Witty Wednesday

Today I thought it would be fun to make the post about great movie lines that make you laugh. I will be adding our top 10 favorite funny movie lines. I would love it if you would all share with me your favorite funny movie lines as well. This could inspire people to see your favorite movies and bring back some memories of funny moments. Enjoy mine and Anthony's top 10!


Anthony & Erica's Top Ten:

1. What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole... wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad; that's amazing. How 'bout we get you in your p.j.'s and we hit the hay. -- Anchorman


2.No, not really. Usually I follow the Judao-Christian ethic of "Thou shalt not kill". But, that's just me. -- So I married an Axe Murderer


3. Gimbel's Manager: Why are you smiling like that?
Buddy: I just like to smile. Smiling is my favorite. -- Elf

4. Name's Barf. I'm a Mog, half man half dog. I'm my own best friend.
Spaceballs

5. Rumack: Can you fly this plane, and land it?
Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley. --- Airplane

6. Louie brought his new girlfriend over, and the nicest thing I can say about her is all her tattoos are spelled correctly. -- Steel Magnolias

7. Fat Man at Bench: It was a bullet, wasn't it?
Forrest Gump: A bullet?
Fat Man at Bench: That jumped up and bit you.
Forrest Gump: Oh, yes sir. Bit me right in the buttocks. They said it was a million dollar wound, but the army must keep that money 'cause I still haven't seen a nickel of that million dollars. -- Forrest Gump

8. SNOOP! SNOOP-A-LOOP -- No it's cool man, bring your green hat -- Old School

9. Lois: How would you like me to make your life a living hell?
Ace Ventura: Well, I'm not really ready for a relationship, Lois, but thank you for asking. Hey, maybe I'll give you a call sometime. Your number's still 911? All righty then. -- Ace Ventura Pet Detective

10. "Evil will always prevail, because good is dumb." -- Spaceballs

Tasty Tuesday

Today's Tasty Tuesday is based around a dish I would probably pay more money for than I have but have since found a way to pay less money for it than I pay normally. If any of that didn't make sense, I apologize. I am a huge fan of the Old Spaghetti Factory and I love their dish, "Spaghetti with Browned Butter and Mizithra" It is just as easy as it sounds as it is simply spaghetti pasta tossed in Browned butter and sprinkled with Mizithra Cheese. In the restaurant, this retails for $9.99 which is a steal may I add.

I, however, have decided to start making it at home more often when I want it and only pay about $2.00 for the dish and I get more by doing it at home. I basically just decided to start buying Mizithra Cheese from the Spaghetti Factory, thereby still supporting one of my favorite restraurants. The cheese comes in a pretty considerable amount for about $6.00 and you need about 1/6 of the bag for one serving of the Spaghetti. Since that is true the cheese only runs you about $1.00 per serving. A considerable amount of Spaghetti at the grocery store can cost you anywhere from 30 cents to 50 cents if you buy a generic brand. Add that to the small amount of butter you use on the pasta to get the cheese to stick and it only runs about $2.00 to make this dish at home.

There are also ways to make it healthier which I have also tried and have been successful at but let's be honest, the full fat version always tastes the best. A couple other (more healthy) ways to prepare this dish are to use whole wheat pasta or even use spaghetti squash which is even better for you. Today, I encourage you to find your own special dishes in restaurants and try to make them. You'll love it!

Daily Posts

For some time I have had an idea for the blog, which I got from a friend's blog to have themed days of the week to cover different kinds of topics. Hers are more suited to children with special needs, cancer, etc... as she is an amazing mother of 4 beautiful children and things of that nature are in the rolodex of her life. On our blog, I have wanted to gear my daily posts on things that make Anthony & Myself tick. So since today I finished exit and don't have a lot of school stuff to take my time anymore, I will unveil the list I have been working on and will begin posting on these things. I am excited to see how this goes.

Movie Mondays: Anthony is incredibly passionate about movies and I have started to delve into watching more of them also. I have a tendency to pick them apart for their psychological components or explain why they aren't appropriate for children or could make you grow personally. Anthony will tell you about the graphics, the amazing shots that were taken, the characters, etc.. We will be adding a bit of all of that to Mondays on the blog.

Tasty Tuesday: Tuesdays will be dedicated to my quest to try new recipes and ideas in the kitchen. I will be posting actual recipes, new foods that Anthony and I have tried and how we have cooked them up, nutrition information that I have recently learned and the like. We are passionate about food around here.

Witty Wednesday: This is a place for me to just post funny stories, anecdotes, funny things that have happened in our lives, jokes that may be appropriate, etc... I think this will be a fun day.

Thrifty Thursday: Thursdays will be dedicated to posting tips on how to run a budget in your house, how to recycle or reuse common household items, amazing thrift store or bargain finds, and maybe even eye opening offers out there on the net that aren't being shared.

Faith Fridays: Since Jesus is something that we are really passinate about in my house, we decided Friday would be dedicated to a word from God. Sometimes this will come from me and the devotionals I have written or am writing that God leads me through. This could also come from a guest blogger as I have very spiritual and intuitive friends. This could also just be a verse that struck a chord with us or even a portion of a book we are reading that God is speaking through. Either way, it will be a great day!

