Angel Food Ministries

So, this month Grant and I decided to try the Angel Food Ministries. Since we are trying to live on a very limited budget, we decided to participate. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is an organization that wants to help keep families healthy with a more balanced diet. This organization makes foods more affordable for anyone. They buy in Bulk and non name brand items which they then sell to families frozen. You can order online and you chose a host site, and once a month you go pick it up from there. Grant and I got the regular box, and it is supposed to feed a family of 4 for one week. It costs $30. So it feeds Grant and I for a little bit over2 weeks, but I planned the meals so they will be spread out over a month.




As you can see in the picture above, most of their food comes frozen which makes it easy because you can either use it right away or use it as a base for a month and just add whatever other things you need. I know that some people say it still isn't as cheap as coupons,but I honestly haven't been able to find very many meat coupons.

Here is their Menu for the Next Month which I think Grant and I are going to sign up for again. We think it is really cool especially for the price. Also, one could also pay with food stamps if they needed.

If your interested, or for more information go to:
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

The Best Peanut Butter Cups!!!!

So every once in a while I get a huge chocolate craving, now I am not a huge plain chocolate eater, so most of the time that means that I don't just want a Hersey bar. The problem with this is that most of the chocolate that I like is not that cheap.

Toffifay has to be one of the all time favorites that I grew up with. I know that they sell it at Walgreen's, but I am not sure which other sites also sell it. Well, the other week, they were selling it for

But anyway, I have always been a sucker for peanut butter cups mainly Reese. Well, last year I branched out with these great value peanut butter cups. They are soo great you have no idea. They are not the least bit healthy, but they taste Great!! Well, the other day I really needed chocolate! Grant and I had groceries to buy, so we took a longer drive to Wal-mart just to make sure that we got these chocolates too. We get there get all of the groceries, then we go to the candy aisle to get my yummy goodness, and they don't have them!?!!?! I was sooooo disappointed! We looked again, I was almost on the verge of tears because I had expectations of being able to have them. There wasn't anything else I wanted, so we decided to go check out. I was definitely feeling sorry for myself and moping while we were in line, and then as I was helping grant unload the cart onto the conveyor belt, I saw TWO bags of my peanut butter cups!!! Grant had found two bags and hadn't said anything. At first I was a little annoyed that he didn't tell me at first, but then I was just happy to have my chocolate! ;p

Hanging out with the girls

Mia and Ally are two of the coolest kids that I know.. I might be a little bit biased,but who cares!?! Since I don't know any that age I can't help it. Anyway, one of the coolest things about living with Tanya and Wilson has been getting to know the girls more than just seeing them once or twice a year. I tried to hang out with them, but sometimes I was glad that I wasn't their parent because all kids can get annoying at times.

Our rule for the girls is to stay on our bed, if they want to stay in the room. Otherwise, they might get into more things that we didn't want broken, and our room was not baby safe I would say! So, here you can see Mia and Ally wrestling... I think that they were fighting over our rings.

When Grant was taking pictures, Mia made sure that Grant had taken a picture of each foot since her nails were painted, and each hand. It was very funny because she was not happy until he had taken them and she could see them.

We would let them play with our rings since they would have a harder time breaking those, and it was soo funny to see their first reaction to them... lets put them on our toes! So, Grant and I were laughing about how many toes of Ally's can fit in one of my rings!

Then as I mentioned before, we would sometimes watch them, and this time I got Ally out of bed because she was crying,but she still seemed groggy.... So, I layed down on the bed again and in about 3 seconds she was out again, so I was happy for Tanya because most of the time more sleep = happier child.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

So, I don't know if many of you have watched the movie Blood Diamond that came out in 2006. It is a great, but gorey movie. In this movie, they show truths about the diamond market, and all about blood diamonds which basically means that in some places in Africa, there are still slaves working in diamond mines. In these mines, they mine diamond which are then smuggled into the system.

One of the great lines that Leonardo Decarpio says in this movie is that the only reason that these people are dying is because of the demand for these stones. The demands that mainly Americans make. Most people in other countries, are not expecting diamonds as our culture seems to.

So, don't get me wrong... I wanted a diamond too!!! But I couldn't live with the fact that someone might have died for a dumb rock... so, i decided to do some research. Now, there is no way that every diamond is a blood diamond, but I wanted to be sure that mine was not one. I found a few online websites that sold different diamonds, but a lot of them looked really shady.

Finally, I stumbled upon engineered diamonds. Most people don't know about them yet, but they are grown in a lab, meaning that they are perfect and don't have the flaws that all natural diamonds have. They are not quiet as strong as natural diamonds but there is a .9 difference in strength. The nice thing about them, is making them in a lab is a lot cheaper, so that made me feel a lot better knowing that my engagement ring with wedding band that is over 1 carat was under $1000.00. I have had my ring for over a year and am very satisfied, and the best thing is that you don't need ring insurance!! They will replace your diamond if it falls out, is messed up, etc.
So, here is one of my favorite eternity bands that they sell, now I won't get it for years most likely,but I can dream! ;p

But their website has some beautiful jewelry on it, they do any custom stuff as long as you can draw or explain what you want. Now, obviously that makes it more expensive, but in jewelry terms, I would see them as pretty inexpensive. Also, their diamonds are considered green, and that is why this company made this years Miss Universe 2009 Crown.

