Moving on Saturday!

Tianna and I will be moving this Saturday (April 25, 2009) up to our new condo in Orem. I know several people have already volunteered to help. We'll be starting our main moving push at 11:00 AM on Saturday, but you're welcome to drop by before that if you'd like. Or, if you want to drop by on Friday to help us box things up, we'll be here all day. (Maybe call first, just to be sure, but we should be here. There's lots to do.) A number of people have volunteered to bring their trucks and such. We've got transportation taken care of, though, so don't worry about it. We appreciate the offer anyway.

We'll have a light lunch and snacks on Saturday to reward all those precious souls who come out to help. Here's our current address:

605 North 1100 East

Provo, UT

We'd also love help moving things into the condo in Orem. We're not sure exactly when we'll be up there, but if you want to meet us up there, give us a call and we'll let you know what the status is. (Obviously, if you're already helping us in Provo, there's no need to call—you can just ask directly. Just thought I'd make that clear.)

We're excited to move into our own place. It's a beautiful condo with a great view of Mt. Timpanogos and a dishwasher! (And a washer! And a dryer! And a garbage disposal!) (No, not a great view of a dishwasher, etc. A great view and all that other stuff.) Okay. Tianna's telling me I've devolved into silliness, so I guess it's time to wrap this up.

Hope to see you on Saturday! (Or Friday.) (Or both.) (Not that we're begging for help or anything.)

Scariness

I haven't opened my Google Reader in days. I realized this past weekend that I waste far too much time on the Internet, so I've been focusing my energy on doing other things and simply not spending excess time on the computer. I've been being so productive. It's been wonderful. Tonight I peeked, just to see how many unread items there are in my Google Reader. 387. I am now too scared to open it and read, not to mention the fact that I have so much to do this week. (Dinner group, graduation, packing, moving, closing (hopefully not in that order.)) So I'm pretty sure that by the time I get around to reading blogs in a week or two, I'll be up to something like 900 unread blogs. Yipes!

In other words, please forgive me if I don't know what's going on in any of your lives. I'm trying to live my own right now.

A Name

On Saturday BJ and I decided upon a name for our baby. Jalin had given us advice months ago (on a completely different topic) that when you make a major decision, make it, wait three days, and if you still feel good about it, then act upon it. If you don't feel good about it after three days, don't do it. It has been more than three days since we decided upon a name, and we still feel good about it. It's taking a bit of getting used to calling her by a real name instead of just "Baby" but we're getting used to it. Please join with us in transitioning "Baby" to...

Kessalyn Elizabeth Homer

To all of those that were rooting for Katelyn or other names, we apologize. Kessalyn just felt more "right". But Katelyn is definitely our top choice for our next baby girl.

BJerella

BJ decided to try on my sandals today. What do you think, should he cut off his toes or heels to properly fit in this fairy tale?

Pleased

I made a list of things I wanted to do today. Saturdays with no plans are wonderful that way. I actually have a running "to do list" of all the things I think of and know I'll forget, so I added a few to that of things I specifically needed to do today (like laundry) then just made the whole list my to do list.

I was sewing a button back onto my coat (knowing I probably wouldn't wear it again until next winter, and I'd probably lose the button in the move and the many months between now and then) and heard change jingling in the pocket. Of course, then I was curious as to what all I had left in my pocket. (It's very common for me to forget I had things in my coat pocket, because I never know when the last time I'm going to wear it is.)

I pulled out (among other worthless things like tissues) $18.87 and my mint chapstick that I have been missing for quite awhile now. I am well pleased.

A post for boasting

So, I'm really proud of myself lately. I know I said I'd keep couponing stuff off this blog, but this isn't really couponing. More, it's me setting goals and accomplishing them. It's also learning new things. And being really proud of myself for all of it.

Since we're buying the condo and trying to save every last penny, I've been pondering ways to cut our current budget even further. (It's amazing. Every time I think I've taken every spare penny out of our budget, then need to cut it further, I find a way.) After a month or so couponing, I realized that I really could do better about how much money I spend on groceries. I could plan better, I could cook more, and I could spend time learning what a good price for things really is.

For March I made a goal to only spend $100 on groceries. This was partway into the month and I had already spent $72 on groceries. That meant I had 20 days land only $28 to spend. I'm pleased to report that I spent a grand total of $100.56 on groceries in March.

For April I decided I could do even better if I planned from the very beginning of the month. Also, our grocery budget was limited in March, but our eating out budget was not. So for April we've set a goal of $150 for all food—groceries and eating out. This is fun because it means BJ has to participate as well. It also means I'm a lot better about planning a weekly menu, finding yummy meals to cook that use cheap ingredients and make lots of leftovers. For example, I was talking to my friend, Tyler, who is an amazing chef, also in school and living on a starving student budget. In fact, it was his wife, Meagan, that got me started on couponing. He started giving me ideas on food to make that is delicious, inexpensive, and can stretch. This week I made 40 Cloves and a Chicken from a whole chicken that cost me less than $5. (Actually, it was free, but that was because I got $5 off a chicken for buying 10 Lipton Pasta Sides that I like to keep stocked up on anyway.) It seriously cost me the price of a chicken and a couple bulbs of garlic. It fed BJ and I for 2-3 meals. Then the next day, I used the carcass from the chicken to make a chicken vegetable soup. That cost me the price of vegetables that I wanted to put in it. That cost me about $3. (With vegetables leftover for a future meal.) That'll feed us for around 3 meals. So, for less than $10 (a tiny bit over if you count the french bread we split between the two meals), I fed BJ and I for 5-6 meals. (That's 10-12 servings, folks.) Sure, it cost me a bit more in time, but I like cooking, and it really didn't take that much time.

I really am ridiculously proud of myself. Perhaps I should go read some humility scriptures now.

Condo Buying...

May I just say that buying a house is stressful? I am going to be so glad when April 10 has come and gone, so that all of the paperwork, etc. will be done. I'm really sick of thinking we're almost done, only to find something else we have to do. I am going to be even more glad when April 25 has come and gone and we are officially living in the condo.

Speaking of, anyone who wants to help us move on April 25th will be much appreciated and rewarded with some type of food. Leave a comment with contact info if you don't know where we live or how to contact us.

By the way, have I mentioned that we're buying a condo? We are. It's in Orem. We're stoked for a washer and dryer, garbage disposal, dishwasher, pantry (sort of), another bedroom, etc. I think everyone should have to live in an apartment without any of that to begin with so that they truly appreciate how wonderful it is when they get it. :) Yes, we've done our time. We've lived here 10 months (BJ lived here one month longer, before we got married). We're excited to move on. (But we've loved this cute little duplex while we've been here!)