Washington Trip Pics!!

I finally have time to sit down and upload some pictures for you! We had the best time in Washington and I only wish we had gone sooner and could have stayed longer. This has to be one of the prettiest states by far!

Our flights were uneventful and my dear mother took us to the airport bright and early last Friday morning. We arrived in Seattle just after noon (Pacific time) and got situated at the hotel after picking up our rental car (Dodge Avenger).

Our layover was in Pheonix, AZ and shortly after leaving from there we flew over the Grand Canyon! It looks just as amazing from 30,000 ft as it does from the ground.

We had some time to kill that evening so we opted to head into downtown Seattle for the Underground Tour.

After that we knew we had to eat the famous Red Mill Burgers! They were some delicious burgers!!

The next day we headed east to see Snoqualmie Falls. It was a beautiful waterfall in a neat little town!

After seeing the falls we headed south on a long drive to Mt. Rainier. The drive there was breathtaking in itself!

It is still the off-season there so the road was only cleared part of the way up the mountain. It was neat seeing the plowed snow on the side of the road gradually get taller and taller until it was over 10feet and you couldn't see past it!

The road ended at a visitor center that was partially buried and only the door was dug out. It was so foggy and snowy that everything blended into each other and we couldn't see much.

^Can you see the snow piled up above the window shutters?

Sunday we headed west for a few stops. The first stop was Aberdeen were Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was from. Nick loves that band so he had to make a mini "pilgrimage" to the memorial site.

A short distance from Aberdeen is a town called Grayland that is right on the Pacific coast. The beach there was AMAZING. We just stood there in awe of the vastness of it.

I have been to several beaches but this is the only one I have ever seen where there are no high-rise buildings in view, nothing on the beach, and the sand seems to go on forever. This view below is with the ocean on the right. See how the sand and water just fade into the foggy sky?

The beach was so flat that when the waves would crash, it would take the water several minutes to reach its peak then several more to finally return to the ocean. I would guess that it was at least a quarter mile from the grass until you reached the water. Breathtaking.

On our way along the coast we passed an abandoned farmhouse/barn on 71 acres for sale. We had to stop and check it out!

Monday morning we headed south initially to see Mt. St. Helen but ended up abandoning that when the clouds and rain did not subside the closer we got. The trip was not wasted though because Nick's aunt and uncle live close to there and we spent the rest of the day with them! They live out in a little country town with beautiful views along the way.

On Tuesday--our last day there--we had a few hours between hotel checkout time and flight time so we headed back into downtown Seattle for some sightseeing!

We parked the car and headed up the to the Columbia Center which is the tallest building in the Pacific Northwest. We were very lucky to have a clear day and had a great view of the skyline from the 73rd floor!

After that I grabbed some Starbucks (cause you know it got started here right??) while we walked to the famous Pikes Market! They are famous for their fish throwing, but it is actually a huge market with everything from magic shops and bakeries to fresh produce and gourmet pasta. We could have spent hours there!

I got some souvenirs for family, and we much on yummy pastries while we walked around. Unfortunately it was too soon until we had to return the car and fly back home...

After our fabulous experience there, Nick and I both feel that Washington could very well be a more appealing place to move than western NY! The cost of living is a bit higher but it would be worth it to have such beauty right at our feet. How neat to have the ocean, Canada, mountains and volcanoes all within a couple hour drive??? I have started doing my research on certain towns, and we look forward to what the future will bring!

Saving Money

These days have taxes on everyone's mind and that got me thinking about the ways that I save my family money all throughout the year! I am going to share that with you so hopefully I can inspire someone else out there. We can all learn from each other! Most of my totals are estimates--on the low side--for an example of what the average household pays.

