good deals

Justin is constantly in "deal searching mode" - it has slowly rubbed off on me and now I find myself wanting to tell him about deals that I have found. I'm going to try and share coupons/sales/good deals on my blog when I, or Justin run across them. Here are a few on our radar this week.

1 - Scrapblog.com is offering free custom made Mother's Day cards! All you have to pay for is $1.00 shipping. I have used Scrapblog before so I am familiar with the layout of the site - but if you are a first timer and have a little creative side it should be super easy to figure out. I ended up creating a second account so that could I make one card for my mom and one for Justin's mom. They do charge for certain card layouts etc, but there are free templates on there so just look around! (now you guys have proof that we are frugal, but I think the cards are far better than store bought since I was able to customize them with pictures of our family :)

(It looks like Hallmark is running a similar deal where you can personalize a card for free - Enter promo code CARD4MOM at checkout. Cards must be ordered by 5-1, so hurry! Free Mother's Day Card.

2 - Footlocker.com is having a 30% off friends and family sale! The coupon is good in stores and online. The coupon appears to be good for sale merchandise as well- yay!

FootLocker family of stores is having a 30% off Friends & Family sale. Coupons expire May 2, 2009. Here are codes for shopping online. If you want to print off coupons for in store use, click here.

* Foot Locker coupon code: FF9ACP54 or FF9AL223
* Champs coupon code: FF9A6LN9
* Footaction coupon code: FF9ALV34

3. REI.OUTLET.com has their BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR - starting tomorrow, May 1st! We usually like to look for winter gear that's on sale. We know its the wrong time of year, but that's when all the best deals are found, so stock up on winter weather must-haves for next winter!

good eats

Many of you have commented on our list of "off limit" food items. I'm here to report so far so good! Besides my occasional cheat (the peanut butter calls out my name while Justin is at work... ;) We have done a good job of keeping each other in check and providing support when the cravings get bad. Since our lists slightly overlap, we decided that in order to support each other, it would be best if we combined our lists...(just imagine me getting a burger and fries at a restaurant... I would constantly have to swat Justin's hand away from my plate!)

I recently found the Iowa Girl Eats blog - this blog is a great source of inspiration to eat healthy and stay active! There are many yummy recipes that I cannot wait to try when I get home.



and this.. the perfect way to start the day- oh how I love oatmeal!
(pictures courtesy of the iowagirleats blog)

If you are looking for some delicious foods that more than make up what the above dishes lack in calories, then click here. From mac and cheese to chocolate cake, KevinandAmanda.com has the comfort foods covered! And, to top it off, they have some incredibly cute free fonts that you can download for free!

so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, AU REVOIR

While I have loved our time in Brussels/Belgium/Europe, there are certain things I will not miss.

* the smell of nasty grease on the subway escalators
* no dishwasher/stove/washer and dryer in my apartment
* the exchange rate
* the lack of decent television - as I was writing this, a new show came on tv. I couldn't understand the words but I certainly got the point - men were matching pictures of womens' va-jay-jays to the rightful(fully clothed)owner, based solely on looks. As you probably guessed, they didnt blur anything out!
* language barrier
* my own 2 feet as my only means of transportation - a bike or even car would have been nice at times
*this disgusting excuse for a duvet. gag.

*this nasty bug making its home on my shirt

Ok, I'm done :) The US is certainly not without flaws, but we dearly miss our home and we are ready to return to our normal lives.

5. more. days.

We are in the home stretch... only 5 days to go!! We spent the weekend packing and being incredibly lazy. Our desire to travel and cram tons of events into a short amount of time is long gone. Tonight we went to Carrefour, the Target-like grocery store, for the last time (don't worry, we have an entire suitcase full of waffles, beer and chocolates to bring home to our amazing friends and fam :) and we will do our last few loads of laundry this week (THANK GOD!!) I'm really not joking about the suitcase!!!

After I went to the post office this afternoon, I stopped by the mall to spend the last of my euros. I hate to spend them on stuff I don't really need, but I'm not going to get stuck with some pos exchange rate and get screwed out of my money... soooo instead I found a lovely candle holder from Zara Home. I am totally crushed they don't have a presence in the US, nor do they ship there from what I can tell.

P.S. I am only accepting the following items as barters in exchange for Belgian beer/chocolates/waffles.

