Day 1 of No-Spend Challenge with a Lesson from My Toes

Last night we stayed home and toasted the last year away.  It was an amazing year, full of trips, memories, laughs, and adventures. 

I am so blessed by our family. 

Last night we rung in the new year and with it an entire year of not spending. 

As excited as I am I'm also feeling a little scared. 

I mean, how hard is this going to be?  Ahhh! 

I felt like last night I should have been out on the town, driving in a limo throwing money out the sunroof.  Something.  I mean, that was my last shot to waste some moola. 

But we stayed home.  Despite numerous invitations I just wanted to be at home with our kiddos.  My parents even wanted to take the kids and instead we just decided to be home as a little family. 

So today begins a year of this no-spend challenge I've been talking about.  If you are new to this you can read my initial post here and then my post about the basic rules we have set out for ourselves. 

How hard can it be to not spend money when we are staying home?  This should be easy!  A cake walk!  A walk in the park!  Any other kind of walking!

But this morning after I took a shower I was stunned by my toes.  Yeesh!  I NEED a pedicure!  Like, someone call a group and let's have an intervention time. 

But then I remembered the date and it caught me off guard how spoiled I am.  Any other time I probably would have proceeded to get ready, grab my purse, and tell Nick I am going to go get a pedicure. 

But not today my friend. 

Today I found my very own nail polish remover, remover the polish myself.  And currently have naked toes. 

The horror! 

It reminded me of a conversation with my Grandma.  She was telling me about nail polish and when she was a teenager no one had money to own nail polish.  She said once in a blue moon one of her friends would have a bottle (A bottle!) and then the girls would go over and paint their nails with it. 

How cute is that? 

It made me feel a bit well to do with our two giant baskets of nail polish.  And yet those sit while I go out to the salon for a pedicure. 

So here I am in day one of this challenge and I'm already learning so much about what is truly a need and what is a want. 

Obviously a pedicure is a want but it kind of shocked me how my mind instantaneously went to thinking I HAD to have one. 

I hope you all are having a great New Years!  Me and my naked toes are signing off! 

Happy 2017!

I hope you all have a Happy New Years!  We will be here kicking around the house all day, after church, enjoying our last day of relaxing before we return to reality on Monday. 

After all when the clock strikes midnight, our carriage turns into a pumpkin and we will be back into the world of work and homeschool and grown up responsibilities. 

Boo.

Last night I read this.  David wrote it and you can pray it over your family and home. 

Praying a safe and healthy 2017 for you and yours! 

Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

The Rules for Our No-Spend Year

As I mentioned in the last post, we as a family are going to not be spending anything extra through the 2017 year. 

Today I thought I would share with you the rules we have set out to follow as a family.

I am sharing all of this with you as an extra added layer of protection for us (ha!) that will hopefully provide the accountability to help us continue this for the entire year. After all, y'all are watching us so we better not sway from these rules! 

Because right now we feel kind of scared and nervous and ridiculous about this.

But it will be fun to see if we are up for the challenge. 

One of the things I think I should mention (in case you are missing my obvious hints to get you to read my last post, ahem!) is that this is not just about money.  We are trying to change our thinking and our attitudes as a family.

That being said, we have different traditions and ways of living in our family than I am sure you do in your family and vice versa.  For example, since our kids have turned 8 we have given them the choice for each birthday to have either a party with their friends or to go on a local-ish trip.  This year they have both chosen trips.  We will still go on the trips but how we go and what we do and spend will be different than before.  Now is the trip actually needed?  Heck to the no.  But we have already decided to go ahead and take those trips.  That's a decision our family has made. We recently purchased a lake cottage that needs some work.  While we will not be dumping money into it during our no-spend year, we will still be spending money to begin the renovations on the cottage.

 So you see, how we do this will look differently than how you would do this.  And that's okay. 

If you are doing this too and have taken the challenge I'd love to hear how you plan to do this!

Now, the rules are not set in stone.  Moses did not come off Mt. Sinai with them.  They are rules our family will have to look back on so when we want to spend money on something really, REALLY badly; we will have something we can look to to remind us of what we are to do.  Because I know how this goes.  I will twist every rule I can get my hands on to be able to buy something.  I need the rules.  My kids need rules.  We are rules-kind-of-people. 

Here are our rules for our year of Not Spending:

• We'll Only Buy for Our Needs

This year we are buying only things we need and not things that we want. 

This has already been hard for me. 

I have wanted to buy Christmas clearance so, SO bad.  But I don't truly NEED anything there.  And Lord willing all of that stuff will be there in years to come.  Try as I might to convince myself that I have to buy it all now, it really will be there in later years. I have so much wrapping paper and everything already in our attic that I don't need to go out this year and mindlessly buy a bunch of stuff. 

So we are not going to be buying something unless there is a need that we have determined.

• Food Must Be From Home

We go on a lot of vacations.  At least we have in the past.  Nick is on the road a ton and there are a lot of opportunities for us to travel with him fairly inexpensively.  The most expensive thing about those trips seems to be all of us going out to eat. 

Nick has said that he wants to make sure we can still travel as a family and travel for field trips and things but we are going to be cutting all of the food costs out (mostly!) by bringing food from home. 

