Asics Gel Nimbus 12

My husband is a running shoe genius. He knows how to test arches, what stability is needed in a shoe, the difference a few ounces can make and why heel to toe height matters. When he told me he found the perfect running shoe for me and my difficult feet I didn't hesitate. Bring em' on home! I haven't had new shoes since February 11'. A HUGE no no when you're logging 15-25 miles a week. I had ran 2 half marathons in my new balance pair and knew they we're in desperate need of a replacement. 

He brought home the Asics Gel Nimbus 12 for me to try. I have always been a NB girl until yesterday when I took these babies for a spin. The shoes have an asymmetrical shoe lacing pattern, so instead of lacing up straight down the middle, they follow the top contour of your foot which provides a more snug fit. Less movement within the shoe = less blisters and hurtful rubbing. Most running shoes contains layers of foam and rubber in the midsole. These Asics have replaced that with a gel midsole which has amazing impact protection, which means you don't feel like you're pounding pavement. I did a three mile test run in them and they were wonderful. My husband gets to pick out all my shoes from now on!

Best VDay Yet

February 14 will always be special to us because that was the day we became "engaged" into our life long journey together. We thought what better way to spend it then in Bricktown, OKC where we became engaged in the first place. The day started off with a bang because I happened to weasel out of a very expensive traffic ticket. Then we headed for yummy sushi, walked to the Thunderdome for some NBA basketball, and of course there is no better way to end the perfect date than with fro-yo! All in all an awesome day for us.

This particular day will always live in our memories for another reason. After waiting 9 months and 7 days we finally heard news that made us BOTH scream, jump up and down like highschool girls. We. Have. Orders.!!!!!! I had checked my e-mail that morning (on Valentine's day) and still no word. We kept saying the whole evening how awesome it would be if we got them on that day. It would just be the cherry to an amazing day. Looks like somewhere someone was ease dropping on our conversation. I checked my e-mail this morning and WAAALAAAA! There they sat. We are BEYOND excited! Sadly we have to wait another four weeks longer than planned, but at this point who cares? At least we have a light at the end of the tunnel. 

We go active on April 15 and report on April 16. The first step is calling the TMO (in charge of moving) office at Tinker AFB. We need to set up a time to sit in on a class to explain to us how to do a DITY move. A DITY move is a "do it yourself move". The AF gives you three options when moving from base to base. You can move yourself (DITY), have the AF pack, store and move your household or do a half and half meaning the AF movers take the big stuff and you do a partial DITY move. We want to do a DITY move because while we have such a small amount of stuff, due to a huge garage sale we hosted last  summer, the move won't be as tough, and the AF will pay us to move our things. We have student loans breathing down our necks so that extra $$ will come in handy. 

The wait has paid off. We really are moving. I really will be an officer in the USAF. Texas, the McVays are ready for you!

The Perfect Cheesecake

We had our first post-college snow day today. What did we do with it? We frolicked in the snow, watched Mississippi Burning and made a delicious cheesecake from scratch. This recipe is from my husband's Aunt Dori. Not only is she an excellent baker, but I hear her key lime pie is a must to try. I'm quite a diaster in the baking side of the kitchen, so my husband did the nitty gritty work. I just made the crust and snapped some photos. I highly recommend this recipe, so tasty!

Traditional New York Cheesecake

Crust : 1/4 cup butter, melted
            1 1/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (35 cookies approx)

Cake : 2 pkgs ( 8oz) cream cheese, room temp
          1 tsp vanilla
          1/8 cup cornstarch
          1/8 tsp salt
          1 cup, 2 tbsp sugar
          2 eggs
          1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
       
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Brush bottoms and sides of a 9" pan with 1 tbsp of the melted butter
3. Stir remaining melted butter into vanilla wafer crumbs in a bowl until crumbs are moistened. Place crumbs mixture in pan and press evenly onto bottom and sides with fingers.
4. In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese on med speed until smooth, no lumps.
5. Beat in vanilla, then add cornstarch and salt, beat until smooth.
6. Add sugar beating on low until blended, add eggs beating just until combined then stir in heavy cream with spatula.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 min.
8. Turn oven off, open door slightly and leave cheesecake in the oven for 15 min. Then remove cake and run a knife around side of cake to loosen from pan and let cool completely.
9. Cover, refrigerate and enjoy!

Taking Photos Is My Hobby

   I love photography. Last Christmas I asked for my first SLR. It's one of my most favorite items I own. I take it on vacations, walks, weekend trips and just about everywhere. I believe that life moves to fast to not snap a couple pictures here and there.

   Today I had the pleasure of conducting my first photo shoot! Yes, I was nervous BUT you have to do your first one sometime. I don't want to start my own business or anything. I just want to be good enough and know my way around my camera (and Photoshop) well enough to take beautiful pictures of our life and the people in it. Especially of our children when the time comes. As a child I loved pouring over my parent's old photo albums. The photos were often blurry, discolored, had horrible lighting or just very poorly done. I knew that I wanted to leave behind pictures that were beautiful and could be enjoyed for many generations. What better way to practice than to take photographs!