No cable TV=$50/month ($600+/yr)
No cell phones=$75/month ($900/yr)
No car payments=$200/month ($2400/yr)
Couponing for groceries/toiletries=$200-400/month ($2400-4800/yr)
Cut my husbands hair=$20 every 2 months ($120/yr)
Color my own hair=$50 every 2 months ($300/yr)
Workout at home=$25/month ($300/yr)
File my own taxes=$100/yr
Do our own yardwork=$50/month ($600/yr)

These are just the regular things that came to mind first. Other ways to save money include:

Only eating out once a week
Keeping thermostat higher in the summer and lower in the winter
Opening windows when warm outside
Only shop for clothes during seasonal sales
Shop for birthday/Christmas presents throughout the year during sales

Some people look at me like I'm crazy when they hear that I don't have a smartphone, or that I don't have cable. So how do I get thru life?? Let me tell you!

I have a prepaid Tracfone that I pay $20 to load 120 minutes on every 3 months, and I use this for when I am on-call at work, and for emergencies. We ditched cable several months back and don't miss it at all! We got a cheap antenna for local channels (in HD!) and a Roku box for streaming shows/movies. We have a Netflix and Hulu account which total $16/month. I started couponing almost one year ago and have learned to find the best deals for things matching coupons and sales. We went from spending about $400/month on generic food/toiletries to maybe $75/month on NAME BRAND food/toiletries!

My journey to frugalness started when I was 16. I got married, moved out, and had no money. Nick and I both worked crappy jobs while I finished high school and went to college. We started out with nothing so anything more than that is like a luxury to us! We both agree that a simple life is the best life and choosing not to "need" all of the latest and greatest has enabled us to do so many other wonderful things!

I hope this inspires someone out there to take control of their life and start working towards where they want to be, instead of where they have to be due to debt! You can do it!

Easy Peasy Chicken Parm!

Let me start by apologizing that there is no picture! I baked this last night and had family over for dinner so I was too distracted to have my camera available.

I found this recipe on my new Roku channel AllRecipes.com and knew instantly I had to try it. It is one of those quick and easy recipes you can throw together with just a few ingredients and no measuring! My fave. So here you go:

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
approx. 1c spaghetti sauce (your choice)
approx. 1c shredded mozzarella and parmesan
1/2 bag seasoned croutons
olive oil
minced garlic

Preheat to 350. Take a casserole dish that is just big enough for your chicken to cover the bottom and be snug without a lot of room. First drizzle some olive oil on the bottom then sprinkle garlic. Lay chicken on the oil then pour enough sauce over to cover. Sprinkle HALF of both cheeses on sauce, then cover with a layer of croutons. Cover with remaining cheeses and bake for 35-40 minutes!

So very delicious. I made 3 breasts for dinner. Baking them in the sauce makes them oh-so tender! The top layer of cheese and croutons bakes up golden brown and crunchy. You can of course add more/less of any ingredient to suit your taste! Hopefully next time I make it I can take a picture before we eat it ;)

Healthy Living Update

It has been two weeks since I last posted so I thought I would let you all know how my lifestyle improvements have been going!

When I did the 5 day juice fast last month I lost 7lbs. As of right now I have kept 4 of those off! That may not seem like a big deal but my weight has been at a plateau for many years and I really struggle with myself to get those last 10lbs off. I can proudly say that none of it is baby weight though! I lost all of that within a couple of months.

Mainly what I've been doing different is eating more vegetables, salads, fruit, whole grains, and less meat. As for exercise, I found a workout on Pinterest that I have been doing on my days off:

It takes about 30 minutes and gets my heart rate going! The first time I did it left me sore in places I didn't even think I had worked! I like the variety and how it works all major areas of my body with some cardio thrown in. I don't do the head tilt b/c I don't know what that is, and instead of the two sets of 10 crunches I do two sets of 20.

It may not sound like much but a long journey starts with small steps! Being unhealthy doesn't hurt anyone but yourself, and why would you want to hurt yourself? Being a nurse for almost 6 years now has shown me so many people who are literally dying from being simply unhealthy and making bad lifestyle choices. I don't want to be one of them in 20 years!

