cutting our grocery bill in half

I have been dying to blog about this all month long but I wanted to wait and make sure we actually followed through with our plan! Now that August is officially over I can tell you that we made it through an entire month with only one major grocery shopping trip and with a pre-planned month of meals. I had a lot of doubt in myself when we decided to do this because I am a spur of the moment kind of person, I like to just say I want this and go get it but somehow it was not hardly as hard as I thought it would be. There were two time I did have to make a quick trip, once because we ran out of coffee, orange juice and I needed things to make a banana pudding and the second was because Hurricane Isaac came along and by that point we were out of pretty much out of anything needed to survive a hurricane.

Okay so my inspiration you ask??? One day on one of my Pinterest binges I came across a blog that said "How to cut your grocery bill in half"and being the penny pincher that I am I could not resist. When I clicked on it I was introduced to Danielle from Blissful and Domestic.  And let me just say it now this woman is super woman!!! She juggles family, blogging, and everything in between so well. I love her and she has great advice. 

From there I made my meal plan. I had already ordered this super cute notebook (another Pinterest find) to make your menu's on so it was perfect timing to put it to good use. I kind of struggled thinking of what I would cook the whole month, I just kept thinking will I really want to eat that in three weeks?!? Since James is out of town Monday-Friday I knew I only needed two-three meals per week (I have this weird thing that I can't cook alone it makes me feel so sad to cook and eat alone so I eat left overs or frozen chicken patties all week long). After getting the list made we spent about two and a half hours shopping at Walmart and then went get fresh produce at a local market. We finished that day spending $150. We just looked at each other in complete surprise. We spent the rest of the month reminding each other that there was NO Walmart visits and if we did not have it we would go without! So from around $400-500 a month to $200 a month on groceries!!!! I am so impressed and so happy we actually did it. There were a few snags in the road and we are still learning how to master this skill but we are doing great and best of all saving money!!!!! Now we are off to make our September shopping trip!!!! I really hope we can keep this up we are saving so much money and I just LOVE it!!!!!!! Happy Saturday!!!!

weekend adventures: Houston

 Since we just bought a house we decided that vacation was a no-go this year and that we wanted to spend our extra money on things for the house... so we decided it would be fun to take a trip to Houston for an over night getaway/buy things for the house/buy things for Malary weekend(the mister refused to buy anything for himself)!!! I am in love with Living Social and saw a deal for an over-night stay in Houston at a really nice hotel that included a $40 credit and valet parking for half off and knew we couldn't pass it up!!! So Saturday morning we woke up super early and started on the four hour journey to the Lonestar State. The drive itself wasn't bad at all, we had so much fun just talking about random things and singing songs to each other(insert a big LOSER sign here). When we got there we decided to go ahead and eat our sandwiches(I packed an ice chest of food, drinks, snacks, and left over chips and salsa from Chili's to save money) and then go take on IKEA and all it had to offer. Let me just say that place was totally mind blowing. I am not sure what I expected but surely not what I saw. It was so cool the way everything was set up so you can see and choose what you like. We spent about four and a half hours walking around shopping and getting ideas for our house. We ended up getting quite a few things for the house beings as the prices are so reasonable. 

After we left IKEA we decided to head to the hotel and check in and just relax for a little while before getting dressed for dinner. Well after a nice long relaxing nap we decided getting dressed up for dinner was not happening and used our $40 credit towards our dinner and just ordered room service from the restaurant downstairs. The food was really tasty and we didn't have to get dressed up or go anywhere. We had also bought a bottle of wine with us and cracked that thing open and had a glass with our dinner. After we ate we thought it would be fun to walk to the mall (one block away) and shop around for a little bit. James had never been to the Galleria and was so mind blown with the fact that there was a ice-skating rink inside the mall!! We had fun and ended up grabbing a couple pieces of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory on our way out to eat when we got back to our room. 

The next morning we slept in (9:30am sooo late I know ;) ) and then got up and headed to the Katy Mills outlet mall. I had to do a little begging for this stop but the hubby gave in pretty quickly. Once we got there I saw they had a Rainforest Cafe and knew James would LOVE it (He had never been) so we split a lunch there and spent the morning shopping and just enjoying each others company. 

This little mini-trip was so nice and relaxing for us. Having a long distance marriage is so hard on a couple and we just missed each other so much. I am so grateful for the time we do get to spend together and I am so glad that this separation has just strengthened our marriage but I am really looking forward to the day he is home for good. It is so funny how much people take for granted having their spouse home every night.

little love notes

Just thought everyone should know how awesome my husband is and how truly blessed I am. 

Thursday night I had to work and was feeling really yucky but next weekend we are taking a trip to Houston so I really needed to work and make some extra spending money. So as I was working my hubby was driving home from Shreveport. Well once I got off of work I got home to this! How sweet is that?!?!?!?! We had been using a tarp to work on a little project and he saw it and thought a little love note would make my night better!!!! He is so freaking awesome!!!!! It totally worked and I was instantly in a better mood. It is things like this that just prove to me that I married the best man in the entire world. He is always putting others first and never thinks about himself and I love him so much for that.

