Category: health

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day 2

DAY 2

*No diet coke craving. Although, I did have some crystal light toward the evening.

*I did much better drinking more water. Although, now I have to pee a lot more.

*I ate 1350 calories today. Much better than the meager 800 yesterday. I added a small amount of walnuts, which helped boost my calories…and sustained me through the morning. I also had double the soup portion this evening…but it was soooo good, and soooo low in calories.

*kudos to me for not breaking the rules even though Adam came home from China today, and we went out to eat. Oh, and I made him homemade bread that I have yet to taste. I will be a bread making fiend when this is over. :)

Day 2–easier.

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cleanse, shmeanse

How did I let my sister talk me into a 10-day Fruit/Veggie CLEANSE? Seriously! Totally not me! And I am totally doing it! And I will plot it out here on the blog so that I can remember that although it’s 10 days, it’s ONLY 10 days! And it will be worth it. Or so they say! :)

DAY ONE

I have only consumed 800 calories so far, and that is really really trying. I’ve already eaten dinner so how am I going to get to 1600? I need to have a bigger breakfast tomorrow. I only had a banana today. That will help.

I’m dreaming of caramelized apples drizzled with cinnamon, green peppers dipped in salsa, and plain air-popped popcorn. Which should I have tonight?

Overall, Day 1, not hard!

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couponing at its best

No pics–sorry! I was just too tired after the multi-shopping trip. Last week was the best Albertson’s sale so far for our family. It was so good that I ended up having 15 transactions in all. I knew I wouldn’t be able to fit everything in my cart in one trip so I went solo on Friday, and then took the whole family on Saturday. And no, having the husband and kids along was not a burden. In fact, it was a huge help because Adam was able to tackle four transactions while I tackled another four. The ninos are starting to learn what money saving is all about. They are also learning how it can help their “cool factor” in the cafeteria at school. :)

Since we are stocking our food storage and kid lunch supplies, we bought as much of each item as we could justify. And for every $10 spent on a participating item, we received a $10 voucher on our next transaction–hence the 15 separate transactions. Are you ready for this one:

Total Trip Value: $660.91

Total Spent: $166.82

Total Saved: $494.09 (75%)

Price/Item: $0.94

Our stocked pantry and freezer continues to grow.

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There was no huge Alby’s or Smith’s sale this week. But the one good promo at Alby’s was worth hitting for some food storage items. And since we have so much daily food right now, the only weekly groceries I had to purchase was milk–pretty cool, huh? Anyway, we stocked up on:

Hunt’s spaghetti sauce–$0.60 after promo, we bought 25

Wesson cooking oils (48 oz)–$1.50 after promo, we bought 10

Hunt’s Pudding 4-packs (for lunches)–$.60 after promo, we bought 50

Total Trip Value: $205.50

Total Spent: $60.00

Total Saved: $145.50 (71%)

Price/item: $0.71

For my non-couponing buddies, this savings was done with no coupons other than the promo voucher that was printed out at the checkstand. And the sale goes through Tuesday night, if you are interested. FYI–I would only have saved 25% if  I had bought these items in one transaction. Instead, I made four transactions. And I purchased the minimum required in each transaction to get the voucher. That’s the key to saving big on promos like this. In fact, I still have two $10 vouchers for our next trip burning a hole in my wallet right now.

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how did we do?

Well, we have one month of couponing and sale shopping down. And it turns out that I am pretty darn good at it. Who knew? So we spent more money than our new food budget allows, but I knew that would happen. I have to build up a base of supplies and coupons first. I figure the first two or three months will be spent in stocking the pantry and adjusting the budget. Although we went to lunch a few more times than we should have, we have not eaten dinner out with or without the kids this entire month–Awesome!!! Creating an excel tracking sheet is just what I needed to remind me how much eating out cuts into the budget.

Total Value: $1560.82

Total Spent: $600.35

Total Saved: $900.01

% Saved: 58%

Our total spent including eating out was $709.74. That is still far less than I know we were spending before. I feel satisfied that I am doing some really great things to help my family succeed financially.

Funny side note–our kids hate to eat out, especially for dinner. If we say we are going to go eat, they beg to stay at home instead. It is so weird to me because going out to eat was such a treasured treat in our house. But my pocket book is definitely not complaining. :)

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grocery tips and tricks

First of all, I am a total novice at this whole saving money, being frugal, cutting costs deal! So please take this information for what it is worth. In one short month, I have culled nuggetts of information from hundreds of money-saving websites putting into practice the best ideas for my own family. There are quite a few of you who have asked for more info and pointers. Here is what I do each week.

