December goals

It's the last month of 2013, & I still have a lot to do before the end of the year!

Here are my goals for December:

1. Complete 1,000 minutes of cardio.
2. Complete 16 strength workouts (this is my last month hurrah to achieve my 2013 goal!) :-)
3. Complete 9 stretching workouts, which will put me at 50% of my 2013 goal. Not quite, but I would take it. :-)
4. Order & mail out all holiday cards.
5. Figure out all of the logistics of our holiday plans (car rentals, supplies for our vacation house, etc)
6. Finish all Christmas shopping/wrapping/budget, etc.
7. Complete our 2013 spending wrap up.
8. Set goals for 2014.
9. Set budget for 2014.
10. Plan spring break.
11. Declutter our vacation house, so we're ready to list when the time comes.
12. Choose a fitness race/event to train for.
13. Have one date night with MR.
14. Extend myself socially, as I try to make friends & expand my circle with the move. :-)
15. Roll over my 401K.
16. Find a dentist & make an appointment! I'm way overdue.

How about you? How are your December goals shaping up? Are you ready?! :-) 

November Goal Recap

I can't believe it's December (and, I think I say that every month), but here's how I did on my November goals:

1. Complete 1,000 minutes of cardio - I closed out the month with 909 minutes. I'm very impressed that I was able to build in a new workout routine with my work schedule changing things pretty drastically.
2. Complete 10 strength workouts - I completed 6 strength workouts.
3. Complete 8 stretching workouts - I completed 5 stretching workouts.
4. Have 1 date night with M.- No date "night", but we did meet for lunch three times in November. We spent our date night money on a sitter for Veteran's Day, when we both had to work, but school was out.
5. Figure out Thanksgiving plans. - Done! The boys wanted to do a Turkey Trot, go to Santa Cruz, hike up to the Stanford Dish, decorate for Christmas, & visit the Winchester Mansion. We did all of this. :-) 
6. Finish (almost) all of my Christmas shopping. - Yes! I still have just a few last minute things that need to be ordered, but all of my wrapping (that I can do early) is done, and now I just have to finish up my Christmas spreadsheet, to determine the remaining budget that we'll donate to the food bank.
7. Lose 2 pounds, bringing my weight to 144. - I lost one pound! I'm pretty pleased, given the holidays. :-) I'm at 145.
8. Rent our house in Washington - DONE!!!!!!!!!!
9. List our vacation house. - We opted to wait on this, the market is still pretty soft, & we're trying to determine the timing of a sale.
10. After I get my first paycheck, build a 2014 budget. - I'm about 2/3 of the way there. 

Given that this was my first full month back to work, I'm pleased with how things went. I definitely need to devote more time to working out, and cut my calories back a bit further.

How about you? How did you do on your November goals?

Menu Plan for the Weeks Ahead

Planning a menu helps us keep costs low, minimize work day stress, & also ensures that we eat in, rather than grabbing dinner out.

I'm happy to report that in November, we spent under $500 on groceries! $499.57, to be precise.This is huge for us. :-) Our goal for the month was $540, so it's great to see that we're slowly driving our overall spending down. We had a few expensive months after we moved, & had to restock.

A few things that are keeping our spending low(er):

• Running to the grocery store after work is rarely possible anymore, due to our schedules. As a result, we do one trip to Costco each weekend, & occasionally I'll go to the produce stand for something during the week. 
• Free lunches at work during the work week, for me + M, as well as free coffee & breakfast for me. M goes in later, so still drinks coffee/eats breakfast at home. I've always been a lunch packer, & previously took leftovers. Because I'm no longer eating leftovers for lunch, we have more left for dinners, which means both less cooking, & more money savings. Win/win!
• We continue to menu plan, watch our food waste, & focus on primarily spending our grocery money on: produce, dairy, & meat. We buy  little in the way of snacks.

I premade quite a bit of food before I went back to work, so we are eating our way through those stockpiled freezer meals. Here's what's on the menu for the weeks ahead.

