The things you can get at Costco!

So it has been a year since I started tracking our spending at mint.com. I ran some quick queries to see where all of the money went. When I looked up the money that went to Costco ... it was EYE OPENING!!

I LOVE Costco. Where else can you walk out of the store with a king-sized mattress and a fountain diet coke? Where else can you buy a 3 year supply of ketchup and a wireless router? Needless to say, Costco has been my one-stop-shop. I would find any excuse to go to Costco ... um we are out of bread and I only like the Aspen-Mills brand .. got to go to Costco. I need cheese, I need paper towels ... the problem is that I ALWAYS leave with things that I don't need. Matching outfits for Lily & Amelia, large amounts of guacamole, quasi-healthy chips.

Well, I'm on a Costco diet right now. We are trying a milk delivery service. It's more expensive than the store, but I'm thinking I will end up saving money because it will keep me away from the store. So far I love it! I am also going to start getting the bountiful basket (www.bountifulbasket.org) every other week for produce.

It will be a good to send Pete for a few items and keep me away from that jungle gym set up high that is just taunting me!

Mommy Monster

Phillip came home with a 'Family Tree' journal from Joy School. I could not quit laughing! I asked, "Phillip is this a picture of me?" He said, "yeah" "Why am I so angry?" Phillip said, "oh yeah, that's a picture of a monster."

Whether he drew this as a picture of me or not, It's nice having a very honest insight from a 5-year-old.

First Yard Sale of the Season!

Pete and I had a great day in the Sun at Canyons! We came upon a run that was called 'Yard Sale'!' Notice Pete is pointing to 'experts only' sign. Yes, it was a double black run, but it could have another meaning as well ... 'expert Yard Salers' only!

Do's and Don't's if yard saling.


1. Don't leave items unattended ... Even if you have paid for them! If you have to get a bigger car, leave someone with the stuff. If you have a pile of stuff .. keep someone buy it. Other 'expert' garage salers have bought and taken from our pile of 'treasures' many times! ;-)
2. Do get out there early. Early bird gets the best deal!
3. Don't forget to check in! Always have your cell phone with you in case a friend or neighbor calls you about the item that you might want.
4. Do make a wish list! And this is where I get philosophical ... Make a list of things you would like to find or get ... If you want, tell your fellow yard saler friends. Like Oprah says, put it out in the Universe and you will find it ... ;-)

5. Don't overspend or waste TOO much time! Keep a budget of time and money. Cash in hand is what you have to spend. Don't shop past 9:00 AM. Breaking either rule should have a REALLY good reason ;-)

6. Don't buy junk! If you won't use it or don't need it, it's not a good deal. However, someone's trash is another persons treasure. I say this to myself because I treasure SO MANY things! I think Pete and I are collectors of odd items and we have to stay clear of 'hoarding' ;-) My favorite thing to do to stop myself from hoarding is to surprise friends and family with some treasures: 5 foot tall stuffed Bugs Bunny and Yosemiti Sam, Playbill from Sigfried and Roy, Porcelain cat dressed in Victorian Clothes ... Treasures for sure!

Well, we are inching to yard sale season! May this be a good year of thrifting to you all!

Happy Birthday Lily!

A little Belated, but I wanted to write a post about Lily's Birthday. Lily turned 3! I can't believe it! I bought Hello Kitty cupcakes for Amelia's 1-year-old birthday, and since October Lily wanted a Hello Kitty party for herself. I swear .. no persuasion by me .. well a little .. I LOVE Hello Kitty!

After the party Lily was playing with her dolly's and it was one of the dolls birthday and she said, "You need to get a big Heyo Kitty balloon." .. ok done. "then you have to get Hello Kitty cupcakes" .. ok. "then all the frwends sing happy birthday." It's great to see that she loved the party!