Singer/Song Saturdays: This is the day where we bring up new talent, great songs, lyrics to oldies but goodies, or just talk about some of the trash out there that people call music. Anthony and I are incredibly into music and have quite a collection and are continuing to add to that daily. We are always looking for new artists or songs to talk about or listen to. This, as all of the days will be open for feedback as well.

Scrapbook Sunday: As Scrapbooking is one of my major hobbies I named this day after scrapbooking, however this is a day where I will be posting about my many hobbies such as scrapbooking, guitar, learning spanish, nature, traveling, etc... This could cover a multitude of topics.

I just thought I would make a post about these so you will know what's coming and what days to check in regarding your own interests. Also, I will continue to post about our family updates and things that are going on in the Lewis' household.

If you think this idea is great....you should go over and check out my friend's blog at My Special K's (Because she does an amazing job at it)

Healthy food of the day!

Tonight I made a recipe from Rachael Ray using a great substitute if you are a pasta lover. I love Pasta and Anthony loves it too. There is nothing better than pasta with Cheese so tonight we had "Cheese & Pepper Spaghetti Squash" I made this as a side dish to Turkey Burgers on whole wheat buns tonight. I am trying to feed us a little better these days and that means trying new things that are healthy that will supplement our unhealthy habits. We love Mac & Cheese so much so this was a great experience. Here is the awesome recipe from Rachael Ray

Continued frugality and economic choices

Here are a few ways that the Lewis' household has adopted to save money and the enviornment. Feel free to use tips if they are something that you would consider.

1. Walk where you can

This one is huge if you live here in California. We have WAY too many cars on the road, constantly. I live in Anaheim near several important locations like the pharmacy, my diabetic doctor, pretty close to my bank, and it goes on. I will be saving money on gasoline, emissions from the air, and most importantly, doing my body good by taking a walk. This one has so many benefits.

2. Drive your car until it's old.

This one has been unchallenging for me as I have not been able to buy a new car with being in graduate school. My car is almost 9 years old (I got it on May 25, 2000 and it was brand new. I have put 155,000 miles on it and it's still doing great. The key was getting timely oil changes, tire rotations, and taking it somewhere to get repairs where they would be honest with me and do the proper repairs. Out here in California, I use Midas of Costa Mesa.

3. Open windows and use fans instead of using the central air conditioning.

Anthony and I do this because the wonderful summer breeze of California is much more pleasant than canned air coming from the air conditioner. Also, it really makes a difference in our energy bill.

4. Reuse plastic grocery bags or get earth-friendly ones.

I just started picking up the reusable earth friendly bags at my local stores; Wal-mart, Target, Stater Bros, Albertsons etc... They can be purchased for about $1.00 each at any store. I usually pick them up when I am only going in for a few items like bread and cheese or something and then I started stockpiling at home for my big monthly shopping trips. I also have a giagantic stash of the plastic bags that they usually give you in a drawer in my kitchen. I use these for all sorts of things. I use them to line trash cans underneath the sink in the kitchen and the bathroom. This saves money on little trashcans and keeps your cans from having anything stuck at the bottom. I also use them to keep in the car to toss the recyling in if Anthony has a Monster or Soda. There are multiple uses for these wastes of plastic so use, use, use them until they can't be use anymore and try to get the reusable bags at your neighborhood stores.

5. Mypoints.com --DO IT!

This is my own personal secret and I love it. I use Mypoints.com where they give you points to read emails. Basically you make a profile with them choosing all of your interests (Pick all interests to get the maximum points) Then they send you emails every day with advertisements from companies relating to those interests. Your only required job to get points is to click on the box that says "get points." This gives you 5 points for each email you read. There are also point options where you can do surveys, buy products and services you already buy (for example, shopping on ebay can give you points per dollar). You compile points and then you can cash in your points like money for rewards. I use mine for dates with Anthony. We do not have a lot of extra money to have dinner out so I wait until I have 3,000 + points (which doesn't take long) and I cash them in for gift cards at popular steakhouses, italian restaurants, seafood places, etc... We usually get $25 gift cards because I don't wait long enough for the $50 and we end up paying a little bit out of pocket but $25 of our meal is free so you can't beat that!

These are my thrifty tips for today and keep trying to save our Earth, your body, and our hard earned dollars!

Vacation photo of the day

"The Coast in Monterey" -- any other words would ruin this one.

Vacation photo of the day

Hey everyone, I thought I would also add a vacation photo of the day today since I had a few moments to spend on my blogs! This photo is of my lovely husband standing in front of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Fran. I love this site for a number of reasons. First of all, it's absolutely gorgeous in terms of the building itself but also, one of my favorite movies has a scene here...yes you guessed it "So I married an Axe Murderer" with my main man Mike Meyers. Good movie, great location. The whole movie is filmed in San Fran so we had fun thinking about that on our trip.

