Today it finally feels like spring is here! I hope this isn’t another michigan weather tease, i don’t know if I could take any more of that… I got my bike back out again this week and even biked my commute today. My times were respectable at 24, 25 minutes for the five mile trip, but it’s obvious i’m not in the same shape I was last fall. My best times from last year were in the 15-16 minute range. I wonder how long it will take me to get back to those times. My garmin is out of comission, so I’m in the market for a bike computer of sorts. hopefully one that can track best times. For now i’m using the stopwatch on my cell phone. If you’re into the details, check out the bicycling page. Happy Spring!!!
Family Night #3: Scrabble Night
Scrabble night started with dinner of Lipton noodle soup with alphabet letter noodles. I was going to take a picture, but I put so many letter noodles in it was impossible to spread the letters apart enough to see what they were. The soup was almost as thick as mashed potatoes!
We followed dinner with a game of scrabble…
…while we ate scrabble tiles- rice krispy treats cut in little squares and decorated with frosting letters- for dessert.
My highest word score was 36 and Tony’s was 42!
I’m a Gamer
Tony and I have always been ones to get giddy over a good deal. When we open presents on Christmas morning, at least one of us will say, “Do you mind if I tell you how much I spent on that gift? I got such a good deal!” In fact, Tony and I returned one of my my Christmas presents yesterday because he found a better deal online. I’m glad we share the same enthusiasm for saving money, or I’d be pretty upset that my new favorite toy was taken away from me in order to save$15, and that I have to wait a week to get my new one. But think of all the things we can do with $15!
In order to try to save as much money as possible and to keep in line with my New Year’s “word” (more on this later, but it’s along the lines of a New Years resolution) I decided to sign up for a $1, four week trial of the grocery game. In short, this program matches store deals to coupons to give you the maximum savings. One of the stores I am signed up for is Walgreens. This afternoon, armed with my coupons, grocery game list, and a pair of scissors in my purse, I ventured out to Walgreens to see what I could do. Here is what I brought home:
Two tubes of mascara, two packages of girl stuff, three containers of Ajax, one bottle of shampoo, one bottle of hand soap, one package of 25 Electrasol dishwasher tabs, and one small package of m&m’s (which I threw in just so I could use another coupon) came to a total of $47. 03. What did I pay? $2.09. Yes, $2.09!! What’s even better is that after I send in $1.50 rebate my total out of pocket expense will be $0.59!!
I’m looking forward to playing my newfound game at Meijer later this week. From what I understand grocery gamers can save between 50 and 60% each week on their groceries. I’m excited to see how it all works out and if it’s worth continuing “the game” once my initial trial period is over. I’ll be sure to keep you posted!
Looking Back on 2008
Here is a quick, albeit long, recap of what we were up to in 2008!
Tony and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary at the beginning of January.
We celebrated Tony’s 27th birthday in February!
My 27th birthday weekend in March was celebrated with family at my Uncle Tommy’s house up north. We skiied Schuss Mountain, sledded down the deck stairs, and enjoyed our time together.
My Yiayia and I took a very last minute trip to visit my Aunt Wendy and Uncle Billy in warm, sunny Florida in April. We spent a wonderful few days laying in the sun, walking on the beach, and spending time with my aunt and uncle.
Our beautiful neice, Ellyssa, was born in May on her parents 4 year anniversary! Tony and I first met her when she was just a couple hours old and fell in love with her instantly.
A few days later we had family over to celebrate Ellee’s homecoming.
Tony played with two different bands at the Grand Rapids arts festival in June. This was the beginning of many different gigs, including a small group leader’s celebration, a wedding, and an ex-prisoner’s retreat!
Tony was a groomsman in our friends Jeff and Jess’s wedding on June 13th. We had a great time celebrating with them!
During a bad storm that caused our power to go out in July, Tony created an alarm to let us know if the water in the sump pump gets dangerously high.
We also saw some amazing 4th of July fireworks in Grand Haven with Jen, Phil, and the kids. We decided next year we’ll try to camp in Grand Haven over the fourth of July to avoid the traffic after the fireworks, and because it would be fun!
We took a trip down to Marshall in August to attend an annual summer party hosted by Tony’s college friend Amy’s family. Tony was asked to sing a couple songs with the band!
After leaving Marshall we headed to Silver Lake to vacation with our extended family. We had a blast camping for the first time together. We went boating, climbed to the top of a very tall lighthouse, drove Jeeps on the dunes, rode bikes, and had some hilarious conversations around the campfire.
Over Labor Day weekend, Tony, Dana, and I spent a night with my Aunt Cinda and Uncle Kenny at Crystal Lakes. Tony and my Uncle Kenny spent a lot of time fishing, prompting Tony to buy his (our) own canoe a few weeks later.
We also enjoyed hosting family who came to visit and see our house for the first time.
We celebrated a beautiful fall day in October with Jen and Phil and the kids. We carved pumpkins and made fall-like soup and dessert.
In November we spent a fun filled day in Muskegon with Jen and Phil and Phil’s extended family. We took a walk through the woods, took a tractor ride, ate amazing caramel apples, the men did some shooting, and we cooked our dinner on the fire.
In November Tony had the opportunity to sing with the Grand Rapids Evangelical Choral Society. It was fun to see Tony performing, even if I did struggle to keep my eyes open during the concert :)
We traveled down to Kentucky to spend time with Tony’s family for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time! Tony skillfully conquered the Gordion’s knot puzzle, impressing everyone.
In December we shoveled A TON of snow what seemed like a couple times a day! Tony perfected the art of making faux round ball soup, and we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family in Detroit.
We have been so blessed this year, and we looking foward to seeing what God has in store for us in 2009!