Lily has been our little princess since she was a baby. She always LOVES pretty sparkly things. She definitely has a sense of fashion that I will have to tread lightly as she gets older. I bought her some fleece outfits to wear this winter, but they haven't seen much action because she says, "NOT cozy clothes .. I want TIGHTS and a skirt!" They had pajama day at pre-school and the only way I got her to wear her pajamas was to do her hair, put on tights with a 'dress jammy.'

Lily loves to help me get ready and cook. It doesn't always turn out very good .. she rubbed my nice mascara all over her lips 5 minutes before church. She dumped a bunch a salt in a batch of pancakes. In the end, there's no harm done. My favorite is when she tries to pick out outfits for me. She hates my running shoes, "Not THOSE shoes mommy" then she'll get some ridiculous shoes that I still have that have a 5 inch heal "WEAR THESE!"

She has grown up so much! The night of her birthday she marched downstairs to her big-girl room and said she was going to sleep in her big-girl bed. She didn't stay there long, but I was amazed that in her head she thought, "I'm 3 now, I should sleep in my own room downstairs!"

Backyard Dacathlon!

Another funny exercise video. This video makes me miss the Summer! Enjoy!

It's easier to watch in YouTube since it was shot in wide screen. Link

Counting

So Phillip has figured out how to count past 100. He LOVES to count. I think the highest number he has counted to is 746! He will sometimes count in bed when he isn't very tired. He was excited when he learned to count by 5 and 10.

Today he wanted to count his piggy bank. This has been our house coin collection for about 4 years. We counted it together. $156.40 in quarters, nickels & dimes. $30 in paper money from Phillip's egg business. Pretty good for just extra change around the house.

Phillip kept trying to do eeny-meeny-miney-mo to decide which coins to give to Heavenly Father and Jesus.

Phillip's latest obsession is calendars and counting down dates. I guess it started with the advent calendar in December. He got a scripture reading chart and has been good about getting out the scriptures every night. Last night he wanted to have his scriptures for reading time in his bed. Lily wanted one of her board books. Phillip said, "Lily the scriptures are the most important book! It's more important than 'Lily's Chocolate Heart' book!"

It's great to have such a good little guy! ;-)

Hawaii :-)

Trip to Hawaii!

We left and had a GREAT flight. I haven't flown without the kids since I was pregnant with Phillip. It was amazing to watch 2 1/2 movies on the Plane .. (BTW 'I Hate Vampires' was AMAZING!) ha! We got to the hotel and swam in the pool. We then walked around to find a place to eat. My eye caught a HUGE Hello Kitty stuffed animal in front of a restaurant. It was a Japanese Sushi & Seafood Buffett! What couldn't be better?! Hello Kitty AND all-you-can-eat sushi!! They had about a hundred Hello Kitty bobble-heads glued all over the restaurant. It was amazing! Too bad it gave Pete a stomach ache!

Garage Sale - We drove up to the North Shore. We saw a garage sale sign and just HAD to stop. Too bad we had just our carry-on bags. I could have bought some really good junk! We stopped at two different beaches along the North Shore. It took me a while to get the courage to get in the water. I got out of the water when the Life Guard said, "you cannot swim on your own! If you don't have fins, you can't swim in the water!" ha!

Infinity Edge pool - I looked through so many hotels, hotel reviews, but when I saw the infinity edge pool on expedia, I thought to myself, "I want to go to there!" It was GREAT! The bean bags were my favorite .. you could just read in the pool and not get the book drenched in water!

Polynesian Cultural Center

I posed next to the statue and stuck out my stomach. A lady said, "oh! I thought that was for real" Ummm ... I think she thought I was pregnant then was surprised when it was just a mushy stomach! ;-) I took a Polynesian Dance class at BYU. It was fun trying to imitate the different dances.

Hiking Diamond Head

We got up early and hiked up Diamond Head. Pete saw some whales at the top of the mountain. Pete and another couple kept talking about a crater. I said, "what crater?" ... "Ummm... the one you are standing on. I am wearing the T-shirt that Pete got when he went to Hawaii in 1984!

