Saturday Happenings

 My goal is to maximize as much of my day/partial weekend as possible, before I fly to London this evening. For all of those people who think work travel is fun.... nope. Definitely nope! I suppose if you had unlimited PTO & didn't mind traveling alone, or had a spouse who could join you for the personal travel at the end, you could just consider it a way to earn free airfare for yourself somewhere you'd like to go. The answer to all of the above is no for me, and I'm always just trying to get back home to my regular life. Where you inevitably are jet lagged for the following weekend as well.

As for today, the most important thing I like to do before a long travel day is work out. While not possible if I have a really early flight, it's definitely doable today, because I have an evening flight. I'm planning to meet a friend for a workout class, which is a double win, since we will get to catch up as well. It always makes me feel better before 10+ hours of sitting to at least know that I worked out ahead of time. 

I considered doing a virtual happy hour call with my sister + BFF at the lounge (in one of the private phone booths, of course), but I'm flying British Airways vs United, and am unfamiliar with their lounge set up. That would have at least been a fun way to squeeze in our monthly happy hour while I hang out at the lounge. 

Other things I'll get up to today:

• Clean the fridge. M is more than capable of making meals, but he has "fridge blindness" or whatever and I like the fridge to be ready to go & wiped down, any old leftovers tossed, etc.
• Finish last minute packing. I have a "day of travel" checklist I use to gather up all remaining items.
• Go through my work calendar & make a list for each day, schedule in workouts, etc. 
• Catch up on laundry.
• Clean the kitchen

Doing all of that will make me feel moderately better about leaving, knowing the house is in semi-order. I drew the line at flying back next Saturday, because that really does ruin the following weekend as well. Instead, I fly back Friday morning UK time, and will arrive mid-day on Friday, assuming everything goes well. Fingers crossed for easy travels. 

What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

I feel like I have a lot to report this week, but who knows. Maybe I was just better at tracking, since I was looking for distractions this week. In case you are wondering, I use blogging (amongst other things for distraction during times of stress). And, now is most certainly one of those times for me. 

Saving on things we buy

• Picked up Easter items for Sam (I sent my mom with cash to make a basket for Nick, since she was  with him in person) & a few dinner items at the store & redeemed a $20 off reward. 
• I bought a small bottle of scotch for M, and the cashier let me know that a very similar kind was actually BOGO free, so I went that route. I know he likes both, so that was a definite win. 
• Checked iBotta & found that there was a $.50 offer on some cheese I bought at the store that was already on sale. Also had a $.10 any grocery receipt offer, and a $.25 offer from Trader Joe's. Definitely churning out the big bucks here. ;-) 
• Similarly, some of the Easter items I picked up for Sam (above) generated a 500 point Fetch offer. I don't buy brand name items very often, so this was a surprise win. 
• Adjusted our car insurance, which will save about $150 now, but $600 or so for the year when our policy renews. 
• I changed my flight to Boulder at the end of the month for Nick's move out. As a bonus, the flight was $48 less (I received a credit) & the rental car was 1/2 the price! I saved $140 off of the rental car, by adjusting my flight time by about 8 hours. that was a great deal that I wasn't expecting. Yay for making the trip cheaper. 

Earning money

• Sold two items on eBay (a wallet & a pullover athleisure shirt) & made $148 between the two. It was nice to wake up & see the back to back sales. 
• Listed a few new items on eBay, & immediately sold my fitness ring for $125. I have moved to using my watch for sleep tracking, to reduce the number of devices. I really liked the ring, but to get any value out of it, you had to have a monthly subscription, and I'm trying to be much more diligent about subscription based products. 
• Also sold another $10 item on eBay (sports bra) & a sweater ($12)

Avoiding spending

• I have status on United, & get free upgraded seats. However, when I book reservations separately for M & the kids (sometimes necessary to use up credits in their name), I can't have them sit next to me without paying exorbitant fees. You can, however, call in & they link the reservations & then will adjust the seats to upgraded ones for free. By doing so, for 15 minutes of time, I was able to get upgraded seats for M for the way to/from Denver, our summer trip to/from Portland for M & Sam. All together, this saved around $300. We wouldn't have paid this out of pocket (and, certainly not for the boys!), but I like to think of it as taking advantage of perks that we get. 
• Picked up some pantry items on Buy Nothing. I rarely take advantage of posts from others, but happened to see this one as I was posting my own giveaways. I picked up: three sparkling waters, 3 boxes of Mac & cheese, a few protein bars & a bag of granola. I'm sure Sam will be thrilled to have all of it. 

Eating what we have

• I've been out of breakfast options (need to do some more meal prepping), so I've been having an apple with peanut butter, which is filling & reasonably healthy. It's all about use it up mode.
• We also made potstickers from the freezer, which used up part of one bag & the end of another bag. It was nice to make a little bit of progress in the freezer.
• I also specifically planned a recipe (cauliflower rice enchilada skillet) that would use up two other targets for my freezer clean out: cauliflower rice & rotisserie chicken. 
• I threw together a late lunch of cheese, apples & nuts, when I didn't have other options. 

For others:

• Dog sat for a friend, who couldn't find coverage for 36 hour over spring break/Easter. Happy to help her out. 
• Answered a request on Buy Nothing for a cooler with wheels for a mom who is selling things at a local farmer's market & needs cool storage for her items. 
• Gave away a bunch of clothing on BN as well
• Updated my special needs aunt's car insurance, when she switched cars. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Best value per wear items in my closet

 (Note, no referral links - these are just my own recommendations)

When I think of what I wear the most, and what I get the most value per wear out of in my closet, the hands down winner to those questions are easily...workout wear! Not only are those items designed to last, I work out A LOT. 

It's always interesting to see what holds up, and for me, it's across a variety of price points. Every one of these items has a ridiculously low per wear cost at this point, which is interesting to see, despite the semi-varied initial cost. 

Workout clothes:

• Swiftwick workout socks. I ordered a second round recently, but my first batch lasted close to 10 years, and that's wearing multiple times/week. 
• Amazon workout tanks. I own six of these, so three packs. They fit well, aren't too big, too roomy, too tight, too drapey. They are there for hard work! I'd say mine are 6+ years old & are still going strong. I wash them, & then line dry them, although in a pinch (traveling, etc), I put them in the dryer. 
• Zella workout capri length pants. I purchased the first couple of pair at a Nordstrom anniversary sale pre moving to the bay area, so definitely pre-2013. I have bought up all the remaining pair on my size on eBay, and they are no longer available. I wear these pants multiple times a week for 13+ years, definitely gotten my money's worth. They are all going to fail at the same time, and the struggle to find a replacement is going to be difficult. I've tried a lot, and finding a pair of workout pants that stays put while running & fits comfortably is a struggle! I ripped the bottom of one pair hiking & I was incredibly sad. RIP, fair pants. 
• Champion sports bras. These are the older school kind, purchased from Amazon a million years ago. They don't make them in the way I like anymore, and I've attempted & failed to find replacements. The search continues. Similar to the rest of the above, these get worn multiple times a week.
• Brooks running shoes. I prefer the Ghost. I try to look for sales, and I order multiple pair at the same time, and rotate them. They are not cheap, so look for an offer, if you need running shoes. When the support goes, I keep them for "errand" shoes, and get another 6 months or so out of them.
• Uniqlo full zip workout jacket - I bought this at the Haneda airport Uniqlo, and as far as I can tell, it's only available in Japan. It has UV protection & is very thin. I wear it several times/week. 
• Athleta In Motion Seamless tank - I have this in three colors. I like the higher neckline over the Amazon tanks, so typically wear this for hiking, walks, etc. I also wear them almost every day around the house in the spring or summer. They don't look like workout tanks when paired with a sweater/cardigan, for work calls. They fit well & have been washed 50+ times. 
• Lululemon Align Leggings - all Lulu is basically overpriced, but M bought me a pair five or so years ago, or whenever they first came out. they are the most comfortable leggings I've ever worn, and are more go to, around the house pants. I will also wear them on walks or hiking, but not for a run, as the band slips. I also don't prefer them for a workout class. These are what I wear every day for remote work. As with all of my workout gear, I wash on delicate & line dry. 

