Page from My Journal: Chronicling A Day in the Life of A Reader

Good morning! My name is Vanessa and I blog at Simple Bliss. I am 24 years old, married almost three years to my love, and home for the summer after my first year of teaching kindergarten special education (read more about this decision here). I started my summer with a list of over 100 things that I wanted to do and try; so while no day in my summer is typical, everyday is a busy adventure in keeping my home and making preparations to be able to continue serving my husband well when I go back to teaching in August.

6:30am - I wake up to my husband, Cole, turning his alarm clock off. Get up, throw on some shoes, and take our puppy, Isis, out to go to the bathroom. Then Cole and I check out emails.

6:45am - Cole hops in the shower and I pack his breakfast and lunch. As I do, I pray over his day and that God will bless him in his work. Then, I check our plants on the back deck for any produce that is ready to be harvested - I bring in six strawberries from our first year strawberry plants.

7:00am - Cole leaves for work. I feed Isis her breakfast, fill her water bowl, and feed the fish. I also put away dishes that were run in the dishwasher over night.

7:15am - Time for the part of the day that I appreciate, but dread - completing my workout - The 30 Day Shred. It's a great workout and it's made more enjoyable by the fact that can mute the tv and listen to encouraging music. Today it's music from Sandra McCracken and Bethany Dillon.

8:00am - Well, since I'm sweaty, I might as well wash the new dog kennel. We purchased this $180 kennel from another family for $20. But, since it was used, it was also dirty. It was hard work, but it came so clean. I head off to take a shower.

8:45am - Gather up all laundry, towels, and sheets to wash. It's looking like four loads of laundry today! Eek! I start a load of laundry and start wax to melting for a candle making project today.

9:00am - It's finally time to settle down for some breakfast. I put all of the ingredients for a green smoothie in my blender and start it to blending. While it is mixing, I clean up the materials from starting candles and tidy up the kitchen a bit.

9:30am - My smoothie is ready and I sit down to drink up a pint and take my cod liver oil while reading scripture. In the upcoming year (June-June in a teacher's world) I plan on really studying the passage of Proverbs 31:10-31. These verses are so packed with instruction and challenges for the Christian homemaker. I feel so challenged and so inspired every time I read these verses! I read the passage in five versions of the bible to glean as much meaning and context as possible. I also read from the Matthew Henry commentary.

10:00am - I wash my dishes, pull dinner meat to thaw, and get back to work. For the next two hours I complete a variety of tasks that need to be completed around the house: oil the wooden cutting boards, work on laundry, file paperwork, tidy the house, organize the freezer, take out the trash, add color and scent to the candles I am making, and make rose water. During this entire time, Isis sleeps; oh to be a dog!

12:00pm - I do a little bit of work on my blog. I finish preparing my blog post for the day and post it. I also add more blogs to my blogroll page as it's been a while since it has been updated and I have found some wonderful blogs in the meantime. I also schedule blog post topics for the next two days.

12:30pm - I get out the other pint of green smoothie that I made this morning to have for lunch. I take a break from busyness and movement to contemplate on the words of the hymns that I am listening to as I sip.

1:00pm - It's back to work, again! I make up a batch of Lazy Granola (yum!). Fold all of the laundry and put it away, and put the sheets back on the bed. The candles get wicks as they cool. I complete a rebate for my husband and get it put in the mail.

2:00pm - I call my mom to ask a quick question. One hour and lots of good stories and chatting later, it's back to work. I love talking with my mom!

3:00pm - Time to do some computer work. I worked on writing a menu plan for the next few weeks, sent an email to a friend, typed up some recipes, and read my blogs on google reader.

4:00pm - The candles are almost finished cooling and are beautiful! They are a gift to our moms so I am glad they turned out so well. I work on some small around the house projects that my husband requested that I work on today. I put away all clean dishes and cleaned the kitchen in preparation to make dinner.

5:00pm - Take Isis outside and start working on our dinner for the evening. Tonight we have beef goulash, marinated green beans, and some homemade ice cream. Cole gets home and we eat dinner together.

5:45pm - Dishes are washed and we have settled in for a little bit of relaxation time. Cole gets out his guitar and practices a new song "Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates" while I work on reading my current book: The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I simply enjoy reading these books!

6:45pm - Cole and I head to the library and on to a friend's house for our bible study.

7:00pm - Bible study starts. In the summer, we don't do an in-depth study as people are coming and going from trips. This week we spend concentrated time in prayer. The girls all group together and discuss current struggles/prayer needs and pray with each other. Upstairs, the husbands all do the same. When we have finished this activity, we head to Sonic for BOGO milkshakes and good fellowship with like-minded people in the beautiful evening air!

