MY FIRST CAVITY :(

We had both not been to the dentist in awhile so when our new insurance policy came out and covered it we were ecstatic ( yes probably to strong of a word choice, i know) We needed to find a new dentist because my regular dentist didn't take my insurance :(  So i searched around on my provider network and found Dr Jon Jackson at The Dentist in Pleasant Grove (basically around the corner from our apartment) Apparently i have a complicated Insurance Policy because it took the receptionist and I an entire hour to figure it out while Nate was having his cleaning. Since it had been so long for both of us we knew we would have some cavities. I thought i would have 6 ( yes i said 6) I can't remember how many Nate guess im not even sure he said a number just guess ALOT. I ended up needing 4 fillings(which is less than i thought) and Nate needed 1!! (Whaaat?!!) I was a little panicky going in for my fillings probably because i didn't know what to expect i have never had a filling before. Yes i am 21 and felt like a scared 5 year old going into the dentist exam! ( it didn't help that they turned on Princess and the Frog for me to watch) A little over an hour later i was good to go with a numb mouth and a sore jaw. Nate's appointment was a week after mine since i went while he was in school. They called him during work to verify the appointment and there must have been some confusing on one end of the phone, because Nate was under the impression that his appointment was THAT day. When he came home early from work i was so confused, so we called Dr. Jackson office to find out WHEN and the appointment was really for. SADLY the next day so Nate came home from work early and didn't have an appointment, i explained the confusion to the Dr. and then Dr. Jackson asked if he could come RIGHT THEN because he could fit him in. Now that is what i call CUSTOMER SERVICE!! Nate left at 3:30 and was back by 4:10 which worked out great for us to head to Gabe's birthday!!

Gabe's 7th.. Basketball Birthday!

My nephew Gabe turned 7!!! He made it very clear when i was making Isabelle's cake that he wanted a BASKETBALL cake. He even described to me what a basketball looked like. Then when his mother confirmed that this is still what he wanted he goes "yes, you know like a round orange cake with black lines on it like a basketball??" Oh goodness Gabe we sure love ya!!

I kept going back and fourth on the idea for this cake. I could not decide if i wanted to cover the ball with fondant or just ice it with buttercream. I ended up just doing buttercream for the fact alone that i did not want to make fondant. I bought black fondant to save my counters because black is a pain to make! The cheaper Wilton brand fondant is hard to work it and tastes AWFUL so i only used a small amount that i had left over from Nate's cake. Other than Nate pestering me when dinner was going to be made it turned out rather well and i am starting to realize its ok to make a cake in one afternoon and not three.

Sadly with every cake there is trial and error. i had never made a ball shaped cake before and the bumpy drive through Pleasant Grove and Saratoga Springs didn't go over well..... The ball started to slide off of itself and created a not so perfect ball for when we arrived. I tried to save it when we got there but there wasn't much i could do at that point, what was done was done. I now know for the future that a dowel or two may be needed inside the rounds to keep them together. AND…. buttercream might not have been the better choice. Lessons learned Gabe still enjoyed his birthday cake and it tasted delicious!

Sad Day For a Couponer..

So last night while i was working on my nephew’s birthday cake i went to go put it in the freezer. And notice some meat that was defrosted and kind of looking not so good. Which we had just had some go bad in the fridge. So i thought maybe Nate had just forgotten and put it back in the freezer by accident. i come walking in holding this nasty meat asking Nate if he had just put it back  in the freezer and he gave me this look like why would i put that back in the freezer?? Right then it hit me OMG the freezer is unplugged!!! NOPE worse... it’s NOT WORKING! The light is showing it is on, and everything is plugged in….. it’s just not working. We bought the freezer in JULY!!  We have had the freezer for less than a year and it’s already broken?!! L We called a repair guy to come out and look at it. Hopefully he will have good news or a free new freezer for me! i am so upset i had to throw out 3 garbage bags full of food!! That was over 2 months worth of dinners!!! The really upsetting part is that i was not planning on going grocery shopping for a MONTH!!  LITERALLY A MONTH!! If i had not been so concerned about getting my cakes into a freezer i probably would have just broke down and cried!! Instead I made Nate play Tetris with our little freezer until the cakes fit. Remember those unexpected things that ALWAYS happen.. This is EXHIBIT A!!!

