xox, b

Project Food Budget Week 17

Britt — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:53:08 +0000

T’s been home (although I haven’t seen him he’s been working so hard) but we haven’t gone grocery shopping. He went to the corner store to pick up a few things so we could make some basics (spicy red lentil dhal mostly) but other than that, we’ve been eating the ingredients that I never used when I bought things for all those recipes. We also had a celebratory take-out pizza night when T submitted some work and a date night out on the weekend.

Budget: $100

Spent: $21.09 (corner store)

Under budget $78.98

This is good because our date night put us way over our eating out budget We’re going shopping tomorrow for the week to come and I’m sure it’s going to be ridiculous. Such is life.

Want to join in the project food budget fun? Go here.

Want to read along? Check out everyone else!

The Week 17 Participating Blogs:
- Emily Levenson
  
  Dairy-Free Cooking
  
  Test Kitchen Tuesday
  
  Red Pen Mama
  
  Acquired Tastes
  
  Fit Flexitarian
  
  Warm As Pie
  
  Katy Rank Lev
  
  My Inner Healthy
  
  Little Blue Hen
  
  xox, b
  
  What da Health?
  
  Project Food Budget 2.0
  
  Fresh…A New Chapter
  
  Chandeleah
  
  Two Eggs Over Easy
  
  That’s Just Me
  
  Eat Whole Be Vital
  
  Four Happy Violets
  
  Naturally {Un}refined
  
  Pgh Dad
  
  yogabeautylife
  
  Charmingly Modern
  
  naMAMAste

Project Food Budget

Britt — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:00:39 +0000

Boring week for me. T’s been gone all week so I had 7 meals worth of groceries to eat alone.

Budget: $100

Spent: $0

Thrilling, I know.

Maybe I’ll be more exciting next week!

Want to join? Go here.

Want to read along? Check out everyone else!

The Week 15 Participating Blogs:
- Chandeleah

101 in 1001: One song a month

Britt — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:33:20 +0000

One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to pick a favourite song each month to make a playlist of the 2.75 years of goals.

January’s song? The Dove by Vince Vaccaro

xox,

Too much stuff, not enough space

Britt — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:11:17 +0000

What a stupid predicament to have.

I go in phases where I pile things up and don’t mind weaving through my piles (T calls them my schlep piles) or staring at them or even ~~sorting~~ digging through them occasionally to find something I need.

And then there are days like yesterday where any ounce of clutter anywhere makes me crazy and I want to clean everything Right! This! Very! Second! because if I don’t I’m going to totally lose my shizz.

I never said I was sane.

At 10:30 at night last night I was sorting through piles of stuff in my bedroom, scrubbing walls and counters and ledges and making donate piles. Now, I’m staring at my desk, thankful that I have to go to work because otherwise this room would be next on the Clean! Right! Now! list.

*sigh* Perhaps this is my brain getting itself ready to be in school this weekend? Need a clean space to live if my brain is going to be jam packed full with too much stuff.

xox

11 things about me

Britt — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:09:01 +0000

The lovely Amber tagged me in this Things about You post. It’s Saturday evening, my husband is out of town and my dog is snoring. Perfect time to blog

Rules:

[01.] You must post the rules.

[02.] Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

[03.] Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

[04.] Tag eleven people and link them on your post

[05.] Let them know you’ve tagged them!

—–

11 things about me:

1. I would much rather eat chocolate than drink alcohol.

2. I really dislike feet (probably because mine are really ugly from years of running/basketball/rugby)

3. When T is out of town, I often mess up setting the alarm and sleep in. The alarm is his job.

4. I’m a terrible backseat driver

5. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day (oatmeal with a scoop of peanut butter)

6. I feel seriously pretentious when I tell people I’m ‘attending graduate school’

7. I have to dress up for my teaching job but I’m most comfortable in my lululemon yoga pants at home

8. I drink coffee on the weekends with T but I really prefer drinking tea

9. I’m often torn between my desire for a quiet family life with my love for bustling city adventures.

10. Now that I have braces, I floss even more than I flossed before. I think it’s bordering on obsessive now. Oral hygiene is very important dontchaknow

11. I’m a morning person. I’d much rather wake up early than stay up late.

—-

Amber’s questions for me:

1 – What’s your favorite t.v. show? Oh, I have a few. My regulars are The Biggest Loser, Grey’s and Private Practice. Being Erica just ended, but it was one of my favourites as well.

2 – Are you living in your dream town/city? If not where would you move? See above with confusion about living location. I do love where I live though – this is an amazing and gorgeous place in the world to live.

3 – Sweet tooth or a lover of saltiness? Sweet all the way. I’d take or leave chips, but put dessert in front of me and you may have to hold me back.

4 – Favorite vacation destination? Mexico was pretty fantastic, but really I could be anywhere as long as I’m with the people I love.

5 – Do you believe in love at first sight? No, but I do think you can know you’ll be good together fairly quickly. I’m a good judge of character.

6 – Hobby? Reading, sewing, running

7 – Do you like to cook? (Fave recipe please!) I like to cook, but I love to bake. My favourite recipe is Sue Mendelsen’s Double Chocolate Cake with Incredible Chocolate Icing (DROOL)

8 – Coffee or tea? Tea.

9 – How many kids would you like to have? In a world where I had unlimited money? 4 or 5. In this world? 2 or 3. I’d really like 3. T would really like 2. We’ll see how it goes.

