2 New Posts

It has recently been pointed out to me that I haven't posted for a while. Looking back, it has been a rather long time. Let it be known however that I misplaced my camera cord. Now that I've found it, here are two new fresh posts.
We hope you all are doing well and as always, love hearing from you!
-Tyler and Shaela

Tyler's FIRST candy bar!

This post makes me laugh because I totally sound like a doting parent posting pictures of my child's firsts. Really though, this is seriously his first candy bar! Can you blame me?!
Here's the story behind that happy face:
Tyler has long been a semi-sweet chocolate chip snacker. He loves chocolate, but he can't have milk and has always been told that semi-sweet is the only chocolate he can have. This misconception was put to rest one day at Wal-Mart when I took my dark chocolate dove bar and compared the ingredients to his beloved (and somewhat putrid) semi-sweet chocolate chips (which we've been debating were the same thing for a few years now). The final verdict? A perfect match! I was squealing and jumping like a little girl while Tyler looked at me like I'd lost a few screws.
I'm a firm believer that the closest thing you can get to milk chocolate, is Dove dark chocolate. Seriously, Dove knows their stuff.
After making this discovery, I invited my sisters over to enjoy, what else? Tyler's first s'more. Here is a play-by-play:

The man of the night prepping his mallow.


First bite!

Is it just me, or is this face screaming out, "I'm not sure about this"?


Sorry, these pictures appear to be in the wrong order, but here he is going in for the kill.

The final verdict? Me again squealing and snapping pictures and Tyler, happy to have eaten his first s'more, wondering what all the fuss was about.

A trip to the desert and a walk through history

We took a fun trip out to Little Sahara/Cherry Creek/Jericho, etc... with some family and friends. Honestly, people call it so many different names that I never know how to properly cite the location, so I usually stick with 'the desert'. Easy enough?
Anyway, it was loads of fun! Tyler is getting so good at riding! He still can't beat me... my one claim to fame. But he is getting dangerously close. I've been considering taking some secret practice runs in order to prevent him from getting any closer.
Sadly, my bike was out of commission. Just as I was ready to burst into tears, a friend offered to let me borrow his for the weekend and I was in heaven. Thank you forever Taylor!!
Now that we've got that out of the way, let me show you what we found:

This is a really cool old house that sits alongside one of the trails. It's old and clearly falling apart so naturally our first thought was to climb on in.
This location is commonly visited because it contains Porter Rockwell's cabin. Porter Rockwell just happens to be a crazy cool small pioneer man who scared anyone and everyone who crossed his path, which is probably why he was selected to be Joseph Smith's body guard. Pretty cool, eh? Anyway, people usually stop and take pictures by this house because they think it was Porter's. Not so my friend. This is simply a cool old rickety house. This next picture on the other hand, depicts his REAL house, commonly depicted as a shed (and rightfully so if you ask me).

Here is a pic. of Porter Rockwell's real house. And an added bonus, a fabulous shot of helmet hair. I'm not ashamed.

An even better shot of helmet hair :) Seriously, this house is so tiny! Even still, we can't help but cheese it up a little for the camera.

Here we are with the rest of the clan in the cabin. What an incredibly fun trip it turned out to be!!

Politically Speaking

In today's world, speaking candidly about political issues is often viewed as cliche'. Thankfully this is my personal blog, so I can post whatever my heart desires and I think this music video is spot-on! Plus, I'm seriously considering adopting some of his dance moves--- they are fabulous! For anyone who is interested, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0&feature=player_embedded

Tyler's attempt to blog

Shaela was kind enough to let me go to the All Star Game against Everton FC. We got great tickets from Don and Heather.
The above itallisized sentence, along with the picture, is Tyler's sole contribution to this post. He was insistent that we post about our fun anniversary celebration last week, got two sentences into it, and then handed the computer to me. Haha! As hard of a time as I've given him for this however, I can't help but be thankful because without his initiation, I probably wouldn't have posted.
So here's the story behind the great photo mentioned above:
Our anniversary was on a Sunday this year, so we decided to celebrate earlier in the week by attending the MLS All Star game at the Rio Tinto Stadium. It was a truly awesome celebration! Tyler took me to Olive Garden before the game and it was so nice to get away and spend some time with just the two of us.
.....Tyler wants me to say, "Holden was a retard and passed the ball to the wrong person." Needless to say, Ty's voice was rather weak after a wild game with slip-ups such as Holden's.
It was an intense game where the winner was finally decided after a shoot out.
We also now have R.E.A.L. scarves and shirts to remember our night by, thanks to Don and Heather.
It was so much fun!

2 years and counting

As of August 2, 2009, we will have been married for two whole years! This merits a posting for sure.

It's hard to believe that we could have served an entire mission with the amount of time we have been married now. I always planned on serving a mission. I even informed Tyler of this when we began dating. He however, had different plans and I'm so glad he did. As my cute in-laws often remind me, I'm still serving a mission, just a different one.