Regular clothes:

• Banana Republic Outlet dress pants - worn on maybe 15 work trips. Can be dressed up or down, packs well.
• Tahari cropped jeans - I bought these at Ross for maybe $10 when I was in Spokane for a wedding 4 years ago. The have the frayed edges. I've worn them 100+ times, I'd say. A search turned up nothing similar, so no link.
• Reef flip flops - I wear these a lot out of the house, around the pool, etc.
• Sam Edelman natural leather slide sandals - bought these for Dubai spring break with my in laws, so it's been awhile. I wear them maybe 20 times/year. 
• Gap tshirts - I like the basic kind
• Loft Harbor tank tops - I own these in at least 4 colors. I like that I can pair them with a cardigan, or on their own. They cover bra straps, are a thick enough fabric that you can't see through them, and they are not tight. 
• Rothy's slip on sneaker - I love that you can throw the entire shoe (or just the insole) in the wash. Have worn 100s of times, all over. 
• A black semi sheer cardigan from Banana Republic that is at least 10 years old, I bought on clearance and I'm hoping to be buried in. ;) It's the perfect weight, goes with dresses, tank tops, and keeps you warm but can also be worn in hotter temps. 

Okay, that was a fun little stroll through my closet. Tell us about the lowest cost per wear items in your closet!

Future travel savings

I've been working to maximize the fun & travel options, while keeping our budget in check. We had a big trip to New Zealand (50th birthday + 20th anniversary) & I'm also going to Greece with friends (extended 50th birthday, as 2 of 3 are celebrating 50th birthdays this year). Because of that, it's really important to keep an eye on the rest of our spending. 

I've been surprised by how expensive it is to get Nick to & from school, as well as how many trips there are for parents. Move in, move out & family weekend. We could skip and/or send him to manage on his own, but at least for this year, we like being there & helping out where we can, buying supplies, helping him move his stuff (difficult without the ability to rent a car), etc. 

I've been closely tracking our travel budget for 2026 & came up with estimates for what we still need to spend. I then challenged myself to be as creative as possible with credits, miles, etc. Here's what I've come up with so far. I'll do a post on travel hacking on the hotel portion of Greece separately:

• For Nick's move out weekend, I used credits for myself & for M to get to & from Boulder. For the first night, I used a Hyatt free night awards, as I need to work remotely & don't want to disturb my friend. After that, we will stay two nights at my friend's house, so no hotel cost. We do need to still pay for the rental car, which I booked through Costco. We are helping a few kids move out, as two of Nick's friends our from the UK, and their parents cannot easily assist. I've rented a mini van & am prepped to take multiple kids & gear, so I'm all set!
• We are doing a summer family trip to the Oregon coast, and I was able to use another flight credit to offset some of M's travel cost, and covered my flight + Sam's flights with additional United credits. I paid out of pocket for Nick's flight. All of the United credits are now gone!
• In October, we are going back to Boulder for family weekend. I used United miles for those flights, as they were almost $1k each! Michael & I are each doing a career coaching panel at the school, so we will both be attending. I also booked the nearby Hyatt using free night awards. There is a much more "fun" hotel that is the closest to the school, but a free night vs the outlandish cost (more than $1k) for a hotel makes this an easy decision. 
• For Nick's Thanksgiving flight home, I used his United travel credit. 
• When Nick flies home for winter break, I used United miles, as traveling near the holidays is incredibly expensive. 
• Additionally, while I haven't booked yet, I'm planning to use American miles earned while traveling for work to book Alaska flights (they are partners) for our Christmas flights. That will save around $2k, as we are very limited on when we can travel those dates. I'm waiting for a flight I'm taking in a week or so for work, which should tip me into having enough American miles to book these flights. 

I do still have a few flights to book for the rest of the year:

• Nick's move back trip in August. We may allow him to bring his car, which would mean we all road trip to Boulder, and then M & I would fly home. This is still very much TBD, which is why no travel is currently booked. 
• Anniversary trip to Las Vegas/Utah in September - my plan for this is to use Southwest credits to offset some of the cost, but it's expensive as always, as we will be flying back from Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon - peak travel time. 

This is about $4k in savings, across the Hyatt free nights + the United miles, not counting the Alaska/American plans for Christmas, as those aren't booked yet. By optimizing our hotel points + miles, it really helps us use our travel budget for the fun stuff. It feels especially victorious to use airline miles for hard earned work trips on personal travel. Slightly offsets the pain of the jet lag. ;-) 

What about you? Any travel perks or points usage to share? 

Fitness Monday

It was not the best fitness week I've ever had, for a variety of reasons, but posting for accountability all the same. I had my hip dry needled at Stanford on Tuesday, and took a few days off from strenuous exercise after that. It was not the most comfortable thing I've ever had done, shall we say. 

I also got a pressure point massage on my back and shoulders on Saturday, as part of my continued mission to improve my overall health & well being & reduce pain. 

Weight: 156.4 (down .6 lbs from my last post)

Calories: 1,562

Steps: 8,162 - I think my lowest ever! I usually do a big hike & offset some of the lower "work" days, but our plans to hike yesterday were foiled by a different schedule & a need to drop off the dog at a different time. Then I was just lazy & didn't do a big hike, as it was already warm. #excuses

Workouts:

• Yoga
• 2 very hard workout classes
• A 3 mile walk
• Several dog walks
• Several days without any formal exercise

Goals for the week:

• Drop the calories back into the losing weight range (typically around 1350 or so)
• Get back into the swing with steps & working out

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

Oh my, another week gone by! A flying by the pants sort of week, since I didn't get a chance to meal prep over the weekend. I'll try to do better this week!

• Friday - wings & edamame
• Saturday - Philly cheese steak (freezer)
• Sunday - a non-traditional Easter request from Sam of grilled burgers & potato salad
• Monday - grilled chicken salad
• Tuesday - cauliflower rice chicken enchilada skillet (uses up cauliflower rice & rotisserie chicken from the freezer) (we actually made this earlier in the week & I can report that it was delicious!)
• Wednesday - grilled burgers & potato salad
• Thursday - leftover cauliflower rice skillet
• Friday - TBD. If I have time, I might meal prep something for Sam & M, as I leave for London on Saturday. If not, I'm sure M will just eat salmon every day, because that's his favorite easy meal. ;-) 

What about you? What's on the menu for the week at your house?

Saturday Happenings

 It was another long week, but Friday was a bank holiday in the UK (as is Monday), so I was actually able to catch up a bit on my work while the majority of the team was on holiday. That was excellent.

We are dog sitting for a friend until tomorrow, so that will be the majority of our activity - watching out for & taking care of our temporary guest. ;-) Fingers crossed that she adjusts well to the new location.

Other things I'm up to today:

• Yoga class
• Pick up gift card for Sam's Easter basket
• Pick up the dog
• M will then be in charge of walking the dog while I'm gone
• Go to my sports massage
• List some stuff on Buy Nothing
• And, eBay
• Clean the house
• Plant green onions (saved from the ones we already ate in the garden - they constantly replenish, as long as you don't eat the white bottoms completely)
• Plant lettuce & kale seeds
• Make dinner

I also have a few work tasks to complete. 

And, for visual interest...My office desk faces our pool area, and an orange tree & is quite lovely. The squirrels regularly run across the fence to get to the oranges, and perform all kinds of acrobatics, given the oranges are much bigger than they are. I had quite a surprise on Tuesday, when this creature came to visit & find some oranges. I thought they were nocturnal!

Hope you have a fabulous Saturday!

Frugal Friday - times 2

Combining two weeks, as I was out of town last Friday. 

