to my bean counter

Today is the last day of busy season! WAHOO! No more extremely late, crazy hours for my poor husband...until the next busy season that is...haha.
But for now, my cute bean counter is back, who I haven't seen since Christmas break, and I'm so happy! I missed him so much.

In honor of this glorious day...a little accounting humor. (If that is even possible.)

What's an auditor?
Someone who arrives after the battle and bayonets all the wounded.

Why did the auditor cross the road?
Because he looked in the file and that's what they did last year.

How do you drive an accountant completely insane?
Tie him to a chair, stand in front of him and fold up a roadmap the wrong way.
-(You have no idea how true this statement is! haha I laughed so hard when I read this. You would have to be married to an accountant to understand.)

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the accountant, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

A patient was at her doctor's office after undergoing a complete physical exam. The doctor said, "I have some very grave news for you. You only have six months to live."
The patient asked, "Oh doctor, what should I do?"
The doctor replied, "Marry an accountant."
"Will that make me live longer?" asked the patient.
"No," said the doctor, "but it will SEEM longer."

An accountant is having a hard time sleeping and goes to see his doctor. "Doctor, I just can't get to sleep at night."
"Have you tried counting sheep?"
"That's the problem - I make a mistake and then spend three hours trying to find it."

An Accountant and His Frog
An accountant was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess". He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week". The accountant took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the accountant took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The accountant said, "Look I'm an accountant. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."
-(Again, you would have to spend time with a bunch of accountants to understand this one. haha)

A businessman was interviewing applicants for the position of Divisional Manager. He devised a simple test to select the most suitable person for the job. He asked each applicant the question, "What is two and two"?
The first interviewee was a journalist. His answer was "twenty-two." The second applicant was an engineer. He pulled out a calculator and showed the answer to be between 3.999999 and 4.000001. The next person was a lawyer. He stated that in the case of Jenkins v. Commr of Stamp Duties (Qld), two and two was proven to be four. The last applicant was an accountant. The business man asked him, "How much is two and two?" The accountant got up from his chair, went over to the door, closed it then came back and sat down. He leaned across the desk and said in a low voice, "How much do you want it to be?" He got the job.

And last but not least, my absolute favorite:
If an accountant's wife cannot sleep, what does she say?
"Darling, could you tell me about your work."
-(I have actually done this before haha)

This post is dedicated to my handsome bean counter, my "What's wrong with my formula!!!" guy, haha. I love you Timmy!

Cheap Pasta!

I think I hit the jackpot when it comes to food storage. The two websites I previously mentioned in my last post in my opinion are one of THE BEST websites to use for family food storage ideas, tips, meal planning, grocery shopping, and recipes, especially if you live in Utah, Nevada, or Southern California. (The website will be expanding their services to Northern California, Idaho, and Arizona by the end of the year.)

Here are the two websites again started by a lady from Utah who is seriously pro at food storage:

www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com
www.dealstomeals.com

Anyways, since the Southern California services are not up and running yet, you can use their services for free until it is. Of course, I signed up because I am so curious as to what she does.
Let me tell you, she does it ALL! She takes all the major grocery stores here in Southern California: Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons, and Food 4 Less, and compares all their weekly ads to each other and emails you every Thursday morning 4 seperate spreedsheets with the absolute greatest information.
-The first spreadsheet separates each store and lists all the sales they are having that week at their store. If the items are in red, that means it is cheaper than Costco and Wal-mart and you should buy those items now to stock up in your food storage. If the items are in blue, that means they are good deals, but not the best. So if on your grocery list for that week you need that item, now is the time to get it because it is on sale. BUT do not buy a lot because if you wait they will be cheaper and THEN you can really stock up for your food storage and use them for there.
-The second spreadsheet puts all the red items from each store into one list. So the best of the best. And she breaks them into two categories: One list for your food storage and one for your freezer.
-The third spreadsheet gives you a weekly meal planner and the recipes for each meal according to your food storage and the items on sale that week! I mean I have a monthly calendar where I write down what meals I am planning on making so I can make sure I have all of the ingredients on hand and so I don't have to keep going to the grocery store, but she flat out just hands them to you! Main course, side item, and dessert.
-The fourth and final spreadsheet, is your weekly grocery list for each meal. She writes out your grocery list for you for the week, tells you the store, and the price of each item.
So the website does ALL this and so much more! In other words, it is pretty amazing. I highly recommend trying it out for free if you can.

