and also...

Here's another tip for the frugal among you, just because it is too good not to share. I know some people would opt not to eat out at all, whereas I am limiting how often I go out and trying to be thrifty when I do. So, here's a great tip for folks like me: if there is a store or restaurant you like, sign up for whatever club they've got going on. Usually there's something you can sign up for on their website. I was headed to Chevys the other night and saw they had a club, so I joined. Within minutes I had an email for a free appetizer. Love it!

fantastic family and tasty tilapia

My blogs as of late have all become so house-y and money-y. It is just a reflection of what is going on in my life right now. Something I know my friends whose blogs consist of mostly stuff related to their kids definitely understand. Part of this is a function of it being what is consuming me right now, another part is that it is easier to write about. I still want to post about the "week of pro-life awesome" from January and I'd love to say a few things of the Lent related sort, but this is easier. I'm going to have to make more of an effort with those things because they are posts that should be written. But not today.

Last night I had my first dinner guests: my parents. There a few things I'm a little dorky about when it comes to the house. I wanted my first undertaking with my Kitchen-Aid to be an Irish Soda Bread (Nanny's recipe, naturally), and I wanted my first dinner guests to be my parents. I bought this house on my own but I could not have done it without them. They provided our college educations to us which means that I don't have a school loan to pay right now. If I did, I wouldn't have been able to do this. They let me live with them at no cost for six months so that I could save more money and would not be at the mercy of a lease when I finally found the right house. Additionally, they've helped furnish the house with stuff they no longer needed. Without it my house would look much different. For that and for the love they've always shown, I'm grateful, and it was important to me to have them be my first real dinner guests.

Deciding what to cook was a bit of a challenge. I consider myself a decent cook but have not spent much time expanding my repertoire. This presents a little difficulty on a Friday in Lent. I have two basic seafood meals: salmon or pesto pasta with shrimp. I decided on salmon. Mom forgot this and made salmon for Dad on Wednesday. I know better than to attempt making something Mom did just a few days ago -- because she'll always have made it better! I then thought I'd have the pasta but opted against it; it is a staple in our family and we have it often. I opted to have tilapia because I've prepared it before (just very simply with onions and tomatoes, served with cous cous) and most people like it. So, I had planned on making Brown Butter Sauteed Tilapia with Pistachios. Until I saw how expensive shelled pistachios were. Not that my parents aren't worth it -- but they'd hate for me to spend that much when there could be a suitable substitute. So I picked up some almond slivers which were half price, plus they had a .50 coupon that could be doubled...so, it was about $1.25 for a nice sized bag instead of $9 for the pistachios. The tilapia was on sale as well. When I got home I poked around for some recipes that I could bake, and combined a few to come up with a REALLY yummy recipe. It was SO easy to make. I took a piece of tilapia, rolled it in flour, dipped it a lemon/egg white combo, then rolled it in a mixture of crumbled sliced almonds and parsley. Baked at 425 for about 15 minutes or so. It worked well because I could prepare it and put it in the fridge until it needed to go in the oven whereas the other recipes would have me cooking it on the stove, which is not as enjoyable when you have company. I served it with an orzo medley recipe from the Trader Joes cookbook, and some broccoli. Dessert was strawberry shortcake using the bisquick recipe. I got great deals on everything and it was all easy to make but it tasted really great. The tilapia will certainly be something I whip up often particularly since I can make a single serving very easily.

My parents enjoyed the meal which made me happy. Michelle and Alexia came over and boy does my niece love my new house! It is still a novelty to her that I live close by, in a house that is new to her. It was fun to have her help assembling the strawberry shortcake and she was so proud serving it with me.

It was, all in all, a great night and I was so excited to share my house and my joy with those I love. Today, I'll give Nanny one of the loaves of Irish Soda Bread and although it isn't as good as hers I know she'll love that her eldest granddaughter made it in her new house and wanted to share it with her. There is something so wonderful about the independence that comes with having my own place and at the same time the new and different ways it allows me to connect with those I love.

fantastically frugal

Writing out my first batch of checks had me re-committing to a little bit more of a frugal lifestyle. Some of this involves just going through what I'm already doing and trimming some of the fat. The great thing is that right now, everyone is trying to budget so there are other folks out there sharing tips and ideas. A few things I've done so far:

• Get rid of this random aol subscription I kept. I was paying $5 a month to keep access to aol for a minimal amount of hours. This worked well if cox was down or I was out of town, but somewhere along the line they raisde the price to $10. I cut the whole thing out. I even got them to give me a refund...of course it was only $6 but hey what can you do, it's money!
• Cutting out the Starbucks. I don't have a huge addiction to the 'bucks but even just a latte a week adds up. I buy some regular coffee and creamer and make myself a cup in the morning if I have a hankering. I am still debating buying the gift cards from Costco -- you pay $80 and get $100 worth -- and saying that's it for the whole year, or something like that. I have a nice stack of Caribou money from old Christmas presents at work, so I'll use that too.
  