P.S. As I write this blog he is making brownies!!!!! Did I mention best hubby EVER???? ;)

moving announcements

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned it but I have the BEST best friend ever!!! She is so amazing, crafty, thoughtful, did I say amazing already?!?! So when James and I first started our house buying adventure I saw a few really cute moving announcement ideas on Pinterest but I thought well thats too pricy and Ashlyn could totally do a better job. So long story short I told her and of course being the best person ever she designed one for us!!! I am so in love with them!!!! How freaking cute?!?!?!!?

Last week I got them printed and Ashlyn came over with her super cool Calligraphy pens and we addressed them and I got them sent out yesterday!! I am so grateful to have such an amazing friend that is so helpful and crafty that does these kinds of things for me just because she loves me!!! Like I said before she is THE BEST BFF EVER!!!! 

{Ashlyn is a college student that just does this on the side for fun but she would love your business!!! She doesn't have a website yet but if you are interested send her an email at designsbyashlyn@gmail.com}

  

1...2....3... BREAK

Okay so school is officially over for me today at 5 pm for 17 days!!! I know its a really short summer break but the good news is that next summer I will be a college graduate and hopefully decorating my new classroom!!! (fingers crossed) So since I have a whooping 17 days off I have a made a small list of things I need to get done!!

1.Curtains
I still can't find some that I just love or want in my house! There are some at World Market that are high contenders but I am not 100% sold on them yet!!

2.Read a book (or three)
I just love reading so freaking much and I never seem to have time during school to read so this break will definitely have some reading time.

3. Finish a few Pinterest projects
I seem to always start these awesome projects and never finish (as we speak there are three unfinished projects in my garage).

4. Organize our bills
 Now that we are homeowners and have many more bills than we used to and I want to get some sort of organization in that department!!! They seem to just pile up on our desk and one of my worst fears is forgetting to pay a bill and coming home to no water or electricity!!!

5. BLOG!!!!
I am really starting to love this thing and want to do it more often so I plan to start blogging way more than once or twice a month. I also want to learn more about it and how to better my blog. I am not a journalism major and not the best at wording and all that junk but hey I am trying!!! ;)

Also throughout all of this I will be working at the Coyote Blues trying to save a little for when I am not working during the semester, so this so called "break" probably won't be much of a break at all but I am totally fine with that!!!!

baby rose bush

OHH about three years ago I was continually "reminding" (AKA begging) my new fiancé to get me random flowers. Now I am not talking about calling a flower shop and spending a $100 on a very small bouquet. I just wanted him to go to Target and get one of those $10 ones and surprising me with flowers! Flowers have always been something that brightens my day. I just seriously love them so much. People can say all they want that they are a waste of money but I am a firm believer in flower giving!!!!

So anyways one day I get home from school and to my surprise he had finally caught a hint and went to Albertson's and got me flowers   ... okay not exactly pretty flowers but more like a baby rose bush! It was the funniest, sweetest, cutest, most amazing thing ever. He thought this was better than flowers because it will live longer and I sure couldn't say anything because he was so happy. Sadly we lived in an apartment with hardly any sunlight and my tiny baby rose bush only lasted a couple of weeks before we had to throw it in the dumpster.

Now a days the hubby is very good with the flower giving. He even splurges and gets the flower shop kind on special occasions but my fav are still the Target ones. Since he isn't home to just surprise me on random days he has taken to saying while we are at the grocery store on the weekends "Hey... Go pick out your favorite flowers" and then gives me a little winky wink ;)

SO this weekend we went to Fresh Market for the first time (I know it seems crazy but I always thought it was this super expensive over priced place) and let me just say UUUHHHHMAZINGGGG!!! I just loved it so much! So many healthy fruits and veggies... and pretty flowers!! So hubby did his thang and walked over to the flowers and what do you know they had baby rose bushes!! I just knew I had to get one! And since the prices were so reasonable we got a small daisy bouquet and a baby rose bush!!! I was in heaven. When we got home I already had a pot to put my rose bush in (I found it at Michael's for $1.50 and knew I would use it one day) and I put my daisies in a vase and wrapped a little burlap ribbon around it to spruce them up a little!!!!

baby rose bush #1

baby rose bush #2

pretty daisies

This experience brought back so many special memories of dating and just moving in together and starting the "adult" life. I love my husband so extremely much and all of the cute little things he does to show his love.

Now lets just hope I can keep this rose bush alive!!! ;)

life lately

Sorry I have been MIA for a month, life for us has been crazy! I have been overwhelmed with the three summer classes I am taking and my hubby is still working in Shreveport. Also our weekends have been packed with fun things! 

I am really bad at remembering to take pictures but here are some pictures of what we have been up to!!! 

Gautreaux Summer Bash

 We have a new hobby... Tennis!!!

 My little brother's horse show!! How cute is he?!?!

 Our trip to the Old State Capitol, New Capitol, and the Louisiana Museum.

The first of many wreaths I will be making for our new house!!!