Winter Mornings

I love sunsets and sunrises. The best I have found is winter mornings in Florida.

The saying is that "red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky in morning, sailors' warning."  The good news is that I'm not a sailor!

African Children's Choir

The Watoto Children's Choir is a dynamic group of kids from Uganda. Watoto means "children" in Swahili. They are in a village built for orphans that also work with adults to provide vocational training. 

One of the ministries Watoto provides is a worldwide concert tour. These children sing and dance to an African choreography that is sure to get you energized. They bring African instruments, song, costumes, and rhythm with them. 

It's free! See them in a nearby venue soon!

Indiana Jones

My inspiration of global adventure turned aspiration for my life has many roots. Once can be traced to my childhood neighbors who traveled the world and whose home was filled with objects from every trip (read more here). 

Another root can be traced to Indiana Jones. These movies that we saw in the theater as children and at home periodically were a whirlwind of adventure that stretched from China to the US touching down in India, Nepal, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Italy, and Peru throughout the 4 film series. 

Viewing cultural traditions, religions, clothing, music, and more captured my imagination. 

Obviously, renewing my love for these films and where they've taken me is how I spent my time while I was sick. It's nice going back to the basics. 

Sick Day(s)

It is not often that I get sick with a cold. When I do, there are certain comforts I like such as orange juice, a box of tissues, cough drops, tea, toast, frozen pizza, and a decongestant. 

This time around I am using Theraflu and Advil Allergy & Congestion for pain relievers. Thanks to couponing, I have a stash already. 

That is what will be happening in my home in the next couple days. Hopefully, my husband does not come down with it, too. 

Red Lobster Biscuits

This is the only reason people go to Red Lobster, to be honest. Their food is delicious, as I reported in this post. 

While shopping at Aldi, I noticed they had Red Lobster Biscuit mix on the shelf. I've seen them at other grocery stores but did not consider buying a box until now. Most of the restaurant brand's I have seen represented in grocery stores is seldom as good as it is in the restaurant. Perhaps my judgement is compromised when I don't have to cook. 

I took the plunge and bought a box. The directions are simple as are the ingredients. My skepticism started when I saw the product for the first time in stores and continued until I tasted it.  

My skepticism came to a screeching halt once I took a bite. Delicious!

Stone Steps

While visiting my family in Rochester, NY, we took a road trip to Letchworth State Park. I have been there countless times but this was a first for my husband. 

Letchworth is a park with over 14,000 acres full of picturesque scenes. A combination of waterfalls, paths, and manmade houses, bridges, and picnic areas. 

We spent time visiting the Letchworth Museum, a stone structure that houses a mastodon skeleton. Off to the side is a stone stair case that winds and climbs the sloped area. What a beautifully inspiring site. So much so that I could not narrow down how to display this stair case.

For your viewing pleasure: 

Pick Two

My husband and I love Panera's You Pick Two feature on the menu. The idea is a combo platter comprised of soups, salads, and sandwiches. 

That was the inspiration for dinner one breezy Florida evening. I wanted light fare but could not choose just one item. I decided to prepare two: Caesar salad (upon which I added sliced almonds and craisins) and a crab salad sandwich served in a multi grain pita. 

I already had the pita, almonds, craisins, and salad, most of which were courtesy of couponing. I was only missing crab meat which coupons also resolved. 

Quick, easy, affordable, filling, and delicious. Major win for our house!

An Office With A View

Doesn't that sound nice?

Instead of a corner office or one with a view, I have a cubicle that I share with a wonderful coworker. I could not ask for a nicer person to share space with at work. 

Since I do not have a view, I add things to my space to inspire me. I like my environment to be colorful (this is not a prerequisite to marrying an African, but it helps!)

Below is a photo of my work area and here is a list of things I keep around: 

• A miniature Haitian painting
• Quotes about travel
• Wicker cup holder
• A Bible
• My coffee cup
• Post-its
• Antique world map mouse pad
• Arc binder

Carabba's

I love food. 

Food tastes better when I don't cook it. If money were no object, I'd have a cook, especially after a long day or long week. 

Instead, eating out or take out is an ideal option even though our budget would disagree. Fortunately, I can be creative in order to satisfy both dining and budget needs. 

This past Christmas season, in the hustle of choosing gifts, we purchased a gift card to Carrabba's and received in return a gift card of smaller value.  

One such Friday, we decided to use this gift card and make it stretch farther. Rather than the usual table for 2, we decided to place an online order for take out with the intention of rounding out the dinner at home. My husband and I decided to divide and conquer: one would cook the pasta at home, the other would pick up the order. 

