Tuesday, May 14, 2013

From Firsts to Lasts

From Life Oceanside and Penguins, Pasta & Polka Dots.


















1) First Major in College?
I did a joint-program with a local college and university here, so I officially graduated from college first with a diploma in Communications, majoring in Advertising. A year later I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Communications/English.

2) First Date Success Story
It was definitely with Husband! We "met" online and decided to meet IRL. It was a warm August day, so we met up to grab ice cream around 7 pm and we walked around the Forks and talked for a long time. We then decided to catch a movie (yup, such a successful date that it turned into a second date on the same night!). Because it was so late, there was only one movie that hadn't started playing yet... It was some Angelina Jolie action movie, but I can't remember the title right now. I knew on that first date that he was the one. I talked to a girlfriend of mine the next day and said he was it!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

From Firsts to Lasts

From Life Oceanside and Penguins, Pasta & Polka Dots.


















 1) First Store You Head To In The Mall?
It usually depends on where I park and what I'm after that day. I usually walk through the mall in some sort of order based on where I'm parked, and not so much about which stores I want to go to first.

2) First Aisle You Hit In The Grocery Store
It's almost always the pharmacy section of the store to stock up on toiletries, make-up, vitamins and feminine products! Then I can get down to my food shopping.

Friday, May 3, 2013

About Me

Halie on Penguins, Pasta and Polka Dots did this today and I love it! I haven't done anything like this, so figured I'd copy borrow her post! :)  Here's a reverse pyramid to get to know me!

10 Favorite Foods
  1. Chocolate cake
  2. Cupcakes (okay, really sweet!)
  3. Sushi
  4. Husband's lasagna
  5. Ravioli
  6. Crab
  7. Grilled cheese sandwiches
  8. Pesto
  9. Cheese
  10. Chinese food (the crappy Americanized stuff, like chicken balls and lemon chicken)
9 Favorite Movies
  1. Dirty Dancing
  2. Pretty Woman
  3. Crazy, Stupid, Love
  4. Speed
  5. The Hunger Games
  6. Cinderella
  7. Grease
  8. Cutting Edge
  9. The Princess Bride












8 Favorite Musical Artists
  1. Dixie Chicks
  2. Carrie Underwood
  3. The Band Perry
  4. Rascal Flatts
  5. Adele
  6. Taylor Swift
  7. Dido
  8. Jewel
7 Things I Love Right Now
  1. My husband!
  2. Zombie Run app
  3. My new sneakers
  4. The sunshine
  5. Goat's cheese
  6. How I Met Your Mother
  7. Planning surprises
Able Township in Zombie Run - sooooo much fun!



















6 Places I'd Love To Visit
  1. Greece
  2. Italy
  3. San Francisco
  4. Pittsburgh
  5. Maritimes
  6. France
5 Favorite Games
  1. Bohnanza
  2. Settlers of Catan
  3. Skip-Bo
  4. Munchkin
  5. Ticket to Ride
Bohnanza (a.k.a. The Bean Game)
Photo credit















4 Things I'd Like To Do Again
  1. Go back to Egypt
  2. Have another wedding (but still marry Husband!)
  3. Play in rain puddles like when I was a kid
  4. See my dad


















3 Things I'd Like To Do in 2013
  1. Spa weekend with my girlfriends
  2. Surprise Husband with something special
  3. Improve my French
2 Facts About Me
  1. I have had bangs my entire life and I'm only now trying to grow them out for the first time!
  2. I didn't get my licence until I was 22 and I only got it because my dad bought a convertible!
1 Meaning Behind My Blog Name
  1. I love playing with budgets and crunching the numbers. I should really post more financial stuff on the blog!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May Goals

I didn't do so well on my April goals... :(
  • Lose 3 lbs. FAIL. I have definitely hit a weight loss plateau. I'm not going anywhere. I've started using a new nutrition app that tracks using the Weight Watchers method and I've already noticed a change though after only a week!
  • Put $500 towards our foundation savings goal. DONE! We were actually able to put aside the planned $500, plus an additional $1,300! The extra money came from Canada Revenue Agency for adjustments to my 2010 and 2011 taxes. (I didn't realize I could get credit for my schooling because my company pays for it, but apparently I can get credit for the actual act of being in school, not just the costs of it! Now I kinda want to go back to school again!)
  • Go to hot yoga 3x. FAIL. I was hoping I could say that I at least went once or twice, but this was a huge fail. I am putting a positive spin on it though and telling myself that I'm just finding what works for me and apparently I'm not a hot yoga person. I do still want to use up the pass and I have six more session to use before the end of June, so maybe I can try again next month.
  • Do an inventory of our possessions. FAIL. I started the list, but haven't gone through the whole house yet.
  • Give myself an at-home facial. DONE! I did a yogurt/lemon mask which was quite nice (2 parts plain yogurt, one part lemon juice).
  • Book my spa trip with the girls. FAIL. But not because of lack of trying! The spa wasn't taking bookings for September, so I'll try again a bit later. 
  • Spring cleaning! PASS. I got a bunch of spring cleaning done one Saturday and the house is looking nice and clean! I still want to do some research on prepping a house for the spring though and make sure we're not forgetting anything.
We actually got a lot done around the house though so I feel like April wasn't a total bust. We had the bathroom door fixed and a screen made and installed for our weirdly-shaped kitchen window (the only window in the house without a screen). 
 
Our roofer came by and looked at the roof over the addition so he can put together a proper estimate. His worst-case scenario estimate was almost $11,000! But luckily when he got in there he found that it's not as bad as he thought it would be, so I'm hoping that the new quote will be dramatically less.
May Goals

Sadly most of these are just items that didn't get done in April! 
  • Lose 3 lbs. Let's try this again!
  • Go to hot yoga 3x. I'm not sure if I'm setting myself up for failure again, but I should really use my 10 sessions which will expire in June. 
  • Put $750 towards our foundation savings goal. I get three pay cheques this month, so we can put aside a little bit more in May. 
  • Do an inventory of our possessions.
  • Go see the movie The Big Wedding. I love romantic comedies and I haven't seen a new one in a long time, so this will be a fun goal to achieve.
  • Put away winter clothing/shoes and bring out summer gear.
  • Buy an armband holder for my new phone. I have been using my phone in lieu of my iPod during my walks home latel because I'm in love with the Zombie Run app. Right now I can just throw my phone into my pocket, but once the temperatures heat up, I'll need an alternative way to carry it. Budget is $30.