So...it has come to our attention that we spend way too much money on crap. In order to keep track of our spending we use one credit card throughout the course of a month for all purchases. This serves twofold, as we also use this credit card to accrue points (which are a joke by the way, but that is rant for another day). We tend to crisscross the country by default a couple of times a year just visiting family and let's face it...the dreaded air travel can be less than affordable. But I digress.
We spend way too much on crap, and each month we notice our credit card statement climbing higher and higher...and higher. So in order to remedy we have implemented a budget. We have done this (unsuccessfully) before and I don't understand how we can have absolutely no will power to stick to it. It is like dieting for me. I do really well one day and fall off the wagon for the next 29. Well, not this time. Unlike dieting, I fully intend to stick to this so I can finally purchase furniture for the empty room in the front of the house. I swear, people driving by would think our house was a foreclosure.
I have been doing a lot of research on just where we can cut the costs. Unfortunately, we have to eat and food prices seem to be the biggest budget buster of all. I blame it on all the hoopla on buying all natural and organic. This is what I came up with - DIY is the best remedy ever.
1. I have decided to make my own bread. I stay at home and if I spent less time on the computer while little girly naps I could make enough batter for three loafs of bread for a grand total of $1.75 a piece. My bread will probably not be very good, but since bread is the downfall of my diet, perhaps I will eat less of it. Reminder: Dry bread does not mean add more butter.
2. Adding sweat equity into our home. Okay - so this is probably my worst idea yet, but I figure as the home prices in AZ rise, there is something I can do to help our house gain a little footing - just in case it gets so hot that we have to move. I am starting in the back of the house and moving forward. The first step? The master bath. Let me ask you something - who decided that carpet in a bathroom was a wise idea?
3. Using my photography as artwork to cover all our bare walls. I'm not a good photographer, but I've seen worse art in people's homes that has cost way more than the developing fee at Costco.
4. I also found that buying memberships to places I bring Norah is far less expensive than paying on per visit basis. This may be a no brainer for you budget savvy people, but I never realized just how much we do the same thing over and over again.
I'm sure there is more, but I am spending too much time on the computer.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Motherhood...
After 11 months of inactivity, I have decided to return to the blogging world - as a mother. Yes, my husband and I welcomed a baby daughter on May 13th, and couldn't be happier to have her here!
My pregnancy was awful - I was sick for the first 4 months, followed by 5 months of doctors visits to try and diagnose my mystery illness; which, by they way, merely turned out to be pregnancy itself. Due to my "mystery illness" my doctor recommended that I be induced in order to guarantee she would be able to attend the delivery. I jumped at the opportunity to finish being pregnant at 39 weeks and scheduled the induction for Friday, May 13th and this was the first of my 3 mistakes. I will never be induced again - girl scouts honor. I won't go into details, but lets just say that the morning of the induction, magically my platelet count dropped and in combination with my "mystery illness" I was unable to receive and epidural. I was not informed of this little...inconvenience...until I was 4 hours into the induction. Be that as it may, I was not at all prepared for childbirth...mistake number 2...I was sure to call all my pregnant friends immediately after I scarfed down my Burger King double bacon burger and large fry and try and convince them to take childbirth classes no matter how much hooey they thought they were. I didn't want to wait to let them know, lest I lay eyes on my new, beautiful daughter and magically forget all the pain. P.S. I still remember the pain.
You may be wondering what mistake number 3 was...evidently, it was not keeping my cell phone on during the delivery. My mother, clearly worried that I hadn't called her every step of the way, took it upon herself to call the delivery ward of the hospital. You wouldn't think that you could be embarrassed after the delivery of a baby...not at all true. When the nurse entered my room moments after delivery and asked me if I knew "so and so." I felt my face flush as the entire room erupted into laughter when I admitted that it was my mother and shooed my husband out of the room to answer her call. Needless to say, she arrived the next day.
