Friday Night Dinner

I am very excited about this post because it is my first ever virtual dinner! My good blogger friend Emmy invited 3 of us to the kick off of Friday Night Dinner! 2 of us made it this Friday!

She is such a good host she had dinner out and ready for us with some take out Chinese because she didn't feel like burning the house down, especially when her cute dog Bandit was also very excited about this dinner, so excited he greeted us at the door! (Such manners!)

Emmy breaks right into it since she is aware Sarah and I do not know each other.

Emmy: To get conversation going, what do you all want to know about each other? 

If you know me... I am not shy so I jump right on this and the conversation goes as follows:

Me: Hmmm Well...I am not going to lie, my brain is not working 100% today lol SO I googled some ice breakers and picked some of my favorites so here I go:

1. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

2. Name one thing you really like about yourself.

3. What is one thing you are looking forward to for summer? (in light of where I live getting warmer this week)

Here are my answers:

1. Scotland! I am in love with the land and the heritage, I am a sucker for romance books that have to do with a hot Scottish man! (Oh did I mention my husband happens to be part Scottish and has dark deep red hair? Among other things I am also part Scottish) I love the accent and there is so much I want to see, It looks gorgeous.

(for more on Question 2 Click HERE, for more on Question 3 Click HERE but only after you read the rest on Question 1, silly!)

Emmy: Haha. I love that you love Scotland and married a Scottish man. I can never decide on just one place that I would want to go. There is so much to see! Lately though I've been thinking about London a lot.

Sarah: I've been to a several places (40+ states, 12 countries, 3 continents), but the one place I've always wanted to go that I've never been to is France. All over it, to be honest. I want to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. All of the beautiful places that Monet painted in his Water Lilies. 

Emmy: Sarah- I'm so jealous of all of the places you've been to. For real. Which one has been your favorite?

Sarah: Emmy, there certainly are advantages to growing up as a military brat, that's for sure. Lol. As for my favorite place I've visited...that's kind of hard, as I visited several of the countries (Italy, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany) when I was about 3-years-old. If I remembered more of them, they might be my favorite, but since my memories of my time there are very vague, I can't say they really qualify. All I can say is I've been there. Of the ones that I legitimately remember, I'd say my favorite was probably Scotland, specifically the Isle of Skye. It's this beautiful spot in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. It takes like...9 hours to drive there and that's basically the only way to get there, but man is it worth it. The drive is gorgeous and the whole area is just breathtaking. I'd love to go back there. But I also really enjoyed Chiang Dao in Thailand. I would've liked to spend more than a couple of days there and would definitely love to go back.

Sandy, where in Scotland is your husband from? And does he have one of those crazy thick accents that are really hard for most people to understand? I noticed when I was in Scotland that there accents are soooo distinct and you can literally go 100 miles and not be able to understand the new accent because they're that different. Kind of cool, but also somewhat frustrating. Lol.

Emmy:And I always forget Sarah that your dad is in the military. That makes sense now! It's so great that you loved Scotland too though. Yay for people finding things in common! And I feel like Tailand would be interesting. One of these days I'm going to have to make it to Europe though. 

Me: Sarah- I didn't mean to be confusing my husband isn't FROM Scotland, he is part Scottish and has a lot of the Scottish look. Sorry for that! I wonder if I was a Military brat if I would still be terrified of flying... because if anything keeps me from actually going to Scotland that would be it... I HATE flying... I always try to give my fear up to God... but then I usually get a strong drink and I am still afraid! So dumb I know. If I ever go, the Isle of Skye is on the top of my list! 

Anyone read the Outlander series of books? Well they are amazing! (If you have read them you know that that was not a leap in topic lol)

As the night wrapped up, it was like three old friends hanging out. I had a great time at Emmy's first official Friday Night Dinner and hope to be invited again soon! 

Don't forget to check them and the rest of our conversation out and/or follow them on Twitter. Emmy @lovewokemeup and @dce_emilyh. Sarah @sarahannehayes , and if you aren't already following me I'm @sandywessel.

It's all in the planning

So has anyone else realized just how much taxes hit you this year? OH MY GOSH! Going over our income and budget for this month and looking at the past 2 months I just can't believe how much less we are bringing in! It has made a huge difference in the not so good way! So this month more than ever we are buckling down! So it means I need to REALLY find places to cut out spending. I am finding out that eating healthy is actually cheaper so I have looked in my cupboards and looked at some yummy recipes that are healthy on Skinny Mom and have come up with this weeks meal plan.

 I will be making some great breakfast burritos for the husband and am using Advocare shakes for my breakfast. My daughters breakfast and lunch she gets at daycare. We have healthy sandwich stuff for lunch and I am making Skinny Shrimp Tacos for myself (because my husband doesn't like shrimp and it is packed with protein and calcium! Great for my lunch workout recovery. Dinner's are looking pretty tasty too! I am excited to try these so please click the next few links and give them a shot.
Skinny Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (Use this in some of the following recipes)
Spinach Stuffed Shells with Meat Sauce
Skinny Lasagna Rolls
Skinny Turkey Meatloaf
Skinny Chicken Florentine

Greek yogurt, fruits, veggies and almonds for snacks :)

That is 4 meals sure to have leftovers because of the serving sizes that will get us through 7 dinners. So let's see if I can feed us for less than $100 this week, be full and healthy!

I am just praying we stick to our budget with no surprises this month (unless that is money coming in!) so that we can build our savings back up and do the things we have planned this summer! And if all goes well this year we will get rid of our only car payment and own both of our cars! YAY!