No Spend Month: Day 31

Day 31:

Spent $9.44 on dinner (we splurged and ate out!)

Grand Total for No Spend Month: $246.67

We have a whole $3.33 left over! Yay!

Whew I am glad we made it!

No Spend Month: What We Learned

I have been thinking a lot these last few days about what we have really learned from our No Spend Month. I have been asked by many people if we will ever do it again. I am not sure. I have been asked by a few if we have had a hard time only spending $250.00 on food and anything else we needed to purchase. It wasn't that hard. There were a couple of days that I just didn't want to set foot in the kitchen and cook another meal or clean another dish, but I sucked it up and did it anyway. I missed the luxury of eating out occasionally. Not that we eat out a lot on our regular budget, but it is nice to not have to cook all the time. Other than the short trip to Lexington where I ate out a couple of times and Bryan relied on Taco Bell back at home, we only ate out twice, once at the Farmer's Market, where we split a breakfast, and then tonight once we realized we had enough money left to pick something up for dinner.
During No Spend Month there have been a few things that have been deferred until later. For instance, Bryan mentioned he needed wiper blades a couple of weeks ago, but we didn't invest in new ones because of No Spend Month. Next week he will get new wiper blades. We ran out of propane for the grill this month and next week we will refill our propane tank. I have really missed being able to cook outside and keep the house a little bit cooler. Seth needs a few more 12 month outfits because he is growing like a weed, so I will be hitting the consignment stores again.
Although I think that No Spend Month would be easier to do in January or February when all you want to do is stay inside anyway, we have looked for ways to have fun for free like going to a Concert in the Park or walking around the neighborhood in the evenings. We went to play in the fountains when my parents came to visit instead of going to the local orchard to munch on peachy deliciousness. When we did spend money on something we wanted to do we made choices. We chose to go to the Roller Derby and gave up going to a Hot Rods game with friends.
We sacrificed quite a bit with the food that we bought. I love cheese. I love Gouda and Muenster and specialty cheeses. I haven't bought any of those. I changed recipes to accommodate different, less expensive cheeses. I usually buy the Harvestland brand of chicken at Wal-mart which is slightly more expensive but oh so much tastier. I haven't bought it this month. I bought the cheapest meats, syrup, cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups, the cheapest pie crusts, bread, eggs, and milk when I usually don't. Now I know why I don't buy the cheapest of those things. I didn't go to the Farmer's Market after week 1 partly because our garden was thriving, but also because I knew the fruits and veggies would be more expensive than if I bought them at Wal-mart. I have read a lot about how you don't have to sacrifice quality of foods on a budget, but I wasn't able to master that on our budget. Local, tastier foods just cost more and I chose not to pay the price this month.
I think what we have learned the most is that we are comfortable with our spending. Sure we waste some money, but for the most part we buy things that we need and are cautious about things that we don't necessarily need. We try to be frugal whenever possible. We buy lots of things used instead of new. When we do buy something new, we try save up to buy items of high quality so that it will be a lasting investment. We realized that there are a few things that we could cut out if we needed to, but we are happy with the choices that we make with our money. Overall it was an interesting experience and yeah, we are glad that we did it.

No Spend Month: Day 29

Day 29:

Spent $1.72 on bread and eggs

No Spend Month Total: $237.23

Realizations:

• We have reached the 4 week mark. Two more days left, yay!
• It has been a long month!
• I think I have worried more about money this month than I have in a really long time. Not fun!
• We had french toast for dinner and it was actually very tasty.
• We haven't decided how we are going to spend the last few dollars that we have left. Unless we spend some money today, we will have $12.77 to spend tomorrow. Any suggestions?

Ms. Martha's Chicken Pot Pie

A week ago today, a lady that I considered as special and close as a grandmother passed away. Ms. Martha always greeted you with a hug, welcomed you into her home, made you feel special, and was truly an inspiration. When I was younger, actually a whole lot younger, we would go to Ms. Martha and Mr. Charlie's house for dinner often. She would make whatever was your favorite food even if everyone else wanted one thing, she would always make something especially for you. I remember one time we had a meal that included almost any vegetable you could imagine, fried chicken, chicken pot pie, and a roast. She would make the chicken pot pie for me. I LOVED it! Finally one day I asked her to show me how she made it so I could make it at our home. Turns out it was super easy, and oh so tasty. I have made it often ever since that day. It is a staple in our home and each time I make it I think of Ms. Martha.

