This month in pictues

July

Typical day in Washington, rain and traffic!

I found heaven! They are super delicious, but at 140 calories for two, I would not suggest eating the whole bag.

Magic Mike!!! I loved the movie but wish there was a little more dancing and a lot less story line.

I think I make the best lunches ever. The husband sure is lucky :)

It was super hot this weekend {7th & 8th} we had all wanted sun, but this is a little ridiculous!

Seventh- The husband and I wanted a break from the heat, so we headed to the movie theater. We saw Ted! It was reallllllly funny! The best part was that there were a group of grandmas who were in the theater {maybe they thought it was about a cuddly teddy bear?} when something inappropriate would happy, which is basically the whole movie, they would say with disgust "SICK!!" it make us laugh! Normally we never go to the movies, but I have gone to two this month! It has been nice to just relax and have a good time. It must be the first time guys wanted to see a movie about a teddy bear and girls want to see a movie about strippers! HA

Eleventh- Did a photo shoot for three kids under five! With a little bribery, they were very well behaved. I fell in love with this picture, one of my top favorites I have ever taken.
  

July 11th! Free Slurpee day at 7-11. Nothing tastes better than free!

Fifteenth- Went to a baby shower! I love catching up with the girls, enjoying yummy food and  ooohing and awwing over all the adorable baby stuff.

Twenty first- We were invited over to our friends house for dinner {enchiladas}. The boys played video games and we watched scary movies and sipped these amazing drinks. Found these bad boys at Walmart for $2! They come with alcohol already in them, freeze them and insert straw! My kind of drink :) So yummy!

We were asked to bring dessert, we found these little baby pies at the IGA store down the street from our house. They were only one dollar each and were absolutely delicious! They had all sorts of different flavors, pumpkin, lemon, peach, blueberry, chocolate eclair, apple, and pineapple. Was it bad that I wanted to buy one of each?...Just for myself!  

Twenty second- Sunday afternoon we went to the ice rink for my nieces birthday party. We did not want to skate, but had a lot of fun people watching. *Note to self, even if it is warm and sunny outside, bring warm clothes to wear in ice rink.*

After the birthday party we stopped by our favorite place to get fish and chips for lunch. The prices are a little high and the food is really greasy, but isn't that the best part? I would dip my whole body into the tarter sauce if I could. Grabbed a chocolate malt for the drive home. Great way to end the weekend!

Every Sunday I look forward to checking my favorite website Postsecret.com. It is an ongoing community mail art project, people send in their secrets anonymously and new ones get posted every Sunday. Some are sad, funny, heartbreaking and a sometimes tragic. My favorite part is reading secrets that inspire me or feel like they are a secret that I have as well! I have sent in a few secrets myself, although I have not seen them posted yet, it is exciting to wonder if they will be chosen. This last Sunday I saw this secret and it made me smile. I really am ready to get over with my 20's and cannot wait to see what my 30's will bring. I am hoping for a much happier and pain free life, full of laughter and incredible moments.

  

 Twenty seventh- Went to the local parade by my moms house with my mom, brother and his kids. We try to go every year, but with the drama we have missed the last two. It was nice to go and have a good time with them, kinda like old times. The parade is probably half the size of the one we have by our house but it was still neat to go, I love the clowns!

His license plate said "Autobot" and his car looked just like Bumble Bee! I couldn't resist taking his picture!

Twenty eighth- This was a "small"! The husband and one of our friends went to a huge swap meet (our first time ever going!) by our house that is held on the reservation. It can hold up to 250 vendors. When we left the house it was overcast and we debated bringing a sweater. THEN...the sun came out, the sweat started pouring and all you could hear were the complaints coming out of our mouths. Until I ran across this "small" treat of shaved ice with orange, cherry and kiwi syrup. I am pretty sure if I did not get this wonderful treat, I would have died from heat stroke. The swap meet was fun but a ton of walking! We got a few treasures though and were happy that we finally go to see what it was all about.

July turned out to be a fun filled month. Ready to see what August brings us, I am hoping for a few more barbeque's, another trunk sale and working on this very pale skin issue. Happy summer! ☼

Having fun on a budget!

Like every other person, the husband and I have put ourselves on a budget and are sticking to it! It has been really hard and quite the adjustment, but I like the fact that we are not wasting money on things. Because we are saving to enjoy a fun activity or treat ourselves to something, we appreciate it much more! We have been allowing ourselves twenty dollars to spend every weekend on whatever we want. That may not seem like a lot, but we have made it work and are having lots of fun. Whether we go out for a cheap dinner {only if we have a coupon!}, find something fun/free to do or go to a friends house for dinner, the twenty dollars is plenty to work with!

