Back to normal

My big project of the day was to undecorate the house. I love putting decorations up and enjoying them for the month or so that they are up, but I despise taking them down. It takes so much effort and finding a spot for everything to go back is tough. But it is done and my house is back to normal. Here is the progression!

Boxes downstairs and ready to be filled:

Midway through packing them up and about the point where I thought it would never get done:Everything back in its place for another year:

Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday again)

I forgot to post the menu yesterday. And since I know all of you are just dying to know what we are having this week, I'll post it. Actually, I'll include a recipe since we'll be trying it out for the first time tonight.

• Monday - We had big salads w/broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, and grilled chicken
• Tuesday - Spice rubbed pork chops (recipe below), oven fries, green beans
• Wednesday - Dinner at Dave and Emily's
• Thursday - Orange teriyaki chicken, brown rice, broccoli
• Friday - Salmon croquettes, mashed potatoes, biscuits, green beans
• Saturday - Steak, baked potatoes, broccoli, French bread
• Sunday - lunch at church, not sure what I'm bringing yet

Spice rubbed pork chops

1 1/2 TB chili powder
1 TB unpacked brown sugar
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
2 TB Worcestershire sauce
4 1/2-in thick boneless chops (I'm using bone-in)

Preheat broiler and coat broiler pan w/cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, sugar, cumin, and garlic powder. Add Worcestershire sauce and stir until paste forms. Rub paste onto both sides of each pork chop. Place on prepared pan and broil 4 minutes on each side until inside is no longer pink.

Hopefully it turns out well! It sounds yummy to me!!

Everything you see here for $11

I've been quite busy this morning! I headed out and stopped at a total of 9 places. Here is where I went:

1. Gas station. I filled up my tank from empty for $15.46. Love it.
   
2. Walgreens. I purchased 2 rolls of paper towels, 2 boxes of envelopes, a writing tablet, a birthday card, and a flood lightbulb. I used a $10/purchase coupon that I'd gotten last week. Total cost: $3.81.
3. CVS. I returned a movie I'd purchased because we received it for Christmas and got $21 on a gift card. I then "bought" Old Spice body wash, 2 deodorants, and a razor for $0.66 on the gift card. Total cost: $0.00
   
4. Starbucks. I used a gift card to get some coffee. Total cost: $0.00
   
5. UPS store to mail something in a prepaid envelope. Total cost: $0.00
   
6. Kohl's. I had $23 in store credit and used most of it to buy three pairs of running shorts that were on clearance. My current ones are getting old. Total cost: $0.00
7. Target. I price matched the ornament boxes I bought Saturday and returned something to get a total of $12 back on a gift card. I then used it to purchase an umbrella because I've been wanting a golf umbrella for some time and ours just broke. Total cost: $7.96
8. Kroger. I got some Lean Cuisines for Nick's lunches. They were on sale for $1.88/box this week so I stocked up. Not pictured or included in total, but I still got a good deal on them! Total cost: $13.16
   
9. Blockbuster. I returned some movies we'd rented.

All in all, a great outing where I got a lot for very little.

Now to take down the Christmas decorations!!

Shopping trip!

Today I met Emily, Alexa, and Caleb for a little shopping at the mall and Target. We went to Macy's Christmas Shop and I purchased two ornaments for next year on clearance. Then we split soft pretzel bites at Auntie Anne's, both got a Starbucks treat, and sssllloooowwwllllyy trekked around the mall. Alexa led the way (hence the slowness) and she would not let go of my finger. She was a big fan of her Aunt Molly today. :)

At Target I got some bins to store my Christmas ornaments in, which I then found out will go on sale tomorrow. Whoops!! But I've got an exciting shopping trip planned for Monday, and I'll hit Target to price match the bins. If all goes according to plan, I will go to Walgreens, Target, Kohls, and CVS and spend very little for quite a bit!! I'll post an update Monday!!

This afternoon we're relaxing with Nick's dad and will have some leftover hashbrown casserole and hamburgers for dinner. YUM!

I think Christmas is slowly winding down. Next week should be a typical week again! I need a vacation from my vacation!

Christmas never ends...