I don't want to get too mushy for all of you unsuspecting readers out there, so I'll just say this: Tyler is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and he reminds me of that time and time again. He is so thoughtful and goes out of his way to make me happy every day.


We've come a long way from our days of getting lost in the desert together, tying bed frames to the car with twine, and bailing water out of our bathroom sink. Despite the growth our relationship has experienced however, we are still determined to remain eternal newlyweds. The past two years have been the best of my life and I look forward to many many more to come!

Here are some of my favorite fun memories from the past two years:

• When we got married, we bought a tool set since neither of us owned any ourselves. Being a major tight wad, I refused to let Tyler buy more since we already had a full set. While installing new floors this past summer, one of the guys helping us asked for a hammer. When we handed him Ty's hammer, I wasn't sure if he was going to laugh or panic. "Where'd you get this, a happy meal?" was all he could say. To which my Dad replied, "All you need is a little pink bow on it." Tyler was relieved to have some back up and begged for a new "manly hammer".
  
  Apparently I went a little overboard with the hammer. A month later when I presented him with a new standard-sized hammer adorned with a pink ribbon, I realized how small it actually was. I'm not even sure that thing was a 12 ounce. Poor Tyler.
  

• Tyler likes to surprise me and consequently, I like surprises! Some of the fun surprises he has given include: a luv sac, pearls, treats, new windows (long story), a wedding band (during the ceremony), flowers, freshly mowed lawn, etc...
  

• Once while Tyler was gone to soccer, I locked myself out of the house. He'd just left, which meant he had an entire game to play, followed by which he was going to make a trip to Lowes. For those of you who don't know, guys (or at least my guy) will invariably spend HOURS at a single "trip" to Lowes. It was pitch black, my windows were barred shut, my neighbors were in bed, I had no phone, no keys, and I was in stilettos, carrying a knotted pillow case filled with rice Tyler made for me one night to keep me warm (I heat it in the microwave). I did the only thing I could. I walked to Lowes. It was scary. I borrowed a random stranger's cell phone to leave Tyler a voicemail instructing him to find me at Lowes. To make a long story short, Riverdale Road is very scary to cross on foot, but once I made it, Tyler was waiting for me on the other side. Needless to say, we made our first spare key that night. He takes such good care of me.

• We once tried reading Harry Potter together. Tyler was unhappy with the slow pace at which we were reading and snuck out to the living room to read the book all night. I didn't find this out until the very end when it became obvious through forced "oooh"s and "aws" that he already knew what was going on. My initial reaction was outrage. Thankfully we joke about it now. While I was definitely taken aback by his deception, I now appreciate his sincere desire to spend time together. To Tyler, reading the book meant more than just following a plot, it was spending time together, even if he already knew the ending. It's taken me 2 years, but we've finally started reading another book together. ... we'll see how it goes this time around.

This post is looking rather long, so I'll stop here. The picture above is our 2 yr. picture, engagement style (thanks for the picture Rachelle! Don't be angry at me for posting it already, okay?). Happy anniversary honey!



Love,

Shay

Penny Pinchin' Pride

Many of you already know that I am a self proclaimed penny pincher. Don't get me wrong, I spend money very frequently and I know that spending is necessary for entertainment sometimes, but I watch my pennies carefully.
I've found several different blogs and articles recently that have further ignited my passion for saving money, so I thought I'd post about it. Is it nerdy that I enjoy perusing money-saving literature in my free time?... Don't answer that.

Geeky or not, I think it's fun to look for good deals and new methods for pinching my pennies. The biggest thing I've learned from my research so far is that I am a total rookie. I seriously have so much to learn and that is exciting to me! Believe it or not, one of the things I am looking forward to in my post-graduation life is the ability to devote more time to this oh-so-important research.

I've never really put my findings into writing, so this post is my attempt to visualize some of my "methods". Hopefully from this point on, this list will continue to grow and someday I will proudly take the title of penny pinchin' queen!

If anyone has other ideas or insights, feel free to share.

1. Lori introduced me to this website: beingfrugalisfabulous.com. It's really cool! There are always updates on free samples and cheap grocery buys, as well as recipes for inexpensive meals. For example, this website lead me to a decision to start cooking my own refried beans using dried beans from the grocery store. Everyone knows that canned refried beans leave a lot to be desired. This way I can cook my own, know what's in them, store leftovers for future dinners, and save a whole lot of money in the process.

2. utahshoppingsecrets.com. This is a fairly recent discovery, but I'm quite pleased with it. This website posts grocery deals for major grocery stores and I've already used it to compile several different shopping lists that have come in quite handy.

3. Redbox. Ty and I don't have TV at our house, but we love unwinding after a busy week with a good movie. As a result, we have become quite the redbox fans. $1 per night is pretty great, right?
Over time though, we have learned little ways of getting free codes and now we rarely even have to fork over $1.00 for our movie nights. For example, text "fit" to 414141, and you can get a code that won't expire until the end of August. We have also signed up to receive a free code every month in the form of a text message. If you watch the internet, you can find free codes all over the place.