Ms. Martha's Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1 lb. of cooked chicken diced or shredded (more or less depending on how much you like)
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 can of mixed vegetables (Ms. Martha used Veg-All but she would pick out the celery for me and that is what I also did for a long time until I realized other cans of mixed vegetables didn't contain celery so use whatever you like)
• a dash of Cavendar's seasoning (to taste)
  
• a splash of milk
• 2 Pet-Ritz pie crusts (only use Pet-Ritz because they are the best, I have tried others)
• 1 egg for eggwash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, Cavendar's seasoning, mixed veggies, and splash of milk together. Put mixture into one pie crust. Remove the crust from the other empty pie shell and then carefully remove the shell from the pie tin. (Tip: make sure your pie crust is very, very cold when you try to remove it from the tin, it will come out easier. Ms. Martha taught me that. :)) Turn the pie crust upside down and cover the crust containing the mixture (like a dome). Pinch the crust slightly into the bottom pie's crust to seal as best as possible. It is okay if there are some cracks. Then using the eggwash, brush the top of the pot pie. This will make it look golden and shiny when it is cooked. Bake between 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. Enjoy

*The longer it cools the thicker it will get and I think it is actually even more delicious as leftovers if there are any. :)

Fun with Family

Yesterday Nana, Pop, and Uncle Michael came to visit! We had a fun day! We ventured out to Circus Square, a local park, to let Seth play in the water fountains. Although he likes splashing in water, I think he was freaked out by all the kids running and screaming around him so we didn't stay very long. We stayed long enough to get wet and snap a few pictures.

I love how Seth is looking up at Pop!

I found some baby Crocs at the consignment store a couple months ago
and they just looked so adorable with his little board shorts.

We love it when you come each month, Nana, Pop, and Uncle Michael!!!

No Spend Month: Day 23

Day 23:

Spent $12.11 at Walmart on shampoo, ant killer (because they are taking over the kitchen), milk, and ice cream (priorities, people, priorities).

No Spend Month Total: $235.51

Realizations:

• We are in the home stretch! Yay!
• $14.49 left...I think we can make it.
  
• We have 7 bags of cooked chicken, 4 bags of cooked beef, a pork roast that needs to be cooked in the fridge, and we are still doing well on pantry items from our last grocery shopping trip.
• Using sour cream instead of milk when making mashed potatoes can actually be a success.
• Using heavy cream as a substitute for milk when making Jiffy cornbread makes the cornbread taste more like a desert. :)
  

Seth Reading a Book

Seth loves books! He loves playing with them, eating them, turning the pages, everything about them! Recently he has started making noises as he is looking at them. It is the cutest thing ever. Here is a short video of him "reading" today...

No Spend Month: 18

Day 18:

Spent $102.26 at Wal-mart stocking up on food for the rest of the month

Total: $102.26

No Spend Month Total: $223.40

Realizations:

• I HATED walking through Wal-mart with my list and calculator adding every penny as I put an item into the cart. Bryan and Seth were with me which made things easier but I like being able to just buy what I need and not have to worry that much about the total.
• Orange juice concentrate is way cheaper than orange juice already in a bottle.
• We buy A LOT of things that are the Great Value brand (Wal-mart's brand). Some things I don't. I never realized how much cheaper the off brand cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups are than the Campbell's brand. We bought some and we will see if they taste different.
• We have $26.60 for the rest of the month which doesn't sound like much since we are only three days past the half way mark. I think we can make it though. We now have plenty of food. :)

No Spend Month: Day 17

Day 17:

Spent $2.97 at Taco Bell

Total: $2.97

No Spend Month Total: $121.14

Realizations:

• Bryan cannot fend for himself when it comes to dinner during No Spend Month. He was starving and couldn't wait for me to fix something after getting home from day 1 of organizing a friend's house.
• By putting off going to the store, I think we have ended up spending more than if I had just gone to the store to restock a few days ago. I am going to the store tomorrow!!!
• This really doesn't have much to do with No Spend Month, but I sure am glad that Bryan and I are not pack-rats or hoarders. Did I mention that I was hired to be a personal organizer? Tomorrow I head back into the abyss of mounds and mounds of stuff.
  

