Co-op your way to savings

As you know, our family sticks to a pretty strict organic food diet, which as you also know, can get quite expensive. In addition to our passion for eating well and taking care of our health, we also enjoy being thrifty and adhering to a reasonable budget, so when I have the opportunity to save money on the produce and products we enjoy, I take it. 

For a while now we have been regular shoppers at Norfolk's Organic Food Depot, and more recently started taking advantage of their co-op member discount. Not only does it allow me to place my grocery order online, but it also knocks an extra 30% off of our total. Not too shabby!

This is our week's supply of veggies (minus a few):

Through their online catalog, you can create a custom catalog of items you want to order on a regular basis, and then each week submit your shopping list. Orders are placed each Tuesday morning, and pickup begins Friday after 5 PM. 

If you live in Norfolk or Virginia Beach (they have two locations) I highly suggest you sign-up through their website and take advantage of their online discount. Not only are their prices on organic products (produce, hair care products, dry goods, etc.) fantastic in comparison to the bigger chain stores in the area, but they try and offer as much local produce as possible. Plus, for special needs shoppers, they offer a large variety of dairy free, vegan, wheat-free, and gluten free options!

Regardless of your location, it is worth the effort to look into which speciality shops in your area may offer co-op ordering for the amount of money you can save each month.

Happy shopping! :)

Our new home: The location is revealed!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our little "where are we moving" quiz. Since we are a family of great mystery and suspense (or just melodramatic) I thought it would be more fun to draw out the reveal a little bit before sharing the good news. After all, haven't shows like American Idol and The Bachelor made their millions by turning a 20 minute reveal into a epic mini-series, as nail-biting fans wait anxiously from behind their TV screens? Of course, I personally don't watch lame reality TV like that. And you don't either, right? ;-)

Before I tell you where we are going, Like a great TV host, I'm going to start by eliminating the cities we will not be moving. Fun fact: with the exception of one, every location listed in the quiz was the home of a company that Chris had the opportunity to interview with during his job search.

Quick disclaimer: no offense is meant to anyone who loves, lives, wants to live or used to live in any of the locations listed below. :) We believe our nation is full of incredible people living outstanding lives in every state of this great union. Us McLeans just didn't care to move to some of them. :)

Now on to the fun part...

The very first location I'd like to eliminate (can you blame us?) is....Green Bay, Wisconsin! Before we even started the job hunt, we both agreed we had no desire to move anywhere cold. Virginia is cold enough for me, let alone moving to the blizzard capitol of the nation. No thank you. Not for the McLeans.

Next up, Little Rock, Arkansas. If you've known me for at least ten seconds you'd understand immediately why Arkansas just isn't the place for us. Although, we were certainly impressed by the living communities. ;-)

Boulder, Colorado. Beautiful? No doubt. Full of happy, outdoor enthusiasts? Definitely. Variety of options for healthy eating? You bet. The future home of the McLeans? Sorry. I mean, there is a lot going for this area of the country, but we weren't too sure about having to navigate the falling boulders every day like these brave folks. ;-)

Charleston, SC. While it's true we absolutely adore the gorgeous, southern charm of this historical city, and we were just certain we could "fall" for a lovely home in the area....we just couldn't seem to hold on to our dreams of actually moving there. Something about it just seemed, well, "shaky."

I really don't think anything else need be said about the rockin' city of Memphis, TN. However, we prayed, and Jesus said "no." Elvis gave us an "uh huh." Sorry, Elvis, we had to go with Jesus on this one. :)

While admittedly, it would be quite flattering to see our name plastered on everything around us every day, we ultimately decided to shut the "gates" on McLean, Virginia.

Chicago, IL. While gusts of wind, freezing temperatures, and heavy rain do sound delightful, we were pretty sure we couldn't handle walking around like this everywhere. Sorry, Chi-town, that's a no.

 Having no humidity, toasty-warm temperatures year-round, and the ability to fry your morning egg on our driveway all made Phoenix a top contender. However, the last time I lived there I was only two, and I was pretty sure my "old friends" wouldn't remember me anymore. That heartbreak was too much to take, so we tearfully crossed Phoenix off of our now-dwindling list.

