Coddled Little Life

snow-day skincare

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:22:00 +0000

I know it isn't very feminist of me (of course, I've never claimed to be very feminist), but I like to look nice for my husband. It's very rare that I don't do any makeup at all, even on a day that I'm not leaving the house. For the purpose of practicality, I'm not above wearing a ponytail and kicks, but I like my face to show some effort.

Last week, a good chunk of the Midwest was hit with a pretty decent storm. (Some might say I'm underestimating that... but I know that 10 inches of accumulation is just a few light flurries in some parts of the country.) Pretty much everything was closed/canceled on Thursday, and I was excited to not go ANYWHERE. Baby and I tend to find ourselves out of the house three to four mornings a week, and that means I spend his naptime doing chores, catching up on household things, and taking a bit of downtime that rarely recharges me enough for the rest of the day.

So on Thursday... I was excited! I was a bit behind on my monthly schedule because I'd had family in town for my dear grandmother's funeral. It was driving me crazy, and I was desperately hoping that Baby would be amenable to a good housecleaning party.

We had an absolute BLAST!! Over the course of the day, we dusted and vacuumed the entire house, washed the windows (more fun because opening all the blinds and curtains allowed us a better view of our winter wonderland), caught up on the dishes, cleaned the microwave, shined the front of the oven, polished the stainless steel fridge, cycled through several loads of laundry, and swept and mopped the kitchen/powder room/laundry room/entryway/front hall. During naptime, I got a chance to practice piano for a bit and then folded all seven loads of laundry.

He wanted to help ("this clean!") -- who am I to say no to that??

I was exhausted.

After I got Baby down for his nap, I went to brush my hair and cringed. I looked awful. I had skipped my shower because I knew I would be working up a sweat with all the house cleaning, and my face was not only bare but red and splotchy from the exertion. So I gave it a quick wash and decided that today was as good a day as any to do a side-by-side comparison of my "regular" skin care routine vs. what I've been using for the past month as a SheSpeaks blogger.

I really hesitate to put these photos up... I look awful, even in the "after" photos. It was not a "pretty" day for me all-around -- but I certainly felt better after I put on some color!

before -- on a bad everything day!!

Olay Regenerist moisturizer
+SMM Cosmetics powder foundation

scrubbed clean again, then
L'Oreal Paris Magic BB Cream


Look! I can wear makeup!! This is my "finished" look, with the L'Oreal BB cream as my base

I really do love my "usual": the Olay Regenerist is a wonderfully rich moisturizer that doesn't feel heavy or greasy. I would buy it all the time if I could afford it. (It was part of my Best Coupon Trip Ever, wherein CVS and Proctor & Gamble paid me $4.38 to take home over $200 worth of merchandise.) And I found SMM Cosmetics via Moolala and am now a huge fan of mineral makeup.

But I have to say this: the L'Oreal Paris Magic BB Cream is much more of a one-step product. It's a lovely lightweight, tinted cream that I use as a combination moisturizer and foundation. It comes in a pretty small tube (1 oz.), but a little bit goes a long way. I think it makes my skin tone look really even and blended and is a great base.

Unfortunately, I requested the Light color, which turned out to be just a tad too deep for my winter skin. I'm pretty sure that, if I'd had the Fair formulation, I would have been really happy with it. With the Light, I have to be really careful to not over-apply, or it looks painted on. Yuck. As a result, I'm not able to use as much as I would like for the moisturizing effects.

In the end, I think I will buy this in the proper color to give it a chance. It's pretty reasonably priced for what it does. If I were having a dry-skin day, I definitely would use a more moisturizing cream. But for everyday use, I love the convenience of the BB cream. The tube says it "primes, perfects, hydrates, corrects" -- and having all of that in one little squeeze is hard to pass up.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary from SheSpeaks/L'Oreal to facilitate this review. As always, all opinions shared on this blog are my own.

tears and snuggles

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:12:00 +0000

I had a fight with my 2-year-old tonight. I know it's silly to argue with a toddler, but it was late and I was desperate to get him to eat so we could get to bed. So we quibbled over vegetables and noodles and how many bites and..... I won. I always win; I don't change my mind once I've set a rule. But it ended in "eat or go to bed?" and when he chose bed, I don't think he realized it meant NOW. Serious sadness and real tears ensued all the way upstairs, and by the time I was about to change his diaper, he was crying hard enough that he threw up all those precious vitamins and nutrients I'd just worked so hard to get into him.

Thankful that my husband's fever and aches had subsided enough for him to take over while I went to our room and hit things and cried for a minute, I looked into my heart and hated what this had come to. It was late. Baby has been fighting a cold. I'm recovering from surgery and am still not feeling like myself. The day has been far from ideal. So why did I push a new dish? Why couldn't I have given him other (also healthy but more favored) things instead? Why did I have to set such an immovable rule on this day, at this time of night?

I returned to baby's room to help clean things up and then scooped my little one up and rocked him, and we both slowly stopped crying.

I asked if he wanted "5 more minutes to play" (his traditional post-dinner request), and of course the answer was yes. But he didn't really play. He got down and brought me his teddy bear, his Stitch doll, his pillow, and his foam toy. And he snuggled against the pillow in my lap, smiling and giggling.

And that is forgiveness.

soda & syrup

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 03:30:00 +0000

Last month, I was lucky enough to come into possession of two kind of amazing products: a SodaStream machine and Torani syrups. The SodaStream was the result of a House Party that I got to host, and it's a pretty cool invention. We're kind of still getting the hang of how much carbonation to add, but I'm impressed on the whole.

The Torani syrups arrived in the mail courtesy of the SheSpeaks blogger program. I had requested a sugar-free sampling, so the two syrups that I received were sweetened with Splenda. I have to admit... I was not crazy about the flavors: Hazelnut and Pumpkin Pie. I added the Hazelnut to my Saturday morning coffee, and it tasted almost alcoholic. Too strong without much actual hazelnut flavor. The Pumpkin Pie flavor -- well, I'm just discovering that I'm not a huge fan of Pumpkin Pie/Pumpkin Pie Spice flavoring. Or maybe even pumpkin pie itself... I don't know. I feel like that might be a pretty big character flaw if that's the case.

But I digress.

Having been a pretty big fan of Torani syrups in the past, I was pretty disappointed in these two new flavors. I sent the Pumpkin Pie to work with husband and tucked the Hazelnut away -- I'm planning to use it in the event that I get around to making Brown Eyed Baker's Nutella-Hazelnut Cookies. Or maybe I'll try it in hot cocoa or even in a "Hazelnut Melt" -- a recipe I found here when searching for information on Italian sodas one day.

Included in my package from SheSpeaks were five $1 coupons for Torani syrups, which I set aside and hoped I got around to using in all the holiday madness. And the next day... World Market sent me a fantastic email: 3-hour flash sale on all Torani syrups! I called the store (like I do) to ask if they take manufacturer coupons (yes) and if they can be combined with such a sale (yes). That night, I walked out of World Market carrying six bottles of Torani syrups for $20. Win! I was determined to like Torani again.

Over the next two weeks, experiments ensued. Remembering the amazing white chocolate raspberry mochas I used to get (courtesy of the monthly company-provided coffee bar), I brewed a fairly strong cup of non-flavored coffee and added a bit of milk, a drizzle of chocolate syrup, and Torani White Chocolate and Raspberry syrups (both sugar-free). It wasn't quite as good as when I used to have a barista-frothed foamy mocha, but it was pretty comforting for a make-it-yourself coffee.

Red Velvet syrup went into hot cocoa, Peppermint with French vanilla creamer gave coffee a wonderfully smooth brightness, and caramel was drizzled into a cup of Chocolate Caramel Brownie coffee, along with a shot of chocolate syrup.

But the real magic happened when I discovered (the aforementioned) Italian sodas. I've had them a few times over the years, but I'd never considered making them myself. I made a nice dinner for husband one night, and drinks to accompany: ice in a glass, two ounces of Torani syrup, and sparkling water (thank you, SodaStream!) to fill the glass. In one glass, I used two ounces of sugar-free Raspberry, and in the other one ounce each of Cherry and Vanilla. Fantastic!!! I loved the lightness of the flavor and the special feel that the drinks lent to our dinner.

Since then, I've made Italian sodas several times. I'm enjoying experimenting with the flavors (Red Velvet Cake was not the best -- that's going to be much better in cocoa!). My favorite was probably the Cherry Vanilla.

And today, I took the marriage of these two products to a new level at my son's second birthday party. We had an indoor picnic theme, and I coupled the SodaStream's Country Time lemonade with Torani's Raspberry syrup. Loved it!! That pitcher certainly disappeared faster than the pitcher of plain lemonade.

I certainly wish the Torani syrups came in smaller bottles: it's my experience that they last FOREVER, and I'd rather have a large variety than have a lot of just a few flavors. I especially want to try flavors like Toasted Marshmallow, Salted Caramel, Cookie Dough, and Blackberry. (I do not particularly want to try Bacon, Chicken 'N Waffles, or Creme de Banana.)

