I Have Discovered.....

*That I Love being thrifty.  I have always loved getting a good bargain, but lately it's almost become a passion.  For instance, I have several coupons and I've been printing them out from various sites and tips from other blogs.  Then I put them all in my file folder of coupons, divided into specific groups.   At any rate, sometimes Rich does the grocery shopping.  He likes stocking up on things he thinks we may need, things that he thinks are great deals etc.  I took a picture once of our storage pantry room and posted it on here and that was at a time when it wasn't as well stocked.  He'll come home from the grocery store and as he starts telling me what all he bought --- I find myself constantly saying..."damn, I had a coupon for that." or "How much did you save."  It's become an addiction....But it's a good one. 

*I also discovered that I love going to thrift stores and you'll probably find me cruising the yard sales this summer.  For some reason, in years past, I always felt like I was "too good" for thrift stores.  Not that I'm snobby or anything like that.  I just didn't think that I would ever find myself browsing through a store like that.  Until I discovered all the cool things that you can do with some of the treasures that you can only find there.  Old cookbooks, furniture that simply needs a fresh coat of paint (in some cases)....Sure some of what you find is actually crap and garbage.  But some of it just needs a bit of inspiration and new found love.  Now, I can tell you that I haven't been able to bring myself to purchase clothing at the thrift shop...for those bargains, I generally stick to clearance racks and sales.  It's funny, because even though we can "afford" brand new things, it's still fun finding a bargain on something someone else discarded because they didn't want or need it anymore.  I think alot of it has to do with the thrill of the hunt, so to speak, than the need for such an item, know what I mean?

*That I have been anxious to start our garden again this year. Last year was our first year, a little trial and error one. For instance, we learned what grows quickly and what takes forever. We learned what we liked as far as vegetables to plant (like we really didn't like the leaf lettuce, it was bitter, so this year I think we'll stick with iceberg). We learned what things we won't plant again...brussel sprouts - not because nobody likes to eat them, but for starters we planted way too many and they take over the space and they grow very tall, over shadowing other things. We learned that garden broccoli looks nothing like what you buy in the grocery store. And for not really liking tomatoes, we discovered we were disappointed that they were blighted last year. Last year, we did both seeds and seedlings. I discovered a desire to can my own vegetables. I froze some things, I made my own salsa (which we are still eating), but mostly we just ate things fresh from the garden. It was nice just going out to the garden and picking up some eggplant or peppers or cabbage to use for dinner that night. I seriously can't wait to get started on this year's garden. Who knew that after years and years of killing houseplants that I actually do have a green thumb afterall.