Budgeting

Occasionally budgeting and planning our bills out makes me want to pull my hair out!!! It keeps me up at night until i sit down and figure out how it is going to work out or close enough that i feel like we will make it. i do things like this..

This spreadsheet has PROVEN to be rather handy already though... Just saying..

I finish it i feel great about it and then i remember i forgot something..... it throws off the entire thing! Unexpected things always come up and always will it is part of life, and yet i still make charts knowing it probably wont happen like this.. But its the thought that counts right?

I guess sometimes for me its have some sort of structure or "guideline" that finally calms down my nerves. Or makes me feel a little less crazy...

New Car(s)

While Nate and I were dating his bought this, a whopping $650.00 purchase. It lasted us for about 2 years until it would no longer pass safety and emissions. At that point instead of spending money to fix it up we decide to sell it and upgrade to something a little more reliable. So in Oct that’s what we did…

**UPGRADE**

My Dad bought my Honda Civic about a week before we got married so he could have his 4Runner back. It was weird for me to be in such a little car. It has definitely been a good car, but the poor little guy has A LOT of miles! (We knew this in the beginning) Luckily Hondas take a good wear and tear. Since we don’t owe anything on it we plan on keeping it around for when we move to Springville, so that Nate won’t be driving his truck to Pleasant Grove every day for work.

Best picture i had on file.. :)

At the beginning of the year we had planned on paying off all of my credit card debt and then purchasing ME a new vehicle. We wanted something bigger with fewer miles than my current Honda. I didn’t want to have a loan bigger than 8k so I assumed we would need to decent down payment, because most of these style cars were around to 10k – 12k+ range OR had higher miles on them. Our plan was not to purchase until around JUNE after our Disneyland trip but we found this killer deal and could not resist!

 We love our new 2005 Chevy Equinox!!!

ITS HERE!!!

My Silhouette Cameo!! This is my new toy, i am so excited to start all the projects i have in mind. Don't you love tax return season, because i sure do! Last years return went mostly into some debt payoff and buying Nate his trailer. (The trailer is a whole nother can of worms that will be saved for later.)

Tax Goals for 2012
Buy a mate
Go to Disneyland
Buy a vinyl machine

It is now the middle of March and most of our tax goals have been completed. The only one that has not is our Disneyland Trip but that is mapped out and paid for and now just waiting for time to pass quicker.

Notice the Ticker Countdown Above?!!

Spring Tulip Wreath

My latest project...To welcome SPRING (so this new found snow from this morning needs to go away!)

 I found this lovely wreath on Pinterest hoping there would be a tutorial on it... unfortunately there was not. But i was determined not to spend $80 by buying this wreath...

Being that i am a blog stalker i have learned that there is always a way to figure out how to make it yourself, for less than buying already made. Wreaths scare me though, when we were making them for work around Christmas my wreaths had ISSUES! Anyways… so i just kind of jumped into this project blindly.

 
 I picked up my stems and trimmed them to the length that i wanted.  (i also hot glued the petal to the stem so i didn't have to worry about them falling off while in storage or anything like that) Then just kept adding, and adding, and adding.... The more flowers that were added the better it started to look.

A coworker today pointed out that my tulips were a lot bigger than the ones in the example i was going from. Which were the only ones my HOBLOB carried, they also didn't have the two pinks colors so i just went with the two. That difference and that my leaves were a lot bigger than the example as well which I’m sure is because of the fact that my tulips were bigger.

So this project took:
8 bundles of tulips @ 6.99 each - 50% off = 3.49 each
1 Foam Wreath @ 7.99 -40% Off Coupon = 4.79
1 Roll Ribbon @ 3.99 -50% off = 1.99
Hot Glue

TOTAL for this project = 34.70
Saved by making it myself = 45.30 + shipping & tax