So far motherhood has been pretty decent. In the beginning it was more or less like I had reverted to college - only without the booze. There was no sleep, numerous outfit changes in a day and I tried to read all the books I should have read before she was born in mere days. No matter how hard I tried, historical fiction always beat out the parenting books. Evidently, I felt as if parenting would come just as naturally as the childbirth I also failed to read up on.
After a little trial and error on our part, we have pretty much settled into our new life with the little girl. She is slowly, but surely, starting to sleep through the night and everyday it seems she does something she didn't do the day before. I think I might be okay with this new role...
My pregnancy was awful - I was sick for the first 4 months, followed by 5 months of doctors visits to try and diagnose my mystery illness; which, by they way, merely turned out to be pregnancy itself. Due to my "mystery illness" my doctor recommended that I be induced in order to guarantee she would be able to attend the delivery. I jumped at the opportunity to finish being pregnant at 39 weeks and scheduled the induction for Friday, May 13th and this was the first of my 3 mistakes. I will never be induced again - girl scouts honor. I won't go into details, but lets just say that the morning of the induction, magically my platelet count dropped and in combination with my "mystery illness" I was unable to receive and epidural. I was not informed of this little...inconvenience...until I was 4 hours into the induction. Be that as it may, I was not at all prepared for childbirth...mistake number 2...I was sure to call all my pregnant friends immediately after I scarfed down my Burger King double bacon burger and large fry and try and convince them to take childbirth classes no matter how much hooey they thought they were. I didn't want to wait to let them know, lest I lay eyes on my new, beautiful daughter and magically forget all the pain. P.S. I still remember the pain.
You may be wondering what mistake number 3 was...evidently, it was not keeping my cell phone on during the delivery. My mother, clearly worried that I hadn't called her every step of the way, took it upon herself to call the delivery ward of the hospital. You wouldn't think that you could be embarrassed after the delivery of a baby...not at all true. When the nurse entered my room moments after delivery and asked me if I knew "so and so." I felt my face flush as the entire room erupted into laughter when I admitted that it was my mother and shooed my husband out of the room to answer her call. Needless to say, she arrived the next day.
So far motherhood has been pretty decent. In the beginning it was more or less like I had reverted to college - only without the booze. There was no sleep, numerous outfit changes in a day and I tried to read all the books I should have read before she was born in mere days. No matter how hard I tried, historical fiction always beat out the parenting books. Evidently, I felt as if parenting would come just as naturally as the childbirth I also failed to read up on.
After a little trial and error on our part, we have pretty much settled into our new life with the little girl. She is slowly, but surely, starting to sleep through the night and everyday it seems she does something she didn't do the day before. I think I might be okay with this new role...
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
To Mexico and back again...
Well we made it...I'm not going to sugar coat it; living in Phoenix we are constantly barraged with the going ons in Mexico along the border and frankly I was just a {smidgen} scared of venturing into the country. But I was pleasantly surprised.
The husband and I landed in Cancun on a Wednesday to 90 degree temperatures and 100% humidity. At first it was a nice change from 108 dry heat of the Sonoran Desert. Waiting for our transport to Playa del Carmen we enjoyed an adult beverage from the over-priced airport cantina under wispy palms, relishing the soft ocean breeze. The transportation representative was reassuring us that it would only be two more minutes before our resort van would be there to pick us up; this would be our first taste to just how different time is viewed from country to country. Two minutes passed by, then ten and fifteen. "Just two minutes more, Senor," we were assured. My drink was gone in the first two minutes and now I was left with a lime and melting ice, but we were not let down and soon we were being ushered to our awaiting van and swept off to our resort, a mere 50 minutes from the Cancun Airport.
Upon reaching our resort we were met with friendly faces and some sort of appletini...I think. Another {short} two minutes and were being led to our room. I was impressed by the room, albeit the bed was a bit hard, but after a scrumptious dinner filled with Italian fare of linguine and clams and a couple more beverages any bed was a welcomed sight.