...around here! Tonight we had a bunch of my family over for dinner to celebrate Christmas again! We had ham and hashbrown casserole and spinach casserole and rolls...mmmmmm!!! Here are some family shots:

My cousin Scott:
Nick and me in sweaters we got for Christmas:
Aunt Suzanne and my cousin Emily:
Aunt Cathy, Will and Mom:
Amanda with her new basket (she thought it was a hat):

Fun times!! Tomorrow??? You guessed it! Nick's dad is coming to see us to celebrate Christmas! I love it - a week of Christmas!!!

Family Christmases!

Nick and I spent the last two days at our families' homes celebrating Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to my parents' house and had a fun day visiting with family. Here are some pictures we took:

Nick and his new best friend Piper, my parents' dachshund:
My mom and me:

My sister and me:


My aunt and grandmother:


Today we spent with Nick's side and watched movies and had turkey and lots of other yummy food. I love relaxing days! Unfortunately, I was so relaxed that the only picture I got was this one of Nick's mom and her new sleep mask:


We got many wonderful gifts that we love! Two of my favorites are these knives that my parents gave me. My knives are AWFUL - they chew rather than cut. I'm so excited to have a set that actually does what it is supposed to do. I cut a bagel this morning and the knife didn't squish it!!


Another favorite is my new Alabama sweatshirt! I wore it most of the day and plan to wear it a lot more if it ever gets cold around here!


We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day!!

Merry Christmas!!

Two days until Christmas!

Last night Nick and I both fell asleep at 8:00 and slept until 8:30 this morning. It was nice to get more than a full night's sleep after being deprived the night after last!

Feeling refreshed, I went shopping and to lunch with a good friend who is in town for the holidays. We braved the cold and crowds and got a few things. The stores weren't so crowded, but the streets were definitely packed. It took twice as long to get home as it normally would.

Following my afternoon with my friend, I picked up my brother. He is spending the night with us, and as usual, we'll play the Wii, eat pizza, watch a movie, and enjoy hanging out together.

The next few days will be quite busy with family gatherings and Christmas festivities! I'll update with pictures if I can. I'm excited to spend a week with Nick (who has off from work until Monday) and the rest of our families.

Lots of freebies at CVS

Despite my exhaustion from last night's festivities, I decided to venture out to run my usual Monday errands. Besides Walgreens and Publix, I only went to one CVS, which probably would have been different if I hadn't been so tired. But I am happy with the deals that I got. I purchased:

• 4 12-packs of Cokes
• 1 2-liter of Coke
• 2 tubes of Crest Pro-Health toothpaste
• 1 bottle of Excedrin
• 1 bag of Halls lozenges
• 1 box of Benefiber supplements

I spent $2.97 out of pocket and approximately $24 ECBs. I got back $22 in ECBs, which is pretty good for having purchased all those Cokes! I didn't get all the freebies that CVS was offering today because mine was out of a bunch of them. The main thing I was after was to roll my ECBs that were expiring this week, and I accomplished that!

Poker Party 2008

For the last three years, we've hosted an annual poker party at our house. It started with some friends who got a bunch of us interested in poker, but then moved away. Now each year they come back to visit and we have a party to fellowship with them and play cards. No money is involved, since that would mean I would be in some serious debt. But it is lots of fun to play.
Nick gets into it and gets trophies for the winners, including this lovely one (yet another reason I'm thankful not be very good at poker):


Two couples and their children spent the night so we had a houseful and stayed up VERY late playing and talking.

We do A LOT of eating:


Nick's lucky pink shirt was yet again unlucky - he came in 7th place.

I was happy to be out in 6th place and could work on couponing in my comfy clothes:

A new award given this year was "The Terminator" award given to the person who eliminated the most players. Dave was very sad to have lost this beautiful trophy to Luke:


Husband and wife fought to the bitter end, but Luke finally bested Deborah for 1st place:

We had a fun-filled evening, and now I'm exhausted!

It only took 2 years

But it is finally done!!!

View of the built in bookshelves and window bench (cushion on order):



View from doorway:


View from behind the desk:


I'm very happy with the result, but most of all, I'm happy it is done!!

Sinful dessert

I'm cooking like a mad woman today. I'm making a meal for some friends at church, two breakfast casseroles for overnight guests we'll be having this weekend, brownies for dessert after lunch tomorrow, and some chocolate peanut butter fudge crunch (pictured above). The recipe is from Rachael Ray's cooking magazine. I was first introduced to it at Dave and Meagan's house over the summer and it is most delicious! I think I gained 5 pounds simply making it this morning!!