10:30pm - We leave bible study and drive back home. Cole plays a little bit more guitar, I start the dishwasher, and tidy up some craft supplies. Isis goes outside and then it's off to bed at 11:00pm.

Giveaway!

It's been a while since I've done a giveaway, but I've just been waiting for the perfect opportunity and perfect thing to give away. :) So when CSN stores contacted me and kindly ask to do a giveaway here, I was really excited. CSN has numerous online stores that sell just about anything. From dining room furniture and home decorations (that phrase alone makes me super happy!), to shoes and purses....you name it, they have it!

One of my readers will win a $40 gift certificate to use in any one of their online stores! The best part is that a lot of items are priced under $40 so you can get something free. :) I don't know about you, but I'd love to win a $40 gift certificate. And I'm pretty sure I'd spend it on home decorations ... since I love making my little house a beautiful home.This giveaway is only open to US and Canadian readers (additional shipping charges or international fees may apply for certain items purchased)

To enter this giveaway for a $40 gift certificate to CSN stores, just leave a comment on this post with your name and contact information (comments without contact information will not be eligible).

For additional entries:

• become a follower/subscriber of my blog
  
• post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook or twitter (each one counts as another entry)
  
• grab my button (on the sidebar) and put it on your blog

(Be sure a leave a comment letting me know if you do any of the above.)

This giveaway will end next Tuesday, July 6, 2010 and the winner will be announced here the following day.

How Fast Can You Type?

It's been a busy day here. Workout at our local gym this the morning (I started a daily routine this week and so far, am loving it!), back home to work for Money Saving Mom until lunchtime, a ruined lunch, discovering our washer flooded once again and cleaning that up, deep cleaning the refrigerator and freezer (yay! A huge sigh of relief...), doing about 5 loads of laundry, scrubbing the kitchen floor, deep cleaning the bathroom, giving Molly a bath, vacuuming the carpet and furniture, and now I'm in the process of making dinner!

So, I thought it would be good to post something fun. After all, it's Friday, my house is clean and I'm ready for a break from working.

I came across a typing test on another blog a couple of days ago. In case you didn't know, I love typing. When I was younger and I had to take a typing course in school, I couldn't wait for that part of the day. After I finished the course, I would still pull it out every once in a while just for fun. So you can imagine how excited I was to find this test.
90 words

Typing Speed Test

Just for fun, I'd love to know what each one of your scores are. Go type away, and then come back here and leave me a comment with your score.

Weekly Poll - June 25th

The results from last week's poll are in!

Where do you fall in your family's birth order?

Firstborn - 51%

A middle child - 31%

Youngest - 12%

Only child - 6%

For some reason, I had a feeling that a lot of you were firstborns. :)

And now it's time for you to find out what the poll question is this week.
Are you right handed or left handed?

This time, I don't need to elaborate on my answer. I'm a right handed girl all the way! I do everything with my right hand and pretty much the only area in which my left hand excels is in piano playing. :) I'm serious when I say I can't do any normal activities with my left hand...brushing teeth, eating, writing, throwing a ball, etc. And you don't want to see me try either. :)

So what about you all? Left hand or right hand? Or do you happen to be one of those very talented ambidextrous persons?

The Spark of Love

Did I ever mention how much I love being married? There's not a day that goes by in which I don't sigh and think to myself how much I love my husband. I adore him. God simply gave me the most wonderful man in the whole wide world.

The past few days I have been thinking a lot about marriage and how blessed I am. For some reason, a lot of couples seem to slowly lose their "spark of love" as the years go by. This is even expected by "the world". They say, "Oh, well you're young and 'in love'...just wait." I don't understand why "the spark of love" ever has to fade...or disappear for that matter. If we're taking the time to cultivate the spark, it won't fade or disappear but only grow bigger. I want to be the wife who is always waiting at the door with a sparkle in my eye to greet my husband when he arrives home. To be the wife who, though there are a million other things on my mind, eagerly sits down and spends quality time with my husband. To be the wife who loves to surprise my husband with a candle-lit dinner of his favorite meal. To be the couple who, for no reason other than love, kisses while waiting for the stoplight to turn green. To be the old and gray couple holding hands at the grocery store.

Besides my relationship with the Lord, marriage to my husband is to be my top priority in order that the spark of love never, ever grows dim.

Take time today to love.

Page from My Journal: Chronicling A Day in the Life of A Reader

Miranda is an 18-year-old daughter who loves her Lord Jesus Christ. She is currently studying to be a midwife and would like to be a missionary overseas. She enjoys sewing, writing, and playing piano. Miranda heads up a sewing and fabric business, Fine Linen Fabrics. She desires to become more like her Master every day and tell others of His love.

(Miranda graciously agreed to write up a day in her life even though they were on vacation. Thanks, Miranda!)

