Six Free Valentine's Day Cards!

Get six free Valentine's photo cards with free shipping when you go to (http://stories.scrapbooksetc.com/landings/valentine0209.php) and use the coupon code Valentine at check out. Valid through February 1, 2009.

I still had to put in my CC but it said the total was $0!

I had fun making ours:

Inauguration Madness

In case you hadn't heard... Richard and I joined 2 million of our closest friends to attend Obama's 2009 Inauguration swearing-in ceremony yesterday.

Reader's Digest Version: Crowded, cold, awesome.


Getting There

Our adventure-filled day began when the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Well, it actually began the night before when we set out our clothes, toliet paper (!), snacks, camera, money, etc. before we went to bed. This ended up being a very good idea as we most surely would have forgotten everything if we rested solely on our early-morning brains.


I was very nervous about the chilly weather as I am getting over a cold, so I may have overdone it a bit on the layers. By the time we left the house, I had on underarmor, jeans, track pants, a t-shirt, a sweater, another wool sweater, a puffy coat, a scarf, ear muffs, a hat, gloves, wool socks, sneakers, and an extra blanket. I felt a bit like Randy from "A Christmas Story." Richard was similarly dressed, but somehow managed looked much more urban and chic than me in his clothes (how DO men do it?).



Our game plan was to drive to Richard's school at Virginia Square, take the metro about 12 stops (no transfer, woot!), get off at the mall, breeze through security and find a spot on the lawn. Sounds easy enough, right? I foolishly thought we would have our seats by 8-ish. Umm... yeah. Didn't happen.


I should say here that I was actually very impressed by the Metro. They managed to accommadate millions of people without any major problems, which is WAYYYY better than anyone expected. But we did end up waiting quite a while for our orange train to come at Virginia Square, which we later found out was because of a "sick passenger." Luckily, our car didn't smell like puke.

We finally were able to get onto a train car! It was insaaane. I have been on the NYC metro during rush hour traffic and was nothing compared to this. I could not move, could not see my feet, etc. Once, the train stopped abrubtly, but I didn't even move an inch because there was literally nowhere to go. It was crazy, and we were glad to get off and be able to breathe again!

Lines, lines and more lines

Since Richard was able to score us some tickets to the swearing in, we were pretty close to the festivities. Upon exiting the train, we were informed to go to the blue section, and followed a "line" which went up the street about 3 blocks and then coiled in on itself in a parking lot. As you may have guessed, the coiling didn't go so well, and as soon as the gates opened, the line dissolved and people just started running toward the security gate. It was pretty frustrating, as there was no direction, no police or volunteers trying to keep people under control or anything. You just sort of had to fend for yourself. And fend we did. We ran like our lives depended on it (well, they actually might have, because if we would have stopped, we might have gotten trampled!)

After securing our spot in line, we waited... and waited... and waited. Luckily, everyone was in a very good mood, and Richard and I met some fun people in line! It was really a festive and patriotic morning. We finally made it through sercurity, and found a decent spot on the lawn (about 1,000 feet away) about 5 minutes before the festivities began (around 10:15-ish). We were right around here:

Which was a LOT better than being here:

Well, the rest is history. Obama came, everyone FREAKED OUT (good). Bush came, everyone FREAKED OUT (bad). I felt really bad for him, and unsuccessfully tried to shush the people around me. Seriously, they were just being so rude; we're not 5-year olds. But I digress. After the Inaugural Address was over, we wiped our tears and bolted to the nearest metro stop. Since we were so close (as opposed to people in the latter photo) to a stop, we were able to get on, get a seat and head back home before the crowds hit. Good thing, too, because I heard that after we left, people were waiting in line for over 2 hours to even get on a train!

Basically, it was an awesome day!! I'm glad that I finally decided to go and be a part of such a historic moment. I felt really proud... er, pleased, to be an American and to welcome in a new president. Here's to the next 4 years!

Inauguration and Waxing

Unlike Emily, I'm not having the internal struggle about going to Inauguration (or eyebrow waxing for that matter: never, never, never). My basic argument goes like this: This is going to be a very historical moment by any account. Also, it will be a good prep for this weekend's winter campout with the scouts to stand outside in the cold for several hours. Indeed, I've heard it puts hair on your brow, or something like that...

