Day One

While blog stalking recently (oh come on, I'm not alone in that am I?!), I came across a super-cute idea by my friend Nichole. Each day (for, I think, a month) there's a different thing you're supposed to post. I probably won't post each day, but thought this would be a fun thing to try. Thanks Nichole for a great idea and so I actually have something to blog about!

So, here we go with Day One: Post a picture of yourself with 10 facts about yourself.

(One of my fav pics of me and the hubby, just hanging out in Sweden!)

1. My pet peeve is people having personalized license plates that I know mean something but which I can't figure out.

2. It took me way too many tries to spell "license" correctly just then. Especially considering the fact that I majored in Journalism at UNC.

3. If given the chance of never being able to eat cheese again or chocolate again, I would choose chocolate. It would be tough, but I do like cheese more than chocolate. Josh learned this about me when we went to the melting pot while dating. He couldn't believe it.

4. I love watching UNC basketball. Watching Duke basketball lose is a close second.

5. I played the flute in middle school for a few years. My dad has a hilarious video of me pushing a girl out of the way during our concert so she wouldn't block me in the video.

6. I've worked with Campus Crusade for eight years. I'm convinced it's the best job ever.

7. Josh and I were in different countries the whole first year of dating. Not ideal. But our emails and letters (in addition to tons of hours of phone calls) will be something I always treasure.

8. I'm way too addicted to sweet tea. So much so that my dentist once asked "Do you swish with sweet tea?" Um, why are you asking and also WHO DOES THAT?!

9. I have THE BEST friends from college. Our once a year reunions are always a blast. Is it April yet?!

10. I used to be terrified of tornados. I find it HILARIOUS that I married someone from Kansas and now go there to visit, often in the summer.

Well hello there Super Doubles

It all began about a year ago. I was at a women's conference with the ministry I work with and one afternoon we had some fun "breakout sessions" we could attend. The couponing one caught my eye. I'd always wondered how people do it and was intrigued at how much money people seemed to save. So I decided to go.

While there I learned the basics of couponing, mostly that there is an awesome site called southernsavers.com that I needed to become BFFs with. I left the seminar hoping I would really do couponing but was skeptical I would keep it up.

Well I'm happy to say a year later I'm still couponing. I actually ended up enjoying it a lot. And, better yet, I really do think we've cut back quite a bit on our grocery bills!

All this to say, I was all too excited when Harris Teeter announced Super Double deals last week. How weird that I am so excited about clipping coupons and finding deals! But I made a pretty good haul last week so I thought I'd share.

Spent: $42

Saved: $36

I'm sure the "pros" do way better than that but I felt like for an amateur like me, that was pretty good. I'll take it! Here's what I got...

I couldn't figure out how to stack it so you can see everything, but trust me it was a lot of stuff. Including chicken and a beef roast which was a good chunk of the price. (I feel really dorky all of a sudden after typing chicken and beef roast. Oh well..)

And this was my best deal

These were buy 2 get 3 free. I forgot the price per pasta but it was really cheap with the deal they had going on.

If you're not a couponer, I'd encourage you to check out the southernsavers website. Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can! Happy shopping!

Dates with my valentine

For Valentine's Day this year we celebrated the weekend before to miss the crowds. And because we both lead Bible studies on Mondays. The past two years we went to McCormick and Schmicks, a seafood restaurant in Raleigh. Well we decided to keep the tradition alive this year and headed back there for lunch on Sunday, the day before Valentine's. We had a great lunch of coconut shrimp for an appetizer, flounder for me and salmon for Josh. As always, it was delish! Here are the only pictures I took

And the day before that we headed to the movies for a date as well. We saw The King's Speech, which I loved. I mean, seriously, I cried at the end it was so good. Great story, I highly recommend! So that was our exciting Valentine's weekend!

Good times in Asheville

Last week I went to Asheville for our annual Women's Conference. This is a conference for the staff women in our region. I've often heard it said that Campus Crusade for Christ could also be called Campus Crusade for Conferences, with how many conferences we are always going to. The great thing about this one is that it's a conference the staff women attend without having to plan it. The purpose of it is for women to be refreshed and connect with each other. Although I did help with some of the planning this year, it was still very refreshing. The talks we heard were so great. Our theme was Faith, Hope, Love and different staff women shared what God had been teaching them in those areas.

In addition to being refreshed by the Lord through the talks, it was also a great couple of days to meet staff from our area. I got to room with my good friend Kristin and had quality time with other good staff friends. But I also got to meet some new staff friends, which was really fun. Let's be honest...one of the highlights was watching The Bachelor with a bunch of staff girls piled in our room. Usually I watch it by myself with Josh trying to ignore it in the background. So it was really fun to watch it with other women who find it as entertaining as I do!

This year we stayed in downtown Asheville and were determined to try some good local restaurants. We went to Tupelo Honey (which I had heard was really good) one night and Early Girl Eatery (a local recommended it) the next. The were both so good and really eclectic. Here are some pics from Tupelo Honey:

It's a little blurry but this was my meal at Tupelo Honey...meatloaf, mac and cheese, and an orchid for decoration.

A fun night out with (starting left and going clockwise) Teressa, Kim, Kristin, me, Susan and Shannon.

I'm so thankful for my life on staff and it's often at conferences like these that I'm reminded how great it is to live life alongside of "the family" of Campus Crusade! Oh, and Josh survived without me for 3 days! Well, with only one mishap...the first night I was gone he had a lasagna in the oven and ran out to get the mail. Instinctively he locked the door behind him on the way out before realizing he didn't have a house key. And the lasagna was almost done. He ran over to our complex's office to get a key but they were already closed for the day. He finally found a neighbor home and was able to break into our place using a coat hanger. Thankfully neither the lasagna or our house was on fire!

Two years later

Last month Josh and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 2 years. It's weird- in some ways it seems like it's gone by so fast and at the same time it's like I can't remember not being married. It's been such a wonderful two years and I am so, so thankful God brought Josh into my life. These past two years have included: buying a house (well, condo technically), being on the same staff team for the first time, actually living in the same time zone (also for the first time ever), traveling to Europe, Jamaica and lots of fun places in the US, buying our first Christmas tree and just learning about this marriage thing! I've loved it and am so blessed to get to share my life with you Josh!

So last year for our anniversary we went to Charleston. We went back and forth about whether to take a trip somewhere this year, but because we were gone so much at Christmas we decided a celebration in Chapel Hill was in order. We went to Cheesecake Factory and had a great meal, including two, yes two, pieces of cheesecake. (Come on, like we could just pick one?!)

Notice anything askew in that last pic? Look closer. They totally spelled anniversary wrong. Hilarious!

Since it was just a few weeks after Christmas we decided to forgo presents and just do cards. Josh cheated and got me these beautiful flowers. I didn't mind :)

So thankful for these past two years and looking forward to many more with my sweetie!