• Sunday - M's famous grilled cheeseburgers. It's still grilling weather!
• Monday - tilapia & pasta, as a side dish
• Tuesday - leftover burgers
• Wednesday - Tacos (late night, with soccer tryouts)
• Thursday - Chicken & veggie sautee over rice
• Friday - Spaghetti & meatballs (Freezer)
• Saturday - Grilled chicken & pasta
• Sunday -Homemade pizza
• Monday - Leftover spaghetti & meatballs
• Tuesday - Leftover pizza
• Wednesday - Leftover grilled chicken & pasta
• Thursday - chicken soft tacos
• Friday - Tomato, chicken, & gorgonzola soup + homemade bread
• Saturday - M & I are attending a birthday party, so we'll eat there. The kids will have something quick & easy.
• Sunday - Risotto

In other news, I made the most amazing butternut squash, goat cheese, & chicken sausage risotto. I doctored a couple of recipes, so I'll try to recreate it into one & post it. It was restaurant quality & absolutely delicious!

How are you doing with your grocery spending? What's helping you control costs at the grocery store?

Sunday Funday

It's the last day of vacation before we head back to work (and school, respectively) in our house. We put the tree up yesterday, went to visit the Winchester Mansion (the kids + M - I did some returns in my own version of hell - aka the mall). We wrapped a few gifts this morning (both boys were very excited to wrap), but we can't do much of it, as we're bringing gifts in our suitcases for Christmas, & adding boxes makes them too hard to transport.

M & I only exchange a few small tokens, so I've wrapped his gifts & they are now under the tree. :-)

Unfortunately, when we were unpacking the Christmas decorations, we discovered that the movers did a really terrible job packing the items, & my favorite Christmas decoration (an advent house monogramed with our name), is substantially damaged after the move. This is especially sad because they don't make them anymore. :-(

As for today, we plan to hike up to the Stanford Dish, which will complete all of the things the boys asked to do on our long weekend:

• Santa Cruz Boardwalk (we did this on Friday)
• Put up the Christmas tree (yesterday)
• Visit the Winchester Mansion (yesterday)
• Hike up to the Stanford Dish (today)

We also bought the game Clue, & have been having a great time teaching the boys how to play. :-)

Here's what else I'm hoping to accomplish today:

1. Wrap a couple of bigger items that we're not taking on the plane (the boys are getting scooters, but we will give them to them the day we fly out).
2. Pick all remaining persimmons, as the crows & squirrels are making a giant mess in our yard.
3. Do yoga
4. Finish my November goals summary.
5. Write up December goals.
6. Make a menu plan.
7. See if our babysitter is available for a party in two weeks.
8. Deal with an IRS drama. Oh my. Way back last year, we had to pay back part of an advance from 2011 that was miscategorized as a bonus. We did all of this, paid back the bonus, and eventually had to refile our 2011 taxes, and received a return. Apparently, M's employer at the time, did not file his revised W2, so the refund is due back to the IRS, unless we fill out a mountain of paperwork. I'm so tired of this situation & want it to go away.

I think that will about cover it!

Here's a picture of the view from Thanksgiving. We were invited to join M's cousin's wife's family (got that? :-)) at their home on Thursday, & suffice it to say, the house was amazing. As Nick said, "it's a mansion!" It was pretty terrifying to have my two boys roaming around in a home filled with extremely expensive antiques, but we did make it out without damaging anything!

Hope your Sunday is relaxing! What are your plans for today?

Friday Highlights

Every evening at dinner, we all go around the table & do our highlights of the day. Today was absolutely filled with highlights, so I know it was a great day. :-) Probably my favorite day with the kids since we moved.

We got up this morning (no alarm - so blissful!) & after breakfast, Nick & I went to Rite Aid. He heard about Black Friday shopping at school, & got super excited to shop & "find deals". Once the Rite Aid ad came out, he set off circling all of the "deals" he wanted to pick up. His list included: a new sponge for his bath, Cheez Its, Cherios (we don't typically have cereal at the house), a stuffed bear, & goldfish crackers. :-) We got some fantastic deals at Rite Aid today. After subtracting the price of a gift card (which I'd already planned to combine with a Black Friday deal for some needed jeans at the Gap), we paid just under $1 after rewards. We got tons of household stuff (although, I managed to avoid the teddy bear. :-))

Here's my mini shopper. :-)

We headed out to Santa Cruz after the shopping, & picked up lunch at Subway. After lunch, the boys played games, ate ice cream, & enjoyed the gorgeous day.

