Hotel Living

I'm beginning to think Todd and I should be on a reality TV show.  There has been no lack of "drama" in our lives, and we certainly would not need writers to come up with great story lines!  There are days when Todd and I can't do anything but sit back and laugh at the comedy of mishaps, horrible timing, and lack of structure in our lives right now!

Just today, I was on the phone with our cell phone provider trying to update our address to the PO Box we just opened.  The customer service rep was requiring I verify my address in order to update it.  I rattled off 3 addresses, and couldn't remember the zip code for one the one they had on file before finally getting it correct!  Turns out they had our last hotel address on file which they pulled from my return address on my last payment.  I know the woman on the other end of the line probably thought I was crazy, in fact she asked, "You don't know your address?".  No ma'am, I know my address (wait, do we actually have an address other than a rented 3" x 3" space??), I just don't know which one from the last 2 months you might have on file!

And last night, in 4 square feet of counter space, Todd and I made a spaghetti dinner using a blender and stove eye.  Yet, the toaster oven and blender take up most of the counter, so our dinner was prepped in something closer to one square foot of space.  I'm not quite sure how we did it other than we both seemed to be holding something that wouldn't fit on the counter in one hand while prepping with the other hand.  We also took our ground meat out of the small, condo size fridge to find the back is colder than the rest of the fridge, and our meat was frozen.  We might have also somehow managed to blow a fuse in the wall outlet by simply overloading it with the blender, but we fixed it so no one needs to know!  All this to say, we did eat, and it was delicious!

Our gluten free spaghetti dinner,
devoured on the closest thing we have to a dinner table,
the coffee table!

Cooking in a hotel is difficult enough, but cooking while taking my food allergies into account is even more difficult!  With our lack of appliances and space, Todd is having to eat gluten and casein free for the most part.  We just don't have the space and ability to make 2 meals each night.  So, my biggest challenge has been to make foods that I can eat, and that Todd wants to eat!  I think we have been quite successful, as we have made everything from chicken tortilla soup from scratch to Breck's dog food!  I wanted to share a few pictures of the things we have been enjoying!

Fruit salsa which has been enjoyed with 100% corn chips

Mini cornbread muffins made in the toaster oven!

Lime cake (gluten, egg, sugar, and casein free) with vegan buttercream icing.
I know you won't believe me, but this is so delicious,
you wouldn't know it was so "without"!!

Quick breads (gluten free) in the toaster oven

Strawberry sorbet (and Breck's extra food in the bag)

Today, we made things easy by having a lunch date at Whole Foods!  I love being able to partake in a buffet that actually has foods I can eat on it...and Todd loves the Tacqueria and pizza bars!  ...and tonight, we are grilling brats in the toaster oven with gluten free buns.  But for now, I am back to watching the kitchen episode of the Nate Berkus show.... getting ideas and dreaming of the day I will have a real kitchen!!!

West Coast Hoods

It is official, we are on the West Coast now!  It all still feels very surreal, and just like before our departure from Orlando I am wondering when it will all feel real!

It has taken me a full weekend of recovery from our travels in order to update our blog, it was a little crazy.  Our flight was late getting in, and I'm pretty sure we waited 30 minutes to deplane!  Once we picked up our checked baggage and got to the car lot to pick up our rental we were so ready to jump in the car and get to the hotel.  However, that is not how things went down....our car was not ready.  Hertz did not honor Todd's gold membership since we were going through a third party, and we waited another 40 minutes just to get in a car.  Lots more drama happened between those events but I will spare you the details.  Then, we got on the 405 headed North to find traffic at 11:30 Pacific time in LA....I thought Atlanta traffic was bad, but LA takes the cake! Why in the world there was completely stopped traffic at that time, I am not sure.  Don't these people know they should go to bed!  So, we finally got to the hotel, and I could barely muster the strength to pull myself out of the car into the lobby, but I knew a bed was on the other side so I did!  Only to find out (yes, again) that they had put us in a handicapped room about 3 miles away from the hotel entrance.  This wouldn't be such a big deal except for this is where we will be for the next month or two!  Breck has to be taken out to the dog run several times a day and that is a long walk, Todd will be at work the majority of the time and I can assure you no one would hear my cries for help if something were wrong all the way from Africa, and I know I am short but two and a half foot high counter tops just aren't necessary or desired!  So, famished and tired we made the long trek back to the lobby to request another room.  At which time, they tried to explain that the handicapped room was reserved for us?!?!? Not sure why, it certainly wasn't prime!  So, we got a new room, dropped our bags at the door and went to bed at approximately 2am EST!  Not only was this an exhausting journey, but can I please share what we had in tow during all of this....

