About Me and Grocery Shopping

I enjoy grocery shopping.... A LOT!  When AJ and I first were married, grocery shopping was a nightmare.  It as frustrating that every time I needed food in the house, I would always waste money on stupid things that "sounded good."  There are so many words of advice that I had heard - don't go shopping when you are hungry, only take cash, shop with a list.  At the time, all of these ideas seemed incredibly frustrating and time consuming.  Over time, I worked on managing our money more efficiently and meal planning.  Every week I have a certain amount of money that I can spend on groceries.  I use my debit card because, in my opinion, it's okay to go over a couple dollars every now and then.  When it comes to meal planning, I plan out our meals every two weeks and would put together a grocery list for the items I need for the next two weeks.  Grocery shopping is basically my fun little challenge to see how little I can spend for two weeks worth of groceries.  I think my record is $70... or $35 a week!  Pretty dang good for two people if I do say so myself!

Last night I went to Costco.  Without a list.  I was in a rush to make it to the bank before it closed so I thought I would drop by before going home.  

Very...

Very...

VERY...

BAD IDEA!

As I was finishing my shopping, I stood there looking into my shopping cart and thinking about all the stupid things I was buying.  It seemed ridiculous, unplanned, and unsuccessful.  Standing in the middle of Costco, I almost had a panic attack... in front of everyone.  How embarrassing!

All because I didn't plan ahead.

All because I didn't have my list.

What can we learn from this?  Kelsey doesn't handle situations that are not thought out ahead of time, planned for, and executed exactly as planned.

31 Weeks

This pregnancy is cruising right along.  It's pretty strange and I don't even remember what my body looks like before I was pregnant.  The last couple weeks have started to get a tiny bit uncomfortable.  Little Ninja loves to elbow me in the ribs.  It is the most uncomfortable thing in the world.  At our last doctor's appointment her heartbeat was at 153 bpm... still going strong!  AJ and I are getting anxious for our second ultrasound which will be at the beginning of April.  Luckily my body has felt great other than the occasional uncomfortable "rib punch", slightly swollen feet, minor back pain, and sore hips.  It's been nice not to be sick or gag at the thought of food.  In fact, I can't stop eating!!!  The other day I asked AJ if he has ever become tired of eating.  Of course he said no, but I am.  I'm tired of being hungry ALL THE TIME!  

Here is a really cheesy picture I took yesterday that shows my tiny baby bump... tiny considering that I'm 31 weeks pregnant and due in 2 months - but I don't feel tiny.

I've also been really lucky to not have MAJOR cravings, but a couple things that I eat a lot and/or want often are Oreo's (plain, with milk, in a milkshake... doesn't matter), Cereal, Peanut Butter Moo'd (from Jamba Juice), and fruit smoothies (currently I have my eye on the mango one from McDonald's).  Basically chocolate and peanut butter sound good most of the time.  If I had any self-control I would not give in and eat all this junk food, but I do.  Shame...

Still can't believe there are only two months left!

Quick Thought: Marriage

President Hinckley always had such a beautiful, straightforward way of putting his ideas and inspiration.  I came across the quote below and find it truly amazing how much love he expresses to his sweet wife in a short paragraph.  It gives so much beauty to the idea of growing old with someone and makes me so grateful for my husband.  I am grateful that we have the blessing to be together forever with each other and our family.

Thoughts: Concerning Children and My Soon-To-Be Future

Over the last couple weeks, the reality of having a baby has begun to sink in.  It's a very overwhelming feeling that has caused me much anxiety.  My mind is reeling with questions all day long...

Should we have waited until we finish school?

Should we have traveled more?

Are we going to be good parents?

Am I going to regret this decision later?

Are we financially ready to take care of a child?

Are we going to teach our children the right things?

Are we too young?

Is this irresponsible?

They are questions that the world has answered for me.  They are questions that every person has a different opinion about.  That is what makes the decision of having children so difficult.  That is what makes the decision of having children so personal for every couple.