Saving on things we buy

• Earned $20 cash back from a TurboTax credit card offer, and $1.98 in a gas cash back. Costco gas is always cheaper than other stations, but sometimes Nick fills up on his way somewhere else, so I always download the gas offers. 
• Uploaded our Costco receipt to Fetch & iBotta, and caught a $.10 off any grocery purchases from iBotta. 
• Received an email that $6 of Rakuten credit cleared from a purchase way back in December. 
• Submitted my last claim for my health & wellness reimbursement. I had $108 left for reimbursement, and had a sports massage to work on my QL for $110. An almost perfect match!
• Had to mail something to Nick that arrived after he left, so used Pirate Ship to save a bit off of standard USPS rates. 

Earning money

• I put money aside in a savings account to pay taxes. Now that we know how much we need (and have paid), I have moved the rest of the funds into a CD that is paying 3.5%. Not amazing, but we need quite a bit of cash for future college spending (among other things, where we don't want to add to our investment accounts). This should generate about $110/month of interest, which will be helpful. 
• I charged an expensive work course on my credit card, and will be getting reimbursed in a few weeks. The purchase will generate about $30 in credit card rewards. Nothing incredible, but it all adds up. 

Avoiding spending

• Washed all of the bathroom rugs, and took advantage of the sunshine by drying them all outdoors. That saves quite a bit of drying time/cost, given how heavy they are. 
• My bay area friend & I hit up a lounge at the Las Vegas airport, where I had a sparkling water, filled up my water bottle & we both took advantage of a pretty good kale salad, to add a bit more nutrition to our packed lunch (sandwich & protein bar). 

Eating what we have

• Sent Nick to the airport with a bagel & a banana. he wasn't hungry in the morning for breakfast before his flight (and, let's be honest, didn't get up early enough for that anyway), but this way he could have food on the flight & avoid buying anything at the airport. 
• Made the Costco pad Thai for a quick dinner on Saturday. M eats more protein than that, so I added a leftover grilled burger patty on the side with his. 
• For dinner on Sunday, M made rice & I pulled grilled chicken out of the freezer to go with it. This worked well with our dinner plans, as the rest of the rice was used to round out a chicken satay dish, also from the freezer. Sometimes it's about adding enough to round out a couple of leftovers, and Persian rice is both delicious & great at bulking up a meal. 
• I inventoried both freezers, so I have a better idea of what we need to use up.
• As part of my goal of working down our freezer & targeting one item a week, I pulled out shredded zucchini from the garden last year & made a shredded zucchini casserole. This recipe also used up: more cottage cheese (almost gone!), the rest of a bag of cheddar cheese, the end of a container of sour cream (not called for, but added it in to avoid waste) & I topped it with green onions from the garden. We are always looking for ways to use more green onions! 
• M made barbecued chicken & rice for dinner on Sunday, and I made a salad. I added a green onion from the garden. 
• I packed food & snacks from the condo (from the groceries we purchased and/or I brought from home) for airport/travel food on Sunday. 
• Used United miles & Hyatt hotel credits for family weekend at Boulder in October. Both flights & hotels were outrageous, so we opted to use miles & credits. 

For others

• Offered to help two college students out with calls to discuss careers, how to find a job, skill sets they need, etc. 
• Found a lost wallet at the condo we were staying at, and returned it to the owner

What about you? Any wins to share? 

March Goal Upate

 March was a pretty good month, all things considered. Here's how I did against my goals.

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys colleges expenses - yes
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items - yes, I made it a point to use up plenty from the freezer, including: bagels, shredded zucchini, leftover pizza, and baguette. 
• Be more intentional about saving & spending. - yes. It was an expensive month (see taxes, below), but I've been much more aware of our savings to finish off Nick's college (in a HYSA account, and eventually a CD). 
• Find one expense to optimize - Nick has a music subscription as a gift, and they have a student discount. He filled out the paperwork for that, and we will save $6/month.
• Finish taxes - yes, and federal is paid, state will be auto deducted on April 15th. 

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes
• A monthly date with M - we went on a few hikes
• Have a fabulous & on budget trip to Las Vegas/Zion with friends - yes
• Enjoy having Nick home for spring break & his birthday - had a great time, even though we barely saw him. ;-) 
• Help finalize summer plans for everyone. - still a bit of a work in progress
• Book summer travel - we are still working on this
• Figure out next big trip with M - we are discussing Iceland next June. 

Fitness:

• Start therapeutic massage appointments - yes, have had two
• Get hip dry needled at Stanford - yes, done
• Lose 3 lbs - I lost 4.4 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month - 9 days of strength training, 7 days of No S, 5 days of meditation
• Come up with a general workout template - no
• Positive eating - track protein & produce - I did "ok" at this, but plenty of room for improvement 
• Average 12,000 steps/day - 12,266/day

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons - zero
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 56/50
• Get together with friends - a hike, a workout, dinner & a trip to Zion
• Try something new - several workout classes
• Say yes to adventure - yes, a girls hiking trip
• Get to know our neighbors - tried to hike with one neighbor & meet another for dinner, but schedules haven't worked out yet
• Try a new recipe - made a zucchini casserole

What about you? How did you do with your goals for March? 

April goals

 I'll be updating my March goals soon, but here's what I would like to accomplish in April.

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys colleges expenses
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items, and one item that's a true random item
• Continue to track net new savings for 2026
• Make $100 in side hustle
• Find one expense to optimize
• Build out exit work financial plan & lock in on timing

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life, including summer jobs
• Monthly date with M
• Finalize summer travel/flights for beach trip
• Finalize family weekend flights
• Use M's United credit to book move out weekend travel
• Continue working on "next big trip" plans with M

Fitness:

• Continue with massage appointments
• Lose 3 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month (strength train, No S, meditate)
• Build out a workout template (strength, cardio, pilates/yoga)
• Track nutrition
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends
• Try something new
• Say yes to adventures
• Get to know our neighbors
• Try a new recipe

What about you? What's on your goal list for April?

Frugal girls trip round up

Two of my friends met for the first time on the October Las Vegas girls trip, and they are both hikers. I worked with one in Seattle, and one in the bay area & they are both incredible women. We started talking about a future hiking trip together, and finally coordinated some dates for the end of March. I've been very excited about this trip, but knowing it was coming in between two expensive international trips (New Zealand & Greece), I needed to do it on a budget.

Here's how I minimized cost, and how much I spent, for a trip that went from Wednesday-Sunday.

Lodging: - $0

• I booked a free night (with a small hotel credit + $50 of free gambling money) through my hotel rewards. One of my friends flew in a night early to hang out in Las Vegas, so she shared the room with me, making it free for both of us. 
• Same friend who met me in Las Vegas has a vacation condo in St. George, and we stayed with her for the rest of the trip.

Flights: - $0

• I booked a round trip Southwest flight for just under the $500 credit I received from my Chase credit card. I think I have about $60 left on the credit that I can use for a future purchase.

Transportation - $57 for shuttle

• My friend with the condo rented a car to get us from Las Vegas to St. George & Zion, and she is staying in St. George for a week longer than we are. I bought groceries & parking (below) & offered to pay for part of the car rental, but she was happy with the free night in Las Vegas our first night.
• My second friend & I took a shuttle from St. George to the Las Vegas airport on Sunday, as my condo owning friend was planning to stay longer. 
• M dropped me off on Wednesday on the way to the airport, and picked me up on the way home. 

Food: - $299.41

• I used hotel credits & my loyalty offer to pay for dinner on Wednesday night for me + my condo friend + breakfast & coffee on Thursday morning. 
• The rest of the food totaled $299.41, and third friend & I shared the cost of groceries, coffee supplies, meals, etc for our friend with the condo, as a thank you for her sharing her place with us. 
• Packed a sandwich & protein bar for the flight home (as did my friend flying back with me), to avoid airport food. 

Activities:

• My friend & I gambled a bit & I used my "big" $50 of free gambling money that came with my room, and I also brought money from my January winning. ($500, which I've not included, as it comes from a previous slot win & I set aside in cash for this trip.) 
• The rest of the time included free activities - plenty of hiking, laughing & hanging out by the pool, drinking free wine (picked up in the casino as part of my friend's comps) on the patio. 

