1st Anniversary

We took a day & a spent the night in downtown Portland. We Hotwired for a hotel which was a new experience & actually kind of fun! The hotel we got was really nice for a good price! 

 My silly husband popping the champagne :) <3 love him!

Since our wedding cake was donuts, and we ate the top part of the cake at the reception, I had a mini chocolate cake made at the local bakery in hood river. Happy 1 year babe, here's to many many more!

Hello September

Things that are Nice today.

1. Looking at painted walls
2. Walk off the Earth radio station on Spotify
3. Hot coffee & peanut butter toast
4. Early phone chat with my mom
5. Motivation to get active
6. Couponing & getting things I would normally buy for free ..or better than free :)
7. Getting an unexpected day off.
8. Looking forward to a vacation with my hubby in October.

Not so Nice things.

1. Getting called off work
2. Knee pain holding me back from working out too hard
3. Its not October 7th yet

Crazy couponing

Have you heard of those Crazy coupon people that get deals like you would never believe. The ones that hold up the lines at the exact moment that you are in a huge hurry? I keep getting updates from a girl I used to go to college with on facebook and it seems that she is half crazy ;). I have to say I got a kind of sucked into her pictures and reading about how much she saved versus what she got. Its pretty amazing. Not to say I'm going to become a crazy coupon lady...but I feel like I am missing out a little bit when people are somehow getting money BACK from using coupons at grocery stores or wherever. Sheesh.

Maybe its peaking my interest because the initial stages of married life make me feel like I am so focused on money its not even funny. It's like I am hyper-aware of what I am spending, what is going in and what is coming out and how much I am able to save. I talked to my sister about it and she laughed and agreed, its a weird feeling to combine your income and fianances with someone else's. Its an adjustment! Not a bad one but an adjustment just the same. I can't even say I'm really worried about money, I just feel like I THINK about it alot more than I did before. In some ways I feel a lot of pressure (from my self not my sweet husband), to pay off all of my loans because it feels like that is what I brought to the table...a  whole lotta debt! We use a program called YNAB, which is a budget program that has helped us to visibly see where everything is going and kind of have a picture of what our money is doing for us. It makes me (and I think both of us actually) feel a little more in control and less crazy. Plus its like we are on the same page, which I like. :)

Anyway... I may or may not be picking up a few coupons and looking a little more carefully so I can get some money off our grocery bill. Let me tell you...groceries are getting a little ridiculous these days. So Safeway U plus, coupon ads...here I come :) At least a little bit.