#Stocktober Challenge Week Four

I can't believe I did it! Four weeks of using half my budget to stock up and it has truly been life changing (I will write a seperate blog post on that later.) This week I wanted to stock up on the areas I felt needed some extras. 

I even sacrificed my extra budget to get some stuff from Costco.

was very happy with my shopping trip this week!

I came in under budget at Winco but used the rest of the budget to get eggs from Walmart.

my shopping trip from Costco.

my husband found this on ksl for $150 which we thought was too good to pass up and I love it!

#Stocktober Challenge Week Three

I have been so busy these pass couple weeks (hence why these posts are going up late.) Here is my week three update for the stocktober challenge. This week I wanted to stock up on canned goods. I went $1.53 over budget, but am still happy with my shopping trip. 

on the right is everything for the week

and on the left from the cake mixes (which are 88 cents at Winco!!!!!) over are my stock up items

lots of canned goods, yogurt and cake mixes this week

Motivational Monday #35

#Stocktober Challenge Week Two

I felt a lot more confident going into week two. My goal for this week was to focus on stocking up on meat (for the right price of course.) My confidence quickly dwindled when I was finished my shopping and started heading towards the front to pay. $100 dollars a week cut in half is not a whole lot of money for groceries. I knew I was going to be over budget (not by much but still over.) I thought about putting some of my stock up items back, but this feeling came over me to keep going. I stood at the register and watched the total get closer and closer to my $100 budget. The sweet lady ringing up my items finally finished and told me my final total - $95.32. I thought I was going to cry! How was this possible? I had calculated every item I put in m cart. I double check my receipt to make sure she hadn't missed anything. To my surprise, everything was there. I could blame this on my calculating skills but I knew that I had just experienced a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father. I know with all my heart that He cares about the things that I care about. I am so grateful for this simple, yet powerful, testimony builder.  

on the right is our weekly groceries and on the left is our stock up items.

It doesn't look like much but each week we add a little more to our stock stock pile

this week our stock up items were

boneless skinless chicken breasts

pork loin

pork carnita (will make two meals)

pork chops

hot dogs

4 cans of soup

1 can of chicken broth

2 cans of spaghetti sauce

1 can of salsa

6 boxes of cake mix and

1 family size pancake mix

my advice would be - don't doubt the power of Heavenly Father's help in things that may seem so temporal.

Motivational Monday #34

Did anyone else absolutely love this talk from General Conference? I did! Sister Eubank's talk was based upon this quote from President Kimball, "Finally, my dear sister, may I suggest to you something that has not been said before or at least in quite this way. Much of the major growth that is coming to the church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world. . . will be drawn to the church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the church are seen as distinct and different - in happy ways - from the women of the world. Among the real heroines in the world who will come into the church are women who are more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish. These real heroines have true humility, which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility. . . It will be . . . female exemplars of the church [who] will be a significant force in both the numerical and the spiritual growth of the church in the last days."

When I heard that I knew I wanted to be one of those women. A driving force for the church. These five things on the list are the way to go, and I will strive to live by them everyday.

Monthly Favorites - August and September 2017

Beauty

if you haven't tried l'oreal's lash paradise mascara, you need to get to a store NOW! This stuff is amazing! It makes your lashes look full and long without looking clumpy. It retails for $8.99 and worth every penny. 

My other beauty favorite is Soap and Glory's Body Buttercream with the hint of lime in it. I rub it after I get out the shower and it leaves my skin feeling so soft. My girls also love this lotion and beg to use it after their bath. It does retail for $15 at Ulta, so I try really hard to detour them to another lotion. . . . . . It never works. Bonus - that hint of lime leaves this subtle scent that lasts throughout the day. My husband always tells me that I smell so good! 

Book

I randomly picked up this book in target, and thought it looked like a good read. The author is Emily Ley from simplified planner. It is all about giving yourself a break from perfection. I read this book when I was feeling really overwhelmed with life. I felt I was being stretched in all these different directions as a wife, mother, and homemaker. I felt like I was failing all of them! This book helped me see the beauty in simplicity, and the power of having a little more grace with myself

Movie

Spiderman Homecoming was an obvious choice for this category; however, last week I really wanted to watch The Family Stone, and I love it!

This is a Christmas movie (I know it's not Christmas yet) about a family that is celebrating Christmas together. There is love, laughter, and a lot of drama. This movie is hilarious!! Luke Wilson's character, Ben has all the best lines and has me laughing the entire time. 