• Assessing my cell phone bill. For the first time in well over two years, I went over my minutes on my cell phone! In fact, for months I've barely gone near reaching my minutes. Part of that was living in a house with poor cell reception and an actual landline. For a few minutes I was looking at going up another plan until I realized that Verizon has something new called Friends and Family where you get a top 5 people who count as your free minutes. I know that by entering mom's cell, parents' house, sister's cell and house (other sister is Verizon, so we're IN!), and BFF's office, that will trim a couple hundred minutes off the top each month. I also took off the unlimited internet. It was a nice luxury to have when I was house hunting, etc., but it is more a distraction than anything else. It also costs $15!
• Making sure I *really* want something before I decide to keep it. I've done more returning than ever in my life (including holidays!) after deciding I don't like certain pillows, curtains, etc., once I got home. I was even able to return shades I'd bought at JC Penney and installed, but found they didn't work properly for my windows.
  
• Figuring out what I can go without. I've wavered on cable basically every day! I'm trying to do the whole digital converter box thing but am finding I don't get any network channels. I don't want to go any more complicated on the antenna (this one was $35 -- next up is $60-70) because at that point it would make sense to just get basic cable. The truth is, my life is better without constant tv. I figure I'll shelf this until after Lent (not giving up tv, but figure I don't need to add anything in for Lent like that!). I can still watch shows on my computer, and my sister lives close by (and has a DVR) if I feel a huge need to see something.
  
• Trying my hand at "CVS-ing" and being better about coupons. There's a whole world of people out there getting steals at CVS and my hope is to become part of that world. Also, I plan to subscribe to the post on Sundays to get the coupons to make deals possible at CVS and elsewhere.
  
• Making a yard sale pile as I unpack. My subdiv will have a community yardsale at the end of April and I am trying to see what I can put together for sale. I may not make much, but it'll at least be something. My goal is to put together enough stuff to bring in $100. Here's hopin!
  
• Stockpiling some meds with my FSA money. This year I didn't have any major medical or dental expenses, so I have a nice chunk of FSA money leftover. And only a few more days to spend it. So, I'm stocking up on meds, first aid kit, etc., that it'll be nice not to have to shell out money for during the year.
  

It'll be an adventure. I've never had to budget so tightly before -- particularly since the past two years I lived in a house where bills were split 7 ways! But, part of my budgeting is so that I can still do the things I love like go to the beach in May, and enjoy an occasional dinner out with friends. If I do this right, I'll be enjoying life AND my house and not oweing anyone a cent. I like that.

firsts

The move is nearly complete! Within two weeks of closing, I've got the house almost completely set up. It will take a little more time before I feel ready to commit to where to hang things on that wall, and what I should hang...but I'm fairly settled. Between the POD and the rental van this weekend, the heavy lifting is all done and my house is coming together wonderfully. Here's some firsts for you:

• First injuries: I managed a nice deal on a decent tv stand at a thrift store and got two huge splinters as a result of my over-zealous attempt at cleaning it off. They have since been removed. Additionally, last night I think I got lost in "la la la, I have a new house"-land and made a nice slice in my thumb as I was cutting up some peppers. Ouch. In another similar moment, I dropped a plate down the stairs. I need to get out of la-la land before I seriously injure myself!

• First welcoming: Due to the fact that my house had been vacant for over a year, my parking spots had become well used by neighbors. I met a few of the neighbors the one night I was trying to actually park in front of my house but both were being used. I was nice, and they were all pleasant, but I hated meeting my neighbors for the first time in such a fashion!! My first real welcoming to the neighborhood was by two neighbors that were sitting on the stoop in front of one of their houses, chatting. They saw me and came over and introduced themselves. They seem very nice, both moms who happen to work at the local baptist church -- one in publicity, one in the nursery. It was great to get the scoop on the neighborhood and just feel so welcomed!

• First meal: My first real meal that I made was....wait for it....cous cous, red peppers, and feta. Real surprise there! I did make a nice lentil soup the next night!
  

• First mega deal: The fridge I'd ordered does not fit in the kitchen properly, so I had to reorder. When I went to the store to look, the salesman helped me for about 5 minutes and then informed me that he works on commission so he needed to return to the floor. Um, excuse me?! I went through a few phone calls to get it re-ordered; I've already paid off the fridge and washer and dryer, so that made things difficult. Anyhow, the smaller, less complicated fridge came in at about $240 less than the original. Then they also honored my negotiation on the original one which was $40 off. But that's not the best part. They tried to deliver the new one and it was dented. They said they'd give me $60 giftcard if I took it. I countered asking for $100, they said no. They arranged for delivery on Thursday and then moved it to Friday. I call and complain and am told I can call back after delivery to discuss compensation. I call today: I am getting a $50 giftcard in the mail. I love it!
  

• First/best wakeup call - The phone rang at 6:45am the other morning. It was my sister who lives in the neighborhood. My niece was throwing a fit and the only thing that would calm her down? Coming for a visit. So, within minutes they are at the house. She comes in, kicks off her shoes as if she will be staying awhile. We go on a walk through the house, I give her and my nephew each a toy horse from the dollar spot (thank you, Target) and they are on their way. It was certainly early, but it made me smile for sure!
  

I do have to mention how much the support and enthusiasm of the people around me has made this such an awesome experience. Two friends came over last Monday to help unload the pod, six friends and two brothers-in-law helped with the moving van over the weekend. One of my friends had flowers delivered the first night I spent here, another brought a beautiful potted flower/plant today when I had her for lunch. Two very handy friends of mine helped me with a few projects that would have been fairly expensive. My parents totally hooked me up with some great furniture and kitchen stuff they were no longer using. The calls, emails, etc., all mean so much! I've only slept here a few nights so far but it continues to feel more and more like home.