Other stuff: - $21.60

• I bought no gear for the trip, as I had all of the hiking stuff needed for our day trips. I used my Osprey day hiking bag that I got for free a few years ago as a work giveaway. It's fantastic for these trips. I also used my water bladder that I bought for Moab a few years ago. 
• I brought a few snacks & electrolytes from home. 
• I did, however, need to buy a hat at the park, when mine went missing. Turned out it was buried under another bag in the car. The good news is that a receipt from the gift shop covers parking at Zion, so all was well. I spent $21.60 on the hat. 

Overall, I came in at $378.01 against my total budget I set of $800. Would love to hear about any fun budget trips you've planned! 

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's a bit of a scramble this week, as I got back from a fabulous hiking trip today. Here's what I've been eating + what's on the menu for the rest of the week:

• Friday - we ate out at a restaurant in Zion after a long hiking day (almost 30k steps!) I had a delicious salad
• Saturday - we picked up a pizza & had that at the condo
• Sunday - M made barbecued chicken & rice 
• Monday - chicken satay over rice
• Tuesday - salmon
• Wednesday - leftover barbecued chicken
• Thursday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Friday - wings & gyozas (part of our freezer clean out!)

What about you? What's on your menu this week? 

And, Zion photo, for fun.

Freezer challenge - part 1

 Oh, the exciting lives we lead. . . when you were just a young 20ish year old, fun loving & fancy free, did you ever think a fun project you would give yourself would be inventorying your freezer & then figuring out to do with all of the odds & ends?! ;-) 

I went through & made a digital list of both our inside & outside freezer. I then realized that M bought spanakopita at Costco again, even though last time we bought it, we ended up giving it away, because he can't eat carbs, & Sam & I didn't like it. Nick would also not be a fan. So, I gave away all of it (with the reminder to please never buy it again) & a bonus pack of frozen corn. Oddly, I really dislike frozen corn & have no good reason for this. I'll eat fresh corn all day long. But, nope on the frozen corn. My parents bought it for a recipe & didn't end up using it. So, some random items already out of the freezer.

Next up is a bag of zucchini from the garden last year, which is my project for this week. I'm going to make this shredded zucchini casserole as a side dish for tonight, which has the bonus of using up the last of the cottage cheese as well as some shredded cheese that we need to get through. I'll skip the bread crumbs. 

We have an absolutely embarrassing amount of overly ripe bananas, breads/buns of all kinds (mostly because we really don't eat much of it), a lot of pot stickers, so many chicken wings, two bags of chicken bones from a rotisserie that need to be made into broth, & other exciting items. 

Stay tuned for more of these exciting happenings. ;-) 

What about you? How do you stay on top of your freezer inventory? 

Fitness Monday

 The weekend went by way too quickly this week, but here we are... Monday again. ;-) 

Weight: 157, down 1.8 lbs since last week

Calories: 1,407/day

Steps: 14,655

Workouts: It was a particularly crazy work week, with lots of things coming together to in a way that made more creative/intense workouts difficult. But, I adapted & tried to do something.

• 4 elliptical workouts
• 1 yoga class
• 1 -5 mile hike with a friend
• 1 intense cardio/strength workout class

Goals for the week: keep the eating in check on my trip. Get in some sort of exercise on the days we are driving to/from St. George. 

What about you? How are you doing with your health goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 Oh my, have we ever been flying by the seat of our pants, as it relates to meals.  It's been a big mystery who will join us each night.

Friday - I had an apple (late lunch) & M had a leftover grilled burger from the freezer. Nick ended up dropping in between activities, so he had a much more robust dinner of: two grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit, veggies & hummus & a few meatballs leftover from Thursday's dinner.

Saturday - chicken pad Thai

Sunday - grilled chicken & rice

Monday - chicken satay (freezer) & leftover rice

Tuesday - finish off leftovers, or spaghetti & meatballs

Wednesday - Saturday - I'll be on a girls trip

Sunday - I've requested that M cook dinner ;-) 

What about you? What's on your menu this week? 

Saturday Happenings

I'm a bit on the struggle bus this morning, as I did not sleep well! Our bedroom was too warm, which feels like a strange complaint in March, but is true. Not a fan of the overly warm start to spring.

I had to book three work trips yesterday, and I was hoping to avoid two of them, but here we are. One to southern California (no big deal), one to London & one to Tokyo. All of them involve weekend traveling, which is so difficult, particularly because you miss a full weekend when you leave, & then you arrive back the following weekend so jetlagged that you don't get a weekend on the other end. Oh well. It's one of the responsibilities of my current job. 

I will be ready to be done when I hit my milestones for this role. They are mostly financial, but also time bound, as I receive several incentives at various points. One is in July (definitely staying for that, as it's the year mark) & the next one is at the end of the year. When I signed up for this job, I was optimistic to make it three years (July, 2028). Barring something happening, I think July 2027 is the absolute most optimistic timeline, but January 2027 is the most realistic. We shall see. Watch this space. :-) 

On a related note, I'm in the phase of doing a lot of financial planning, both short to mid term & of course, retirement planning. Going really deep into this makes me feel more secure & able to tackle decisions that lay ahead, as M & I get older & plan for the future. I don't know that I'm ready to "retire" when I quit this job, but I'm definitely ready to take some time, and then do something much more "casual" & not a "big career job". I really miss the flexibility I had last year before I went back to work. 

What am I up to today? It feels like a very "health & fitness" minded day, for sure!

• Yoga class
• There's a bit of a gap while I wait for another class, so I will do some lifting & cardio
• Pilates class
• Getting a deep tissue myofascial release massage
• I need to sort out Nick's cell phone activation, get all of his laundry washed, & figure out if he's checking a bag for tomorrow
• Sounds like some folks are coming over to swim, so I will likely make food for that
• Menu plan
• Pack for Las Vegas/Zion trip
• Figure out schedule for next week + workouts for the week
• Finish reading a Kindle book, as my subscription ends tomorrow!

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

 A few frugal moves below, but can't imagine how much my youngest child is spending on gas this week. He is enjoying catching up with all of his friends, but it's a ton of driving & we all know how spendy gas is right now!

Saving on things we buy

• I drove to the airport & parked, picking up Nick. Parking set me back $4 (I like to go in & wait), which is still much cheaper than a ride share. I'm an early bird, so staying up late for his flight was the only wrinkle, but I did it!
• Allowed Nick to choose a gift from REI & used my rewards (plus some extra) to buy a birthday gift. Birkenstocks, for the curious. He is truly a Colorado boy now. ;-) Actually, all of his California friends wear them as well. 
• Used iBotta for a cash back CVS offer & saved a whopping $1.36 off of a prescription. 

Earning money

• Sold an old gift card we weren't going to use, and after fees, made $13. 
• Got a notice from Aetna that my last submission didn't go through. I get one $75 reimbursement for a standard medical appointment/wellness check (there's a long list), but the one I had that qualified was a mammogram. Resubmitted & already received my $75 back. 
• You might remember that I ordered a very light weight & very water resistant rain coat for our trip to New Zealand. It was quite pricey. I listed & sold my old rain jacket on eBay & made $17. Didn't come close to the cost of the new one, but made a little back & also don't have two rain coats sitting around. 

Avoiding spending

• I pre-ordered food for Nick on his flight home, knowing he would be quite hungry, and they didn't give it to him. I filled out a refund request& received a note that they would reimburse me the $15 I was charged. 
• Booked two nights stay at a hotel in Boulder using points for family weekend. The rooms cost $1200/night without points! Insane. It's crazy to book this early, but this is a great opportunity to use Hyatt points. 