We went to Whole Foods on Saturday and I even found some good gluten free frozen foods to make in our limited hotel room kitchen, in order to avoid so many meals out.  I did not read the labels, I was just too excited by all of the gluten free options, and accidentally bought things that can only be cooked in an oven and you know it...our hotel room only has two stove eyes and a microwave.  Looks like I will be back at the grocery store tomorrow to find better options for the next week!  In addition, I was so excited to pick up hot lunch while we were there.  Todd wanted pizza, and when I saw they had freshly baked gluten free options I was in...until the woman picked it up with the same spatula as she did Todd's gluten-full pizza, continued by putting it on the same cutting board and cut it with the same exact pizza wheel that had already been "glutened" and not washed.  When I told her I was no longer interested due to the gluten contamination she replied, "That's not a big deal" and put it back out for sale!  I hope no one else that is gluten free for health reasons purchased it after me!  No, thank you!  That trip was a failure.  We will try again!

On a good note, we did get to see the house we put an offer in on.  It needs a little TLC (paint, new carpet upstairs, a good cleaning, etc), but we expected that.  In addition, we loved the floorplan and could really picture ourselves in the home!  We are really excited about it.  We met the current homeowners, and they suspect we should hear from the lender in 30-60 days.  We are hoping that is the case!

Here are some additional pictures, if you have been reading my previous posts:

We got up at 5:30 am this morning, after getting in bed by 9 last night!  We are definitely still on Eastern time, but I am kind of liking this early to bed, early to rise stuff!  We went to a church that was suggested by our Pastor in Florida this morning.  When we googled it to get directions, we realized it is right across the street from the house we put an offer on!  Literally, we could walk!  We enjoyed the service, even though we missed the gym (they have a gym they just don't meet in it), familiarity of knowing everyone, set-up and tear-down, and small scale of Crosspointe! ;o)  It was nice to be in organized prayer, worship God, and be in His house after our crazy weekend!

I'm sure it is close to bedtime since I am already yawning!  Early to bed will be a good thing since Todd starts his new job tomorrow!  Please be praying for him tomorrow as I am sure he is anxious to be back in an office full time, in a new position, and with different co-workers.  He has been working both his old position and doing some things for his new position since he accepted the promotion, without any time off for the move.   Additionally, he has full days this week, they were not shy about filling his calendar.  So, please also be praying for him not to get burned out, and for me to be patient with his work/life schedule right now.  Alright, I think that's about it for now!  Besides, it's almost bedtime!! ;)

The Little Wifey!

Todd is on his way home from Miami.  I am have been so excited for him to get home!  So, I took a little inspiration from a post of mine on a newlywed site I guest blog for - you can see it here.  In a nutshell, I took a few notes from my grandmothers' generation, and decided to make our home a place Todd wants to come home to....and his wife someone he looks forward to seeing when he gets there!  Seeing that I am not a traditional housewife, and Todd does not have a traditional office job, this is not something I get to do in the most traditional way on a daily basis.  Todd should be home a little before five, so here is what I have done today in preparation for his arrival home (other than the other mundane things already on my to do list like go to UPS, get gas, etc)........

Took Breck to the groomer - so that he both looks, and smells good!

Not cooperating!

Did every last stitch of laundry - this is still in progress as some stuff is still in the dryer!

Did a quick vacuum of the carpets and rugs - I love how this always instantly freshens the house up!  Oh, and cleaned the bathroom!

Went to Whole Foods in preparation for dinner.  Here's some of the stuff I got that I will be using in tonight's dinner:

See the little champagne grapes in the back?  So cute!! ...all except the price!

