This is a Jayne Cobb ear-flap hat I made with Vanna’s choice yarn.  I used black and red in order to make a Texas Tech hat.

I’ve finally finished Week 2’s exercises.  In a month, I’ve done 12 complete workouts from the Navy Seal workout book.  I’m moving at a slower pace than what’s called for in the book, but at least I have an exercise program that I can use whenever I find the time or the motivation to exercise.

This weekend, I got in some good walking.  Even though the weather was cold, it was nice to get outside.

Next up, I’m going to work on getting through Week 3’s exercises.  There are 6 workouts, and I’m already working my way through the first one.  I’ve done the walking, so now I need to do the push ups and ab work.

I just finished reading The Undaunted.  800 pages.  Well worth it.

In fact, I couldn’t put the book down.  I had so many plans for the weekend.  They all got pushed aside as I delved into this fabulous book.

It starts with a 6-year-old boy working in coal mines in England.  It follows him as he emigrates to Utah as a teenager.  When he is in his early 20s, he begins a challenging pioneer journey in southern Utah.

In the late 1870s, a group of missionaries/pioneers set out to find a shorter route from Escalante, Utah to the southeastern corner of Utah, near what is now Bluff, Utah.  These families set out on what they thought would be a 6 week trek.  It took 6 months, because they had to build wagon roads through challenging terrain.

It’s a fabulous book filled with historical facts and people (woven into the story with the fictional characters), faith, perseverance, and love.

The author has a great website with photos of the pioneer route landmarks at:  http://www.undaunted-thenovel.com/

I started on Week 2 (Level 1) of the Navy Seal workout on November 3.  It’s now 11/10, and I’ve already completed 3 out of the 6 workouts.

I think it’s progress to complete 3 workouts in one week (I know that you’re supposed to complete one per day, which is 6 workouts in one week, but it takes me about 2 days to complete each workout).

For Week 1, it took me three weeks to complete all 6 workouts, so this is definitely progress.

Hooray!  I finally did a menu again!  It’s been so long!  I made a list of meals for the week and went shopping for the ingredients.  I even planned out weekly breakfasts!

Dinners for the Week of November 8:

Sunday – pork roast, potatoes, green beans, frozen veggies (steamed)

Monday – Hamburger Helper w/ mushrooms, rolls, salad

Tuesday – chicken breasts w/ cream of mushroom soup, brown rice w/ lemon (cooked w/ bouillon), salad

Wednesday – turkey sausage, Mac & Cheese, raw carrots, frozen veggies (steamed)

Thursday – grad school night – fend for yourself

Breakfasts:

Sunday – cereal, fruit, milk

Monday – Kashi waffles w/ peanut butter, juice

Tuesday – oatmeal w/ raisins, juice

Wednesday – fruit bread (pumpkin bread this week), yogurt, milk or juice

Thursday – oatmeal w/ raisins, juice

Friday – bagel w/ peanut butter, milk

Saturday – pancakes, eggs, milk

For more menu ideas, go to Org Junkie.

Special Thanks to Cindy’s Porch for meal calendars and menu ideas.

Amazing how you wake up, read your grad school textbook as you walk on the treadmill, teach children all day, come home, eat dinner, and only want to sit and watch TV for the rest of the evening.

So, since you need to do more grad school homework, you load up on dark chocolate.

A little while later, amazingly, you’re able to do more walking on the treadmill as you continue to read your grad school textbook.  A little while after that, you remove yourself from computers, TVs, etc., and force yourself to do more grad school homework.

Fun.

I finally finished Week 1 (Level 1) from my Navy Seal workout book.  I started the 6 workouts on 10/14.  I’m hoping that it won’t take so long to complete Week 2.

My reward for completing Week 1 was to purchase supplies and make a pair of earrings, but I don’t know if I still want that for this week’s reward.

I’ve managed to go through all of my Red Plum coupons.  I still need to go through my Smart Source and P&G coupons.  With the Red Plums, I threw away any coupon flyers that didn’t have any coupons that I need.  I kept the ones with coupons that I would possibly need, and I listed those coupons in my Excel coupon spreadsheet.

I went through the weekly ads and made lists by store of sale items that I need.  When the Sunday paper comes out tomorrow, I’ll do the same with the new pharmacy ads.

I went to Costco today and stocked up on frozen chicken breasts, frozen mixed veggies, instant oatmeal, Ritz crackers, bagels (much cheaper than going to the bagel shop), Bisquick, chocolate chips, thyme, hot dogs, cheese slices, and a few other items.  I like getting things in bulk, because I don’t have to worry about constantly replenishing them every week or so.  The items I get from Costco are usually ones that have better deals than my local grocery stores.

I’ve been using The Food Storage Network to help me plan, acquire, and use food storage.  They have great advice, books, posts, and downloadable spreadsheets to help you out.  This weekend, since I’ve finally gotten my homework under control (for the present), I’m going to do some massive couponing, studying of grocery ads, and grocery shopping to help build up our food storage.  My goal is to get about 1 month’s worth of food over the next month or so, and then build it up to enough food for 3 months.

I have my coupons filed in a filing cabinet.  I have several months worth, including double or triple sets of coupons for weeks that friends and coworkers gave me their coupons.  I’m going to go through each coupon packet and:

• If it’s a coupon I’ll use (and it hasn’t expired), I’ll add it to my coupon spreadsheet, which lists the coupons I have and where they’re filed.
• If a coupon flyer has no coupons that I will ever use, I’ll toss it in the recycling bin.

After I’ve gone through my coupons, I’ll go through this week’s store flyers for local grocery stores and pharmacies.  I’ll write down prices for items that I need for my food storage, and then make a list of things to shop for at each store, along with the coupons that I’ll need.

I have coupon organizers that I’ve made from sheet protectors.  If there are any coupons that I’ll need at the store, I’ll consult my coupon spreadsheet for their locations, cut them out, staple multiples (of the same coupon) together, and place each coupon (or coupon set) in the pockets of my coupon organizers sheet protectors.  I’ll take the sheet protectors (not the binder, it’s too bulky) to the store with me and be able to see my coupons easily.

I’m going to make a t-shirt quilt for a friend’s sister.  We picked out the fabrics and selected the shirts.  Here’s a pic of the shirts we’ll be using in the quilt.