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

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??

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

1 year anniversary!

Today Josh and I celebrate our 1 year anniversary! Wow, how time flies!!
This year has been the best of my life. I love being married to my best friend. As cliche as it sounds...we totally complete each other. We have the same random thoughts and share the same random dance moves! At the same time...he surprises me every day with something new! It has been such an adventure growing with him these last 365 days.

In the last year...
I finished school and started working in my field right away!
Got an Xbox
Went to Disneyland 3 times, Safari Park 1 time
Josh applied to BYU and got in!
We traveled across the country to attend a wedding together
And drove or flown to/from Utah 6 times
Moved to Utah!
Josh thought me how to solve a Rubik's cube!
Been to 4 different gyms
Moved 3 times
Traded in our Xbox for a Wii U
Been to 5 different temples
And of course...We got married!

We love being married and we can't wait for what our second year of marriage will bring!

Here are pictures of some of the highlights (in no particular order), for your enjoyment!

Josh's flag football team after a faahhreeezing game.

 Disneyland and they're churros. Obviously Josh was not ready for this.

 Rhode Island for Tim's wedding!

 Seven Peaks before BYU started

 My first day of my new job and Josh's first day at BYU!

 Josh's first time donating blood. He was such a champ!

 My first attempt at cutting Josh's hair myself. The finished product looked good! But when I started buzzing I started freaking out at how short I was cutting it!

 Aleigh Joy took family pics of us!

 Our first time seeing the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City!

 A Christmas party hosted by the Moores!

 Our first time sledding, New Years Eve.

 The Eve of our Anniversary at the Ice Castles in Midway

  Our beautiful wedding day!

Audrey Jo

Christmas Recap!

I have been away from the blogging world for far too long!
But I'm back! Lucky you!

Josh and I had the wonderful privilege of flying home to San Diego last week for Christmas!
Because this was our first married Christmas together...we chose to exchange gifts the night before we left. It was so wonderful! This season we were able to think of new Christmas traditions to continue with our family in years to come!
One tradition is to get matching Christmas pjs (This one was my idea)! I wanted to get us awesome pjs but didn't want to put the money towards them. So I thought, to myself, that we would just start this tradition  next year. Then when I got home from work that night and it was time to look in our stockings...I pulled a pair of Olaf pajama pants out of my stocking!! I held them up and turned to look at Josh and he was already holding a pair of his own that he hid behind the couch! He is seriously perfect for me!

We flew into San Diego early Wednesday morning and came home late Monday night. Making it a too-short trip of 5 days! Our trip was full of family time- both with Josh's family and with mine. We had delicious meals and wonderful shopping trips...lazy naps and crazy family parties. We had it all! 

Josh's family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve with all of his extended family. We drove down to El Cajon to his uncles house where we had a delicious dinner and the annual white elephant gift exchange! We brought some salt and pepper shakers shaped like chickens and a marshmallow gun and we ended up with a Justin Bieber singing toothbrush and a giant mug with some dark hot chocolate mix!

I stole Cards Against Humanity from Josh's brother and was so excited about it! Until the same brother stole it back from me...I was so mad.

Something that I absolutely love about the Stephens family Christmas party is that the Christmas story is always read. Apparently they have been doing this for more than 50 years. Such an awesome tradition!

Christmas day gets a little crazy with us. A good kind of crazy, of course! We started the morning with breakfast at my mom's house, followed by visiting at my dad's house! From there we all went to my Oma and Opa's house!

This year for a gift exchange with Josh's family we figured we would all save some money and only buy 2 gifts and exchange them white elephant style! It was such a fun way to mix it up and save some money!

This Christmas season has been so wonderful. Josh and I spent last Christmas engaged, so we still spent Christmas with each other's family but this year was so much more special! 

I love my husband and I love that he was born Christmas Day so I can celebrate him during my favorite holiday season!

I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday!

Audrey Jo

He is the best. Ever.

Do you ever have those weeks that you're not excited for? This was one of those!
Work was just a little bit more stressful this week and for me that meant longer work days. Woo!

