2013 In Review

January

• New Year's Party at the Alexander's
• Began first full-time job after my internship ended
• Went wedding-dress shopping with my mom
• and privately teared up in the dressing room
• Ran around scanning things for wedding registry at Bed Bath and Beyond

February

• Managed to survive the month without loosing my phone
• Hopefully broke the curse of "lost phone February"
• Had fun at a Valentine's day party in Los Fresnos Ward
• Broken fridge = midnight bacon frenzy with Loni

March 

• Went to San Antonio for Elizabeth's baby blessing
• Took engagement photos
• Wasted about 40 hours of my life looking at wedding dresses online

April

• Philip and I got our first apartment together
• Said goodbye to rooming with Loni :(
• Time for a new iphone

May

• Last Gentlemang's evening with Bubba here (held at Cici's)
• Drove Phil to ER because of a chemical burn
• Remembered about picking up my college diploma
• Broke frame for diploma 15 minutes after purchasing it (accidentally)

June

• Took braces off (disapproving orthodontist face)
• Awesome bridal shower thrown by mom
• Fun trip to San Antonio with Loni, Kathy, Mark, and Courtney

July

• Married my best friend
• Survived 3 wedding events
• Purchased Claire
• Thought blogging might be fun
• FAILED the cinnamon challenge and thought I was going to die
• Had a meltdown about being a grown up

August

• Got sealed to my brother and parents
• Started figuring out married life
• Almost killed Steve due to an improper oil change
• Perfected extreme couponing at CVS

September

• Broke our washing machine
• Purchased a new washing machine
• Nikki's puppies were born
• Fun weekend getaway at Hill Country Resort
• Philip began commuting to work in Three Rivers

October

• Venom  joined our family
• General Conference Sunday with YSA friends
• Chris got his mission call to Cape Verde
• Finally got to visit my parents and Chris
• Got called as Nursery Workers in 3rd Ward

November

• Registered Venom as a service dog
• Rented a car for the first time
• Rodeo night with Philip, Loni, and Mark
• Best month of the year for movies
• San Antonio trip with hubby

December

• Visited my parents for Dad's 50th birthday 
• Plus celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on the same day
• Philip started working for GE in San Antonio
• I attempted to quit my current job and was  not very successful
• Starting in January I will be working from home
• Philip came home for Christmas
• Fireworks at my parent's house Christmas Eve
• Spent a weekend in San Antonio with the Wyeth family

2014 Resolutions

New Years is my favorite holiday because there's nothing I like more than a fresh start. I haven't actually made a "resolutions" list for a long time, but I thought it would be a neat idea to do so this time just because I know that 2014 will be a year with many changes and new experiences, and I want to make sure I'm doing a good job keeping up with everything. These are my goals for this next year... some are a more challenging than others, but all are doable. Good luck to me! 

1. Cook or bake 1 thing a week from my "Little Delights" Pinterest board
2. Write to Elder Zuniga every week and send care packages once a month. 
3. Go to the temple at least once a month
4. Pay off all credit cards
5. Complete a legit scrapbook
6. See my parents every month 
7. Read 30 books
8. Go on an out of state trip
9. Complete the 52 Week Money Challenge 
10. Further my education
11. Cross one thing off my Bucket List

Puppy Chow for Christmas

A while ago Loni introduced me to the yumminess that is Puppy Chow (otherwise known as Muddy Buddies) and told me about gifting them in mason jars or cello bags. Of course, I had to give it a try, so after fighting my way through Hobby Lobby crowds, I came home with the following:

• Mason Jars
• Cello Bags
• Cupcake liners
• "Homemade" Stickers
• Christmas ribbon

I used the cupcake liners in order to add some color to the jars. They fit very nicely. 

I centered this sticker on top of the jars just to give it a little extra color. And because I thought they were pretty. 

Placed it inside the cello bag. Hobby Lobby had a pack of these for about .50 cents. 