We placed an order for 1 salmon entrée topped with tomato, cucumber, and dill with a lemon white wine sauce. The entrée comes with a side along with soup or salad. We chose the garlic mashed potatoes, Caesar salad, and their signature olive oil and herbs for the bread. We made our own pasta to add to the dinner. 

 Dividing the ordered entrée between us and the home made pasta, there was more than enough. 

The total for one entrée was $21.39, less a $10 gift card, we paid $11.39.

We enjoyed a gourmet meal and lack of effort without paying for the atmosphere. It was the perfect solution for a fatigued week, lack of desire to cook, and the need to be budget conscious. 

Cloud Formations

One of my favorite childhood activities involved the swimming pool in our backyard. I would spend hours in the pool by myself, with my sister, with friends, with the whole family. Swimming laps, splashing, underwater summersaults, handstands, making whirlpools, floating. Day or evening, it mattered very little to me. 

Some sunny afternoons, my mother would come outside and swim with me. We had a variety of tubes and floating lounges to relax and enjoy which is what she need after toiling all day. We would grab ahold of each other's rafts to stay in close proximity to talk. 

Talking about various subjects and laughing together (which is what we do best) while drifting with no goal in mind but to unwind. Gazing at the sky or closing our eyes, we lingered together. 

One such afternoon, we were taken in by the clouds and how they were ever rolling, morphing into various shapes. We remarked that one cloud looked like a dog. Later, the dog-like cloud seemed to transform in a way that looked like the long ears were horizontal. One of us shared with the other that it now looked like the same dog but ears flapping in the wind like he was in a car. 

Serious reflection of clouds lessened as hilarity ensued. Every cloud after that was another animal in a car or other humorous images. We laughed all afternoon at what the clouds appeared to be in our own little world. 

Walking on the beach recently, I was gazing at the clouds feeling nostalgic about those precious moments with my mom. 

This cloud caught my attention in particular because it appeared to be a giraffe, my mom's favorite animal. I no sooner took my phone and snapped a shot to send to her, reminding her of one of our mutually favorite moments together. 

If I had stayed long enough, I wonder if the giraffe would look like he was in a car. Neck out the window, straining to stay upward in vain as the momentum of the car overcomes him. I should have stayed instead of rushing off to do some adulting somewhere else. 

Homecoming

When my husband was coming from Togo, Western Africa to the US, I wanted to make sure he felt at home. Well, as much as one can leaving home and family behind for an unknown land. 

I thought for a long time about how to make his homecoming special and welcoming. It wasn't easy. 

After awhile, I thought of having a clock of his hometown, Lomé, on the wall always on local time. I decided to add my own hometown to the wall. 

Once inspired, I went to Ikea to buy clocks for $1.99 each. I hung them on the wall and printed then laminated signs of our hometowns. 

The day my husband arrived, he came bearing gifts of his African country for our home. He offered a clock with the shape of Togo (like minds). 

He brought with him wooden keychains. I chose the one in the shape of Togo. 

In addition to all of this, he brought paintings on canvas to decorate our home. Being a smart man, he brought jewelry and purses for me. 

Such lovely additions to our home that I enjoy. I think, in a way, they provide the comforts of home in a foreign land. 

Ceiling Fans and the Dust That Loves Them

Cleaning ceiling fan blades seems to be a chore often neglected. It's not until the blades start looking like something fuzzy that anyone notices. 

Take the ceiling fan in our bedroom, for instance. The ceiling is white, the fan is white, the dust is grayish-brownish and stands out against the white. It still does not garner anyone's attention. 

To attend to a dusty ceiling fan poses problems, though. What about the bed linen beneath the fan? Now, we're going to create more messes because of the dusty fan. Sigh. 

Since I have research skills, I took, once again, to the interwebs to find a solution. One particular method seemed to ward off additional mess while tending to the ceiling fan. Two words: pillow case. 

Here are the steps to follow: 

1. Flip a pillow case inside out, to start. 
2. Next, dampen it with water or spray (Pledge for example). 
3. Flip it back to being right side out and slide over the blade to envelope it. 
4. With one hand on top and one on the bottom, slide the dampened pillow case slowly off the blade. 
5. Take the dusty pillow case outside and flip it inside out once more. 
6. Shake or beat the pillow case against a hard surface to separate the dust. 

Simple as that! 

Now my fan blades are gleaming! Probably not to be noticed again for quite some time.

Couponing: Tea

We drink a lot of tea at home. Tea can get expensive given the copious amounts that we drink. 