My big boy even went on the Giant Dipper with me!

After Santa Cruz, we drove to Capitola, where I promptly fell in love with the town, & decided that when we're rich, we'll buy another vacation house there. :-) It reminded me of a California version of our vacation house on the Oregon coast. Fabulous!

Does it get any better than this? We came home, & I made tacos & guacamole (avocados from our tree in the back) & M made pomegranate martinis. Life is good. :-)

Tomorrow I'll be back to talk about Thanksgiving, & our plans for December.

How was your day? Did you spend it getting deals, or did you have other activities planned? What's your favorite beach town?

So much to be grateful for!

I'm working from home today, trying to wrap up some last minute projects before my two days off this week. As I was walking the boys to school this morning (camp, technically), I was thinking of all of the many, many things I am grateful for:

• My family. I was raised in a very supportive & happy home, & know how important it was to have parents that instilled confidence in me, as well as modeled an extremely healthy marriage. Although my parents didn't have much money, they encouraged me to work hard at school, and save money for college. There wasn't any question as to whether I would attend - it was understood. 
• My husband. We have had plenty of challenges in our marriage. We got married when M was 40, and a bachelor. He was used to being a very independent guy. We survived having two kids very close in age, a move, new jobs, and I can honestly say that our marriage has never been better. Now that he doesn't travel - parenting is so much easier! I feel so, so very blessed to have a marriage to someone who is my best friend.
• My children. I get all emotional just thinking about how lucky I am to have them. They are hilarious & adorable, & full of child-like discovery & fun. I was convinced that I wanted two girls, but I wouldn't trade these two fabulous boys for anything in the world. I love being the mother of two little guys.
• My health. It's been a very challenging year, but my health is back on track & I feel extremely grateful that I am at a point where I can self-manage most of the symptoms. I've made lifestyle changes, but I'm embracing them, rather than spending time feeling sad about it.
• Work. Starting at a new place has been pretty trying for me, but I feel like I'm settling in a bit. The role is well suited to me, and the employer is fantastic. Great perks, great compensation, & I'm close enough to meet M for lunch when our schedules line up. Love that. Oh, & there's a soft serve ice cream machine in my building. ;-) Not sure if that's a perk or a risk to my waistline.
• California. This move has pushed me out of my comfort zone, and there have been many challenges along the way, but today, walking in the sunshine, & picking fruit and vegetables to share with friends tomorrow? I'm truly happy to be here.

My crew on the ride to camp this morning. Oh, & did I mention that school is a little over a block from our house? Such a blessing.

I hope to be online over the weekend a bit, updating my November goals, planning for December, as well as 2014. 

And, a very happy (early) Thanksgiving to all of you. I'm constantly inspired by how other people work towards their goals (financial & otherwise). You keep me motivated & on track!

What are you grateful for today?

Sunday night chit chat

We had a great & productive Sunday around our house. Ran errands with the kids, went to an open house, picked persimmons for our Thanksgiving party we're attending (they specifically asked for fresh persimmons from our yard), a run/bike ride with the kids, yoga this morning, & wine + laughter with M tonight. A great day. :-) I wish we didn't have to work tomorrow - the boys are out of school all week. They'll be at a camp Monday-Wednesday, but we have Thursday & Friday. Both M & I are on call over the holidays (the downside of being the new employees), so fingers crossed nothing comes up.

Last year at this time, we were in Hawaii! Thinking fondly of our fabulous trip. We were just talking today about our 10 year plan, & it definitely still includes relocating (part-time, most likely) to Hawaii. Can't wait! :-)

Thanks, as always to Carla for hosting the Chit Chat!