With these questions weighing heavily on my mind for only a short period of time, I was unprepared for the quick comfort that I received.  In my LDS Marriage and Family class, we read the following quote:

For me, this answered every concern that I had.  It made me feel empowered and strengthened with such a direct promise from a prophet of the Lord.  I am aware that the when to have children is different for everyone.  Some will have "honeymoon" babies, some will have children in the middle of their undergraduate degrees, some will wait until they are done with school, some begin their careers, other will travel the world, but what it all boils down to is the Lord is in control when we allow him to be.  We must ALLOW him to turn our lives into something wonderful whether we plan it or not.  It wasn't until AJ and I stopped planning to have a family, that it actually happened.  The Lord knows what we can handle and will bless us according to our personal willingness and capabilities. 

"... for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength..." - Mosiah 4:27

What's for dinner?

Quick & Easy Noodle Stir-Fry

Tonight this was on the menu.  It's from one of my favorite cookbooks/cooking blogs "Our Best Bites."  The noodles were a little spicier than planned, but still pretty tasty.  I also added chicken to the recipe to make it a little more filling and made TONS extra for leftovers.

Funny thing is that after I finished making this, I put it in a storage container for AJ and had cereal for dinner.  Reeses Puffs and Oreos were the only thing that sounded good, so hopefully this stir-fry is just as delicious leftover.

Fabric Inspiration

The last couple weeks I have been thinking a lot about what colors and material I wanted to use for the baby's room.  I found the patterns below and decided that I really wanted to use bright colors with bold prints.

Sanjay in Pink by Dena Fishbein

Stripe in White by Bee in my Bonnet

Sashi in Pink by Dena Fishbein

This weekend AJ and I went to St. George.  My MIL and I went fabric shopping.  It was really fun and I was determined to find something that was "perfect."  The first store we went to had the most beautiful quilt on the wall and I knew immediately that my heart would be set on that.  Luckily, all the patterns in the quilt were in the store and my MIL said she would make the quilt.

Here are the patterns I decided on (there are many more patterns in the quilt):

If you are thinking that this is completely different than my original plan... you would be right.  It is totally different than what I was "planning" on doing, but I like it so much more!  I'm really excited to make the crib skirt and crib bumper.  My goal is to have this done by the end of the month so as soon as I get it done, I'll post some pictures!  

Well that's all for now, but later tonight I'm going to try and find time to post Simple Things Sunday and also about our weekend in St. George.

Leap Year

I have officially decided that I am happy Leap Year comes once every four years.  Yesterday was a weird day.  It had that feeling of Friday the 13th - eerie, uncertain.  I woke up to an empty house, which is typical, and kept hearing the strangest noises.  Then I ended up getting out of bed late, but tried really hard to be on time so I skipped breakfast, didn't make a sandwich and left the house with a water bottle and a bag of goldfish.  Once I got to campus, there was NO parking... and I mean NONE!  I drove around for 20 minutes before I decided to park far away and skip my LDS Marriage and Family class for the fourth time in a row.  This was disappointing to me because it is my favorite class and I was really looking forward to the topic for the day. 

After walking practically a mile to my Modern art class, I finally had time to sit down and take a break.  I caught up on my reading assignment for the day which was a great relief.  The day turned around a little here because right before class started, a friend of mine who is also in the class let me borrow a textbook that I needed to write a paper for another class.  This was a giant relief!  

Once class was over, I walked to work where I worked on a paper for four hours and didn't even get it done.  When it was time to go home, I realized that I forgot to marinate the steak for dinner so I ran over to my in-laws to get the yummy marinade my mother-in-law uses to marinate her steak.  So delicious!  I also realized that I didn't have red potatoes or skewers (we made kabobs) but luckily my MIL did... she's always there to save the day!  Thanks Pam!

Anyway... I'm rambling... but the point is, the day wasn't great.  There was this constant feeling of inadequacy and it was frustrating to feel like I couldn't keep up with anything in life.  Interestingly enough, my body is NOT tired.  Last night I buzzed around the house cleaning up here and there, finished a paper, cooked dinner, folded laundry, took a shower, and finally crawled into bed at 12:30 am.  This morning I woke up at 7:30 am... when my alarm went off.  For me, this is a miraculous thing especially considering that I barely make it to my 10:00 am LDS Marriage and Family class.  

Happy March!