10 – Is your hair color au natural or coloured? Currently, it’s faded out old colour. My roots are natural

11 – Biggest pet peeve? When people say “expecially”

My questions for you!

1. Do you floss? If not, do you lie to your hygienist about it?

2. It’s Friday night. What would you love to be doing?

3. Favourite movie of all time?

4. Do you remember your dreams?

5. What’s the worst pick up line you’ve ever heard?

6. If you won the lottery would you quit your job?

7. Do you like mitts or gloves better?

8. Do you use the library?

9. Would you rather travel to the future or the past?

10. How much is too much to spend on a pair of jeans? Shoes?

11. Favourite song of the day?

Tag! You’re it!

Andi @ On Call RN

Aly @ Breathe Gently

Terri @ Sweet Home Alabama

Thoughtsy @ Thoughts Appear

Kate @ Hot Potato Running

Black thumb B

Britt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:31:58 +0000

Well, it didn’t take too long.

The plant my mom so lovingly bought to put on my desk in September has officially kicked the bucket.

This one died of overwatering. The next one to go surely will be the opposite.

Can’t claim to be good at everything!

xox,

Project Food Budget

Britt — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:00:18 +0000

Alright, again, been slacking on the project food budget challenge. Last week I was away in Mexico, so this week we had a ton of groceries to buy.

Budget: $100

Actually spent:

Grocery Store: $87.19

Costco: $159.12

Total: $246.31

I never know whether I should include Costco visits in my weekly budgets. Technically the food lasts much longer than one week, and often the money comes out of a different pot, but this week that $159 was pretty much all food. Alas, way way, over budget.

While in Mexico, I made a weekly meal plan with a grocery list. I bought all the food for these 7 meals in the $87 I spent at the grocery store. I also bought a few extra things that weren’t specifically for these recipes so I’m averaging less than $10 a meal for all these recipes. Pretty good!

We’re having:

Gingery Veg Broth with Tofu and Noodles
Szechuan fried rice – kapha
Coconut curried tofu with macadamia nuts
Spicy Red Lentil Dahl
Lentil Quinoa Burgers with sauteed mushrooms
Love your broccoli pasta
Quinoa stir-fry with spinach and walnuts

If you’d like my grocery list as well, HERE is the link to the google document with the list as well as the links to all the meals.

Want to join in? Go here.

The Week 14 Participating Blogs:
- Chandeleah

Refreshed

Britt — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:21:21 +0000

Writing is cathartic, isn’t it?

Just getting all that frustration and doubt out of my head and onto my blog helped me sort through it all. I woke up this morning feeling ready to tackle this year and make some progress towards our goals and dreams.

I went to the gym this morning and did my arms workout in the co-ed (read: boys) section of the gym. I ignored all the staring as I struggled with my 10lb weights (I have seriously weak arms. Something I’m working on this year!) and I rocked the whole workout.

Today is a day for rest, more organization and visiting friends. It’s a nice break before going back to work tomorrow and oh so needed what with my emotional upheaval this weekend.

Happy Monday,

xox

Thoughts on a new year

Britt — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:44:05 +0000

I haven’t been blogging much lately. Not because I haven’t had the time (usual excuse) or not because there isn’t anything to say, but mostly because I’m not sure how to say it all. The start of a new year is usually an exciting time, but this year for me, I’m feeling very uninspired.

2011 was not the greatest year and I’m trying hard to let it go and move on, but the remnants from 2011 drag on – the relationships that deteriorated in my family, the residual effects of my brother’s accident, the stress of all the things I’ve signed myself up for, the scary new territory I’m in with my dad, T’s constant travel. I know there isn’t such a thing as ‘getting over’ things, but I have to get through them and that is painful and difficult and scary a lot of the time.

T and I usually reflect together at the beginning of the year, discussing goals and dreams for the year and years ahead. We talk about the difficulties and joys of the last year and what we think will happen for us in the next year. The thing with 2012 is that we don’t really foresee much change. 2012 is the year of progress – we’re both working towards professional/educational goals that won’t be completed this year. T’s travel will likely continue as will my busy schedule. Despite my best efforts, I can’t fix relationships in my family.

I’m trying really hard to frame these things in a different light. T and I are both working hard at something we love. We’re busy saving for our first house and hopefully our first baby in the next few years. We love each other and our life together and being apart makes us cherish those moments we’re together even more. But the whole positive thing for me is hard right now. I’m trying though. Really trying.

I’ve been doing the things that make me happy and feeling in control – running and writing lists. I’ve been organizing our year in multiple calendars and colour coding my lists. I’ve been running with a great group of girls who are keeping me motivated and am signed up to run both a half marathon and a marathon this year.

I know I can get through 2012. I just really hope that I can enjoy it too.

Anyone else in a new years funk?

xox,

Goodbye 2011!

Britt — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:05:30 +0000

Usually, I do a big new years post. This year, I’m in Mexico, about to get ready for a big new years eve dinner and party. Needless to say, I’m just not into the recap this year. 2011 hasn’t been the greatest year for me and my family. The lasting legacy from 2011 will be my brother’s accident and that really isn’t one I’d like to remember. On a positive note though, 2011 was debt free year. Woohoo!

Enjoy the last few hours of 2011. Here’s to a new year with new adventures, lots of joy and even more health and happiness.

Happy New year from Mexico!

xox,