Here is the recipe for anyone interested!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Crunch

• 6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 sticks plus 1 TB unsalted butter
• 1 16-oz jar creamy peanut butter
• 3 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan w/parchment paper (I use a 9x13 pan, which makes the bars thinner, but still just as good). In a medium saucepan, melt half of the chocolate and 1 TB butter over low heat. Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup peanut butter, then 2 cups rice cereal. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan; refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Wash out the saucepan.
2. In the saucepan, combine the remaining 2 sticks butter and the salt; melt over medium heat, stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining peanut butter and the confectioners' sugar. Spread half the peanut butter mixture over the cereal layer. Top with the remaining 1 cup cereal.
3. In a small bowl, microwave the remaining chocolate at medium power until melted, 1 1/2 minutes. Stir into the remaining peanut butter mixture. Spread evenly on the cereal-topped peanut butter layer; refrigerate until set, about 45 minutes. Cut into 16 pieces.

Enjoy!

Christmas break!!!

I'm now officially on Christmas break! School parties were yesterday and today, and then I came home today and got all my grading done and my report cards ready to mail. Woohoo!! I plan to get some lesson planning done tomorrow so I can really put school in a box (quite literally) and not open it again until January 14th when I go back. I'm so excited about my break!

Painting part 2

Last night coat #1 went on the walls. Though it is hard to tell after only one coat and with all the furniture piled in the middle of the room, we both think we will like the end effect. Time will tell! The second (and hopefully last) coat goes on tonight and then tomorrow we'll put the furniture back.

Fun mall trip

Despite my traffic encounter, I met Emily and the kids at the mall for a little shopping. Both of us are finished with our Christmas shopping, but had coupons to various mall stores. Plus, we can never let an opportunity pass us by to go shopping and eat mall Chinese food together. I ended up getting a new black winter coat. Since my current one is more than 10 years old, I figured it was time. And of course, I got it on sale with a coupon. I also got athletic socks. When I went running this morning, the first pair I put on had holes in them. I had $10 off any purchase at JCPenney so I got 6 pairs for $2. I had a $10 coupon to Victoria's Secret and was able to get some body butter for $0.00. Lastly, I had a coupon for a free travel size product at Bath and Body Works with any purchase, so I got some more of my favorite lip gloss. All in all, I saved 66%! :)


Tonight = painting part two (and maybe the removal of my front license plate holder)!

Oops!

I had a fender bender today. I bumped into the back of someone at a stop light. The light turned green and I went but they didn't. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and there was no damage at all to their car. Even better, I didn't get a ticket - the officer said we could take care of it on our own and the other other car owner just wanted to leave. My car suffered a minor dent in a very good location - the front license tag. It bent inward and there is a small dent on the fender, but nothing too bad.


Even so, I'm upset with myself for it happening at all! My perfect driving record is broken (still no tickets, though!) and Nick said he wouldn't let me live it down.

Painting Day One

This afternoon, I taped up the walls to get ready to paint:


And then tonight after dinner, Nick and I primed the walls. We made a good team and got it done in under an hour. I did the edging and he was the roller. Just to be clear, this is PRIMER and NOT the new color.


Tomorrow we'll do the first coat of paint!

Busy Monday

This morning I slept in! I haven't slept until 9 in quite awhile, but it seems my body is ready for Christmas break so I got a jump on it this morning and turned off my alarm. I did my shopping, hitting CVS, Kroger, and Aldi. Nothing too spectacular to report, and no pictures today. The highlights:

CVS - I got some shampoo for Nick, 25 digital prints (free w/a coupon I'd received), contact solution, and some chips on BOGO. I spent $7.30 and saved $40.41. I lost about $5 ECBs, but since I had plenty to roll, that was my intention anyway. Savings percentage = 85%

Kroger - Among other things, I got free toilet paper, free cat food, and chips for about $1.10/bag after sale and coupons. I saved a little less than 50%, but I got quite a few items without coupons for when we have friends over this weekend. I set my budget at $75 this week, but should be well under it when all is said and done. So all in all, I'm happy!