Wednesday at lunch found us munching McDonalds as we traveled on windy roads. After about 2 hours, we arrived at our destination: a small cabin located in the Allegheny National Forest. This was going to be fun! We settled into our quaint cabin. It was built in 1960 but friends of our had purchased it and added on a very nice addition. Complete with 4 bedrooms, indoor plumbing, and electricity, this was my kind of camping!

We spent Thursday checking out different sites and walking a few trails. It was nice to relax. We gave Dad an early Father’s Day gift--a personal eTrack GPS system.

I woke up around 6:30am on Friday. What a day of adventure this would be! Dad had talked about going fishing that morning and I wanted to go with him. I quickly woke up and prepared for the day. I started reading the book of Daniel. It is an encouragement to me that he was willing to do what he knew God wanted him to do even when he was alone.

By the time my three brothers were awake, Luke (13), Joshua (10), and Noah (7), it was almost an hour later. Dad decided that fishing wouldn’t be so great. He wanted to go hiking, which was what Joshua had begged to do.

Now it was my turn to beg. “Please, can I go with you? Please?” Dad looked at me as if I had three eyes. J He didn’t believe I was serious but he did let me go.

Dad, my brothers, and I piled into our van. Luke was enjoying the eTrack system. We drove a few miles down to Morrison Trailhead. I was really looking forward to this but wondered how I would feel at the end. I knew I could keep us as long as they didn’t start running.

The path started out very nice. It was wide and trimmed nicely. The further we walked, tho’, the more the trail became…..um……not like a trail anymore. At times, we weren’t even sure it was the trail--until we saw a nice white diamond.

After a good bit of time had passed, it didn’t seem like we were heading back. Luke had marked our van as our beginning point in the GPS, and it showed that we were quite far from the van. This trail was just not marked very well! And bears weren’t too far from my mind.

To make a 3 hour, 10 mile story short, we did arrive at our van. Exhausted and very thirsty. I did say that I wanted to shed some pounds on this trip…..

We made the short trip back to the cabin. Grace (6) and Hannah (4) welcomed us home. Mom and I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We all packed some crackers and water bottles with them. And we all headed out again….this time to the Kinzua Dam. It was quite large! After visiting the visitor center, we went on another trail. It was only ¼ mile long. I could handle that!

We arrived at the cabin late afternoon. Mom had put bean soup and kielbasa in the crockpot that morning. I was thankful I didn’t have to cook! I felt buggy and tired. The soup was delicious. Mom made a fire and we all had s’mores. Delicious!!

I got a shower and decided to head to bed. I was exhausted! But what a wonderful day we had in the forest.

Is this something you would like to be a part of? I'd love to hear from you. We are in need of people who are willing to chronicle a day in their life to post on this blog. If you are interested, please email me: modestpatterns @ sbcglobal.net (remove spaces)

Weekly Poll - June 18th

Wow. The results from last week's poll are truly amazing to me. It's almost fifty fifty!

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Early bird - 47%

Night Owl - 53%

I had no idea it would be so close. :)

Are you ready for a fun poll this week? It's time for me to get to find out just a little more about my blog readers!

Where do you fall in your family's birth order?

You know what they say...birth order plays a huge part in personality. So is it true?

I am a middle child. The very middle child in a family of seven children. I know what it's like to be the youngest (or at least be referred to as one of "the younger ones") and I know what it's like to be the oldest. I also know what it's like to be stuck in the middle - neither the oldest nor the youngest. I got the benefits of knowing what it was like to have an older sister, an older brother, a younger sister and a younger brother. Yep, girls, I've felt it all! :)

But, I loved being a middle child. It definitely has it's advantages, you know. You don't have to pave the way, but you don't have to be the "baby". :) I had siblings to look up to, as well as siblings who looked up to me.

Just for the fun of it, I looked up some interesting facts about birth order and personalities.

Firstborns - Energetic, Ambitious, Scholarly, & have a greater level of confidence (Did you know that over 1/2 of the US Presidents have been firstborns?)

Middle Child(ren) - Competitive, Attention Seekers, Stubborn, and love to stand out (Hmmm...no comment!)

Youngest - Risk takers, Sensitive, Creative, and would like to be the boss

Okay, so maybe those are totally off, but it is fun to think about it. :)

So what about you? Do you resemble any traits from the lists above?

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

Planning A Wedding On A Small Budget - Part 2

Continued from Part 1. You can read Part 1 of this series here.

5) Be creative! Just because someone else did something a certain way doesn't mean you have to. :) If you're not a very creative person, this is where the reading (#4) comes into play. And if you don't have time to get a few books to look through, ask other people (your mom, sisters, other brides, etc) for ideas.

