Brr, it's cold in here!

   I have seen snow in my life, but not this much this fast!  

It came down Sunday night and has yet to leave.  Did I mention that snow shuts down our city?!  As in, snow fell three days ago and schools are still out and businesses are still closed.  I know, people who live in the North are laughing at us!  To say we have cabin fever would be an understatement, so we've had to get out some, even if it means walking. In the cold. BRR.  

Monday we made time for sledding and car cleaning (snow on the car was a good 5 inches thick)....

 (we did not make this, but he was oh-so cute!)

 

little man sat at the door and watched us clean off the cars...he wanted to play!!

  

and then yesterday - our date night - we walked up to QuikTrip to get coffee and a hot dog.  Along the way we stopped for some photos, and a flip video or two :)
(please, please forgive me for looking like a fool and not put together)

When-oh-when will this icy stuff melt?  I need to get out of the house & walk around Target or something!!

Stay warm & make it a great day!

life...as per my BlackBerry

 I have been the worst picture taker these days!  I seemed to have missed our Thanksgiving trip, Christmas with both families (two or three pictures do not count as capturing a holiday), and NYE.  I guess for now I will have to live with the BlackBerry pictures to show what I am up to...

 new running shoes and 4 miles clocked yesterday...finally!

 my newest niece, Tinsley Mae, is growing so fast!  

 much needed manicure in SanFran with my sweet friend Molly...love my 'Jessica Rabbit' red nails ;)

I (illegally) turned on my BlackBerry to catch this shot of the beautiful sunrise as my flight took off from SFO.

Have a great weekend!

new blog idea

While on my flight out to San Fran I was brainstorming some new blog ideas to add some variety to my life blog and here is what came to mind.....

I was challenged by a friend after walking down the aisle to never stop dating my husband.  I am embarrassed to admit, but we had been home from the honeymoon for over a month and had yet to go on a date.  Not one.  This had to change, but we were are on a tight budget and I had no clue how we could make a fun, non fast—food, weekly date possible.  Like many of you, I am quite cheap frugal, but I like to get nice things and go fun places; I just try to do it all on pennies (when possibleJ).   BL & I picked Tuesday nights as date night because a lot of restaurants have their best deals on Tuesday around our house (all you can eat tacos at Don Pablos, two-for-Tuesdays at Wild Wings, beer specials at our favorite Mexican hole-in-the-wall, $1 sushi at Fuki Hana….the list goes on).

So my new idea is to share my cheap ideas with you (not limited to just date ideas) and for you to share your money-saving tips with me, and other readers too!  My thought is that Thursday’s blogs will be “Thrifty Thursday”.

So what is today about, you ask?  I will start with sharing one of my favorite sites – scoutmob[dot]com.  This website is FREE and gives you half off at various restaurants in your area.  Currently they are in three major cities across the country—Atlanta, New York, San Francisco—and they are expanding quickly to more cities—LA, Nashville, Seattle, to name a few.  When you sign up they will send you a daily email with their ‘deal’.  If you like the deal you head to the site and simply enter your cell number and wait for the text to receive a coupon code.  Redeeming the ‘coupon’ is super easy—just tell the server you have the code on text and show them your phone—it is really that easy.  There is a maximum discount amount with each deal, but it is usually high enough to still take half off of a date-night bill.  

Is this awesome or what?!

Go check out their site out and see if there are deals in your city.  

I am not getting any kickback from Scout Mob, I am just an honestly happy customer and want to spread the word! 

One final thought—if you are married and not dating like we were, make dating your spouse a priority.  I am not very experienced but I do know it’s been helpful for us, and I hear it’s helpful in the long run as well!  You may not be able to swing weekly dates, but do what you can, and it will greatly pay off.  

Happy [cheap] Thursday folks—make it a great one! 

my location until Friday...

i'm in our 'home office' until Friday...any guesses?

i love this city! 

New Year, New You...or me?

Happy New Year to my friends and family in the blog world :)

I found this article while browsing the web and thought it was interesting...how many of these have you made?  More importantly, how many have you made AND followed through with? 

The below list are the top ten resolutions listed in the survey of over 300,000 folks at 10millionresolutions.com, with my notes

1. Lose Weight and Get in Better Physical Shape

yes, this would be nice ... hopefully signing up for another half marathon will encourage this. i want to be my best ME in 2011, spiritually, physically, mentally.

 

2. Stick to a Budget

we need to get ours together first. UGH.

 

3. Debt Reduction

I think I have made myself very clear, BL & I want to be debt free!!! 

 

4. Enjoy More Quality Time with Family & Friends

I am bias, but I do have the best family and friends - why wouldn't I want to spend more time with them?  I would also like to make new blog friends this year.  People who don't blog may think this is silly, those of us that do just understand. 

 

5. Find My Soul Mate

Done. Now my goal is to be the best wife I can be - the wife I am called to be.

6. Quit Smoking

Not an issue for me, but if it is for you, I wish you much strength and perseverance in this!!

 

7. Find a Better Job

Luckily, I do love my job :)

 

8. Learn Something New

Learn new sewing techniques,  learn to knit, learn more scripture, the list goes on....

 

9. Volunteer and Help Others

This is definitely on my list for 2011 - give more time to others and stop thinking my problems are so big!

 

10. Get Organized

Our house is nuts right now (ahem, two grown adults sharing the space of one = cramped); we need the organization!! 

Make it a great year!!