Since today is Thursday I received her weekly email this morning and it was fascinating! Now, word of warning: Looking at her emails can also seem overwhelming. You do not have to buy every item on her list. My advice, just pick what you know your family will eat and what you know you can rotate through on a regular basis. For example, I don't have an extra, massive freezer so I can't use the freezer lists at all and a lot of the items she tells us to buy for food storage I don't really use on a normal basis and I know I wouldn't rotate them very well, if at all. (Like, ranch dressing. I never use that so I don't need that in my food storage or it'll go to waste.) So again, buy what your family eats.

This weeks the only item applicable to me was the pasta. We eat pasta and I know I can rotate it through often. The cheapest pasta this week was at Vons for .75 a pound. I have a Pavilions practically across the street from me and I know they take a Vons card. So all I had to do this morning was make a simple phone call. Question 1: What is the difference between Vons and Pavilions? Answer: Pavilions is basically the Orange County version of Vons and 90% of the sales going on at Vons are at Pavilions. Question 2: Is your Anthonys Pasta on sale for .75? Answer: Yes!

Here is my 3 month-supply of pasta for my family of 4! Total: 30 bucks even!

Pasta can last up to 30+ years. I know for sure I won't be keeping this pasta for that long because I will be using it and rotating through it. So there you go! Easy, Easy, Easy!

Once the website starts charging for Southern California I'm going to start doing this on my own. I want to avoid the monthly fee for now. I kinda started doing my own compare spreadsheets this week before I got her email this morning and I was surprised how much I already knew just by comparing on my own. It definetly took a lot of my time and she obviously will eliminate that time for you, but right now I have time to spare. =o) But it was still really neat to see how she does it. Plus, she does 100 times more than just compare items.

Also, on www.dealstomeals.com you can download for FREE several spreadsheets which tell you what items you need in your food storage, how much of each item you need for a year per person, and how long it lasts. I use that sheet and multiply and divide according to the amount of people I have in my family and how much of that item I need for 1 month or 3 months. Easy, Easy, Easy!

So even though this week out of all the items out there on sale I only bought pasta for our family, that is just fine. Little by little, week by week, I will get there and build my own family food storage according to what we eat and what we will use/rotate on a regular basis!

If any of you want me to email you this weeks emails so you can get started let me know. Or you can email them at California@dealstomeals.com or Nevada@dealstomeals.com today and wait until next Thursday to get next weeks emails! OR if you just want to see what she does and how she does it so you can do it on your own wherever you live, I will gladly email them to you! Happy Food Storing!

Family Home Storage

President Thomas S. Monson: "Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year's supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year's supply of debt and are food-free."

Last year a couple of my New Year's resolutions was to get an emergency 72-hour kit for each person in our family and a reasonable supply of water for our family. This year, ALL of my New Year's resolutions have to do with my emergency preparedness/food storage. A little more specific and a little more aggressive.

-3 minute earthquake kit
-Ready-to-go emergency file box with all our important documents
-2 car kits
-1 month supply of food/water; including finding the best way to shelve/store/organize it all

Let me tell you how incredibly daunting food storage seems to me. I have no idea where to start and since I want to do it the right way, the cheapest way, and the most efficient way, (my perfectionist self comes out greatly when I think about starting my own emergency preparedness/food storage), I get sooo overwhelmed and stressed. Plus, since we live in California where we don't have basements or extra rooms in our expensive apartments/houses to dedicate our food storage to, only our garages, it is a little tricker to keep our huge food supply rodent/moisture free and in a big enough amount of space!

So, I decided to take Tim's advice and "not stress" and take it little by little. Since I have to put my big project on hold because money is tight right now, (thank you economy), I decided to just do nothing but read, read, read, and read all I can about food storage. If I come across ideas or tips that I like and that I want to incorporate in my own food storage, I save it all on my computer so that when I am ready to start I am fully knowledgeable and prepared with how I want to start and I how I want "my own" food storage to be like. This first step has been a much better bite to swallow. I have only just begun and it is turning into something fun as I dream up how I want to do things!

I found two websites today that offer great information especially if you live in Utah. I think it offers the best things out there. They are expanding their services to Southern California for free for a limited time until their website is up and running so I am super excited!

www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com
www.dealstomeals.com

If any of you have ANY kind of information you would like to share with me PLEASE let me know because I am such a beginner and I need help! And I will definetly be posting my good findings on my blog for myself and any of you who want to start! Happy Food Storing!

New Moon

So I finally finished New Moon today, the second book in the Twilight series, and to be honest, it was excrutiating. Am I the only person in the world who doesn't like these books? I do have to admit that near the end it got better for me, but in the beginning I literally forced myself to struggle through because I just want to finish the series already! (I have to finish something I started no matter how much I dislike it.)