1. Grocery Sales!

Every Wednesday morning I go to www.grocerysmarts.com and pull up the Nevada sale lists for Smith’s and Albertson’s. If you live in Utah or Nevada, you are in luck. Grocery Smarts is totally free!!! A lot of people use www.thegrocerygame.com, which is the same idea, and more well known, only I don’t think it is free. But if you are in a state that doesn’t offer a free site like GS then it is definitely worth the few dollars a month to subscribe–IMO. These sites match the weekly sales and promotions with existing coupons….Priceless!!!

The other great thing about Grocery Smarts is that it is on a rating system so if the on-sale item has three stars then it is comparable to a Wal-Mart price. Four and Five stars mean deeply discounted, beyond anything you could find at a discount store.

2. Coupons!

First, I print as many online coupons as I can. Grocery Smarts links to the major online printables. But you can get them from www.coupons.com or you can sign up for other sites like www.couponmom.com. It just depends on how  you want to go about it.

Second, I subscribe to www.shortcuts.com and www.upromise.com. These two sites upload coupons to your grocery store club card account like Smith’s and Albertson’s. So when you purchase the item, all you have to do is swipe your card or put in your phone number and it automatically discounts it.

Third, I subscribe to the Sunday only paper. But I get five subscriptions–the maximum allowed for Sunday only delivery at the rate I receive. If you are serious about saving, bite the bullet and subscribe. It will pay you back in your first trip!!! The key is to have as many coupons for an item as you do members of your family. What good does one box of fruit snacks do my four kids. But when I can buy five or ten at once…all on sale and all with a coupon. Hello, score! That also goes for the printable coupons. You are allowed (for most things) to print online coupons twice. We have three computers, so I am able to get six–and that’s just at my house.

Fourth, I faithfully read mommy blogs that have tips and tricks. Although I subscribe to many, right now www.moneysavingmom.com is my favorite. I am always finding extra deals on her site like my recent Kashi, Ocean Spray, Yoplait score. They were all in different posts on her site. I combined them into one Target trip–saving a ton of money for our family.

3. Planning Meals

My two favorite sites right now are www.5dollardinners.com and www.crockpot365.blogspot.com But there are so many more out there that I look at.

I will not lie, it takes me some time to look at the sales, print off, match up, and organize online coupons, and plan our meals ahead of time–but it is so worth it. Did you see my Target post? Cranberry juice has never tasted better. And it is my job as a SAHM to be a responsible steward of the income that Adam earns for our family. So I also feel really good inside. *insert sappy smiley sigh* Now that I am getting the hang of it, navigating the lists and matching up coupons doesn’t really take that long.

I have added a few of my favorite new sites under Be Prepared and Frugal Moms over on the side bar. I’ll add more as I deem them actually worthy of the side bar. :)

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A personal talent that I posess is the ability to wade through lots of information and pull out the best of the best, and to leave the rest behind. Adam and I have had a lot of practice at perfecting this skill with our fertility and adoption options. So learning the way of the frugal has been relatively easy for us. And it is seriously so much fun–I mean who wouldn’t smile when they walk out of the store spending significantly less than they saved.

The biggest grocery skill I’ve learned so far is to Pay Attention. I went to Albertson’s the other night with no coupons, and I still scored some amazing 10 for $10 deals. I came out saving over 50%, and I felt really good because I know I got the best deal for the situation I was in. Paying attention also stopped me from buying a few things that I normally would’ve picked up like bananas. But they were outrageously priced, and I actually knew that they were because I have started to engage. Instead, we are finishing up the oranges that I got on sale a couple of weeks ago. :)

We budget our food and gas from the 15th to the 15th, so I will report our first full month’s accounting in a week or so.

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rockin’ it @ target

I told my mom the other night that once again I was amazing, explaining that I purchased nine bottles of Ocean Spray Juice for free. She responded, “Of course, you are amazing, duh. But I am not sure what kind of coupons you are finding. They surely didn’t exist in my day.” :)

Target had the juice on sale for $1.99 (average regular price of $3.99 depending on where you shop). They also had web coupons for a $1.00 off. I printed off a bunch. Also, Ocean Spray was offering $1.00 off coupons. So once I combined the coupons I actually made $0.01 on each bottle. I also had great success with yogurt this week. After combining the Target sale and coupons and the Yoplait coupons, each container worked out to about $0.23.

