my weekend - colorado dragon boat festival

I was looking for something to do this weekend, and found out that Denver is hosting the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival! Admission was free*, so why not?

The first thing that drew our attention was the opening ceremonies, and the double dragon dance! I got a ton of pictures, here are the best ones.

Then we went to the Cultural Unity tent and watched a popin' lockin' dance crew perform. Sorry, no pictures of this one, I was too entranced by the performance!

 Docked dragon boats!

And then we went back out to the lawn and watched a dragon boat race! We'd seen one as soon as we got there, but we picked our favorite boats this time. I picked the boat in the middle, and Alex picked the one closest to the shore.

 My boat is the one in lead, Alex's is in last place here.

Boat #2 winning the race! Alex's boat isn't in this picture...that boat didn't actually finish! Bad luck!

*We did have to pay $5 for parking, because we couldn't find a spot on the street, but that doesn't seem like a lot for the fun we had!

packed lunches - simple salad

One of my favorite lunches to pack is a simple lettuce salad, with chicken. This one is pretty easy, and I think it's healthy! (Depends on how much cheese and dressing you use I guess!)

I cook the chicken at the beginning of the week, usually seasoning it with oregano or rosemary, and keep it in the fridge, or the freezer if I make a lot.

Then I put about half of a cooked chicken breast in the bottom of a plastic container and fill the rest up with lettuce. (sometimes I add a little bit of cheese as well)

I pack the dressing on the side, and include a piece of fruit or a yogurt, and a can of diet soda.

Total cost: $2.10

*A small note: I use the bags of lettuce, the mixed kind. This meal would be cheaper if I bought the heads of lettuce, iceberg and romaine, but we just don't use it all if I do that.

packed lunches

I pack myself a lunch for work everyday, to save money, and to eat a little healthier.

We do have a cafeteria in my work building, but it would cost me about $8/day to eat there. Alternatively, going out somewhere would cost about $10/day. (That's about $40/week in food expense)

My packed lunches cost from $2 - $5, usually closer to the $2 side. This means that I save $30/week by packing a lunch.

When I pack my lunch, I follow this format:

1. A main dish 

     sometimes this is a leftover, sometimes specifically made for lunch, it just depends

2. A diet soda 

     I like diet soda better than regular, and I like the caffeine in the middle of the day

3. A side

     This can range from a piece of fruit like an apple or banana, yogurt, pudding, pretzels, whatever I have in my pantry!

I've found that having these three things will keep me full and I typically enjoy the lunch I pack.

exciting news!

I applied for a higher position at work a few weeks ago, and I just found out that I got it! If all goes according to plan the change will be effective Aug 1.

Although this means that I'll be leaving my current team, I will be getting a raise and a better title. :)

Hopefully the extra income can help us pay our debts off faster.

my weekend - hike 31: Mount Falcon

We hiked number 31 out of my 100 Classic Hikes of Colorado guide. (I gave a small intro to the book in this post.)

Location: Conifer, CO

Estimated Hike Time: 2 hrs

Actual Time Hiked: 2 hrs

Distance: 1.9 mi

Difficulty: Easy

This hike was probably one of my favorites so far. It was really easy to get to, following the directions in the book. It was also really easy to follow the trails as the book described them.

The trails were simple, well marked, and it was overall an easy hike. 

We saw a lot of deer! This buck walked right across the trail.

This baby was a little more skittish. We also saw the doe that we think belonged to this little one, as well as another baby.

We also saw this little bird! Alex took this awesome shot!

One more artsy picture - a wildflower on the trail.

View from the trail.

View from the Eagle shelter, along the trail.

$150 shopping spree - fabric flip flops

I found a tutorial for these knotted fabric flip flops at http://www.themotherhuddle.com/tutorial-the-knot-so-hard-flip-flop-diy/ and decided I needed to make them! 

I love to wear flip flops in the summer, but they have two major downfalls.

1. wearing them constantly makes the plastic straps rub on my skin and causes blisters

2. they are super casual

I loved the idea of these flip flops because they would solve both of those problems! They're not the dressiest pair of shoes, but they are super comfortable and look better than regular plastic flip flops!

The tutorial was so easy to follow, and they turned out great!

I did use shopping spree money, and they cost me $3.72 - $2.50 for the flip flops and $1.22 for the fabric.

$$ left: $79.53

the $150 shopping spree - update post

I posted my latest $150 shopping spree purchase in this post, but I thought I'd give an update on the shopping spree, a recap on why I'm doing it, and what I intend to do with the rest of the spree money!

First off, if you want to read the original post, you can find it here.

Birth of the $150 shopping spree

As most of you know, my husband, Alex, and I have been on a very tight budget since he moved in and we got married. We've been working really hard to pay off all our debt and minimize our monthly expenses. It's been really really hard to resist the temptation to spend money, especially avoiding shopping!

Even though it's been really hard, if you've been following my posts you know that we've done really well, managing to cut our monthly expenses drastically. (You can find info about that in these posts.)

As a way to alleviate the stress of pinching pennies, Alex and I decided to let me have a small 'shopping spree.' Now, I know that $150 doesn't sound like much, but it has really gone a long way.

