Savings

I am behind, but hey, at least I'm getting it up here.

*disclaimer: I am also going to be lazy, I should take a picture, but it is dark out and I don't feel like the extra effort to take a few, load them, edit them AND post them here. So I am just going to tell you. Believe me because you should. ;>

On Monday last week--August 16, 2010--Eric and I went to Fry's grocery store. We had been gifted by our home teacher with coupons for various already sale items, plus the info on Fry's current offer of you buy 8 items from the sale list (any 8, it does not have to be all the same) and you get $4 off. He also told us that right now they are taking all manufacture's coupons at $1 even if it only says $.39 off or $.75, or whatever is written, all at least $1 off.

We spent over an hour at the first grocery store (that's right we went to 2 different fry's, but the second we only bought one set of 8 things that the first didn't have in stock). It was the fullest cart Eric and I have ever had in our two years of marriage. I can remember shopping with my mom and having full carts like that--but my mom was shopping for 9 people, not two! We only bought 3 items that weren't on the "8 set" list, one of which we had a coupon to use.

Totals:

purchased items: 79

subtotal: $176.10

coupon savings: $8

8 item set savings: $85.07

purchase total: $83.03

percent savings: 53%

purchased items: 8

subtotal: $20.12

coupon savings: $3

8 item set savings: $11.08

purchase total: $5.04

percent savings: 74%

Total Savings: $108.15

Average percent savings: 64%

The moral of the story:

We bought $196.22 worth of groceries, and only spent $88.07--less than half. That is awesome. We are proud.

Entered the Second Trimester

I am progressing very smoothly.

You still can't tell from the front that I'm pregnant--at least not in pictures--but believe me, it is in there. I've heard the heartbeat twice now.

My ultrasound is scheduled, so we are very excited find out soon whether we have a boy or girl.

Noelle at 16 weeks.

But from the side you can definitely tell. Don't anybody deny it. It is small, but larger than before. Most of my pants are hard to button and I'm at that point where I look like I've gained some chub and not baby weight.

Changes since I've been pregnant:

• Expanded waist by over 2 inches
• 4 pound weight gain (which is typical for a first trimester)
• I'm frequently hungry but I don't want anything. It all sounds awful. I will eat most carbs or fruit though, but for nutrients I really need more than bread, dangit
• My hair is growing faster and looks pretty shiny
• Once i hit 13 weeks I stopped needing to get up for the bathroom in the night (this will change later though)
• I also stopped feeling exhausted after 12 weeks
• My belly is already getting in my way when I need to bend forward

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things...can i blame that on being pregnant?

Also I have not been sick at all. The worst I've dealt with is that when I brush my teeth I have a severe gag reflex, sometimes to the point of pain. It usually stops hurting after 2 or 3 minutes, but is still annoying and slows me down getting ready for work in the mornings.

Finally a Place to Sleep

We've had Lexi for a year now.

The day we brought her home Eric set out a blanket at the end of our bed to be her bed. She would go to it when we told her bed time, but every morning I found her on the carpet in front of it, and twice I found her chewing on it and ripping the material. The second time I caught her I said alright, if you prefer the floor anyway, have it, and I put away the blanket.

One morning in December (so she had lived with us for over 3 months) I woke up to find her in this box:

At the time the blanket was not in it and one of my sweatshirts apparently was. Also, it was not ripped, that came from use.

I thought her choosing that box was really funny and if she wanted it that was fine by me, so we put the chewed-corner blanket in and this was her official adopted bed. Really not quite big enough for her but it was free and she didn't mind--so why not?

Until this weekend. We finally bought her a real doggy bed. (On clearance, at Ross, and black to match our room--sweet)

It had silly zebra print so we turned it inside out, swapped it for the box with her in a different room and then I came and told Lexi, "go to your bed."

She went straight for it because she is smart like that. She spent a few minutes sniffing it all over and then sat very contentedly on it.

This is just the right size, she can actually spread out on it--unlike her box. Also, some genius decided it didn't need a front side so it works even better than expected.

What a happy puppy. =)

And cute. Oh yes.