LONG Weekend

We had a long weekend and not in the good sense.

While Williamsport got its first ACTUAL snowfall, we were with Clint’s family to spend time together with his grandmother before she passed. It was not unexpected, but it doesn’t make it any less painful. Kay lived a long life-90 years to be exact! And she was a  model of kindness, love, and devotion. From the second Clint and I started dating, she treated me like her own granddaughter. It was wonderful.

When we drove back yesterday, we had no idea what state our sidewalks would be in (we have a lot of sidewalk). However, we arrived and found that someone had graciously used a snowblower on our sidewalk for us! It was nice, considering it could have been a mess to come back to.

In other news, I’m finally buckling and trying this whole gluten-free diet thing to see if it helps with my headaches. I’ve officially been told my sinuses are fine so I’m not experiencing sinus headaches (although that’s what they feel like) and I’m on enough meds to cut down my migraines to 2-3/mo (a big improvement). I’m still getting really bad daily headaches. Clint’s grandma said she used to get bad headaches before she stopped eating wheat (back before Celiac’s was widely known) and so now’s the best time to try it.

RIP Grammy Eppleman, say hi to Pappy for me! <3

Please don’t censor the web

In an effort of solidarity with my husband, I offer the following: Don’t censor the web!

As my husband put it this morning, “It’s not funny. Congress can spend months and not finish the budget…but they get a little money from Hollywood and they think this up right away and try put it into legislation.”

Crazy Dogs

On M-W-F days, I don’t get a lunch break because I’m making up the time I miss for class. (I’m taking another accounting course this semester.) Yesterday Clint said the dogs were rather feisty and playful over lunch and decided to shoot this video for me.

Enjoy!

The Craziest Idea My Husband Ever Had

My husband is quite handy.

He knows how to do electrical work, clean out gutters, paint, run cable and network lines, and even how to insulate a house.

He even knows how to install drywall for when he accidentally steps through the attic floor (see insulating the attic above).

After watching a YouTube video, he now thinks he knows how to re-tile a slate roof.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

You see, our roof leaks…Badly, in fact…in spots. So much so that it’s now pouring into the bathroom every time it rains and it’s bubbling the paint off the walls. Thank God when he gutted the bathroom, he installed mold/mildew resistant sheetrock.

We NEED the roof repaired before there’s any more damage. Fortunately, part of our roof is still the original slate from when the house was built over 100 years ago and can be patched in just that area. We have a roofer coming out tomorrow to give us an estimate.

However, my husband thinks he can do this himself. I have no doubt he could. And maybe, just maybe, if it wasn’t 2.5 stories up I would let him try. But it’s more than a 10 foot drop and I like my husband in one piece. (Thank you very much honey.) I’ve let him talk me into doing other reno work ourselves, but when it comes to big things like roofs and windows, that’s where I cross the line.

I don’t need a pancake for a husband!!

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

AKA “I LOVE NOT GOING TO WORK!”

Clint has insisted that I would get bored being off from work for the past week, but I’m pretty sure that I’ve proved him wrong. You see, I like to veg out in front of the TV but we cut back to super basic cable because it’s just so darn expensive. So I’ve been watching A LOT of “The Closer” and “True Blood” and DVDs because there’s just nothing on during the day.

I’ve also cooked every day, especially breakfast. Yummy french toast and biscuits especially.

Now that I don’t have tons of reading for class and my head’s been doing a bit better, I can finally catch up on some of my Anita Blake books. I’m only about 5 novels behind.

I’m making a scarf for Clint’s grandmother as an extra Christmas gift and I just need to knit about 3 more inches.

Yesterday, I spent 4 hours baking bread down at church as a social activity. It was fun, but I never thought it would take 4 HOURS. They do so much stuff, but it’s always during the week and Clint and I both work so it was nice that I got to participate.

Oh, and I’ve been doing homework in preparation of my next class. Yes, I’m a nerd, but I really want to ace all the exams so I don’t have to take the final (that was an awesome perk with my last accounting class too)!

Clint’s been playing with a Kindle Fire he has on loan from work and his begging has already commenced. Of course he wants one. One of these days, when we’re rich…lol.

And he’s been working on family history stuff. The Mormon missionaries who came by for dinner the one night hooked him up and he is planning on doing family history research out at their church.

And that’s what I’ve been up to. I’ve been quite productive. It’s nice getting paid days off!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas at our house! My Mom and BOTH my brothers made it! I cooked, with Clint’s assistance. (He’s super awesome at clean-up people!)

