stop the presses!

warning: this post contains some information that may be "tmi" (too much info) for many of the readers. proceed at your own risk. :P

i had been feeling grumpy all day yesterday at nat, and i couldn't figure out why. then, this morning, i found that my period had returned. bring on the pms, cramping, backaches, and bloating!

it was a good run. i've been w/o a period since october 2006. i don't remember the exact date b/c i hadn't been keeping track back then. this, of course, was the reason why at our first sonogram with sean, we found that we were 3 weeks further along than we had thought. i must say that i've enjoyed being periodless, except for that one day of labor. :P i wonder now, if my cycle will be regular again, or if it's going to be a little bit out of whack. in any case, i am thankful to be menstruating again b/c it means that i'm not pregnant* **, and in the future, it will be my indication that we aren't pregnant. :)

* we would like to have more children, but right now is not the time. :) i think my body needs to rest a little more, and i need to get used to sleeping more too before we go back to a sleep deprived state.

** there were a couple of times the past few months that i thought i was pregnant b/c i felt nauseous, and the only way i could tell that i wasn't was with a pregnancy test. i like the period better in this respect b/c it's a free pregnancy test. :)

thrifty shopper

for the past month, nat and i have been trying to trim down our budget b/c we've been about $500 overbudget each month. fortunately, we've had enough in savings to cover the overspending, but we don't want to get into the habit of dipping into our savings.

let me say, it can be really hard to live on $1900/month for two adults, one baby, bills, mortgage, and grocery shopping! i feel like i'm spending at least 1/4 of our income on grocery shopping and other household needs so i'm trying to be a thrifty shopper. one thing that i really appreciate is being able to find the grocery store ads online to see what's on sale that week. from that, i try to plan our meals around things that are on sale and stocking up on items that are on sale. it gives me so much satisfaction to see how much money we've saved on the store receipt (it's usually printed at the top). other things that i've been trying to do is using more coupons, doing price comparisons, and buying in bulk.

i'm really thankful that we've had to live on such a small budget for our family b/c it gives me a reference of how much our family can get by on. so, when nat makes more money after he graduates, we'll hopefully have the same budget for food and household items.

something new

i got a new haircut today. i like what she did to it, yet again! :) last time, i liked what she did, but, i think i needed to style it much more to make it look cute. i'm hoping that this time, it doesn't need that much work to make it look ok.

kiss the cook

i love cooking for my family and friends; it's one of the main ways i express love to others. i also love the practical side of cooking, rather than going out, because it's more economical and generally healthier. :) with that being said, i usually get burned out by the weekend from cooking all week*. i'm not sure exactly what it is, but i think it partly has to do with the fact that i feel i "have to" make dinners that consist of at least a meat, veggie, and starch. on top of that, i feel that if it's a simple throw together dinner, it's not a real dinner. :P i think i get this mentality from my mom. my dad has always been a picky eater that requires a lot of variety for dinner. so growing up, it wasn't unusual for us to have 4-5 dishes for dinner plus rice. it was an amazing feat for my mom, especially since she worked full time and managed to have dinner on the table in 30 minutes. :P nat has told me countless times that i don't have to make as much variety of dishes like my mom or complicated meals; it can be quick and easy without having to have a meat, veggie, and starch. still, it was really hard for me just to serve a baked potato and veggies last week for dinner. :P i'm sure as sean becomes more of a handfull, i'll let go of having to make a "real" dinner each night. :)

* my sweet nat has picked up on this and has started volunteering to cook or take the family out for dinner on the weekend. :)

dinner anyone? :)

we'd like to have some people (maybe up to 4 guests) for dinner* either this friday or saturday night (preferably saturday night). first people to post a comment with their day of preference will "win"**. :) you may post on behalf of your significant other, if applicable. :)

ready.... set.... go! :)

* this offer is only for our friends in the champaign-urbana area. sorry for you out-of-towners!
**i told nat about this post, and he responded with "sounds exciting!".