Budget

One of my goals for 2013 was to manage our finances more closely and get a better grasp on where our money is going. A couple of weeks ago, I sat down and plugged in all of our regular expenses into a budgeting tool. Putting in our monthly expenses like our house payment, car payments and utilities was easy, but what seemed to be challenging me was all of our "other" expenses like money spent on groceries, shopping, and all other miscellaneous things- hence my need to comprehend our finances. I don't necessarily want to live by a strict budget or go to the extremes of the Dave Ramsey envelope method (yuck!) but I want a better understanding of how we are spending our money and what's a reasonable amount to put away into our savings.

I decided to start by looking at the money we spend on groceries. Food is a constant, we obviously have to eat and like utilities and our house payment, groceries are a routine monthly expense.  I'm not a regular shopper or a regular meal planner so grocery store trips can run me anywhere from $25-125. Sometimes I take big shopping trips and I buy food to last us a week or two but mostly I stop at the store a few times a week and pick up the necessities. Needless to say, I had no idea how much I was spending.

I used my Mint account to help me out. Mint tracks and categorizes spending habits, so I updated my account and looked at my spending for February. $350 in groceries- probably not 100% accurate but good enough. At first I was in shock. Then I started asking my co-workers & friends how much they spend in groceries per month and I realized Cardy and I are on the lower to average end of things. Only one person I asked knew exactly how much she spends per week but she shops once a week and plans every meal. In the end, I was relieved that we aren't extravagant spenders at the store but I know I also need to take into account our meals outside the home which adds another huge expense to our monthly finances.

I'm happy to have a baseline to gauge my spending at the store. What I'm hoping to come away with in all of this is being more conscious. My end goal is to understand how we are spending our money and to put more money away in our savings account and other investments- this task is much more difficult if you don't know where all of your extra money is going.

As of late...

I've been inspired to blog again. I'm not even sure how many people check my blog anymore because of my extended hiatus. Recently, a friend started a new blog and Caroline began blogging more frequently. I realized how much I enjoy reading their blogs and getting small glimpses into their thoughts and daily activities. I also realized I don't need major life milestones just to create a post- Sometimes a short blurb or quick thoughts are the best. It's truly amazing how quickly time flies by. It sounds so cliche to say that but it's true! Eight months have gone by since my last blogging session {which wasn't much} and I can hardly recall everything that's happened since then.

Last year was pretty crazy. The last six months of 2012 were incredibly busy with weddings and other celebrations that 2013 has been pleasantly relaxing. To give you an idea of all the festivities I hosted and/or attended- here's a list:
- Baby shower for Julieanne & baby Joseph.
- Three wedding showers: Tara, Jenessa, & Caroline.
- Bachelorette party for Caroline.
- Wedding planning with Caroline.
- Four Weddings: The Bitners, The Carters, The Cooks & The Hargraves.
- One Quinceanera for my niece, Chile.
- Our Five year anniversary.

Our five year anniversary came and went. I always pictured us doing something so big and special for this milestone {think trip to Hawaii} but September was the busiest & craziest month we've had since planning our own wedding. Not only did we have a ton of events but Cardy was just starting a new job at a new company. Our anniversary was on a Saturday and wouldn't you know it, we spent it attending a wedding! We actually had two weddings that weekend, both Friday & Saturday. Luckily, the wedding we attended on our special day took place at Deer Valley and my mom & dad were so thoughtful and booked Cardy and I a room at the lodge. We spent the night with family and friends, a full, open bar and a cozy room in a beautiful hotel. We just pretended the whole event was a celebration for us.

During the holidays, I took almost a full two weeks off and it was lovely!!!!! Cardy was able to take some time off too and I enjoyed spending some much needed quality time together. Zoe was so spoiled having us home, she was really sad in January when we all had to get back to reality and go back to work{I think I was more sad}.

Now that you're semi caught up. Here's what I've been up to lately:
~Hitting up Tanner Park with Zoe. She loves the snow and Tanner Park is one of her favorite places on Earth. We love dog dates too and luckily Caroline & Owen love the park just as much as we do!

 ~Trader Joe's. Need I say more? Since opening in November, I've been frequenting this place on the regular. The store is small and doesn't have any wine but I'm definitely loving having TJs around.

{Grand opening of Trader Joe's. Complete madness!}

 

~New Restaurants in the SLC. Flatbread Neapolitan Pizzeria in Sugar House. Amazeballs! We went on Valentine's Day and I'm so glad we did. Not only did we run into Devon & Caroline but the pizza was awesome! I'm dying to go back and try some other menu items.

~Sewing. I love to sew. I'm a novice and I'm itching to make something other than burp cloths for babies so my goal this year to attempt some new projects. First up: Pillows. I'm meeting up with my mom's friend next weekend so she can show me the tricks of the trade when it comes to pillows. She a master when it comes to pillows and I want to learn how to make pillow covers with zippers and everything. The whole she-bang. This little guy was something I worked on in February in an attempt to decorate my house for Valentine's Day. I love how the buttons turned out but the pillow was struggling. Very Kindergarten. Luckily most of my hand stitching was on the bottom and easily hidden. Bring on the pillows!