Aldi - It is harder to calculate savings at Aldi since I'm comparing prices with typical prices at other grocery stores. I bought 2 cans of baked beans, 5 lbs of potatoes, garlic bread, three tomatoes, a pound of better and a dozen eggs for $11.66. My best estimate is about 30% savings, give or take. Everyday items are cheaper at Aldi so I purchase these types of items at Aldi when I can.

Now that I'm home, the rest of my day promises to consist of cleaning, grading, laundry, and taping up the office to prepare for painting. Nick and I will put the primer coat on tonight, hopefully. I'll post pictures later on this week when we are finished.

This meal plan looks pretty familiar. Most of what is on here I had on the plan for last week (and in a couple of cases, the week before). Just to assure you, we don't eat the same thing every week. This is just an estimate of what we'll have. Things come up and changes have to be made!

• Monday - Breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast)
• Tuesday - Grilled chicken sandwiches, oven fries, salad
• Wednesday - Cheeseburger roll up, salad (I keep putting this on the menu but we haven't had it yet!)
• Thursday - Pesto pasta w/chicken strips, broccoli
• Friday - Steak, baked potatoes, green beans
• Saturday - Chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits
• Sunday - Hamburgers, chips, baked beans, mac & cheese

Church Christmas Party!

Last night our church had their annual Christmas party. We enjoyed some delicious food prepared by the women in the church, as well as good fellowship and the children singing Christmas songs. I decided to actually take some pictures for once, much to everyone's annoyance, I'm sure. Here are a few highlights:

Alexa's eyes glazed over a bit after all the food she ate:


At one point, Caleb allowed me to take multiple pictures of me, as long as I let him see himself afterwards:

Nick and Alexa showing each other where their noses are:


The four of us dressed alike without meaning to, but it made a nice picture opportunity (Alexa had to get in on the fun):


Nick and Dave eating and talking (Dave was NOT happy about my photography bug):

Grocery check-in

Grocery bill this week = $48.40
Total saved = 51%

Drug store bill this week = $7.74
Total saved = 93%

Total saved this week = $202.18

Another great week! Next week's goal = under $75 for groceries

Fun Friday

This morning I tutored, and then spent most of the day with a friend. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting, eating lunch, and taking every book off of a bookshelf (oh wait! That was her son and not us!!). It was a very pleasant afternoon spent with a friend.

And now I am home again doing laundry that I forgot to do yesterday (whoops!) and deciding whether or not I have time to clean a bathroom or two before Nick gets home. We have a date night tonight! Nothing extraordinary. Just eating out at Chili's and a trip to Home Depot to get paint. We'll hopefully be painting our office tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to the process, but I'm hoping the end result is worth it! I'll post before and after pics. The best part? No class tomorrow!!

In other random, but fun (in keeping with the theme) news, I got an A in one of my classes this semester! Yay! The other one I'm a bit worried about, but I should know early next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

What weird weather!

Yesterday it rained buckets and we had the chance of tornadoes in the morning. Plus, it was unseasonably warm (which makes me none too happy). It didn't stop raining and continued to today, but the temperature has been dropping all day long. Tonight, there is a chance of snow! I'm sure we won't really get any, but what a couple of weird weather days it has been!

Today I taught school, and went out to lunch with my students and the other teachers. We do that about once a month since we're within walking distance of several cute restaurants. Afterwards, I got my hair cut and then ran some errands. I've been lesson planning and grading papers ever since. I'm ready for Christmas break! One more week!!

Brown paper packages tied up with string

I don't like to wrap presents. I'm not very good at it. I like it to be done and done quickly, so I'm not very careful. But this year I decided to get a little fancified and put actual bows on the presents I wrapped. I also did a much better job than I normally do, so I was happy with the results. Unfortunately, I have a couple of friends who do NOT like the way I wrap presents and decided to let me know just how they feel about it:


First, Caleb came over and tripped over this present (below), which ripped the paper. Thankfully, it is HIS present and therefore is not getting rewrapped. I decided that he just started unwrapping it a bit early. Plus he is three.


Then my delightful cats decided to get in on the action and let me know how they feel about my wrapping job (they are probably upset since there are not any presents under the tree for them). You might not be able to see it very well, but there are very distinct teeth marks in this bow (below). In addition, there are bows from the kitchen to the attic, all courtesy of the cats, who have decided to give them new homes.

I give up. Next year- brown paper packages tied with string. Or duct tape.