Dinner Fail.

I'm still doing pretty good on the making dinner at home kick. (Here's a shocker, on the week that Clint was supposed to cook every night, we ate out 3 times.)

Anyway, I tried a new recipe that was a major FAIL. It sucks because I wasted so much good food.

It was a chicken and veggie pasta with a garlic sauce. Well the recipe called for shrimp but the boy hates it so I subbed chicken. Maybe that helped the suckyness. Sounds great right? When I first read the recipe it sounded good. Check it-

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/garlicky_shrimp_vegetable_pasta.html

Then I actually started to make it. So the sauce is yogurt, fresh uncooked garlic, lemon juice and a freakin ton of parsley. Right away I knew that the amount of uncooked garlic and parsley was going to be way overpowering.

I kept going though. I made my big pot of pasta, chicken, asparagus, and red bell pepper ( I left out the peas because they are the most vile vegetable on earth. I just THINK about peas and want to yak.).

I mixed in a little sauce and let it heat up for a bit, hoping to cook down the garlic flavor. No go. I finally tasted it and it was GOD AWFUL.
OK, I can fix this. I added some milk to think it out and some parmesan. WORSE.
Added some chicken broth. Ever so slightly better but still not really edible.

At this point, it's about to go in the trash. It was that bad. So I said What the hell and did something weird. I put the whole pot of food in a strainer and rinsed it. Yep, washed the food to get rid of that awful sauce.

It worked! I was back with a pot of just noodles, chicken and veggies. Go me for thinking outside the box. I just tossed in some olive oil and called it a day. A nice plain dinner with no awful sauce. Way to go me for not wasting.

Purses

Ladies- why is it that purses are always endless black pit holes of evil?

I use a pretty small purse.




Blogging at work again, naughty naughty.


In it I keep-

• My wallet
• My braces kit (floss, brush, paste, pick, wax, elastics...etc other obsessive cleaning tools)
• My keys
• Small lotion
• misc little things- hair ties, clips and a pen.

I'm not counting the front pockets because thank the lord those things I can usually manage. But as for the middle- so help me god I can reach into that thing for my keys and not find the for a solid minute.

W. T. F.

Why, ohh why is is that I just can't reach in and pull out what I need. It's a small purse which I keep very clean for christ sake!!

Need a hair tie- find your pen!

Need your keys- find THE DAMN HAIRTIE!

Am I the only one who has this issue? Please tell me there is not a personal vendetta against me ladies. Tell me the purse gods are not spite-ing me for using those tiny backpack purses long after they were out of style.

Ohh ya, that was me.

About to buy a fanny pack,

Shellie

My soapbox

For those of you who don’t know me- I’m an accountant (Well, a bookkeeper really but this is my blog and I can sound fancy if I want to).


I am a budgeting, coupon clipping, deal finding, checkbook balancing obsessive compulsive freak. I will give anyone and everyone my advice on what they should do with money if they talk about it in front of me. Ya, I’m one of those people. I’M SORRY, I can’t help myself.

But I do think the way I have my bills set up is a pretty nifty way to stay on track, so I decided to share my philosophy.

I get paid weekly, so I took all of my monthly bills and by due date and amount, split them out so there was approximately an equal amount to pay each week. I looked those over, round up to the next hundred and came up with a number to use as my Minimum Output Per Week.

I get paid hourly, and my MOPW ends up being approximately equal to 31 hours of work. I work 40 hours a week, give or take.

Each week I pay in bills the same exact amount, my MOPW. Any money that is left after regular bills goes to paying off debt, up to the MOPW. Any money I make over that amount is what is left for “fun money”. Sometimes I work a full week and end up with extra, and sometimes I just barely make the threshold. It doesn’t matter- I always pay out the same.

Also, I based a month on 4 paychecks and just repeat them every 4 weeks. So I end up ahead, and about once a year I get so ahead that I have an entire paycheck free. It’s awesome.

I like this system. It helps add extra money to my regular debt payments, and gives me a nice stable amount I know I need to make. It’s clean and easy and it works for me. Just thought I’d share.

