Intramural champs!!

Josh is on a team for intramural flag football with a couple friends this semester.
Apparently last year this team didn't win any games! This was not the case this year!!

One of his friends on the team happens to be his best friend that he played football with in high school! They had so much fun getting to play together again.

In the normal season I think they only actually won 1 game. They won another one by forfeit and somehow they still were able to make it to the middle division of playoffs!

Earlier this week it snowed a whole bunch and for the semifinal game they shoveled just the parts of the field that had the lines. And it was only thirty degrees outside! It didn't really surprise me that I was the only wife there from our team. But even though it was freezing cold (literally) they won!

For the championship game last night I was so thrilled that 3 other wives, a sister, and a daughter of the other players came! Even though it was still freezing cold, it was much more enjoyable to sit in the cold with others:)

And guess what...they won!! they all played so well and it was so fun to watch!
Josh got a touchdown the first play of the game...so it was a great start for them!

Josh was so nervous for the game but later told me that once he scored that touchdown he felt so pumped that the nerves all went away!

So proud of my man! He wouldn't stop talking about the game all night!

Audrey Jo

Planning a months worth of meals...

Planning meals is something I was not always passionate about. I thought it was pointless because "how do I know what I'll want to ea in 3 weeks?"

I am here to tell you that I have changed!

When I first got married I didn't decide what I would make for dinner until I was already hungry, which mean Josh has been hungry for the last hour. Then I would have to take time to make sure I had all of the ingredients. Then I had to start cooking. We ended up having a lot of our meals at 9:30-10 at night. Woah.

And luckily we lived across the street from a grocery store because I would literally have Josh run (much faster than driving) to the store to get an ingredient I didn't have.

I started to plan out a week of meals so I wouldn't have to go to the store so often because it was getting expensive! I also found that I was wasting a ton of food and it was not good!

When we moved to Utah I took it one step further and started planning out meals for a month! I was so nervous at first. But this is how I managed to do it:

1. I get my notebook and write down the days of the month. Every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month I get together with extended family for dinner so I write that on those days before I do anything else. Same with any holidays that include dinners ( Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July...)

2. I get every Wednesday off from work and I don't work Saturday or Sunday. I write this next to the dates so I can plan better. On these days I don't have to worry about what time I'll get home from work so I'm able to make my meals that will take a little more time or energy. I also try to put my easiest/quickest meals on Mondays because I know I wont want to spend too much time in the kitchen those days.

3. I get out all of my recipes and last months meal plan. Every time I try a new recipe or change something in an old recipe I have Josh rate it on a scale of 1-10. I write his rating on my recipe so I'm able to look back and see what his favorite meals were. I try not to put all of my "10's" in the same week just as I try to spread out the 6's and 7's. (I usually don't make it again if it's less than a 6 or 7...)

4. If I am trying any new recipes this month I try to highlight it or mark that it's a new recipe so I can make sure to not skip that one! At the start of our marriage I would make the same 10 meals over and over again. Josh finally spoke up and asked me to try something new. So I don't skip those! (Obviously I'm not trying anything new this month...)

Shopping
When I go grocery shopping I try to get all of my non perishable items at the beginning of the month. So that is when I buy my frozen chicken, ground beef, bread... all that jazz. Then each week or every other week (depending on what I'll need) I'll buy the more perishable things like milk, fruit, veggies, etc.
This is what has saved me the most money! I cram as much into my freezer as possible and use the rest up before it goes bad. It has been a great system for me so far! But now I just need to get a deep freezer so I can fit even more!!


I've realized that even though I have meal planned, doesn't mean I need to cook it that night. If I'm not in the mood for Teriyaki chicken, I can make mac n cheese and it's no big deal because I already bought all of the ingredients. I can swap things around and it wont matter! In fact I usually end up sticking to what I planned for the week but making them all in a completely different order. But that's okay! I'm not wasting any food by doing that. And that is pretty awesome!
I am able to make healthier meals for us because it is all getting planned out ahead of time.
And we are not wasting food! Josh and I are able to take leftovers as lunch the next day. This also saves tons of money because we aren't going out and buying lunch while at work or school.


What do you do to meal plan or meal prep?? Although I love the system that I have created, I would love your feedback and tips!

Audrey Jo

Halloween 2016

I love Halloween. I love dressing up and going out!

Luckily the office I work for gets super into Halloween. Remember last year?!

