Yesterday we made our weekly/bi-weekly trip to Trader Joe’s. That’s our regular shopping spot even though it’s about 30 minutes from us. When we were making a list and meal planning, nothing sounded good to me. Honestly, I just wanted to buy frozen convenience meals and call it good. Well after some bickering between Ryan and me, we finally decided on a grocery list. We were also starving and grouchy while making this list and that’s never a good idea. Hah.

Here are a few items that are usually always on our list… I always think it’s interesting to see what other people buy.

• Mac & Cheese
• Bananas
• Cheese
• Pistachios
• Cereal
• Coconut Milk
• Eggs
• Butter
• Onion
• Crackers
• Salsa
• Tortilla chips
• Black beans
• Vegetable broth
• Bread

We ended up filling our cart to the brim this time around. Of course, we ended up getting a few more things than what was on our list. ;) Like a chocolate bar filled with cookie butter (OMG), frozen vegetable samosas, and orange juice.

Last night we had breakfast for dinner. I made egg, veggie sausage, cheese on a biscuit and oh my goodness, did it hit the spot! I was so happy that something actually tasted good. Not only that, but the veggie sausage helped satisfy my craving for meat. It tasted like real sausage and had the same texture (Morning Star brand). Ryan made fun of me for enjoying my “Egg McMuffin” so much. Hah.

With our leftover biscuits, I made mushroom gravy today for breakfast. This was my first time making mushroom gravy and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out! I used the gravy recipe from A Beautiful Mess. I tried mushroom gravy and biscuits at a restaurant in Louisville a few months ago and I couldn’t believe how good vegetarian gravy was! I really recommend it.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with friends for Mexican food. YUM! For the rest of the week, we have a few dinners planned: veggie burgers, tempeh sloppy joes (will be my first time making these), and vegetable and noodle soup. For easier/lazier meals, we can do mac & cheese, grilled cheese, pb&j, etc. For snacks we have: crackers and cheese or peanut butter, apples and peanut butter, chips and salsa, nuts, and carrots and ranch dressing.

Grocery shopping and meal planning helped inspire me to cook and eat again. I think we have a good plan for the week. :)

Do you feel overwhelmed by the cleaning supplies aisles at the store? Not only by the variety of products and the high prices, but also the smells too? There seems to be a different cleaning product for every surface in your house and that can get expensive! Not only that, but almost all of them are toxic to us either through touch, taste, or simply breathing them into our lungs. For example – why would you eat off of a plate or wear a shirt that was washed with toxins? It doesn’t really make sense to me why we would pay all that money for products that poison us and the environment. The only reason I still go down those aisles is for a good brush, sponge, or mop!

I’m happy to report that we have replaced almost all of our toxic products, from cleaning supplies to personal care items. It was more of a gradual process for us. The very first thing we did was get natural bars of soap for the shower – ones with no artificial fragrances or unnecessary chemicals. Isn’t it sad that plain ‘ol soap can be tainted with toxins?! Ugh.

Since then, we have replaced our shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, face wash, lotion, etc. Thank goodness for Trader Joe’s, as they have some awesome products! I still want to experiment more with these items and find even better and simpler solutions. We are also still working on finding a safer anti-perspirant/deodorant and makeup for myself. Makeup is a tough one so I really just haven’t been wearing it much at all.

For cleaning, sometimes all you need is soap, water, and a sponge. Who knew?!  Vinegar and baking soda are miracle workers as well. So simple, yet so effective. I have a spray bottle with one part vinegar to one part water and lemon essential oil in it. I use that for kitchen and bathroom counters and make a similar mixture to mop floors. I scrub toilet bowls with baking soda and scrub the shower with vinegar. Another product you could use is grapefruit seed extract and water. I use it for a produce cleaner, but it can be used to disinfect almost everything.

We have been using Trader Joe’s laundry and dishwasher detergent, but I am about to make my own! I bought the supplies and now I just need glass jars for them. Laundry soap will be: grated (pure) soap and washing soda, plus vinegar for the softener. NO dryer sheets – only lavender bags for smell. Dishwasher detergent will be: salt, washing soda, citric acid and vinegar for the rinse aid. If you want to clean your dishwasher or washing machine – just run a cycle with vinegar.