Here are a few reasons why I'm having a hard time with the Twilight series so far:

-First of all, Bella is sooo annoying. She is pessimistic, dull, impulsive, immature, irrational, and did I mention annoying? I hate how she acted when Edward left her. Don't get me wrong, most of us have loved and lost and can totally relate to feeling lonely, abandoned, helpless, hurt, confused, and incomplete. I mean, who hasn't longed for a lover? But she takes depression and I might even add low self-esteem to a whole new level. Maybe I am only thinking this way because I couldn't help but think of my Beehives who I actively try to teach self-worth to. What is Bella teaching these young girls? That life ceases to exist because a boy leaves you? That there is no point in living life to the fullest because some boy hurt you so deeply? That in order to be happy you need your boyfriend? That's life people! Bad things happen and a boy should never stop us from being truly happy and living our true potential! A boy should never stop us from feeling unworthy, insignificant, or belittled! I have learned over the years that in order to reach true happiness about oneself, you need to be complete and whole as a person, as an individual, and when you do find the love of your life, and HE also feels whole as a person and as an individual, THEN can you achieve true "completeness" together! It just scares me that young girls reading this will think that they need to find their "Edward" out there and that if they don't have "him", they are nothing. I mean I already had one of my young women ask me, "Sister Hart, why can't every boy be like Edward?" AHH! There is no such thing, my dear! Again, I can totally relate that there needs to be time to heal from heartache and break-up, and that is not easy, but I mean, COME ON BELLA!

-Second of all, Edward is kinda...creepy. He definetly grew on me near the end of New Moon, but for the longest time I was like, "What a creep!" I also hated the way he treated Bella in the beginning of their relationship in the last book and in this book. While reading I would just think to myself, "And who do you think you are???"

Anyways, I know I rambled there for a bit. I may be reading into this book WAY more than I should. Maybe I just have too much pride as a woman and I should just sit back, relax, and read for pure entertainment only. haha I hope the next two books are better?

Drum roll please...

9 weeks


13 weeks






19 weeks


IT'S A GIRL! Natalie Marie Hart! We can't wait to see you on August 8th!

As I mentioned before, back in January I knew what we were "most likely" going to have. So that night, despite my massive nausea, Marisa and I wanted to surprise Tim. So...

Marisa got busy filling pink baby bottles with pink raspberry M-n-M's!

And busy scattering rose petals on the floor!

Taking a break to hold a pink balloon for baby Natalie!

Marisa yelling, "Big sister!"

Right when Tim walked in the door there was one pink balloon tied to a pink bottle that held the ultrasound pictures!

The living room, hallway, and dining room were filled with pink balloons!

Rose petals led Tim to the front door and down the hallway to Marisa's room where a note from his "three girls" waited for him!

We are so excited to have another little princess in our home! YAY for more pink!

Whale Watching

This morning Marisa and I took a trip to Dana Harbor to go whale watching with several friends and their kiddos from church. It is so nice to live in an area, especially so close to the beach, where we can get out and do lots of fun stuff so easily! Marisa's favorite part were all the dolphins that practically surrounded our boat!

Mommy and Marisa in the beginning of our boat trip!

Marisa LOVED hanging onto the railings! She never wanted to stop looking out into the ocean!

We saw a TON of dolphins! They would swim and jump up SUPER close to us!

Marisa with boyfriend Cruz! Inseparable.

Marisa was such a daredevil! All she wanted to do was run around the boat!

Watching all the seals and birds on the rock!

Being cute and posing on the side of the boat!

19 weeks

This Thursday we are going to find out what we are having for sure. At 13 weeks the nurse told me what I was "most likely" going to have. I don't expect it to change, but you never know! I'm just looking forward to being with Tim and Marisa and checking out the baby's development and growth, listening to the heartbeat, and enjoying the fact that another baby is coming into our family in August! So for those of you who don't know, any guesses?

Spinach Drink

I got this recipe in Relief Society at an Enrichment night awhile ago. Sooo good! Plus, WAY healthy! And Marisa loves it!


1 cup of OJ
1 frozen banana
1 good handful of spinach

(I like to add flax seed to it.)

Blend and serve!

"Pink Binty" AND "Orange Binty"

So much for getting Marisa off her binkies. She found both of them tonight and wanted them for bedtime. haha

Practice makes perfect, right?

We have been teaching Marisa to use her fingers for numbers 1-5. Half of the time she can do it but the other half of the time it is funny to watch her concentrate so hard. Marisa gets easily frustrated when she doesn't get it right away, and the same goes with a lot of other things too, but I am sure glad she tries. Keep practicing Marisa!

Lobo Family Pictures

This past Christmas while we were in Georgia my family decided to take family pictures. I haven't seen all of them yet, but here are a few...

The Jerk

You deserve many slaps across the face.