Ham Fam Reunion 2012 - Cincinnati!

I just got back from a great weekend! Eduardo and I went to Cincinnati for the “Ham Fam Reunion” as we like to call it. Every 2 years, all the Hamiltons get together to reconnect with each other and enjoy the sights in whatever location we chose that year. It’s a perfect balance of old traditions and new experiences and this year was no exception!

Our busy weekend started with a rushed attempt to make it to the first event on time. Cincinnati is about 4 hours from where we live, and like the optimists we are, we planned to leave exactly 4 hours before it began. Fortunately for us, we managed to get the car loaded and out the door on time – barely. Unfortunately for us, we forgot that we were headed to the Eastern Time Zone and would lose an hour on the way! Bummer! Thankfully I am part of a family of latecomers because dinner was just being served as we arrived an hour after the official start time. We enjoyed a time of pizza, many welcoming hugs, and sharing memories of my Great Uncle Perry who recently passed away.

After dinner, we were invited by some others in the “younger generation” to an outdoor concert in the square a few blocks from our downtown hotel. I am one of the youngest people in my family and have dealt with many years of missing out on whatever my older cousins were doing… so even though we were tired from a long day, I couldn’t turn down their invitation! I am so happy that I am married and finished with college, which is apparently what it takes to be part of the cool crowd. ; ) We had a good time at the concert but I almost lost my voice trying to talk / shout to my cousins over the music. Huge bummer!

On Saturday we grabbed a quick breakfast with several relatives and then headed to King’s Island theme park. It was hot and crowded and of course I did a lot of screaming and almost lost my voice again (boo), but E and I had a blast spending the day with my younger brother. We are all big roller coaster fans and we may have discovered our new favorite – The Diamondback!! (Also I am super jealous of my brother who is on his way today to northern Ohio where he will enjoy several of the world’s best rides at Cedar Point!)

Once we reluctantly left the park on Saturday evening, we headed to the next reunion event of the weekend – my Great Aunt Cara’s 90^th birthday party! Recently, my cousin and his wife moved to Cincinnati and have been renovating a 111 year old house, where they hosted us for the party. Their neighborhood is right on the river overlooking the downtown skyline and the house itself was very charming. They are doing a fantastic job getting it all ready to welcome their first baby in November! So excited for them : ) The cookout at their place was a ton of fun, complete with an attempt to fit 40+ people on the porch for a family photo, a huge timeline of everything that has happened in the world since Great Aunt Cara was born in 1922, adults chasing kids chasing dogs all over the 3 story house and of course delicious burgers and birthday cake!

On Sunday morning we gathered for our infamous family meeting – the one where we attempt to agree on a location for our next reunion in 2 years! This time, amazingly, the process took only a few minutes. We unanimously voted on Atlanta, hometown of one of the cousins who agreed to coordinate the whole event. Except for briefly driving through once, I have never been to Georgia and I think it will be wonderful!

To finish out the weekend, a large group of my family went to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. We managed to find seats in the shade waaaaay up at the top but right behind home plate, and we enjoyed the spectacular view of the river and hills behind it as we watched the Reds beat the Brewers. We also took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy some hotdogs topped with Cincinnati chili, which is an aromatic chili with cinnamon and chocolate in it – unusual and delicious! It was a great way to end a fun weekend with family.

I am so thankful that my family has had these reunions throughout my whole life. My grandparents hosted the first one back in 1990 in Austin TX to help their kids get re-acquainted with their aunts, uncles, and cousins after growing up in the Philippines.  Everyone had a great time so they all said, “Why not do this again in a couple years? Maybe someone else can host it next time?” And sure enough, we’ve gotten together somewhere new every 2 years ever since! It has been wonderful to get to know so many people from my extended family, and even more amazing to be able to travel with my parents and brother all around the country during my childhood! Now the countdown begins to Atlanta 2014!

Grocery Games?

It’s nearly the end of the month… meaning it’s nearly the end of my monthly budget, and my grocery budget is down to the wire!

Some months I am good about looking for coupons and sales – but sometimes I’m just not. Sometimes I am motivated to really enjoy cooking and try new recipes with expensive ingredients I don’t normally keep on hand, and sometimes I’m lazy and buy expensive frozen meals instead … and sometimes I do both. Sometimes I convince Eduardo that it’s ok to have a meatless meal once in a while – but not usually. Sometimes I follow my meal plan to the letter – and sometimes life gets crazy and food expires before we can eat it. It seems that we had “some” of those times a lot this month!

I am thankful to have plenty of wiggle room in my budget for these types of months, but I don’t want to give up just because I know I’ll fail to stay on budget. So even though there’s a week left and I have only $7 left in my grocery budget, I’m just going to do my best.