A couple weeks ago, I purchased Celestial Seasonings tea at Target because it was on sale and I had a coupon. Inside the box of tea was another coupon! This one was $1 off 2 boxes of Celestial Seasonings tea. 

Reviewing the discounts on my Target Cartwheel app (read more here), I found that Celestial Seasonings tea was discounted by 30%. I already had a coupon and now the app discount made it clear that I was buying more tea. 

Once I got to Target to choose more boxes of tea, I found boxes of Sweet Harvest Pumpkin black tea on clearance for $1.24 each. 

Here's the breakdown: 

 $2.48 (1 clearance box @ $1.24 x 2)

-30% discount

= $1.74

-$1 coupon

= $0.74 for 2 boxes (or 37¢ each)

I'm excited to try this pumpkin tea! 

Money Earning Apps: Swagbucks

I discovered Swagbucks a few years ago. It is a website (also an app) where you earn Swagbucks (SB) by doing various activities. 1 Swagbuck = $1. The more SB earned, the more possibilities for pay out in gift cards, charity donations, and more. 

You can visit the website and make purchases online. Some vendors yield 1 Swagbuck per $1 spent while other yield 10 Swagbucks per $1 spent. You can be rewarded for making purchases you were going to make anyway. 

Another way to earn Swagbucks is to watch movie trailers and other types of video clips. There are surveys that range from simple to more complex and by extension more time consuming. 

There is a web search feature built in that can earn SBs also. You could turn Swagbucks into your preferred search engine in order to earn more by searching. 

Here are some more examples of how to earn:

Another way to earn SBs without doing a lot of activities is to enter a Swag Code. Swag Codes are released periodically and have an expiration of 1 hour to 3 hours, generally. The Swagbucks app sends notifications of Swag Code releases. 

Swag Code alert below.                                               Enter the Swag Code in the app or online.

You can devote whatever time you want to these activities in order to earn SBs. I tend to enter Swag Codes when the app notifies me and answer the daily poll (a simple question asking for a preference: movies, colors, holiday tradition, etc.).

Sometimes I use the search feature. Nevertheless, I accumulate until I want to get a gift card for a specific purchase. I look online to see which gift cards are available and then cash in for it. 

The gift cards are in different denominations. Here are examples in the $10 category range: 

Since 2013, Here are the gift cards I have earned from this program: 

 

To try it out, click here.

Starbucks Incentive

Remember me posting about a Starbucks joint promotion with Visa Checkout (read more here)? Well, some of the Starbucks credit I received from the promotion, I used in a recent Starbucks incentive.

The Starbucks challenge was to make 3 purchases in a period of 5 days that were specified to earn 75 stars. For heavy hitters, 5 purchases could be made in that same 5 day period for 175 stars on the Starbucks app.

Since I had credit on my app, I decided to make a dash! 

For every purchase I made during the dash, I earned stars in addition to the bonus stars from the dash. I completed the 5 purchase challenge. 

I started the dash with 17.5 stars. At the end of the dash, I had 305. That is enough for 2 free purchases. Considering the credit on my Starbucks app ($20) only cost me $10, I was satisfied with the bonuses from the combination of the bonus stars and cost of the credit. 

Will I do another dash? Maybe. Maybe not.

Shrimp Burritos

What's for dinner? 

What do you want for dinner? 

These are common questions in our home. Some nights an executive decision has been made and I get to cooking. Other times, it is my husband who put together dinner. I am always grateful when he cooks dinner or contributes in some way which is pretty often. 

One evening this past week, a joint effort was made. My husband had shrimp thawing and dry rice waiting in the wings. Not knowing what he had planned, I asked him what his intention was for the shrimp and rice. He had not gotten that far yet. 

I suggested a Mexican flair for dinner and he agreed. I grabbed a box of Old El Paso Burrito dinner kits and turned to him for approval. 

I purchased these dinner kits for $1.05 each with coupons and stocked up (read more here). 

We started a pot of water to boil for the rice and bean packet in the dinner kit. I added the rice my husband had already set aside for dinner and combined it with the rice packet. We also agreed it needed a kick, so we added Old El Paso green chiles.

I seasoned the shrimp with Everyday Seasoning and sautéed them in olive oil. While the shrimp was cooking, I chopped tomatoes, and green onions.

Once everything was done cooking, the assembly was next. Here is the order:

Tortilla shells
Rice & beans
Shrimp
Tomatoes
Onions
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Taco sauce

(I would have liked fresh cilantro and avocado. I'll be making my grocery list next).