If there is something you have your heart set on, but you know it's way too expensive, be creative and see if there is a way you can make it/do it yourself (or get someone else to do it). The year before my wedding, I attended a friend's wedding and she had the most beautiful white pillars lining the aisle and stage as decorations. I loved them! When it came time to plan our wedding, I knew it would be a dream come true to have white pillars at our wedding. But after calling numerous places, I realized that there was no way we could rent them without going over our budget. To make a long story short, after talking with a friend about ideas, he offered to make some for us, using some sort of long metal tube and cardboard boxes. I didn't care what they were made of as they turned out beautiful and exactly like I had dreamed. I'm pretty sure no one even knew the difference.

Our white pillars in the background (we also had some exactly like this at the reception behind the cake table)

6) Wait for sales. Don't go out and buy all your decorations as soon as you know the colors. Be patient and wait for sales. Hobby Lobby became my "friend" for the 4 months we were engaged. I literally shopped their sales and clearance racks 1-2 times every week. Hobby Lobby also puts out a 40% off coupon every other week which I used time and time again.

I also waited to see if our local fabric store would have a sale on the fabric I wanted for the bridesmaids dresses. Within a few weeks of waiting, the price came down to almost half of what it originally was. I was elated and of course bought the entire bulk plus more!

7) Have a cake reception vs. a sit down dinner reception. I know that for some of you, a cake and punch reception might just seem completely out of the question. But if you're trying to cut costs, this is a huge way to do it. A simple cake reception can still be elegant, too.

We got creative at our wedding and instead of doing just a cake reception, we added finger foods in with it. Our guests were served finger foods (fruit, cheeses, olives, assorted crackers, croissants, etc) while Joe and I finished up pictures outside. Then, after we made our appearance at the reception, our guests were served cake, punch and Hershey kisses (yes, we opted for something other than nuts!). It actually ended up being only a few hundred dollars for the finger foods and it was a great hit.

And while I'm on the topic of receptions, might I just add that having the reception at the same location as the wedding saves a whole lot of money as well. :)

8) Don't be afraid to ask for help. This is so important. There are tons of people out there that would love to help you out. Having your friends help saves you so much time AND money. Think of your acquaintances...do you know anyone who can make food, fix hair, apply make-up, help decorate, loan you items, play music, or arrange flowers? I'm almost positive you do. Ask for their help! If you don't think you can do that, at least ask for their advice.

I had some amazing people help out in preparation for and at our wedding. Making invitations, loaning us stuff for the wedding decorations, fixing hair the morning of the wedding, applying my make-up, providing music for the ceremony and on and on the list goes. I still don't even know all the people who ended up assisting in many small ways the day we got married.

9) Settle for less in some areas. Just like I encouraged you to pick what is important, I also think it is just as important to pick a few areas in which you can "settle for less". Things that aren't as important. For me, it was flowers. Flowers are beautiful, and I would have loved to have spent a lot more money on them, but I also knew that I would be just as happy if I didn't spend a whole lot. I think all in all, we spent just a little over $100 on flowers (that was from a flower shop). I asked my florist if my bridesmaids and I could just have simple bouquets of roses tied with ribbon. She ended up adding in a few other filler flowers that didn't cost anything and I loved the simplicity of the bouquets that day. We also bought corsages for the grandmas and that was it. At first a few people thought I was crazy for not buying boutonnieres for the guys, but I knew it wasn't necessary.

Another was invitations and programs...I loved the professionally made ones, but I figured I could copy some of those ideas pretty well. After going to several invitation stores and taking lots of pictures, I found one that I loved. Within a day, I had re-created it to just the way I wanted it to look for a lot less money. We used the same idea for the programs as well so that our programs matched the invitations.

One other way I saved a lot of money was buying my veil from Hobby Lobby (yes, you read that right!). When I started looking at veils I was horrified to see the prices ranged around $100. For a veil? When I spotted them at Hobby Lobby for under $20, I knew I had found "my" veil. I waited for the 40% coupon and bought the one with the frilly edges. My total was under $10 and no one had any idea. In fact, several people commented on how much they loved it. :)

10) Most importantly, remember that it isn't about the wedding. The wedding is just the celebration. It's your marriage that is the important thing. The uniting of two hearts and the covenanting before God and witnesses. When your focus is on building a godly foundation for a lifelong marriage, the wedding won't seem that important. All the "must-haves" will not seem such a big deal 10 years later. In fact, you'll probably have totally forgotten about them. :) So just remember to pray about everything and ask God for wisdom. Then sit back and let Him work - believe me, I have some pretty amazing stories of ways God worked during my wedding planning days!