I have really good memories of going here with Heather's mom as well which makes me a little sad and makes me smile a lot! :) Overall, I really loved this vacation and doing a vacation shot of the day when I get on lets me live it longer. We can't wait until our next road trip which will either be Colorado (keep your fingers crossed Josh) or Oregon and Washington State. Either way, we are excited.

Keep checking in for new photos and read the post below about frugality in the economic downturn.

The Lewis'

Recession for the Lewis House = Frugality makeover

This recession has us Lewis' thinking. We have been thinking this for a while now that we would like to be less wasteful in our home. We were thinking this due to the environment and how poorly it is treated every day but also the economy and how noone uses anything up or wears anything out anymore. I (Erica) grew up with a mother who did not buy a new pair of shoes until her pair was worn out completely. She might have a pair of atheletic shoes, a pair of heels, a pair of flats, and a pair of sandals but nothing got purchased until the last pair was absolutely past it's prime and going straight toward its demise. I will absolutely admit that I don't live that way. My closet floor is absolutely mounded up with shoes that belong to me and some of them have been worn maybe once.

Anthony grew up with a mom who saved ziploc bags and washed them out to reuse them, never purchased a chip clip because she would use the binder clips that you get at stationary and office supply stores. This is going a bit further than my own family went. I grew up with quite a bit of money to speak of where as Anthony grew up in a single parent home with 2 younger brothers so when you have 3 teenage boys, extra is hard to come by. His mother did a great job and provided well for them but there was not a whole lot of extra to be wasteful. Anthony has such great stories of being young and all three of the boys going into the store for their mom individually to get $5.00 turkeys on sale because you could only purchase 2 turkey's each so that meant they all went in to get a total of 8 turkeys for the bargain price of $40.00 and they had every dish that turkey could make for a few months. He also tells me stories of his mom making a great deal of spaghetti and they had spaghetti every day until every bite was eaten and then she would make a different meal that could span several days. My husband now still is so good about eating leftovers and never complaining if we don't have something new every single night.

All of this to say, we have somewhat deviated from our roots. I grew up in the midwest where noone would spend even half of what they spend out here for a cup of drip coffee. I have become one of these yuppy starbucks fanatics who pays upwards of $3.00 for a cup of drip coffee when I could make it at home for pocket change. I am sad to say I am contributing to the economic and environmental crises and it's time to make some changes. Since graduation is right around the corner for me (4 weeks actually) I have some more time to manage my home. I have decided that our goal for 2009-2011 is to become debt free and to become more frugal and less wasteful. I am going to start from the beginning in things that are in our daily lives. Here are a few starting goals so that we can start to make a difference:

1. Plan meals according to what is on sale

I already do this one pretty naturally because I don't like to pay more for things I could pay less for. I already clip coupons religiously and really plan out our monthly meals. I usually make a menu for a full month using our Stater Bros. ads or other places that might have good deals. I then take those ads and add them to our coupons and end up paying pocket change sometimes for full meals. I sometimes even get things free by using manufacturer coupons added to store sales. For example, Anthony loves Lemon cake and I noticed that Stater Bros. had cake for $1.00 a box. I had a 50 cent coupon for them so I paid 50 cents for a box of lemon cake and then got the icing for $1.00 as well so $1.50 and we had lemon cupcakes! That's a deal! Our grocery budget runs about $200.00 a month with me doing this. This includes our household supplies like toliet paper, cleaning supplies, paper towels, etc...

2. Make bigger meals and eat leftovers

This is good for a couple of reasons. Sometimes I will make a big dish in my slow cooker and this is good for energy saving as well as money. I also feel it really helps with time management because I am a busy wife so throwing dinner in the crock pot and coming home to it cooked and having one dish to wash is always a plus. Also, it means that I don't have to cook the next day as we just heat up leftovers. Recently I made a dish called crock pot lasagna and Anthony ate it both nights that I was in class which made me feel less guilty since he wasn't eating microwave burritos or sandwiches but was having a warm homecooked meal. This is also beneficial because bulk packed meat is often cheaper and if you make it all at once like a large roast, you can cut up the roast the next day and make beef stew. This is very helpful to make your grocery dollars go a long way and save on your energy bill with only cooking every couple of days.

3. Don't drink soda, drink water and when you do, use a refillable bottle.

This one is essential. We drink water at our house. We have an account with Arrowhead water where we have a water cooler and get 5 gallon bottles delivered to our home every month. We get 4 bottles which lasts us exactly a month and they recycle their large bottles. This runs us around $30 a month. We then have refillable plastic bottles (make sure these are safe kinds of plastic) and we refill them and take water with us where we go. We do not buy soda which can be high priced and when we do have a soda or bottled juice out we always recycle the packaging! Soda is also REALLY bad for your health so in that respect we save on medical bills from declining health. Drinking tons of water keeps us from getting the virus' that go around sometimes and keeps our bodies working the way they should. This is the biggest tip in our house is that water is our main beverage of choice. We sometimes make a pot of coffee or a jug of sweet tea made with splenda but for the most part, our house never sees soda!

Here are our starter tips that are already working. We are going to be working on paying down debt, making our house more frugal and considering purchases much more before making them. We hope that you will be with us on this journey and start to make changes in your own home!

Love from the Lewis'