Boom! Another delicious dinner for the books. 

Make A List. There's An App For That.

I have always been one to make lists and got razzed in college over my never-ending lists. A colleague introduced me recently to an app that is all about lists! 

Presenting: Wunderlist!

I like to write a list with ink and paper. There is something about having a stack of papers that is counterproductive when that is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. 

This app means that I can keep my lists in one place and save the planet all at the same time. No wonder it's called Wunderlist!

At the home screen, you can see that I have 3 lists already created in addition to a folder with more lists related to one another. Isn't this glorious?

To create a new list, click on the plus sign at the bottom center. 

After clicking the plus sign, a new screen appears showing options for the list. It can be an isolated list or it can be a group of lists that will be in a folder with the related lists. You can make your list visible to other people who also use this app. This takes the honey do list to the next level (perhaps begrudgingly to the other spouse).

Once a list has been created with tasks, clicking the box to the left of a task will mark that task complete. There is an option to view completed tasks which will split the screen into open ended tasks and completed tasks. 

Marking the star on the right side of the task will indicate that this is a priority item to be seen on the home screen under "Starred." If a list has been shared with another user, the starred items will appear in his Starred section as well. 

Tasks are listed in the order of its' creation. It can be moved to appear in a different order. Simply, tap and hold the task and move it upward or downward. 

This app has been so helpful to get myself organized. It has also been an enormous helpful tool to get in sync with colleagues. We have been able to avoid duplicated efforts by staying in touch without having to deliberately ask one another what is being tackled. 

God's Promises

It was a normal workday morning: prep to go to work and the morning commute. It had rained overnight and was partly cloudy and misty.

I was driving my normal way to work on autopilot not really paying attention to my already familiar surroundings. All of a sudden, I glanced in another direction (as one does while driving) and saw a rainbow.

Rainbows always catch my attention. I'm not sure if it's because I had the Muppet Movie soundtrack on 8 track as a kid, or if God's periodic creation calls to me.

Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me. 

For reference:

I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13 NET

Space Saving: Clothes Closet

I have an average size closet in my bedroom that seemed to fit most of my clothes. I put dresses and gowns in another closet to ensure I had enough room in my primary clothing closet. 

And then...my husband moved in when we got married. So much for enough room for my own clothing. This is where my inner 3 year old comes out and does not want to share. 

Instead of complaining, I decided to find a solution that would satisfy this issue. I took to the interwebs to find feasible solutions.

Some solutions I found were for closets with wood or particle board made closets. Some solutions were for walk in closets that would rival the size of my kitchen. Other solutions were very costly while other solutions were very involved and could potentially require a carpenter.

Finally, I found a simple solution that was easy and budget-friendly. WIN-WIN!

I went to Home Depot to explore the options. I purchased 4 carabiners: 2 blue for my husband and 2 red for myself. I also purchased 6 feet of chain (in 2 strands).

• 4 carabiners @98¢ each 
• 6 feet of white coated chain @ 98¢ per foot (a little more refined for a closet I thought)

To assemble, open the carabiner latch and slide the first chain link. Stagger clothes hangers according to preference or ease of use. 

Next, latch the caribener to the hanging rod in the closet.

$10 later I had a simple, reusable, and easy solution to save space in my closet. While the clothes are beneath the rod line, the carabiner stands out on the rod.

I'm all for home projects that do not require special tools and equipment!

Money Saving Apps: Target Cartwheel

If you like to shop at Target and save $$$, the Target Cartwheel app is a must! I've mentioned this app a couple times without spending a lot of time on it (read more here.)

It's a free download for Apple and Android users.

There are discounts to items all over the store that can be viewed by department, in order of discount amount, and other ways. 

Scanning the barcode on products in another way to look for applicable discounts. For example, scanning the barcode of FAGE CROSSOVERS yogurt shows a discount of 50%. Simply, touch the FAGE selection under "Found Matching Offer" and it will be added to your app's My List feature. 

I added Nestle's condensed milk and Nestle's media crema table cream to my app's list to complete the shopping trip. Either product was 35% off, so I grabbed a combination of these cans. 

The total for 10 yogurts and 6 cans of milk was $15.71. I saved $9.32 for this shopping trip with the Target Cartwheel app along. 

My total savings since 2013 is $70.09. Nice!

Bonus to this shopping trip was getting Shopkick points! I featured this app here showing how Shopkick is a money earning app. With the combination of the Target Cartwheel app and the Shopkick app, I saved $$$ on this trip without traditional coupons.