This also applies to going out to eat.  Craving pizza?  Instead of calling Dominos we will make it at home.  Is pizza a need?  No we could eat beans all the live long day but we are going to allow ourselves to enjoy some of our wants (of food, at least!)

• Homemade is Best

I've mentioned before that we are still going to be celebrating holidays and birthdays. I am sure we will purchase some gifts but we are going with the motto that "homemade is best".  I have a kajillion craft kits and projects that I could make for people for gifts.  Not only would those provide us with a meaningful gift but those are things we have already purchased, money invested in things to do that have been sitting around for years.  So a gift and something to spend my time doing...seems like a win, win for me. 

Homemade will be implemented, not just with gifts but with everything.  Games during the summer?  Homemade.  Halloween costumes?  Homemade.  So and so forth.  We are going to be making lots and lots of things.  And that will keep us very busy which I like the idea of very much.  No more bored children here...they'll be too busy making something.

• Maximize Our Usage of What We Do Buy

There are some things that we will still be purchasing.  This may seem crazy to some but we are keeping our gym membership. Our kids take swim lessons there as well as 4 other types of classes.  We get huge discounts by having a membership.  That being said Nick and I don't always take advantage of our membership like we should. 

But this year we will so we are getting the most out of what we are spending.  After all, with a family gym membership of $50 a month, going every day figures out to be less than $2 a day for our family of four to go and exercise and spend time together.   And that seems like a good deal, especially with us not spending money on other "fun" things. 

So like with our gym membership, whatever we do buy we will get the most of our purchase.  Like how my Grandma washes plastic baggies and reuses them (we will not be washing out plastic baggies). 

• Think Before We Buy

So this would seem like a no-brainer but allow me to explain.  We have a notebook that we are going to be keeping as a family.  If we have something that we really, REALLY want to buy, we are going to write it down.  We'll jot it down and then come back in a few days and write how we remedied that need.  What we learned from it.  I am imagining I will be writing several entries about wanting to buy Emma an outfit I see.  And I'll probably go back and reflect that we lived our life with what we have and survived.  Hallelujah!

Also if we have something that we think truly is a need, we will write it down and ponder it.  Pray about it.  Stress about it.  After all, is it really a need? 

I found myself doing this very thing this morning when I was cleaning the tub.  I was almost out of cleaner and instantly thought "I need to go buy more cleaner."  But after pondering it I thought about how I have a ton of baking soda and vinegar that would clean our bathtub.  And I have bleach.  And if I was really honest with myself (this is embarrassing) I have bottles and bottles of cleaner that have never even been opened.  So by stopping to think about it I found that I really didn't have a need at all. 

• Birthdays and Holidays are Still On

I mentioned above that homemade gifts will be given from our home.  But I am sure we will still buy gifts.  To clarify our gift buying, if we do buy gifts we are going to have a strict budget and keep to it.  No more frivolous buying of spending a ton of money on any and every little thing.  Those times are done. 

So those are our rules.  As you can see we could make this a lot more strict and say, "beans only, no gifts, nothing!"  But we are keeping some things in our lives that aren't true needs but things that are needed for our family to be happy.  For us this isn't about making ourselves miserable but rather to find those areas where we need to change, to learn gratitude, and to grow, and stretch ourselves in those. 

Are you taking a no-spend challenge?  What are your rules?

Comment below if you are joining me with a no-spend challenge and what your rules are. 

Have a great day friends!

A Very Merry Christmas

As our family celebrates the 12 days of Christmas, I don't feel it is too late to wish you a very, merry Christmas!  After all, it is only the 4th day of Christmas. 

Today was Nick's first day back to work in two weeks and we sure do miss having our guy around :(  It's hard to get back to real life. 

But this is what we are doing today...just chillin'.  It is so nice to have these days of no where to be and nothing to do.  To stay in our pjs or sweats all day and have some really deep relaxation.  I am trying to soak all of this in since we start school Monday and will be on the run again before we know it!

This Christmas was so magical!  My cousin, Andy, stayed with us and it was so nice having him around and having lots of family pop over to just hang out.  That is what Christmas is made for!

This photo is from our ugly sweater party!  It was a small group this year but we had so much fun laughing, snacking, and watching our traditional movie of Christmas Vacation.  Memories!

Christmas morning I woke up before the children to make some coffee and get myself prepared for the mental anguish of the wrapping paper blizzard that would ensue. 

I know you know what I am talking about here ;)

Check out our Christmas tree!  Santa came!!!

The kids were so gracious about their gifts and it was so fun to watch them open everything they got from us and then from Santa.  They loved all of their toys and since have been having a blast playing with everything!

Here's Calvin with his lego bible.  It is so fun!

Here's Emma with her weaving loom!  She asked Santa for it and has played with it every single day!

After the kids opened their gifts I insisted we take some family photos.  This year the kids had REALLY wanted us to all have matching pjs.  Let me tell you, that is easier said than done.  Has anyone else endured this nightmare? After 3 pairs of pjs we landed on matching pjs from Burt Bee's Organic Cotton collection and we LOVE them! 

Of course we had to take some silly photos after we FINALLY got a good one!

I think this one is adequately silly, don't you? 

