Meal Planning

With me not working and our upcoming wedding, we're always looking for a way to save money. One of the easiest ways we've found is menu planning. These days I never go to the grocery store without a plan. Each Sunday after church Steve and I sit down and plan out the week's meals (sometimes 2 weeks). I take his work schedule into account and try to make something the night prior that has good leftovers, so he isn't forced to eat in the chow hall. This week's meal planning is a little light, as Steve is working one weekday and all weekend - we didn't plan for next week because we'll be heading down to Alabama for Halloween weekend to celebrate my friend Whitney's wedding. Here is what's on the menu our house:

Monday: Grilled Basil and Garlic Pork Chops with Okra Tomato Sauce and White Rice

Tuesday: Quick Turkey Chili
Thursday: Meatloaf and Horseradish Potatoes (a big hit with both Steve and his cousin)

*Both Monday and Tuesday's recipes are from the Southern Living cookbook my future MIL sent me for Christmas last year. Also, I've discovered that using a heaping teaspoon of horseradish in my mashed potatoes keeps me from adding cheese, butter, or salt, so it's a little healthier!

Wedding Win: Welcome Bags

Not long ago I posted a wedding woe concerning welcome bags. While I still haven't figured out what to put in my welcome bags, I have settled on what to put said stuff in. Last week I found some super cute bags on the Wedding Chicks' website, but they were a bit out of my price range. Yesterday, while feeding my Facebook addiction, I saw a link they posted to their shop, along with a coupon code for 40% off anything in the shop! I was able to get all my welcome bags for almost half price! Below is the design we chose [photo from Wedding Chicks] - the bags will feature the GREAT state of Alabama, in purple...obviously! Now I just need to figure out what to put inside...

Pink Ribbon 5K

Well, I did it. I actually ran a 5K, with no training. On Thursday my friend Melanie asked me if I was interested in running Frederick's Pink Ribbon 5K...since I had just finished working out I was feeling pretty good about my athletic ability, so I said yes. But, as Thursday and yesterday progressed I began to regret that decision. Who am I kidding? I'm not an athlete, and certainly not a runner - I haven't even trained for this. However, after a little soul searching (and a bribe from Steve) I decided to do it. So, bright and early this morning, decked out in my ZTA jersey and AU baseball cap, Melanie and I hit the pavement. I certainly didn't finish anywhere near the top, but I did finish 243. I'm not exactly sure how many people ran, but considering my bib was 576, and there were still plenty of runners and walkers left to go when we crossed the finish line
I feel pretty good about it. So good, I'm contemplating running another one...maybe the upcoming Turkey Trot. But that's today, ask me tomorrow when I have to limp into church.

Wedding Win: Honeymoon

Yesterday I posted a wedding woe, my welcome bag conundrum. Today, I have a wedding win! We have finally booked our honeymoon - Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. When we first started our honeymoon brainstorming, we knew we wanted to leave the country, because I never have. I asked around and got some ideas from friends and began to narrow it down. One of my good friends went to the Excellence resort in Mexico. I didn't want to copy her honeymoon, so I looked at their other resorts and found the one in DR. I shared it with Steve and he was immediately on board. I cannot wait until we're relaxing on the beach as husband and wife. It'll be a much needed break between the last few weeks of wedding planning and the stress of our PCS, which could be coming as early as May.

Wedding Woes: Welcome Bags

I attended a wedding back in April with the cutest little welcome bags. My friend, Kerri, is from Sacramento so she put together bags with California-made goodies: a small bottle of Sutter Home wine, water bottled in CA, Jelly Belly jelly beans, other types of candies and cute Sacramento postcards. This immediately got me thinking about cute ideas for my welcome bags. However, once I started researching, it proved to be a little out of reach. While there are many products made in the great state of Alabama, most don't come in sample sizes and I certainly don't want to spend $5/bottle of Big Bob Gibson's BBQ sauce for each of my guests, in addition to everything else that I planned to put into them. So, that's the problem and here's what I'd like to hear from you: Do you know of any places that sell sample sizes of Alabama-made products? If not, what are some other ideas for cute Welcome Bags (or boxes) for our out of town guests?