Newlywed Graduates!

June 10, 2010
Disclaimer:
This is long overdue....
but made possible with the faster internet now.
In California our internet was too slow to do any pictures on our blog,
so that is why there is a huge space between posts.
Enjoy!

This has been one crazy fun year of marriage.

We have lived in

Provo, UT

and

San Diego, CA

and loved each experience in its own separate way.

Now it is time for our First Anniversary
so we got work off to head over to

DISNEYLAND!

We were both so excited because the last time I went to Disneyland I was 8 and Nik's last time he was 18.

This was MUCH overdue....

and came at a perfect time for living 90 minutes away from the park at the time.

Here are some pictures I can FINALLY load up with the faster internet.

Welcome to Disneyland, ya Lovebirds!

In front of Splash Mountain.

We did this one twice.

Loved it.

Pictures below.

Don't know why this is sideways

I love him!

This was our delicious lunch

And our waiter snuck into the picture

It was so good!

We stuffed our faces and didn't have to eat for the rest of the day.

Before

After.

OMGoodness! It was sooooooOOOOooooO Good!

On the Matterhorn.

First time on this ride because when I went at 8yrs old,

some guy fell off of the ride just prior to our visit,

so it was down for construction.

Eek.

I WAS a little nervous to ride it.

1st ride.

Made him go first because I didn't want to fall out.

My MOST FAVORITE ride EVERRRRRR!

Nik and I waited a little longer than 2 hours to get the front seats.

It was AWESOME!

(don't mind my goofy face)

Our last ride of the day.....

I WAS SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!

But then I wanted to go on it again right away.

It was amazing.

Well, that sums up our trip. It was so fun.

I love this man and the fun times we have together.

Sane Again

Tuesday May 10th...I became sane once more.

I was able to go grocery shopping with a full budget and my buddy.

I had my coupons cut, my recipes laid out for the next two weeks, and some money!

First stop - Smart & Final. Here I got Nik his favorite cereal, HONEY BUNCHES OF OATS. $1.88 is something I couldn't pass up. Not exactly the cheapest I have paid but it definitely was a good deal here in SD.

Next stop - CVS. I was able to stock up on canned veggies and some RAISIN BRAN, Nik's next favorite. The boxes of cereal were smaller but only $1.38 and heck, still under 2bucks, I will take it!

Last stop - Von's. This is where I stocked up on the majority of my food list to last us 2 weeks.  
[heck, this is WEIRD having to wait 2 weeks for a paycheck. for the last 3 years I have received a check every week. HORRIBLE!]
I got Nik his last favorite cereal that happened to be on sale, HONEYNUT CHEERIOS. $1.48 wasn't bad at all!

But let me tell you the best deal of the day!!! 

Betty Crocker cake mixes, frosting tubs, and original brownie mixes were all BUY 2 GET 3 MORE FREE! 
Wait, what? Pay for 2 and get 5??? Kidding me? I had to ask the gal next to me in the aisle if I was reading that right. And THEN I had 75cent coupons. 6 of them!  
It pays to buy newspapers in bulk. 
So...I bought 2 or 3 rounds of 5 items each the first time but they were out of German Chocolate Cake frosting so I had to come back that night to get the new product. After work at 10 I went back with Nik and got 3 pairs of German Chocolate Cake frosting and cake mix and 2 pairs of the FunFetti kind. 
I was sooo happy. We are going to make cupcakes up the wazoo!
(I even got Nik his favorite cake mix - Carrot cake, but shhhh. I am excited to surprise him with that!) 

Well, thank you for checking this out!
All in all...I purchased $296.09 WORTH of food but only paid $138.55.
I saved $157.54 being a 53.21% savings! I WAS STOKED!
Nik was very happy too! We finally have food in our pantry and fridge after 3 weeks of it being empty.
Such a nice feeling. I have had better savings percentages but after 2 months of not being able to shop like this, it feels GREAT!

Me? Tan??

Okay....So....last night we went to Target to get me some new flip flops.

I heart Target flip flops.

The top is rounded perfectly with my toes...a slight square toe with a slight curve. PERFECT!

So...like I was saying...we went to get my flip flops for the summer. 2/$5.

Nik was down the aisle checking out the Clearance shoes.

He found his favorite shoes in a new color...for $5.

SCORE!

SO HE BOUGHT 2!

I laughed and rolled my eyes...but heck, if my favorite shoes were only five bucks...I WOULD BUY MULTIPLE TOO!

He was so funny to see him so excited to get new shoes and to get 2 of them. Silly goof!

It was funny.

But let me tell you about my awesome shoes.

The white flip flops.

Today I wore my knee shorts and the white flip flops...and the brand new white shoes make me look TAN!

I love it!

The end.

(Great blog, eh?)

Story of the Day!

Mark this day on your calendar - April 20, 2010.

And no I am not talking about Weed Day...

I am talking about the day I realized admitted I was an addict.

A Coupon Addict.

Let me share the story with you:
Nik and I have been living out of a suitcase for the last 10days.
All our other stuff has been in packing boxes.
I haven't shopped for groceries or looked at any ads for about 3 weeks.
I haven't clipped coupons for 2 weeks.
I haven't even opened my coupon binder for 2 weeks.
YESTERDAY this all fell apart.
Nik and I FINALLY moved in to our apartment here in San Diego
(and yes it is the actual city of San Diego on our mailing and location address. Everyone asks. True story. No we are not rich [hence the story] it just comes with the job)

Anywho...I had to go shopping for a few necessitites - Milk, bread, eggs, meats, etc.
I went to Vons (which is the same exact thing as Safeway and Smith's). I love it!
My coupon binder was still in a box SOMEWHERE in the apartment at the time of my shopping adventure.
I walked into Vons and felt so naked and so alone.
Naked because my coupon binder wasn't sitting in the shopping cart with me
and
Alone because Nik wasn't with me.
Now, I can handle and NEED to handle Nik not being there because he works EXTREMELY long hours...sometimes until 8 at night.
However, I cannot and WILL not handle my binder not being there. My binder keeps me sane. I realized without her I am lost. I felt so uptight and not "together" about the whole shopping experience. 
IT WAS HORRIBLE!
I walked up and down the aisles with no clue of what was on sale, what I had coupons for, what coupons expired that I need to throw away, NOTHING!
AGH!
I felt like I was committing a murder...a murder of our money...to THROW soooo much of it away!
  ok, so that MIGHT sound a little dramatic...but no joke, I felt horrible! NEVER will I shop without my buddy. She saves me lots of money!

SO...I ended up making it out of there ALIVE, thank goodness, and headed home with $47 spent. WTH!?!?! And I only had 4 bags to show for it. 
Yes, Cali and SD are more expensive to live in but that is just unacceptable. That is what I spend in 2 weeks of groceries. YUCK! The prices weren't too bad, it was the fact that I bought them when they were not on sale and without a coupon. Two very big NoNo's.
I tried to relay this story to Nik but he was so so SO tired, I don't think he understood the sadness I was feeling.
Sad Day, 
This CANNOT and WILL NOT happen again.

Thank you.
Thank you.
You are awesome listeners/readers.
I am sure if you read hard enough, you could hear me and the pain in my voice.
I know my Mamma can! 

The End.