Like I said, I use lemon essential oil for the clean smell and because it’s also a disinfectant. You can also use tea tree oil as a disinfectant (which I should do!) There’s tons of essential oils out there that have many benefits and great, natural scents! I use lavender everyday on myself actually. :)

Don’t take my word for it. Do some research and experimenting. Here’s a great article on natural cleaning solutions to get you started! Give it a try and your home will feel fresher and cleaner than before!

The ironic part is we don’t have much discretionary income left over for consumerism to be a problem. I always wonder where the heck all our money goes, even though Mint tells me and we keep watch over it. The numbers just don’t add up in my head. We like to put all of our Two Are Better income back into our business so we live off of Ryan’s income, which I think is a very do-able number. But every month there’s bills and debt and groceries, and so on. It feels like a first world problem that X amount of money doesn’t seem like enough for two people (and three pets, I should add, who are expensive). It’s really beyond me how we paid for our wedding last year.

Here’s how my thought process goes: I wish we had money growing on trees (hah) so I could buy things I want. Like decorations for our house or craft supplies or clothes and the list goes on. Then I feel guilty that I want all of this stuff and feel like I should be thankful for what we have. Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have much money to spend on these items. But – if we did have the money, how would I balance my wants and needs? It wouldn’t be appropriate to spend every penny, and especially on things I don’t have to have.

I’ve already started looking into another part-time job for myself and I think I do need it to help pay off our debt (student loans hurt, which feels like a common theme). I just still can’t get over the fact how much it costs for two of us to live. I feel like we even do major things to cut back on costs, like being a one-car family with no car payments, not having cable TV, not buying meat, etc. However, there’s still our mortgage, other first time home owner needs, internet for work, student loans, credit card bills, utilities, and the list goes on. It really gets monotonous every month, doesn’t it?

Now I should be thankful that some extra money goes towards enjoying nights out with friends or extra expenses of that month (ex – we plan to buy a lawn mower this month). But in the end, there’s no money left to make major strides for a savings or emergency fund (shameful!) and certainly not decorative pillows or other fluff.

Please tell me this is normal. I’m just being honest and transparent about how I feel and again, I know it’s a first world problem. I am truly thankful that we have food on the table, a roof over our head, and clothes to wear, plus much more. In the end, I want to be good stewards of our money, no matter how much we have.

I guest blogged about wedding thoughts when I was 21 – and now I’m 24 & married! This is interesting to look back on. :) The good news? I made it through my wedding day anxiety-free (with a little medication).

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Lately I’ve been thinking, probably too much, about getting old(er)… and what comes along with it. Even though I’m only twenty-one years old, more times than not I feel old rather than young. It seems like everyday I get on Facebook, someone is newly engaged, married, pregnant, or a parent. Some of these people are close to my age, if not the same age. It’s just hard to wrap my mind around that we’re getting old enough for this. Or are we?

We’ve been really busy house-hunting. Our apartment lease is up at the end of December so we or may not make that deadline.

The house I mentioned in my first post about house hunting (see here), didn’t work out. :( We made an offer right before Ryan left for South Africa, and supposedly they accepted our offer after a few counter offers. So I sent the earnest money, signed the papers, and was trying to fit in an inspection when Ryan got home.

However, they didn’t sign the papers (they being the relocation company + owners of the house). And supposedly another offer came in during that time so we had to re-submit ours. The other offer was accepted. It wasn’t fair, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

So the search continued on… we’ve looked at a lot of houses lately. It’s been quite the experience. We opened up our search to basically any area in Indy, instead of staying in a certain geographical area to qualify for the USDA loan. We just couldn’t find anything else in that area. So I thought we’d have lots of options with no restrictions on the area with a different loan… however, there’s just not many choices out there in our price range. There’s so many bank owned homes and they just need too much TLC.

There’s one potential house, which is in a good location, has a nice big yard, and the inside just needs a little work to make it almost perfect. However, we are still waiting to hear about the age of the roof, AC unit, etc to see if it would be a good investment or not.

If only we could mix & match… a house, a yard, and a location. Then, we would be set!!! Some of the neatest, historical homes aren’t in the best areas, nor do they have a big yard. But they have so much charm! Agh… we may just give up on Indianapolis. ;) Just kidding, kinda.