All told, I'm glad I didn't give up after the two flavors that bummed me out. I once again love Torani! It's great stuff to have around. My coffee is never boring, and Italian sodas are just a few moments away. One of these days, I'm going to try cooking some down to make flavored pancake/waffle syrups. Chocolate chip pancakes with white chocolate red velvet syrup, anyone?

Try Torani syrups for less! There's a $1 off coupon for my readers here.

Disclosure: As part of the Torani Holiday Cheers program, I received two 750ml bottles of Torani syrups and five $1 off coupons from Torani/SheSpeaks. As always, all opinions shared on this blog are my own.

(mostly) slow cooker (greek) yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 04:20:00 +0000

Last week, I made the Best Yogurt Ever. I can say so with certainty because of this note, left on my shopping list by my sweet husband after he had tasted it:

I'm guessing the note was so vehement because of several ... well, not failed attempts exactly, but certainly ones that could have gone better. I'll spare you the details for now and get straight to the details of this amazing batch.

Here are the basics; I outline how it went for me below.

The first time you make yogurt, fill the crock of your slow cooker with milk so you know how much to use for future batches. Then pour that into a large pot (and wash the crock -- you don't want any traces of the unheated milk remaining in your crock). It so happens that my crock and my smaller pot hold about the same amount of milk, so I don't ever measure now.
Place the pot on the stove on medium heat. Turn down after about 10 minutes to avoid scalding the milk on the bottom. Heat to 180F. Check often, and do not forget about your stovetop project!! It would be sad to waste all that milk. Stir occasionally for even heat distribution. Note: you can use your slow cooker to heat your milk to 180F... but that takes a LONG time.
After milk reaches 180F, remove from stove and transfer to crock of slow cooker. Let cool to 105F-115F. Transfer to crock of slow cooker.
When cooled, remove about 1 cup of milk and stir in 2-3 T. of plain yogurt with live, active cultures -- the more the better!!
Add the yogurt mixture to the crock of milk. Allow to sit for 6-8 hours, keeping temperature between 105F and 115F. Do not overheat. Higher temperatures will kill your yogurt cultures and result in ... well, warm milk. You can try cooling it down and adding more plain yogurt, but you'll end up with a grainy, super-tangy end product. Ask me how I know.

It sounds so easy!!! But the truth is, it's a pretty long, semi-involved process. I don't make yogurt on days when I know I'll be very distracted or have to be away all day. Eventually, I'm sure I'll be confident enough that I won't feel the need to keep one eye on it all the time. But here's how the day went with my Best Yogurt Ever:

12:00 noon
Begin! I filled my pot with milk and put it on the stove on medium heat. After maybe 10 minutes, I turned the stove down to medium-low.

12:20 p.m.
Milk at 110F. I know this because I use a candy thermometer. Yes, you need a candy thermometer. You can't make yogurt by feel.

12:30 p.m.
Milk at 130F. Remembered I am super-smart and covered the pot so the milk would heat more quickly.

12:40 p.m.
Milk at 160F.

12:50 p.m.
Milk at 185F. Heating took close to 1 hour. Removed pot from burner and started to wait......... I usually transfer the milk to the slow cooker at this point. The crock has no retained heat, and its oval shape allows for quicker cooling. Today, my mind was apparently elsewhere, so the cooling process took a bit longer.

1:05 p.m.
Milk at 160F.

1:30 p.m.
Milk at 135F.

1:45 p.m.
Milk at 125F.

1:55 p.m.
Milk at 120F.

2:15 p.m.
Milk at 110F. Finally!! Cooling took close to 1.5 hours.

(Sometimes there's a skin on top of the cooled milk. I skim that off before adding the yogurt.)

Visible skin on top -- you don't want that in your final product!

Don't skim too much -- this is all I got, maybe a few tablespoons

I stirred about a cup of the heated milk into 2-3 T. of yogurt.

Spoonful of yogurt in slightly-cooled milk

Let all those live active cultures get nice and cozy...

I started off with Greek yogurt just for fun... husband pointed out that the brand I bought (Aldi off-brand, for the record!) boasted more live active cultures than the Belfonte we'd bought previously. That may have contributed to the enormous success; I don't know. Anyway, then I stirred the yogurt/milk into the pot and poured the whole thing into the slow cooker.

And for the rest of the day, I just kept one eye on the developing yogurt! The temperature did vary between 105F and 115F, which was fine. It happens slowly enough that there's plenty of time to make adjustments. I find that I can leave the slow cooker off for a couple of hours before I start getting antsy about the temp. So then I'll just turn it on "warm" until it creeps back up... and then I can turn it off again. If making yogurt overnight, I put the lid on and then wrap the whole thing in a couple of bath towels for insulation and turn it OFF.

Yogurt overnight!

10:30 p.m.

Done! It definitely looks like yogurt... but it's warm, which is gross. I put the entire crock, covered, into the fridge overnight.

8:30 a.m., next day
Good morning! It's time to Greek this yogurt. (Yep... that's turned into a verb in my house.) I do always chill the yogurt before Greeking it. It's far easier and yields much better results when cold. Of course, if you like thinner yogurt, then please, by all means, eat it now. It's yogurt!!

Oh, but first, skim off the top. Even if it doesn't look like there's a skin, there usually is. Just to be safe, I skim off a bit all the way around. Then I'm not getting gross little grainy bits in my velvety smooth bowl of delicious.

I have two strainers of decent size, so I lined each of them with a paper towel and set them over large bowls. Then I spooned yogurt into each strainer. I filled the strainers pretty full; the yogurt is set enough that you can kind of pile it onto itself and push the boundaries of the strainer a bit. Then I transferred the strainers to the fridge and (again) waited.

I don't know what time it was "done," but I let my yogurt strain for several hours. I like it pretty thick -- and, because there's too much yogurt to Greek all of it at once in my meager strainers, I can mix in the thinner stuff if I've over-strained. However, I usually end up straining most or all of it... so I'm straining in two batches. Another process that takes a good part of the day.

WHAT IS ALL THIS WATERY STUFF COMING OUT OF MY YOGURT???! Oh, that's whey! As in, what Little Miss Muffet was eating. (Really, Miss Muffet? Did they not have chocolate ice cream in your day? Or at least string cheese? Because this is pretty gross.)

But don't throw it out. Oh my goodness, do NOT throw out your whey. It's like getting free product with purchase of yogurt!!! Use it in any recipe that calls for buttermilk. I've made the most fantastic biscuits and pancakes and a cake subbing whey for buttermilk... and it's free. Apparently you can use it in bread in place of the water for your recipe, although I've not been able to try that yet. Whey lasts a couple weeks in the fridge. Be sure to date it, and smell it now so you'll recognize when it's gone bad. It smells a bit off from the beginning, so it's important to know what fresh whey vs. fermented whey smells like.

If you want to, you can whip your yogurt with an electric mixer. I've done it and not done it... and I think it's a bit of a time waster. It doesn't get all mousse-y like those awesome Yoplait things; it just maybe makes it a bit smoother. Not noticeably, though. So after I'm strained my yogurt, I just transfer it to Mason jars. I've found I like it best with a handful of granola mixed in. Or drizzled with honey, oh my. A little taste of heaven, right there.........

Final product! Usually about 1.5 quarts, plus a quart or more of whey.

I just got a new slow cooker yesterday, YAY!!!!!!!! And this one has a probe feature that will measure the internal temperature. I'll update you when I know how it works!

girl stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:35:00 +0000

A while back, at the prompting of my friend Caroline over at The Modest Mom, I checked out a book called Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad.

It was phenomenal.

This is not my usual type of book; I don't spend a lot of time thinking about Exactly How I Look All the Time... but I'd gotten pretty bored with my mommy routine: straighten hair at night, run a brush through in the morning, throw on jeans and a tee before leaving the house, do makeup at stoplights. So I picked up this book from the library. And then I bought it. (I don't buy books... ever. My tax dollars pay for the library, so I use it judiciously.) I suggest you do the same. It addresses ALL outer-beauty issues, from jeans to color palette to sunglasses to swimsuits to........ you get the picture. I learned a lot! And I started implementing what I'd learned into my daily routine. Shari Braendel writes from the perspective of a Christian woman striving to make her temple the best it can be. But the book doesn't feel overtly Christian; it's for anybody!

And then I was turned on to the StyleUnited beta site by my affiliation with SheSpeaks (a program designed to allow women to discover, influence, and share products). StyleUnited has been a nice complement to what I learned in the book above. I started off by taking some quizzes to determine my style profile, which resulted in a variety of suggestions of products and tips that were relevant to me (hair, makeup, fashion, and skincare). Browsing around the site, I came across lots of good articles as well as a place to add suggested clothing items to a "Collection" -- like Pinterest style boards, but with more structure and targeted to me!

Perhaps the most useful part of the site is the "My StyleFile" area, which contains links to suggested products and tips based on my style profile.

The fact that StyleUnited is owned and operated by P&G might be a pro or a con, depending on how you want to look at it. I was initially annoyed by all the PRODUCTS PRODUCTS PRODUCTS... but then I stopped to consider that this meant that I could go out (often to the same stores I frequent anyway -- the recommended products aren't just specialty department store buys) and purchase these things that had been hand-picked for me. (I especially thought it a bit amusing that a lot of the hair products recommended for me were Pantene -- already the only shampoo/conditioner I'll use on my hair!)