Nick and I got one another some pretty great gifts too!  Nick got me an Erin Condren planner (I've wanted one FOREVER!!!), he also got me some le creuset kitchen items, a ton of wool socks, and spent way, WAY too much Shearling slippers for me.  When I scolded him he said "you're always here doing so much for all of us.  You deserve warm feet."  He is just the sweetest man!

I got Nick a big tv for our bedroom...he's wanted one FOREVER and I was so excited to actually surprise him with it...I've had it hidden in my dressing room for months!  I thought for sure he had discovered it but he hadn't and I was so tickled to surprise him.  I also got him some cubs memorabilia from their big win!!!  this year.  And I got him the book The Secret Garage, about praying for your family. 

We've had the best holiday, not to mention all of the wonderful gifts our families gave us!  We received some amazing gifts...my camel for my nativity, awesome travel mugs, and more! 

We hope you and yours are having a very merry Christmas season and that your days are merry and bright! 

Merry Christmas!

Introducing: Our No-Spend Year!

The Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine, inspired me this last year by making it her year of rest. 

I love the idea of having a theme for a year! 

So this upcoming year, 2017, our family has declared this to be a year of not spending extra!

We will buy for necessities but not for wants!

We've done this for a month in the past. It was hard.

I think a year may just kill us.

But...here's the thing: For us this is not only about money!

To give you a bit of a backstory, we recently came home from a two day whirlwind trip to The Henry Ford campus in Dearborn, Michigan.  Our kids loved, LOVED (you should go, like, for realz) touring Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford Museum.  On the way home we were talking as a family about how neat the old generations were. How it would have been so neat to have self-service gas stations and to sit around and listen to radio programs. 

The kids went on to do their own things in the backseat while Nick and I continued talking. We discussed how much we hate that our kids are growing up in this age of entitlement and technology and loss of skills that so many people had in generations before (sewing, baking, basic carpentry skills, anyone?). 

Anyway, as we drove on we kept talking and by the time we pulled into our driveway we had this plan outlined: a year of not buying anything extra. For gifts we would encourage our kids to make homemade gifts. We would entertain ourselves with things we already have (shocker!) or we would instill some good old fashioned hard work to pass the time. 

We will still buy for needs but wants have to go.  No more running out for craft supplies or more Legos or WHATEVER! 

We're hoping this creates an attitude of gratitude that we so desperately want our family to have as part pf our legacy.  We want this to help their creativity blossom.  We actually like it when our kids are bored: It's when they think their best.

The extra money? Well, we have a wee bit o' debt left that by paying that off would make us DEBT FREE!!! So we're really hoping that we can throw all of this extra money at that.  But that's not our reasoning behind this madness. :)

We're hoping that, Lord willing, when we are staring at the back end of 2017 that our kiddos will have a better appreciation for their money, and especially ours, and will think a bit differently about spending and the value attached to their things. That, when they are making out their 2017 Christmas lists, perhaps they will ask for less rather than more toys. 

All that said, I'm inviting you all to join in on our fun...be it for the entire year, a month, or even a week! 

I plan on documenting this all as the year progresses in hopes that by doing so y'all can keep me (us) accountable and on task.

Wish us luck and let me know if you'd like to join in on the fun! 

.

Coffee is my Thing To-Do Today

I am totally having one of those days when I just don't want to do anything.  ANYTHING!  This morning I sat down and was getting ready for my devotional time when Emma came down SUPER early for her after having a bad dream.  She said she was scared so her and I snuggled into the couch and watched The Nutcracker Christmas that was on Hallmark (super cute by the way!).  I had recorded it for her and I and of course those boys haven't wanted to watch it so it was a perfect time to see it! 

After that though it was time to start our day and I got on my way. 

Well after another cup of coffee.

I then dragged my old, dead body upstairs to the third floor where I told myself I was going to wrap all the things and get all of the stuff done. 

But I just didn't want to, ya know?

Ugh.

So I have spent most of the day doing nothing.

Oh sure, I've folded some laundry here, and wrapped a gift or two there.  I organized some of my school stuff and I even got dinner going early (it's chili.  Chili for dinner.  Sorry to ruin the surprise.).

But I just feel bleh here. 

Oh and speaking of feeling bleh...did anyone else spend WAY more than they were planning on for Christmas? 

Anyone?  Show of hands, people.

I mean, where does the money go?  Did I set it on fire?

It just floors me. 

And these kids!  Emma and Calvin are 10 and 8 respectively and they come to us with these lists that are collectively like $1,000.  I mean, seriously?  What is this horror going to be when they are teenagers?  Yeesh.  We don't get everything on their lists (far from it!) but again with the yeesh!

And on that yeesh can I just tell you that is a-cold.  Terribly cold.  Here in Northern Indiana we get snow off Lake Michigan and dear Michigan, you can keep your snow and cold, we've got enough.

Today the high temperature was...drumroll please...5!

Yep, that's it!  I'm sure with the wind and the non-stop snow that that equates to feeling like -75 or something. Brrr.

And with that brrr it's time for my next infusion of coffee. 

We gotta stay on a schedule around here ya know...gotta be able to say I did SOMETHING today :)

And then I Remembered the Autism...

It's December 12th, yo. 

