Rain Rain please Stay!

Its beautiful here today. Its raining on and off. I LOVE the rain. Its warm outside and since we live in the dry hot desert theres really no humdity so its a nice warm weather. Ahhhh, I really dont want it to stop. Ive got the windows open and the smell of rain is drifting through the house.

Whats the weather like where you all are?

Look what I got Yesterday! Wiiiiiiii

Ive been so busy lately that I havent been posting. But I got something yesterday that I wanted to share. Im so excited.

I kept putting off buying it because I felt I shouldnt be spending the money but with a gift card I was able to purchase it 1/2 off :)

Yesterday I workout for 20 min and today Im alittle sore. I cant believe how out of shape Im in.

I love how it weighs you, keeps track of your workouts and your minutes. Fun! I'll let you know how it goes.

Any of you work out with the wii fit and if so how do you like it??

Current WeightLoss

Currently on my weightloss journey I have lost 4 lbs! Thats almost a 5 lb bag of taters :)

Im doing this challange right along with Mom of One.

Well, I got a new cell phone not to long ago. I always opt for the free phone except this time I bought a razr. Got an awesome price on it so I went for it. Well, I decided since my cell phone is always with me I would put it to work. It has alerts that you can set for meetings or everyday events. So my small servent girl, I mean my cell phone, is now programmed to go off every 2-3 hrs. reminding me to eat. It goes off at 8, 10, 12, 3, 6 I used to skip breakfast then I would scarf at lunch and dinner but now when it rings my first thought is "AGAIN? ALREADY?" but its been paying off since Ive lost 4 lbs. Im never hungry because Im eatting all the time. Their small meals or healthy snacks.

breakfast is healthy cereal and vanilla soy milk (small lactose problems)

snack is one of the following: fruit like orange, apple, alittle peanut butter on celery, almonds

lunch is wheat bread, alittle mayo, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, tomato, smoked turkey, maybe alittle avoc.

snack again (same as above)

dinner is whatever I make for the family but I eat alot less because IM NOT HUNGRY LOL

Ive also programmed it to remind me to drink water everyday, do the laundry on wed. (wash day), thurs. (thirsty thursday=water plants), etc.

Gotta love technology

The Electric Bill

I know I said I wasent going to share this months electric bill since after doing the calculations on how to save even more on my electric bill found HERE and since I've only been really putting into effect these other energy saving tips for a couple of weeks now , I got the bill and I couldnt resist!

Last month was $106.14
This months bill $69.14 YIPPIE!!!

Because we used less it threw us into a different tier level with a lower price :)

I couldnt believe it. Pick me up off the floor!! I guess all the unplugging, switches off doing, and turning pc's off, it paid off. At first I thought it was because of Southern CA. Edisons summer discount plan Im on during the 4 months of the summer. We receive a $40-$50 a month discount for having the unit put on our a/c unit so they can turn the a/c unit off remotely at any time if they need to conserve. We never use the a/c unit since we have a swamp cooler so it works out perfect :) giggle

Oh happy day! Im $40 richer :)

Awarded The Attitude of Gratitude

I was honored with the award of The Attitude of Gratitude by mimi charmante Her pictures on her blog are just beautiful. They make you want to pack your suitcase and jump on a plane to a far off place that is full of history and art. Thank you so much Kim. :)



The rules of accepting and sharing this award are:




1. Put the logo on your blog or post

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an attitude of gratitude.

3. Link to your nominees within your post.


4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they have received this award.


5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for the award. Tell us how you've come to have an attitude of gratitude.



As far as my "attitude of gratitude", I am thankful everyday for the people in my life, my family & my friends. I know, thats what everyone says, but its true. If you really think about it in the big sceme of things, what really matters? If a fire blazed through your house and took everything you owned would you fall to pieces or say, Ya know, its only things and we can rebuild again but my family I can never replace. Its amazing how as you start to look at life through different eyes when life throws you a curve ball things start to come into focus in a different light. You see what really matters and what doesnt.

Im nominating the following bloggers :

1. Marva @ blessedfrugalness times two with twins
2. Christy @ Mabel + Lola
3. Kaye @ Kayes Kreative Korner
4. AnNicole @ Our Suburban Cottage
5. Jane @ Work that Wardrobe
6. Donna @ Never So Simple (shes going through alot right now, she needs big hugs)
7. Terrie @ Terries lil piece of serenity (my blog sista)
8. Rebecca @ Its 5 oclock somewhere
9. Everyday mom of one
10. A Mayberry state of mind (fellow homeschooling mom)

Yippie, I Won

Thank you so much Everyday Mom of One. I received my prize and I LOVE it. Its exactly what I wanted and I was so excited to get it in the mail. I think I forgot to mention what I liked in the email but this is what I wanted. So when I opened the box to my surprise there was the items! Yippie!