So what are you waiting for? Give this a shot! Best of all, if you join StyleUnited, you could win the StyleUnited: New View, New You Giveaway: a $500 gift card for a shopping spree at Macy's or Nordstrom, courtesy of StyleUnited. Join me... in style!

Disclosure: As part of the StyleUnited promotion, I will receive a complimentary gift from P&G/SheSpeaks. As always, all opinions shared on this blog are my own.

granola bar recipe update

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I've been making these amazing granola bars for something like nine months now, and it's time to do an updated post as I feel I've now perfected them. I'm completely in love with them. They're a pretty important staple around my house, and they even contributed to some pretty significant weight loss this year. In fact, I gained back a few pounds after running out of them. So I made another batch yesterday!! I'm going to strive to NOT run out again.

big container of mandatory granola bars!!

So here are the improvements I've made to my original recipe:

Instead of pecans, I prefer sliced almonds. Not only are they lower in calories/fat/saturated fat and higher in fiber/protein/calcium/iron, they're also cheaper and pre-sliced (how I buy them at Sam's, anyway). When toasted with the oatmeal and coconut, the almonds impart the most wonderful caramel-y flavor to the bar. Heavenly. I love pecans, but I won't go back to them in this recipe.
In step 1, when adding the sunflower seeds, I also add the raisins. No need to add raisins after the sticky mixture. Save a step!!
I exclusively use butter. No Crisco, no margarine. I've made this change in my household in general in order to put less fake food into our bodies, and this bar benefits from that as well.
A 9x13 pan just doesn't cut it for me. The 11x15 size yields more bars -- thinner bars, yes, but perfect for our preference. They are by no means thin bars!! Still very hearty and chewy.
Definitely turn the oven down to 300F after toasting the coconut/oatmeal/nut mixture!! Baking the bars at the lower temperature gives them a wonderful chewiness and dries them out less... meaning they won't fall apart as much during cutting and eating.
ALWAYS refrigerate before cutting, and use the biggest knife you have. The firmer the bar, the cleaner the slice. The longer the knife, the easier to press.

Above all... make these! Make them today!! And don't let yourself run out. If you're anything like me, that will only make you cranky. Enjoy!

debt-free!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:42:00 +0000

April 14, 2012 marks the day we've been waiting for for over three years: WE'RE DEBT-FREE!!!!

To celebrate, I wanted to outline our story statistics as a testimony that living without consumer debt is possible. Husband has been asking about these numbers, and I figured I would immortalize them here.

October 2006
My parents gave us Dave Ramsey's book, Total Money Makeover, and told us that they wished they'd read it and followed his plan back when they were our age. Unfortunately, we had just closed on our first house a few months earlier and were in the process of finishing it: blinds, furniture, electronics, and landscaping were just some of the things we were starting to finance. I read TMM and was pretty impressed with it, but I certainly wasn't adamant, and Husband wasn't ready to give up our rewards credits cards and go strictly to cash. We also hadn't been good about being on a budget and were just kind of lazy about making ourselves start one.

December 2008
It makes me soooooooooooo sad that it took us so long to get serious about getting our finances under control. I can't imagine where we could be today had we not... well, I can actually imagine. Husband has started running the numbers, but I've stopped him. It makes me sick to consider it.

I don't remember what finally prompted us to make the decision, but we did a lot of discussing as we drove to and from Missouri/Colorado for Christmas 2008. We were sick of being slave to our creditors and knew that there was no excuse, especially on a healthy combined income, for being nearly $63,000 in debt. By the time we'd spent around 30 hours in the car, we had a plan.

January 2009
The beginning of our Total Money Makeover!

We immediately paid off our three smallest debts, which totaled $2617.

We stopped using our credit cards (yes, I know, you pay them off immediately and never carry a balance -- us, too... believe me, no matter how great your rewards program is, borrowing money still doesn't make sense) and went exclusively to cash starting with January's first paycheck. Our first month of budgeting was tricky (as Dave says it will be), but by February, we knew more certainly what our needs were and made the adjustments.

July 2009
We paid enough down on the balance of our car loan to refinance it at a lower rate, resulting in a significantly lower monthly payment ($160 less per month). But this was the last snowball we could accomplish for now. We had made the decision to move back to Missouri as soon as possible, pending job offers... so, as Dave advises, we started putting every spare dollar into our savings account. I talk more about that here.

It was very difficult, especially for me, to stop our debt snowball that seemed to be gaining such momentum. But over the following 22 months, it proved to be necessary and infinitely wise. Pausing our debt snowball and piling up cash kept us afloat until our situation stabilized.

Meanwhile, we job hunted and eventually both ended up with the same job offer: teaching SharePoint classes through a small consulting firm. The fact that neither of us held a full-time, permanent position further enforced our decision to build a healthy savings account.

December 2009-April 2011
This time period saw a move, two job changes (plus my becoming a SAHM), a tenant turnover in our Colorado home, and a baby (self-paid, as we did not have maternity insurance). Twice, we weathered periods of earth-shaking financial uncertainty. We had to dip into our (thankfully healthy) savings account at least half a dozen times just to get the bills paid.

February 2011
This was one period of serious financial uncertainty. Husband's consulting work had dwindled, and there were increasingly fewer opportunities to teach classes for his client. We were coming to terms with having an anti-sleep, high-needs baby, and for a while, it was a blessing that we were double-teaming the baby. But my wonderful husband was ever more aware of his smaller paychecks, and he began pounding the pavement to try to find more work.

Dave often talks about people who are intense about getting out of debt finding better incomes and job situations. For us, when it rained, it poured -- in the best way. Husband's hard work resulted in more job offers than he could handle. He had his choice of firms and was eventually working jobs for three clients, plus a few other contracts scattered here and there.

June 2011
By summer, things were looking up! Baby was healthy, and Husband was about to start a long-term contract with promise of an extension. Calculating from the time that we were both working full-time jobs in Colorado, our household income had increased by 40% on a single salary. Making just the minimum payments, our debt had gone down by about $11,000. And now, it was time to start the snowball again!

August 2011
We paid off my car! We also filled our emergency fund out to three months of expenses. (Since Husband is a contractor, Dave advises having an emergency fund of 3-6 months.) We were feeling so much more secure, and that car just drives better now that it's no longer dragging a loan behind it. I talk about this step in detail (and photos!) here.

December 2011
We paid off our vacation ownership! I have to say that I love our program, but it was NOT worth going into debt over. We used our points to have a lovely, relaxing week in Branson with my in-laws over New Year's, and we enjoyed that quite a bit more than we'd enjoyed the previous vacations we'd taken with our club. It's a liberating feeling to come back from a vacation and not have to make any payments on the great time you had.

Now, just Husband's student loans (from his Master's degree) remained. We were looking at over $20,000 in debt by this point, and I can't tell you how eager I was for the end of each month when I could apply a large chunk of money to that loan.

March 2012
My car was due for some serious work. We had put off some of the routine maintenance while we were struggling to stay above water, and we couldn't ignore it any longer. I can't tell you what a great feeling it was to pay our auto guys for $1100 worth of work that was only half in the budget. Did I hate spending that much on something so mundane? Sure. Would I have hated it all the more if I'd had to think about it again when I got a credit card statement in the mail weeks later? Ohhhhhhhhh yes. As it was, though, I forked it over without having to worry about what other area of our finances might suffer as a result.

April 2012
Taxes, right? I know everyone hates tax time (except for those who have given the government a nice, interest-free loan over the previous year and now get it back), but it's especially trying for non-standard wage earners. Being self-employed means........ well, it's just complicated. Taxes take us forever to figure out, and I'm always on pins and needles, hoping we've done our quarterly estimated payments properly and set aside enough for April's return. We have to figure out whether to itemize, and we hope that we've calculated our charitable contributions correctly so they cancel out our state taxes and BLAH BLAH BLAH. This year, we made judicious use of IRA tax laws and sheltered a good bit of money that way.

And THAT made all the difference. On Saturday, April 14, Husband double-checked our return and sent it in. Minutes later, I made the last payment on the student loans. We are DEBT-FREE!

Yes, we still have a mortgage. But Dave is okay with that, and for the time being, so are we. We also have a tenant in that house for another two years, at which time we should be able to sell (the market didn't allow us to do so when we moved in 2009). Husband has been offered a full-time position with his consulting firm, and our emergency fund is healthy.

It took us three years and four months to get out of debt. Over that period, only 16 months were actively dedicated to paying off debt. (The rest of the time, we were either piling up cash or having to dip into that piled up cash for living expenses.) During those gazelle-intense 16 months alone, we paid off $52,000.

We sacrificed. We seriously budgeted. We got weird looks and were occasionally judged for our strict adherence to cash and our budget. We lived like no one else.

Proverbs 22:7 says, "the borrower is slave to the lender." We're finished borrowing, and we're free.

come, join me in my coupon nostalgia

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 23:43:00 +0000

I haven't posted about couponing much, which is a shame because it really is a fun hobby that saves our family tons of money, allows us to try new products, and resulted in a donation of about $200 worth of items to relief efforts in Joplin during last year's tornadoes.

