Savings Update

It's time for an update on how things are going with my grocery savings.

In January, we saved $142.86 on our total grocery bill which was a 40% savings.

For February, we only saved $95.55, but that was still a 36% savings for the month.

So the running total is: $238.41 for the year! WOOHOO!!

Things I Love Thursday 2.26.09

I love good times with great friends!! I must really need some good girl time because these past 2 weeks were packed full of it!

It all started last week when Carlee came to visit for a few days. It was nice to hang out with her and watch some of our favorite TV shows and talk about her upcoming wedding.

Then, this past weekend when I went to visit with the Martins family in TN with Brooke & Marcie. We ventured out there for Hope's 2nd birthday party. It was so great to get caught up with everyone and to play with Joe & Katrina's precious little ones. You can check out some snapshots of our weekend there on the Martins' blog.

Tonight I'm heading to the fabulous P.F. Chang's in Biltmore Park for a last supper with Beth before she moves to South Africa on Sunday!! I'm so excited for her as she begins this journey as an Auntie in an orphanage. You can read her whole story here. I'm super excited about hanging out, laughing and of course, some amazing Chang's appetizers and desserts!

After the party at Chang's, I'm heading to Kirsten's for some Grey's Anatomy hang out time with some girls from our old Life Group. These are people who have truly lived life with us and I love that we're still able to help hold one another accountable and pray for one another even though our Life Group is no more.

One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 27:9 and it says "A sweet friendship refreshes the soul" (Message). I believe that with all my heart. I believe that I have the best friends in all the world and I'm truly blessed by these sweet friendships.

Things I Love Thursday 2.12.09

In honor of Valentine's Day, I think it's only fair that I tell you about my favorite person to love...my sweet hubby :) Marty and I have been married for 4 1/2 years, and while it's always work to make our marriage the best it can be, I know that it's so worth it...and he's so worth it. Marty works so hard to provide for us and I truly appreciate all that we're able to have and do because of that hard work. He's so passionate about ministering to college students and just being Jesus to them. It helps me to see that he really cares about them...and it's more than just a surface level kindness...he really invests in their lives. Another thing he's passionate about...Duke basketball. While the Blue Devils aren't always pulling out the wins, he's loyal to them and I love that about him. He puts up with my RIDICULOUS obsession with organization and even lets me cry on his shoulder when the imperfections of my past, my family and myself are more than I can handle. He pushes me to be a better me and reminds me that I am my own person, not to be defined by the mistakes other have made. He's a good friend and a great husband and, second only to Jesus, the one I'm truly blessed to share this life with. Love you, babe!

Tuesday's Tip-On Hold

My computer crashed a while back. While my fantastic husband is working feverishly to restore it, I am not really able to upload pictures that I would like to accompany my Tuesday's Tip posts. So, for now, Tuesday's Tip is on hold. I'll be back soon with some great ideas! In the mean time, if you have anything you'd like me to give tips on, or have tips of your own to share, leave a comment and let me know!

Things I Love Thursday 2.5.09

For those of you who don't know, I'm a nanny for the Edwards' family. (Check out their story here.) One of my most favorite parts of working for them is interacting with the three youngest Edwards kids (Yannick is 4, Sarah will be 4 in April and Luci will be 4 in May), specifically when they greet me at the door. When I first started working there, they would run to meet me at the door, yelling the whole way, "Ms. Sarai's home! Ms. Sarai's home!". Well, a year and a half later, me showing up has lost its luster to them...except with Sarah. Let me tell you that this girl LOVES to eat, but she will leave her breakfast behind to greet me at the door and wrap her little arms so tightly around my legs. This is how it's gone down for the past month (keep in mind I'm there 2 days a week and they never go more than about 4 days without seeing me): she greets me at the door, I pick her up and she says (with her cute little lisp) "Mith. Tharai, are you going to sthay here today?" and I say "Yes, I am!" and she says "Good, becauthe I thure have mithed you!". Melts my heart every time. :)

Snow Day

While the snow came and went and came and went today (we definitely have accumulation, it's just that we would have a lot more had it not blown away and melted all day long), I was thankful for a day at home with next-to-nothing to do...let me re-phrase that...there is ALWAYS something to be done, but on this day, there was nothing really pressing. I got up this morning, sent a few e-mails, put away some laundry, made out my grocery list, cut some coupons, did a little reading, made a yummy orange salad and that was the extent of the "have-to-dos". So, then it was on the fun things-things like embellishing the black kitchen towels I got for Christmas (Thanks, Brooke!) with some fun gingham fabric and polka dotted ribbon or sorting through some old certificates and concert programs for our scrapbooks. Seldom a day goes by when I am able to complete everything on my to-do list. But to have a day where everything is completed AND I get more projects taken care of is extremely rare...and pretty fun too. If the roads are bad in the morning, I'll be home all day again tomorrow...this time with NOTHING on my "to-do" list. I feel some craftiness and some organizing coming on :)

Tuesday's Tip 2.3.09

If you're like me, you love a good magazine. My favorites are Real Simple and Better Homes & Gardens. A good magazine is all encompassing...offers suggestions for the home, in organizing, the wardrobe and in the kitchen. A few years ago I was getting about 3 or 4 different magazines a month and very quickly realized that they could very easily take over our house. I knew that there were many ideas that I wanted to keep for future reference, but we just didn't have the space to save every single edition of every single magazine that contained every single idea. So, here's my system for cutting the magazine clutter:

Upon receiving a magazine in the mail, I will read through it, folding down the corners of pages containing information that I find to be helpful.

I usually leave the magazine on the coffee table until the next issue arrives.

When the next issue arrives, I take the old issue and tear out the pages that have folded down corners.

I have a folder in my filing cabinet for such pages (labeled home decorating ideas, organizational ideas, craft projects, gift ideas, etc). I file each page accordingly. Some people create notebooks to store their ideas in. This is great solution as well. I just figure that if I have the space in my filing cabinet, I might as well use it.

When I'm in need of a little decorating inspiration or looking for ideas for a room that's about to get a makeover, I consult my trusty file and get to work on making those ideas come to life.

Then, because I'm a little nerdy in the areas of recycling, I refuse to throw magazines away. If I don't know anyone who might like to read it, I put it in our paper recycling bin. More often than not, I pass it along to a friend of family member and ask that they do the same when they are finished with it. Sure, some of the pages are ripped out, but there are usually tons of good ideas remaining.

The end result is about 1 inch of filing cabinet space vs. 1 entire bookcase full of old magazines.