Page from My Journal: Chronicling A Day in the Life of A Reader

My name is Emily and I am 16 years old. I am a Christian, homeschooler, sister, and stay at home daughter. I live in North Carolina with my two wonderful parents, my older sister, Katie (20), and my little brother, Andrew (12). One of my goals in life is to give glory to God by serving my family and living for Him every day. He is writing my story and I'm trying to follow His ways for my life. I’m using this time to grow in my walk with Him, serve my family, and learn to be a homemaker for my future spouse, if that is the Lord's will for me. I pray that I will encourage other young woman to serve the Lord and their families and that I will be a shining light in this dark world...You can check out my blog at Practically Pink.

8:15 am - I open my eyes to a bright and beautiful morning! What a lovely day to be alive! After a few minutes of lying in the bed and trying to actually get awake, I decide to get up; grab some clothes and head to the bathroom to change. I would stay in my room, but my older sister, Katie (20), is still sleeping. We went to bed late last night and we all need some more rest, so I let her sleep.

8:20 am - After getting dressed and putting my hair up for the day, I head to the kitchen to start on some breakfast. Daddy leaves for work now, so we say our goodbyes.

8:45 am - I sit down to eat a muffin and some fruit for breakfast.

9:15 am - I’ve finished cleaning up the kitchen and helping everyone else get something to eat, so I sit down to read my Bible and write in my prayer journal. I also help Katie clean up our room and make the bed.

9:45 am - I’ve finished my Bible reading. Today, I read in Psalms and Matthew. Now, it’s time to do a little exercise!10:15 am - After a good 15 minute workout, I start a load of clothes for Mom.

10:30 am - Time to start on a lesson in Algebra! I’m still working on math through the summer. It helps me not to forget the concepts and it’s also helping me to finish more.

11:45 am - Finished with math. Now, time to switch out some more laundry and fold a load with my little brother, Andrew (12).12:20 pm - Lunchtime! We have some leftover pasta and chicken from last night.

1:00 pm - After eating lunch and helping with the cleaning, I help my mom with a few projects around the house.

2:15 pm - Now, it’s time to go check on the laundry again. It’s almost finished!

2:30 pm - Katie and mom leave to go into town and run some errands. Andrew and I stay home and finish some things around the house. First, it’s time to do a quick “pick-up” around the house. Everything has a home and sometimes you just have to walk around the house and take those “things” back to where they belong. That’s one thing that I don’t care to have, a messy house. I think some of you would have to agree with me.

3:45 pm - The laundry is finished, the house is back in order, and the projects that mom needed help with are done. Now, Andrew is working on some drawing and I sit down to the computer and work on some posts for the upcoming week, moderate some comments, upload and edit some pictures and reply to a few emails. I also made a strawberry mango sorbet for a sweet treat. Yum!


4:30 pm - Mom and Katie just got back home. I just finished up what I was doing on the computer and I’m going to go load some dishes in the dishwasher. I also just got back from taking some pictures outside. It’s so nice out there today.5:15 pm - It’s time to start fixing some supper.

6:00 pm - Supper is ready! We’re having taco salad tonight. Yum!

7:15 pm - We’ve finished supper and cleaning up the kitchen. Now, since it’s so nice outside tonight, we’re going for a walk around the block in our neighborhood.

7:35 pm - It was a perfect summer evening to take a walk! Now, I’m going to take a shower.

8:15 pm - I’ve had my shower. I go into the family room and sit down to watch part of a movie with the rest of the family.

9:15 pm -Getting ready for bed… (brushing my teeth, washing my face, etc). After telling my family goodnight and getting a book, I head to my bed to read for a little while.

9:45 pm -I’m getting too tired to read anymore. Before slipping off into “Sleepyland” for the night, I think about my day and how great our God is…drifting off to some much needed sleep.

It's Raining!

"Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm?" Job 38:25

We've been getting a lot of rain around here, but yesterday/last night was the most we've gotten in a really long time. In fact, it rained so much that the river by our house is the highest I've ever seen it. I wasn't able to get pictures taken until tonight so it has actually gone down a lot since this morning. But it is covering trees and the sidewalk that runs along it...not to mention, it is flowing super fast. Joe and I were wishing we had a canoe handy as it looks like it would be really fun to canoe. (I'd prefer to get a raft and go "river rafting", but he claims the canoe would be better.)

Tonight, it looks as though it's going to storm again. Hopefully this won't mean a flooded river. :)

And just for fun, here's a picture of yours truly with the love of my life that we took recently. I hope you all are having a good week and staying dry.

Weekly Poll - June 12th

My apologies for not getting this posted yesterday. Joe started a new job this week as well as school, which means I haven't seen him much at all. So when he came home last night and wanted to go out for a date at Starbucks, I dropped everything. :)

The results from last week's poll are as follows:

Are you a shy or an outgoing person?

Shy - 57%

Outgoing - 43%

You all definitely answered as I expected. :) Wonder why that is...

Are you ready for this week's question?


Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Growing up in a family of early birds, I quickly adapted and never, ever slept past 8am. Ever. Besides the fact that everyone else got up early, try as I might, I couldn't sleep in. I had some sort of internal clock that would always wake me up at the crack of dawn.

Well, then I got married. To a night owl. One of those night owls that couldn't remember ever going to bed before midnight.

Let's just say that trying to get any sleep those first few months of marriage was pretty tough. We'd stay up really late because of him, and wake up early because of me. Now we've found a sort of "happy medium" and we're both content (most the time).

So I guess, deep inside, I'm naturally an early bird but I've learned how to live life as a night owl as well. Which do I prefer? It's hard to tell as I think both have pros and cons. But for some reason, the day seems so much longer if you are an early bird.

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

Planning A Wedding On A Small Budget - Part 1

You asked for it - so here it is - tips for how to plan a wedding on a small budget. For those of you still looking forward to your wedding day, this is meant for you. Here are a few things we learned while planning our wedding.

Every girl dreams of her wedding day. And if you're anything like me, you were probably dreaming about and "planning" your wedding years before your parents even thought you were old enough for marriage. :) It's the biggest day of your life, so why wouldn't you start thinking about it at an early age? Some people want it simple, some want it elaborate. But everyone agrees it should be very, very special.

It all starts when a wonderful man comes along, swoops you off your feet, and asks you to be his wife. You love him so much that you exclaim "Yes", as that is what you want more than anything in the world. The day of engagement seems like a dream and your heart can't stop racing for excitement. But the next morning, you wake up and realize...you have a wedding to plan. Your wedding. And suddenly, there's no more dreaming.

It's planning time!

It doesn't take long for you to quickly discover that weddings are expensive. Really expensive. In fact, the average cost of a wedding today is over $20,000! That number does not include the rings or the honeymoon either. Even if you have a million dollars to spend, my theory is that you can pull off a really nice wedding for a lot less than the average. You don't have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars for your wedding day in order for it to be "special".

I had the advantage of being the fourth child in my family to get married. By the time it was my turn, I had learned a lot about weddings and how to cut costs. But there were still many things I didn't know (and prices on wedding items had also gone up quite a bit since my sisters' weddings) that I had to figure out along the way.

1) First off, make a budget and stick to it. This, by far, is the most important thing in my mind. Before you even think about anything else pertaining to your wedding, sit down with your fiance/parents (whoever is paying for the bulk of the wedding) and figure out a budget. The more detailed you can make it, the better. Stuff like shoes, jewelry, hair, etc. are little parts of the wedding, but the costs add up to a lot.

2) Decide what is most important to you. Besides the budget, this part of our wedding planning was one of the most helpful things. From the beginning, I knew that the photographer was going to be really important to me. I had seen so many weddings where the bride and groom tried to save money by hiring a cheap photographer and ended up with horrible pictures. I love pictures and knew that I wouldn't be satisfied if we skimped on that part of the wedding. I had specific things I wanted in a photographer and searched for a very long time before I found exactly what I was wanting for the price we had budgeted. Since we allotted more money in that area, it meant cutting back in another part that wasn't nearly as important.

Another important thing to me was my dress. At first, I felt some pressure to try and find something that was inexpensive. My oldest sister had purchased her gown from a clearance sale online for super cheap, and my other sister had worn my Mom's wedding dress. So when it came my turn, I just figured I would find something cheap. A few weeks after Joe and I were engaged, my Mom and I drove to a little town where we'd heard about a dress shop that had a huge clearance section in the basement. After some searching, I found a few dresses, tried them on and decided that one of them would work. It would need a lot of altering, but for $100, I couldn't complain.

It was just a few days after we purchased the dress that I started having doubts. A lot of them. I kept looking at pictures of the dress (I didn't have it since it was being altered) and wishing I wouldn't have purchased it. It wasn't what I had really wanted. To make a long story short, my parents graciously agreed to let me return the dress and my sweet Mom took care of it for me by calling the shop and getting everything settled. We ended up having to pay a small fee, but it was worth it. Weeks later, after many fruitless shopping trips and online searches, I finally found a dress that I fell in love with. It had a lace-up back (which was something I had dreamed of), beautiful lines of sparkle all down the dress (something else I had dreamed of) and it was on sale. It was perfect! Again, since I had spent a little more money for my dress, we cut back in another area that wasn't as important. Just as a side note, I can't speak highly enough of Beautifully Modest. They were amazing and my dress arrived within just a few days of ordering it.