• Reading: "Worth the Weight", on my Kindle. Overall, it's pretty good, for a free book. :-) 
• Listening to: "Monster" by Eminem & Rihanna. What can I say? It's stuck in my head? 
• Watching: Arthur, with the kiddos.
• Cooking/Baking: I made: homemade bread, chocolate chip cookies, & two kinds of pizza over the weekend.
• Happy you accomplished this week: I wrapped up a few big work projects, which is great, since the next six weeks will be our busy of the year. Yikes. I also picked most of the persimmons, picked up gifts for our giving tree gifts, and purchased the supplies for our contribution to the Thanksgiving party.
• Looking forward to next week: Thanksgiving, & two days off! It's been a long time since I've had no vacation days. ;-) 
• Thankful for today: So thankful for my hilarious kids. They have finally discovered the electric keyboard they received last year for Christmas, & are making all kinds of "interesting" songs. ;-) 
• Bonus Question: When do your Christmas/Holiday Decorations go up? - After Thanksgiving sometime!

Why I love weekends

The freedom . . . precious freedom! :-) On weekdays, I get up at 5:30 (six if I'm really lazy) & try to get to work by 7. I leave work at 4, head home, pick up the kids at 5:00, start dinner, & help with homework. After dinner, it's bath time, laundry, dishes, & packing lunches for the next day. Basically, all of the normal mom/family tasks.

Weekends look similar, but with so much schedule flexibility! I love it. :-)

Both boys have play dates today (one is over right now - three loud boys at once! Oh my :-)), so that should be interesting. I've made chocolate chip cookies for hungry boys to snack on.

Other than that, here's what I'm hoping to accomplish today:

• Make a menu plan for the next couple of weeks
• Do yoga
• Go for a walk or run
• Do my arms workout
• Run to Osh Kosh to return a pair of pants, pick up a fleece for Sam, & purchase a gift for our giving tree family.
• Import all of my contacts to my new phone. 
• Make butternut squash soup & goat cheese crostini for dinner
• Run to Costco for supplies
• Review Christmas gifts, determine what I still need ( & how we're doing on the budget)
• Continue 2014 financial plan
• Hang up jewelry racks, & organize closet.

Anything I don't do today will carry over to tomorrow!

What about you? What are you up to today?

Sunday night chit chat, and holiday photos

First up, we took some photos today, to be used on our holiday cards that we'll send around to family & friends. We always take our own - we invested in a nice digital camera when the kids were born. That said, it's no fun to not have M in the pics. :-) We clearly need to buy a tripod.

I went on a 7.5 mile run/hike up the mountain near our house. It was stunning. I'm now sore. ;-)

On the chit chat. As always, thanks to Carla for hosting. :-) 

• Reading: - I think "The Beloved One".
• Listening to: "Empire State of Mind". Nick loves that song!
• Watching: Nothing, although M just found a home movie from the day after Sam was born, so we may be watching that soon. I've never seen it - we misplaced the tapes, so I'm very excited to see them!
• Cooking/Baking: Not much. I juiced a bunch of oranges yesterday, & made homemade pizza tonight. Cheese for Nick, and a combination of leftover meatballs, chicken sausage, diced onion, cheddar with a tomato base, and fresh tomatoes on the top. Fabulous.
• Happy you accomplished this week: So happy that our renters moved in to our house in Seattle!
• Looking forward to next week: Looking forward to lunch with a friend tomorrow, & ordering our holiday cards.
• Thankful for today: A great husband. Seriously, we have our moments, & he drives me crazy at times, but I love him dearly.
• *Bonus Question: Do you believe in "good/bad luck & coincidences"? - Yes, absolutely!

How was your Sunday? Hope it was fabulous. :-) 

Weekend activities

It's our first weekend since we moved to California where we don't have soccer activities. It's been very freeing. :-) Of course, the boys have soccer tryouts on Monday, so it will be short lived.

We started off our weekend with my favorite task - going through the yard & collecting all of the ripe fruit. My helper (Nick) assisted.

In the bowl we have- 12 persimmons, 9 navel oranges, & one lonely avocado. The avocado isn't quite ripe yet, but we're attempting to ripen it in a brown bag.

In other news, the month is more than half over. Yikes! Here's how I'm doing with my goals.