No Spend Month: Day 16

Day 16:

Bryan spent $12.32 at Spencer's Coffeehouse on 1lb. of coffee
Bryan spent $0.50 on a coke at work
Stephanie spent $4.97 at McDonald's (this could technically count as non-paid work, since it was for the council, but I think we will be ok including it)

Total: $17.79

No Spend Month Total: $118.17

Realizations:

• We ran out of propane tonight while trying to grill our dinner. Guess we will have to stick to cooking indoors until the month is over. I'm kind of sad about that because we grill a lot all year long.
• I had to go to Hobby Lobby today to pay for some items for WKRC since I am the President and I could sign the checkbook. I couldn't believe that all the autumn stuff was already out and they were setting up the Christmas stuff!!! Ridiculous!!!
  
• Bryan realized he doesn't like this whole spend month thing (I think because there is no ice cream or Popsicles in the house). :)

No Spend Month: Day 15

Day 15:

Spent $9.28 at Wal-mart.
Spent $2.10 at Sonic on two $0.99 hot fudge sundaes.
Total: $11.38

No Spend Month Total: $100.38

Realizations:

• I knew we were going to have tacos tonight, but when I looked in the fridge earlier today I noticed we only had American and Provolone slices as an option for cheese. Bryan wasn't a huge fan of that idea and decided he was going to the store for cheese (along with a few other things like bread, oatmeal pies to take to his work, a 2-liter of coke (for me, he is so sweet), and tortilla chips). At least we have some shredded cheese for another meal. :)
• Sonic's $0.99 hot fudge sundaes after 8 p.m. are actually regular sized. I was impressed!
• We are at the half way point with $149.62 left in our money envelope.
• In the next couple of days, I am going to have to go to the store to stock up on some meat. I think we are going to be able to make it!

10 Months Old

Today our little guy is 10 months old! Here are some fun details about our little man...

Seth has four teeth now with another one on the way very soon.
Seth's favorite foods are peas, graham crackers, blueberries, and strawberry/apple/prune puree.
Seth loves to put things in baskets and then remove them.He likes to put all the pillows in the floor in the living room and then lay on them as if he is taking a little break.He will crawl as fast as he can and then stop to see if you are chasing after him.
Seth loves to turn dials and play with remotes.
He loves books of all kinds and constantly tries to remove all the books from the bookshelf in the office.His favorite toys are his rubber duck, remote control, wooden rattle, and spoons.
Seth can walk along holding onto furniture.
He can say /a/, /b/, dada, and various other babble sounds.
He takes everything in when we are out and about and very rarely smiles or laughs during new situations.
Seth smacks his lips together as if he is trying to give you a kiss and will repeat it after you do it back to him. It is absolutely adorable.
He can point to objects (a development within the past couple of days).
Seth likes to offer us food and giggles when we eat something that he gives us.
He is growing like a weed and is incredibly adorable!

Flowers on Clearance

Do you know about the big huge clearance carts at the back of the Lowe's gardening center? A few weeks ago as I was picking up some mulch, I noticed a lot of plants that looked almost dead at the back of the gardening center. I noticed they all had these little yellow tags and they were super cheap. I am talking $0.25 cheap! I had seen these carts in the past, but I thought they were only used near the end of the gardening season. Well, I wised up asked about them yesterday. The clearance carts are used all summer long!!! When plants don't look so pretty anymore they get moved to the carts and their prices get reduced. Apparently people don't want to buy ugly plants. Imagine that! Most of these plants are not dead though. They just need a little bit more TLC. Water and fertilizer usually bring them back to looking great, if not better than the other plants they sell, within a few days. I took advantage of these discounted plants yesterday because it was time to cut back my pansies in hopes that they will return in late autumn or early winter. I found a big planter filled with petunias and two other types of flowers that had originally been $14.99 that was marked down to $3.00. I also bought four dahlia plants for $1.00. So for $4.24, I was able to fill my entire window planter box. If it had not been for the clearance racks, I wouldn't have been able to even buy one pack of petunias for that price. Now, you can't be choosy with the plants that you get because the selection on the carts vary. I happen to like that though. Not only are you buying inexpensive plants, rescuing plants that nobody else wants, but in many cases you are buying a surprise in the works. I have to say it could be my greatest frugal find this summer.

No Spend Month: Day 12

Day 12:

Spent $4.24 at Lowe's on clearance flowers to fill the window box
Spent $21.87 at Wal-mart on a few groceries

Total:$26.11

No Spend Month Total: $88.97

Realizations:

• We are almost half way done with the month and haven't even spent half of the money yet. Yay!
• We still have a few meals planned out before we have to go to the store to stock up on some more meat.
• We had a lovely meal tonight and I was able to use up the half bag of pretzels that had been sitting in the cupboard for a while to make a breading for chicken.

