Monday, March 28, 2011

Planning & Budgeting–First Attempt

Now that Brandon and I are going to be living together, our grocery bill is definitely going to go up.

I’m hopeful though that it won’t go up too much (even though that boy sure can eat!). I currently spend about $160-200 a month to feed mainly myself and sometimes him when he stays here a few nights a week. I am hoping after the move we can only go up to about $65-70ish a week (I’m aiming to stay under $275-280 a month). I feel like that is a “do-able” amount, especially considering I was able to keep it as low as I did when it was just me.

I decided that do try and keep our budget under control we needed a plan.

And a plan is what I have!

A little while ago Chelsey from Clean Eating Chelsey featured a grocery shopping series where she tried to stick within a budget and she shared this wonderful grocery shopping list that she uses each week and I loved it! I thought it was such a great idea.

A few days ago when trying to figure out how I was going to plan, I remembered this list. Luckily she uploaded it to Google Docs so others could have their own copy! I immediately saved it to my computer and tweaked it a bit to add/remove some items.

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I am way too excited about this!
(I showed Brandon the list and his first reaction was “That’s intense”) Smile with tongue out

Maybe it’s a little intense, but it’s so helpful too!

We usually do our grocery shopping on Fridays, so I plan to start this week!

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Last night I conquered my fear of touching raw meat!

I made turkey burgers from scratch. Which meant I had to get my hands right in there and get dirty. Normally I avoid touching meat at all costs, even if it means I look hilarious using my tongs or whatever I can find to handle it, so this is HUGE for me!

While they were ok, they weren’t really worth sharing the recipe yet. I have a few ideas in mind for the next time.

While putting the extra burgers in the freezer, I remembered I had this in there:

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I’ve been wanting to use them forever, but can’t decide what for! Any suggestions? I was thinking they might make a great little hors d’oeurves when Brandon and I have our apartment warming party in a few weeks.

Oh! Speaking of our new apartment, we finally got a new futon! Well new to us, we got off of Kijiji. We LOVE it! It’s in great shape, matches the rest of our furniture and is sturdy which was our big thing.

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Don’t mind the mess around it – I had to pile all of the boxes along the wall to make room for it in my living room. We don’t move for another week but they wanted it gone right away, so my livingroom is super cramped right now!  And Queenie has officially found her new favourite place. Too bad once we are in the new place she is going to be banned from that room! Smile with tongue out Brandon is adamant about keeping that room cat/fur free since it’s where the computers and other boy toys (playstation 3, tv, etc) are going to be kept.

We finally are signing the new lease this afternoon, and hopefully our super’s have good news for us! We are still waiting for the old tenant to get her bum out of the apartment, so we can move in.

xo

Perfect Conditions

While I was passing time at work the other day on StumbleUpon, I came across this and it just really hit home to me. I immediately wrote down the link so I would remember where I found it when I got home.

I have SUCH a bad habit of finding excuses not to do something.  Like if my iPod is dead, well then my work out is ruined because heaven forbid I go on the treadmill without music. Obviously that means I should just go home and try to remember to charge it for the next time. Not!  I am the queen of making excuses, and then doing everything I possibly can to try and rationalize my decision.

Or I could apply it to just life in general. If Brandon and I had waited until things were perfect (in our 'dream jobs’ with higher salaries etc) to move in together and eventually get married and such, we would be waiting forever. No matter what, there will always be bills to pay, random expenses will come up and timing may never seem just right to take whatever step is next. Sure, in time we will probably be comfortable financially and what not, but who knows how long that may be! I sure as heck don’t want to wait that long to live and be with the man I love. Plus, going through and experiencing all of what’s ahead of us is only going to make us stronger as a couple in the long run. Why would we want to skip that!?

This picture serves as a great reminder to stop waiting and making excuses. No more waiting for the right time – because the right time is now.

Red heart

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Just working on my fitness..

“She’s my witness..” Smile with tongue out

Yeah.. I went there haha as much as I don’t really like Fergie I can’t help but think of that song when ever I go to the gym
She would be my momma. We had a gym date this evening and I rocked it Open-mouthed smile. I love how awesome I feel after working out. I always have to remind myself that when I am dragging my bum and don’t really want to go.

