25 Ways to Cut Costs and Save More

I found this money-saving article this morning, and while many of the items could be considered common sense, there may be something helpful to you on the list.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105529/25-Ways-to-Save-More-Each-Month

Have a great week!

Weekly recap

This last week was fairly uneventful, so I don't have much to post. Here's a quick recap of my week:

* cleaned a dirty, ant-infested apartment

* worked my part-time job, tried to enjoy it but didn't

* lost another 3.5 lbs.

* went to Old Navy's one day denim sale on Saturday to buy a couple new pair of jeans...This was the first time in a very long time that I had a pleasant experience, rather than leaving the dressing room in tears! :)

* went to the lake to relax in the sun and swim on Sunday

* realized that many of the people I care deeply about are struggling with various challenges -- one lost someone they were close to, one found out they were losing their house due to the economy, one found out their best friend stole something and kept it from them, one has a son who was arrested and is sitting in jail...My heart goes out to each of you! Stay strong, and know things will get better!

* 5-7 mile evening bike rides

* watched a lot of Olympics on TV

Aren't you jealous of my exciting life???

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!!!

Today is my parents' 35th Wedding Anniversary, so I'd like to send them a big shout out...I'm so proud of you guys, and I love you sooooooooooo much!

For fun, here's their wedding photo (and remember this was the 70s, people!)...

And here's a couple pics from their vow renewal ceremony (around 93')...

I now realize that we don't have any recent family photos or photos of just Mom and Dad, so that's going to have to change the next time I go home. Even though money is super tight right now, I'm really hoping to make it home for Christmas this year. Regardless of when I make it back, we ARE going to get some nice updated pics taken!

Anyhow, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MOM AND DAD! You are the most amazing parents anyone could ever hope for! Big hugs and kisses, and many happy years to come!

Stress reliever

I suppose this could work for pretty much anyone, but I think folks who are stuck in an office -- especially a cubicle setting -- could find some serious stress relief AND AMUSEMENT here...

http://eyegas.com/recentprojects/cubiclefreakout.html

Enjoy! :)

Misc pics...

These pics may not be too exciting for most of you, but considering there isn't a lot to do here, it's the best I can do.

Last weekend, Eric and I went to Idaho Falls for a festival-type event. It was our first time attending, and I'll be honest, it may be our last. It wasn't very exciting at all. I suppose it may have been better if we had kids, as they had a lot of kid-specific events (crafts, noise-makers, painting, etc.), but not much for adults to do. We did check out a small car show along the way, but that was about as exciting as it got. However, we made the best of it and at least got some exercise walking the entire greenbelt bike path (6 miles). Here are a couple scenic pics I snapped of the Idaho Falls Greenbelt.

You can see the Idaho Falls LDS Temple (in the distance) in the top pic, while the second pic is just of the waterfalls...

We went to the Madison County Fair (here in town) this afternoon, and I must say that this has to be the smallest fair I've ever been to! You could seriously walk the entire thing in 15 minutes or less! Now I grew up in a very small community too, but we knew how to have a real county fair. We had TONS of horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs and many more animals. We also had at least 50 different places to eat greasy fair food. And more importantly, we had RIDES! The Madison Fair has zero rides, which makes it hard for me to understand how it's called a fair in the first place. They do have a bouncehouse/slide for the little ones, but that's it. So once you walk through the single animal building, the very tiny 4-H display, and a commercial building with about 6 vendors, the only thing left to see are the rodeo events. I've never been a huge fan of rodeos, but I'll be honest and say that I really enjoyed watching the little cowboys and cowgirls ride today. I snapped a few pics to try and show you how unbelievable cute these kids are. We're talking some kids as young as three or four riding sheep! You should be able to click on the pics to see them larger if you want.

Little cowboy riding his sheep...

Little cowgirl riding her sheep...

ADORABLE little cowboys after they rode their sheep (2 pics)...I so wanted to steal these little guys and take em' home with me!

And last, but not least, here's a pic I snapped of some baby goats snuggling in the animal building...who doesn't love cute baby animals cuddling? Awwww! :)

Oh and since I have no shame, I thought I'd throw in a couple pics of me being silly in front of the webcam at home recently...

I really have too much time on my hands sometimes! LOL :)

******BREAKING NEWS********

This just in...

I've met my original weight loss goal of 30 lbs as of this morning! I don't mean to toot my own horn here -- wait a minute, yes I do! :) I don't often think or say nice things about myself, but I am truly proud of myself for working so hard to get to this milestone. Thank you to everyone who has offered words of encouragement along the way!

I am now setting a second goal to lose an additional 20 pounds, which I hope to accomplish by Thanksgiving. It is getting harder to lose the weight as quickly now, but I am more determined than ever to check this next goal off the list in a couple months. Woohoo!

Making decisions?