4. Watch for $1 sales and stock up. I always keep an eye out for my favorite $1 sales and when they come, I buy tons (example: Albertson's 10 for $10 sale)! Most of the time, these sales include brownie mixes, cake mixes, boxes of cereal, eggs, dish soap, snack foods, and Pillsbury products. These are products that you can always use and most of them don't ever go bad.
It's always a little stressful to rack up a comparably huge grocery bill, but when you consider how much you'll be saving in the long run, it's totally worth it.

5. One of the methods I am working on right now is learning to eat cheap. I still have a lot to learn but here are some of the things I've caught on to so far:

• Oatmeal is one of the cheapest and most nutritional meals you can buy, but don't buy the pre-made packets if you can avoid it. You can get a barrel of raw Quaker oats for next to nothing and it'll last forever. I make my own oatmeal with this, which ends up being much more nutritional.
• Bananas and apples are ordinary fruits, but they're very good for you and much cheaper than other produce.
• Instead of buying bags of prechopped salad, I buy my own head of lettuce and make it myself. You can get an entire head for about $1.00. I usually buy a head of lettuce, carrots, an avocado, and a tomato or cucumber. The great part about this is that you can mix it up according to what's on sale. You also get about 3 times the amount of ingredients and you can use leftover ingredients for additional meals throughout the week.
• People in our industry buy lunch every day. It's incredible how fast that lunch money adds up! Instead, we bring lunches from home. They're not always the most fabulous lunches (sandwiches, leftovers, yogurt, etc...), but they pay off and they are usually more healthy.
• Rice and potatoes offer additional examples of cheap foods. I try to buy brown rice instead of white. It usually costs a little more, but it's also more nutritional and still quite inexpensive.
• Extensive reading has taught me that cooking with bone-in chicken can also save a lot of money. In contrast with boneless skinless chicken breasts, these are a lot less expensive, but rather intimidating to me. I'm under the impression that they take more preparation time, so I have not tried it yet, but it is definitely on my to-do list.
• Whenever possible, buy foods straight from factories instead of the grocery store. It's a great way to avoid paying mark-ups. We have tried this at Pepperidge Farms, the creamie factory, Fat Boy sandwiches, and Wonder Bread (which is right here in Ogden).
• Learn what things cost so you'll recognize good deals when you see them.... I'm still working on this one, especially in regards to fresh produce.
• Pay attention to per unit prices. A lot of grocery stores have started posting these on the racks. This way you can't be tricked by packaging and sizes.
  

6. We do not subscribe to any internet connections at home. I know, it's so sad. But when you're a college student, you pay fees to have nice computers and super fast internet connections, so why not use them? Since we live so close to the school, I refuse to pay for the internet. Instead we have a wireless card for a laptop that we use in case we need the internet when the school labs are closed.

7. I signed up to complete E-Surveys online. These are random surveys that target consumers and are paid for by companies seeking public opinion on future business endeavors. I know there are a lot of companies out there that do this, but I have only signed up for one so far. The one I use is erewards.com. They offer a small amount of money for each survey you take, which can be traded in for rewards. I always save up until I can afford a $30 American Eagle gift card. I plan on signing up for more legitimate companies offering this service in the future.

8. Go on picnics for date nights. They are so much fun and cost a lot less than eating out, or going to a late night movie, etc... Also, if you have to go to a movie, try and attend a matinee showing. These are usually must less expensive. Since we work on weekdays, we usually wait until Saturday mornings to see movies and it has been a great change for us.

9. TV Subscriptions are a lot of money. This is really hard for guys who are sports fans like Tyler. We compensate for a lack of television by picking our favorite TV series and buying the seasons instead. We also frequent the Wal-Mart $5 movie bins. For now, Tyler watches sports online or has his parents record the games for him. He has been very patient with this.

10. Tyler pays close attention to banks and credit unions and makes sure he keeps our accounts where the interest rates are highest. We also try to utilize CD accounts regularly with whatever we can afford to set aside.

11. Neither of us consider ourselves mechanically inclined. However, changing the oil in a car is a fairly simple process that Tyler has learned to do on his own. Whenever he finds sales on oil and oil filters, he stocks up and then changes the oil on his own instead of paying expensive mechanics to do it. We also watch the mail for free tire rotations and discounted inspections.

12. When it comes to gardening, it can be hard to save money. We have been able to side step paying for expensive plants by getting starts from friends. This isn't always possible unfortunately, but we've tried to take advantage of opportunities whenever we can.

13. Everyone knows that textbooks cost a fortune. I feel like this last one is totally obvious, but we NEVER buy books from the school book stores if we can avoid it. Instead, we use half.com and amazon. We also discovered a website at chegg.com where you can rent textbooks instead of buying them. Addall.com is another helpful website that we use to compare prices. Between the two of us, we save hundreds every semester thanks to these helpful websites.


-Okay. Now that I feel like I've been blabbering for several pages, I'll call it quits. However the list is never ending. I could seriously talk about this topic for hours on end. These examples are just some of the big ones that came to mind.

Hope you all enjoyed my ranting,

Shaela