You know what always made my day better? Sweet little texts from my handsome husband throughout the day! And seeing him at the end of the day helps every thing!

I am just so grateful for Josh and the amazing guy that he is!

So here is a picture of us after our long days-me with half of my makeup on and Josh with his hat hair...that I cut out of the picture for ya;)

Now I'm going to finish my wonderful night watching TV, eating ice cream, and cuddling under a warm blanket! (Because this cold winter is seriously killing me.)

Audrey Jo

So Very Thankful Part 1

I absolutely love November! Everybody is starting to get into the Holiday Spirit and I think people are generally just happier this time of year.
November is especially awesome because it is a time of year we can focus on what we are thankful for. It is so easy to get caught up in the world thinking of all of the things you want and "need" so it is so refreshing to have an excuse to sit back and just be thankful.

So here are a few things I am thankful for this year:

1. My husband

This year has been one for the books. The main reason being that we were married mid January and got to start our eternity together. That was a day that I waited years for. It was a beautiful sunny (80 degree) day in San Diego and it could not have been more perfect. Being married to him has been the best time of my life. It's so cliche...but I love getting to hang out everyday with my best friend. He is the greatest!


2. School

(Josh is working with BYU recruiting and gets to go to ALL of the home games!)

I know, I know. School sucks. But it actually doesn't! This year I graduated from medical assisting school and have started working in the medical field. And I love it! School is the worst while you are attending it with all of the studying and hours spent in class. All I could think of the whole time is how I just wanted to be done so I could finally start working. Now that I'm working I miss school! I love learning new things that are relevant to what I'm studying. I could seriously sit in an anatomy class all day long and be so happy. School is also what brought my wonderful husband and I to Utah! Soon after we got married he applied to BYU and got accepted! We made our trek up here and we have loved it ever since! Especially because we get to be close to so many of our friends!


3. Medicine

This past week I have had a serious case of "the dizzies." Friday when I got home from work I was completely exhausted so I went upstairs to lay down until Josh got home from school. While I was laying there...not moving at all..I got way dizzy! I thought I was going crazy and just really tired so I shrugged it off and I was fine the rest of the night. But this kept going all week! Throughout the day I would get dizzy while just standing there or walking around. Pretty much any time I would do something that normally wouldn't cause somebody to feel that way. I was fed up with it so I made myself an appointment to be seen while I was at work. (It is so nice working at a doctors office!) We still couldn't figure it out but we tried a few different things and ran a couple tests. (Everything came back normal!) Luckily my case of "the dizzies" is going away. But it is just such so wonderful knowing that whenever we feel sick or that something is "off" with our bodies there are usually ways to figure out what is wrong and how to fix the problem. Not always...but usually! I mean...medicine is always changing and no two bodies are the exact same! I just love medicine. But maybe I'm bias ;).


So the plan is to give a short list of things I'm thankful for each week because I love November and everything about Thanksgiving!
What are some things you are thankful for this year??

xoxo

AudreyJo

Wednesday night lights

For the past 2 months Josh has been on an intramural flag football team through BYU.
It has been so fun for both of us: he gets to play football with his friends while I get to watch on the sidelines with the wives! 3 of which are my friends!
Sometimes it is more socializing than football watching. But how can you blame me when you're sitting with 3 friends and an adorable baby girl!!

So my man's team has been doing so good. They lost only 1 of 5 games. After those games they get ranked to determine what division they will be in for playoffs.
They started in the middle division and got ranked to be in the top division for playoffs! Woo!!

And tonight was the first playoff game! They played a team the had played a few days ago. Apparently this team was wanting a rematch. Well. They got it!

And guess what...we beat them again! And this game I even paid attention (almost) the whole time!
Okay...so I might have only been paying attention because I was too cold to move. But that is beside the point. For reals though. It was fah-reezing. I was wearing so many layers and I did not feel like it was helping at all! I seriously do not know how I am going to survive this Utah winter. How is this only Fall?!

Their next playoff game is this Friday night! Which means another freezing cold hour of football. Yay. Josh is so amped already which makes me pretty dang excited!

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo

Audrey Jo