Last year we didn't win best office...unfortunately. So we were pretty determined to win this year!

This year the options for dressing up were: Star Wars, comic books, and Peter Pan.

Peter Pan tooootally won! (Yay!)

Here's a close(er) shot of my make up that my super talented friend did! (I could never do it that well on my own!)

"Team Take Down" The 3 of u work for Todd Seamons, the best PA I've ever known and one of the greatest people I've ever known! Seriously, you should meet this guy.

Now to start preparing for next Halloween! Any ideas??

Audrey Jo

How to save money (and make your money last!)

So when Josh and I got married we had no problems with money.
I was working part time as a hostess at a restaurant and Josh was working as a bellman/valet at a hotel

I wasn't making much but it was enough to pay for groceries and gas (which was a lot considering we were both driving 30 minutes to get to work).
Josh was making tons in tips at his job and that gave us more than enough for rent. We could go out to eat as much as we wanted to, we could go shopping, and not have to plan out our purchases!

When we moved up to Utah we knew that my income was going to be our sole income, for a while at least.
It was definitely a lot harder to make ends meet. Although it isn't fun having to watch what I spend, it is a skill I will always keep with me!

Here is what I do to save money and make it last:

Plan your meals for an entire month! I will be making a whole post devoted to this concept because I am that passionate about it! I use to think it was too hard to plan out a whole month worth of meals until I tried it. I save time and money by buying things in bulk at the beginning of each month and I am able to motivate myself to try new recipes by planning it into my month. (Josh loves when I try new recipes!)

Shop discount and thrift stores Josh has a thing for Nike. He refuses to wear any other kind of athletic apparel. Did you know that they sell Nike at Ross? The other day I got him some Nike leggings (are they still called that when they're in the guys section?) that were originally $90...for only $19! And a Nike shirt that was nearly $20 off! I've gotten a lot of our decor from Ross. I got one of my favorite coats from a thrift store. There's good stuff out there, you just need to spend some time to search for it!

Shop off season I try to buy all of my bathing suits in the fall and winter when they are on sale. Winter coats? Buy them in the spring when stores are trying to clear their racks to make room. I always go to Target to buy "Halloween" candy the day after Halloween-it's still fall, the colors are the same...why is it on sale? Who knows. But I totally take advantage of it!

Don't shop a sale just because it's a sale How many times do you go shopping just because there's a sale? I have and I sometimes do! But why go shopping when you don't need anything? Save that money for when you do need it! Of course there are exceptions to that rule: when I go grocery shopping and they are cereal on sale, I'll buy it because I know Josh will be needing cereal the next week. But I don't go shoe shopping just for the fun of it.

Don't use a gift card just because you have one Target gift cards are one of my favorite things ever. When we got married we got tons of gift cards to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. I didn't go out shopping there just because we could. I waited until we needed something to use the gift card. This came in handy when we moved to Utah and needed to buy a lot more...like a microwave, things for our second bathroom, etc.

Find ways to make a little extra A popular way to make a little extra money here is to donate plasma! It takes about an hour to donate plasma and you're able to make $25-30 each donation-they pay you for your time (and you are helping people! They are able to make medicine with the plasma that is donated).

Sell your old things As long as you take good care of your stuff, why not try to sell it once you're done with it? We take our old clothes to Plato's Closet when we don't wear them often enough. There are tons of Facebook pages that you are able to sell things on. I'm part of 3 "indoor yard sales" and take full advantage of it with selling things AND with buying things.

Plan out your purchases This is a new thing for me. Josh and I both get paid every 2 weeks. I made a list of things that we "need" and things that we "want." I'm able to look at this list and decide when to buy things. For example, when I knew my car registration was coming up, I was able to plan when the best week would be to pay for that. If there isn't a "need" I am able to decide if it is a good week to get a "want."

What do you think? Pretty easy little changes, huh? It was definitely a transition to go from buying what I wanted to needing to plan out my purchases. But I am so glad I've been able to learn these things.

What ways do you save money? What have you learned over the years and how do you stick to your budget??

Fall has arrived! (almost...)

I love fall!
I never really understood the hype with fall until we moved to Utah last year. Fall is so beautiful! The temp finally isn't 100 degrees every day. The crisp morning air. The leaves changing from green to all shades of red, orange and yellow! Football season. Getting to wear boots, scarves, and sweaters without having to scrape snow and ice off my windows yet!
I love it all!

