initial dog costs

I've already introduced you to our new addition, Grizzly. Notice in that post I didn't mention anything about the cost of the dog or our budget, and I need to take some time to talk about what a big financial commitment a dog is.

Initial expenses:

$125 - adoption fee

$350 - pet fee to our apartment complex

$30   - leash, collar

$25   - baby gate to block off kitchen if needed

Total:  $530

Monthly expenses:

$40  - pet rent

$20  - food (he's a little guy, he doesn't eat much)

Yearly expenses:

$150 - vet visit/yearly shots

It seems like a lot, and it is, but luckily most of it is paid up front, and is not monthly cost. So far, we love having him with us and it was completely worth it!

trip to IL

 One of the things that's a real bummer about living far away from our families is that we don't get to see them very often due to the 1000 miles in between us. The other bummer is that when we do go visit, the prep work can be kind of a pain!

I am the over-planning type, so I like to make lists and pre-pack everything that I can. We will be in Illinois for nine days...that's a lot of packing!

I have posted before about how I want to get away from wearing jeans and t-shirts everyday, so that makes packing to go anywhere a little harder. I can't just throw nine t-shirts in my bag and call that good!!

The weather in Illinois is also completely different than it is here...hot and humid in the summer...all the time.

To add another element to the packing - I have the ability to work remotely, so I will be doing that the first couple days we are in Illinois, to minimize the amount of vacation days I have to take. This means I have to bring my laptop, as well as a couple other things I need to be able to work remotely.

We have also decided to take Grizzly with us to IL, so we'll have to make sure we pack everything he needs!

On a lighter note, I can't wait to see my family! I haven't seen a lot of them since August!

our dog!

We have been thinking about getting a dog for awhile now, and decided a couple weeks ago that we would start looking at shelters and see if we could find our perfect dog.

Meet Grizzly!

We found this little guy in a shelter in Denver, and thought he was just perfect! He's a little older than we were looking for, 7 years old, but he still has a ton of energy and is the perfect size! He's a lab/pug mix, but he looks like a mini lab, not much pug in his looks.

He's really well house trained, and seems content to lay around a cuddle for the most part. I think he'll do very well with us. :)

more sunset pictures

Here are some more sunset shots!

sunsets over the Rockies

A few nights ago I found a good view and took these pictures of the sun setting over the Rockies. Enjoy!

the $150 shopping spree - coral tank

Wow, it's been awhile since I've done an update on my $150 shopping spree! Go read the original post on it here if you're interested!

I've gotten a variety of things with my $150, including lots of nail stuff, a shelf for my kitchen, a care package for my sis, and my favorite, Star Wars costumes.

This time, I actually bought clothing!

I got this coral tank top. It's got layers of fabric, and looks really nice under a black cardigan for work, or I can wear it by itself outside this summer! I'll need some cool clothes since we've been having 97 degree days in Denver!

Total: $21.59

$$ left: $83.25

diy breakfast sandwiches

Every once in awhile, when I'm leaving for work, I get this craving for a fast food bacon egg and cheese biscuit. I always skip it, because it kills me to spend so much on so little! 

So, I decided to make my own batch of bacon egg and cheese biscuits and freeze them, so that I can pull one out of the freezer on days that I crave them!

They were super easy to make. 

Ingredients: eggs, bacon, cheese, and biscuits

Cook bacon.

Bake biscuits.

Bake eggs in oven (I scrambled mine first, but you could do them whole)
Assemble sandwiches, wrap, and freeze!

pinterest on a budget!?!

Let me start by saying...Pinterest is wonderful. I spend (or waste?) so much time on Pinterest.

Obviously, I have my own boards. I'm not really obsessive about pinning to them. I really only pin to them if I find something online I want to hang onto, or find something on Pinterest that I don't want to lose. (I find that a lot of the Pinterest pins are re-pinned so many times that I don't have to pin them to find them.)

Where I spend the most time is just looking at what other people have pinned. And sometimes, that leads to me trying recipes or craft ideas that I otherwise wouldn't have. Some of the things have the potential to be money savers, but if they don't work...you've just spent more money then you would have.

One of my latest Pinterest attempts - do it yourself body sugaring. (Like waxing, but supposed to be less painful.)

http://tipnut.com/body-sugaring/

This pin intrigued me because I do occasionally like to wax my legs, but find it to be a huge hassle and kind of expensive. I followed the instructions at the website above, and it went alright. 

I used a whole bottle of honey, found some cheap cotton fabric, bought some wooden craft sticks to spread it, and got a glass jar to put the extra in.

After making this stuff and trying it, I am going to deem it a half success. It worked about half the time, and half the time I'd pull the cotton strip off my leg, to find that the wax was still on my leg. It was also really messy.

I spent about $7 on this little experiment, and will probably never use it again.

sunday dinner

On Sunday, I was faced with the dilemma of not having a dinner plan. Since it was pretty warm outside and I didn't want to use the oven, but still wanted to make enough of something that I'd have leftovers for lunch at work, I decided to use my crockpot.

I found this recipe in one of my cookbooks and decided to make it. I had all the ingredients on hand except the piece of meat. The recipe says to use beef, but I used pork. I also halved the recipe, since my pork roast was only 2.5 lbs.

Halfway through cooking:

Cooked and shredded:

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can eat the meat multiple ways. I ate it on noodles the first night, on sandwiches, and made wraps out of it as well.

Barbecued Beef Roast
500 Heart-Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes
Dick Logue

4 lb beef round roast
1 cup low-sodium ketchup
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar

Place roast in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pur over. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 10 hours.

Makes 8 servings.

surprises for hubby

My husband is going on a business trip, and I decided to make him a surprise for the week that he is gone. This was a really simple and cheap surprise, since most of it was homemade.

I made him a card for about every other day while he was gone, just saying how much I miss him. I don't want to go into too much gushy detail! Everything was labeled with when to open it. I also included a pack of gum and a small container of candy, which are the only things I had to buy.

 Gum that I wrapped up and labeled "on the plane'

 Container I decorated for the candy

I think he'll really like it!