It is also really touching and will make you cry. 

My Mum and I love watching this movie together, and it is one of the few movies she watches all the way through. 

Music

Is anyone else obsessed with Take That!? 

I have been a fan for years, since they first started. When I went back to England on vacation in 2007, I rediscovered them and fell back in love. 

The thing I love most about their music is how happy it is. I pop it on in the car and look like that weirdo singing and dancing in the car. The thing I love the most is my girls sing along as well. Our favorite song is Shine and Rule the World.

TV Show

My little brother recently got me back into watching The Office.

This show is so funny! However, I only really watch the episodes with Michael Scott in them. After he left, the show kinda (no did) go downhill. 

My favorite season is probably season two and season six, although I have favorite episodes sprinkled all throughout the show. 

I am really hoping that Netflix's doesn't take them off

Podcast/Video/Webinar

My sister sent me a link to a webinar by Power of Moms. 

It was entitled 3 systems every family needs. They talked about things we want our children to learn, positive behavior, teaching kids about money, and family traditions. 

There was some great advice and tips which I have already started to implement into our home. 

One of my favorite points about the webinar was that great families don't just happen, they are created. We can create the family we want to with love and a little bit of planning.

Website

I have been loving the challenges Jordan Page with fun cheap or free has been doing. I also love her tips and advice on budgeting and getting the best deals.

She has the simplest and easiest to follow budget idea which I have been following for years, but have just recently figured out how to make it work for our family. 

I love that she stretches my budget and my creativity.

Youtuber

I have been watching Emily Noel's beauty videos on youtube for years. . . . . almost six to be exact. I have learnt so many different tips on how to apply makeup and what all those different brushes are for. Before watching Emily, I had no idea what concealer or bronzer was.

Mostly, I love how honest, real, and original she is. You can always trust her opinion, and never does sponsored videos.

Random

These blankets from Costco are the BEST! 

I have . . . . . . (should I tell you) six! I have six of them! I have also got my family addicted to them as well. 

They are seriously the softest blankets ever!

They feel amazing and keep you  nice and cozy on a chilly day. 

Quote

"Some things matter, some things don't. A few things last but most won't."

I love this quote and it's message. 

Find out the things that matter most to you and forget about everything else.

links to everything mentioned above

lash paradise 

soap and glory lotion

grace not perfection

Spiderman Homecoming

The Family Stone

take that on spotify

the office

power of moms

fun cheap or free

emily noel - beauty broadcast

costco blanket

Hannah's Kindergarten Update

Hannah has been an official kindergartner for almost two months now, and she is loving it.
Hannah missed the cut off to start kindergarten last year by only one month. I was not upset about her having to wait another year to start because I felt that she needed that year to mature a little (if that makes sense.) I also decided not to send her to preschool because I wanted to spend that year before kindergarten with her. I figured that once she started school that would be the start of her life in school. I don't regret selfishly keeping her all to myself for that time. I will admit that I was worried she would be a little behind the other kids in her class. However, she is doing just fine.
The first day was rough for all of us. The teachers met us at the door  she will be entering the school everyday. They then told the kids to wave goodbye to us, and took them! I was in complete shock! This stranger (her wonderful teacher) just took my baby away!! Those next three hours were the longest three hours of my life. When we picked Hannah up (yes the whole family came,) she mentioned that some kids had teased her for not being brave enough on the playground equipment, and my heart broke! I was ready to pull her out and keep her home, but Aaron was much

more calm about the whole thing (thank goodness.) The next day we dropped her off back at school. I felt so helpless! Watching her walk into her class on day two was one hundred times worse than day one. For the three hours she was gone, I kept praying and praying. I just wanted her to have one friend to play with. As the month went on, Hannah and I (ok just me) adjusted to our new schedule, homework, and getting ready for school on time.
Aaron and I were excited to go with Hannah to her school carnival, and we learned something really amazing. . . . . .  My little girl has so many friends! In the hallway, we would hear kids calling Hannah's name and then running to her to. They then played together, talked about all the things they won, and informed each other about where all the fun games were. It was the best feeling and sweetest thing to witness. My heart was so full of joy just knowing she had friends and wasn't sad or playing by herself.
This past week, we had her first parent - teacher conference. Hannah is scoring above average on her assessment tests. Her teacher told us that Hannah is always willing to answer questions and help the other students.
Aaron and I are very proud parents.