The Dread of Being Away

Thursday evening I headed to Lexington, KY for a Kentucky Reading Association Leadership Workshop and Board meeting. It was my first time being away from Seth for not just one night but two and also two whole days. I had known about this meeting for a year, and I had already skipped out on the last two Board meetings that I was supposed to attend because I just didn't feel comfortable being away from Seth. For this meeting plus the workshop, we planned for Bryan to take off of work on Friday so that he could be with Seth and of course he took care of him the rest of the time, too. I knew they would be just fine. I was more worried about how I would deal with the separation. Leading up to the trip I was dreading it. I worried that Seth would run out of pumped milk or that he would be fussy the entire time that I was gone or he would do something incredibly cute that I would miss. I feared that I might break down and start crying when I had to say goodbye to that adorable baby boy, but when it was time to hit the road, I said my quick goodbyes and went on my way. No tears were shed and it remained that way for the entire time I was gone. Sure, I called a couple times a day, but I don't think the calls were excessive. I thought about both of my boys a lot, and even looked at some pictures often, but I was able to do the work I needed to do, and I think the boys had a great time together. While I don't look forward to any trips without my boys, I am glad to know that we can all survive no matter how much I dread being away.

I Speak, You Speak

We have been practicing sounds since Seth was born, but at the end of May Seth could consistently repeat the /a/ sound. At the beginning of July, we moved on to the /b/ sound. He can also say dada easily, but I haven't caught it on video yet.

This first video was taken at the end of May. The second was from a few days ago.

Sweetest Thing on Earth

I am not sure I have ever seen anything sweeter than this:

No Spend Month: Day 9

Day 9:

$20.00 Spent on Roller Derby tickets for tomorrow night ($10.00 less than the at-the-door price)
$4.80 Spent on dinner at Tolly-Ho in Lexington (for Stephanie)
$3.15 Spent on dinner at Taco Bell in BG (for Bryan)

Total: $27.95

No Spend Month Total: $62.86

Realizations:

• I am ready to be home so I can stop worrying about money.
• My friends wanted to buy me food so that we could go to nicer places to eat, but I told them that was cheating. I am not a cheater!
  

No Spend Month: Day 8

Day 8 (although I couldn't connect to the Internet on the actual Day 8):

• $18.84 Spent at the Grocery Store so that Bryan could survive while I am away for a KRA Leadership Workshop and Board Meeting.
• $8.57 Spent at Cracker Barrel for my dinner on our way to Lexington, KY.

Today's Total: $27.41 Wow, that seems like a lot compared to last week!

No Spend Month Total: $34.91

Realizations:
We did really well during Week 1, only spending $7.50!
The beginning of Week 2 is not looking great right now, but we still have plenty of money for the rest of the month.
Traveling, especially with other ladies, is not easy on the No Spend Month budget.
The $20.00 that I brought with me has already been reduced to $12. Luckily I only have one more meal to buy (all the rest are provided).

Here's a look at the food supply after Week 1:

New and Improved Office

One pillow changed all of my office decorating plans. It was calling out to me in the store. After I returned home with my new curtains, pillow, and blanket, I set out to reorganize our space. If it was going to have a new look, I wanted it to be more functional for us also. I ended up consigning that green chest and I brought up a white cubby shelf that I had in the basement. I donated and consigned a lot of books to make the bookshelf look neater. I made a list of all the things I use constantly and made sure they were accessible in the office and took out everything that we didn't use very often. I even cleaned out the closet and had enough space to be able to keep the vacuum cleaner in it. That will save me lots of time lugging it up and down the basement stairs.

So here it is, the new and improved office. It feels nice and airy all day long and at night it feels cozy. There are pops of color which I love, but the pops of colors do not overpower the room. I am so glad that I went with white curtains. We had to keep the layout the same. It's pretty much the only way it works with a futon, but I liked the layout.

Above our desk, I made an inspiration board using a frame the previous owners left behind. I spray painted it engine blue (a $1.00 find at Mighty Dollar) and then I color matched the pillow and got a $3.12 paint sample at Lowe's to brush over it so it is kind of two toned.
The frame is actually teal but you can't really tell from this picture.
I used a piece of foam board and some cork panels that
I actually already had in the basement,
and the funky floral fabric to finish it off.

I hot glued some fun scrapbooking accessories (also found at Mighty Dollar) to
plain old thumbtacks to spice up the board even more.
One of my favorite new things in the room has
got to be our pencil/pen holder.
I found this cool goblet at a consignment store for $0.90!!!!