In all, it was a GREAT trip! We came home and the kids were having so much fun at Becca's house. They didn't want to leave! They had fun with the Grandma and Grandpa and saw Pari's family. Hung out with Penny's family. I don't know if they knew we were gone! It's great to have people to look out and make it a fun vacation for the kids as well!

Visit to the Dentist

Last week we took a family field trip to the dental office. Phillip and Lily made for great assistants. Amelia looks great in Pete's lubes. I was an o.k. Patient. I have to go back for a filling.

The hygienist told Phillip right before lunch that he had to wait 30 minutes to eat. He told everyone in the office .. "I can't eat for 30 minutes!". We went to cafe rio and he kept telling people, "I can't eat for 30 minutes!". Luckily it had been 30 minutes by the time we sat down for lunch. :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, we had a fun Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year this weekend!

Highlights:

• Trips to see the lights at Temple Square
• Going to the Bountiful Temple to see the artwork and read the gospel story. Phillip said that there is room for Joseph, Mary and Jesus in his room.
• Seeing family Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas
• Doing a kick line in matching plaid pajamas with Pete's Sisters
• The kids faces Christmas Morning
• Phillip amazed by the Lollypop that Santa brought him!
• Smashing Gingerbread houses on the porch
• Getting Christmas cards and taping them next to the fireplace
• Gingerbread cookies and Sugar Cookies
• Eating a LOT of good food!

Christmas Morning:

Phillip and Pete and the robot "RedMan"

Smashing Gingerbread Houses:

The beginning of the end of Christmas ... Now there is a nice family of deer on our porch. Please don't turn me into the "Hoarders" show. I promise we have room to store this AMAZING collection of Christmas junk.

Meltdown in December

Neither me, nor the kids had a meltdown, (did I get ya?) but all of the snow is almost off the ground. Can you believe it!! There is no snow in December!! I was tempted to string some more lights ... (when is my Christmas Intervention scheduled?! ha!) Instead we went to the park with the kids.

Here's a quick update on the kids:

Amelia is walking now. She waddles around pretty good. She can go down the stairs which I think has opened up a whole new world for her. We kept all of the toys in the toy room and she never went down there unless I went with her. Now she is free to crawl down the stairs and dump out the madame alexander dollies whenever she wants! It's funny how she is turning into a little kid so quickly. EVERYTHING has to be fair. We now have to get 3 courtesy cones at Artic Circle.

Lily is potty trained!! YAY!! I was putting it off. Around when she turned 2 she started showing signs that she was ready .. but I wasn't ready. The Summer came and went so quickly. I even marked a week on my calendar (which kept getting pushed back). Anywho, I figured I wouldn't worry anymore and try again when she was 3. But one morning she managed to take off her jammies put her diaper in the garbage and was laying on the floor trying to put on a new diaper. That's when I thought to myself .. she's ready ... whether or not I am. She did pretty good the first week. Only a few accidents. Now she does really well. If we are out, she LOVES to announce that she has to go potty. It sometimes turns into a game, but I keep taking her to the bathroom as many times as she wants. Yay Lily! You are a BIG GIRL!!

Phillip is really excited for Christmas. My mom gave us an advent calendar and he moves the marker for the date first thing in the morning. He recently discovered the game cube downstairs and can play on it by himself. He said, "I am a video game guy." ha! I think at pre-school they had taught the kids about brains and other organs. I told Phillip he could play a video game if he played the toy room. He came back up stairs really frustrated, "MOM, I can't clean because when I go in the toy room, my brain tells me to play with toys and not clean!!"

I hope everyone is enjoying this fun season!

Cutting Cable!!