Tonight we did:

Cardio –> 25 minutes on the treadmill (2 incline at 4.0 pace)

Weights (We focused on our Chest tonight):

1. Incline Bench Dumbell Press (10lbs, 3 sets of 12)
2. Incline Flyes (10lbs, 3 sets of 12)
3. Pushups (3 sets of 8 – Most I have done in a while! I was so pumped!)
4. Cable Crossovers (30lbs, 3 sets of 8)
5. Pec Flyes (50lbs, 3 sets of 10)

Then we did some Ab work – Hanging Leg Raises, Crunches, and Planks!

I am SO going to feel this tomorrow.

Open-mouthed smile

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Weekend Recap

Good evening lovelies! Hope everyone had a great weekend and is now having a nice, relaxing Sunday eveningSmile.

Even though I had to work most of it, I still managed to have a pretty good weekend!

Saturday after work B picked me up to go to his parents house for his birthday supper with his family. I love his family so much, and as always it was a blast! Good food and good company – there’s nothing better than that! For his birthday supper he requested a boiled dinner (like always!) which was delish! Definitely one of my comfort foods, but not something I have very often. It’s so salty! I was thirsty all night after eating that. His cousin came for dinner too, and she brought her adorable little boy with her. I think he is only a year and a half, and of course was the centre of attention!  No pictures unfortunately, I was too hungry/caught up in visiting and totally forgot to take out my camera!

After dinner we went to Wal-Mart to see what they had for dressers and futons. There is absolutely zero room in my dresser for any of B’s clothes and limited closet space for him. We are trying to find just a basic cheap dresser for him because hopefully by this time next year we will have a whole new bedroom set. We don’t want to spend a fortune on just a temporary thing. A futon on the other hand, we are willing to pay a little more for because we need something sturdy, because it’s going in the spare room and will be used as a couch a lot. It’s mainly going to be Brandon and his friends on it. Cheap metal frames will not cut it Nyah-Nyah

All I really did today was work, but I did manage to get a few pictures!

I have been eating the same oats all week, and I’ve noticed I am actually starting to get excited for breakfast now! It’s easily my favourite meal of the day.

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Oats + Peanut Butter (This is the whipped stuff! Yum!) + Chocolate Chips + Banana + Unsweetened Coconut = YUM! I layer my toppings in that exact order, and while it isn’t exactly beautiful, it is so good and filling! I finally have a breakfast that keeps me full until after my first class, which is a big deal because normally I am hungry like an hour after eating!

I also started off my day with a Tazo Chai Latte

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I love love love love love my milk frother! It seriously makes all the difference. When the milk isn’t frothed it honestly just doesn’t taste right.

Lunch was spaghetti and was tres ugly so it went unpictured. Smile with tongue outPlus the lunch room was really busy. Supper may or may not have been (read: definitely was) a slice of pizza from the shop behind my apartment building. I didn’t get home until a little after 7, and was way too lazy to cook supper so I gave in.

I wasn’t too lazy however to make this amazing little recipe!

It’s a single chocolate chip cookie! I got the recipe from Jessica at Domestic Deep Thought.

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It was sooo yummy! Just what I was craving, and I love that it kept me from eating a whole batch of cookies.

And yes, that is a cow glass SmileThey are my favourite animal (random I know!) and it was given to me a couple years ago. I love it and use it for milk and smoothies – it makes me smile whenever I use it!

Plus – look at the back!

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How fun is that?! Smile with tongue out

That’s it for now, I need to get my beautysleep!

xox

Friday, March 18, 2011

Coffee, Exams, and Ice Cream

Sorry I went MIA all week! But good news – I’m still here! And I actually have a couple posts lined up so it won’t be so long until the next one Smile 

I only have two more weeks left of classes so it feels like every single prof is squeezing in as much work as possible right now! Just this week alone I had two midterms (one of which was Advanced Accounting – which kind of made me want to cry. It was my fault for not studying enough though) annnnd a legal brief that was due on Wednesday.

I hate to admit it, but I basically lived off of coffee and energy drinks and just a few hours of sleep a night. Ever get so tired you feel like you are going to be sick/pass out? Yeah, that basically sums up my week.

BUT on the bright side, I wrote my last midterm of my undergrad this week!  One step closer to graduation!

I also finally took the first step in preparing for after graduation! I emailed the CMA-NS office about registering for the entrance test, and made an appointment with Career Services at school to tweak my resume. The job hunt begins soon!