Last year around this time I was just starting to become better friends with the girls I work with. We went to a haunted house together and it was awesome!

This year I'm able to call these girls some of my best friends! We are already planning on doing fun fall things together. And it is going to be so fun!

So here is my 2016 Fall To-Do List

1. Go to a pumpkin patch. Josh and I have these things called "Pass of all passes" that gets us into things for free! (It was only $15 and is good to use ALL year!). This pass gets us into a pumpkin patch for free! Of course there are things you need to pay for once you're inside...but admission is free! I love mostly free dates :)

2. Drive through Provo Canyon to see the changing leaves. Well...it doesn't have the be Provo canyon. Pretty much just any canyon where the trees are all around us! My grandparents have a cabin that is in the middle of tons and tons of trees. I hear it is the most beautiful drive up to it in the fall!

3. Go on a few more hikes before the snow hits and I just want to stay inside and cuddle. There are a few hikes I've been wanting to do so I better hurry up and do them before it gets too cold! Last winter was so hard for me! I was so cold that I didn't want to go outside at all. Maybe this year will be different since I know what to expect with winter. We'll see.

4. Carve a pumpkin. I guess this kind of goes along with going to a pumpkin patch. But Josh and I didn't carve one last year and I was pretty bummed about it. We'll be sure to make up for it this year!

5. Go to a BYU football game. Last year I wasn't able to go to one even though Josh was at every home game (he worked with BYU recruiting and got in free). I love the atmosphere of football games and I want to go to one this year!

6. Run for 45 minutes without stopping. Again...something I want to do before the snow hits! I miss the days when I could just go out and run 8 miles just because I could. I remember looking at my running schedule and being excited that I would only be running 6 miles that day. Because that's so easy, right? (HA!). I want to get my endurance close to what it was when I was running everyday.

7. Take family pictures. We had some taken last year by a dear friend and we loved them! I'd love to have some done every year to look back on.

8. Finish Unbroken. I've been reading this book for a few weeks no and I LOVE it! But for some reason I keep finding other things to do instead of reading it. I will finish it!

9. Go fishing. My dad is planning on coming up here in a few weeks and we're going fishing with him! We're so excited!

10. Run a 5k. Josh and I love running 5ks together. We have run 2 so far and are hoping to run one again for Halloween! They are so fun, especially when the pressure is off and we do it just to have fun.

I'm back!!

So I've been pretty MIA for a while...but I'm back!

Josh and I recently returned from an amazing trip to San Diego. While there my mom mentioned that I haven't blogged in a while...so I decided to start up again. I miss being close to family and I just think this is a great way to keep them a little updated on the fun adventures we go on here!

On our trip we got to spend a ton of time with family. We babysat my new niece for a day (it was awesome!!). My mom taught me how to make a dress for my niece. My mother in law taught me how to make the best ribs every and a family recipe of meatloaf! We had so much fun and I cannot believe how short the trip felt!

So to start back up...here are some pictures from the trip!

There were other pictures that I wanted to share but they don't want to upload...so that's cool... 

Audrey Jo

I'm feelin 22!

Actually. I'm not feelin' 22 quite yet...but I'm sure it will hit me eventually!

Yesterday I celebrated my 22 year on this earth. It was a great day!
It started with my favorite thing ever. Not waking up to an alarm, right next to my husband. Best combination ever! He made me the most delicious breakfast of cinnamon french toast and bacon! (He makes me so proud!)

After I dropped Josh off at school I went to work out with Ashley-our usual Wednesday morning workout. It was leg day (barf). But I felt so good afterwards! So good that I went to the gym to run more! That only lasted a mile before my legs gave up on me though.

When I picked Josh back up from school we went to the mall and walked around for a bit before heading to Nothing Bundt Cakes for my free birthday bundt cake! I got lemon, of course. We made our way back to Provo just in time dinner at The Macaroni Grill. We both got Chicken Parmesan and it was soo delicious! Their bread is my favorite!

The best part about this meal...it was free! I'm convinced that free food tastes better. We were given gift cards here for our wedding...that never got used and I work at the best office ever that gave me a gift card there just for helping out on my day off! It was the best!

We went home with full bellies and just relaxed all night (after Josh studied for his midterms)!

And seriously...Nothing Bundt Cakes is the best. Ever.

Happy 22nd birthday to me!!

Audrey Jo