Zach's B-day Cake

When I woke up this morning to decorate Zach's Birthday cakes this is what I found

It looked like a disaster I didn't know what I was going to do! So I whipped up some butter cream to attempt to "glue" the cake back together enough so that I could at least give him some sort of cake As I continued to make the cake I decided to try something new.. I wanted to make a 3-d cake.. So I decided to make Zach a surfing cake.. And about four hours later here is Zach's birthday cake..

I think if the cake hadn't been such a disaster when i first started it would of have a better chance but I really am impressed of how it looks :)

The Art of Grocery Shopping

One thing that has taken me about 3 years to learn is the art of grocery shopping.. I used to think that it was cheapest and easiest to just go to one store (usually walmart) and buy all the grocery's I could afford to buy all at one store in one trip so that I wouldn't spend useless money on random items each week at the store not to mention the amount of time i saved by only going every month or so (with the exception of milk and bread) and just buying everything all at once.. but there was something I always noticed I was throwing away alot of that food before I could ever use it all! Especially veggies... So I have since learned to shop around.. And I have noticed that it's a real art!

It really dawned on me the other day when Zach and I just happened to be at 2 different grocery stores at the same time (weird i know) and We were discussing the items we needed for our home and even though the money cames from the same account we divided who would buy what based solely on the store we were at! So.. For example: Zach was at Harris Teeter who has milk for about $3 a gallon which is very cheap and I was at Lowes foods where eggs were on sale for $.99 a carton and I purchased the eggs and he got the milk.. and we divided it up like that! I found it very amusing! :)

Another thing I've learned is to buy specific food groups from diff rent stores, yes it is inconvenient when you really only need a few items to shop around different stores but usually you will save so much more money and get much better quality food by doing so. What i've learned Buy Fruits and Veggies at Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods, or Fresh Market based on whats on sale!
Buy meats at Food Lion for the best deals or Lowes Foods (if you live in Wilmington take a friend with you to food lion b/c they are all a little sketchy) Buy your paper products, cleaning products, boxed goods from Wal mart for the cheapest price! But NEVER buy fresh goods (meats or veggies) they go bad MUCH faster than if you purchase your goods from another store!!

Another awesome saver is coupons! I've become a very avid coupon clipper.. Every Sunday I get the paper from my work and clip all the coupons out that I know I will/could use before they expire. I also have them sent to my email using coupons.com. If you are an avid craft store shopper sign up w/ their websites to have them email you their coupons (they email about 2 or more a week!) i've saved tons of money using coupons.. I used to think they were just a waste of time but alot of stores will actually double your coupons so you can turn .50 coupon into a dollar of savings!!

My final grocery tip is a LIST sounds simple.. but really I keep a magentic shopping list on our fridge and each time an item is finished or we decide we need something it goes on the list and then you can just pick it up without having to think while you are at the store OH dID i need.. It's a hard habit to stick to but if you are dedicated you will save time and money on items you think you need at the store but when you get home you realize you don't need it at all.. Also, if you can stick to the list you won't pick up items you don't need at all (this is my biggest weakness...OH thats on sale.. and we didn't even need it!! )

Use these tips and enjoy your grocery shopping.. I've learned to have fun finding the best deals!

Sports

When I was younger I was very involved in different sports. Every season I played a sport there was never a time that I didn't have a practice to attend or a game. Since I started college I was not involved in any sports. SO over the last 4 years I've been struggling to find interesting ways to exercise which usually involve the gym. As most people who have attended the gym know you have to work pretty hard to make that interesting... But when some of the Psi Chi members said they wanted to participate in an intramural team I was pretty resistant in participating.. I encouraged them to sign up for the team if they could find enough members who were interested but that I didn't want to be too involved because I had too much stuff going on. Well the team proceeded to sign up for softball and because we were a team of both guys and girls they required the same number of girls play every game as guys so the team captain would call me begging to sign up and be on the team and I did.. And now I LOVE IT! I've played in two of the games and I've always been the catcher a position I never had the opportunity to play before because I was bat blind and the goal of softball then was to win and for us it's just for fun so if I mess up no one cares!! I am almost sad that we only have one remaining game because I've enjoyed playing so much.. Zach came out to one of the games and took some pictures so you can enjoy them :) Oh, And I thought I should add we've WON 2 of the 3 games and half of our players have never played softball before in their lives!

What is that in the Kitchen?!

Last night I got to expeience one of the most unsual things to happen in our houshold...

Zach was cooking!! He can be seen seen here caught in action!

This fabulous meal consisted of fresh shrimp and hushpuppies all prepared by Zach. Although I did have to peel the shrimp it was very worth it! Our wonderfully fried goods were not so great for my diet or my attempts at eating healthy or vegitarian BUT it sure was yummy!!!

The Weekend..

This weekend was one of few where I actually didn't have to work.  This gave me the opportunity to walk in a charity walk called Walk for those Who Can't which is sponsored by Carolina Canines.  Carolina Canines rescues dogs from local shelters, has prisoners train these dogs to be service dogs and then they GIVE them away to those with disabilities.  One of the specific "groups" they target is in Camp Lejune where they give service dogs to wounded soldiers.  These service dogs take up to 3 years to train and are  valued at almost $40,000!!!  This organization is absolutely wonderful! All the dogs are kept in foster homes and trained by volunteers.. I  was so glad that I have the opprotunity to participate in this charity event... The walk was so much fun as well I took my "kids" on the walk and Oliver didn't make it the whole 2.5 miles but Parker did pretty good.. but once we got home they slept the whole rest of the day!!! While the kids and I walked Zach was surfing the monstrous waves that we got over the weekend.

He Really enjoyed being able to have so waves like you see in all the surf magazines.  He surfed these fabulous waves practically the whole weekend so Although I had the weekend off We still did not see each other anymore than if I had worked the whole weekend!! 

surfing big waves

i am so tired after my long weekend of surfing. we have had head high waves for over 3 days now. here is a pic enjoy....

The Food War continues..

Just when I think i've found a way of getting healthier foods into our home.. I hit a road block..

Today I am home from school early and make Zach and I lunch.. I decide to go Mexican and make a vegetarian tortilla pie with black beans, corn, salsa and cheese.. SOunds yummy right!?! Zach walks in and goes.. There's a lot of bean on that.. Do you not like beans I say? NO! So continue to persue the issue? Do you not like black beans.. what about this bean and i go through a list.. and its a flat out I DON'T LIKE BEANS issue!  So Now i Have to eliminate all green vegetables and beans!! Which makes a healthy fresh diet seemingly impossible!! 

Someone tell me there's hope out there. that my adult baby will learn to like good food!!