Energy drinks aside though, I have managed to eat fairly healthy this week. Monday I made spaghetti squash with some marinara sauce and mushrooms and peppers. Random but yummy! I really wish spaghetti squash could come pre-cut in half. That was fricken dangerous trying to cut it in half! Even after I microwaved it a couple minutes to soften it up a bit. I meant to take a picture.. but I was way too hungry and remembered after I had already eaten most of it!  I am still trying to work on remembering to take pictures for the blog! I need to start carrying my camera with me more.

Yesterday however was a day full of comfort food! Today is B’s birthday, and yesterday we decided to have his birthday celebrations/supper. He requested “Chicken and Broccoli Thing”.

Yepp, that’s the name of it.

Well actually, there probably is a better name but that’s what we have always called it. My mom has made it for years and when ever we wanted it, that is what we said. We knew what we meant, and she knew what we meant, so that’s all that matters! Smile with tongue out

Chicken and Broccoli thing is a casserole. A super simple one at that. And the farthest thing from healthy – it probably has a zillion calories in one serving. But since we have it so rarely, I try not to think about it.

All you need is broccoli, chicken breasts (1 per person, cut up), 1-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (depending on how big you make it – this time I scaled it down so we only used one and a bit), 3 tbsp’s of mayo, and lots of shredded cheese (easily at least a cup and half)!

In a casserole dish layer the broccoli, then chicken, and then spoon the soup (mixed with the mayo) evenly over top. Sprinkle some of the cheese on top and cover with tin foil. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes, then remove tin foil and cover with remaining cheese and bake for about another 10 minutes to brown the cheese on top.  I usually make brown rice while this is baking to go with it.

And to top off the comfort food filled day, for dessert we had Oreo ice cream (SO ADDICTIVE!) and wine.
On birthdays, along with holidays, calories don’t exist dontcha know Winking smile it’s a fact!

Oh!

Caitlin at Diary of a Scatterbrain decided to start a Blog Book Club, which I think is a great idea! It starts April 1st (first book TBA) and after some time to read the book we will all do a blog post to discuss our thoughts on the book. I am really excited to do this, especially since I haven’t had a chance to read anything other than text books in what feels like forever! Interested? Pop on over to Caitlin’s blog and sign up!

xox

Thursday, March 10, 2011

We’re Movin’ On Up!

Well, really it’s more like just down the hall, but still!

You know the good news I was hoping to share with you last night? Well I had an apartment viewing in the afternoon for Brandon and me!

It’s a two bedroom just down the hall from where my apartment is now, so it’s going to be like the easiest move ever. Brandon and I really like the building I am in now so it just made sense to stay, and really the only reason we are going for a bigger apartment is because as much as we love each other I’m pretty sure we would kill each other drive each other crazy in my itty bitty one bedroom.

Plus this way it is new to both of us, and not him moving just into my apartment. Which as much as I consider it ours I know that it would still feel like him moving into my territory.

It’s been so hard not to talk about it until now. I was so excited and anxious at the same time, and while I’m not normally superstitious I was so scared I was going to jinx it! Also he put a Facebook ban on it until we found out for sure – I think he was being just as superstitious! Smile with tongue out 

Oh! Completely unrelated but another awesome thing that happened today – I got my first midterm back in Advanced Accounting today and I rocked it!  I got 29/30 on the midterm! (97%!!!!) Such a relief!

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Oh yeah, that’s right. (Seriously though – I need this magnet in my life!)

That’s all for now! I just really wanted to share my good news today!

Oh, and I have some recipes lined up to share! I just need some time to cook and to remember to photograph them! But they are coming!

xo

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Meaghan’s Got Her (Workout) Groove Back

Last night after eating ridiculous amounts of pancakes for Pancake Day, Brandon and I decided to hit up the gym. I’m not normally an evening gym goer but after eating such a heavy supper (I only had like one and a half and was soooooooo full after) I figured it would probably be a good idea.

I was right! I felt awesome after trying out this treadmill workout I found on Sweet Tooth Sweet Life

45-minute-treadmill-workout

I. Love. It.

Totally being added to my regular routine.

I found the 45 minutes flew by because I wasn’t focusing on the “ohmygawd this is so long I am going to get bored” total length because I just kept focusing on the next interval. Breaking it down into little 5 min. (at most) parts let me just think about what I was doing and what I would be changing it to next.