This may sound silly, but I've been wondering how people make decisions in their lives. I know we all make decisions on a daily basis -- ranging from something as simple as what we'll have for dinner to how we react to life's toughest roadblocks. For myself, I have no problem making simple everyday decisions, but I do struggle with making important decisions, and I wonder how other people manage this. I think part of being a happy, successful adult is to realize what we're good at and what we're lacking. Consequently, I've taken a good hard look in the mirror and realized that decision-making is something I really need to work on. I'm sure some of you pray about tough choices, while others may ask a trusted friend or loved one for advice. While I am a Christian, I don't feel the prayer route works well for me at this stage of my life (I do pray for others, but I don't pray for myself.). And I do discuss issues with one or two close friends at times, but I don't want them -- or anyone else -- to make my decisions for me. I am very open to advice, but I don't want to live my life as someone else thinks I should. It's my life, and I want to make my own decisions, but I honestly don't feel equipped to do so. I virtually never feel happy or comfortable with the decisions I make, and more often than not, I feel that I make decisions based on what other people want from me, not what I really want. As I think about this, I feel ashamed that this is a problem for me. And I've undeniably developed a huge amount of anxiety to accompany the existing issue. When I was younger, I was always a happy, confident person, and I didn't really question my decisions. But over the last 5-10 years, it's become very obvious to me that I could use help in this category now. It's not that I make horrible decisions like committing crimes or treating people badly, as that's not me at all. But when it comes down to things such as taking a new job, leaving a job, things pertaining to my relationships, etc., I'm horrible at making decisions. It's like I don't trust myself, and I'm not sure why. My gut tells me that this problem goes hand-in-hand with the huge lack of confidence that's plagued me since becoming overweight. And now that I'm losing weight and starting to feel better about myself, I'm hoping I gain the strength and knowledge to fix my broken decision-making abilities. In the meantime, I'd like to hear your thoughts...What helps you make important decisions in your life? How do you know what the right decision is? Does anyone else struggle with this problem?

New job

Sorry I haven't posted much lately, but I haven't really done or seen anything worth writing about. I'll try and get better at that! One thing that could be considered noteworthy is that I start a new part-time job this afternoon. It's with a property management company, and I'll be working in the office Monday through Friday from 1-5pm. It's definitely not my ideal job, and the pay isn't very good either, but it's something, right? Hopefully, if nothing else, it'll help my sanity. In addition to the 4 hours in the office each afternoon, I'm told there will be opportunities for me to make money doing property inspections and such. We'll see how it goes...Wish me luck!

Have a great week, everyone!

Today I am thankful for...

...Country Time pink lemonade

...sweet kisses from Eric

...the tremendous love and support of my family and close friends

...beautiful summer days

...overall good health

...technologies (cell phones, the internet, etc) that allow me to stay in touch with loved ones

...having the will-power to continue getting in shape

What are you thankful for today???

Duh!

On Sunday, we went to Rigby Lake to swim and relax in the sun. We had a really good time and got some good exercise. But after we got home, it became apparent that sunscreen works much better if you actually apply it, rather than forgetting it's sitting beside you in your backpack...

I mostly got burnt on my shoulders and upper back, and it still hurts today after applying about 10 layers of aloe vera on it. But Eric got it a lot worse than I did...He wouldn't let me take a pic :) but his entire chest, belly, shoulders and back were fried. I think we're going to the lake again this weekend, so hopefully this will be a reminder to actually USE the sunscreen.

Random weirdness: prepositions

I have no idea why this popped into my head or why I felt compelled to put it on my blog, but here it is. This is a tribute to my middle school English teacher, Mrs. Clark (I think it was 7th grade, but I'm not sure)...She made us memorize a list of prepositions, and I just realized that I can still remember and recite them as she taught us:

is, are, was, were, has, have, had, do, did, done, does, can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must, be, been, being, am, become, became

Considering I don't have the best memory in the world, I'm pretty surprised that I can remember something like this from so long ago...It had to have been about 17 years ago!!! I don't know if this will be something that I'll actually use in real life, but if nothing else, it may help me on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader! :)

Nature Park

After spending the morning thoroughly cleaning my kitchen appliances, I showered and got dressed for the day. But Eric wanted to be lazy and I couldn't think of anything to do, so we sat around and watched TV for a couple hours. By late afternoon, Eric could tell I was bored and getting restless, so he suggested stopping by Jamba Juice for a drink (I opted for a blue raspberry Snoasis treat instead -- yum!) and then heading to the Nature Park. We grabbed some old bread from the pantry, so we could feed the ducks, and then we headed out. Here are a few pics of the excitement. :)

When we pulled up in my Jeep, the ducks tried to get as far away from us as they could...

But when they realized we had bread, they decided to come and say hi.

Eric telling the ducks "no more!", after we ran out of bread...

And here I am posing for a photo opp...

And last but not least, after we ran out of bread, this mother duck and her babies appeared.

It's official...

Well, it's official...Brad and Angelina have agreed to sell exclusive photos of their newest additions -- Knox and Vivienn -- to People Magazine here in the U.S., as well as London-based Hello! Magazine. They will reportedly receive $14 MILLION DOLLARS for said photos, which will debut in People on Monday (with an alleged sneak peak on their website Sunday night). I know some people find this controversial, believing that celebrities are exploiting or "pimping out" their kids. I personally am not the least bit bothered by this. In this case, "Brangelina" is donating all the money to charity, which is pretty darn respectable if you ask me. But honestly, I wouldn't care what they did with the money. The bottom line is that people are dying to see these pics, and it's inevitable that the paparazzi would be hunting these kids down if the Jolie-Pitts didn't release the pics like they're doing. I see nothing wrong with this.

My only question is this: How can I get Brad and Angelina to adopt me? I'm tired of being poor! :)