Photo from Flickr

Construction had already begun on our new pool in Nashville, TN, when we realized that our road to fame wasn't going to begin in the legendary city of country music. I mean, we like a good karaoke session here and there, but it's probably just not enough. Or is it? ;-)

(Drum roll)

And then there was one...

That's right, if you've been keeping up, only one location remains on our list. The city where we shall begin to build new dreams, soar to higher heights...and hopefully, have a driveway to call our own. Ah, the little things that come to mean so much. :)

Here are a few images to give you an idea of what awaits us (and we are thrilled to pieces about!) in our new city:

Big yay!

This looks like a blast!

http://usnwc.org - Photo via Flickr

That's right, even a new Whole Foods is being built here, to open the spring of 2012!

This is where the guessing gets real easy. 

Yes, that's right, we're moving to...

Charlotte, NC! :)

We are just thrilled to pieces at how much God has blessed us throughout this process. God really gave us the desires of our heart. Not only are we still within driving distance of our East Coast families, we love the idea of having big city (love my shopping!) meets open green space and plenty of opportunity for outdoor recreation.

As we take this next step in our married lives and leave the Navy and military community of Hampton Roads, we think Charlotte is going to be the perfect place for us. Stay tuned for many more fun updates about our journey ahead in the weeks to come.

Special thanks to everyone who has been praying for us through this process. It's been exhausting, but God is faithful and has provided for us yet again -- above and beyond what we could have hoped for. 

So, how many of you guessed correctly? And, who in the world was it that guessed Little Rock??? :)

Cast your vote! Where are the McLeans moving?

So...we have finally made a decision where we will be moving to next month! I will post more soon on the details surrounding our move -- and Chris's future job -- but before I do, I put together a fun quiz (located in the right-hand column) where you can cast your vote and guess which city we shall soon be calling home. :)

I will post the answer -- and exciting details -- this Saturday, so make sure to get in your vote before then!

What does the winner receive? Hmm...I'll have to figure something out. ;-)

P.S. Yay!! We're SO excited!

Ghent Home Tour

As our time here in Norfolk will soon be coming to an end (more on this soon), I thought it would be nice to share with you a little tour of our home, while my decor still remains intact. Being the organizer and lover of declutter that I am, our peaceful home of order will soon become a sea of boxes when I begin pulling things off of the wall, cleaning out every nook and cranny, and organizing my "for sale" piles.

If there is one thing I love about moving, it's the wonderful opportunity to sort, sort, sort and take a critical look at each belonging to determine which items are purely junk and which items are true keepers. Who doesn't love a fresh start? Anyone else with me on this? :)

Although I haven't the foggiest idea what our future home will look like as of yet, I am already eager to get my creative wheels spinning and start working up inspiration boards for future decor. For now though, enjoy pictures of our little home here in Norfolk: our cozy abode of three bedrooms, two full baths, and a formal dining room, nestled within the heart of Historic Ghent.

Side note: while much of our home I was able to finish decorating, a few rooms are still lacking striking wall art. As I plan to completely redecorate -- and paint, finally! -- in our next home, I decided to set aside funds for future projects at this point, rather than to complete our current look. Also, we aren't allowed to paint here, thus the lack of color on the walls. Regardless, hopefully you'll still get a feel for the "McLean Style." :)

The Balcony & Garden

Foyer

Living Room

Hallway

Dining Room

Custom, hand-made winebar. An engagment gift from my step-father-in-law and mother-in-law. 

Vintage sketch of the church where we were married. My brother and sister-in-law were also married there, and have the same print on their wall.

Kitchen

Forgive the lovely, overflowing recycling pile in the background. Definitely intended to take that out before snapping photos. At least you know we're "green." ;-)

Guest Bedroom

Office: The "Navy" Room

(Forgive the quality of these photos as they were taken on my old camera)

Guest Bath

Master Bedroom

Master Bath