This month feels like March 2020 but worse. When last spring things were looking dire, we still had this feeling that we were "all in this together." No matter where you were in the world, life was locked down and everyone was feeling the anxiety and fear over the spreading pandemic. Fast forward a year…
Celebrating a Decade in Our Home
Today marks a decade in our house. Ten years ago, we were twenty three years old, new to being back in the area, and determined to buy a home. Or well, I was determined to buy a home, and my husband was along for the ride. Six months of dreaming online and then six months…
Supporting Local Restaurants through the COVID-19 Pandemic
Nine months into the COVID-19 Pandemic here in the United States, local businesses are really struggling to stay afloat. Washington State initially shut down indoor dining mid-March, reopening at 25% capacity in the summer, and then more recently, shutting it back down again as cases have skyrocketed. While we haven't eaten inside a restaurant since…
Friday’s Frugal Five (COVID-19 Week 13)
And with that, we're done with the last full week of May. The days absolutely aren't normal, but they seem to be moving along at a much faster clip now. On a whim, we took a day trip out to Sequim over the weekend. Really, the fact that we could decide impulsively to take a…
Friday’s Frugal Five (COVID-19 Week 6)
The kiddo has been seriously missing his Nana and Grammy (my mother and grandmother), who he usually sees for a full day once a week. At first, he enjoyed FaceTime calls with them, but over the last few week, he's mostly refused to even do that, saying that he "wants to see their whole body."…
Friday’s Frugal Five (COVID-19 Edition, Week 2)
When I wrote last week's Frugal Five, I was at the end of my first week working from home (with the kiddo home as well). Even just one week ago, the Coronavirus didn't quite seem like it could possibly get so bad. It felt like I was perhaps overreacting when I didn't send the kiddo…
Friday’s Frugal Five (2020 – Week 9)
Last weekend was another weekend hanging near home. The weather was actually pretty decent - with sunshine and low fifties for part of the days - so we spent quite a bit of time outdoors. It might not be summer yet, or even spring, but it's obvious that the winter gloom is starting to loosen…
Friday’s Frugal Five (2020 – Snow Day Edition)
What was meant to be our first full week back to work since before Christmas ended up being a bit different than expected. We left Iceland right after blizzard conditions and a ton of snow dumped on the part of the country we were in and arrived just in time for a bunch of snow…
Friday’s Frugal Five (Austin Texas Edition)
Remember those wonderful neighbors of ours who moved down to Austin, Texas this past May? They had a baby this summer (the impetus for their move) and we managed to squeeze in a Thanksgiving week trip to head down for a visit and to meet the little guy. I had visited Austin five years ago…
Friday’s Frugal Five (2019 – Week 43)
Last Friday was our "would have been" tenth wedding anniversary. My now-husband was active duty in the Marine Corps though, and when he let his command know that we were engaged - and had set a wedding date - they purposefully sent him on a detachment detail to Yuma, Arizona for three months, overlapping with…