Last was my least favorite part.... tying the ribbon. My mom once told me that if I tied them upside-down they came out rightside-up. That makes no sense to me, but it worked. 

This was the result, I'm quite proud of them. It took me longer to tie the last bow than it did to tie the first one... Ribbon is NOT my thing. I hope people like these :) 

2013 12 18 Target Haul!

I LOVE COUPONS! I had a few choice items I needed to purchase at Target yesterday, so I took advantage of the trip and planned a "coupon crazy" purchase. These were the results:

Target is awesome because it allows you to use multiple kinds of coupons per item; Target Coupons, Cartwheel Coupons, and Manufacturer Coupons. This coupon "stacking" strategy is what allowed me to get such a great deal. This is what I did: 

• Two Purina One Beyond 3.5lbs dog food, Regular Price $6.89 each
• Used Two $5.15/1 Manufacturer Coupons
• Used One $1.00/1 Target Coupon
• Paid $2.48
• Four Purina Beggin Strips 6oz, Sale Price $2.50 each
• Used Four $3.00/1 Manufacturer Coupons
• Used One $1/2 Target Coupon
• Used 5% off Cartwheel Offer
• Received $3.74 overage
• Two CHEX Cereals, Sale Price $2.00 each
• No coupons, but paid $4.00 total instead of $6.78 regular price
• One package of Chicken Breasts, Regular price $6.99
• Used $3.00/1 Target coupon on package
• Paid $3.99
• One package of Chicken Drums, Regular Price $3.19
• Used $1.00/1 Target coupon on package
• Paid $2.19
• Two Campbells Condensed Soup, Regular Price $1.27 each
• Sale price of $0.65 each
• Used Cartwheel Offer 5% off each
• Paid $0.61 each
• One Nestle Toll House Baking Chocolate Chips, Sale Price $2.79
• Used one $0.50/1 Manufacturer Coupon
• Used Cartwheel Offer 10% Off
• Paid $2.06
• One Market Pantry Peanut Butter, Sale Price $2.29
• Used Cartwheel Offer 5% off
• Paid $2.17
• One Market Pantry Confectioners Sugar, Sale Price $1.69
• Used Cartwheel Offer 5% off
• Paid $1.60
• One Market Pantry dozen eggs (not seen behind chicken), $1.50 sale price
• Used Cartwheel Offer 5% off
• Paid $1.42
• One package of Oscar Mayer Bacon, Regular Price $5.89
• On Sale for $4.99
• Used $0.50/1 Manufacturer Coupon (found on package) 
• Used Cartwheel Offer 25% Off
• Paid $3.36
• One Market Pantry Half Gallon Milk; Sale Price $2.29
• Used Cartwheel Offer 5% off
• Paid $2.17

All together I paid $24.14 for $59.73 worth of items! Thats a 60% Savings! These kinds of shopping trips just make my day =)

He's got Personality

Today Dale asked me if that was my dog on a picture I'd posted on Facebook last Friday. It's this one:

Venom was sleeping on the carpet next to me while I watched a Disney favorite, UP. He woke up as soon as the dogs in it started barking and just sat there barking back at the TV until the scenes were over. It was pretty cute and funny... Dale thought so too. 

After a few stories about his Chihuahua, Dale quoted the following:

"Nobody will ever be able to convince me that animals don't have personalities. They just don't have vocal cords that work like ours."

I was heartfelt, because I couldn't agree more.

 

Therapeutical Baking

Philip has been in San Antonio for 7 days now, and without my other half present, I have been doing a lot of nothing at home. Nothing involves maniac housekeeping (since thing actually stay clean now), watching too many TV show reruns, re-reading old novels, and lots and lots of sleeping. I decided that today should be different than all other days, so I dug around my pantry and made some cupcakes.
I noticed a quick improvement in my mood and in the amount of energy I suddenly had, and the reason was apparent; baking is therapeutic... at least for me. These are the reasons I could think of as to why:

