My Favorite Food Co-op!

As many of you know, I'm a deal seeker. . . love me some free and cheap stuff!
Just wanted to share one of my favorite ways to do this each month! I'm a part of a local food co-op here in Salt Lake (they're available in most cities, just check). It's an amazing program that buys a lot of local produce and meat and we're able to purchase it at a very inexpensive price! I just order it online each month, pay for it online and then I go and pick it up at a church close to my house. Miss Pretty loves going with me because she gets to count out the produce and help me load up my bag. And my favorite part is that each month the produce and meat selection changes and it forces me to branch out a little bit and try new recipes.
If you're in Salt Lake, check out their website. I will even go with you the first time if you want! I usually buy the "Standard Share" for $24 and that includes 5 selections (sometimes more!) of produce and 4 selections of meat. It comes out to be a huge bag of produce (think Ikea blue bag, full!) and a box of meat. (i've linked an example of what a standard share has been before) I added it up for what I would spend on it at the grocery store and it's at least half the cost to get it through the co-op!! Who doesn't love that savings right? Plus it's local and I love supporting local businesses when I can!
So. . . check it out! I just wanted to share because it's a new year and I know many of you might be looking for ways to save and get out of debt like we are! I also wanted to share that I will be teaching a "coupon class" in February for my ward, but everyone is welcome to come! I would love to have friends and family there too for support since i'm super nervous! I'll let everyone know the date and time for sure!!

"For after much tribulation come the blessings. . "

Just wanted to leave a link to the family blog that we did the Sub 4 Santa for. Get out your tissues boys and girls cuz this ones a tear jerker!

http://ingatukuafu.blogspot.com/2010/12/endless-blessings.html

Santa Claus is comin' to town. . .

Tree decorating time always brings back such fond memories! We used to love this when we were kids and it was fun to see Miss Pretty get so excited about it! She lost interest while we were stringing the lights, but once we got out the ornaments, she loved it! She kept hanging them all on the same branch.

Daddy and Miss Pretty putting the finall touches on the tree.

Since I married D, we've made gingerbread houses (or graham cracker houses) with his family and it's something that I look forward to every year! So it's fun to have Miss Pretty to join in now. This year, we weren't able to go up to Idaho for this :(, due to Miss Pretty's surgery. So Gma Johnson brought the fun to us!

Miss Pretty had a blast decorating. . .

And eating frosting. . . .just like her dad and papa!The finished product!

"Sorry Steve, but that leg's gonna have to come off!"

December was an eventful month for us! Miss Pretty had to get her tonsils out. And that was the only time that worked. We had it done at the beginning of the month though, so that she'd be up and runnin' before Santa arrived. The surgery went really well and Dr. Hill said that once he got in there, he was glad they were taking them out because they were huge!
Here she is waiting for her surgery. I wish they had cute pink jammies for the girls.

They gave her some Versed before she went in and I asked the Anasthesiologist where mine was?? I think the parents should get a lil' somethin'! The anxiety was killin' me!

When I went back to see her after, I was in tears, but the nurses were all laughing because this is how she was sleeping! The funniest is she used to sleep like this in her isolette!
And here we are in the wagon, getting ready to leave Primary's. The 2 weeks that followed were rough! Not a fun experience! Poor thang didn't want to take her Loratab. I don't blame her, that stuff was nasty! She cried a lot, wet the bed a lot, slept a lot (and not at the normal times) and was just unhappy. It was hard to get out of our routine so much and I was glad for my christmas break from work so that I could catch up on my sleep!!

Dashing through the snow. . .

Well Sunday we went to my sis' house for Sunday dinner and a Birthday celebration for my sis Gina!! It just kept snowing all day long! The above pic is of my drive way when I got home. I think I scraped off a couple inches with the front my car, Stella! What a crazy storm. D came home from work that night and shoveled for the 3rd time that day. It was gorgeous out there! The snow looked like big hills of sparkly sugar!

So my lil' Miss Pretty showed us the other night that she can touch her feet to her ears! While at my sis' house, she thought she'd show her cousins as well! Here they all are trying for themselves! Too funny. I don't know where she got her flexability from, certainly not me! I don't think my feet have touched my head since I was in the womb!

Santa came early for me this year! I've been dreaming of a nice freezer to put all my sweet bargains in!

I've also been dreaming of a stove with all functioning burners and that matches my other appliances!

This year seems to have flown by! I can't believe that it's already Christmas again! Our lil' tot keeps us on our toes for sure! We're still waiting for the next Johnson addition. . . .waiting stinks!

We'll be decorating the house the weekend. Miss Pretty is very into all the decor and Santa this year which has been blast! We thought we'd get it all out and decorated because she will be going in for surgery on Wednesday to get her tonsils out. Those suckers have been inflamed for about 2 months now and giving us grief! Poor thang snores like you wouldn't believe! Pretty tramatic for mommy!

In January D, Miss Pretty and I will be taking a much needed vaca by ourselves! We've never done that before. . . .in 9 years, never taken a vaca by ourselves. Pretty sad. So I rented us a nice cabin for 4 days and we get to do whatever we want!! I can't hardly wait!

That's all for now! I'll post pics of the tree next week.

Everytime a Bell Rings. . . and Angel Gets its Wings!

I am always amazed at what wonderful friends and family I am blessed with!!

We are doing this Sub 4 Santa this year and it has been quite amazing! We have been able to get everything on the list for the kids and then some!! We've also been able to help out another family that wouldn't otherwise be able to have Christmas!

I will post pics of "Operation Drop-Off" after we take our stash over to the families!

I will also resume blogging, hopefully later today with some recent pics from my new fancy shmancy camera! My sis and I braved the Black Friday crowds and got some pretty sweet deals! The jury is still out on if it was worth it or not? We went to Toys R Us. . . almost had a throw down. . .totally awsome! Then we debated on going to bed or going straight to Target. . . ya, we went to Target! Got a sweet place in line, stood in the 11 degree weather for 3 hours, came this close to losing both my pinky toes, got a new camera and some other sweet deals and lived to tell the story!

Our funny story this year was the one we overheard a lady telling at Shopko:

Some lady at Toys R Us got the last pack of Toy Story 3 characters but it was missing the Woody doll. She then proceeded to walk around yelling "Does anyone have a Woody? I just need a Woody!" I giggle everytime I think about it!

Thanks again to our wonderful friends that sent money and gifts for our Sub 4 Santa!
Janel. . .girl you ROCK and I love you dearly! I only hope that I can pay it forward one day!

Santa Claus is comin' to town. . . .

What up ya'll!!



We are well on our way to filling up Santa's workshop with lot's of goodies and toys for our Sub 4 Santa family. There have been lots of my peeps that want to help. Here is a list of what we have left to get for the fam:



*Kung Zhu pet w/ armor



*Battle arena for Kung Zhu pets.



*Air Hog



*Hannah Montana Game for the Didj



*Imaginex Space Shuttle and Tower



*Hot Wheels Color Shifters Blaster Play Set



Also if anyone is interested in donating cashola, we're hoping to buy the family a Wii!



Leave me a comment if you interested in helping out and I can email you my address if you want to have something shipped or drop something off. We're hoping to have everything by the 15th so that we can wrap everything and drop it off on the 21st.