-rice krispy treats (preferably from ISU dining, homemade will work as well)
-Donut King white long johns or cinnamon rolls
-lunch at Panera
-buffalo wings
-magic puffs - Marin, that's all you
-Tavern pizza
-a trip to Von Maur
-a meal @ El Aguela (Justin)

lots of love
S + J

i30

Well, I never got around to taking pictures of Justin's car, so I finally stole some pictures from the web. Justin has recently mastered (I say this to appease him) the art of parallel parking. He used to complain that the car doesn't have an "ass" and the wheels are too close to the back of the car.. making for a much different parking experience than with the exploder! Now, he just backs the little guy up until the rear sensors starts to beep so fast it sounds like the car is going to explode. (I foresee a parking lot accident when we get home, seeing as the exploder doesn't have a rear backup sensor)

Justin has logged a lot of driving miles since we have been here. Luckily there was no mileage limit on the rental car.. I am 100% sure we would have maxed our miles early on, especially with our little 15 hour road trip to and from Switzerland. I have not driven a car in almost 3 months, its going to be so weird to get behind the wheel of the Jetta when I get back - but I am sooo looking forward to the freedom of driving the open road from MN to IA :)

Hyundai i30 - note: our car is an automatic.. probably the only one that exists in Europe haha
Imagine this guy getting towed away right in front of your eyes, in a foreign country, with no cash on hand... not an ideal situation but sure does make for a great story!

8 days y'all!!!

walking on a dream

Music pick of the week: Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun

Call me crazy but I like this song. I have no idea if its on the radio in the States but they certainly play it all the time in Brussels.

p.s. I just bought this song on the Belgian itunes store this morning and it just happens to be the FREE song of the week on the US itunes store! ugh, I swear I have no luck!!!!!

l o n d o n

This past weekend we boarded our last high speed train bound for London. Never did I think I would visit London, let alone twice in a little over a year! London is by far my favorite large European city that I have been too. I love everything about it- the architecture, the parks, the tube, the accent and the endless activities to keep you entertained!

I knew that Justin and I would end up seeing/doing things I had already done(which was totally fine by me, I was super excited to be able to show him around the city) but I also wanted to see a few things I missed the first time around.

We arrived in London on Saturday morning at 9. I accidentally got us lost, big surprise, but we eventually made it to our hotel in Kensington. The first activity we did was tour The All England Tennis(and Croquet)Club - the home of Wimbledon! We loved touring the grounds, learning about the history of the game, club and tournament. The last part of our tour took us to Court 1 - sadly, Center Court is under a major reno to install a retractable roof. It reopens May 2009, we only missed it by 3 weeks! total bummer :(

Next we went to Portobello Road for the world famous antique market. I've been there before, but during the week when only a small number of vendors were there. Going on Saturday was a completely different experience - there were people everywhere! I would have bought a couple fun things- if only I didn't have to lug all of my treasures home...

Next we strolled through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. (The hotel I stayed in last year was literally across the street from the parks and I never went so I insisted we go there this time around) It was a beautiful day so there were people lounging around and playing fetch with their pups, we were totally jealous. This was all followed up by a trip to Buckingham Palace and a delicious meal of fish, chips and snakebites (Strongbow with black currant syrup mixed in) to wash it all down :)

Sunday we saw Big Ben, went up in the London Eye, took a boat tour down the Thames, went to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian and conveniently picked up a wedding ring for Justin. Lastly we snuck over to Abbey Rd to get a picture of Justin crossing the street (take a guess as to how many times we had to attempt that!).

Yet another amazing weekend with my lifelong traveling buddy :)

Sitting outside the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens
Abbey Road
London Eye
Royal Observatory in Greenwich where the Prime Meridian can be found
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment
Buckingham Palace
Prime Meridian
Wimbledon
London Eye and City Hall

Westminster

the rules of eating

With summer rapidly approaching, Justin and I feel the need to finally "get into shape". We're not fanatic workout/health food people, but we both know that we could improve on both. This coupled with the fact that we're engaged and wanting to look good for our wedding has motivated us to get serious and make our goals a reality. So far our health plans have been mostly talk, until this week when Justin has been turning up the pressure. He likes to tell me what I shouldn't be eating, and of course, I do the same to him. Since we both like to tell each other what not to eat, I decided we should make this whole getting-into-shape thing a little more interesting. Each of us had a chance to write down 5 foods that were off limit to the other person - without seeing our own list. Here is what we came up with

the objective: get in shape
the game: 5 foods that are off limit
the rules: we are not allowed to eat the items written under our name
the fun part: i picked out the foods on justin's no-no list and he picked mine. we clearly picked each others favorite foods. (ok, i would not consider butter one of my favorite foods - but, i do prefer it to the nasty fake stuff which i will soon be eating)

Our list of foods that are off limit:
Spenser:
1. peanut butter
2. real butter
3. ice cream
4. chips
5. pop

Justin:
1. ice cream
2. ranch
3. french fries
4. alfredo sauce
5. pop

the one and only thing that will be hanging on my fridge when we get home

p.s. I already told Justin I get one pass this weekend - fish and chips :)

memory books

Many of you wonder what I actually do during a given day (wish I could give you a legit answer :) Anywho, I read, internet, watch tv, clean (I can't wait to have a dishwasher again!!) workout and scrapbook. I wanted to be able to create a scrapbook of sorts to document all of our travels but I didn't want the hassle of bringing home a million brochures and ticket stubs. My solution- I brought 2 blank memory books that I picked up from TJ's before coming to Brussels. I've had a great time filling these books with bits and pieces of our travels and they have been a creative outlet and distraction from my uneventful weekday routine. I highly recommend taking a similar book on vacations - be it a week in Napa or a semester long adventure in Europe. All you need is a pair of scissors, glue stick and blank notebook and voila! you have creative and incredibly cheap keepsake of your travels :)

where it all happens





my cute leather-like books

the best part of these books - the price!! $1.99 for the small book and $3.99 for the larger, blue book!