We've had a particualarly hard time with Calvin since Thanksgiving. 

At first we thought it was his medicine. 

Then I switched to the notion that he had too much gluten at Thanksgiving and it's still in his system. 

Then I decided it must be the red dye 40 in the crush soda he drank twice at my moms.

Then I decided to put my brain back in and rememeber that the kid has cotton picking AUTISM!

Seriously, how do I keep forgetting this? 

When I finally figure out what has been staring me in the face for the past three weeks I feel really, really dumb. 

After all, I am the mom.  I am the one who is supposed to think through these things ahead of time.  To be prepared.  To have my stuff together.

And yet here I am on December 12th saying "oh, yeah, autism...I forgot".

Ugh.

So I am trying my best to bear down for the rest of the month because we've got two more weeks until Christmas and I have a feeling it's going to get ugly up in here. 

So I will be over here chugging the nog and trying to survive the holidays.  Judging by the fact that there have been a TON of hits on my blog on the "Fun" of Autism that I wrote last year I can safely assume that I am not the only one in the surviving boat. 

So Merry Christmas and if you see me you may want to remind me that I have a child with Autism...geesh!

This is My Grown-Up Christmas Wish

Hey guys!   I hope that today you are happy and feeling blessed because, well, you are! 

I just wanted to share a little backstory behind my blog and a little about what has been going on behind the scenes...that's a lot about behinds but then it will be looking forward from here on out I tell ya ;)

I started this blog SOOO long ago.  About 2007 I believe?  So almost 10 years ago. I have been blogging for so many reasons throughout the years but the number one reason behind my blog has been because I have always loved to write.  After I had our daughter Emma my blog became a way to document things we were doing in her life and it served as a way to keep out-of-state family connected into our life.  After our son Calvin was born and then diagnosed with Autism my blog morphed into a new form that enabled me to tell other moms "you are not alone" because I know that I felt alone and often ashamed by everything I was feeling and going through. 

My blog started on blogger and then has taken me places I never thought possible.  My blog opened the door for me to have my own column and lifestyle blog with our local newspaper and after I left the paper it opened doors for me to become a freelance author and writer of some really great projects in magazines.  It's been an amazing journey and I love how I got to where I am today!

Today I have this blog for the reasons mentioned still but also as a way to kind of get me out of myself and out of the house!  I have felt God's calling for a while now that I have a gift and a message that no one else out there in the world has to share.  I love that He made each of us unique and special and I want to share that with others!  God also placed in my life my amazing cousin who when I was finally ready for a "real" website she constructed everything for me and put it all together seamlessly.  It's been such a great journey!  

So there's the backstory of my blog.  Now onto the behind the scenes of what is happening currently...

Earlier this year I turned 35 and had a clear vision...no more bad days. 

No more days of feeling like I hadn't accomplished anything, days where I was ashamed of being me, days where I was embarrassed at night to come before the Lord in prayer with nothing to offer Him.  I just felt depleted and done. I know that "no more bad days" isn't really possible but I have decided to live intentionally and to not let life just fly by me. 

I know God has great plans for me; I stand in faith in that statement.  And so on my 35th birthday I decided to start living intentionally. I would try to have the best day...everyday.  Now of course that isn't possible and of course already I have stumbled and fallen but, by golly, I am determined! 

One of the areas of my life I have felt determined in is my blog.  The past year (or so!) I have had my blog take a back seat.  I've written when I wanted to, not really worked on it, and as a result when I come back to it it feels neglected to me.  I didn't want that anymore either. 

I really felt like I needed an assistant though with everything that comes with blogging today (did you know it's more than just sitting down and writing?) Watermarks, editing, cropping...and that's just for the photos!  Then there's the actual content, marketing through social media, pinterest, I could go on and on but that's not what this is about!  I also felt like I needed some sort of accountablility. 

So I got up all the courage I had and decided to hire someone.  Sorry, "hire" someone.  So I asked my husband.  Now I am sure I could have hired a much better Virtual Assistant but seeing as my budget to pay someone is $0 I figured he was the man for the job! 

It's been incredible working side by side on this job and dream and gift with him.  He pushes me out of my comfort zone in terms of ideas and collaborations and trusts my God given gifts to stand on their own. 

That being said we don't fully feel like we are where we want to be, but we are trying!  One of the things Nick was so surprised by was how low my readership is.  Try as I might it just feels like something is missing that I am missing so we all are missing.  Did ya get all that?

And that's where all of this behind stuff comes into helping me.  By reading all of these behind the scene and background details I am hoping you can help me step into the future with my blog! 

Legit talking now, here's what I'm struggling with:  Laying it all out on the line I feel like I write well and have good ideas and lots to share but my following and readership just doesn't jive with that.  Meaning I am not having nearly as many people reading my work and coming back as I would hope or expect. 

So...

This is my Grown-Up Christmas Wish:

Well it's kind of two-fold. 

Here's what I would really like for you to do:

1) Please give me honest comments about my site. 

Rip me apart.  What do you like about my site?  What do you hate?  Tell me what needs changed.  Everything you say, be it hearts and stars or harsh will be seen with love and appreciation.  I want to know what is keeping people away and those who stay, I want to know what they are liking.

and...