Eating what we have

• Knowing we'd have hungry eaters around again, I remembered to defrost some of the leftover pizza I froze when my parents were in town. It was actually well timed since (see above), Nick didn't get the food I ordered on the flight. He came home & are quite a bit of the leftover pizza. I did this with two different bags of pizza on two different nights, so I'm clearing out the freezer!
• Pulled out baguette & goat cheese from the freezer to make crostini to go with the birthday steak Nick requested. I also used a lemon from our tree, and thyme from the garden, and the only other addition was garlic, which we already had on hand.
• Squirrels made a huge mess in our planters, even though they don't eat green onions. I pulled out a bunch that they uncovered, so I'll be using them this week & will replant the bottoms again. 
• Opted to make chicken salad for my contribution to our work potluck. There was an option to also donate money to food delivery. There was no one signed up for a main (isn't that how it always goes - mostly at our work because it's hard to keep things warm), so I opted for chicken salad, which is easy to put together. Not the most cost effective (I bought rotisserie chicken, grapes & celery at Costco), but definitely less than I would have contributed to food delivery. Also, we have about 1/3 of the rotisserie chicken meat leftovers, 3/4 of the grapes (boys will definitely eat them) & I'll use up the remaining celery as well. I mixed in 1/2 Greek yogurt & mayo from the fridge, a bit of garlic salt & topped with green onions from the garden. 

For others

• I've been on a huge decluttering spree, and giving away a bunch to our neighbors. 

What about you? Any frugal wins to share? 

Thursday Happenings

 In sort of miscellany format, here's what's happening at our house this week.

Nick:

It's been so much fun to have Nick home for spring break (& his birthday) this week! That said, he's been super busy catching up with friends. He's been to the beach twice (we are having crazy heat breaking warm weather), Napa, and UC Davis. He also went to the dentist, because Mom is fun like that, setting up appointments for him. He had a filling fall out, so needs to go back today. We all went out to dinner for his birthday, and it was just so much fun to have the time together. 

Work:

Manager is back, but things are still chaotic. Went to the office yesterday & caught up with a bunch of folks (we have a one day a month "required" in office day). My meeting schedule for today is particularly light due to some cancellations, so I'm planning to tackle a lot of carryover work from the past few weeks when I was covering for my manager. 

Finances:

I paid our federal taxes, and oooh, it hurt to pull that money out of savings. We've agreed on a different strategy moving forward. I had big goals for 2026 savings, so hopefully I can make up a bit of ground a bit later in the year by cutting costs elsewhere.

Fitness:

All is cruising along pretty well, although I've had a real mix of workouts this week & today I'm going t my challenging workout class. I hiked with a friend yesterday, and even at 5 pm, it was over 80 degrees. No thanks! It's only March. 

That's what's top of mind for me. What about you? What random things are on your mind? 

Fitness Monday

 Another week has gone by!

Weight: 158.8, a drop of 2.6 lbs, some of which is hormonal timing of weighing in

Calories: 1,163. I had one day where I was not hungry & ate about 1/2 of my normal calories. I did, however, keep my calories very in check this week in general. 

Steps: 10,275. Still tracking behind, as I didn't get a hike in yesterday & had a few low step days when I was in the office. 

Workouts:

• 2 - 45 minute elliptical workouts
• 1 workout cardio/strength class
• 1 strength body pump class
• 1 yoga class
• 3 walks

Goals for the week: Overall I'm pleased with the week and pretty much did the best I could given my schedule. I'd still like to increase my steps, and get in one more strength class & one more cardio class. I'm  not sure what's realistic, but I only have to drive to the office one week instead of two. From a calorie/nutrition perspective, all was well with the exception of needing more fiber. I'm tracking protein & fiber to ensure I'm getting in all of the correct nutrition. 

How did you do last week with your health & fitness goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 Another busy week, but excited to cook a few of Nick's favorites. Hopefully he will grace us with his presence. ;-) 

• Friday - grilled chicken Caesar salad
• Saturday - grilled chicken (freezer)
• Sunday - steak & crostini
• Monday - tacos
• Tuesday - birthday dinner out
• Wednesday - spaghetti & meatballs (in office day, need something fast)
• Thursday - leftover spaghetti & meatballs
• Friday - chicken pad Thai 

What about you? What's on your menu for the week? 

Saturday Happenings

 It's supposed to be a gorgeous day today, so I'm looking forward to getting outside a bit.

I picked up Nick at the airport last night, and had a few minutes to catch up on the ride home. I went to bed after pointing him in the direction of available food. He ate & then went out to meet with friends who are also home. 

I was overly tired this morning, so I skipped yoga, but went to a Body Pump class, which I really enjoyed & found challenging. Always a good sign of a class. 

Things for today:

• Get tax form from Nick & finish taxes
• Yard work
• Wash all bedding
• Work schedule for next week
• Workout schedule for next week
• Pick up the house
• List a few items on ebay
• List a few items on Buy Nothing
• Read in the sunshine

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

 Here's what's happening in our world, on the money saving front. 

Saving on things we buy:

• Used another $5 of CVS rewards to buy Nick some treats to accompany his cash birthday gift. iBotta has a very regular CVS cash back offer (entire purchase, not specific items), so I uploaded my receipt & saved a bit extra. 
• Used $20 of grocery store rewards to pick up items we needed for dinners & four bottles of wine that were on a very big discount. Downloaded the digital coupons to my app before shopping as well. I could go on a tangent about how much I dislike digital coupons, but I'll skip that for you. ;-) Uploaded receipts to Fetch. 
• This is more along the lines of "use what you pay for", but I went to yoga on Saturday, taking advantage of my Y membership. My goal is to go 2-3 times/week, to make the cost very reasonable on a per visit basis. 
• We have been keeping a much closer eye on our power usage, after an unfortunately high true up bill from our solar. One of the easiest things (file this under the category of "why didn't we do this before") was setting our dishwasher start time to after midnight, at which time rates are much cheaper, and also just running it less. It helps that Sam often works during dinner & it's mostly just the two of us, so we can go longer without using the dishwasher. 

Earning money:

• I received a $3700 "true up" 401k contribution from my employer, due to the way they calculate 2025 contributions. That was a nice surprise. 

Avoiding spending:

• I bought a subscription to Calm (it's a meditation app) when they had 100% cash back through my credit card offers. I prefer Headspace, but free is a pretty great price.
• Requested reimbursement for the sports medicine massage I got on Saturday. My company offers a $480 per year reimbursement that you can use for the gym, massages, etc. Definitely going to make the most of that! I'm really working on my health & fitness & pain reduction for my back & hip. I love a massage, but this particular massage was one of the most painful experiences I've ever had. That said, I have so much more flexibility in my hip! So, worth it. 
• Used an Amazon gift card to order things M needed to change the oil in the boys cars. He does almost all of the maintenance himself, unless it's a really tricky issue. 

Eating what we have:

• I researched dinner recipes using items I needed to get out of the fridge: a large container of cottage cheese (I love it, but my stomach doesn't like it uncooked), spinach, and leftover mini tortillas. Gemini recommended a recipe, so we had that for dinner on Saturday night, and used up a bunch of leftovers: spinach, mini tortillas & cottage cheese. Hurrah. It was also delicious. Highly recommend to blend cottage cheese with salsa & use that up as a creamy & high protein sauce. This recipe was deconstructed enchiladas & was really delicious & easy. 
• M made up a large batch of grilled chicken, and used lemons from our tree as part of the marinade.
• I made coleslaw, using up extra coleslaw mix from our egg roll in a bowl dinner. I chopped up a green onion to add to the dressing, which always increases the flavor. We have an endless supply of green onions in the garden. 

For others:

• One of my consistent things I do is return abandoned grocery carts that block parking spots at the grocery store. I don't know why people do this, but the lot has very few spots in front, and the store attracts a lot of older residence, so parking further out is not convenient for them. It always makes me feel good to round up a few & put them back in the correct spots. This is a tiny, tiny thing, but I hope makes someone else's day a little bit better, when they find a close spot at the store. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Looking forward to Friday

 And, not just for the typical "work week ending" reasons, although certainly that as well. Nick comes home for spring break on Friday (hurrah), and my boss theoretically returns from her sick leave on Monday of next week. So, Friday is the end of my filling in for her (+ one other person). I'm still filling in for three other people, but... she obviously has the most stuff going on, the most challenging stuff to navigate & just generally the biggest priorities. Not managing her work will be a huge gift! I am also falling behind on all of my own work, which creates stress, as I'm a real "get it done/check it off the list" kind of person.