1. Complete 1,000 minutes of cardio - I'm at 462 minutes, so I need to pick up the pace. I'm hoping to do a 60 minute workout today.
2. Complete 10 strength workouts - I'm at 4. I need to focus on strength training these next couple of weeks. The older you get, the more important it is to work on maintaining your muscle mass.
3. Complete 8 stretching workouts - Yikes, I'm at 2. Committing to doing yoga tonight. With Nick. He loves it. :-)
4. Have 1 date night with M. - We've had several lunch dates. We cancelled our official dinner date, as both boys were sick. I'll add another lunch date to the calendar & call it good.
5. Figure out Thanksgiving plans. - We had plans figured out, but just got invited to enjoy Thanksgiving with Michael's cousin's wife's family. ;-) We want to do a turkey trot in the morning with the kids. We were hoping to go to the boardwalk at Santa Cruz, but may have to move that to another day. I also need to figure out what to bring to the meal.
6. Finish (almost) all of my Christmas shopping. - Mostly done! Just have a few things left that I want to order right before the holidays, as they need to be mailed & I don't want them arriving a month early. :-) 
7. Lose 2 pounds, bringing my weight to 144. - I've lost one pound. :-) 
8. Rent our house in Washington - Yes! They moved in yesterday!!!!!! Hurrah!!!!!
9. List our vacation house. - *cough* Let's just say that I'm struggling quite a bit with this one. The market is soft there, so we're revisiting what makes the most financial sense. In addition to my huge emotional attachment, of course. ;-)
10. After I get my first paycheck, build a 2014 budget. - In progress. I've added up & categorized all 2013 spending so far (that was a giant work item, since I'd slacked a bit in October) & now have a firm sense of how we will spend our money in 2014. I have my paycheck & estimated income for 2013, but M's is still varied given that he was dumping a bunch of additional money in his 401K now that he finally has a match available. His previous employer did not offer this. I also signed up for all of the benefits for both of us, & understand what that should cost.

In other news, I maxed out my 401K! Which means that my last couple of paychecks will be larger, & can be used for the holidays. This has been my method of paying for Christmas for the past ten or so years, but I wasn't sure I would hit the max this year with my gap in employment. We also spend our entire Christmas budget ($1200) on plane tickets to Portland for the actual holiday, so it was more important than ever to find a way to source the gifts without pulling from savings. More on the actual holiday spending in a follow up post.

We ran most of our errands yesterday (Costco, the produce stand, picking up a prescription, etc). I have lots of house projects to complete, need to take Nick for new shoes, and Sam is requesting a few games of Battleship. :-) If the kids cooperate, we may also try to take pictures for our holiday card.

What are you up to today? What is the weather like in your area? It's supposed to be cool and 65 here, but no rain!

There's no such thing as a free lunch

Well, actually there is. However, it's not without its own cost. ;-) My new employer (and, M's too for that matter - we both got jobs at the same place) offers free food. . . all day long. Free breakfast in the morning, snacks, fresh fruit, coffee, smoothies, lunch, & if you happen to be working late, free dinner. I'm sure you can guess why our employer wants to feed their staff - to keep them working longer! That said, I'm very grateful. I've packed a lunch probably 85% of every work day, so it's such a nice treat to have the variety of options, the cost savings, as well as just saving time by not packing. I also feel super grateful that our employer puts a big emphasis on healthy options. The jury is still out on how much we're saving, but I'll be reporting on that soon.

There is also an onsite gym (I've been taking spinning in the morning - it's amazing), that is free. Love having a gym in such close proximity to my desk. I can actually get in a workout on 2-3 days/week before my first meeting.

That said, my first three weeks have been quite an adjustment. I was with my prior employer for my entire career (16 years, but who is counting? ;-)), and had a huge network I could tap whenever I needed advice, had questions, or just wanted to vent. I'm starting entirely from scratch in a new place with a very different culture. It's . . . unsettling. I also had one vision of what my job & team would be like, based on feedback from M about his team & environment. We work in different job disciplines, & I think it's safe to say that our teams are nothing alike.

I'm still trying to find the balance of settling in to a new place, adjusting to my new working hours, and managing the kids/family/household stuff.