(See Day 1 of thankfulness.)

Day 2-

I am thankful for my job, Two Are Better, which really means I am thankful for all those people who trust in us to take their photos and video!

It’s funny because I have a biology degree and a certification to teach… but I’m business owner/photographer/videographer! Honestly, I’m not really sure how all this evolved, but I know it is God’s doing. I have to remind myself of that when I start to think, “I’m not qualified enough!” or “There’s too much competition!” Right now, I can’t imagine having a 9-5 job, or especially a stressful teaching job. I can’t tell you what I’ll be doing 5 or 10 years from now, but right now I love what I do and am thankful for it.

I get to work from home with Ryan, witness beautiful weddings, capture memories (cheesy, but true), be creative and challenge myself, and help pay the bills!  Granted, I don’t make much money (SO many expenses), but it helps. I am also able to work flexible hours, and in turn, do the housework/pay the bills/run errands, etc. when Ryan usually doesn’t have time (bless his heart, he has a full time and part time job).

We’ve already booked 5 weddings for next year – so exciting!

Moving along…

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Today I am thankful for WooThemes, Ryan’s incredible employer. With so many people unable to find jobs (even with a college degree), we are so blessed that Ryan got hired fresh out of college by such a great company. He was the 10th employee of WooThemes, and now in a 1.5 years, they’ve grown to 27!  They’re taking over the WordPress World.  ;)

Ryan kicks butt at being the Community Manager of WooThemes. Although the headquarters is in Cape Town (South Africa) they are an internet-based company and have employees from all over the world. That means Ryan gets to work from home, which comes with its challenges, but for the most part it is awesome. I also work from home so that means we get to spend a ton of time together in our PJs, even if we are working. It also gives us a flexible schedule so we are able to travel or shoot weddings together on the weekends.  He works hard, but it’s so worth it.

They have a meet up every year to spend some quality time together and go on adventures in an awesome location. A little work and a lot of play, just like a bunch of old friends hanging out. Right now Ryan is in South Africa having a blast with his co-workers. His first WooTrip was to London last year. Seriously, what an awesome experience!!!! I’m a little jealous.

I love that he works for a small (but growing!) company. They care about him and treat him well. He’s not just “another employee,” they know him personally. He’s part of a team. Thank you WooThemes (Adii, Mark, Magnus) for trusting in Ryan and providing him with this career!  :)

P.S. – They’re hiring! ;)

Happy Halloween!

Ryan and I are an ocean apart for a week!  I miss him already, but I’m SO excited he gets this awesome opportunity. He’s currently in Cape Town, South Africa on a “work” trip.  I put work in quotations because it’s mostly play when the Woo ninjas get together.  ;)  (Last year they went to London).  They deserve it though because I know they all work really hard!  Ryan has had many, many long days lately.

I’m envious of his adventure, but I’m not sure how I would do with the 24 hours of flights! I will be experiencing his trip through his photos and stories. ;) I’ve already seen a few of his photos and the beauty of South Africa is unreal! Plus the villa on the ocean isn’t bad either. ;)

See what I mean?

Don’t party too hard, WooThemes. ;)

My addiction to almonds has expanded to another tree nut: pistachios. This happened this year when I innocently tried pistachios and now they’ve become a staple in my diet. There must be a reason or explanation for this; maybe my body craves a specific nutrient in these tree nuts! I’m not sure it’s so great though since it adds another 300-ish calories to my daily intake. At least they’re healthy calories, right? Oh my, this leads me to…

Ten reasons I know I’m addicted to Pistachios (This may sound familiar: see almond addiction).

1. I try to justify eating two servings a day. (See above)
2. I buy three 1-lb bags at a time, to make sure I don’t run out.
3. It makes me mad that it’s hard to find them UNsalted. Why cover up the delicious taste and add sodium? I can rely on Trader Joe’s though!
4. Opening up the shells is half the fun! (Although it’s not great on your nails)
5. Speaking of the shells, I leave the evidence in a lot of places (random cups in the car, my desk, etc)
6. Our friends say our car smells like them! (This is borderline embarrassing).
7. I take some with me when I travel.
8. My friend is worried I might turn green.
9. It’s probably not safe for someone with tree nut allergies to come near me.
10. I blog about them…