I'm trying to get back on track with my grocery shopping. This summer has been a combination of busy days and lazy days since I got back from vacation last month. Not only have I gone shopping without coupons but I have, dare I say, gone without a shopping list and bought on the fly *gasp*!
Last week I did get on the ball and match up local sales with my coupons. I saved about 30% on the trip, not my best, but hey, that's 30% I kept in my pocket. I did manage to get all eleven boxes of these cereal for only $7.26. I could have spent even less on them but I hate buying the sugary cereals, and sadly we all know, the healthier the food, the more expensive it is. I did get a few boxes of the sweet stuff though, it does make a good snack or dessert if you have a sweet tooth and don't have the time (or motivation) to bake something delicious.
I read my last year's blog about turning 30. It doesn't feel like it's been a year. I fully believe that time seems to go by faster as you get older. Probably the worst part is that my kids are seemingly growing up faster and faster because of it.
It's easy to get caught up in the'hustle and bustle' of everyday life. I feel that routines make the week go by in the blink of an eye, almost like we are on auto pilot. I make it a point to enjoy, I mean really enjoy, the little things along with the big. Take in a beautiful sunset. Listen to a rain storm. Conversing around the dinning room table. Feel the summer breeze. Listen to my kids laugh and play together or to the stories they have to tell. Sing together in the car. Walks on warm summer nights. Going out for ice cream. Playing board games. Time invested in yourself and your family is time well spent. Life is too short to spend it on auto pilot.
Life gets better as I get older. I have many things to be grateful for. I've learned to let things go when It's out of my control. I've learned to forgive people for their ignorance, and I am trying to avoid being judgmental of anyone. Forgiveness is freeing. It's a burden I don't have to carry on my shoulders and I think the world would be a better place if everyone could realize this. There are so many things we have control over everyday. We have the ability to wake up every morning, refreshed, ready to take on the world and make it a fabulous day.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Cheers! Here's to another great year. Thanks for sharing it with me.
Waking up to music as my alarm clock rather than that dreaded 'beeping'
The baby birds in the backyard and their constant chirping
Cooking dinner with fresh herbs from my garden
Getting a couple extra hours of sleep last night
Cinnamon raisin bread
Modern technology (talking to my kids everyday while they are at their Dad's and sending pictures back and forth also video calls with my Dad in China & Rusty's family in Iowa)
Being able to count my blessings, focus on the positive and not let the little things get me down or ruin my day
The yellow roses blooming in my yard, they are gorgeous and huge!
My new boss at work
Jul 20, 2011
"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." -Denis Waitley
We had a great time on my annual birthday camping trip. I was able to get a couple extra days off work so we had a full four days in the Wasatch Mountains. I treated myself to a cargo carrier for the top of my car. It was great since we needed to pack for a few days and also take up firewood.
Unfortunately, I was feeling under the weather that week. When I woke up, Thursday, the morning we were going to leave, I felt horrible. It took quite a few hours to even get up and going. Rusty and the kids were helpful to help get everything packed. I was determined to enjoy the trip! By the time we got up the mountain, our favorite campground, Spruces, was full. Luckily, the campground manager told us about another campground right up the canyon, that just opened up for the season. We ended up really enjoying Redman campground. It has more of a 'roughing it' feel with the campsites much further apart and dirt roads rather than paved. We couldn't see any other campers from our site.
It was raining off and on, and the water was already in full force from the melting snow so many of the campsites were flooded. Jackson, Ashleigh, Rusty and I drove around the campground to pick out a good site. We found a site that was perfect! It was huge; plenty of room for all three tents (four us in one tent, mom in another, then Jerrick & Sierra in the third), there was a small trickle of a stream for the kids to play in with downed tree trunks as a bridges, and tons of trees and rocks and space for exploring.
The next day, before Jerrick, Sierra and my Mom joined us, we spent the afternoon making an awesome fort out of logs and branches we found around the campground. The kids spend hours playing in the fort over the weekend, especially Jackson.
"Zombies" were going to attack Jackson in the fort.. Which turned into an all out pine cone battle with all the soft pine cones scattered throughout our camp.
Thanks to the slew of cough & cold medicine I brought, I was able to fully enjoy my birthday and the camping trip. I was evermore thankful to have other people to help get up and start the fire in the mornings and help throughout the day so I could lay low and relax. I even started a book my Aunt had given me for my birthday last year, Firefly Lane.
We played a watered down version of volleyball (without a net) and played 'Monkey in the Middle'
Ashleigh wanted to learn how to spin Rusty's riffle
We played card games, Scattergories, charades, had scavenger hunts and went on hikes. We had some delicious meals, from dutch oven breakfast casserole to foil pouch dinners. And as always, it was great to just sit around the campfire and talk. I brought a bunch of glow sticks, which we used the night of my birthday. Jackson wanted some armor and Ashleigh wanted to make herself look like a stick figure. As it got darker, Ashleigh became quite the entertainer!
Jackson 'fishing' for food
Playing in the stream.
Getting in the hammock to relax.
There was a young moose we saw right across the water from our site. We had a couple deer walk though our camp site also.
We had an afternoon rain shower one day and this beautiful rainbow showed as the rain stopped.
I'm looking forward to our next adventure up in the mountains. Hopefully we can fit in one more trip this summer!
4th of July was a blast! Literally. Utah passed a law about the type of fireworks we are able to have. Instead of the little fountains that shoot sparks up a few feet, we can now have the huge ones that shoot up into the air and explode. This being the first year we are able to have them; everyone wanted to try them out! As soon as it was dusk, for days prior to the 4th, the fireworks started going off. We could see them from almost every window of our house, it was great.
Of course we stocked up on our own fireworks and it was so much fun! We had a delicious BBQ at my Mom's on the 4th. As it started to get dark we enjoyed sitting in the hot tub and visiting, while we could see fireworks going off from all neighborhoods close by. It was quite the view!
It's become a tradition to shuck our corn in the backyard, spread it with butter and douse it with any seasonings fit our fancy, then wrap it in foil and toss it onto the grill.
Jackson shucked a corn - carrot.
Ashleigh's corn turned into a corn lady... and they both happened to like eating carrots.
My kids are silly, they make me laugh on a daily basis. I love it.
We bought a big pack of assorted fireworks, sparklers, tanks and one of the big, new, fireworks for our grand finale to the evening.
