Hey, everyone! It’s been too long since I’ve posted – my brain has been in too many places lately. But I wanted to take a minute and share some things I’ve been doing lately to save money. When Rylee was born almost 8 months ago, I made the decision to resign my position as Creative Arts Director of Rock Church and become a (mostly) stay at home mom. Don and I had already downsized from our large new home to a very small home to cut our budget and make this move possible, but it has still proven to be difficult to make things work with one income. Now – those of you who know me know that I am nowhere near being a naturally frugal person and I LOVE to shop so it has been difficult for me. Here are a few things that I have done to try and help our budget out…
- I got an account at www.mint.com and got the app for my IPhone. It has helped me keep track of what I am spending – some days I like it and some days I want to chuck my phone in the toilet when it beeps at me saying I’ve spent too much money at Starbucks this week….
- I started working out – I know that sounds weird, but I don’t spend as much time at Target if I work out everyday!
- I started using Coupons. I have never been able to do this successfully but I have found some great resources: did you know that there are sites that scour the coupon inserts and all of the grocery store/drugstore sales and give you a list of how you can use coupons on items that already on sale? AND there are sites where you can order complete coupon inserts or individual coupons for pennies and it saves SO much time and money! I am so excited to see how much I can save. Sooooo… go here, here, here and here and start saving some green yourself!
What have you done to help save your family some cash? Come on, now – I need more ideas!
In 9 months, Don and I will celebrate our 10th aniversary. I can’t believe it….where did all of that time go? I’m so excited to celebrate this miletsone – I have the best husand ever. He is such a wonderful friend and an amazing father to Reagan and Rylee. We are planning to take a trip somewhere to celebrate. (any suggestions? It can’t cost a fortune cause we definitely don’t have one)
So anyway, I have a goal – I want to get back to my pre-Reagan weight before October rolls around. That means I have to lose about 25 pounds. ugghhhh… Here are some things that I am doing to try and get my you-know-what back in shape:
- No Sweet Tea or Coffee (this is huge for me, I’m an addict – but I haven’t had any since Christmas!)
- Water, Water, Water!
- Avoid sugar during the week (after the Daniel Fast is over, I plan to allow sugar in moderation on the weekends)
- No fried foods – at all
- Add lots of fresh veggies and salad
- I put milled flax seed in everything – it’s so good for you – and it’s easy to incorporate into your diet since you really can’t taste it in other foods)
- No red meat – we are eating chicken, turkey and fish only except for special occasions
- Whole wheat products only
- Starting to add workouts into my routine – this has been difficult during the week with the babies but I’m trying! The Biggest Loser Small Group at church is helping with this one – it’s pretty much kicking my butt.
So – it’s not really a resolution, because I suck at those – but it is a goal that I feel is necessary and attainable. So, what about you? Do you have any health goals and what have you done to try and meet them?
It NEVER snows in Wilmington – we’re a beach town for Pete’s sake! But – today it did and it was magnificent! I love, love, love snow – when it comes for a day and then goes away… 
We had a great time – here are a few pics from the morning!
Molly was in heaven!
Reagan was so excited to make a snow angel!
Reagan and Nana
throwing snowballs at me!
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks – as you can see from my two earlier posts, we took some of the students from GAFA to an incredible conference in Durham. We had a great time. Don and the kids came with me. Since I’m still nursing Rylee, this was the only way that I would have been able to go. It was our first trip with the girlie and I was a little nervous about the two hour car ride and two nights with all of us in the same room. But we did great – so fun!
Reagan started showing signs of having a cold on the trip back home. Sooooo….this week we’ve been dealing with ear infections in both kids and nasty colds. Rylee actually lost her voice by Wednesday – it was so sad to see her open up her mouth to squeel or laugh and nothing would come out!
I finally got Reagan one of THESE. The Leap Frog “Tag” is an amazing little gadget that has ignited such joy and amazement in Reagan. He is IN LOVE with it and I have really enjoyed seeing him have so much fun learning new things! If you have kids age 3-8 this is a great investment. The initial kit is $50 and includes the Tag “pen” and one book. Additional books are $14 at Target but I found them on line at Toys R Us for $9.99 each! So far he has the Kung Fu Panda, Olivia, and Cars books as well as the alphabet board and a set of land and sea animal cards.
Our church is observing a 21 day fast this month. It’s been exciting to see how many people have gotten on board and are trusting God for breakthroughs in our personaly lives and in the life of our church. My brother has been posting some great devos during the fast – go check them out! I have decided to fast caffeine, sugar, dairy products and all processed/fast foods.
I’ve been feeling secluded lately – being a stay at home mom is such an wonderful privaledge and I do not second guess my decision for one second. I do, however, realize that stay at home moms MUST make significant efforts to maintain friendships, generate new ones, and remain faithful to pursue your passions. It’s so much harder than I thought it was going to be – and infinitely more rewarding than I could have ever imagined!
I hate laundry.
Gonna tackle my closet tomorrow – it’s a scary thought and I’ve been avoiding it for months – but it’s gotta be done. Yuck…
Do you Twitter? Let me know so I can follow you!
Wow – I didn’t realize how long it had been since I posted anything. Shame on me….
We are in Durham, NC with some of our dancers from Glory Fine Arts at the Dance Revolution Conference. This is an amazing event for our students – they leave exhausted, but they work so hard and are encouraged and ministered to by some incredibly talented and anointed dancers. It’s a crazy weekend, but so worth it. Here are a few pictures from last night and this morning…
Junior/Senior Audition Class
Denae transforming into Cindy LooHoo for the Dance Party
Mrs. Casey and Jessica ready for the Dance Party
"Alternate Angle"
"Blockbuster Bash Dance Party"
Melanie in the Instructors Class This Morning
We always have Christmas Eve dinner at my parent’s house – lamb chops and chutney and all the fixings. Yummy! And I made an amazing dessert – thanks to all of my twitter followers who voted on the winning recipe! It was fabulous… Here’s the recipe: (from Epicurious)
Let me know if you try this out! It’s really easy and soooooo good. My nephew Gabriel said he wanted to bury his face in it he thought it was so good. Now THAT’S a good endorsement…
Triple-Chocolate Pudding Pie with Cappuccino Whipped Cream
Ingredients
Crust:
- 9 whole chocolate graham crackers
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3 1/2 cups half and half
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 1/2 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1 cup chilled whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Chocolate-covered espresso beans
Preparation
For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind graham crackers, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and blend to moisten crumbs. Firmly press mixture into 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Bake until crust sets, about 8 minutes. Cool.
For filling:
Whisk sugar, cocoa, and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in 1 cup half and half. Whisk in remaining 2 1/2 cups half and half and yolks. Whisk over medium-high heat until mixture thickens and boils, whisking constantly, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Add both chocolates and butter; whisk until melted and smooth. Mix in vanilla. Transfer filling to crust. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of filling and chill until filling sets, at least 6 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
For topping:
Beat all ingredients in large bowl until peaks form. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewhisk to thicken before serving, if necessary.)
Peel plastic off pie. Cut pie into wedges. Spoon dollop of cream atop each slice. Garnish with chocolate-covered espresso beans and serve.
Abs,
I love you too much to let this go until morning. I hope you enjoy the new blog and real theme. If you are reading this and missed the fake one, sorry.
We’ll tweak more over the next few days.
Merry Christmas,
Your Big Brother (not the government… your real big brother)
