Our first Thanksgiving dinner!

So this morning, when Dale attempted to place a pre-order online for a Boston Market Thanksgiving dinner, our internet went stupid (not surprised) and he couldn't place the order.  So instead he went to Meijer.

He picked up all of the stuff we should need to make our own little dinner.  So tomorrow we'll have some turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and possibly even meatloaf!  I'm totally looking forward to it!  

This is the first year that we can't go to either of our parents' dinners.  I work that night, so going to Ohio is out of the question and his mom is out of town hanging with his sister for the holiday.

Now back to cleaning the house in case I decide to invite a couple friends over for our mini-feast!

Thanksgiving

This has been a great year!  So much has been going well in my world this year.  I got two credit cards paid off, Dale started school, and I'm starting to feel my world coming together.

Neither Dale or I have any real plans for Thanksgiving yet, but I have to work that night.  As of right now, our only plans are to stay home and enjoy each other's company for a whole day.  With me working two jobs and Dale having work and school (which is like two jobs) we don't see each other very often. 

I'm actually looking forward to having a holiday without any solid plans!

Cookie list

Looks like it's getting to be that time of year again!  I'm getting my list together for cookies this year.  Usually, I go with about three or four standby recipes and one new one.  Over the years I've had a bunch of great recipes. 

For this year, I'm planning the following list:
Chocolate chip (duh)
Sugar (the soft ones)
Peanut Butter (some with jelly, too!)
Ginger

Not sure if I want to do one more.  This year it turns out that I'll have some help baking but I think fewer recipes with more quantity may be the trick.  Opinions?

One down!

Remember when I said my New Year's resolution was to pay off a specific credit card?  Yeah, I already have that done.  I'm totally proud of myself for having it all paid off two months early!

Now I still have two cards that carry a balance.  The lower balance one I can have paid off by the end of the year.  That would be two cards paid off instead of just one!  The other cards is going to be quite a bit trickier.

Keep in mind that I allowed myself until the end of 2013 to have all three paid off... But I like a challenge.  Now with Dale in school, it's a bit harder because I try to pay more when rent comes around so he can make his bills.  But I'm still going to work my butt off to get this last one paid off as soon as possible.

If I run things REALLY tight in 2012, I can do it.  That would be very nice.  But, honestly, I will be quite happy if I can get this paid off and some saving built up before Dale finished school.  Yes, I'm a dreamer and a planner.  No, my plans don't often work out.  But hard work and scrimping has gotten me this far, and I will continue with it for a while longer.

P.S. I found out from a 'class' at my local library that for your credit score, when the bureaus look at credit cards, they look at "available credit"  vs. "balance" and if your balance is more than half the total available credit, it drops your score significantly.  I found it to be good info, and I hope it helps.

Postcards Project expanding

My postcard project is slowly starting to expand a little further.  I am now starting to send postcards to family and friends as well as my forums people!  
A few weeks ago I added my aunt who had been in the hospital to the list as well as my grandma who loves to travel.  Just today I added three more people!  Now the list also includes a friend of mine from high school who is in the Navy and scheduled to go to Tokyo in a few months, my sister who I don't see very often, and my niece!

I'm totally excited to see this grow.  I was previously worried that I wouldn't be able to keep myself motivated on this project, but I have found that getting a postcard in my mailbox once in a while keeps me interested in keeping this going.

I'm such a dork...

I'm totally excited to make this slow cooker pot roast recipe I found on an A1 bottle!

I'm planning to make it on Monday.  I'll start it in the morning then soak up the smells in the apartment all day until it's ready for dinner.  I even invited a couple friends over to share the wealth.  (The recipe makes 8 servings!!)  I'll let you know how it goes... I'm totally psyched!

My first stack of coupons!

Well, thanks to Dale's mom, I have a giant stack of coupons! There are even some coupons for dining out! I'm so excited to start on this track. I almost can't wait to go shopping. Totally crazy, right?

Now I'm off to find a coupon holder to contain all of these!

Countdown continues....

Dale starts school in a couple days! I'm still excited for him to start this new venture, but also a little apprehensive. Not apprehensive about school, or even how well Dale will do. I'm apprehensive about how we will sneak by on the bills.

I'm clipping coupons, and finding deals, still! I'm working on finding a coupon holder, though. One of my coworkers' wife apparently uses a baseball card holder. She has it organized to the store she shops at constantly. Each page is for a separate aisle and she has it all arranged so everything is easy to get to.

I just have to decide which store I'm going to plan to use. Kroger doubles coupons, but we will shortly have a credit card that can only be used at Meijer. Personally, I'd rather go to Meijer because I know the store better.

And the other day, Dale took back our bottle returns that have piled up and got $13! We really have just been letting them add up. So that's another couple dollars for groceries.

But the thought that keeps me upbeat about being broke for the next two years is that Dale will have a degree and be able to get a big kid job! I just have to keep on truckin'.

Woodward Weekend!!

On my drive to work tonight, I was fantastically reminded that this weekend is the Woodward Dream Cruise! I passed about 3 classics and then I realized that Woodward Avenue extends up to the area near my work.

For anyone who doesn't know, Woodward Dream Cruise is a GIANT, most awesome car show... that rolls. It is a huge collection of classics and muscle cars all in one place. Some rolling down the street, even! I mean, what good is a beautiful car, if it doesn't run?

I'm going to try to get a couple of my friends together to wander down to see all the shinies! This promises to be a gorgeous weekend!

My little world is better when...

One of the many things that make my day feel a little lighter is having the dishes all clean and put away. I don't have a dishwasher, so it all has to be done by hand.

It's all so redundant that I just can't stand it some days. And after making dinner (especially when we have people over) I really don't feel like cleaning dishes.

But tonight, Dale and I teamed up and defeated those dirty dishes. Than means I can sleep well when I get home in the morning. Yay!