2) Please follow and/or share my blog, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, whatever! 

The higher my readership numbers, the better I am able to serve you with fun things like giveaways, reviews, and other things!  I really want to help other Momma's to be the best they can be!  Also when my numbers go up then I know that I am not just writing and hearing nothing but crickets back.  Ugh, that's always the worst!  Anytime you can tell your friends about my site in any form I would really, really appreciate it! 

So those are the two things I would really love as my Grown-Up Christmas Wishes! 

Please comment below on this blog to tell me what to change, what to keep, and everything in between! 

For all of you who read this, I am so genuinely thankful...thankful for you, your voice, your friendship, and your faithfulness. 

Thanks again friends, be blessed!

Secrets to Make Hosting Thanksgiving Super Easy

This Thanksgiving is my first time hosting the big "Turkey Day" for our family.  I can hardly wait!  I mean, who doesn't like Thanksgiving?  It's the best Jerry, the best.  The mashed potatoes, the turkey that I never eat any other day.  The cranberries.  Everything is wonderful.  I also love that in some ways it's a tunnel holiday.  You go through it and on the other end is Christmas after you say good-bye to Autumn...it's squashed between my two favorite things.

Hosting is a tad bittersweet however.  As excited as I am to be hosting and to see everyone, I'm also sad because it means it is no longer being hosted by my sweet grandmother.  My Grandma Jean is 90 and bless her heart, I think she's just had about her fill of Thanksgiving.  I am happy to have the tradition passed to me.

If you've followed me for any length of time then you should know that I love having parties and hosting events in our house.  It is what we feel called to do with the gift of our home and hosting is my spiritual gift.  So when I offered to host for her I had no worries about it.  After all, I have everything we need, right?  No big deal!

Fowgettabowtit...

Boy was I wrong. 

In my head I had the idea to use our china.  I LOVE our china.  It's a gorgeous vintage Noritake pattern that Nick bought for me when we were newly married.  I have an 8-piece set.  One day we hope to add on to it but for now it is great. 

Done and done I thought.  But when I started taking a hard look at what I would need for the table I realized that the set of china in the cabinet was just a drop in the bucket of what we would need...

Tablecloth

Fancy Shmancy Glasses

Silverware

Turkey Platter

Salt and Pepper Shakers

Bowls for sides

 My challenge for this Thanksgiving has been to get as many of these things as possible for as cheaply as possible.  After all, I just realized last week that I need these things.  Why oh why I decided to coast through this process thinking I had everything I needed I'll never know.  But that's the way the cookie crumbled my friends. 

Nick had me start at the store we go to regularly to snag deals... Christmas Tree Shop. 

Fail.  The closest thing I could find was a plastic platter for $15.00.  I didn't want plastic so the search continued.

So I knew I had to be super smart in what I bought and just make do with what I could find.  After all at this point I don't even have time to order anything online in time for it to be sent to me.  Here are the secrets I have found about making your nice, fancy -schmancy table still look nice and fancy-schmancy with what you find:

1) White serveware matches anything

Anything!  Look for super cheap serving platters anywhere.  Goodwill, Kirklands, Target, Walmart.  I have found that Bed, Bath, and Beyond has some very sturdy, nice white dishes that are even cheaper after their 20% off coupons.  Score!  The nice things about these dishes is that once you purchase them you can use them for any occasion and any holiday.  You'll find that they will go with virtually anything!

2) Cheap silverware can work in a pinch

You know that supercheap stuff that you don't really want to use for everyday because it feels cheap?  Well that for holidays will work just fine!  I have Gibson silverware that was from my uncles estate paired with our Noritake and it looks great!  We don't use it for everyday so it stays nice looking.  I have also found that you can find some pretty nice actual silver silverware on craigslist for cheap.  People just don't entertain like they used to and for a lot of people these have simply gone by the way-side.

3) Glassware matters

I was speaking to my grandmother about trying to find nice glasses to go with my dishes and she commented that no one has ever cared about glasses.  She has really nice "company" glasses lined in platinum or plutonium or something and even she said she had the same hard time finding glasses way back when.  So this is not just a generational problem, folks.  I went with these crystal glasses.   I purchased them from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  They were $20 for 4 glasses and we were able to use 20% off coupons.  So 8 glasses for about $32 was in our price range and worth it.  I decided on these Dublin crystal beauties because there are a ton of different pieces available and it will be nice to collect them as time goes on. If you can't swing it, again, check on Craigslist or look at places like JCP.  Some of the sets of glasses have nicer looking ones that will look nice. 

4) White Tablecloth

Again, white goes with anything.  Or black to really make a statement.  We went with a white tablecloth I found.  It cost me $8 for the largest size they have. 

5) S& P- Cheap and Elegant

Simple crystal salt and pepper shakers at Bed, Bath, and Beyond are $10.  With one of their 20% off coupons they would be $8.00.  A good investment on something that will always look nice on the table and that you will have for years.

So those are some of the secrets that I have learned on this short journey to get our table ready for thanksgiving.  But here's the biggest secret I have to share with you:

6) Stop caring! 