The cubby shelf holds some of my crafty stuff,
an old Nikon film camera,
and some of my favorite cookbooks.
I hope to one day find a cabinet with doors,
because it is definitely not baby proof or toddler proof,
but it will have to do for now, since it was free.
The photo collage above it is the same as before.

I love jars of crafty items.
I hope to add some vintage jars to this shelf
once No Spend Month is over. :)

This beauty is my new sewing box.
I used a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby so it only cost $6.00.
It holds my sewing machine cables and
some other various sewing stuff.

The bookshelf is now the home to our lenses,
my tutoring stuff,
and the books that we love
or are on our waiting-to-read list.

I had two giant clothespins from my classroom
that I decided would be cute bookends.

That's it. Our new and improved office. So I know what you are thinking. Weren't we supposed to be making over the bedroom, not the office? It's coming along too, the only thing we are lacking is the furniture, a key component, but thanks to some consigning and Craig's listing we should have a bed soon. :)

The Battle with Curtains

Why, oh why, did I pick that light blue color for the office when we first moved into this house? I have thought that so so many times and I know paint is an easy fix, but Bryan insisted that we leave it the color that I chose. So when it came to decorating the office, I was at a stand still. Our office became the home to our futon when the old guest room became Seth's room. We have black furniture, another choice I wish I had not made back in the day when I thought I liked more modern stuff and the trend was black when it came to furniture. The office was also the home to my sewing stuff and some crafty things.My vision was to make it a fun comfortable place where we could work on the computer, guests could stay, and a neat and organized place for the things we use often (like the sewing machine, tutoring stuff, and office supplies). I started hunting for curtains.

The curtains I had in the office were a tan. I didn't like them from day one, but they were expensive and I had already tried several other colors which I had already returned because they didn't work. So for three years I just dealt with the tan and the light blue and the black furniture. It doesn't sound too pleasing to the eye, does it? I know. Well then I decided, what I needed was maybe a quilt or blanket to bring some color to the room. I found an inexpensive quilt at Target. Then I added a vintage (by vintage, I mean I paid $10.00 for a piece of crap wooden box at a consignment store) chest that I had painted a sage green, an accent color in the quilt that I had purchased. I made two blue pillows, another accent color, added a plant and it worked for a little while. Those tan curtains just kept bothering me though.

So recently after reading about a friend's office dilemma, I was inspired to really find the perfect curtains. I knew they could either make or break the room. After a few weeks of scouring the internet, stores, and searching for fabric, I thought I had found the perfect fun, vibrant print to use for curtains. It was a funky floral design and Bryan ended up hating it. I made one skinny curtain panel and decided that it wasn't the right choice for the curtains. Maybe an accent fabric, but it shouldn't be used for the curtains. I loved the colors in the fabric, so I used them for inspiration. During a recent trip to Target, I was browsing the curtain isle, which I had already done several times already, and I thought maybe I would go with a gray for the curtains. Black, gray, light blue. It worked in my mind. But then I started doubting myself and thought, maybe that would look too drab. When I was about to lose all hope, I saw a beautiful $10.00 blue/teal pillow. It matched one of the colors of the accent fabric that I loved perfectly. So I completely changed gears and started looking for blue/teal colors. I found a $10.00 blue blanket. Then I saw some $7.00 white curtains. Why had I not thought of white before?? An hour or so later and $34.00 less in my wallet I had a start to a newly decorated office. More coming soon...

Photo Pop Quiz Answers

For all of you dying to know out there, here's who took each photo:

A. Stephanie

B. Bryan

C. Bryan

D. Stephanie

E. Stephanie

A Photo Pop Quiz

It's no surprise to many of you that we love photos here in the Tillery household. I am excited that Bryan has started taking photos again to post. Since he has been interested in photography for a few years now, I have learned a few things about taking photos from him. I keep the camera handy throughout the day basically so that I can practice with my adorable subject. Bryan is obviously the better photographer in the family, but I take pride in some shots and have been taking the majority of the pictures on the blog lately, but every now and then if you see a great photo, Bryan probably took it. Can you tell who took which photo from these?

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

Two Things That Shouldn't Go Together

Posted by Bryan

I've decided to occasionally post photographs here on our family blog. Here's the first one.

Maybe it's just me, but should liquor stores have a drive-thru? So for all you drunk drivers out there that are starting to sober up, look for this sign...