While we are on the subject of being unhealthy...here are some cuppies I made for Valentine's day!

They have brownie on the bottom and strawberry cake on the top with cream cheese frosting. YUM. Don't worry--I only kept a few for my little fam then took the rest to work!

For Valentine's Day we usually don't do much--I am one of those who feel it is a mostly commercial-centered holiday with no real purpose. We don't go out to eat b/c everyone else is out doing the exact same thing. For the last couple of years we grab a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and enjoy a nice quiet evening at home! I got him some chocolates and he got me a gift certificate for a pedicure :)

Here is a small fleece baby blanket that I embroidered for an out-of-state friend:

I don't know if I mentioned before but I bought our tickets to Seattle! We leave in two weeks and I still haven't booked the hotel or rental car yet...yikes! I am definitely doing that this weekend. We are really looking forward to seeing the Pacific NW for the first time and seeing the mountains again. If you have any suggestions for what to see/do in the Seattle/Mt. St. Helens area please let me know!

Experiments in Healthy Eating

Yesterday I tried a couple of new recipes that I have been seeing on Pinterest. I am always up for a new yummy way to cook and enjoy vegetables! I made homemade guacamole (not a new recipe for me, but took a pic anyway)

First new thing was....kale chips!

Rinsed/dried the kale, cute into bite size pieces, sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, then baked at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

They were very crunchy, and just about melted in your mouth. But that is where the positivity ends!! I really did not like the taste--it was like a combination of grass and spinach. My son did like them and ate several.

Next up....sweet potato chips!

I thinly sliced 3 small sweet potatoes, sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled salt, baked at 375 degrees for 10 min then turned the pan around and baked for 10 more minutes.

I really liked these! They tasted great and were mostly crunchy. My silly oven cooks unevenly so some were burned, some were just right. The 3 potatoes didn't make very many chips, but the few that were left did not taste nearly as good today. Definitely need to eat these fresh!

I am glad I finally tried this techniques and was able to share my experiences. I will most likely stick with making baked sweet potato fries instead of chips though! I found a recipe that uses cornmeal to make the fries crunchy, so that will be my next adventure...

It is still in the 50s-70s outside here these days, so yesterday we broke out the charcoal grill and cooked up a bunch of meat to eat on this weekend! I grilled steaks, hotdogs, turkey burgers, and chicken breast. After we ate dinner we roasted some marshmallows too! Yum. Today it rained off and on all day so that was a nice change. One more month until we go to Seattle!

Bradley and a Fancy Cake

Just an update on what we've been doing this week...but first, here is a picture of my boys snuggling!

Last Sunday we went to our niece's 3rd birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese in the city. Brad had a great time playing with all of the rides and of course stuffing himself with pizza!

I have been seeing this zebra cake on Pinterest so I finally looked up how to do it! The instructions didn't seem too complicated so I decided to try it out tonight. Basically you take a plain white cake mix, prepare it, then divide it into two bowls. You use food coloring to make one of them dark (mine ended up being kinda dark grey). The darker the better so that you can see the color definition after it bakes!

Then in a round (greased) cake pan you drop a big spoonful into the middle of the pan. You do it again but with the other color right on top of the first dollop in the middle. You just keep doing this and it will spread out and reach the edge of the pan. You do this with 2 round pans and use up all the batter:Then you bake according to the box and remove from pans to cool....

....then frost and stack like a basic two-layer cake...

...but when you cut into it it looks amazing!!!!

Mucho impressive. If you could get the colors dark enough, it would look great with green stripes, or red stripes...or any color really! Or if you wanted to make more than one cake at a time you could prepare 2 different flavor cakes mixes and alternate them for more flavor. I put cream cheese icing on mine. It was a big hit! I will definitely be making more in the future.

Party Planner

My little guy turns 3 in June, but his cousin Zoe turned 3 today! That really got me thinking about his birthday party. He hasn't had a favorite before so his previous birthdays were just cute but generic with no specific theme.