   A coworker wanted some pictures of her daughter and boyfriend, so I happily obliged. I was pretty nervous and scatterbrained but I think I did pretty well for my first time! Here are some finished photos from the day.

The blog won't let rotate this one...sorry!

Welcome February!

   It's finally here, February. We've been looking forward to it since October! We have MANY reasons to be excited about the next 29 days. First, we became engaged 3 years ago on Valentine's Day. Crazy how quickly time goes, and that's why I love reminding ourselves of these little anniversaries every year. Secondly, (as I cross my fingers and knock on wood) we should be receiving a little som-something from Air Force....ORDERS! Once we have orders we'll be able to schedule our move (think we have to take a class), Kit will be able to start applying for E.M.T. positions, road trip to San Angelo TX to scout out apartments/rental houses and best of all put in our two weeks notice at our current jobs! We're trying not to get our hopes to high because we know it's a HUGE possibility that the minds at be could change, but we're still hopeful nonetheless. Thirdly, it's tax return month! Who doesn't love a big lump sum kickback from the government? Here's to the month of February!

Not So Extreme Couponing

   I'm sure everyone has heard of or watched that television show Extreme Couponers  on TLC or stood behind someone in line at the grocery store that made you wait an extra four minutes so that they could scan all fifty of their coupons. Yes, it's a little time consuming, but is it worth it? YES!

   My husband and I both graduated college in May, and since then our budget had to be cut in half. We had to make some serious decisions about where our money went. The biggest expense that needed downsizing was our grocery/household allotment, or put more simply...trips to Wal-mart. I currently work in a grocery store, so I became really aware of what are "great" produce/grocery/meat prices and what are not. Another thing that helped trim our budget was couponing. In December we saved $93.43 (that's when I started keeping track of our savings each month out of curiosity) and so far for this month the total is up to $86 saved. Also, the grocery stores aren't the only place to use coupons. We use them for eating out, on soap, pet products, clothing, and I've even seen them for cigarettes if you know where to look.

- The first thing you have to do is get your hands on some coupons. The most obvious source is the  Sunday newspaper. I usually buy two or three papers if the coupons are really good. I know the paper cost more than the average paper, but if you spend $2 on a paper and use $4 worth of coupons then it's worth it. Local supermarkets will also usually have coupon inserts that they're shipped from manufacturers. Also, the internet has become a booming source for free printable coupons. This website is one of my favorites because it's a conglomerate of many coupon websites that all offer free printable coupons http://www.printablegrocerycoupons.net/ 

- There are some tricks on how exactly to use them once you have them. First things first, check the coupon redemption policy with the grocery store you frequent. For example, Wal-Mart and Target only take coupons at face value (no doubling or tripling) whereas your local supermarket (like mine) doubles or even triples the value of a coupon up to a certain value. What I mean by doubling and tripling a coupon is....let's say you want to buy a bottle of mustard for $2. You have a coupon for $0.50 off, so at Wal-Mart you will buy the mustard for $1.50. If your local supermarket is selling the same mustard for $2 and they double the value of your coupon then you will only pay $1 for the mustard instead of $1.50. Hope that makes sense!

- Some supermarkets don't accept internet coupons, so that is another rule to check before you try to redeem the coupons.

- The biggest tip I have learned when it comes to couponing is that timing is everything. Ideally you want to wait for your item of choice to go on sale (which usually takes anywhere from $0.10-$2 off to begin with) and then receive a further discount with your coupon. If you're lucky you've shopped at a local supermarket where your coupon will double or triple, and then you will have bought the item for half the normal price. I have walked out of the store with items that I didn't have to pay a penny for, and no I didn't steal them. For example, I found last month that worcestershire sauce was on sale from $1.75 a bottle to $1.50. I had a $0.75 off coupon, which doubled...so you do the math! Free!

- Organization makes your life so much easier when it comes to couponing. I admit proudly that I'm one of  those people that shop with a thick black binder full of dividers and inserts. I group them by expiration date first, then categories such as Groceries, Non-edibles (like toilet tissue, cleaning supplies, razors, etc) and Restaurants. I work forty hours a week and have a small family that I can't get enough of, so I don't have an abundance of free time on my hands. I do have enough time to take one hour a week to clip and organize coupons, especially if four hours of my time saves us almost $100 a month.

Well I hope this helps and encourages you to start saving your family some serious dough!

2nd Anniversary

January 1 will probably always be one of our most favorite days of the year. We love reminiscing about the past year of adventures together and discussing how we have developed as a couple. This year we decided to try something a little different. We made a pact to hand craft anniversary gifts to each other instead of purchasing them. Challenge accepted. We loved it so much that I think this may be a tradition we keep going for our years to come. 

I made him a little book so that he'll never forget why. He slaved over the stove to make me homemade cheesecake from scratch. Cheesecake holds a special little place in our hearts. This dessert was the first one we ever shared together on our "second" first date, and we served it at our wedding.

Idea from Pinterest!

My gift to him.

Homemade Cheesecake from scratch!

As you can tell, I love photography. I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to try it. Since this was only our second anniversary it was the perfect time to start. Every year you hold a picture up from your last anniversary, so eventually all your anniversary pictures will be compounded into one frame. We loved the idea and will add it to the list of anniversary traditions to come!