As for today, I'm heading to the office for a summit, and we will have a team dinner tonight. It's important & I need to be there, but it's also a 14+ hour day, which is just.. a lot. Luckily, this dinner prevents me from having to drive into the city for another dinner I was invited to for work, so I suppose small blessings, as I'll save a few hours of additional drive time. 

M & I have been looking at our budget & expenses, and using a lot of double checking of our numbers to determine when I can quit & not have a career job anymore. (I might do something part-time, or because I really want to, but not for a career job salary/stress.) I definitely need to complete one full year, and would like to get to January. July of 2027 would be ideal, but... unless I fill some of these open roles, January feels more likely. 

We are also planning our next "big" trip. No idea when we would take it - 2027, or later, but we have a lot of fun options on the table, including Tasmania for the Overland Track, or Torres del Paine in Patagonia. If time is a challenge, we are open to Banff as well, which has been on my bucket list for years.

That's what's up in my world. What about you? What are you looking forward to today?

March goals

 I'm very overdue, but better late than never is my motto on this. 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys college expenses
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items
• Be more intentional about saving & spending
• Find one expense to optimize
• Finish taxes

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life
• A monthly date with M
• Have a fabulous & on budget trip to Las Vegas/Zion with friends
• Enjoy having Nick home for spring break & his birthday
• Finalize summer plans for everyone
• Book summer travel
• Figure out next big adventure with M

Fitness:

• Start therapeutic massage appointments
• Get hip dry needled at Stanford
• Lose 3 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month (strength train, No S, meditate)
• Come up with a general workout template (strength, cardio, Pilates/yoga)
• Positive eating: track protein & produce
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons
• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends
• Try something new
• Say yes to more adventures
• Get to know our neighbors
• Try a new recipe

What about you? What are our goals for March?

Fitness Monday

 First off, it's generally such a lovely group of readers/commenters (thank you!), but sometimes... 

AnonymousMarch 8, 2026 at 4:10 PM

Are you making comments on the Iran war? Or is that too much for you too? Loving the high gas and food prices. So much for savings!!

There are so many things I could say in response to this, but I'll just go with... you obviously don't know me at all, and you must not be a reader. 😂

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled programming. 

Weight: 161.4 (basically flat, or down by the tiniest .1 amount)

Calories: 1,548/day. 

Steps: 9,635/day. Oof. So low. With a focus on getting in different types of workouts & less cardio focused, this is causing a pretty big drop in my steps. I had a ~10 mile hike yesterday, so this is particularly crazy given how much that offset the rest of the days. I really need to find time throughout the day for small walks. 

Workouts:

• 1 mile treadmill walk
• 1 cardio/strength combo class
• 1 strength training class
• 1 stretching class
• 30 minutes on the elliptical
• Yoga class
• 9 mile hike + walk & talk chat with friends

Other: as part of my quest in 2026 to improve my health & dedicate time & money to resolving the issues that really bother me (notably, my chronic back pain that interferes with my sleep & the tendonitis in my hip that interferes with many things), I got a deep tissue sports massage on Saturday, that focused on trigger point therapy, myofascial release, and active release techniques (ART). Let's just say that, short of childbirth, it was one of the most uncomfortable experience I've ever had. That said, I will go again, because while we only had time to focus on my hip, I regained quite a bit of additional mobility & my back & hip pain are both noticeably better! Next up I will go & have them focus on my lower back pain. The tendonitis in my hip is causing a lot of tightness elsewhere in my right side, which is pretty uncomfortable. 

I have also been adding a lot more stretching & yoga, which is awesome for me, but reduces my cardio output & step. I'm still working on the balance there, but I'm happy I'm making time for things other than cardio. 

Goals for the week ahead:

• Drop calories to 1400/day. I saw a suggestion to eliminate breakfast a few days/week, which I will likely try. I don't typically snack during the week days. I also need to reduce portion size by 10-15% at dinner, to see some progress.
• Increase steps.
• Add in another cardio workout

Unfortunately, this is going to be another intensely busy week, requiring two trips to the office, and one or two work evenings, as I'm still filling in for my boss. That means I need to "make hay while the sun shines", or get in the workouts when I have the chance & really focus. I also need to be creative this week, perhaps commuting in earlier than my 7 am time & bringing my gym bag & clothes & working out/getting ready before my day starts. Daylight savings is not my friend in this endeavor!

That's it for me. What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness goals?

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's that time again! My goal this week was to use up the following ingredients: spinach, cottage cheese (it's getting used in the sauce of a couple of dinners, below) & coleslaw. 

• Friday - leftover grilled burgers, over salads
• Saturday - grilled chicken & rice
• Sunday - green enchilada skillet (new recipe)
• Monday - creamy spinach & chicken alfredo (new recipe)
• Tuesday - leftover chicken + coleslaw
• Wednesday - out with a work event, M will likely have salmon
• Thursday - leftover enchilada skillet
• Friday - leftover creamy chicken & chicken alfredo

What about you? What's on your menu this week? 

February Goal Update

 February was quite a month. We had our incredible trip to New Zealand, quite a lot of stress with M's family & reimmersion to life. My manager is also unexpectedly out due to a health issue, and that compounded with other people being out means I'm currently covering for five people. It's a lot.

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys college expenses - done
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items - done, broth, soup & cauliflower rice
• Be more intentional about saving & spending. Move savings to account for Nick's college & track for motivation - I set all of this up, but it's been a very expensive month
• Find one expense to optimize - canceled my Kindle Unlimited subscription, saving $11.99/month
• Prep for taxes - did a lot of work early in the month, then finished Sam's taxes, but need M's input on a bunch of stuff & haven't made progress on that recently

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes
• A monthly date with M - New Zealand!
• Have a fabulous trip to NZ - it exceeded all of our expectations
• Finalize logistics for Greece trip - yes, booked additional flights, activities & ferry travel
• Sort out/finalize move out trip to Boulder - yes, booked
• Bucket list travel planning - we keep adding to the list, but generally yes!

Fitness:

• Two medical appointments (menopause & hip) - yes
• Lose 3 lbs -up roughly two pounds
• 10 positive days in a month (strength train, No S, meditate) -5 strength training, 7 No S, 3 meditations
• Positive eating: track protein & produce - did not track well during February
• Average 12,000 steps/day - 13,384

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons - 3/10
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 62 items out of the house!
• Get together with friends - yes, a hike, a workout class & a champagne/charcuterie meet up
• Try something new - went on an epic adventure, tried a guided tour for the first time, tried a few new workouts
• Say yes to more adventure - see above, plenty of adventure!
• Get to know our neighbors - no progress this month
• Try a new recipe -made a chicken tostada recipe that we liked

What about you? How did you do with your February goals? 

Frugal Friday

Honestly, money hasn't been anywhere near the top of my mind lately, but going through the motions of real life helps me feel a bit more grounded. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used $13 of CVS rewards to pick up some vitamins, a birthday card for Nick and eye makeup remover. I still paid out of pocket, but it was nice to have the $13 of savings. Additionally, I uploaded my receipts to both Fetch & iBotta, and iBotta had a cash back offer off of an entire CVS purchase that I took advantage of. I had to go to CVS to pick up a prescription, so this was a nice way to double up on an errand. 
• Used $30 of grocery store gift card money (earned from buying gift cards at some point in late 2025) to pick up things we needed: coconut milk (must get this at Trader Joes next time, due to cost), coleslaw mix x2, carrots, sandwich bread for Sam, discovered we didn't have enough chicken). 

Earning money

• I had a mammogram done in January, and my insurance company offers a once a year $75 reimbursement for standard screening & health care checkup. (It's a high deductible plan.) Filled out the $75 claim form. 