Oh cable, you have been my friend for a LONG time. I remember going to friends' houses in elementary school and my eyes being glued to "Nickelodeon" & "The Disney Channel". The mom's would ask "Does your mom normally let you watch THIS much TV?!" We got cable in High School, I had cable through college, and living in Philadelphia. My studio apartment didn't have much furniture, but it had a HUGE arm chair that sat right in front of the TV. Ahhhh bliss! ;-)

So WHY cut the cable?! It all started when we switched to the Comcast bundle this past spring. I didn't like the TV program guide ... they make it so hard to find shows and half of the time you aren't subscribed to the show. They have On Demand, but a lot of the shows that you see on the guide you also have to pay additional charge. I felt like they were trying to gouge us for every additional charge .. etc. and I was a paying customer! We started looking into other options and realized we don't watch much shows that aren't on the broadcast channels.

This is what we did:

Phone:

Google Voice Phone Number - (Not a phone line) - This is a phone number that I give people. It has very good customized voicemail. (speech to text that is sent to your e-mail, personalized greetings depending on the caller). You can have it forward to all your phones at once. When people call it, my cell phone, home phone, and computer starts ringing. Good thing for me because I can never seem to find a phone before it goes to voicemail. You can text people on their phone. You can easily block numbers .. etc. It's free right now. There are apps that you can get on a smart phone and can call people for free (similar to skype).

Magic Jack - Home line - It's not ideal. It has to be plugged into your computer. $40 for the majic Jack and $70.00 for 5 years of service. I had to change my phone number because they don't port numbers. Other options: ooma - I didn't go with ooma because of the $250 up front fee. Ooma works like vonage, (plugged into your cable modem, then into your phone base) and has only $12.00/year fee. They can port your number for $40 fee.

TV:

We bought an antenna. ($60) Pete put it in the attic and attached it to the cable that runs to our TV.

Hulu.com (free) - you can watch a lot of shows online. I may look at paying for hulu+ which comes in HD and you don't have to watch commercials. We'll see though. I hook up my laptop to the TV if we want to watch a show.

Netflix ($9.99)- I LOVE netflix. We have one blueray player that can stream netflix and there are a TON of tv shows and movies that you can stream. I also like getting the DVD in the mail. It feels like a present.

(reading between the lines, I will NOT be watching LESS TV, I just will be watching it differently: Live TV, online, or streaming to the TV)

Internet:

Still with Comcast. Sadly, our town only has 2 options for high-speed Internet and Comcast has the faster speeds. The other companies that I would look at if they are in your area is: Utopia - Fiber options in your area; Clear - Internet & Phone wholesaler.

So now we only have our Internet bill & Netflix (I pre-paid for majic jack). Even though we did buy some new equipment, we will be saving $90 a month.

If I, a licensed TV bum, can cut cable, anyone can!!

I Believe

Preface:

Our Relief Society group at church decided this year to think about what we believe and possibly share a 'belief' statement once a month throughout the year at church. I shared mine already at church and they will be printing a book for everyone in the ward. I was debating whether or not to share this, as it is close to my heart. A friend from High School who was battling cancer passed away yesterday. I realize that I can hopefully offer some words of comfort to those who are struggling with this loss.

I Believe

I believe that the trials and blessings in our life are all part of a greater plan or purpose.

When speaking of trials, I recently was struggling with the fact that there were so many people around me that had to go through such hard trials. My younger sister was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 16 and lost the battle when she passed away when she was 18. Other members of my family have struggled with cancer. And here I am, someone who has lived an almost perfectly healthy life. Why am I the one that is sparred this trial? I was struggling with feelings of guilt and doubt when the answer came to me, "Heavenly Father had a plan for each of us. We each have a part to play."

In the Book of Mormon, (Mosiah 18:9) the Prophet Alma spoke the people waiting to be baptized at the waters of Mormon. He said "are ye willing to bear each other's burdens? ..Are ye willing to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort?" I may not be in the hospital bed, but I know I can do my part to lighten the load to those that are suffering. I know that Heavenly Father places people in our lives that we are able to help or who can help us.

I know that my Heavenly Father has had a hand in blessing my life.