Complete list of shopping spree posts

 

Future plans

I have $83.25 left in my shopping spree. I intend to spend this on a new pair of flats for work (the pair I've loved for the past few years have broken soles now!), as well as a swimsuit cover up. Other than that, whatever catches my eye!

sourdough pancakes

I have a sourdough starter that I got from my mom that I've been using to make plain old sourdough bread. The other day, I decided to expand my horizons and make sourdough pancakes! The recipe was super easy, much easier than bread!

We had them for dinner, because we are breakfast for dinner kind of people!

They turned out great! Next time maybe we'll add blueberries or chocolate chips!

my deep dark secret

I'm a nail biter.

Ok, maybe it's not deep and dark, but I do like to keep it a secret as much as possible. This might explain why I wear so much nail polish, and obsess over it! 

I've found that pretty much the only thing that keeps me from biting off all my fingernails is having them painted up all nice. (Sometimes a coat of clear will work, but sometimes I pick it off or bite them anyway.)

It's a terrible habit, and I tend to do it subconsciously when I'm nervous or agitated.

Proof of my most recent biting spree: (These don't look too bad, because it's a couple weeks later...but before they were so long!)

the post grad survival kit

One of Alex's friends just finished grad school, and we wanted to send her something to celebrate, so we put together a 'post grad survival kit' complete with instructions.

We included:

Bag of candy/stickers

1. Take to work and store in a secure drawer

2. Use when needed

Wedding book (This friend is also planning a wedding)

1. Look at all the cool ideas

2. Do not get overwhelmed

3. Don't hesitate to ask for help!

Coffee

1. Brew coffee.

2. Drink until no longer tired.

Movie/restaurant certificate

1. At the beginning of the week, pick a movie/restaurant

2. At the end of the week, celebrate the end of your first week of work by seeing a movie and going out to eat!

I hope she likes it!

home at last

We have made it safely home from our trip to Illinois. Grizzly made it, and seems happy to be home. On the way to Illinois, we stopped halfway, driving the 900 miles in two days. I already explained how Grizzly did with that! On the way back, we drove it in one straight shot, a 15 hr day. Surprisingly, Grizzly did great in the car on that ride! He slept in the backseat for most of the trip, and only got antsy the last hour or so.

I'm really glad to be home, back in my own bed, and back where there isn't as much humidity. :)

a dog on the road - hotel room

Our last, and biggest, ordeal associated with road tripping with a dog from CO to IL.

Obstacle 3: Grizzly needed to behave in a hotel room

 
This one was tricky. (On the way to IL, we stopped halfway, since we weren't able to start driving early in the morning and didn't want to lose any time.) First, we had to find a hotel that would allow us to have a dog in the room, that wasn't too expensive. We ended up in a cheap motel chain, paying 53 for the room, plus an extra 10 for the dog. All in all that's not too bad.

The challenge came when we got to the hotel room. By the time we got there, we were super tired, and Grizzly had tons of energy because he'd been cooped up in the car. He went crazy when we got out of the car, pulling on his leash and wanting to run around. After we got him calmed down, we went into the room and went to bed immediately.

At home, we don't allow Grizzly to sleep on our bed. We like our space and don't want him to be on the bed moving around all night. So, we followed the same rule in the hotel room. We slept for about an hour when Grizzly started barking. There were too many sounds, smells, and people moving around for him to calm down. We caved and let him on the bed at this point. He did stop barking...but he made sleeping near impossible.

When morning rolled around, we did convince him to sleep on the floor, on the comforter from the bed, for a couple hours while we attempted to catch up on sleep.

    
And, as I write, this, we're alive, awake, only mildly exhausted, so we must have done alright.

a dog on the road - driving

Part 2 of the dog on the road adventures!

Obstacle 2: We needed to figure out how to keep him contained in the car.

This wasn't too terribly difficult, as we just put his bed in the backseat and hooked his leash to the headrests back there. By the end of the trip, he had pretty much figured out that he wasn't supposed to be in the front with us.

Also on this trip, Alex dubbed Grizzly a 'miniature giant space bear'. I think it works. :)

a dog on the road - packing

I promised an update on how taking Grizzly with us to Illinois went, so here's part 1!

Obstacle 1: We had to pack all the dog's stuff

This wasn't as much of a pain as I thought it would be, honestly. I mean, we did take his bed, his food, his bowls, and two leashes, but it wasn't that much. At home, his food is conveniently stored in a medium plastic bin, so it was pretty easy to pick up and take, and we were able to fit his leashes in there as well.

humid!

Oh humidity. I didn't miss you.

One of the major (and I mean MAJOR) advantages of living in Colorado is that there is virtually no humidity. In Illinois, there is 98% humidity. ALL THE TIME. (And I'm only mildly exaggerating.) 

It wreaks havoc on my hair and skin!!

Humidity conversion chart:

Anyway, I'm glad we made it to IL safely, even though the weather here is super gross :)

4th of July

 

Happy 4th of July everyone! I'm excited to spend mine with my family!

(And, tonight will be our first experience with Grizzly and fireworks...wish us luck!)