Realize no one cares.  I was talking to my Grandma (the one with the fancy glasses) and asking her in my classic-Lindsay-panic mode if I could borrow some items if I couldn't find anything I liked and these were her words: no one cares.  It's just family.  We're all going to have a good time.  Life is too short."  That being said, every Thanksgiving her table was set with her finest china, mercury covered glasses, and gold plated flatware.  So I'm taking that advice with a grain of salt ;)

But how true is all of that?  I know it's super easy to get wrapped up in all of the details and worry about everything, but folks, that's not what Thanksgiving is about. It's about being thankful for what you are blessed with, for spending time with friends and family, for eating gargantuan amounts of food, and then for watching football.  It's parades and laughing and carb overloads and sugar comas. 

That's not to say you can't try to have a gorgeous table to gather your family around to make them feel special (I know I'm going to give it the ole' college try) but stop worrying and start counting your blessings: remembering you don't have to have the best of the best of everything to complete your table and complete your life. 

You can find a suitable addition at a practical price that works for all occasions and looks perfect to everyone you love, and loves you back. No one will know and if your Grandma's like mine she won't even care! 

Whatever your Thanksgiving looks like, I hope these secrets help you and I hope you have the best holiday ever!  You are loved, friends!

Welcome to our Cottage

I can't wait to share our cottage with you. 

Ready? 

Come on in, friends! 

In case you missed it in this post you can read all about how my amazing husband took me down and presented me with keys as a birthday gift...keys to our very own lake cottage!  It was so sweet and romantic of him to set the trip up and to give me a lake cottage for my birthday!  He's really upped the ante when it comes to birthday gifts.  Next year I'm going to have to give him a Porsha or something ;)

But anyway...

Welcome to our new home away from home. 

Literally!

We are so, so blessed by this place.   I have wanted a cottage ever since I was a girl but I had never thought of it as a real possibility.  I never really even thought of it as being possible. If it did ever happen, I figured maybe one day when the kids were grown.  Or I was almost dead. 

But a few months ago this all started coming together in one of those events that you just know God is at the head of. We had taken Cal down (Emma had ballet and then was with my sister...boo!  We always miss her) and visited with some friends of ours who have a cottage a few doors down from what is now ours (we're neighbors now!).  They were talking with us about a few cottages that were available for sale.  We looked at them longingly but figured it was just a nice dream and set out on our way. 

On the way home though we were talking about how Cal just seemed to love being down around the lake.  He rode his bike all over and had the best time.  He was so much better behaved after being down there.  Then we started talking more seriously about owning a cottage and God opened doors and paved ways we never thought would be open to us. It's been an incredible experience to be a part of. We have always known that nothing was impossible with our God but this has really proven that for us!

I do want to say that our cottage needs a lot of work.  I don't want to sugar coat it and make it look like it's perfect.  It's not. It's like us: It needs work.  But we have a clear vision together of what we want and we are so excited to work on it together.  Thankfully it is in live in condition...no mold or vermin or missing walls, whew! 

It's totally us. 

Except the furniture.  The purchase came with the furniture so that will be moved out as well.  Didn't want to confuse y'all and have you thinking we already moved furniture in. :)

If you know Nick and I you know that we are kind of weirdos.  And we LOVE old houses.  When a girl who's a history nerd marries an architect you get a really great love of OLD Architecture!  Our home is over 120 years old.  We have changed things and discovered things and polished things.  It's the work we've put into our home that makes us love it even more.  And one another.  Our home (like this one will be) truly is a labor of love.

I don't think that we are "new" home kinds of people.  We love the journey that old homes provide.  Our cottage is one of the original ones on the lake left in the original shape.  It is going to be so fun to tear away the layers and try to find what is still there...to go through the journey together and sift through the past.

So let's show you around...what we love, what we are going to change and everything in between! 

Come on in!

This is the view from the front door.  Currently there is a bedroom that you can see in the photo.  It is actually decent sized.  However we really want a big open space.  I'm envisioning kids sprawled on the floor doing a puzzle, family cookouts with people bustling in and out.  Those type of things.  And with the space so small (less than 500 sq ft!) we really want to open everything as much as possible.  We are planning on tearing down these walls! in the center of the room so it's just a big open area.  We are planning on having a bed down there (ain't no fan of a futon) but it will be in the open space.  Pa and Ma Ingalls style. 

So I can definitely see what others were trying to do in the past with our house.  I don't want to be one to say "what were they doing here?"  because everyone has their own vision for space, their own personalities, tastes, ideas, and budgets.

What we are envisioning is one large area (for now).  Down the road we envision a second floor being added on with the bedrooms moved to upstairs.  Can you picture all of it?  Can you?  Eek, I'm excited just talking about it!

For now though we will have one large room which will serve as the bedroom/entry/living room.  The children have a small room where they will sleep in bunkbeds.  It's an adorable little nook for them.  We also have a kitchen and a bathroom.  and that's it! Let me show you those...

Here is the bathroom.  It looks teeny tiny and it is!  The first time we looked at the cottage I didn't go in the bathroom and then when I went home and thought of the cottage (and dreamed about it even!) I was eeked out by the size of the bathroom.  But this time when I was in the cottage I actually WENT in the bathroom and I was surprised by the amount of space in the bathroom.  Don't get me wrong, there isn't a lot of space. But I could at least change my clothes without knocking something off of the sink.  Whew!