Wedding Update

I think we have decided that OneRepublic’s “Secrets” will be our first dance. Because it is beautiful and we are super nerds who love the movie The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I may have just listened to it 4 times in a row.


I also found a tutorial for making mega-huge paper flowers that are FO-SHO gonna make an appearance at the wedding. They can be made ahead so there will be not last minute scramble with fresh flowers and will be a hell of a lot cheaper. Plus I can make them the colors I want which are not so easy (and especially not cheap) to find in real flowers.



Look at that thing. In the words of MODG, its Amazeballs.


As soon as my braces come off I’m gonna get serious about finding a dress. My MOH just cleared her next 6 weekends so we can do some hard core wedding planning.  So get ready kids, it's on like Donkey Kong.

Shellie's Money Saving Tip of the Day

Put a band-aid on your face.

I went to the dermatologist today about my lovely 'adult acne'. After discussing my options and writing a prescription, she asked if there was anything else I wanted her to look at. I have always had a little mole on my chin, so I said "what about this?"
She said my insurance would pay for it to be removed if it ever bothered me. I said "Why yes, it does bother me."
 BAM. Five seconds later shes stabbing and cutting and stitching. My hairy mole was gone, just like that.

***Update: Upon removal of said band aid, it turns out the evil woman used BLACK THREAD for the sutures on my FACE. So now I look like I have a spider crawling on my chin. Seriously, do white/clear sutures not exist in this day and age? W.T.F.
 Do you people remember the wedding I have to go to on Saturday?!?***

What does this have to do with saving money? Well I had a craving to go shopping after my appointment. I wanted to go to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond and just look at every little thing and find some fabulous stuff for my house. BUT, when the good Doctor slapped a band-aid square on my jaw, it kinda killed my hang-out-in-public places mood.

So there you have it. Next time you have a craving for shopping, just have facial surgery.

You're welcome.

My only skill as a photographer.

I am a terrible photographer, except at the beach. Is that funny? I just can't take a good picture to save my life, but put my toes in the sand and they all come out like art. Although, its kinda hard to take a bad picture of the beach. Whatever. Let me have my glory.




View from our room on my 23rd birthday




Carmel




Monterrey




Pacifica, the pier where my dad's ashes were scattered




If I need to tell you where this is, you have problems.
Or aren't from California.
It's the Golden Gate Bridge.




Dillon's Beach

 Man. Now I want a vacation. Like bad. 

Guest room update

I added this little beauty to the Guest Room

To see the rest of the room : Guest Room

OMG

I got 2 new followers this week.

That makes 4, bitches. Half of them are people I don't even know in real life.

Watch out, I don't wanna knock you down on my way to the top. ;-)

COLD

It is outstandingly cold at my work today. The way we work, there is a door that is wide open between the office area and the open-to-the-outside shop area. I have a space heater in my office, but it’s always cold.


Well today, I had had ENOUGH. If I had balls, they would be frozen. I am sitting at my desk in fuzzy boots with 2 sweaters and a scarf on. So I finally did the unthinkable- I shut the office door. The door never gets closed during the day because people are constantly in and out to give or tell me things. I feel it may become addicting. Suddenly it’s quiet. All I can hear is my music and typing, not the blaring of air hoses and boys talking about how many ducks they shot last weekend. I can get the room to be as hot as the Sahara in 15 minutes flat. Which I love.

Although, it also means my computer screen is no longer facing a wide open door which promotes procrastination and blogging. Ha.

My nightstand re-do

I needed a new nightstand. I like them to be tall and have alot of surface area on the top.

Well while perusing Craigslist I came across this beauty:

Tall, wide and had soarage to boot! I new there was a gem hidden in there somewhere.

(Wanna know a secret? The whole time I was doing this all I wanted was to get featured on Better After. Is that hilarious? I'm obsessed with that blog.

Anyway, I spent a week

Sanding that bad boy down, then filling in the giant cut out where those inset pulls were
Filling dings and holes with wood putty
Sanding again
Priming
Sanding again
Painting 3 layers of black
then Painting 3 layers of Polyurathane
Measuring and drilling new holes for the pulls I ordered
Lining the drawers with cute fabric.