One thing to keep in mind is that even though we technically "spent more" in certain areas, we actually were still not spending a whole lot. We knew the final amount we wanted spend on our wedding and were determined not to go over. So if the photographer cost $200 more than we had budgeted, we had to take that cost from something else (like invitations). And believe me, I had to search long and hard for a good photographer that was in our price range as we could have easily spent the entire wedding budget on pictures. :)

3) Don't be afraid to let people know you have a budget. It might sound intimidating, but it will either open a door wide or tightly close it. This was a great help to me when I talked with florists, dress shops, photographers, cake decorators, etc. You mention wedding and the prices skyrocket. But if you tell them up front that you have a tight budget and can only spend a certain amount of money, you will immediately know if they can help or not.

Be prepared to be looked down on. People don't seem to understand why you can't spend $2000 on a dress. Or why you can't afford a 5 tiered cake plus a "groom's cake". But don't let them talk you out of your budget. I remember my florist thinking I was crazy because of how little I wanted to spend on flowers. But when she realized I wasn't going to budge (and that I really didn't want a bunch of flowers), she ended up helping me by showing me which flowers were cheapest.

4) Read, read, read. Soon after we got engaged, my older sister started ordering wedding planning books for me from PaperBackSwap.com and before I knew it, I had about 20 books with lots and lots of helpful planning tips. These books included titles like Priceless Weddings for Under $5,000, Bridal Bargains, Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget, and How to Have a Big Wedding on a Small Budget: Cut Your Wedding Costs by Half-- Or More and each one had wonderful ideas on how to save money . A lot of them even talked about saving money on your honeymoon. Although I didn't read every book word for word, what I did read was very helpful.

...To be continued. In the mean time, if you are married, I'd love to hear how you cut costs at your wedding. Or if you aren't married, leave me a comment telling me a way you think you could save money at your wedding.

In My Kitchen...

Today I took the time to bake a few things. I thought you all might like to see a peek into my kitchen.

Master Baking Mix - I was going to make biscuits for dinner tonight, and while looking through recipes at my Mom's house earlier today, I came across an old recipe for a baking mix that I used to make years ago. I was so excited that I brought it home and made it. Since there is only two of us, I actually only made a fourth of the recipe. :) I'm looking forward to making up some yummy biscuits tonight and hopefully having extra mix to last for a couple more weeks.

When I was still living at home (and single), I used to make granola a lot. In fact, I even had my own special way of making it. Granola is one of my favorite breakfast foods and I've been wanting to make some for a while now. I happened to be going to my parent's house today, so I ask if I could make this at their house (since I only had about 2 of the ingredients!). So this afternoon, I baked up a big batch of granola at my parent's house (don't worry, I left half of it at home for my siblings). There's something special about waking up and eating a bowl of warm granola with milk. Mmmmm... I can hardly wait for breakfast.

My wonderful Joe has been super busy lately and I've hardly seen him. I wanted to do something extra special for dinner tonight so I decided to make a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies. In the process of mixing it up, I accidentally added too much butter so I ended up doubling the recipe. Of course, there's no way Joe and I can eat 3 dozen cookies, so I divided the dough into 3 sections and put two of them into freezer bags to freeze.

What's more inviting than hot, fresh-from-the-oven Chocolate Chip cookies with cold milk? Yummy!

How about you all? Have you been baking anything in your kitchen recently? I'd love to hear about it. And if you have time, leave me a comment with one of your favorite baking recipes.

Weekly Poll - June 4, 2010

I've been super busy this weekend with the homeschool convention and also haven't had internet access. My sweet husband bought me an internet pass tonight so I could get some work done this evening. Even though I worked over 14 hours at the convention today (i.e. being on my feet all day, keeping the workshops running smoothly) and I'm ready to crash, I can't help but take advantage of my internet to post the weekly poll. :) (Don't you guys love me?!?)

Which of the following is your favorite summer activity?

Swimming - 45%

Camping - 9%

Gardening - 11%

Bicycling - 7%

Evening walks - 27%

And now for this week's poll question:
Are you a shy or an outgoing person?

Hmmmm....I would have to say, I'm more shy than I used to be. I used to be the type of girl who had a million friends and pen pals and thrived on meeting new people. Crowds were fun and I loved to be the "life of the party". As I've gown older, I've gotten more shy (or else my husband has greatly helped to balance me out!) and reserved, although I don't think I would still quite qualify for the "shy" category. Maybe I need to put an "in-between" option... :)

I'm really curious to see the results on this question, so go vote.

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

Being Resourceful

I hate seeing food go to waste. Being on a tight budget makes me cringe when I have to throw food away (which happens a lot). My husband is not a "left-over" type of guy, and I can't eat up the left-overs fast enough. So, I'm always looking for ways to be resourceful. Making smaller portions, making only a couple of things for dinner so we'll eat more of them, etc. I've also been known to re-heat the half-eaten pan of whatever we had 2 nights before and set it out for dinner as well (my hubby is so sweet not to complain about it either!).