Eddie leaves today to visit his friends in Harrisburg and flies back to Germany at New Year’s. I’m going to be sad to see him go. Plus, yesterday he came over for a run with Clint and I made “roast beast” for dinner and we took it over to our grandparents’ house for dinner.

I hope y’all had a great break as well. Enjoy the photos!

Merry Christmas…to us?

First, MY BROTHER’S HOME! He surprised me at work yesterday and it took all my energy not. to. cry.

Anyway, I’m saying “Merry Christmas to us” NOT because we’re lavishly spending on ourselves, but because we’ve been so frugal we almost have all our credit card debt and medical bills paid off, plus we have 6-months’ savings (of my salary). And we still managed to buy Christmas presents!

I cannot wait to have that extra $400/month (which we had been paying to our “smaller” debt) to put towards student loan debt!

Merry Christmas to everyone! It’s been a long week of lunches, dinner parties, present wrapping, cookie baking, and Clint’s birthday. The only thing left is to have the Mormon missionaries over for dinner tonight, grocery shopping/Walmart shopping tomorrow, and going to see “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” tomorrow as Clint’s birthday present.

And then I’m sleeping until Sunday morning because that’s how tired I am!

My Brother’s Coming Home!

This Saturday!!!! I cannot wait to see him because it’s been well over a year! (If you remember the massive snowstorm in Europe last Christmas…he was stuck in that.)

I’ve been so busy/sick these past few weeks I haven’t been able to blog. I started taking classes again (1 per semester) in Accounting and 1 class = 10 hours of homework a week or more! I spent all of last week studying for a final that I didn’t have to take because I was exempt from it and had gotten an A in the class! (Only 4 people got A’s…the rest were WELL below that.)

Plus, I’ve had a rough few weeks headache wise because the stress from studying was compounded with a sinus infection. But the past 2 days I’ve felt much better.

Now, I just have to finish decorating the house and get a tree already! How lame is that-1 week away and no tree? Haha.

And Clint’s birthday is next week!

Rising Food Costs

I keep reading articles like this one–Your Grocery Bill is Getting Higher & Higher–and I can’t help but wonder how other people manage their grocery budgets.

See, Clint and I have no children and both grew up in homes that couponed. His Mom, to this day stockpiles dry goods and frozen foods like nobody’s business and it’s, no doubt, saved their family a fortune.

I talk to friends and coworkers though and I’m astounded by how much they pay for food. With a meal plan, Clint and I average $50-60/week in food. It depends on the sales and coupons available, as well as what kind of meat I need to buy that week. (I’ll buy hamburger in bulk one week, chicken the next, etc. so we only eat each type once per week.) Add $10 for fast food once per week and that’s our food budget.

Mind you, if I get sick, that budget gets shot to hell. Convenience outranks practicality.

So I’m interested, what’s your budget and how do regulate your food purchases?

Christmas Cards 2.0

Growing up, did you ever write the annual Christmas letter? You know the one I’m talking about…the typed letter where you brag about everything Suzy and Bobby and Little John did that year…basically saying how awesome your family is? And then send it to all of your family, work acquaintances, and basically anyone you’ve ever known? Yeah, we did one too.

Now that I’m an adult, I’ve tried to be a little more self-aware and less pompous. And, what it boils down to—lazy and cheap—because stamps cost a fortune now and those letters took work. Clint and I have developed a tradition where we try to find unique cards and send them to our family and closest friends. In those cards, we include a picture of something we’ve done that year. Between Facebook and the invention of the cell phone, everyone who wants to keep up with our “happenings” can easily.

This year, we’re trying something new: the photo card. It combines the Christmas card and the photo that we like to send out into one. I always found them to be too expensive with our strict budget, until I came across Shutterfly.com’s photo cards. I found this year’s card by going to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards and sorting by price. They have 928 items to choose from! I was honestly amazed.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Holiday Love Sketch

Peppermint Joy Wreath

Missing Cookie

I love these cards because they’re whimsical, fun, and exude the spirit of the season. (How could you open up the “Missing Cookie” Christmas card and not smile!) I was astonished to find cards starting at $0.32 each (if you buy 225 of them). But, within our budget, that same card is $.54 each (for 25 of them). We’ve purchased Christmas cards on sale at the Hallmark store for that price. That’s a great value!

Shutterfly also offers a great deal of other cards, including seasonal holiday cards. Plus they have invitation and thank you cards available for other events in your life!

I cannot wait to send out this year’s cards to our family (not shown) and get their feedback! Hopefully it will become a new tradition!

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*Disclaimer: I received 25 free Christmas cards for this review. (Photos are from www.shutterfly.com.)