I love my kindergartner

A Visit to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park

While planning our day trip to Vernal, we found out that Vernal is the Utah dinosaur capital! 

We thought it would be fun to take the girls to this state park, but we just call it a dinosaur museum. It was super cheap! Aaron and I paid $7 each, Hannah was $3.50, and Lilly and Beck were free. I believe kids were free up until the age of four. It isn't a big museum, but is packed with lots of exhibits and fun activites. The dinosaurs looked a little too real for Lilly who was quite scared. 

If you make it out to Vernal, I would definetly recomment checking it out.

More Temples!!

Just realized that I never posted these two temples!

Manti Utah Temple which is my personal favorite so far. It is stunning!

and the Ogden Utah Temple which looked way different than I thought. 

In 2010 the church announced a complete overhaul of the temple; including, new exterior walls. I think it looks more like the Payson temple now.

Vernal Utah Temple

On Tuesday, we took a day trip to Vernal, Utah which is about three hours from our house. My family and I are doing the 17 temples in 2017 challenge. There are currently (including Cedar City) 17 temples in Utah, and one more announced (although yet to be built) in Saratoga Springs. We have seen 12 temples so far. The remaining temples are all pretty far away, and so we have to take these day trips to go see them. 

The Vernal temple is small; yet beautiful. It is really unique looking and is nestle into a small community (which I am assuming was built up around the temple.) 

 Facts about the Vernal Utah Temple:

- announced February 13, 1994

- groundbreaking May 13, 1995

- dedication by President Gordon B. Hinckley November 2-4, 1997

- in 1993  the First Presidency approved the idea to transform the deteriorating 1907 Unitah Stake Tabernacle into the Vernal Utah Temple

- During the transformation, the tabernacle was completely gutted, keeping only the original four walls and roof. Even the ground inside the Tabernacle was excavated. The new building was built right inside the old building.

- The stained glass window on the building's east side came from an old Episcopal turned LDS church in Hollywood, which was scheduled for demolition. The window was brought to Utah where it fit perfectly in the historic temple.

- The temple's transformation included replacement bricks donated from a local residence of similar age and construction that matched the brick masonry of the old tabernacle. More than 16,000 bricks from the house were inserted into shabby areas of the historic building.

- the temple features two ordinance and three sealing rooms

temples we have seen

St. George

Manti

Payson

Provo

Provo City Center

Mount Timangogos

Draper

Jordan River

 (no picture yet because of the construction)

Oquirrh Mountain

Salt Lake

Bountiful

Ogden

Vernal

temples left to see

Cedar City

Monticello

Brigham City

Logan

#Stocktober Challenge Week One

For the month of October, I am taking part in the stock your shelves October challenge (#stocktober.) This is a challenge by Jordan Page over at fun cheap or free. Each week, I take my grocery budget (I shop weekly) and chop it in half! My family of five has a monthly budget of $500 a month ($125 a week.) Beck is on formula so I use his $100 on food for him which leaves me $400 a month ($100 a week.) Half of my weekly grocery budget goes towards groceries for the week including things like laundry supplies, paper towels, diapers, and personal care items. The other half goes towards stocking up on those items. You can stock up on anything - short term food storage, long term food storage, toothpaste, shampoo, diapers etc. At first, I thought a $50 budget for my weekly groceries was impossible! However, this is a challenge and challenges aren't meant to be easy. I decided to give it a go and try to stretch myself and my budget.

With that being said here is how I did with my first week : 

the success of this challenge begins with a good meal plan. More expensive dinners like steak, lasagna, and roast were out. It was time to simplify. I went with easier (yet still yummy) dinners.

On the right is our weekly grocery shopping; luckily, I had just stocked up on some bigger items so just needed food (not pictured : milk and eggs.)

I came in just under budget which any other week would have been great; however, during stockober, I just keep thinking about how I could use that forty eight cents!

$99.52

My goal for stocking up was start stocking up for the holidays, baking, and winter.

For my stock up items I got 2 Martinelli's, 2 Pillsbury biscuits, ingredients to make chili again, 4 cans of soup, 3 bags of  chocolate chip cookies, 5 packets of pasta, 3lbs of ground turkey and another package of chicken.

Overall I am really happy with how this week went!

for more information of the stocktober challenge click here