Avoiding spending

• Packed my lunch on Wednesday, when I went to the office. After more than a decade of working at a company that provided lunch, plus the first six months of my current employer providing lunch, I was out of practice. Luckily, I was busy enough at work that this made sense, even though I was surprisingly the only person to do it out of my work group. Saved $7 over the salad I would have bought. 

Eating what we have

• Made protein pancakes, and used up the remainder of a container of oats, as well as three overly ripe bananas that were otherwise destined for the freezer. Definitely liked these (made a large batch) & will make them again. 
• M & I teamed up for dinner on Sunday, and I made a delicious egg roll in a bowl recipe, and he made rice to go with it. We typically just serve the egg roll in a bowl on its own, but I needed rice for a weekday dinner, and opted to go ahead & have it made on Sunday to make things easier during the week. It was fantastic together & dinner was a hit. 
• Used up green onions from the garden, and we have a lot more where that came from!

For others

• A teacher on BN was looking for a Roomba vacuum for an area where their custodian doesn't clean, leaving the teachers to need to vacuum between planning periods, etc. It just so happened that I had a Roomba a friend had given us when they moved, and didn't really know if we would use it. The teacher was so excited, and she + the other teachers sent me a lovely note. It was very serendipitous that I could help them out. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Quick update

M has been trying to call & message his family, but yesterday I decided to try WhatsApp, as I feel like that sometimes goes through when all other messaging doesn't. I heard back from his sister today! Everyone is okay, but of course it's a very scary situation with lots of bombing. She is also in contact with M's mom & the rest of the family.

I am so grateful to hear back & to relieve anxiety for this immediate moment, knowing it's still a very dangerous situation.

Wanted to update you all, as you have been so lovely with your support and good thoughts. 

Fitness Monday

Still no word from M's family. I'm trying to keep myself busy with my normal tasks & activities, but it's obviously very challenging. 

On the fitness front, this was a challenging work week, which made everything else difficult. 

Weight: 161.5

Calories: average of 1,553/day

Steps: average of 10,417/day. Very far off track most days, as I hiked this weekend & made up some ground & still didn't get to 12k/day.

Workouts:

• 1 strength training class at Orange Theory
• 1 boot camp class
• 1 yoga class
• 1 7 mile walk (pretty easy terrain)
• 1 7.5 mile hike (harder terrain)
• 40 minutes on the elliptical
• A few short walks midweek

Other: didn't do a good job tracking protein or fruits/vegetables, but did try to eat a balanced diet. Had 4 No S days

Goals for the week ahead:

• Daily workouts
• Increased steps/day to 12k
• Track protein & fruit/vegetables

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 This post was scheduled a few days ago, but no news on M's family. It looks like phone & internet are currently unavailable. 

As part of my "use it up" goals for February, I was looking for a higher protein way to use freezer bananas than typical banana bread. Banana bread, while delicious, isn't exactly great for my waistline at the moment. I'm going to try & make this recipe for high protein pancakes with bananas. I'll report back.

• Friday - random fridge leftovers
• Saturday - eggroll in a bowl with Persian rice
• Sunday - grilled burgers, take 2. M didn't think his previous efforts went well, so he wants to try again. 
• Monday - slow cooker chicken satay with leftover rice
• Tuesday - leftover eggroll in a bowl
• Wednesday - leftover burgers
• Thursday - leftover chicken satay
• Friday - likely something very easy, as it's going to be a crazy week

What about you? What's on your menu for the week?

Saturday Happenings

M has been reaching out to his family, but has not heard back. We are very worried about the situation in Iran & the safety of his family & extended family. (If you have a political comment on this, please keep it to yourself. I'm not interested in a debate on this topic.)

I was originally planning to post what I have on my list to do today, what I'd like to get done, and how great it felt to have a really productive week. Maybe throw in some moderate complaining about how stressful work is at the moment, and how much worse I expect it to get over the next few weeks, but... that is all really silly stuff that doesn't matter. I guess that's a good reminder to me about life in general. 

Frugal Friday

A few frugal things this week to share... On the frugal fail side, I forgot to pack lunch yesterday, so I ended up buying a salad at work. Luckily, it's the assemble yourself kind, and subsidized, so I got a large salad with lots of protein & veggies for $7. Not the end of the world, but I also had leftovers in the fridge. Need to do better next time. This is the first time I've been to the office since you have to pay (previously free), hence why I forgot. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used $20 in grocery store rewards to offset part of my shopping this week. I picked up sandwich fixings for Sam, to save money on his lunches. And, picked up some dinner ingredients. I also uploaded my receipt to Fetch.
• I earned another $45 in grocery store rewards by purchasing $300 of Southwest gift cards from the store. We will use these for our flights to Sedona, most likely. 
• I rarely see "good deals" anymore at the grocery store, but found canned beans for $1 and pasta for $1 as well. Bought two of each. 
• I get $480 in "wellness reimbursement" through my company. Submitted $250 worth of expenses for joining the YMCA (more on that in an upcoming fitness post) & a massage. Really trying to get on top of my back pain. 

Earning money

• Had my Costco credit card rebate direct deposited into our savings account, to go towards our 2026 savings goals. 
• Had just enough time to get to the bank before my grace period ended for a CD that was maturing. Made a change from a 10 month to a 3 month CD, and over 3 months I'll make an extra $375 due to a much better rate. It does mean extra work when the CD matures again, but the longer duration rates are terrible right now. 
• Filled out Sam's tax forms & got him close to a $1k refund, which will go into his long term savings account/investments. 
• We get random Amazon packages (with our name & address) every few months. It's some sort of drop shipping scam (?). Anyway, Amazon doesn't want them back & the versions we get are for healing oils & stuff we don't use. I typically list them & sell them on eBay. I made a whopping $6 this time, but these expire & I wanted them out of the house before then. I used recycled shipping materials to mail them. 

Avoiding spending

• Returned a couple of items we didn't end up using on our trip. 
• In a big money saver, I had a flight credit for Sam that I couldn't use before the expiration. My standard approach of booking further into the future & cancelling to extend didn't' work in this case. I wanted to book a flight a week after the cancellation, so I was able to get United to help me when I called, which saved $566 that otherwise would have expired. 
• I cancelled my Kindle Unlimited membership. I'm a voracious reader, but am going to try out the library for a while. I can always go back to Kindle if the library doesn't have enough options for me. 

Eating what we have

• Or, drinking, rather. There were two bottles of wine with one glass each from hosting, so I had a glass of wine from each of those bottles & finished those off. M dug out a margarita mix he made a while back, and served that over ice for himself. 
• Made an orzo chicken dish on Saturday, and used a lemon from the garden to add seasoning, plus feta from previous recipes. In addition, for M's salad, I used chopped cucumbers, onions & garbanzo beans from the protein bowls we made earlier in the week. I'll add that the chicken orzo dish was particularly dry and not great as a leftover, but... we won't repeat it.
• I meal prepped on Sunday, to get ahead a bit for meals during the week. 
• Made chicken broth from rotisserie chicken we bought this week. Used some of the broth to thin out a chicken noodle soup that I'd added too many noodles to, which made it a much better consistency. Froze the rest of the broth. 

For others

• Giving away a lot on Buy Nothing, having some career conversations/references with folks job searching. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Thursday happenings

 It's been a busy week, as my boss is out unexpectedly ill, and I'm covering for her. I also went in to the office yesterday, which adds about 90 minutes to my day, but was necessary for a few things.

I've been reasonably productive & am excited to try out a new YMCA class today - boot camp. I actually joined the Y to get access to lower cost yoga & Pilates vs a specialized studio for either. Of course, I know the quality will not be the same, but I'm not at an advanced level of Pilates or yoga, so it doesn't really matter to me. I'm looking for stretching, mobility & to build my strength in my core to help work on my ongoing back issues that keep me up at night & make me uncomfortable during the day.

