant people. Adam likes it too and would probably use one if I bought it for him)
• I love being home to cook dinner most nights. First, we eat much better. Second, we save a ton of money. And third, I know Adam really appreciates it and that makes me happy.
• I love to exercise! I know, you may think this is crazy, but I seriously do love it. I'm so grateful to be in my second trimester and finally be back to working out 5 or 6 days a week. Even though I have to keep it easy, at least it's something! And I can't wait until I'm able to get in tougher workouts again, but pregnancy is definitely a good reason to slow it down. My day just goes so much better when I can start it with a workout!
• I love sugary treats. This one is not so good for me, but I really do love them. Oh well, at least I'm working out every day, right?
• I love having a blackberry. I love getting my email, having the calendar, getting on the internet, putting my to-do list on there where I won't lose it, and all the other wonderful features. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to another phone. It's the only thing that keeps me semi-organized.
• I love reading! I read an entire book in one day the other day. I hadn't read anything for fun in a LONG time, but I finally decided I needed a de-stressor and borrowed a book from my friend Megan. I started it one night & finished it the next. Thank goodness I'm a fast reader so I can get back to work now.
• I love Autumn! Maybe it's because the weather is usually not too hot and not too cold. Or maybe it's because the leaves changing colors is so pretty or my birthday happens to fall in this season, but either way, I love it!

There are many more things I love, but these are the things that I've been thinking about today. It's nice to stop sometimes and just think of our blessings, and right now I feel very blessed!