Plus I torched way more calories then I normally do on the treadmill – always a plus! Mostly because I don’t normally know “what to do” or push myself as hard as I should. But I actually really enjoyed this, pushed myself cause I knew whatever I was doing was only for a few minutes and by the end I was dripping. (I almost took a picture to prove it, but then I decided I need more normal pictures of me on here first haha). I haven’t worked myself that hard in a while and I forgot how much I love the feeling afterwards. This workout was just what I needed, l finally am back in the workout groove.

As for today, I have one more class and then I get to go home and spend the evening studying my bum off for a midterm tomorrow. Graduation can’t come fast enough. I am so over school Smile with tongue out.  I plan on trying to squeeze in a 30 Day Shred workout too.

Oh, and something else is happening today too. But I don’t want to jinx it. Just cross your fingers for me pretty pretty please and hopefully I will have some good news to share tonight!

xo

Monday, March 7, 2011

Rainy Day Blahs

I’m blaming my laziness today on the weather.

There is just something about rainy days that just zaps my energy and all I want to do is a) go back to bed or b) curl up on the couch and watch bad tv/cheesy movies.

I didn’t get to do either of these today. But that is probably for the best, considering we are in what I like to call Hell Month March. So much school work. BUT the light is at the end of the tunnel – only 74 more days until GRADUATION. I can’t wait!
Anywho, I don’t want this to be a whine fest. I got it off my chest. I feel better already Smile with tongue out

Coffee may have played a major role in cheering me up too.

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Two of these to be exact. Which is more like 4 normal size cups Open-mouthed smile This is my favourite mug I own. Sometimes it doubles as a bowl. It’s just all around amazing.

Another great cure for the rainy day blahs – YouTube.

More specifically the super cheesy music videos/songs/random videos.

Seriously, if you were too look at my favourites you would think I am the sappiest inner-old lady ever. Most of the songs I have include old 90’s and early 00’s songs that I wish were still cool to listen to, clips from movies, lots of country, and even older songs (like nat king cole – love love love).

One of my faves I found last night:

“At that moment I knew, I knew like you know about a good melon” (Go to 2:50 and just listen, cracks me up every time).

I love this movie, and especially love the little couple clips they put throughout the movie. So to have them all in one clip makes me super happy Smile

FYI! On a completely random note – tomorrow is Pancake day! So of course that means I am making pancakes for supper for Branmuffin and I. Growing up my momma used to put money in our pancakes and my sister and I would destroy our pancakes digging for the money, and of course ate way too many pancakes because we were greedy little buggers Smile with tongue out I love this tradition and someday when I have my own kids I am definitely carrying it on. Who am I kidding, even without kids I am doing it!

Do any of you do this? Or is this the first you have heard of it?

xo

Thursday, March 3, 2011

A New Look!

So I have been wanting to update and personalize the blog for a while, and while procrastinating at school today I decided to do just that! When reading other blogs, I am just so inspired and envious of how put together and nice they are, while mine was still very plain and straight from the template. I know I am still new at this so it’s to be expected but I really wanted it to be prettier Smile

It’s still a work in progress, but I like it much better this way!


After reading a bunch of reviews, I finally got a new workout DVD. I tried to search as much as I could to find a good one, because I really didn’t want to be bored/hate it because I need to make sure I actually do it. So after all of my ‘research’ I picked……Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred!

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I’m thinking to ‘kick start’ my fitness (I have been maaaaaajorly slacking lately, I’m ashamed to say) I am going to treat is as a mini challenge. 30 days straight of 30 Day Shred. And of course, I will keep track of it on here! (And who knows, the blog may not be the only thing with a new look afterwards – I might post before and after photos when I am done. I know they won’t be drastic but it would be nice to see the difference regardless how small it might be).

Is anyone else watching America’s Next Top Model this season? It’s one of my favourite guilty pleasure shows, but I can’t believe this season’s “Plus Sized Model” !

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She is far from being plus sized! She looks about the same or even smaller than I am! And while I know I need to lose a few pounds get to a healthier size, I also know I am not plus sized by any means! I hate the thought of what this could do to girls watching this, thinking that she is the definition of plus size. It honestly breaks my heart.

That’s it for now lovelies!

Questions: Do you watch ANTM? What do you think of this season, or about the models?
ALSO Do you have any tips for my blog to pretty it up a bit more?

xox