Blogs I Haven't Written in the Last Month

-An Encomium to Omaha
-An Encomium to IKEA
-Eyebrow Waxing = Labor
-GRE Prep
-My ardor for arduous (well, not too arduous) cooking, thanks to a special cookbook from Kevin & Emily
-Internal Debate: To attend or not to attend Inauguration?

Be Bold, Not Beige

With the holiday season comes some extra dough for cash-strapped students. What does that mean? After a late night discussion and an urgent phone call to Reid, we were finally able to transform our apartment from dentist-office white to a more colorful decor.

Note: If you are our landlords reading this... err, we're really sorry we painted our apartment. You don't have to give us our deposit back...

Couponing Update!

It's been a couple of months since I last updated about my couponing/food stocking/attempts at money saving.

I'll be honest, it's not all fun and games. There are times when I want to just walk into a grocery store and buy whatever I want regardless of cost like the good ole' days. And I've had my fair share of snippy clerks who have tried to convince me that policies/coupons work a certain way when I know they don't. I'm pretty sure I even cried once after a bad trip to CVS.

BUT, I really have enjoyed myself for the most part and gotten some sa-weet deals. Richard and I have more or less stuck to a budget of $100/month on food and all household items(makeup, toiletries, laundry detergent, home fragrance, you name it) combined. This is down from $300-400 a month from September. I still have yet to get the point of many of the blogs I follow, who have the same budget for 4-6 people. But it's a good start!
















Here a few things I've learned through my journey thus far:


1. Take a break when you need to: If you haven't already heard my looonnng explanations of Extra Care Bucks at CVS, I'll tell you now that it is one of my fav money-saving stores. But, just like anything else, you can get burnt out following the sales. I was feeling this way in early December, so I decided to take a couple of weeks off. I'm sure I missed a few deals by doing this, but when I went back in on Saturday, I had a renewed excitement. I guess I would say don't let it get to a point where you feel like you are doing a "chore." Just stay at home for a couple of weeks and let your enthusiasm build!

2. Don't spend money on things you don't need/won't eat: During one of my trips to Harris Teeter I had a coupon that matched a great BOGO sale on HT eggs. Of COURSE I bought them for a very reduced price. But then what happened? Oh, they sat in our fridge for a month or so, and we ended up throwing most of them away (as you can see, we aren't on an egg-friendly diet). So, in the end, paying money for ANYTHING you won't use isn't a good deal. That being said, I now get tons of things for FREE at CVS (notice, I said "don't spend money on things you won't use," not "don't buy things you won't use") . They make great presents for those who will use them, and we are planning on donating lots of stuff (we seriously have about 30 tubes of toothpaste I got for free in our stockpile!) to our ward and homeless shelters.


3. Don't expect everything to go perfectly: When I first started couponing, I would get very flustered and frustrated when things didn't go perfectly at the store. The most common problem is that the store will be out of the thing you want to get (after all, I'm not the only one couponing in my neck of the woods). I think I am now getting better and shifting my attitude to be more flexible to last-minute changes.


4. All deals are not good deals: Case in point: Recently, I had a good coupon that matched a BOGO sale at the grocery store. After commending myself for getting the product like 70% off, I looked at the store brand and it was still cheaper! Granted, this doesn't happen very often. But just because something is on a good sale does not mean it's still the best use of your buck.

Okay, well that's about all my insights for now. I've learned a lot about budgeting and such the past few months and would happy to chat more about it to anyone! The best thing I can say is make a goal for your family budget and STICK TO IT. If that means cutting out some luxuries, then so be it. It's all worth it in the end!

Reflections of Christ

I love the Christmas season. Even though we don't have a Christmas tree, snow or decorations, I have been on a Christmas music only diet while in the car.

The best thing that got me in the Christmas mood was going to the Reflections of Christ exhibit (twice!) at the LDS Visitor's Center by the DC Temple. The photos are taken to reflect different parts of Christ's life, and they are absolutely stunning in person. It is a traveling exhition, so if it makes its way near your hometown, I highly recommend going. I think it's gonig to Australia next? (Carma, you just missed it!)

My favorite one -- at the moment -- is the first picture of all of the angels announcing Christ's birth. I was thinking of putting that picture up in a baby room some day (not an announcement). I love looking at their expressions. Also, one of the angels is the splitting image of my friend's roommate Ann.