Last time I posted a ridiculously huge haul, I went into lots of detail including exact prices and how I got each deal... I'm not going to do that this time. This time, you just get gratuitous photos of my favorite trips. I'll tell you what store and how much cash I put down... in order of the most-to-least cash out-of-pocket. If it's a CVS photo, you can almost certainly assume that I walked out with more CVS cash (Extra Bucks) to spend on my next trip. At the end of the day (today, to be exact), I have $5ECBs remaining there.

Happy peeking!

P.S. The spacing between photos is driving me crazy... but I can't seem to get it to regulate. Posting anyway.

Target, $16.09
(no discount on tissues or litter scoop -- just needed them!)

Walgreens, $9.00
the beginning of my love affair with cheap hair color and toothpaste


CVS, $8.49 my most recent trip: 3 packs diapers, a year's supply of soda, and some baby pears for filler -- WIN!!

Target, $7.88
(my husband needs sensitive toothpaste -- couponing has made it affordable)

Orowheat Bakery Outlet, $6.43
this isn't a couponing thing -- just an awesome store with great bread prices!

Target, $5.83
one of my first-ever couponing trips!! I remember the toilet drop-ins and
hair spray were free; the cleanser was my usual stuff; the deodorant and
body spray were something like $.50 each... and the Tums were because
I was pregnant and having awful heartburn!

CVS & Walgreens, $4.92
(entire haul cost about half the normal price of one of those packs of diapers)

Target, $2.50
pregnancy-craving popcorn :) -- and I LOVE that shower cleaner

Target, $2.39
unbelievable, really -- I think the pre-savings cost was over $25

CVS, $1.87

CVS, $1.14
seriously love that shampoo/conditioner!

CVS, $0.77

CVS, $0.46
more sensitive toothpaste... free cards... $1.50 hair color...
$.12 mascara... $.62 lotion (I love the CVS cocoa butter hand lotion)

CVS, $0.38

CVS, $0.19

whoops! how did that get in here?!

Target, $0.03
before poor husband had a coffee maker at work :)

CVS and Proctor & Gamble paid me $4.38 to take all this stuff home!!!

giveaway: lilla rose flexi clip

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Have you tried Lilla Rose? I have friends who swear by the flexi clips because they hold hair very securely without giving you a headache. I went to a party and was impressed, but I was working to grow my hair out and wasn't sure what size clip(s) I'd really want. I'm still in that stage. :) But there's a giveaway going on now at It's a Blessing! and I'd love to win one to try out. Enter contest here. Good luck!!

living like no one else

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:23:00 +0000

It seems the closer we get to being debt-free, the more things keep popping up to frustrate or tantalize us. I can't count how many times lately one of us has begun a sentence with the phrase, "When we're out of debt..." It isn't that we want a new car or even new furniture. It's just the little annoyances that we plan to eliminate when we're not pinching every penny to get out from under the thumb of our one remaining creditor.

Me cutting up the first credit card I ever got:)

Whenever we sit down to watch a movie, we brace ourselves for the inevitable pauses that we'll experience throughout the viewing, courtesy of our ridiculous DVD player. (The irony? It was part of the first stupid financing we ever did. It was something like 6 months same as cash, and we didn't end up paying interest or anything, but it still makes me cringe. It started acting up on us before we'd even paid it off.)

Husband and I sleep under a comforter that is so threadbare we can barely even tell it exists. Now, we were also blessed with a white down comforter as a wedding gift, which we place underneath the patterned comforter in the winter... but it shifts and bunches up. The other night, the down comforter had somehow completely bunched up at my feet, and I was just underneath the sheet and the old, thin, faded comforter. Of course, in the middle of the night, I didn't realize that and just wondered why on earth I was so uncomfortably chilly!

I've bought about a dozen items of clothing since baby was born. There's nothing in my closet that's really high-quality or lasting or tailored, and I dress in jeans and tees most of the time. I'm tired of it, but every time I look at my wardrobe and sigh, I remember that there's a reason for this temporary sacrifice.

Our toaster is just plain annoying. To empty the crumb tray, you have to jiggle it, which of course leaves crumbs all over the counter. And toast gets stuck constantly. The normal cycle for having a piece of toast includes unplugging the dang thing so you can stick the butter knife in to pry your mangled piece of bread from the clutches of the toaster coils. (This was not a $5 toaster. It really should not be this troublesome.)

I HATE HATE HATE cleaning my kitchen/dining room floors. I would so love to have something like a Shark that's an all-in-one tool and has suction. I can spend an entire naptime on those hard floors and then find little pieces that have been left behind by my old, crappy broom and mop.

Perhaps the weirdest thing about my household is the trash. When we moved in and researched trash pickup services, we were a bit shell-shocked by the price out here. Waste management was included in our HOA fees in Colorado, so we were unprepared for the steep cost. We worked out a deal with my parents: we pay a portion of their trash/recycling bill and haul our trash/recycling out to their hoppers every week. Is this fun?

Um... no.

Our haul includes diapers, cat litter, and cat food cans (albeit rinsed out) in addition to the run-of-the-mill kitchen and household waste. For a while, it sits in our garage, and then we pile it into the car. Let me tell you: that drive across town feels WAY longer than 10 minutes, and the smell gets progressively riper... this is kind of a big stinkin' deal.

Casualties of the credit card massacre of the Financial Peace University class we facilitated

I'm not complaining, and I'm not pretending that no one else has these annoyances in their lives. What I'm saying is this: we could totally afford to replace or purchase these things. For the most part, we wouldn't even feel it in the budget if we did. But we're so close. I can practically taste the financial freedom. And holding off on these simple luxuries is a small, small price to pay for that day when we are no longer beholden to any creditors.*

Dave Ramsey says, "If you will live like no one else, later you can LIVE like no one else!" Don't get me wrong: we have luxuries that so many families only dream of. But I don't know a whole lot of people living on our household income that are sharing the cost of trash pickup services and refusing to purchase a functioning toaster. To that end, we are living like no one else. And the LIVING, like no one else, is just on the horizon.

*Mortgage holder excluded -- that will come eventually!

31 days: a lifestyle

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:42:00 +0000

Remember last May, when I had a 4-month-old baby and still managed to throw myself rigorously into a 31-day program to get my whole house top-to-bottom CLEAN? Yeah... that was a little bit crazy.

After completing all the Martha tasks, I felt pretty darn good about my house and went back to my usual cleaning habits: laundry 3-4x a week (I don't mind laundry, so I do it on an as-needed basis), keeping up with the dishes, vacuuming regularly due to the stupid cats, dusting when I couldn't stand it anymore (I do NOT like dusting)... but I lamented the fact that the more intensive 31-day tasks were just going to build up again until cleaning the house became a Whole Big Thing. In fact, I figured I might have to commit myself to another 31-day cleaning binge.

There had to be a better way.

Reviewing the tasks in 31 Days, I put together a 4-week schedule that would allow me to keep up with my housework and some other important tasks (piano practice, keeping up with the budget, meals, backing up my computer...).

I chose a 4-week schedule instead of a calendar month because it fit nicely on the printed page, but I've also found it to be very practical in allowing me some freedom if I get behind. For example, I got pretty sick last Sunday, so instead of feeling like I'll have to scramble to keep up All The February Chores, I simply did not start a new task week. I'm not getting behind schedule because I've just suspended the schedule. I'm trying to recover! I'll start a new week when I can and continue from there.

The first cycle was a test run, and a pretty intense one. I'd let parts of my household get a bit out of control, and they required some significant elbow grease to get back on top of. The next month, I was pleasantly surprised to find that things went more quickly. The third month was Advent, so I removed as many tasks as I felt I could get away with in order to let pre-Christmas activities into my schedule.

(One of the tasks I eliminated during Advent was cleaning the showers. My guest bath shower rarely gets used, and I figured husband and I could live with ours. But when I went to clean it in January -- WOW. It took way longer than usual! I will not be skipping that one again.)

The fourth month, I found my stride. I'd discovered how often everything really needed to be done, and now I've finalized my schedule. (Will it change again? Probably. But not drastically.) And I want to share it with you! (Click to enlarge.)

You might find it off-putting that I only mop my bathrooms once a month. And you might think I vacuum too often. But this is what works for our household. Truth be told, I have to sweep my kitchen more often than I have scheduled. And I don't check my budget every day, but I want a daily reminder since it's not something I do on any scheduled basis. I really try hard to end each day with washing the dishes and loading the dishwasher, and start each morning with putting away whatever clean dishes I have. It keeps me sane. Dinner preparation is toward the beginning of the list so I remember to thaw items if needed.

You'll notice laundry isn't on the schedule. Again... it's just something I don't mind doing, so I just start and change out loads as I need to. I was blessed with the natural ability to not get behind on it. :)

Truth be told, there are lots of times I don't want to do my chores. And sometimes, I think, I just dusted the upstairs last week -- and I'm going to do it again next week! I could skip today...... but unless there are extenuating circumstances, I make myself do it. It doesn't take long since I just did it last week. I can now clean all three bathrooms (toilets, mirrors, sinks) in less than 20 minutes. And it feels soooooooooo good to have a clean, orderly house.

