How has your life been evolving (for the BETTER) during this Recession?

I received a Real Simple Magazine in the mail yesterday! My mom decided to get me a subscription, since she probably read on here that I miss it. Thanks mom! I was thrilled to have something in the mail besides a bill. It is now the only magazine subscription I get. I used to get Time, US Weekly, and Newsweek. Then, in August, before becoming a full time student, I cut this informative entertainment out of my life. Yesterday I hand delivered our Cable Box to Comcast, bringing our bill down from $110 a month to $59 a month(for Cable internet....it's the only company that services our area if you are asking why we pay so much). I watched my last House Hunters on HGTV, and unplugged all the various wires. Jason keeps reminding me that I can watch all cable tv online, and our computer is bigger than our tv anyhow, so it is best.
So what to do with this new found time of not reading magazines(except Real Simple) and not watching Cable tv?
1. We played a very close game of Scrabble(the board game version, not the online version) on Sunday night. Jason won by 2 points.
2. I've been painting(but I cant show you the painting I've been working on because it's a wedding gift for a friend, and I think she reads this(Emily, do you read this?).
3. I participated in an "Object Exchange", making an object for 6 people in return for them making an object for a handful of other people. I painted a few watercolor sketches and sent them off via mail. Kelly (who has "Kelly Loves Whales" blog....Hi Kelly!) started the exchange, and I received 2 lithograph prints from her in the mail a few days ago. It was a really fun activity to be part of because receiving an original object in the mail is inspiring, and hearing the reactions from people I've sent to so far(I still have one to do) was even better!
4. I read a book every week or so, which if you are on Good Reads you have seen, and have been developing my strong interest in Archeology.
5. To those of you who read this often, you see I have been cooking up a storm! This began in an effort to save money. If I do not pack lunch for Jason in the morning, there goes $15 to some low life rstaurant in the loop. I tell myself I am being paid $15 to make lunch. Not bad for 10 minutes of work! And dinner, same thing. If I do not cook dinner, more than likely the Thai restaurant across the street receives a phone call, and $20 later all we have to show for the phone call are 2 full stomaches and a few spoonfulls of Pad Se-ew. I also grew up with parents who frequented nice restaurants, so my palette is very spoiled. If I cant go out to eat at nice restaurants, I will try to cook their dishes!!!!!!
6. And finally, when we get our new camera, we are planning some field trips for photo taking!

Above is a painting I did the other night of the building across the street from us. It was about to snow and everything had a white murky glaze over it, including an abnormally white sky. (I do not have our new camera yet. This was taken with a camera jason borrowed from school.)