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Total Value: $131.79

Total Saved: $110.76

Total Out of Pocket: $21.03

Percentage Saved: 84%

#of Items: 87

Price/Item: $0.24

The kids L-O-V-E yogurt so we are already making a dent in our stockpile. (there is more juice and yogurt than what is in the picture) I bought all of the chocolate whips they had so that I can freeze them in muffin tins for some frozen dessertish yumminess. Juan P. thinks that frozen gogurts are the best thing ever.

Oh, and the kashi bars are way too expensive for us to splurge on these days….but lovely Target had them on sale for $2.75. I had Kashi coupons for $2.00 off making each box only $0.75.

My newbie tips and tricks are coming. (I promise, girls) That will be my next post! :)

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what’s up, doc?

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Finally, we were able to get to the dentist. I am not quite sure that I am glad we went….the kids all need something done–caps, fillings, spacers–you name it. Looking at the children’s mouths in Bogota, we knew we were in for it. Luckily, the children loved the dentist. They all willingly opened their mouths, charmed the nurses, and sat patiently in their chairs. Anything to get a toy from the treasure box, right? Who knew going to the dentist could be so cool? :)

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Also this week, the girls had their first round of check-ups with our new pediatrician, Dr. Perez. She gladly took all of the medical files I had from Bogota to look them over. Once she reviews them, she will have a better idea of what blood tests etc. we need to do.

And the poor little things had to get more shots–even after I promised that they wouldn’t have to. Luckily, Dr. Perez speaks Spanish, and she “made sure” they understood that I had no idea. :) Thanks, Doc! The girls were troopers, as usual. And all of the kids go back in March for more shots, and more check-ups. They seem to be in great health so far–nothing unusual or out of the ordinary.

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thirty five pounds, and counting

I know everyone is mostly tuned into the adoption blog–for which we are grateful. But I have to celebrate my personal accomplishments as well. I braved the scale a few days ago because so many people have said I am looking thinner. To my amazement I have lost more weight. This is a huge blessing since I haven’t had time to “try” in months. Of course, running after four children, forgetting to eat dinner, and scaling the stairs 20 times per day is sure to help.

I have lost 35 pounds since January when I started training for the 1/2 marathon. The best part about it is that I feel so good right now that I am motivated to start exercising again. My schedule with the children doesn’t lend me to much snacking during the day. That has also helped. I still have about 50 pounds to go, but 50 is manageable when I see that I’ve already lost almost that much.

I know I should post a picture, but I don’t really have one ready. I’ll have to go through the recent pictures, and post it next to one of my pre-miscarriage pics from January!

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rachie day, take 4

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The last two years, we’ve celebrated Rachie Day. Adam is so great on this particular day. He does whatever I want (I know, that’s most days) and he is extra-loving. This past Sunday we went on a hike to the Logan Wind Caves. It was the perfect hiking day. There weren’t too many people on the trail. The weather was overcast, but not windy or cold. And it was a good warm-up for Angel’s Landing in Zion. Since it was Rachie Day, however, we didn’t go to the top. I was done about three quarters of the way up, and my sweet husband said he would turn around with me. I told him to go ahead and I would wait at the truck, but he said, “no this is Rachie’s Day so we do what Rachie wants to do.” That was sweet music to my ears. We had an enjoyable descent.

During the rest of the day we made a pizza and had hot-fudge browning sundaes. Yeah, it was definitely a non-diet day, but I did skip dinner to make up for a few of the extra calories. We watched two or three movies in bed while surfing Colombian adoption blogs and homeschooling materials. Adam finished our Zion t-shirts for our upcoming excursion. It was perfect.

Thanks Adi for always knowing what this time of year means to me…you always handle it with perfect sensitivity and love. 

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hey, mrs. brightside

Let’s shout it out together: Mamma Penning doesn’t have MS. We are still convinced there is something to this whole small brain thing though, right mom?

Seriously though, dazed and confused steeped in relief sums it up. The short of the long is that Cathy doesn’t have MS and she doesn’t have Dementia. Mom will go through a battery of tests that the neurologist has ordered. He is specifically looking at blood clotting issues that could help prevent something more serious later on. I guess I won’t share too much of my mother’s personal medical history on the world wide web. :)

Anyway, thank you all for the many inquiries of concern over the past couple of weeks. It’s a small, or maybe large, reminder to enjoy the brightsides of life everyday so that we keep a deep reserve to draw from when things get a little cloudy.

Love you mom….soon to be Abuela to four more cuties! This little episode doesn’t get you out of visiting Colombia this summer. Nice try.