1. Offers Direction and Purpose. Even the simplest "out of a box" cupcakes require careful attention to the steps written on the back of the box. Unless you are an accomplished baker, you can't just "make it up as you go along" and end with a delicious dessert. (It differs from cooking, I think). The simple instructions calm me because they map out exactly what should happen with each step, and tell me what the ending result will be. This offers a break from the many daily tasks of problem-solving and figuring things out as they come at me, so it's a nice way to forget about the worries of the world. 
2. Requires all 5 Senses. In the middle of making a batch of cupcakes, all senses are required. I see the dry and wet ingredients combining into a gooey mush of splattered batter, I feel the firm vibrations of the blender as I mix everything together, I smell the sweet scents of warming sugar and vanilla, I hear my inside voice thinking of the next step, and best of all I taste the cool, soft remains on the spoon as I watch the cupcakes rise in the oven. I can think of no other task which offers simultaneous stimulation of all 5 senses and is also enjoyable. With sight, touch, scent, hearing, and tasting all going on at the same time, it's obvious that I won't think about any other issues but the ones at hand. 
3. Sharing and Enjoying. Such few tasks these days offer a tangible product once finished, so it is nice to be able to eat the darn thing and know I did a good job. Personally, I never bake with the intent of eating the end result. The most enjoyable part of making anything yummy is when I get to share it with others, so this entire batch will most likely go to friends or coworkers. This is one of the primary ways I use to show I care, so even if the process of baking wasn't rewarding enough, I also feel the gratitude of others as we all enjoy a soft, fluffy, semi-messy cupcake together. 

P.S. I suppose point number 4 can be "and then I get to blog all about it in extreme detail!" I suppose this information is best tucked away in a blog rather than posted on facebook for the annoyance of all. I'm finding blogging quite therapeutic as well... mostly because I enjoy the clicks of this particular keyboard, so I use more words than normal. Ok, now I'm just rambling. Over and out! 

San Antonio Bound!

Two mornings ago Philip's phone rang at 6:44am and I was about to grab it and throw it across the room (yes, I hate mornings that much) because I thought it was one of his dozen alarms he used to wake up to go to work.... only he's been unemployed for 3 weeks now. As it turns out, it was a phone call from GE Oil and Gas in San Antonio offering him the job he went to test/interview for last week! I'm very proud of him, 30 others had taken that exam before he did and he was the first to pass it, so that had to be good news from day 1.
He will be driving up to San Antonio tomorrow morning to do paperwork and take a drug test, and is set to start working this coming Monday. We haven't quite figured out when or how we are going to move yet... particularly because our apartment complex is kind of a jerk about breaking our lease. I was shooting to move out there before Christmas, but that is definitely not going to happen. Chances are we will welcome 2014 by traveling to and from from Brownsville to Corpus to San Antonio. (Brownsville is involved because I really want to celebrate New Years with my family).
No matter what happens, I'm super stoked about moving up there... and I'm also super nervous, especially since Wiki told me today that it's the 7th biggest city in the U.S., which I took to mean that I'll be living at the mercy of my GPS. Yay for big changes!

That little red dot is where Philip will be working... somewhere between San An and New Braunfels. Now we need to find an apartment close to that, and then I need to find a nearby job so that commuting won't give me a daily heart attack. 

Sleep Talking... again

Maybe "Sleep Talking" should be a regular blogging subject... This one happened on the night of December 3, 2013. I woke up at 2:30am and realized Phil had fallen asleep in the living room playing Xbox, so I woke him up on my way to get a drink of water and he stumbled into bed somehow.
About half an hour later I was still awake in complete silence and I heard the following:

Phil: Whatever!
Me: Uhm. What?
Phil: Whatever works.
Me: Hey what are you dreaming of?
Phil: Turn off the light
Me: .... do you want me to turn off the light?
Phil: If you want
Me: But the light is already off
Phil: Ok. *continues sleeping* 

So apparently he was dreaming I'd asked if he wanted the lights on or off...  I wanted to keep talking to him and make him say silly things, but decided to let him sleep.