Todd has announced that he will be starting a diet as of today (this was a surprise), so I am going to surprise him with a yummy, and low-fat honey mustard grilled chicken dinner with sauteed veggies, and a fruit wedge salad to kick off his diet.  I'm doing grilled pineapple for "dessert".  Here's my inspiration (I'm not sure where I got these recipes from, but I would assume Southern Living):

I put on a little black dress (I am sure it is a complete shock to see me in black! HA!), and decided to wear the apron Todd's mom gave me while we were in Kentucky last month...notice it matches my toes! 

I have not figured out the auto-timer on my new camera, if you can't tell!

Lit some candles, put on some music, touched up my make-up, assembled the chicken and have it marinading in the fridge, and now just to wait for Todd to get home......

Saving and Spending

In our household, I feel that it is my job to primarily do the shopping. I'm not sure how it began that way, but that's how it has been since day one. I'm sure partially I took over instinctively because I was worried people would get the first thing in our budget that Todd came across for their wedding, instead of the perfectly wrapped, thoughtful gift I would visit 3 stores in order to find. I'm sure the other part was that Todd's grocery shopping habits included buying chips and salsa for dinner. Additionally, If I were to send him to the grocery store for wheat bread, he would probably come home with white bread because it was five cents cheaper. So, needless to say, I have taken it upon myself to be the shopper in our family - not that I am heartbroken over this title!

Seeing that I have so much more time on my hands lately and have very much embraced the more expensive "all-natural" health kick, I am also taking it upon myself to be the spender, and the saver. I have always loved a good sale, negotiating the price of something down, or a good coupon. However, I am kicking it up a few notches and trying to make my coupon clipping worth my time, and possibly a part time job! I have signed up on Kraft foods to get free pre-market products in exchange for survery responses. I also signed up for a one year subscription to All You, a magazine full of manufacturer coupons and saving ideas. I have recommited myself to daily working on my MyPoints account -- this means answering online surveys and simply clicking on links in exchange for giftcards to retailers. We purchase the Sunday paper when we are in town so that we can get the coupon circulars, and save anything that finds its way into our mailbox. And, I have this great little coupon clipper from Pampered Chef that is magnetized so it sticks to the fridge, and I am so in love with it! I even use it to quickly slice open those difficult to open bags of things like powdered sugar and cereal when cooking. Yes, everyone needs one! With all of the new coupons we have, my little handheld expand-a-file coupon book had to be upgraded to a full flegged binder with dividers and sheet protectors. And, it now has a bonus section for retailer coupons, giftcards, restaurant coupons, and menus. What can I say, I got carried away!!

Having numerous wedding gifts, birthday gifts, Fathers Day gifts, etc, etc, etc to purchase in the next few weeks, I went to work. I signed up for Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons via email under my maiden name years ago, so I updated my account using my married name, new address, and email and now inadvertantly get double the coupons. I used them as well as a free shipping promo to get some wedding gifts en route to brides and grooms with June weddings without even leaving the house or clipping that huge blue coupon! Don't underestimate me, I do have a pile of those blue coupons that I will be using tomorrow to purchase a few more wedding gifts for those whom I can hand deliver to. Today, I used Barnes 'n Noble prefered membership to purchase two books, and three cards that would have totaled over $30, but instead paid $20! So, now that I have mastered the retail sign up, email coupons, and circulars routine, I am on to upgrading my grocery store saving.

When I use coupons in the grocery store, I am so excited to save $10! Maybe this feels like a huge feat to me because I understand my handicap - I will not purchase things that I know we will not eat or use simply because I have a coupon for it. I don't even waste my time clipping the coupons I know we won't use. However, when I do use a good amount of coupons, the cashier seems to always share a story about someone who came in and purchased hundreds of dollars of groceries for twenty dollars. I don't think I will ever make it to that level, but my goal is to at least feel half as good as those mega-savers when I leave the grocery store. This will most likely mean always shopping with a grocery list and sticking to it, printing online coupons before I leave the house, remembering my reuseable bags to get the instant ten cent rebate at Whole Foods for each one, and continuing my current rituals. It means I will have to stay very organized, and stop by drive-by grocery shopping adventures that happen several times a week.
As a stay-at-home wife, I hope that my saving efforts can make my time at home more productive. I may not be bringing in regular paychecks, but at least I can help realize regular savings. Any helpful hints, great coupon sources, or mailers that I need to be signed up for??...Please share :)