This is the kids nook/area/thing.  Emma keeps telling people that they have to sleep in a closet which isn't true (but it is the size of a good closet I suppose!) The people before us have been keeping this as a little storage area so after a good tidy, some new matresses, and some paint it will be as good as new.  One of the things I think the kids are having a hard time understanding is the lack of personal space.  Living in a large home we all have our own areas of the house to go to when we need to be alone but here we won't have that.  We've been trying to explain it to them but I think it will still be a big adjustment for all of us. 

From the kitchen you can see that this place has not been occupied for some time.  It's definitely going to need some love!  These two photos are me standing in one side of the kitchen and taking a photo and then swapping sides and taking a photo of the side where I had been standing.  Our big view of the lake is out of the kitchen window which placement wise makes it a bit awkward.  But we are going to make it work! 

Here's a very side view (not sure why I didn't take it from straight on) but I just love the view.  We are about 3 houses down from the beach area that has a little playground.  It will just be perfect!

Anyway, the view is one of the reasons that we want to make this as open and airy as we can...we want to see the view as much as we can! 

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour of our little lake cottage.  We are so excited to bring it back to life and love on it.  God is so amazing friends! 

---

I will be posting soon all about the little details of the place that can be hard to see in photos.  With that maybe you can help me with some design questions we are having :).  We plan on posting all about our progress so stick around!

How My Birthday Rocked Its Socks Off!

Last week was my birthday.  I am officially in my late 30's. 

That was a whole gulp of reality right there.

It was such an amazing time! 

My very first gift was my sweet Nick taking me down and gifting me with the keys to our very own lake cottage! 

I cannot believe I am 35 and we own our first vacation property.  I say first because I 've learned over the years to never underestimate God's plans. It's amazing what He does. 

So anyway, we went down to our cottage and took some measurements, wrote a big list of what we know we are going to need, and just in general started dreaming of what we can do with the space.  We are so, so excited!

I will be writing another blog about the cottage so stay tuned!

The next day (my actual birthday!)  we went to a celebration with my fantastic in-laws.  It was a Thanksgiving/chili cook-off/birthday celebration and between the brownie bar and all of the gifts I sure felt loved.  I am so blessed to call them all family!

The morning of my birthday the kiddos gave me some wonderful gifts!  Calvin gave me a piece of pottery he made in his class and Emma gave me a cross stitch plaque that she made for me all on her own.  It was so sweet! She even took me on a special scavenger hunt around the house to find my gift.  I just love them so much!

The day after my birthday we went to my mom and dad's for one of my mom's "farmhouse dinners" that she always has for our birthdays.  She lets us pick out whatever we want for dinner and she makes it. This year I picked a haystack dinner which is like a torn apart taco with rice on the bottom of the pile of toppings.   It's just the sweetest thing and we always have so much fun! She even had a birthday cake for me and then we all enjoyed looking at pictures from when we were younger. 

I got some really amazing gifts!  My baby sister, Kelsey bought me a really fun Starbucks mug and my middle sister, Lacey bought me some Pioneer Woman jar glasses.  I've wanted some of those for a while so I was tickled.  My sister in law, Natalie bought me the cutest bags and an adorable Christmas decoration.  She knows I love Christmas and bags...perfection!

Anyway, I will be putting together a blog about our cottage so stay tuned for that! 

Thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes and messages!  It was such a great day (and Birthday week!) I really appreciate you all!

Muah! xo

An Attitude of Gratitude

This attitude of dissent has crept into our home. 

I find myself being a voice of complaint rather than being a light in this world.  And of course, what a Momma does, her kids are quick to pick up and model themselves.  So we're all going downhill with grumpiness, bad attitudes, and just general downward thinking.

But November is the time to reject all of that thinking. 

It is after all the season of gratitude! 

I have been doing the Armor of God Bible study with our church (I plan to write about that in another blog!) and this verse was brought to my attention:

You may be like me and have heard this verse a kajillion times.  It's my fall back when I am stressed and taking things back from the cross and worrying about things that I was not even designed to worry about. 

But here's the thing I've learned about this verse.  I'm sharing this with you because it's kind of life changing.  Not only are we to ask God for things, to talk to Him, to tell him what is on our mind and to make those requests known, girl, but we are to do it with Thanksgiving. 

In other words we are not supposed to approach the thrown of God as sniveling, whining children, only complaining about what we don't have and what hasn't gone our way, and what we're scared of.  Don't get me wrong, God wants to hear those things from you. 

But He wants to hear thanksgiving too. 

Thanksgiving.  It's a magical word.  It is something that, when we do it, when we give Thanks, it turns our whole perspective, our whole world, our whole attitude upside down.

Because then I'm not just complaining but I'm also realizing how great I have it in the grand scheme of things. 

Because then I'm not looking so inward as to what I need and what I want but I am looking outwardly to what He has given me. 

And what happens when we come to God with Thanksgiving?

Verse 7 explains that that is when we are blessed with God's peace.  See, God's peace is given to us when we ask Jesus into our hearts.  We have it within us.  But when we're anxious and not going to God and not being thankful, we aren't going to feel that peace, to experience that peace. 