Whew! But I am madly in love with it now. Plus Clint is jealous and want's one which is always a bonus.

Crappy phone picture

 I should have taken a after picture before putting it in the dark bedroom, but I was too excited to to wait.

Yikes, I am an awful photographer. But you get the drift, right? It's black and sleek and modern and I.am.in.love.


Let's try this one more time:



AFTER!





BEFORE



Love.

A year in my life

(To give credit where credit is due, I am totally copying Erika from Newlyweds on a Budget on this year roundup post) (PS- She is a stranger and has commented my blog more than once, so I am officially calling her my first blog made friend. She doesn't know this, but that's OK. I like to pretend)


It was definitely the biggest impact year of my life, by far. August 2009-August 2010

August 29th, 2009- I got braces. At the ripe old age of 23 and every penny paid for by yours truly, I made the decision to fix my snaggletooth mouth once and for all.

Before and after 6 months.

I do wish I had taken better pictures before they went on, and just after. But it was so god awful that I told myself I didn't want to remember. Hindsight 1, common  sense 0.
This also happened to be the DAY AFTER my first day back on a college campus (my first year was all online). Talk about social awkwardness. Fat girl with adult acne and adult braces who hasn't been in a school in 6 years. Fun!

February 3, 2010- After 4-1/2 years together, Clint proposed. It was wonderful and cute and ABOUT DAMN TIME. We set the date for 9-10-11 (just after my 2 year braces sentence was up, and 1 day after our 6 year anniversary.

The only pic from our "engagement party"
 and me 25 pounds heavier, yuck.



May 20, 2010- I graduated from college. Granted, it was only community college and an associates degree but it is still more than anyone in my family has done before. And for someone who didn't have a real high school graduation (I graduated 2 years early and didn't do the ceremony. Ya, I kinda used to be a genius) it was a big deal.



Ya, I'm awesome.





From the awards ceremony the night before graduation.





Love this picture.



That tall guy behind me was hilarious.
Made the boring ceremony liveable.





Me and my momma.



FUNNY STORY: My mom has had some balance problems and had been falling down a bit. So before and after the ceremony, me and the Mr were watching her and helping her to make sure she didn't fall. As we were leaving the stadium, I walk down a step, tumble down 4 stairs and FALL FLAT ON MY FACE. In the cap and gown and all! It was HILARIOUS.

July 15, 2010- After hearing how ridiculously low mortgage rates were, I said 'what the hell' and we met with a mortgage broker for the first time ever. She gave us the most amazing news- we could totally afford and qualify to buy a house.

July 19, 2010 (yep that's 4 days later, and includes a weekend!)- We are in contract for our first house, the first house we actually toured with a realtor. ( I have been breaking into vacant houses for years to have a look around. I use 'breaking' loosely. I would NEVER cause damage to a home. But if you leave a back door unlocked or have a handle that can be opened with a Costco Card? I'm all over it.)



That was the first day we saw our house!



Damn, I'm gonna go over a year. Ohh well.

September 4, 2010- After a week solid of scrubbing, cleaning repairing and packing, we move into our first home. I still can't believe it. I am a homeowner. It's unreal.

October 4, 2010- I start my new job, which I love and am so happy at.

That was one jam-packed (just over a) year. Especially since before that I had been at the same job and just dating the same guy for over 4 years. It was a huge jump-start to a stagnant life.

Since then we have been just enjoying making the house our own, spying on our neighbors, happily working, and adopted our puppy Roxie on the last day of 2010.

Now, its getting to the end of February 2011. My braces will be off soon and we are getting married in just over six months.

Let's see what else is to come!

We had a party.

Like, a real life party. With booze and debauchery. I acted my age, which is a rare occurrence indeed.

When I was younger, I was a huge partier. I was one of the first of my friend's to get my own place, so my house became THE place to be. I spent almost a year solid drunk. But I was 17, had just gotten my heart broken for the first time and had a job that barely required brain function. It was some good times indeed, but that was a long time ago. I couldn't, and wouldn't want to go back to it.

I'm a grown up now, remember?


It was Andres' birthday. Poor Andres hasn't had a good birthday party in like 6 years. (At least not one I was invited to).