So here is their website if you are interested!!!

http://www.diamondnexuslabs.com/

Belated 1st Anniversary!

Grant and I had our one year anniversary about one month ago. Ours was August 9th! We had a great time, we went to a restaurant called Manwells which we had a gift card too. We went to Barnes and Noble and got a book, and we also got Cheesecake Factory for dessert. I had a great time, it was so much fun getting dressed up, and especially getting to wear an awesome dress that I had gotten at the thrift store for $10.00 that Grant had not seen yet. We were definitely trying to keep it small because we shouldn't be spending a lot of money, but it was still great! We both still cannot believe that it has been one year.

This picture actually isn't from our Anniversary,but I liked it and thought it was good enough. I actually forgot to have someone take a picture of us all dressed up. *sigh* oh well, next time.

We actually celebrated our anniversary on Friday rather than waiting until Sunday, and boy am I glad that we did!!! Grant got sick Saturday around noon, and was in bed with a high fever, chills, and a bad headache until Tuesday. I guess sometimes it pays to be early. Also, we told the Amaros about this encase they want to try this some time to make sure their anniversaries cannot be ruined anymore!

A New Home - For a little bit at least!

So, Grant and I are really excited because we have finally found a place to live. We have been very blessed lately with a whole bunch of different things, but here is the story. A family called the Rivas in our young married's class are going to El Salvador for various reasons. They needed someone to stay in their house, and we needed a place to stay.

This means that we get to live there for 5 and a half to 6 months until they are ready to return. We are paying for utilities and they are paying for our internet which is definitely awesome of them. Their House is in the Lakeway Area/ Hill country of Austin. It made me laugh because Grant and I were like, Man, this is a ritzy area... come to find out it is a one of the wealthiest areas of Austin. Their house is beautiful, and later I will add some pictures.

Also, another very exciting piece of news is that I got a different job within my company where I am now the estimator. I help the sales people out with quotes, commercial take offs, and some customer sales myself. The best part of this position is a pay raise which means that the longer drive isn't going to be as big of a deal anymore. Grant and I feel so blessed because this opportunity!

My Dream Home

So, I have needed things to Blog about, so here is a house that is for sale here in Austin! It is SO beautiful, and there are a lot of things that I just love about it, and so I guess I will share with you why; whether anyone reads it or not is fine. This house is built in the 969 neighborhood where they build modern green homes, the main difference between this neighborhood and the Mueller neighborhood is that they don't have the nice urban flair and the awesome community. This is pretty much suburbia with modern houses.

So for Starters, I love the sleek, modern outside. I love the Stucco and the beautiful dark wood fence.

The porch in the back is nice, but a little bit large; I mean I'm sure you could use it,but for everyday life a little bit large.

A better picture of the porches, I love the window placement in this house.

This is the entry way/ living room / kitchen area. Please notice the awesome aggregate concrete flooring.

The furniture is OK,but I love all the windows/doors.

Their living room area.

Here you can see the nice island and the retail doors in this house.

The Amazing Kitchen, I LOVE the clerestory windows above the upper cabinets so that you don't have to find anything to put above your cabinets, and it lets in great light.

This room is great, the bamboo floors are beautiful, and again great window placement! This room is huge, but of course if I had one this size I would not be complaining.

Another view.

Great window placement, nice drawer pulls, and also the mosaic tiles in the shower are nice. I prefer no tub and just a shower.

Pony wall is also nice, I prefer an enclosed linen closet,but I could deal with an open one like that.

The Guest Bedroom, I like the room, and especially the balcony.

This is the other bedroom that they have as an office/ hang out room.

Another View.

The Guest bathroom, not to shabby, not too small,but still looks pretty classy.

Full bamboo steps are always nice.

Did I mention I love the window placement?

This is the great view from the Balcony of downtown Austin. I think this house is 6 miles away.

In Texas, I have seen a decent amount of car ports rather than garages. I like that you can store a lot of stuff in garages, but here they built in lockable storage which is also nice.

The front of the house, the retail door and the window placement, also the stained cedar portion of the house is also nice.

Some of the other houses in the neighborhood, and also the fun walk way in the front.

I love the Cement planters that they added to their house.

So here is one of the houses that I love, it is definitely expensive, but it is still on the market, and I love it.

http://www.5400senderohills.com/

For Jill

These are for a friend Jill. Easy photo hosting.

Ally and Me!

Grant and I sometimes "watch" Mia and Ally. When I say watching I mean, we are at home while the girls are sleeping. Every once in a while, the girls wake up before Tanya gets back, so we try to entertain them until Tanya gets home. Here is one of those times.

Mia and Tanya were shopping, and Ally woke up before they were back. I had just gotten back from work, so she was excited to play with me. The rules for the girls is that if they are in our room they have to stay on the bed. Because off of the bed are so many different things that they can break of mess up the room with.

So, ally and I were talking and playing on the bed, and she would jump around, play with Tanya's phone, and then every once in a while lay down and point at the blanket and assume that I would cover her up. I would, and it was a constant Game. Right now, we are in Houston for the holiday and it is so cool to have the girls used to us and comfortable with us. It will be kinda sad when we get our own place because they won't be as used to us, but that is ok. I have to say it is awesome to play with them,but them not be mine yet.