The next morning after breakfast we made our way out to the Caribbean to catch some rays and enjoy some reading. This didn't last very long as the pages in my book begin to look as if someone had given them a perm. Note to self: Paper and humidity do not mix. I would have to finish the book I renewed from the library, four times to date, another time. This did, however, free our time to enjoy the "tranquility pool" on the roof where little did I know I would incur the most epic sunburn of all time.
Yes, my nose was purple, but that does not compare to the disaster that used to be my chest. It was so burned it was white. I didn't even know this could happen! Regardless, after encountering the dry, freezing air on the plane coming home, my skin has begun to look like a broiled chicken thigh, the kind with the crispy skin.
With a burn of such epic proportions, I felt it was important to try and avoid the sun as much as possible for the rest of the trip, but we were in Mexico. Outside of the water the sun and humidity started to become a little oppressive, so I found myself applying sunscreen every 15 or so minutes and submerging my body as far as I could into the water. I managed to not re-burn the already too burned portions of my body and I am content with that.
For the rest of the trip I managed to stay virtually unscathed, outside of the infamous toe stub that landed me a date with a paramedic. Just for the record, it wasn't at all serious; I think that all other countries must view Americans as a liability. I feel silly that I was afraid to visit this country - I even ventured off the resort and into the marketplace. If I would have skipped it, I would have missed a very beautiful wedding and missed out on seeing what a wonderful country Mexico really is. Next time I visit Playa however, I think I will skip the resort, stay in the shopping district and visit in the winter.
The husband and I landed in Cancun on a Wednesday to 90 degree temperatures and 100% humidity. At first it was a nice change from 108 dry heat of the Sonoran Desert. Waiting for our transport to Playa del Carmen we enjoyed an adult beverage from the over-priced airport cantina under wispy palms, relishing the soft ocean breeze. The transportation representative was reassuring us that it would only be two more minutes before our resort van would be there to pick us up; this would be our first taste to just how different time is viewed from country to country. Two minutes passed by, then ten and fifteen. "Just two minutes more, Senor," we were assured. My drink was gone in the first two minutes and now I was left with a lime and melting ice, but we were not let down and soon we were being ushered to our awaiting van and swept off to our resort, a mere 50 minutes from the Cancun Airport.
Upon reaching our resort we were met with friendly faces and some sort of appletini...I think. Another {short} two minutes and were being led to our room. I was impressed by the room, albeit the bed was a bit hard, but after a scrumptious dinner filled with Italian fare of linguine and clams and a couple more beverages any bed was a welcomed sight.
The next morning after breakfast we made our way out to the Caribbean to catch some rays and enjoy some reading. This didn't last very long as the pages in my book begin to look as if someone had given them a perm. Note to self: Paper and humidity do not mix. I would have to finish the book I renewed from the library, four times to date, another time. This did, however, free our time to enjoy the "tranquility pool" on the roof where little did I know I would incur the most epic sunburn of all time.
With a burn of such epic proportions, I felt it was important to try and avoid the sun as much as possible for the rest of the trip, but we were in Mexico. Outside of the water the sun and humidity started to become a little oppressive, so I found myself applying sunscreen every 15 or so minutes and submerging my body as far as I could into the water. I managed to not re-burn the already too burned portions of my body and I am content with that.
Surprisingly I made it through the wedding with only several people commenting on the unhealthy hue of my skin. I must give credit where due and most were quite couth simply stating, "Oh, my, you got a little pink, dear." Indeed I did.
For the rest of the trip I managed to stay virtually unscathed, outside of the infamous toe stub that landed me a date with a paramedic. Just for the record, it wasn't at all serious; I think that all other countries must view Americans as a liability. I feel silly that I was afraid to visit this country - I even ventured off the resort and into the marketplace. If I would have skipped it, I would have missed a very beautiful wedding and missed out on seeing what a wonderful country Mexico really is. Next time I visit Playa however, I think I will skip the resort, stay in the shopping district and visit in the winter.
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