I need to make 10 meals before the end of the month – 8 dinners (today through next Tuesday, excluding date night on Friday) and 2 lunches (Saturday and Sunday). I will also need staples like milk and bread, and some snacks to supplement the leftovers I will have for lunch all week (crackers, fruit, dessert, etc).

I know one of the best ways to save money is to shop your pantry, fridge, and freezer. I often look around my kitchen and feel that I have literally nothing to cook. I was surprised to realize how many meals I can make by buying only 1 or 2 ingredients! In many cases I only needed to add a fresh veggie to round out a meal. I wonder how often this is the case?

I also know that meat is almost always the most expensive part of a meal, so during my kitchen-shopping I looked for meat first.

Here’s what I found:

4 chicken breasts

1 lb ground beef

2 tilapia fillets

1 lb leftover BBQ pulled pork

1 can of tuna

That’s enough for 6 meaty meals to please Eduardo!

Next I tried to find recipes and sides to go with those meats that either require very few ingredients, or require only ingredients that we already have. I already had everything for 2 recipes because I meant to cook them last week and had to change plans at the last minute.

I chose:

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken with pasta and a veggie

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken & Veggies with rice

BBQ Pork Nachos

Tuna Melts with chips and fruit

Meatloaf with mac & cheese and a veggie

Lemon Butter Tilapia with rice and a veggie

Once I had done that, I still had a few gaps, so I racked my brain for a few meatless meals that Eduardo and I both enjoy:

Pancakes and Eggs

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Thankfully we usually have everything for those on hand too.

Finally I only needed to plan 2 more meals. I’m confident that we will have some leftovers by the end of the week, so those can cover 1 meal. And since I’m feeling so good about my progress so far, I went ahead and planned 1 “reward” meal for all the scrimping we will do all week – meaning I will actually have to buy meat and several other ingredients for it. I chose Raspberry Cream Chicken with potatoes and a veggie because it’s a favorite and it doesn’t require too many ingredients that I don’t have on hand.

Here’s my shopping list along with which meal each item will go with:

Milk

Bread

Fruit

Chocolate chips to make cookies for lunches

4 veggies (sides for 4 meals that don’t have veggies in them)

Cilantro (BBQ pork nachos)

Canned Corn (BBQ pork nachos)

Pickle Relish (Tuna Melts)

2 Chicken Breasts (Raspberry Cream Chicken)

Heavy Cream (Raspberry Cream Chicken)

Potatoes (Raspberry Cream Chicken)

What do you think of my plan? How much do you think I will spend? Certainly more than $7 but I don’t think I’ll do too badly. I’ll be sure to give an update after I go shopping!

We bought a house!

Yes, indeed, we bought a house! It's still a little hard for me to believe, but I am so excited and I can't wait to pick up the keys in about a month!

Eduardo and I moved to Illinois last August, planning to rent for about a year and then buy a home. However, life was of course busy as always, and by Christmas we were second guessing our plan. Would we have the time, energy, and money next summer to do this? We decided to put our plan on hold. 

In March, we finished paying off my student loans and became debt free! Let me take this opportunity to plug Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University. We took the course at our church while we were engaged and it really helped us get on the same page before getting married. We recommend it for any life stage! Anyway, becoming debt free not only made us feel awesome, but it also allowed us to save up for a down payment pretty quickly. By April, our plans to buy a home late in the summer were back on the table!

Once we started the process, it went a lot faster than I would have expected. In May we met with a real estate agent to learn more about the process and the local market. Our first house hunting appointment was over Memorial Day weekend. The whole house hunting experience was challenging but really fun - especially once we saw a house we loved. We saw it for the first time after just one month of house hunting and put our offer in about a week later - today! The negotiation process took just a few short hours and by the afternoon, we had a signed contract. 

Now we will be frantically getting every document about our entire lives together for the bank. We're closing on August 13, which just cannot come soon enough!! Until then, I'm going crazy on Pinterest : )

PS - Ugly picture. Can't wait to replace the stained roof and paint some contrasting colors onto that door or the shutters! But of course I still have to share.

I'm Back!......Maybe?

Hey all!

So, my blogging didn't really get off the ground I guess. Maybe I got too busy, maybe I ran out of post ideas, or maybe I just never got into the habit - I'm not really sure why I stopped writing, but I honestly didn't really miss it until recently. I've decided to give it another shot. I'm not putting any pressure on myself or making any promises to anyone, but let's just see how it goes, shall we?

I may go back and add in a couple posts about the interesting things I've done since November (maybe a few I never got around to before that also!). Right now I'm working on a photo album from my second year of marriage, May 2011 - May 2012, and it's been reminding me of all the great things I've experienced in the last year.

Enjoy!