A Huge update

You may have wondered where my Vegetarian updates went to... Well after training for the marathon a few weeks back, I blacked out and fell in my shower and almost broke my nose

It was a morning of worst case scenarios... i didn't eat enough for breakfast, didn't bring enough training snacks along for the lengthy walk, my partners knee was giving out on her so we took it slower, the sun was hot in the now afternoon so we drank too much water and diluted our electro lights. When I finally got home I made a quick snack (but i hadn't gone grocery shopping for the week so there weren't many options in the house), and popped in the tub... after a while i turned on the shower part to wash my hair and got really dizzy, tried to get down on my knees and fell in the process as i blacked out for a few seconds and smacked my upper lip on the tub and bruised myself pretty badly--- I was lucky i didn't break my nose... and that my braces had been removed only a few weeks before.

With the intense training, (and not being very familiar yet with a vegetarian diet and easy protein swaps), my body wasn't getting what it needed... so I abandoned it 2 days after the black out... and I felt sooooo amazing after that. So for now, I'm back to my normal eating habits.

Now, An “us” update
It’s been about about 2 weeks since my fiance moved here to California to begin the hunt for a job. We are finally unpacked, organized, and into the new swing of our routines. While he’s settled into the condo (and I’ve temporarily moved in at night with a family from my church), the application and job hunt has begun, and we haven’t driven each other mad yet as we live in a small space and make compromises.

Thankfully, I have some wonderful friends (including a contractor who is letting my fiance work with him when he can)… but it’s not a “real job” with benefits, an hourly wage or anything really... He gets a day wage/project wage at the finish of an assignment. Half we are putting into an envelope to pay back his parents (he owes approximately $1500.00), ¼ we have set aside in a jar for our honeymoon, and ¼ we are setting aside for taxes because he’s not an employee anywhere and I’m not getting in trouble with the IRS for not paying enough taxes. So far he has only worked 1 day, but he gets to go to work today again... and since my friend lives close by he has been just picking my fiance up so he hasn't had any commuting expenses.

We’ve had some luck on the job hunt though. A few places are actively hiring (while some are accepting applications but not hiring…. And most aren’t taking any at all), BUT my fiancé did score an on the spot interview to work at a gas station near our condo part time. He finds out in a week or so if he gets it... So we are crossing our fingers and hoping it will work out.

Right now we are surviving on my income alone so he can knock out the debt to his folks before we walk down the aisle… so we have been cutting corners and finding swaps for things. But his family has been so helpful and supportive!!! I've stopped getting a lot of gourmet foods and have opted for more simple ingrediants, and we haven't had one meal out at all since we parked ourselves in California! Here's some of the little things we have been doing to cut back:

1. I learned to make bread from scratch sans a bread machine. While I was out in Utah, my fiancé’s mom showed me how to make bread and sent us home with some basic ingredients to help us start off. (We also plan on getting food staples when we go out over the Christmas holidays back to Utah because the price difference is just unreal. Yeast is maybe $3 for a whole container in Utah. In California it is $3.00 an ounce because they only sell them in individual use packets.) :/ and I like my homemaid bread. It tastes fantastic!!!
2. We have been sticking to our $50 a week budget for groceries… before we go out we look at all the ads, compare the costs at the stores and make a list of what we have on hand already, and what we need to make meals for the week. He has given up daily soda and junk food purchases since we can't afford those right now… and I have given up some of my diet luxuries like artichokes when they go on sale, and expensive healthy convenience foods… and Costco runs that don’t involve staples like Milk, cereal, and just cheese. (no gourmet treats... no more weekly humas...)
3. we have also changed what and where we shop. (see my ode to fresh and Easy)...
4. His parents sent him with huge staple supplies to help us out while he job hunts (like lots and lots of Peanut butter, spaghetti, some canned soup, top ramen, etc.

So far I have to say that I'm very proud of "US" and how we are managing things right now. We keep looking for deals and ways to save money, and also trying to figure out how to change our spending habits completely. Just this week alone, my fiance started to hand wash the pots and pans and larger stuff so we didn't have to run the dishwash every other day (since I can't stand doing dishes by hand.... I don't mind drying them, i just don't like the washing part.) and we found a recipe on line to make your own granite counter cleaner... so we are going to give that a whirl when the bottle we have is empty.