Heres a pictures of my prize and the link to this Eco Friendly company that is commitment to the environment. SeaSide Naturals

Look what I found

Saturday the twins came running in saying something was wrong with our outside cat. Shes our mouser. We have a really big problem out here with rats the size of cats and field mice. They wreck havic on our garage and everything else. But since mouser has been here... no mice ! It looked like something had attacked (same coyote that hurt Elmo the duck??) and she needed to mend so I cared for her and put her in the garage in a dog kennel.


Sunday night as we were getting ready to close the garage door I heard something. Like a kitten crying in the distance. I listened and didnt hear it again. I thought maybe it was the echo of the puppies our dog just had. I had the twins come out and listen but they didnt hear it either. So the next morning one of the twin and I went to investigate over near our pigs where I thought the sound was coming from. nothing. humm... I decided since I was so close to our big horse trailer I'll just go into the living quarters and grab some thing out of it and as I closed the door I heard the crying again! Sure enough in the middle section of the trailer where there are built in dog kennels there they were ......

This one......

and this one.....

and this one.....

Arent they cute~!


They were very weak and wobbly. The poor things hadnt eatten in two days. She was so happy to see her kittens. Happy to say mama cat and kittens are doing great. :)

Yippie, now we have more cats to help with the mice population!

The Electric Bill

Im totally agree that if you save alittle here and alittle there, its starts to add up and you'll be saving alot. So Im starting to work alittle on the electric bill. Something we can control.

I started posting my electric bill awhile back when I plugged in all those power surgers. Well, so far my bill has gone back up.This month its was $106.xx. When I call the electric company they just say that for the size of my house (2700 sq ft) that is an excellent price. Well, Im not happy with that price. I worked really hard turning off those power surgers. Makin sure they were all off when the appliance wasent being used, driving my family crazy to turn those lights off!

So yesterday I spent about 3 hrs researching what everything costs in my house. I wanted to know what was using the most. My moms electric bill is in the $30's. (1800 sq ft) I thought I have almost exactly what she has so why is mine so much higher? Well, after comparing my moms, and our electric bill I figured it out.

I found a website that helped me work the numbers. I didnt want an exact number, just a very close number and this website matched what I came up with. Link

Also here in Southern California they charge you in Tiers. So the more you use they move you up a tier and you pay more and more.

I couldnt believe how little electricity somethings in the house used compared to others. Did you know that my coffee maker that runs 2 hrs a day (auto shut off) cost more a month to run than my fridge or my freezer that runs 24 hrs, 7 days a week. Heres the approx break down so you can see how things add up. These are approx. but their close. Theres a few items not listed like the oven digital clock and plugging in the cellphones to charge.

_My house_____
55" big screen tv $15.73 (15 hrs daily)
Coffee maker $7.28 (2 hrs daily auto shutoff)
Laptop $2.17 (12 hrs daily)
Hubbys pc $14.56 (24/7)
My pc $7.28 (12 hrs)
Twins bedroom tv $0.60 (1hr daily)
Twins bedroom tv $4.03 (8 hrs daily)
Dryer $13.78 (4 days month 4 hrs each day)
Washer $2.24 (4 days month 4 hrs each day)
Fridge $5.46 (24/7)
Freezer $5.46 (24/7)
DVR $2.86 (24/7)
Lightbulbs (11)$3.96 (energy savers 5 hrs daily)
Microwave $2.86 (30 min daily)
Dishwasher $9.36 (20 days mo. 1hr each day)
PS2 $.85 (8 hrs daily)
Wii $.25 (2 hrs daily)
Fax/copier $5.40 (24/7)
Electric blanket $4.03 (10 hrs daily, auto shutoff)
Total $101.34 not including taxes and fees

It amazes me how things add up. Now that I know what is using the most Ive decided to cut down on the use of those appliances to see if I can save.Less tv, Less dishwasher, less dryer, hubbys pc will be turned off unless in use, and so will mine when were not doing school. And that COFFEE MAKER, Im setting the timer for 1 hrs and I'll manually turn it off. Their reading our meter in 2 weeks so I might not post the next bill but I'll post the following bill since we'll be starting this money saving goal starting today. OH and yes I'll still be turning off those surgers :)

If you have a money saving tip, please post it. I would love to hear them. :)