Luckily, soccer ended on Saturday, & I'm very grateful to have the time back. It was a huge learning experience for me to coach, and quite a bit more work than I initially expected. Somehow, since we've moved to California, the boys have started to look more alike! I think it's the shaggy hair & tan. ;-) And yes, these are pictures of pictures, so please excuse the quality.

In other news, I got my first paycheck last Friday, so I'm busily tallying up our spending for 2013, predicting our final budget totals for the year, setting the budget for 2014 and just generally getting our lives back in order.

And, we've rented out our house in Washington!!!! So very excited. We're going to continue to pay for the yard service, & then pay a fee to the property management firm, but we will roughly break even each month. So excited to have that settled. Our renters move in over the weekend.

I apologize for my absence as I try to find time to get everything done!

What is one thing you are grateful for today? For me, the gorgeous fall that we are enjoying, and the relief of knowing our house is rented. 

November goals

Posting twice in two days - a recent record! :-)

Here we go - it's time for November goals:

1. Complete 1,000 minutes of cardio
2. Complete 10 strength workouts
3. Complete 8 stretching workouts
4. Have 1 date night with M.
5. Figure out Thanksgiving plans.
6. Finish (almost) all of my Christmas shopping.
7. Lose 2 pounds, bringing my weight to 144.
8. Rent our house in Washington
9. List our vacation house.
10. After I get my first paycheck, build a 2014 budget.

And, because no post is complete without a picture, here's my lemon harvest from a few weeks ago. There was a lot of juicing involved!

What are your goals for November? I still need to recap October, and start planning for 2014, but one step at a time. :-)

Sunday night chit chat

As always, thanks to Carla for hosting!

I've now completed my second week of work at my new job, & it's still exhausting. ;-) I'm getting up and leaving for work early (7 ish), while M gets the kids breakfast & off to school. I'm trying to leave work at 4:30 every day, so I can pick up the kids by 5. So far, so good, but it's a mad rush out the door, and back in the evenings. I've been eating breakfast at work (provided by my employer) every day, as well as the free lunches & snacks. Hopefully we'll start to see a reduction in our grocery bill.

And, a few pictures of my little guys, ready for Halloween!

Now, on to my chit chat! :-)

 

• Reading: I think it's called the Queen Gene? It's on my Kindle, so I rarely look at the titles once I'm passed the first page.

Listening to: The sound of the washing machine, & a kid slashing in the tub. :-)

Watching: Absolutely nothing. We canceled cable when we moved, & haven't looked back.

Cooking/Baking: Not much today. I took Nick to the outlet malls to return a couple of things, do a little Christmas shopping, & to buy the next size up in: pants, underwear, socks, & pajamas for Sam. He's grown at least an inch & a half since we moved! Yesterday, I made three batches of this homemade pizza dough. It's my favorite yet. I also made two batches of pumpkin muffins - one with chocolate chips (for the kids), one without for M. I also made & froze persimmon jam, with all of the fruit that I've pureed. Last night we had meatball pizza with gouda. Tonight I made pizza again since we got home late - chicken sausage with parmesan. Yum!

Happy you accomplished this week: I survived another week of work, ordered the trophies for our end of season soccer party (that's been haunting me), handed off a couple of work projects, & generally had a balanced week with working out, etc.

Looking forward to next week: Coaching my last soccer practice & game! It's been a huge commitment, that's for sure. :-) Also, we think our house in Washington will be officially rented. Cannot wait!

Thankful for today: I'm so grateful that we're living near a gorgeous nature preserve. It's less than 1/2 a mile from our house, & I enjoy hiking, walking, running, & biking there whenever possible. Loved this picture from my hike yesterday - don't know if you can see it, but a giant, lone palm tree is framed within the branches of the other tree.

Bonus Question: Describe your "perfect pizza". - I *love* pizza. I have lots of favorites. A super greasy pepperoni pizza from my hometown, or a taco pizza. A good Islander always hits the spot (Canadian bacon & pineapple). Yum!

 

 

 

I need to find time to post this week - I really want to recap my October, set some November goals, and get back on a regular schedule. *fingers crossed that this is the week!*

 

I've been absent from reading my favorite blogs as well, but hope to be back this week.