One of the best things about following a schedule like this? I don't freak out when I'm getting ready for company. Most of what I have to do is declutter (and probably vacuum one extra time). It's so much less stressful. I find myself rearranging couch pillows and lighting candles instead of shoving piles of clutter into hiding before guests arrive.

I've shared this plan with a couple of other people who seem to think it's worth a shot and have customized it for their use. I hope you're next! I have my chart available in both MS Word and MS Publisher format, so if you'd like to have a copy to get started on your own, email me at sarahmarie_kc (at) yahoo (dot) com. Happy house cleaning!

for all people

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:23:00 +0000

On the eve of this year's Christmas cantata, I am reflecting on (though it sounds cliche) "the true meaning of Christmas."

This has been a lovely advent season for me. I am more on top of things that I have ever been, in part because I was bound and determined not to be "gift hunting." I hate that feeling of obligation. I much prefer to stumble across something that I know someone would love, and thus purchase it for that person. The last-minute "What do I get for so-and-so?!?" takes away all the joy of the season for me.

Having a little one has actually, in some respects, made it easier. Husband and I have no desire to constantly leave him with my parents at his bedtime, so we haven't felt the need to go out in the evenings to run errands as we have in the past. Our nights are spent at home, enjoying the softly lit tree and the warmth and scent of candles. Even if we're just catching up on emails or folding laundry, the peace of our home and our little family has brought the spirit of Christmas close to my heart this year.

But I digress. Tonight, thinking on the music and narrations that compose our Christmas cantata, I was struck by the reading that my mother does: the story of the angel's appearance to the shepherds. (Incidentally, Linus also does a stellar job of this passage in the Charlie Brown Christmas movie.)

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

To all people! In "The Nativity Story" movie, shortly after Jesus is born, the shepherds approach the stable. Mary is holding Him, still marveling at Him, and an old, dirty, outcast shepherd approaches her and Jesus. He reaches out and then, probably realizing that this new mother doesn't want to be bothered by strangers, backs away just a bit. But Mary holds the baby toward him, looks him straight in the eye, and says gently, "He is for all people."

For all people! Not just for the Jews (who wouldn't recognize Him anyway), but for all the Gentiles. Even those who worship another God... those who think He was just a good man or a great prophet. Even for those who think He was a fraud. Even for those who deny His very existence.

For all people! For our political leaders who take His name upon them and then sully it with a life of deceit and dishonesty. For the terrorists who purposefully murder thousands of civilians in the name of another god. For the people you hear about on the news who make you want to turn off the TV.

For all people! For those girls in high school (or at church, or in your moms group) who make everyone else feel not quite good enough. For the boss who makes you desperately want to quit your job. For the anonymous online troll slamming everything you're passionate about on your message boards. For the guy who can't seem to stay out of prison. For the addict who can't let go.

For me.

Mary couldn't have hoarded her Son if she'd tried. I imagine she wanted to cuddle him close and keep him safe forever... but that's not why He came. It's no wonder the angels were so ecstatic: what a message!

I bring you good tidings of great joy: He is for all people. He is for you.

advent

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 04:23:00 +0000

Today, we enter a season of waiting. Waiting for the Christ child. Waiting for the One who enters our world and our hearts to become our Redeemer. Waiting for Him who gives purpose to our lives -- the One without Whom we would have no hope of eternal life.

I love this season. There are so many things I could write about the Advent season, and I may do some here and there this year, but my sister is doing a dedicated series that will probably cover a lot of the same traditions since we did grow up in the same household. I encourage you to subscribe to her blog! Her daily writings and accompanying music are a sure way to bring your heart closer to the true meaning of Christmas during this season.

For me, I am reflecting on last year's Advent season. On this weekend last year, I was praying that I wouldn't go into labor a few days early because my midwife was visiting out-of-town family. (As it turned out, I was pregnant for another 4 weeks and had nothing to worry about.)

Last year, Advent had two meanings for me: awaiting the celebration of the birth of my Savior, and waiting for my own baby to make his entrance. I don't think I will ever forget the peace and calm that I felt during the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I was in awful discomfort; my sinuses were so swollen I couldn't breathe through my nose, and when I awoke throughout each night, my hips were so sore I could hardly walk. But God had given me grace to press on with patience and a heart full of anticipation.

This year, in the added hustle and bustle that comes with a busy baby, I pray that I will find my way back to that quiet anticipation. I pray the same for you.

in defense of couponing

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:39:00 +0000

I confess: I am a couponer. Not an extreme hoarder couponer like those wackos on TLC, but I do have a decent stockpile and try not to pay full price for anything. Lately, it's been a little slow -- partly because I've been too busy to put much time or research into it, but if the deals had been there, I would have found the time. So I was pretty excited to find two weeks of great deals in a row from my favorite couponing store. Here are a few basic facts about the purchases:

Everything was purchased at CVS.
I made 4 separate trips and had 5 transactions. CVS is always on my way to/from somewhere and is less than 5 minutes from my house, so this isn't actually as extreme as it might seem.
Total value of coupons redeemed was $92.87 ($20.98 in CVS store coupons, the rest from the coupon inserts in the paper).
I started with some ExtraBucks, which are basically CVS cash (explained here -- they used to be called ExtraCare Bucks, so I abbreviate them as "ECBs"). I also started with a CVS gift card. In total, I started $39.46 in what was essentially CVS credit. Yes, almost $40 of CVS credit gave me a good start -- I'll explain in a later post how to get ECBs without paying full price for them.
When all was said and done, I had a huge mound of merchandise (see below), all of which is useful to my family, AND was left with $9 ECBs, $9.34 remaining on a CVS gift card, a $10 AMEX gift card (basically cash!), and a $10 rebate coming from Procter & Gamble... so that's a total of $38.34.

Total retail value: $214.25

In case you missed that, it was $214.25 worth of merchandise for a net cost of $1.12.

Now I'll break it down for you... just for fun!

Fall Goods trip:

24-oz bag of Kit-Kats/Milk Duds/Whoppers $5.99 ~ $5 CVS coupon*
4 bags of Snickers/Reese's on sale 4/$10 ~ $1.50/3 coupon + $3 ECBs back
4 cans Progresso soup on sale $1.25 each ~ $1/4 coupon + $1 ECBs back
2-pack D batteries $4.39, on sale B1G1 ~ $2 CVS coupon*

PLUS $4/$20 purchase CVS coupon from email.

At the register: used $11.48 pre-existing ECBs, $0.42 on CVS gift card, received $4 ECBs.

*On October 23, CVS had a "Halloween Party" where you could bring your kid in in costume and get a free 5x7, a pack of treats (Fun Dip, a Twizzler, and a couple of glow sticks), and 3 coupons worth $12. It was a lame "party," but I used $7 worth in this trip!!

CoverGirl trip:

Illy coffee drink on sale $2 ~ $2.49 coupon from coupon machine*
CoverGirl Smoky Shadow Blast eye liner + shadow stick $9.99
3 self-sharpening eye liner gel pencils $5.29 each
2 4-color eye shadow palettes $5.99 each

ALL CoverGirl makeup on sale Buy 1 Get 1 50% off, so $37.84 worth of makeup became $29.54. Additionally, CoverGirl products were included in the "buy $30 of certain products, get a $10 gift card" promotion.

I used THREE $8/2 coupons -- super-high value coupons!!

There was also a $5/20 "skin care" purchase that printed from the coupon machine* that day.

At the register: used NO ECBs, paid $.06 from my CVS gift card, received $10 CVS gift card.

*Any time I go into CVS, I scan my ExtraCare card at the coupon/price scanner machine. It spits out different coupons every week. Often, there are coupons for free products or high-value coupons for purchasing a certain amount of a category of products.

Toothbrushes trip:

These are just great toothbrushes. They're the cheaper version of the ones that husband and I both use, and they also use the same refill heads, so that's nice. I figured we might leave them at my in-laws' house so we can stop traveling with our expensive toothbrushes. These are normally $33, and they weren't on sale this week, but I've been holding onto a raincheck for over a YEAR. The raincheck was valid for 2 toothbrushes, and it made them $23 apiece with $13 ECBs on each of them. Plus, I had TWO $10 coupons for them (that's why I was holding onto the rainchecks!!).

At the register: used 2 high-value coupons, $18.49 ECBs, $8.08 on CVS gift card, received $27 ECBs.*

*$26 ECBs from the toothbrushes, plus $1 ECBs from using my Green Bag Tag! I paid $.099 for that tag and have now gotten $13 ECBs back from it. WORTH IT.

Olay/CoverGirl trip:

Illy coffee drink on sale $2 ~ $2.49 coupon from coupon machine
Olay Regenerist moisturizer on sale $20.99
Olay Total Effects moisturizer on sale $18.99 + $3 ECBs back
2 CoverGirl lipsticks - I had TWO coupons that totally removed these from my total: buy Olay moisturizer, get CoverGirl lipstick free

Additionally, I had a $10/2 Olay moisturizers coupon.