Well, Jayson and Andres made (yes made) a beer pong table. They were damn proud of it and decided to bring it over to try out at our house.

 Danielle came down, Vanessa came over and we had a roarin good time.


I drank liquor out of a sippy cup. (because no matter how inebriated I am, I'm still smart enough to not use my good glasses. So I used the only plastic I could find.)


Clint barbecued burgers that took so long we were all too drunk to add condiments to the buns by the time they were ready.

At the end of the night, we all sat in the dark and talked about sex.

Jayson and Andres wrestled. Like, real wrestled. Clint filmed it. It's hilarious.

But the icing on the cake of the night was this.

My fav part is "Be Safe Pull your E-Brake"

Ya, that's the wall in my garage. Granted, I started it by wanting to cover up the dirty works that were sprayed there by previous owners (in white, barely visible). But I should have known with those boys around it would snowball into this.

But it was fun. And we will talk about it later and smile and laugh about the good old days.

Needless to say, I spent the next day priming and painting a wall in my garage. OK, I'll be honest. I only primed in splotches over the real dirty stuff. I left the "Pull your e-brake" because it directly outside my drivers window when I pull in after work and it makes me laugh.

 I'll paint the whole wall eventually.

House Training.

I believe that Roxie has a wicked sense of humor and can also read my thoughts.

She has been doing so well with the house training, going weeks without an accident.

Then 2 days in a row, someone asked me how she was doing with it, to which I enthusiastically replied "Great!" (But definitely not in a Tony the Tiger voice. Definitely.)

Roxie (who could read my thoughts) then proceeded to have giant steaming  accidents on the carpet the next 2 days in a row.

Don't look her in the eyes. She is trained in the art of deception.

Things I hate right now.

At about 1-1/2 years together, Clint and I went through quite a rough patch due to a nasty skank whore trying to break us up. During this time, Clint had The Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Tell Me Baby” as said whore’s ringtone.
That was 4 years ago, and I still can’t listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I hear them come on and want to vomit until I change the channel. I used to like them. Another reason to hate her.
This whore is going to be a Clint’s sister’s wedding next weekend. Fun.

I hate Mumford and Sons. Everyone things they are such hot shit (even Clint-who's not into music), but I have heard Little Lion Man about 17,000 times to many times to like any of their music again.

I hate when people use some one's first initial instead of the whole name. My sister constantly calls her kids K and E instead of Kendyl and Ethan. It drives me batty. So in turn I call my nephew 'little biscuit' because it pisses her off.

A coworker of mine who asks me if what he is doing is bugging me at least ten times a day. What he is doing I don't even notice-but him asking me CONSTANTLY is super annoying.

Don't know what the bad mood is for in particular, but I feel better now. I think I might paint my craft room purple.

XOXO,

Shellie

I miss LiveJournal

There was so much less pressure when I had a Livejournal. There was no 'rules' for making a post look pretty, no need to post pictures, and for that matter- no need to care if anyone actually read what you said. I miss that. I feel like I need to have something amazing to write about before I post on here now.

You know, to keep up to par for my imaginary followers who are waiting with bated breath to hear what I have to say.

A friend told me the other day that she loves getting emails from me. That they are hilarious and I should write. That really caught me off guard, since I write to her the most ridiculous thoughts I have at any given moment. But I thought about it and went back to read some of them. They ARE funny! (Although there is more in there about poop than I care to admit).

So my new goal is to write what I feel, when I feel it. I became so obsessed with making a blog that other people wanted to read that I forgot that the best thing about online journals in general is that they record memories.

I can right now, go back to the Livejournal I had when I was 15 and re-read what I was feeling. It's amazing (and heart-wrenching. Ahh, first love....).

So I have to picture for you, no project I did. (But I did just do an amazing one.) All I have are my random thoughts which might actually be worth something.

*Whenever I wear red and blue together, I feel like Superman.

*Although my house is (almost) always meticulously clean, open any drawer and stuff will be crammed in there to the brim.

*I talk to my pets, probably a little too much.

* I listen to music almost all the time when I'm not at home. In the car and at work silence is unbearable to me.



That’s it. And I'm OK with that.