Next addition - London :)

i see light at the end of the tunnel

Reason 127 why I need to return home to the States: We have no lights in our apartment. Since we moved into our place a total of 7 out of 17 lights have burnt out!!!In order to get them replaced we have to call the leasing office because the housekeeper doesn't carry them with her. I'm too lazy to call the leasing office and we're too cheap to buy light bulbs at the store - so until now we have been rearranging working light bulbs to maximize their efficiency. But, I woke up this morning and we are down to 1 out of 3 lights in the bathroom.. not good! Maybe we should start going to bed at sundown and waking up at sunrise.. haha, not a chance! I'm so over this apartment.

SIXTEEN DAYS!!

peace. love. iowa

After living in Brussels for over 2 months, we are SO ready to come home! Until now we have been completely content living 4,000 miles away from home. Maybe its the change in season (we are now enjoy beautiful weather on a regular basis :) or maybe its the fact that we are only 18 days away from returning home- whatever it is, we continually resist the urge to pack all of our belongings and board any plane headed towards the US! We fully plan to enjoy our last 2 weeks here, especially our trip to London, but we've already filled so many weekends with trips back home. Graduations, mother's day and memorial day are consuming practically all of weekends in May but we couldn't be happier to find reasons to see family and friends!

Here is our agenda for May - we want to see you so pencil us in!!
* May 8-10
* May 22-25
* May 29-31

Senior year of HS

Thinking about my sisters upcoming high school graduation has made me reflect on my high school days- they seem so long ago but its only been 4 years since I graduated!
Senior year was full of amazing memories and friends that will last a lifetime!

Sissy- enjoy your last month before graduation!

IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU...

1. Did you date someone from your school? Nope
2. Did you marry someone from your high school? No
3. Did you car pool to school? I carpooled a few times before I could drive myself sophomore year
4. What kind of car did you have? 02 Dodge Stratus that I really liked... that poor car is now at the bottom of a junk yard
5. What kind of car do you have now? 06 Jetta
6. Its Friday night...where are you now? Hanging out somewhere in Europe
7. It is Friday night...where were you then? Hanging out in Dan or Dave's basement
8. What kind of job did you have in high school? Worked at Active Endeavors - an outdoor store
9. What kind of job do you do now? Currently working on finding a job :)
10. Were you a party animal? Definitely not
11. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Haha, no
12. Were you a nerd? Considering my books never left my locker and I did my homework 5 minutes before it was due, no!
14. Did you get suspended or expelled? The worst I ever received was 1 detention.. and it didn't really count anyways!
15. Can you sing the fight song? Doubtful.. I would recognize it if I heard it though
16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s): Dinsdale, Young, Engstrand, Clay
17. Where did you sit during lunch? At home or Subway with Dan and Blake
18. What was your school's full name? Valley High School

19. When did you graduate? 2005
20. What was your school mascot? Tigers
21. If you could go back and do it again? Not a chance. I love my friends from H.S. but I love the freedom of college - I would do that over again if I could!
22. Did you have fun at Prom? Of course
23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? All the time!
24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Wouldn't miss it
25. Do you still talk to people from school? On a daily basis
26. School Colors? Orange and Black
27. What celebrities came from your high school? Most recently, Shawn Johnson!
prom pics! my dress was all of 40 bucks, already owned the flip flops, wore a bracelet dave made, wore my mom's earrings and did my own hair! clearly i'm still proud of my budget friendly prom ensemble :)

bbq at dan's the summer before college

this picture perfectly sums up our senior year! (btw, we kidnapped jeff on his 18th, hence the blindfold)

and we all stayed friends :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Somehow I managed to spend 2 consecutive Easter Sundays in Europe. Last year I attended the Easter Sunday service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. This year I spent it on my couch, wishing we were back home with our families. 20 days people, 20 DAYS!!

Grammy - Easter 2007 :)


St. Paul's Cathedral - Easter 2008

Family Trip

I finally got motivated to create a slide show from the fam trip to Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam! Here is a compilation of pictures.. enjoy!



(The audio is broken, I'm working on fixing it :)

Laugh of the Day

Reason 238 why I need to return home to the States: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

If you're looking for a good laugh, this is a must watch. I completely lost it at minute 2:57.

Jimmy Fallon goes to Cirque School

Lady Magic

So I've been on a big James Taylor kick the last few days. I've always loved his sweet melodies, but even more so this week. I also like his son, Ben Taylor's music. He has a few songs that I'm into, but Lady Magic has been on repeat since Marin e-mailed it to me :)

Weird intro. creeping light. amazing beat.



Me and Abbie with Ben and Sally Taylor! They opened for my very first TP concert at the M-Shop in Ames.