The same promo from the first CoverGirl trip (buy $30 of product, get $10 gift card) also included Olay products and was valid 5x/household, so I did it again here.

Lastly, P&G (Procter & Gamble) was having a promo for a $10 rebate on $50 of products -- including Olay and CoverGirl... I bought WELL over $50 worth of those products this week!!

At the register: used $25 ECBs, $1.59 on CVS gift card, received $3 ECBs.

So there you have it! Well over $200 worth of merchandise with a net cost of $1.12.

Sometimes, people who I talk to about couponing express doubts that it could be worth it. Sometimes, especially during a slow month like most of October was, I wonder if it's worth it. But this week more than paid for a year's subscription to the paper (I did use 3-4 extra coupons from the inserts my grandma saves for me), got me free chocolate, allowed me to try out some new quality facial products -- and reminded me why I do it!

in progress

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:42:00 +0000

I'm working on several blog posts right now, but my sweet little sister pointed out that I haven't posted in a while, so here ya'll go. A preview of what's to come, in no particular order:

1. I am really happy with the system I've been tweaking to keep my life and house in order. I'm aware that it isn't a universal system that everyone will JUST LOVE, but I'm on month #3 of it, and it's really working for me. So maybe sharing it will be beneficial to someone.

2. This is a pretty amazing song. I had a long drive this past weekend and listened to lots of CDs... and I remembered that I really like the way Derek Webb's music makes me think. Lyrically, this is perhaps the simplest but most piercing piece he's done. (I actually haven't watched this video... just listen to the song. I have no idea what images have been set to the music.)

3. What do you think the total retail value of the below picture is? Leave your guess in the comments! Closest guess wins... a new car! Or just "Price is Right"-style bragging rights. You'll find out.

recipe: granola bars

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:15:00 +0000

I love granola bars. I have distinct memories of them being part of my childhood snack repertoire; my mom always had them on hand for those hunger emergencies. I liked a variety -- from Quaker chewies, to Nature Valley oatmeal bricks that fall apart with every bite, to Sunbilt fudge-covered bars that are really more of a dessert... and as an adult, I feel the same way.

Unfortunately, commercial granola bars are both expensive and, as Linus Van Pelt* would say, "full of ingredients!" So I started at allrecipes.com and scoured the internet, determined to make my own.

The internet largely failed me. Most of the recipes I found were really more like dessert bars: full of sugar, chocolate, corn syrup... fine if you're having dessert but not so fine if you're just having a midday hunger attack and need something to tide you over.

I tried a few recipes. One (baked) fell apart, another (no-bake) still wasn't healthy enough to warrant all the many steps involved...and then there was this one. It still wasn't perfect, but I think it was as perfect as the original recipe writer could have made it, seeing as she's dealing with several different food allergies in her family. Here are the changes I made:

First of all, I felt that 1 cup of honey was a LOT for any recipe. Yes, I know, it's the "healthy" sugar -- but folks, let's be honest: the glycemic indices are about the same.

Secondly, 5T of Crisco isn't a huge amount, but I felt it was an unnecessary ingredient for granola bars, of all things. (And then I realized that, for the original poster preparing food for someone with a dairy allergy, it was a good solution!)

So I "fixed" it. And I'm pleased to announce that these bars are still ridiculously delicious. I am determined to never run out of these; they are such a lifesaver in our house. Being a nursing mom somehow means I go from perfectly fine to I-WILL-EAT-YOU hungry in a matter of moments, and these are a quick snack with healthy fiber and filling protein that will tide me over (or, on occasion, masquerade as lunch).

**UPDATE 5/1/12: I have a new post with a few suggestions that have been born out of my making these so often. They're very helpful and will make for even better granola bars.**

homemade granola bars
gather these...

3 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups pecans (I wouldn't hesitate to substitute other nuts -- I'm currently out of pecans, so my next batch will be made with sliced almonds... in fact, you could judiciously substitute a number of these ingredients)
1 cup shredded coconut, optional (come on... you know you wanna!)
3/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
5 T. butter or margarine
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 T. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup (or so) chocolate chips

do this...

Preheat oven to 350F. Toss oatmeal, nuts, and coconut together and spread out on a sheet pan. Bake 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add sunflower seeds.
Meanwhile, bring butter, honey, peanut butter, brown sugar, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then add vanilla.
Pour honey mixture over toasted oatmeal mixture and mix well. And I mean well. Any dry stuff that isn't coated with some wet stuff is prone to fall off during the cutting of the bars.
Then mix in the raisins. (Honestly, I think you could do this before step 3. Don't know why not.)
At this point, take a look at your mixture and decide what size pan you need. If you've followed the recipe closely, use a 9x13 pan. I tend to have a pretty heavy hand with the oatmeal and raisins, and last time with the coconut since I was at the end of a bag, so an 11x15 was warranted. Sometimes I think a 9x13 makes for a difficult-to-manage thickness. Either way, line your pan with parchment paper.**
Sprinkle the parchment paper with chocolate chips, to your liking. If you want a full coating of chocolate, you'll need more than 1 cup, but I think that amount adds a nice bit of chocolate without making this into a fudge bar.
Spread the granola mixture over the chocolate chips, and press it down well. If it's cool enough, it doesn't hurt to use your clean hands to press and make sure everything is sticking together -- again, you want to avoid the mixture just falling apart when you cut the bars. If it's still pretty hot, just use a rubber spatula.
Bake 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. (The original recipe says to turn the oven down to 300F, but I don't think I've ever done that. Oops. They've turned out fine, but I suppose next time I'll try to remember to lower the heat and see if they magically become even more awesome.)
Cool completely, at least 2-3 hours (I usually make these at night, cover, and cool overnight). When cool, carefully lift out using the parchment paper, and set on a cutting board. I recommend using the longest chef's knife you have to cut into bars. It's a pretty solid mixture and requires some force, so be careful.

The great thing about homemade granola bars is that you can cut them into any size you want! I always vary the sizes because, sometimes, I literally just need a bite (like if I'm making an amazing dinner and it's making me hungry but I don't want to spoil my appetite) -- but sometimes I need a full-sized bar.

Last time I made these, I used plastic wrap on the individual bars. I highly recommend this because 1) that makes them far more portable, 2) they are less likely to dry out if individually wrapped, and 3) it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy to just snatch a bite/bar here and there, and if you have to unwrap the plastic, it keeps that grazing temptation somewhat at bay. (I can hold an infant in one arm and grab a granola bite. It's more difficult to hold an infant and unwrap said granola bite, at least without getting crumbs all over the place.)

Just to clarify: I'm not pretending these are low-fat. "Healthy" doesn't always mean low-fat, though. Sometimes it means "enough delicious fiber and protein to stave off the hunger without making you feel completely deprived." The nuts contain the good fats, I promise!

I hope you enjoy these! Please make them... your family will thank you, and so will your tummy. (Please forgive me for not having awesome step-by-step photos of the baking process. I'm just not that kind of blog... at least, not yet. Feel free to enjoy the photos at the link in paragraph 4!)

*I'm really sad that I can't find this particular strip online. But I assure you, Linus did not care for the fact that whatever food he was looking into was full of "ingredients."

**I have made these without using parchment paper, and they baked up just fine. They didn't even stick to the pan, at least not badly. HOWEVER. Using parchment paper means you can lift the whole baked batch out of the pan (once cool) and cut into bars without fighting with the restraints of a pan. It is much easier if you use parchment paper, and you'll lose less of the mixture that way since you won't be wiggling a spatula underneath the bar to coax it out of the pan. I am so cheap that I cringe at using parchment paper (seems so wasteful!) and avoid it whenever I can... but sometimes it's just that important. This is one of those times.

priorities

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Last night, I saw a car (minivan?) commercial that included this (para)phrase: "A bigger, more luxurious car for getting the kids to school..."

What?! I remember being dropped off at school in a huge Ford Econoline -- you know, the kind that takes up two lanes of highway and has window curtains and a removable table. It was roomy and comfortable for family vacations and carpools, but no one would have made the mistake of thinking it was cool. But as a kid, I really didn't care about being dropped off at school in a luxury car. Good grief.

Then, this morning, my friends over at The Modest Mom posted this about how your kids don't need the best cars and clothes and the finest things in life -- they need YOU. Now, I'm hardly guilty of trying to give Baby the best, most expensive items for his little life. I've bought ONE new item of clothing for him; everything else has come from consignment sales or was generously given to us by friends or family (mostly second-hand). I pride myself on the fact that his entire nursery is assembled from used items. Even his diapers appear after the best of couponing trips.

But I can't pretend that I always give him the best of me. So today, at the gentle prompting of the above blog post, I tossed aside my to-do list, grabbed a protein bar, and took him to the park.

We didn't stay long; it was close to naptime for him and well past lunch time for me. But we went and experienced the simple joy of a beautiful day together. I didn't walk for exercise; this was his floor time, and I took a few of his toys so he could enjoy them there. We sat on the blanket for about half an hour, and when we got home, I put him down for a nap. Looking around my home now, I see a pile of mail to sort, an assortment of cat fur from last night's apparent catfight, potatoes that need to be peeled for dinner, and he's now waking from his nap... but things can wait.