Welp. Here's to more blogging and many more posts to come. Now, I'm off to Target to pick up a few essentials for my trip this week to Boston.





Friday Five

1. It's summa, summa, summa time! Which means I'm craving my favorite treat on the daily. I heart fro-yo. I especially love all the yogurt shops that let me put my own toppings on- as much or as little as I like! I'm a tart yogurt with berries, sprinkles, granola, & chocolate chips kinda girl.

2. Hats make me Happy - I'm especially loving fedoras.

3. Game of Thrones- Season 2 finale ;(

lord tyrion, need I say more?

4. Scarves - not just for winter. I think they are so cute with a t-shirt or a tank.

It's the new summer accessory!

5. Garfunkel & Oates- my new favorite peeps!



Friday Five

1. One word- Obsessed.

2. Make these asap! I made these delicious oatmeal lemon bars for Easter and they are my new favorite dessert. Hint: Double the lemon juice- I did & it was the best decision I made all week!

3. Ombre hair. I want it.

4. This little thing melts my ♥

5. Words to live by...

B is for Boy

Last weekend I threw a baby shower for my friend, Julieanne, who is having a a baby boy next month. Julieanne and I work together at the U and ever since she told me she was pregnant, I knew I had to throw her a shower. Watching her through this whole process has been so much fun & we talk on the daily about babies (okay, okay...I'll admit it, it makes me a little baby hungry). Most of my girlfriends either had their babies 10 years ago or have not yet ventured into that part of their life so it's been nice to have Julieanne give me all the deets on everything that's going on inside & out.

For the shower, I ordered the most adorable invitations from Etsy. It was so simple, I just chose the design I liked, purchased the image and the seller created a custom invitation with my information. The image was sent to me in a .jpeg & .pdf format which I threw on a thumb drive and took to OfficeMax for printing. It was easy-peasy and I was thrilled how they turned out!

My mom has a perfect house for entertaining and she was nice enough to offer up her house for the party. I was really happy with the way everything turned out- good food, delicious beverages, great guests, amazing gifts for the baby, and some adorable favors. Julieanne was so excited and I'm glad we had such a great turn out. Successful party = happy host!

Paper lanterns & Pom-poms

Beverage Bar

Yummy Food

Sugar cookies given as favors for the guests. I ordered stars & baby chicks- they turned out super cute!



Martha, my lovely co-host, modeling some of the awesome gifts.

Glowing mom-to-be & proud papa-to-be

Three hosts & a pregnant lady

Very Pintersting

My husband asks me everyday if I've seen anything "pinteresting". He thinks it's so funny. Pinterest. It's my latest obsession- actually...I think it's every girls latest obsession. It's a virtual dream for anyone who loves to craft, cook, decorate and dress up. I find myself getting sucked in- oohhing & aahhing over peoples abilities to create and hoping I can recreate the same for me.

I've tried several of the recipes I've found on Pinterest and I've used a bunch of the organizing and cleaning tips I've seen. I have hundreds of home decorating ideas pinned and lots of sewing and crafting projects I'm dying to try. Here are a few I hope to be trying out real soon:

Chevron wall- I've been dying to paint an accent wall in our house since the day we moved in. I go back and forth between colors but I can never seem to choose. Then I came across the recent trend of the patterned chevron wall. I like the subtleness of the tones and I think the pattern adds and element of fun to the room.

*inspiration from www.sabbespot.blogspot.com

Pom pom & lantern decoration- I hope to recreate this next Saturday for a baby shower I'm throwing for my friend, Julieanne. She's having a boy so I will  be using blue, white and pops of green and orange.

*inspiration from www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com

Hooks on reclaimed wood- I want make this for our bedroom. Between Cardy and I we have a million hats. Okay, not a million, but a bunch. This particular set of hooks is from Anthropology- it's a fortune (for hooks anyway) and oddly enough it doesn't come with any hardware. Weird. Cardy has skills and I'm sure between the two of us we could easy come up with an Anthro knock-off (plus who doesn't love reclaimed wood?).

These three are just the beginning- I have many, many pinteresting creations to try. I will definitely post any projects I attempt- I'm super excited! Thanks Pinterest for providing such a great place of inspiration!

Off site business meeting

Wednesday afternoon conversation with my manager (& friend)-
Me: "Marth, what's your schedule like tomorrow?"
Martha: "Ummmm, pretty open. I might have a meeting but I'm not sure if it's tomorrow or Friday. Why? What do you have going on?"
Me: "Nothing, wanna go skiing? It's supposed to be beautiful."
Martha: "I'll schedule the meeting for Friday."

I didn't have to twist her arm at all!

Empty parking lot in the morning, nobody on the chair lifts, and slopes all to ourselves (mostly). Solitude is right!

Sunny and beautiful all day- couldn't have asked for a better Thursday away from the office.