A child of God educating other children.

Tim and I put $25 in our budget for eating out for the month, and decided to spend all in one night going on a nice date. We went into Saint Cloud for the evening and the people that put those stores up are so smart. Tim went to both Best Buy and Circuit City, and right next to each of those was either a JoAnn Fabrics or Michaels. So we both went our separate ways for that part of the date. :)

Then we walked around the mall for a little while. Between our mall and the Mall of America it has been a while since I've been in a regular mall, so I just felt like walking around and window shopping. We didn't stay too long 'cause I'm not much of a shopper, I just wanted the experience. :)

Then we went for dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We left a little earlier before we got too hungry figuring we would have to wait a while, and we were right. Our 30 minutes they told us the wait was ended up being 55, but we did get to try their mushroom appetizer and their rack of lamb for free as we waited. We also watched Seinfeld (which was nice since we don't have TV at home) and chatted with 2 other couples that were waiting around. We split a nice 11oz steak dinner with a sweet potato and some incredible green beans for our sides. I also ordered the Blooming Onion for an appetizer. I think that is my all time favorite appetizer from every restaurant.

And for dessert we went to Wendy's and got 2 jr. frosties for free. (Thank you Pastor John!)
It was so much fun to go out for a night and hang out. I absolutely loved it!

And good news for today! Tim and I get free season passes on the ski slopes near town for Tim being a pastor, so we went and got our season passes today. And they were selling all of the lost and found that people never picked up, so I got a nice pair of snow bib pants for only $4! Amazing deal, nothing wrong with them! We didn't have any money in our budget for clothing this month, so it came out of my blow money, but I think it's totally worth it instead of paying $20 plus later for some.

Posted in: budget, dating, marriage, skiing on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at at 11:10 AM 0 comments    

I really enjoyed having today off of work. Tim and I slept in 'til around 11 then had lunch with our neighbors/land lords/ youth volunteers/eye doctor. :) We had some great home made food and enjoyed visiting with them for a while. God has really blessed us with John and Ruth.

Most of the day we relaxed around the house. I finally sewed my dress pants which I've been meaning to since we moved here and I borrowed Ruth's sewing machine. Today was the first day I used it, now I'm working on a quilting project. When I first borrowed the sewing machine I went to Wal-Mart and bought all their cute fabric scraps under a dollar for me to practice on before sewing my pants. I really enjoyed sewing so now I've got a project! :) I think what kicked me off with sewing is that I've been reading "The Girls of Lighthouse Lane" series by Erika Tamar and Thomas Kinkade. The stories take place in 1905 when girls learned to sew at school and such. It is a great series that is so much fun to read. Theres another more mature series by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer that I will start probably tomorrow.

Okay, the rest of our day. I called and talked to my Mom for a while which I loved. I've been feeling a little homesick again. I really want to go to my parents for a little while and visit. Talking to my Mom helped, I felt like it has been a long time since I've talked to my family. Then Tim and I went bike riding for a little bit and then came home and grilled some real beef burgers. I don't know if we've ever grilled beef burgers, we buy turkey burgers which are a lot healthier and don't taste any different, but it was just nice to know we were eating beef. :)

Oh! Tim and I started our budget on the 1st. So far so good. We've already saved money. We went grocery shopping yesterday and were cautious with everything we got, looking at the cost per ounce they stick next to the price sticker and also going with store brand items instead of name brand. We bought just as much as usual for our one month groceries, but came out saving over $100! So that extra money will go towards paying off debt. I'm so excited!

Alright, I've procrastinated making our lunches for tomorrow and going to sleep long enough. Good night!

Posted in: books, budget, cooking, family, friends on Monday, September 03, 2007 at at 8:36 PM 0 comments