Forgotten Local Bounty Post: Kohlrabi

A while back I bought a $0.75 kohlrabi at the Farmer's Market. I had never seen kohlrabi, much less ever tried it or cooked with it, but I was willing to give it a shot. I searched the Internet for ideas of how to prepare the vegetable. I found a very easy recipe for kohlrabi and apple slaw. It sounded tasty and it was. Bryan photographed the finished dish, but I was hoping to snag another kohlrabi the next week to show a before picture because they are very interesting looking. The next week there none at the Farmer's Market and then I forgot to post about it. So here is the end result...
In a slight sort of way it tastes like broccoli stems but has the texture more like an apple. I think that is why it pairs so nicely with apple. If I can find it again this season, I can't wait to try preparing it another way.

No Spend Month: Day 3

Day 3: $7.50 Spent

Realizations:

• While I am glad I spent $2.50 on the local milk that I bought at the Farmer's Market, we should not have split a $5.00 blueberry pancake breakfast there. Stuffed french toast covered with a cherry sauce would have been worth it, but since that wasn't offered this week (and I didn't know that until after I had invited our friends to wake up early on a Saturday and eat with us) I am not sure the pancakes and sausage were worth it. It was still a tasty meal and definitely a good price since we shared it, but I could have made blueberry pancakes at home.
• Our intended splurge this week ended up being somewhat of a disappointment.

Total Dollars Spent this Month: $7.50

Vegetable and Orzo Pasta Salad

Vegetables are becoming plentiful around here! It's very exciting, but seeing as how Seth and I are really the only two that eat the vegetables from the garden other than green beans (thank goodness, Bryan will eat green beans), it is getting hard to eat so many. I remembered an orzo pasta salad that I used to make a couple of years ago. I am not sure why I stopped making it because it is delicious. I think it is funny how that happens to some recipes while others stick around for the long haul.
Well, Annabel Karmel's Top 100 Baby Purees cookbook that I have has a recipe for orzo with vegetables. When I saw it in the book, it jogged my memory to make an orzo pasta salad with some of the veggies I had from the garden. My version has a few different and a few more ingredients, but it was a big hit with Seth, who is loving finger foods and foods with more texture. Here's how I made my version:

Ingredients
1 carrot
1 zucchini
1 eggplant
a few florets of broccoli
4 cherry tomatoes
handful of fresh basil leaves
juice from 1 lemon
chicken broth (eyeball it)
about a cup of orzo pasta
2 tablespoons of butter
Parmesan cheese (to taste)

1. Dice up the carrot, eggplant, zucchini, and florets of broccoli.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan and then add all the diced vegetables to sautee until slightly tender.
3. Add enough chicken broth to cover all the vegetables and just a little more to be able to cook the orzo.
4. I added about a cup of orzo and then let the entire dish boil uncovered for 9 minutes.
5. I didn't have much liquid left, which is what I was hoping for, but if you do, you can drain off the extra liquid.
6. While the pasta and veggies are cooking, finely chop the tomato and basil.
7. Once veggies and orzo are tender, add the tomato, basil, lemon juice, and the other tablespoon of butter.
8. Top with Parmesan cheese.
9. Serve slightly warm, but it is also very tasty cold.

*I do not add salt or pepper until I am ready to eat my portion. That way Seth can eat it without the extra sodium. If I was preparing this just for adults, I would also zest the lemon. That makes it extra lemony and delicious.

No Spend Month: Day 1

The No Spend Month Challenge began today! I found out this morning that the creator of this challenge, Rachel, is actually not doing it this year. She and her family realized that after doing the challenge for three years that they have grown and shaped their budget to something that they are all pleased with now. So I was a little disappointed that I couldn't follow along with her, but I understand and I am anxious to see what we learn throughout the month.

Day 1: $0 spent

Realizations:

• While meal planning today, I found some grits at the back of the cabinet that I was anxious to use for a meal. I knew they were up on the top shelf, but I didn't realize that they in fact had a "Best if Used By" date of October 10, 2008. Man, time flies. It seemed like I just used those grits. Luckily the can was almost empty anyway.
• I didn't buy hot dog buns at the store on my last trip so I had to eat a bratwurst on a hamburger bun. This month could get interesting in the kitchen.

Star-Spangled Spectacular

This evening we headed out to WKU to enjoy some more festive music. The WKU Concert Band provided the community with a free Star-Spangled Spectacular concert in the outdoor amphitheatre. It was such a lovely evening to be outside!

Here is Seth with the band in the background...

and here our little guy looks like such a
big boy sitting in between mommy and daddy.