I've also had a few other wins that I'll share tomorrow in my Frugal Friday post, and wanted to share a recipe that I swapped out & wasn't on the menu plan - Pulled Chicken Tostadas. We loved it, and used rotisserie chicken. I forgot the adobo Chiles, so we added a jalapeno from the garden. It's not the most frugal recipe with the addition of the bacon, but we really enjoyed it and the recipe made a total of 6 dinners (3 diners, x2 dinners). I made 1/2 of the coleslaw with lime the first night, and 1/2 the second night, to keep it fresh, which worked well. Anyway, thought I was share, as rotisserie chicken has been a staple on our side.

I also made a lemon chicken orzo dish & it was not good & tasted like "cafeteria hospital food", which was super irritating. I made it, so no one to blame but myself. Going to have to remember not to repeat that one!

I'm meeting a couple of friends from my morning workout class (pre going back to work) this evening for a glass of wine & dinner, which will be nice, as I don't get to see them very often anymore. 

And, for visual interest, here's how we enjoyed our Valentine's Day. This is a picture of the winery/hotel we stayed at, and the cheeseboard I put together. ;)

Fitness Monday

 This isn't a very exciting Fitness Monday update, but I wanted to get back into the rhythm again & get back on track, post our vacation. I'd summarize February so far as being very hot & cold. I had some 36,000 step days, and multiple days without a workout. We were sore after the big hike, hiked on a much smaller scale other days in New Zealand, had travel days without a workout, etc. 

We also ate plenty in New Zealand, and shared a bottle of wine most nights, and the calories of that certainly added up. My weight is up about 2 lbs since the beginning of February. I also went on HRT medicine, and that is causing a lot of other fun stuff. So, I'm hoping everything with regulate a bit by the end of this week, so I can get a good sense of where I'm at.

I did do two of my class workouts (Saturday & Sunday) & am signed up for a strength class today. I need to come up with a workout schedule for each week, to give myself a bit of structure.

For this week, here's what I'm thinking:

• Monday - strength training class + a walk of some kind for steps
• Tuesday - cardio/strength workout class
• Wednesday - work out at the office gym at lunch
• Thursday - run outside
• Friday - workout class
• Saturday - hike outside with a friend or M
• Sunday - workout class

It's also my goal to drop my calories, keep alcohol to the weekends, and move back to the "No S" plan (no snacks, no sugar, no second portions), as well as keep a close eye on produce & protein intake.

I do feel like I'm doing a good job of working to resolve my health issues & staying on top of things. I saw a  sports medicine doctor last week (super hard to get into the clinic at Stanford) & have an appointment to get my hip dry needled at the end of March. I'm also trying to get into a regular massage routine, in order to solve some of my ongoing back issues. I still need to figure out a reasonably priced yoga/Pilates option, as I definitely need to incorporate more strength & core workouts. I'm thinking of getting more details on the YMCA near us, to understand the pricing & class availability. 

What about you? How are you doing on your health & fitness goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 We've been freewheeling the menu plan over here (we haven't had one), so it will be nice to get back onto a schedule again. 

A brief recap, plus planned menu items:

• Tuesday - chicken tzatziki protein bowls
• Wednesday - pizza delivery (parents request)
• Thursday - leftover chicken tzatziki protein bowls
• Friday - leftover pizza + salads
• Saturday - creamy garlic chicken
• Sunday - burgers
• Monday - leftover creamy garlic chicken
• Tuesday - pulled chicken tostadas
• Wednesday - leftover egg roll in a bowl
• Thursday - leftover chicken tostadas
• Friday - leftovers or something from the freezer

What about you? What's on your menu plan for the week? 

Saturday Happenings

 I'm back & slowly easing into life. Yesterday was a rocky work day, and next week promises to be more of the same. As a result, despite it being a short week, I need the weekend to recharge & prep for what is sure to be an intense week ahead.

Everything I own feels tight after a few weeks of indulgences. The hiking food was shockingly good & they fed us very well. Time to get back to serious business on the exercise & fitness front.

Here are my plans for today:

• Workout class
• Return a few items to REI that I didn't need for the hike
• Work on our taxes. Yuck. I did manage to complete Sam's taxes yesterday, but his tax situation is pretty easy. Two W2s, and nothing else. ;-) 
• Menu prep for the week ahead
• Work on calendar & scheduling for next week
• And, workouts for next week
• Find a bottle of wine & a card for my friend. We are meeting up tomorrow for a workout class & coffee. Her birthday was this week.
• Call a friend who is struggling

What about you? What's on your list today? 

Frugal Friday

Let me start by saying that this trip was not frugal - it was a milestone 20th anniversary trip, planned to coincide with my 50th birthday as well as a bucket list travel item. We most certainly made the most of it! Here are a few frugal things that happened along the way, or over the past few weeks:

Saving on things we buy

• I almost never buy anything that's on iBotta's list of branded name items for cash back, but they have been running $.10 or $.20 off of any receipt lately, so I've been taking advantage of that. 
• We had some leftover NZ cash on our last day, and our hotel accepted that towards our payment (rest on credit card), which was super convenient & avoided any transaction fees. 
• M & I shared lunch a few times. 
• My parents requested pizza on their final night, so I used a $10 off coupon to get dinner for everyone. 

Earning money

• Nothing interesting to report here other than we were both on paid time off.

Avoiding spending

• Aligned with Sam's work schedule, to get a ride to the airport. This flight was out of SFO (all of the international ones are), which is further from our house & a more expensive ride share option. 
• On the way back, we used our Uber credit (purchased from gift cards) to get a ride home. The weather was terrible, and our flight landed at 6 am, so no desire to ask anyone to pick us up. 
• Ate at the lounge ahead of our flight home. 
• I didn't end up wearing my hiking shorts, so I will return those. 
• Took advantage of the free breakfast at all three of the hotels we stayed at. 
• Didn't drink a bottle of wine given to us at the winery, so I wrapped it carefully in clothes, and then put it inside my backpack, which was inside of another bag. Made it safely home, and drank it with my mom once we were back.
• We got free checked bags due to airline status & keeping the bags under the weight guidelines. 

Eating what we have

• Made tzatziki bowls again, using Costco rotisserie chicken. We didn't have hummus, but they were otherwise delicious. 
• Had a bowl again for lunch.

For others

• M set up a photo album for our fellow hikers, and we were able to send that out to everyone to allow for photo sharing. People loved it! 

What about you? Any wins to share?

We are back

 I'm tired, but mostly from not sleeping on the return flight. M managed to sleep quite a bit, and I was envious! All logistics went very smoothly, from our short hop flight from Queenstown to Christchurch, and our much longer flight from Christchurch to San Francisco. 

My parents were here visiting Sam on his birthday, so it's been nice to see them. We went to lunch yesterday on my last day off, & they head home today. We made an easy dinner of chicken tzatziki bowls yesterday, using rotisserie chicken from Costco. M made tzatziki sauce, and we diced up: feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions & served with artichokes & garbanzo beans. It was easy & delicious, and healthy as far as things like this go.

I'm attempting to get back on track with my eating, after all of the indulgences on vacation. My jeans definitely felt tight one of the days, so time to be focused on eating well & getting back into a more consistent workout schedule.

I'm feeling very behind on life, but much less stressed about work, which I suppose is one of the goals of vacation!

And, for a few extra pictures, we went to Mount Cook on one of our last days. We felt spoiled by our pristine hiking (no tourists) for the earlier hiking trip, but Mount Cook was still lovely. Just more crowded. The water is actually that blue (or, I think it's a reflection off of the clouds?) Not sure what causes the color, but it was stunning.

Back to regular programming soon!

Milford Track

 Impossible to pick photos that capture the experience, but it was incredible. Met amazing people, saw amazing things, wore out our legs, had pretty much perfect weather... Spent my birthday on the hardest uphill & then downhill. M brought champagne to the halfway point (and, hiked with it for three days!) to surprise me.

More photos to come, but a few of my favorites.

More to come! Switching hotels soon.