Well he has a favorite now! He just loves the cartoon "Cat in the Hat". It is on Netflix so he can watch any episode at any time. I ask him in the morning what he wants to watch and he says "Cat!". He would also watch WordWorld, Sid the Science Kid, Curious George, and Sesame Street but Cat in the Hat has become his favorite.

Naturally I decided to plan a Cat in the Hat themed party for his next birthday! I bought him the book....

...then found a party website where I ordered plates, stickers, favor boxes, and a tablecloth!

I have been pinning a lot of ideas for this theme on Pinterest also, so I will be looking through those links in the next few months to add several handmade touches to the party. I haven't decided if I'm going to do a cake, or cupcakes again. I really like the idea of cupcakes for a child's birthday because they can eat it with their hands, and you don't have to cut slices for everyone.

Sunday is our niece Zoe's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese in OKC, so that means tomorrow I will be wrapping all of her presents! Have a great weekend.

Latest Projects

Here is something I know I will cherish for a long time! You have heard of people "bronzing" their baby's first shoe? Well this is a take on that I had seen on the internet awhile back. It is a shadow box with different sizes of shoes that Brad has worn:

All of the regular shadow boxes with glass were not deep enough to accommodate the shoes so I had to get creative! I got an unfinished wood frame and painted it. Then I cut out a piece of stiff cardboard for the backing. I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit the inside then glued it to the cardboard. Then I glued the whole back piece to the frame and used stickers for his name. I stuff the shoes with some paper for shape, then glued them to the backing and wrote his ages with marker!

Here are the embroidered bibs I have been working on for a coworker! They will be added to my craft website for examples:

That's about it for now! My brother's birthday is Monday, and our anniversary is Tuesday so we will be busy the next few days!

Catching Up

Not much has been happening the last few days, just life. I have been eating healthy however! I got some rice cakes and apples for work snacks, and have been eating a lot of salads. I'm going to the market tomorrow to pick up some sweet potatoes so that I can roast a bunch of veggies to eat on.

I have also been exercising and taking walks almost every day. Brad loves to get out of the house so I take him on walks with me. The exercises are ones that I pinned on Pinterest--mostly just a variety of jumping jacks, squats, crunches, pushups, etc. I could really feel it today! I am surprised by how many different muscles groups I worked without realizing it. Hopefully over the next few months I can tone up as well as lose a few more pounds!

Nick is still working away on the Mustang trying to get the kit parts to line up. He is making progress though! We are aiming to have enough body work done by Spring so that we can get it painted.

Our anniversary is next week! It will be our 9th wedding anniversary, and I am already in full swing of planning the big 10 for next year! It is going to be fun. Man how time flies!

We are planning to fly to Washington in a couple of months to see some family and check out the NW coast. No dates are for sure, maybe in early March. We have been itching to go on another trip though! It seems like about every 6 months we get the urge to make a break for it and go see somewhere new. It is too bad that we have already seen all of the good stuff within driving distance.

I have been working on some custom embroidered bibs for a coworker, so after I get those done I will take pictures. Otherwise, check back later on!

Juice Fast Day 5--Last Day

Yes, you read it right. I ended the fast tonight with a spinach salad. Why? Well partly because I am weak and love food. But mostly because I have been feeling pretty sluggish these last couple of days with sore muscles. Not the best when I have a busy 2yr old and a very active job. I always do better at things when I have a partner so when Nick had to quit that made it harder on me to go it alone.

We both weighed in the morning and neither of us had lost anymore. I am very happy with the 7lbs I lost and will try my hardest to keep it off by eating better and incorporating more veggies into our meals. I kind of feel like a failure for not sticking out the whole 10 days, but then again my body was telling me that it needed something else. It's not like I got weak and hit up Burger King!!

I actually have a pot of split pea soup cooking right now, and this weekend I have a bunch of veggies I'm going to roast in the oven.