Workout

Recently my sister got me the Biggest Loser Workout video, let me just say, "it is an awesome workout!" I had sweat rolling off my nose. My youngest daughter even worked out with me, and commented that it was a great workout. She told one of my very slender neighbors, "You should do the Biggest Loser". Thankfully, my friend didn't take any offense to the comment.

In regards to exercise here is a great quote, "The difference between good and bad habits is that the reward for a bad habit is temporary and is often followed by negative consequences, and the reward for a good habit can be more long lasting and is often followed by positive results." Think about that one as you are debating between eating that extra brownie or working out.

Grocery Game

I am trying to save money on groceries. This summer I had great plans of coming up with a food plan based on common food ingredients, so there would be less waste. I had good intentions, but that is all the further I got. So with the price of food rising (like everything else), I'm trying to go about saving money in a different way.

The other weekend there was a very interesting article in the paper, about saving money on food. The main point that I got from the article was don't go shopping based on NEED, but what is on SALE! Specifically look at what is on sale and use a coupon if you have it. THEN, at home base your meals on the food that you have at home.

This was my first attempt at purchasing items on sale (that I use) and then checking to see if I have a coupon. I did save money! My big thing is that I don't want to purchase items that I won't use (a big waste of money). My other plan is to track the sale target price. This will help to determine if I am getting a good deal or not.

One last thing to look at is the store brand price (depending upon if you are brand loyal or not), even with a sale and coupon the store brand for bread was on sale for a cheaper price than all the discounts for the name brand bread.

Please let me know how you save money on food!

Six Years Ago

Six years ago today I was in the hospital giving birth to my first baby. After 26 hours of labor (some spent at the mall, some watching the movie, "Zoolander" and a majority of the time laboring in the hospital), our daughter Kelsey Joy was born. What makes this date extra special is that she shares my birthday! It just makes August 20 twice as much fun. My Dad thinks we need two birthday cakes.

As we get older, Kelsey is on the brink of losing both of her two front teeth, just in time for first grade to start. I'm noticing my age, as I was recently told that I'm developing arthritis in my knee. However, I don't want to focus on the down side of aging, but rather the joys in life! My prayer is that I might grow old gracefully.

All Things Domestic

I'm thinking about changing the name of my blog to, "All Things Domestic"! This summer I have had so much fun doing domestic things - baking, sewing, gardening, canning, meal planning, quilting and knitting that I could just write about all these things. Too bad that I can't figure out a way to make money doing all these things - who knows what God will open up in the future! So now, I am energized and ready to teach high school students how to cook and prepare for living on there own.

Here are a couple of pictures of what I have been up to. My "retro" quilt and some of my recent canning. By the way, if anyone made my salsa from an earlier post - be aware the recipe is on the "hot" side.

Updates

Tomorrow will be two months since I wrote my post on "Summer Break" and all the things that I would like to accomplish this summer. Well I feel like I have done a pretty good job crossing things off my list - here is what I completed:
1. Finished the sewing project for the client!!!!!
2. Organized my photos.
3. Figured out preschool situation for my youngest daughter.
4. Painted the picture frame and the cradle
5. Read a couple of books
6. Did some knitting and sewing.

I'm continually working on the exercising! The two areas where I still need some work are with my meal project and scrapbooking.

However, I added some things - one being quilting and two being canning! I will post some pictures of what I have been up to with these new additions to my list.