I bumbled my way through college. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I ended up going into computers. I was still single in the classes with 50 guys and 3 or 4 girls. My dad would ask,"why not date some of your classmates? There are so many of them?!" I told my dad," The odds may be good, but the goods are odd!" Pete and were at BYU at the same time, but I guess we had some growing up to do before we could meet .. I am still waiting to see when I will finally grow up! So here I was single and ready to graduate. What was I going to do? Go on a mission? Go to Law School? Get my masters? I eneded up interviewing for jobs in the fall and got a job offer in Philadelphia. I didn't know anyone there. It seemed completely random to move out there by myself but it somehow fell into place and felt right. About 6 months after I moved into the singles ward Pete and I started dating. The rest is History! That has to be one of the greatest blessings of my life.

We think that we are in control of our lives ... Trying to make the best decisions, exploring opportunities. Sometimes we follow the guidance of the Spirit and it just doesn't make sense. But looking back, I can see Heavenly Father's influence in my life. Because of this influence, I am more blessed than I would have ever hoped.

As I begin to contemplate how other people have played a role in my life ... How I have affected other peoples lives .. I believe more than ever that I have a loving Heavenly Father who guides and directs my life.

Festival of Trees

WARNING ... there are a lot of pictures of christmas trees and decorations ... don't be stressed out for me! ... I'm a little crazy and a little obsessed with Christmas junk! ;-)

So, we started decorating a little early ... almost 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. I'm glad I did it early because now I get to enjoy the decorations and I don't have to worry about decorating the day after Thanksgiving.

So let me take you on a tour of my "FESTIVAL OF TREES!"

Living Room - Harvest Theme ;-) This Tree reminds me of the tree from the Christmas Carol, when Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present. I tried out some new decorating techniques that I saw at Thai Pan and Modern Display. I used green mesh fabric and some brown chiffon to fill the tree, along with ribbon. Joly ole' tree and I get to use my autumn decorations a little longer ;-)

Now, in the kitchen. We do have 'some' reference to Thanksgiving. (The little Thanksgiving tree that Pete's Aunt made us still has a spot by the sink. I love it!)

"The Turkey Tree"

The rest of the kitchen is a candy theme. I was crazy to try and do South Beach and live in a 'candy' kitchen. Here are wreath projects that we did last year. We got some styrofoam forms and glue-gunned candy to them. We were worried that all of the time was going to be a waste if it didn't 'keep' for another year. But, wrapped in a garbage bag, inside a wreath box, and they were good as new!

Almost 8 years ago me and some of my sisters submitted a small tree for Festival of Trees in honor of my little sister Julie. This fun little tree is now known as the "Julie Tree." This tree went from my sister's in-laws, to my sister, to my brother, to my mom's basement. It was looking a little sad and needed a little face lift. I was glad to help out this little tree!

"The Julie Tree"

Peppermint Garland

The kids rooms:

Phillip's M&M Tree

Lily & Amelia's Princess Tree

Now lets walk down to the basement where the craziness just gets crazier ...

Old fashioned Christmas Tree with Train Village. Pete has an almost complete collection of "The Christmas Story" village. He has his grandpa's train in working order that runs around the town ... complete with animated gondola and Santa. My favorite part of this tree are the animated soldier ornaments that play christmas songs with bells.

It's going to be a 'Coke Christmas' - I don't think I have posted a picture of our downstairs diner kitchen yet .. here it is! I even have have a cookie jar collection (I need to get a weekly dose of 'hoarders' on A&E!). We got some cute coke ornaments from ... you guessed it .. a garage sale. I thought it would be funny to have a diet coke garland. Guess how many days it took to collect the 8 'diet coke' ornaments.

And last but definitely not least, we have a 'Star Wars' tree in the movie room. I can just imagine the kids looking at this tree and asking, "Mom, what is the true meaning of Christmas?"

So there you have it, 8 trees, 2 garland (inside & outside), 4 wreaths, countless animated singing Christmas toys .. isn't it wonderful!!