Fun with Juliette

I always love it when Matt, Raquel and Juliette stop by. I managed to get a few photos of Juliette, who will NOT stop long enough for me to get many shots!.

Cents make sense

Here's what I got at Publix a couple days ago for 32 cents.

Great website on planning now for the possibility of coming together during a disaster. It may be necessary to take in a few or more people, and you want to make sure you and your provisions are safe. Also, you want to make sure those you take in can contribute something.

http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/a-community-of-disaster/

Here is the photo from my great shopping trip at Publix. Total before coupons was $81. Total after coupons was $7. Normally I don't do regular shopping at Publix because it's more expensive than other stores. I got:
4 cans of Raid
2 can of Off!
4 lg. cans of Baked Beans
2 bottles A1 Steak Sauce
2 bottles chocolate syrup
4 bags of salad
1 bag doggie snacks
4 cans dog food
2 bags of salad toppers
5 rolls of dental floss
5 ears of corn
1 cantalope
2 bags hamburger buns
2 boxes lag. bandaids
1 box rolled gauze

My baby girl

Alisha went to her friends Quinsenara tonight, kind of like a "coming of age" party. We don't often see Alisha all dressed up, and we never see her with her hair curled, so it was quite a sight. All dolled up for looks older than the barely 14 she is. Does this mean my baby girl I waited so long for is growing up?! We bought Alisha a nice dress, but she decided to wear one of Raquel's instead. The color looks so good on her!

First temple trip

Friday, Jan 16 was Tierra's first trip to do baptisms at the temple. Because it took 2 1/2 very long, very frustrating, very emotional years just to get her baptized, it was a pretty meaningful experience for me. I was able to go, in fact I've only missed a couple youth temple trips in the past 10-12 years. I wish Ryan or Matt could have gone to do the baptizing, but they were both working. Tierra wore the dress I got her for her BSYO concerts.
This is a photo of the whole group before leaving to go to the temple. Alisha and Tierra are on the far right.

Saved food

I've been making use of my foodsaver vacuum sealing machine which I got a couple months ago. I really like that it has a jar attachment so I can vacuum seal my odds and ends pasta. They tend to poke through the bags, so sealing them in jars works well. Also, because we have such a bug problem here in Florida, vacuum sealing items in jars assures we don't share our food with critters!

In this photo I have walnuts, split peas, raisins, a cake mix, macaroni and cheese, leftover ham to put in beans (this goes in the freezer) and jars of beans and pasta. My neighbor does everything in the bags - rice, flour, soup, veggies, you name it.
I have quite a few quart size bags I got on a great sale from hsn.com. Wish I'd gotten a lot more because they can be expensive.

Yesterday I made an excel spreadsheet for my food storage, listing everything I have, the amount, and the amount needed for one year. Can't plot the route if you don't know where you're at. Taking the inventory was eye-opening. For example, I discovered I have 10 gallons of dried apples. That's about nine more than we'll use in a year! But, they could be good bargaining items if times get tough. I also found a didn't have as much of some items as I thought.

My next project will be to start a small garden in buckets. I have a few, and will be visiting some bakeries to see if I can get some more. Then we'll try tomatoes, green peppers and maybe peas.

Wonderul pianist

A lady from church told me about this wonderful pianist from Korea - Yiruma. Check out this song on youtube: (you may need to cut and paste, or just do a search for Yiruma on youtube.com)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mikudzy6Ddo&feature=PlayList&p=81C5A0CBA9AD1462&index=6&playnext=7&playnext_from=PL

I made a playlist of a bunch of his songs, so I can listen to him for about half an hour at a time. His music is very relaxing and beautiful. For "Twilight" fans, he wrote "Bella's Lullaby," at least I think that's what it is called.

New Year's Eve

We went to Matt and Raquel's for New Year's Eve. Raquel's brothers Miguel and Pepe and their families, along with Ryan's new girlfriend Whitney, and Lynn and his boys were there. I ended up coming home early because although I'm NEVER sick, I was sick. Just a cold, and feeling yucky. Tierra spent the night. Alisha was actually babysitting for another family, so she wasn't there. And Jason was at a party with a girl he's just started dating - good Mormon girl, Yeay!