We have been finding new parks around town to go have picnics at, we make sure to bring along the camera to take pictures. We pack a lunch from home or share a sandwich from the local sandwich shop.  Doesn't cost a lot and we always enjoy our time together.

Last weekend we decided to go see a movie together, which we do not do very often! It can be really expensive, but we were able to make a date to the movies work with that twenty dollars! We went to a matinee {$8.50 per ticket} but I had a three dollar off coupon! By using my Regal Club Card we earned a free popcorn, I went to the dollar store to get candy {and may or may not have allegedly snuck it into my purse} and we bought a soda to share together. Total movie date night: $21!

Since summer is here, there are a ton of things going on around town. We get a flyer in the mail that informs us on all the exciting events going on. This last weekend we headed to town to check out something called a "Trunk Sale". It took place in a large parking lot, it looked like a huge garage sale except people were selling things from their car, or had set up their stuff to sell in the parking spot. There was so many different things for sale! I thought that the parking lot was not as full as I had expected, but we have had some crazy weather lately {thunder, hail, rain storms and muggy fog with sun all in one day...not even kidding}, so I am sure a few people backed out. Tupperware, jewelry, a coffin purse, tools and homemade items were among some of the things. We were towards the end of the sale when we hit the mother load! I found these cute little guys that I just HAD to buy. The husband said he did not like them, but the ladies around us agreed that I had to take them home. He said he would break them, what he doesn't know is that if he breaks my owls, I break his face ;) Kapeesh?

How could you resist?! Seriously, the cutest little guys ever!

I have been keeping my eye out for a picture frame to put around our heating thermostat thing, it is so ugly just sitting there on the wall. It needed to be spiced up a little.

Found this bad boy for 50 cents!! And yes, that says 73 in my house, in Seattle words that means "kill me now, I think I'm dying".

The last stop we made before making our way back to the car was a truck that was full of records! We dug through many boxes in search of the perfect vinyl. This is what we found...

Classics!! Eagles, Bad Company and The Doors. Does it get any better than this?! I told my husband that I LOVE 80's music, until he informed me that these were from the 70's haha.

The records were in great shape, they were marked for $3 each, but we talked them down to $10 for all four. Our record collection is getting quite large, now we just need to find something to play them on...

After the trunk sale, we went a few blocks down to a car show! The road was blocked off, so you can walk all over and enjoy the cars that they had for show.

I love going to car shows! I left the DSLR at home this time, so I had to use the cell phone. Boo! The car show was on a street that looks like an old time town, an old hardware store, a psychic shop, antique stores and a bakery. We stopped by the bakery before leaving and got the most delicious doughnut that I have ever had!! I love car show season, cannot wait for the next one.

Next we headed to the grocery store to get chips and cookies to bring to a friends house for a barbecue! The food was amazing and the company was even better :) Total for our weekend: $25.40

See? You too can live on a budget and still have a good time! I am really proud of ourselves and how far we have come. Cannot wait for our next adventure...

Happy Independence Day!

Well that was an amazing Fourth of July! We could not have asked for better weather, we had ahhhmazing food and great company :) I was invited to a friends house while the husband was busy working all day. Surprise, surprise, I made some cupcakes to bring. I wanted to make the pink lemonade ones but I could not find the cake mix or frosting anywhere!! So I attempted to make my own...

I used a lemon cake mix and used this lemon filling to fill them! Sooooo yummy. One can was plenty for 24 cupcakes.

For the frosting I used Whipped Cream frosting and flavored it with a packet of Pink Lemonade drink mix and added a tiny amount of red food coloring to get the light pink color. I ended up mixing in almost two whole packets of the drink mix because I was worried it would not be flavorful enough. One packet would have been just fine!! I felt like it was a little sour. I placed a candy lemon wedge on top and a cute little straw! I thought the cupcakes looked really cute but were WAY too sour. Other people said they tasted really good, maybe I am just not a big fan of lemon?

Had such a great time visiting with everyone and eating wayyyyy too much.

After the husband got home from work, we went to a lookout point near our house {along with the rest of the city! It was super crowded!} we cuddled with a blanket and watched fireworks until midnight. Even the firemen came to watch. It was extremely beautiful although it was a tad cold out! {He took this by the way, he really is getting good at using the camera!}

Did you happen to see the moon last night? So big and pretty! {Another one by the husband! Good job!!}

I had an absolute amazing Fourth of July. It was really nice to be around good people, relax and just enjoy myself.

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

- Elmer Davis