Simply Jaimie

I can't believe I did it! Four weeks of using half my budget to stock up and it has truly been life changing (I will write a seperate blog post on that later.) This week I wanted to stock up on the areas I felt needed some extras.  I even sacrificed my extra budget to get some stuff from Costco. was very happy with my shopping trip this week! I came in under budget at Winco but used the rest of the budget to get eggs from Walmart. my shopping trip from Costco. my husband found this on ksl for $150 which we thought was too good to pass up and I love it!

I have been so busy these pass couple weeks (hence why these posts are going up late.) Here is my week three update for the stocktober challenge. This week I wanted to stock up on canned goods. I went $1.53 over budget, but am still happy with my shopping trip.  on the right is everything for the week and on the left from the cake mixes (which are 88 cents at Winco!!!!!) over are my stock up items lots of canned goods, yogurt and cake mixes this week

I felt a lot more confident going into week two. My goal for this week was to focus on stocking up on meat (for the right price of course.) My confidence quickly dwindled when I was finished my shopping and started heading towards the front to pay. $100 dollars a week cut in half is not a whole lot of money for groceries. I knew I was going to be over budget (not by much but still over.) I thought about putting some of my stock up items back, but this feeling came over me to keep going. I stood at the register and watched the total get closer and closer to my $100 budget. The sweet lady ringing up my items finally finished and told me my final total - $95.32. I thought I was going to cry! How was this possible? I had calculated every item I put in m cart. I double check my receipt to make sure she hadn't missed anything. To my surprise, everything was there. I could blame this on my calculating skills but I knew that I had just experienced a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Fat...

Did anyone else absolutely love this talk from General Conference? I did! Sister Eubank's talk was based upon this quote from President Kimball, "Finally, my dear sister, may I suggest to you something that has not been said before or at least in quite this way. Much of the major growth that is coming to the church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world. . . will be drawn to the church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the church are seen as distinct and different - in happy ways - from the women of the world. Among the real heroines in the world who will come into the church are women who are more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish. These real heroines have true humility, which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility. . . It will be . . . female exemplars of the church [wh...

Beauty if you haven't tried l'oreal's lash paradise mascara, you need to get to a store NOW! This stuff is amazing! It makes your lashes look full and long without looking clumpy. It retails for $8.99 and worth every penny.  My other beauty favorite is Soap and Glory's Body Buttercream with the hint of lime in it. I rub it after I get out the shower and it leaves my skin feeling so soft. My girls also love this lotion and beg to use it after their bath. It does retail for $15 at Ulta, so I try really hard to detour them to another lotion. . . . . . It never works. Bonus - that hint of lime leaves this subtle scent that lasts throughout the day. My husband always tells me that I smell so good!  Book I randomly picked up this book in target, and thought it looked like a good read. The author is Emily Ley from simplified planner. It is all about giving yourself a break from perfection. I read this book when I was feeling really overwhelmed with life. I...

Hannah has been an official kindergartner for almost two months now, and she is loving it. Hannah missed the cut off to start kindergarten last year by only one month. I was not upset about her having to wait another year to start because I felt that she needed that year to mature a little (if that makes sense.) I also decided not to send her to preschool because I wanted to spend that year before kindergarten with her. I figured that once she started school that would be the start of her life in school. I don't regret selfishly keeping her all to myself for that time. I will admit that I was worried she would be a little behind the other kids in her class. However, she is doing just fine. The first day was rough for all of us. The teachers met us at the door  she will be entering the school everyday. They then told the kids to wave goodbye to us, and took them! I was in complete shock! This stranger (her wonderful teacher) just took my baby away!! Those next three hours were ...

While planning our day trip to Vernal, we found out that Vernal is the Utah dinosaur capital!  We thought it would be fun to take the girls to this state park, but we just call it a dinosaur museum. It was super cheap! Aaron and I paid $7 each, Hannah was $3.50, and Lilly and Beck were free. I believe kids were free up until the age of four. It isn't a big museum, but is packed with lots of exhibits and fun activites. The dinosaurs looked a little too real for Lilly who was quite scared.  If you make it out to Vernal, I would definetly recomment checking it out.

Just realized that I never posted these two temples! Manti Utah Temple which is my personal favorite so far. It is stunning! and the Ogden Utah Temple which looked way different than I thought.  In 2010 the church announced a complete overhaul of the temple; including, new exterior walls. I think it looks more like the Payson temple now.

On Tuesday, we took a day trip to Vernal, Utah which is about three hours from our house. My family and I are doing the 17 temples in 2017 challenge. There are currently (including Cedar City) 17 temples in Utah, and one more announced (although yet to be built) in Saratoga Springs. We have seen 12 temples so far. The remaining temples are all pretty far away, and so we have to take these day trips to go see them.  The Vernal temple is small; yet beautiful. It is really unique looking and is nestle into a small community (which I am assuming was built up around the temple.)   Facts about the Vernal Utah Temple: - announced February 13, 1994 - groundbreaking May 13, 1995 - dedication by President Gordon B. Hinckley November 2-4, 1997 - in 1993  the First Presidency approved the idea to transform the deteriorating 1907 Unitah Stake Tabernacle into the Vernal Utah Temple - During the transformation, the tabernacle was completely gutted, keeping only t...

For the month of October, I am taking part in the stock your shelves October challenge (#stocktober.) This is a challenge by Jordan Page over at fun cheap or free . Each week, I take my grocery budget (I shop weekly) and chop it in half! My family of five has a monthly budget of $500 a month ($125 a week.) Beck is on formula so I use his $100 on food for him which leaves me $400 a month ($100 a week.) Half of my weekly grocery budget goes towards groceries for the week including things like laundry supplies, paper towels, diapers, and personal care items. The other half goes towards stocking up on those items. You can stock up on anything - short term food storage, long term food storage, toothpaste, shampoo, diapers etc. At first, I thought a $50 budget for my weekly groceries was impossible! However, this is a challenge and challenges aren't meant to be easy. I decided to give it a go and try to stretch myself and my budget. With that being said here is how I did with my first...