Each day, my baby is growing up, and beyond the fact that I know I will regret missing the little things, I know that he gets so much out of just spending time with mama -- especially in a new, unfamiliar, peaceful place.

And the dusting and vacuuming certainly isn't more important than that.

another giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:30:00 +0000

I've taken an accidental hiatus from blogging these past few weeks. Baby was sick, and after my household recovered from THAT, I had a friend visiting from Chicago... and now I'm in bed/on the couch trying to recover from strep. I promise to have something interesting to say once I'm well. :)

But meanwhile... I've talked about The Thrifty Couple on here before, and they're having another giveaway!! This time, it's $40 toward toothbrush sanitizing products. I'll admit, I probably wouldn't have been interested in this giveaway yesterday. But this morning, after diagnosing me with strep, my doctor said to replace all toothbrushes in my household, and that got me thinking: even when it's not strep, shouldn't we take better care of our toothbrushes? Husband and I use high-end electric toothbrushes, and the heads last longer than your standard Oral-B from the drugstore, so that just means there is a higher buildup of germs on them. My mom mentioned that she used to boil our toothbrushes weekly when we were kids, but I don't know many people who follow that kind of practice.

These products involved in this giveaway use germicidal UV light bulb power to remove up to 99.9% of toothbrush bacteria. Is that a replacement for regular sanitization/replacement of toothbrushes? No. But it seems like a great idea for daily care! Enter the giveaway here!!

loaves & fishes

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:55:00 +0000

I love those stories about people who put their trust in God and are rewarded beyond their imagination. Listening to Dave Ramsey's radio show at my desk at work for a couple of years, I'd hear those kinds of stories once in a while: people who had either decided to give to others even though they were in need themselves, or people who were really trying to live the debt-free life, or people on whom Murphy played dirty little tricks..... and these people often told how they received an anonymous gift, or a bonus, or found money in last year's coat pocket -- you know the kind of thing I'm talking about.

Our experiences were never that dramatic, but during our most intense debt snowball periods, I often found that, after the bills and debts and monthly expenses were paid, there was somehow way more money left over to throw at a debt than I had expected. I would check my spreadsheet and double check it... and still didn't understand how we could have $xxx in surplus. I finally stopped asking questions and learned to consider it a testimony to the fact that we were within His will, even when our friends thought we were a little bit over-the-top.

Fast-forward 6-8 months. We've long since pushed pause on our snowball to save up for a move and a job change. We've just moved back to Missouri and are going through the super-fun process of changing everything: phone numbers, forwarding address, auto bill pay, utilities... and the headache goes on and on. Included in that are, of course, our financial institutions. We moved from a national bank to a local credit union. We migrated our savings to a high-interest checking account. Money got shifted all over the place, and I knew that I hadn't finished balancing our savings account, but it really wasn't all that important since the number at the bottom of my balance spreadsheet was always smaller than the number actually in the account.

Now, lest you think I am super-lazy, please allow me to explain: we keep a lot of different funds in that high-interest checking account. We actually consider it a savings account because it houses our emergency fund and our Lump Sum Payments, but it also contains our gas fund (making it easy to meet the minimum number of debit card transactions required to qualify for high interest), our tax savings (as 1099 contractors, we have to pay quarterly), and other smaller savings funds (e.g., medical and car maintenance). It's not a complex spreadsheet, but it's not super-simple, either.

So fast-forward another 18 months. After we paid off the car, I decided I really should figure out what was going on in that account. I set aside some time to go through all the lines and properly allocate some money.

And I found $1700. WHAT?!

Without a doubt, the Lord has taken care of us over the past months. This was just one more reminder that He can take our tiny victories and multiply them beyond what we dare to dream.

I don't know what surprises He holds for us on our journey to financial freedom -- but I can't wait to find out!

snowballs

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:55:00 +0000

I have been waiting for this week for two months, approximately the amount of time in advance that I calculate out our budget. (My husband gets paid 30-60 days after he invoices, depending on the client, so I have to be on my toes to ensure that the money will be in the proper account at the right time for paying bills.)

Because of my advance projections, I knew that we were about to hit a big milestone -- nay, TWO big milestones! But I was holding my breath. I also know that Murphy tends to visit when you're about to accomplish something great.

And visit he did. All of a sudden, we needed new tires on the Santa Fe. *SIGH* However, even after dropping nearly $700 on tires and related work..........

WE PAID OFF THAT CAR!!!!!!!!

And then, just to add some icing to that delectable cake...........

WE FILLED OUT OUR SAVINGS TO A 3-MONTH EMERGENCY FUND!!!!!!

(If you're following the Dave Ramsey plan, you know that it goes like this: $1000 "baby" emergency fund, pay off debts smallest to largest, then 3- to 6-month emergency fund. However, as described here, Dave recommends an alternate schedule for families like ours: an independent contractor is, in theory, at a much higher risk of being without income than a salaried employee. So we needed a bigger initial cushion.)

Are we done now? No, of course not! But this was hugely satisfying. After over a year of only making minimum payments and putting money into our savings just to take it back out again, we've made progress. It feels great!

Today, we got out the Big Red Marker and updated our snowball chart:

Before

Involving baby early

After!!!

Baby wants to cross off MORE stuff!!

And now I'm going to use this space to explain a couple of items on our snowball chart that might look a bit odd to any TMM die-hards... if you're not a Dave fan, YOU SHOULD BE --oh, I mean... you can skip this part. :)

The Santa Fe is on the chart twice. Under the first occurrence are the words "to refinance." Even though it wasn't "paying off a debt," one of our original snowballs was to get the car loan paid down to a number at which we could refinance to a much lower rate. Doing so saved us close to $200/month. Great decision, and the fact that we were able to cross it off the list gave us that element of satisfaction that comes with a debt snowball!
We appear to have skipped a step! At some point in the process of making minimum payments, the Diamond Membership (our vacation club) and the car shifted in terms of what was the Smallest Debt. So we decided to pay off the car first since it technically was the smallest debt now... just didn't print out a new list. The Diamond Membership is the next thing to go!

deal site spotlight: the thrifty couple

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:28:00 +0000

It's no secret: I like deal sites. I didn't get into them until I got into couponing last summer, but now I "like" about half a dozen of them on Facebook. It's sometimes a bit wearying to see them dominating my news feed, but it's also totally worth it when I get a heads up about a fantastic deal.

So because everything comes across my news feed, I'm pretty picky about the sites I keep "liked." They have to be well written (minimal grammatical errors), they can't just be about the hundreds of free samples available on the internet, and they have to be really helpful -- TO ME. That last piece of criteria has changed since I had a baby. Now, I really like to keep around some sites that highlight diapers, wipes, baby clothing, and ready-to-go baby food. (I am going to be making most of my baby food, but I'm loving finding deals that allow me to get convenience food for really low prices -- great for on-the-go meals.)

When I got turned on to The Thrifty Couple, it was because of their weekly diaper deals spotlight. It has saved me TONS of money on diapers via coupon/sale matchups and Amazon.com's Amazon Mom/Subscribe & Save combination.

When TTC went on hiatus for a while, I almost panicked! I survived *smile* but had to search various places to find all the details that TTC provides in one place. I am SO glad TTC is back to posting. (Heaven forbid someone take an internet break to add a new member to the family...)

In addition to the weekly diaper deals, TTC posts information about other coupon matchups, Web specials, and frugal living. And they're a Dave Ramsey family! That's a huge selling point for me.

So check them out! I hope they save you time and money and hassle like they have for me.

alton brown failed me

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:53:00 +0000

So did Smitten Kitchen. Those were dark days.

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting is almost a sub-religion in my family. It's the quintessential favorite birthday cake that my dad, sister, and I have all adopted. (Mom's is chocolate on chocolate, and my brother -- well, if he has to have cake, it better be white on white. Freak.) So my search for the perfect yellow/chocolate combination has been somewhat exhaustive. I've tried a number of recipes from the Cake Mix Doctor, but I was starting to feel as though my bakerhood was in question: why wasn't I doing cakes from scratch? Heaven knows I do everything else from scratch; it's not like I question my abilities in the kitchen. But I was having fun trying different things from my Cake Mix Doctor books (thanks, Aunt Clare!), and I just hadn't gotten around to deviating from it yet.

But Dad's birthday seemed like the perfect time to try out what I assumed would be the ultimate yellow/chocolate cake. It was such a Dad thing -- this had been his favorite all my life, long before my sister and I made up our minds. He was turning fifty-something-old, after all. (zing!)

I remembered quite clearly the Good Eats episode: the scene is set in a lab-like environment. A family has lost its beloved grandmother who, alas, did not leave behind the recipe for her famous yellow cake with chocolate frosting. She only left a list of ingredients and one... last... slice. (Good Eats is fictional, by the way.) Alton proceeds to recreate the delectable dessert, frosting and all -- and, of course, his finished recipe can be found on Food Network's Web site.