Last night, I noticed that we had several leftover meals in our refrigerator. I had planned something else for dinner (and even bought ingredients), but I decided it was time to be resourceful and creative and see what I could do with the leftovers. Instead of just reheating them, I took note of what we had: 1 cooked hamburger patty, 1/4 deer roast meat, 1 cooked potato, 1/4 pan of Chicken and Rice casserole, and about 1/2 c. of leftover salad. Hmmmm....

Here's what I decided to make:

First I cut up the roast into tiny pieces and crumbled the hamburger in with it. We have a ton of barbecue sauce that I've gotten free with coupons recently, so I poured that in with the meat.
I also had purchased some buns (that were expiring) for just a few cents on Monday which I pulled out of the freezer. This along with the meat made a perfect recipe for Barbecue Beef Sandwiches.

Next, I took the potato (from the Deer Roast dinner) and cut it up into chunks, put it into a saucepan with a little oil and heated it. My mom used to make potatoes like this all the time when we were growing up and it's one of my favorite ways to use leftover potatoes. :)

Last of all, I added just enough lettuce to the "salad" leftovers to make enough salad for dinner.

And there you have it! Our brand new dinner made from leftovers. :) We used up several leftovers so now our refrigerator is cleaned out, I still have the ingredients for the dinner I didn't make which can be made another night, and as an added plus, Joe loved the dinner I made! Yay!

It does pay to be resourceful.

Some Days, I Wish I Was A Cat...

This weekend is our annual homeschool convention. Joe and I are a part of the committee that puts everything together for the convention so this week has been super busy as we've been preparing. I always look forward to it each year, but the few days preceding the convention can be somewhat crazy and stressful. So I found it funny that yesterday, after a very long, hard day of work, I was going through my coupon box and pulling out all the expired coupons (it was actually part of "cleaning up the kitchen" which needed to be done), when Joe called me into the living room to see this:

You know...some days, it really would be nice to be a cat.

By the way...these were only half of the expired coupons I found in my coupon box! Eeek!

If This Doesn't Melt Your Heart....

My little buddy (and nephew), Silas. On Memorial Day we had a cookout at my parent's house and Silas insisted on "walking" (on his knees) on the rocks in their driveway. He thought he was so big and kept looking at me a grinning. I was glad I had my camera handy to catch these super cute photos. Isn't he just the cutest little guy?!?

Page from My Journal: Chronicling A Day in the Life of A Reader

Hello! My name is Jenny, and I am a wife, and stay at home mother to 2 little ones. We are also in a very long process of adopting a little girl. You can read my blog here.

This is my 4-year-old son, William. He loves using the camera (and took the picture of me above!).

This is our little girl Elisabeth, and she’ll be 2 in July.

Everyday here is different because my husband works a lot of different shifts and has different days off every week. Today is a Tuesday, and he leaves for work around 6:30am.

After he leaves, I’m usually up by myself for a few hours to do devotions, a workout, and some reading or sewing. I had a quilt top that I made and loved but just could not seem to add the backing. Then I realized it didn’t want to be a quilt, it wanted to be a skirt. So I was happy to oblige! :)

Around 9 o clock the children wake up. After breakfast, first thing they want to do is water the plants and feed the goats. We’ve got several plants on the porch that are their little garden.

Then we walk out to check on the grapevine and feed our 3 little goats. We just got one this week, so she is still adjusting. Pictured below is our boy goat, Humphrey. The 2 girls, Clementine and Marie, are a little skiddish around the camera flash.

Grapevine

We finally come in around 11:30am and have some lunch. After that we sit down to do school. Today the kids do some paints, stamping, and coloring. Then I read them a stack of books and go over a few memory verses and their Catechism (we use the Truth and Grace Memory Books-very similar questions to the Westminster Catechism).

After I get everyone’s hands cleaned up, they lay down for a nap around 2:30pm. Then I race around getting as much as I can cleaned while they sleep! I do some laundry, the dishes, sweep, and give my grandmother a call while I do some basic picking up.

Around 5pm the children wake up, and everyone gets changed out of their pajamas and into some clothes. Then I get the kids a snack (they’re on a yogurt frenzy lately) while I start making dinner. Rob (my excellent husband) doesn’t get home until around 8pm so I get everything fixed and ready for a big Greek Chicken Salad with spinach and rice.

The kids play until about 7pm, when they are off to get their bubble baths for the night. I let them play in the tub for a while, and then get them sweet and dressed for 8 o’clock when Rob comes home. He tells us about his day, and we eat dinner.

Then we get the little ones all tucked in bed, and he and I talk about our days with each other, and discuss things that we need to have done the next day. By now it’s about 10pm and we settle in to bed and watch the “The Biggest Loser” while we get sleepy. Around 11:30pm we turn off the TV and go to sleep. So, that was a Tuesday in the life of me!