So I made the cake. Everything went as planned; I even used my scale to measure ingredients and batter in grams. I had no inkling that something might be wrong until I started on the frosting, a lightly chocolate whipped cream frosting. Erm. That is not the kind of frosting that comes to mind when one is daydreaming about the yellow birthday cake. It's delicate and fluffy, not dark and fudgy. But I gave it the benefit of the doubt: this is Alton Brown.

Sadly, when I served it for my father's birthday, they agreed. (Not right then and there; my family is far too polite for that. But eventually, I got admissions out of them!) Not only was the frosting cake-inappropriate, but the cake! Oh, I could have gotten past the frosting if the cake hadn't been so flavorless and DRY. I was deeply disappointed. The remainder of the cake stayed at my parents' house (no fighting over who got to take pieces home!), and I'm betting it fell silently into the trash.

My go-to recipe now? Back to the Cake Mix Doctor's yellow pound cake with fluffy chocolate frosting. Yes, it's just as perfect as it sounds. I've made it three or four times, and it's never even come close to failing. It was the cake I made for Eric's birth day, and I'll make it again and again and again and...

Mmmm... moist but dense. Thick and fudgy. Just right.

And then there was the gooey butter cake. Have you ever had gooey butter cake? If not, I will make it for you when you come to my house. As long as you bring a small army or plan to stay for a few days, because I just cannot have the whole thing in my house -- it's suuuuuuuuper-sweet and ridiculous, and I'd hate for it to go to waste because husband and I can't handle it on our own.

It's the toothache-inducing sweetness that tempted me over to Smitten Kitchen's blog, where she had posted a recipe for from-scratch gooey butter cake. It started with a yeast cake (promising to yield a less-sweet version) and was topped with what looked like creme brulee. Gorgeous in the photos. (If you've never been, please head over to her blog. It's one of the best, as food blogs go.) But when I made it, it fell flat in the worst way. The yeast cake was dry and crumbly in a way that gooey butter cake was not meant to be. The top was fine but not thick enough, and the fact that it lacked cream cheese and powdered sugar (using instead corn syrup and granulated sugar)....... well, any good St. Louisian would probably look upon it as blasphemy, and I'd have to agree, Kansas City native or no.

So I'm back to using a box-mix base for that, too. I'll probably keep easing back on the powdered sugar (I don't need to send all my dentist's kids to college), but ... why try to fix what isn't broken?

I know that manymanymany home bakers out there will purse their lips and judge me, but I don't really care. A box mix costs around $1 and is proving to be the best Square One for all things delicious. It's not just as good as scratch... sometimes it's far, far better.

it's the little things

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 03:26:00 +0000

You might find this post frivolous. I don't really care. Get your own blog!

I love Glamour magazine. (You might find that frivolous, too. See above.) It has a little bit of everything, and I've subscribed for several years now. Many issues have a "Your Body's Best _______" section in which is highlighted one type of clothing (jeans, dresses, skirts...) shown in various styles that are flattering for different body types (pear-shaped, petite, full-figured...). I appreciate these sections because I really don't like shopping for clothes, and when I have to, I like to have an idea in my mind of cuts/patterns/lines to look for.

Last summer, I opened an issue to find a "Your Body's Best Swimsuit" section. I was 3-4 months pregnant and eager to find ideas -- I'd be needing a suit for several occasions that summer, and I hoped Glamour would help.

But I was disappointed to find that the body types did not include "pregnant." I wasn't entirely surprised -- Glamour isn't a maternity magazine -- but I thought that, since it is a woman's magazine, it could serve a decent chunk of its audience well by including styles for pregnant women. Especially in the swimsuit feature! As expectant women, we can find jeans and tops and dresses that will work for us, and it's even easy to buy cheap maternity clothes second-hand... but you don't see a lot of swimsuits at consignment sales, and that's the one piece of clothing behind which you cannot just hide your growing belly.

So I wrote a quick email to the magazine. (Aha! It's still in my Sent box, so... here it is.)

June swimsuit spread

What a huge variety of swimsuit ideas! I LOVED that so many shapes and sizes were featured. The only disappointment to me was the lack of my current shape: the pregnant one! I'll be about 20 weeks along when "swimsuit season" is in swing, and I'd really like some ideas on what to wear to best flatter my baby-belly shape.

Someone from the magazine staff responded, and it was a little lame. It said something about how they wished they could focus on every body type and included a link to, I assume, some swimsuits. I'm not really sure, since the link was broken.

I wasn't angry or anything; I just dismissed it and ended up buying a swimsuit at Motherhood. (Was I thrilled with the swimsuit? Nah. Since it was mid-June by the time I bought it, summer was apparently over, and the swimsuit selection was slim. I bought a size too big because that's what was left in a style I liked, and I knew I'd fill it out more as my pregnancy progressed.)

Since then, I've never seen a pregnant woman featured in the Glamour style sections. And again, I've never been surprised about it. But this week, I opened my May issue (yeah, I'm behind in my reading -- turns out, being pregnant last summer means this summer I have a baby!) to find the same "Your Body's Best Swimsuit" feature... and there she was! At 8 months pregnant, the model was first featured with three other-sized women in the swimsuit that "works for every body type," and then she was in the following pages, pictured in one more suit with three other recommendations. She got just as much magazine real estate as any other "size," and more than some.

I was giddy. Do I think my email alone convinced a national magazine to make a change? Of course not. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it mattered at all. I've never seen a pregnant woman featured, and all of a sudden, there she is, in the exact pages where I'd lamented her absence the previous year?

I could turn this post into a lesson, like "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" or something about how you think your little voice doesn't matter but it does... but honestly, I just want to say this: it's nice to have someone listen. And I'm not pregnant this summer, but you better believe I tore out those pages and filed them away for future reference. Thanks, Glamour!

$20 amazon gift card giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 02:35:00 +0000

Time for another giveaway!

One of my favorite frugal blogs, The Thrifty Couple, is having a $20 Amazon.com gift card giveaway today in honor of her sister's wedding. I love this idea: leave a tip for frugal living in the comments for the happy couple, and you'll get an entry to win.

31 days: an anticlimactic conclusion

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah Marie) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 01:57:00 +0000

So I finished the 31-day challenge. YAAAY!!!!!!!!

Okay, so it wasn't actually that exciting. In the introductory chapter of the book, Sarah Mae suggests reading through all the Martha challenges to make sure you have all the right supplies and whatnot. If I had done that, I could have saved myself some really hard work in the middle of the challenge and kept my efforts a bit more constant. As it turned out, I had kind of doubled up on some tasks. When I cleaned/organized the bathrooms, I did ALL the bathrooms, including my utility room (yeah, my house is weird in that the utility room has a washer, dryer, sink, and toilet). And when I deep-cleaned the bedrooms, I included the guest bedroom. Our guest bedroom is also the home office, so I'd already done that when the book had it scheduled.

So I did it! And it felt great, even with the anticlimactic nature of the way I finished up. Next up, I'll be doing the Mary challenges. These will, in some ways, be harder for me than the Martha challenges. They require self-reflection and meditation. They also (mostly) need to be done in a quiet place, sometimes while sitting and writing things down. That means I'll need to do them during naptimes; baby is fine watching me work around the house but finds me incredibly boring when I just sit at the computer.

Sarah Mae has now put out new challenges that are more about maintenance, so I'll be doing those as well. They aren't nearly as intense! But a few times a year, I'll go through the original challenges again. Deep cleaning is easier when there is less time that passes in between cycles!

All in all, I feel really good about my home now. There were a few times during the challenge when I ended up having some impromptu guests, and it was so nice to be able to just spend a little bit of time tidying up in order to then sit back and enjoy my friends. After all, that's what this was all about... at least, that was a big part of it for me. Looking back on my mission statement and reasons for this project, I feel like I've been able to accomplish the goals I set out to achieve. How?

I feel amazing when my home is clean. I have felt amazing! There have been times over the course of this challenge that I looked around and smiled. What's more, I was able to put my feet up sometimes and just enjoy my home.
I want my husband to have a place of refuge. Over the course of this challenge, he started traveling a bit more, and in addition to having a warm, inviting home, I wanted to make sure he had good meals when he was here. Having a clean, organized house afforded me the chance to plan and make the home-cooked dinners that he enjoys -- and enjoy them with him!
I enjoy spending uninhibited time with my baby. As the intensity of the challenge has tapered off, I have noticed how much more focused I am on baby when he needs me. I think this has enhanced all his play time. Even when he plays alone, he seems to enjoy it entirely -- because, when do I play with him, I am fully engaged instead of sending him the message that I am distracted by pressing obligations.
I want to be an impromptu hostess. As above! I don't think anyone who came over would describe my home as perfect, but I think they would agree that my house felt inviting and home-like.
I work better in a clean house. The cleanliness and organization of my home has helped me to focus better on whatever project engages me. I have done a lot of cooking and baking recently, which is something I haven't been able to say since my baby was born. I know that part of this is the fact that he is more able to entertain himself, but it's also become much more apparent to me that, previously, I was too stretched thin to do any one thing well.

So is the challenge over? Officially, yes. I know I'll keep facing challenges in creating my ideal home. This was just the first hurdle -- and over the course of 31 days, I cleared it!