But when we start going to God with our thanksgiving, that's when he pours out His blessing of peace on our lives.  It's a peace that makes no sense to us, we can't even comprehend how we are feeling peace in the midst of chaos and terror and crazy.  But we are.  And we can.  And YOU can. 

I can tell you about this because, it is true!  I know it is true because I have God's peace.  Sure, there are times when I become too like this world and I stress, and I panic, and I freak.  But when I remember to pray and pray and pray and when I pepper those prayers with thanksgiving, that's when his peace is on me like a warm blanket. 

So I really urge you to practice thanksgiving this month. 

Everyday we can count our blessings and marvel at all that God has done for us. 

I am so very blessed.  He made me ME and He gave me this very life to live out in the best way He wants me to do that.  I am feeling very thankful for that on this first day of November. 

So day 1: I am thankful for this very life He gave me.  I don't want anyone else's.  I'm so glad I have mine!

What are YOU Thankful for today? Comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Fall Decorating Ideas

I'm thrilled to show you some of the fall décor around our house! 

Mainly because I finally got around to doing it, ha!  Last year I kept meaning to show you my décor but we were so busy that I never got around to do it. 

This year though I am doing great with my schedule and am feeling like I am ahead on things.  When I have the time and am doing great around the house is when I have time to blog and show you the things that I am excited about.  If you check out my blog and it's all crickets then you know I must be under water here and can't come up for air let alone to blog. 

Anyway, I have a multi-faceted fall décor approach. Anyone else do this?  Labor Day I decorate with just leaves, apples, general fall stuff.  October 1st I add the Halloween décor I have.  November 1st I will swap out my Halloween stuff for my Thanksgiving stuff.  And then tada!  That's fall folks!

Here you go, let me show you around our home:

Okay, for starters this is on our coffee table in our living room. I have a hazelnut scented candle in this simple votive.  It is just a votive but it makes me smile...I have had this since we first got married.  Back when we didn't have any money this was just one of the few decorations for fall that I had.  So when I see it, reminds me of simpler times.  I still love it.

In the same room is our tv above the fireplace mantle.  I gotta tell you a secret: there are times I hate having the tv above the fireplace.  I know it's convenient but it really makes decorating a challenge sometimes. I can't say this is exactly my favorite thing in the world but I think it is nice.  I would like to have some more colors but the monochromatic is also nice. 

I know I am not the only one who has to decorate with kids in mind.  I say that because if you will see on top of the middle pumpkin there is the wii sensor. Of course.

I got the garland from QVC.  They light up and twinkle with LED lights.  It's so pretty and romantical when Nick and I are watching sports after the kids are in bed. The pumpkins are mercury glass.  I got them from the Yankee Candle Flagship store.  I believe you got one when you spent $100 or some absurd amount.  As you can see from my pumpkin amount, I have a hard time saying no to candles...they seem to leap into my cart when I am in that store.

In our living room between that and the blue room (yes that's what we call it) there is this weird window thing.  It is tall and just begs for tall décor.  It's always fun to see what I can come up with.  So I have a million artificial flowers and leaves and leaves and flowers, oh my!  My grandma decorated the altar at her church for years and she is always giving me tons and tons of arrangements.

This year I came up with this arrangement.  Nick had purchased this vase for me a while back.  The studio where Cal takes pottery classes frequently has things for sale and he purchased this for me (isn't he just the sweetest?). 

I just came up with this arrangement to be honest.  I knew I was going to need a biggish vase so I saw it and just started cramming everything in.  I love the leaves on top and how it all kind of fans out.  On the other side of the arrangement is the blue room (where the kids play and eat their lunch) so I made sure that the back of it looks nice as well. 

Next to the vase I have a simple candle votive and a statue of our family.  I love it!

In our dining room I again used when I had to make my decorations.  You should notice a theme around these parts, folks :)

This year I filled this hurricane with apples.  I had bought a kajillion pounds of organic apples at the store.  We go picking too but I couldn't beat the price for organic apples to I bought tons.  These were some of the ones that I still have and I just love the look of them. They are sitting on top of our china cabinet. 

I also have this sitting on our china cabinet as well.  I purchased this lantern years ago at a thrift shop.  I never knew what to do with it but somehow it just spoke to me.  So I have it crammed with all things fall.  I put a cute bow and some flowers on the handle to dress it up a little more.  I love it. 

Even this cute guy (a gift from my Grandma Jean!) makes an appearance in our dining room.  Our dining room is very formal but for holidays it's always nice to make things fun and celebrate.  After all, making others happy is what makes ME happy!

Moving on to our downstairs bath will give you an example of how I "sneak" fall décor into little areas of the house.  I love putting small things around.

I found this sweet sign and just had to have itHow sweet is it with the fun background pattern and the adorable burlap flower?  This is on a 9 cubbie shelving unit we have where I keep loads of cleaning supplies. 

Even on the back of the toilet I have some fun pumpkins.  Have I mentioned I love decorating??

In our solarium I must admit, I don't do much.  I have several large pieces of furniture but never know how to do anything with them.  Instead I like to put little hints of fall around.  This apple plaque and stand are from Hallmark and I paired them with this sweet apple basket candle holder I have.  How adorable is this thing?

In our foyer are these fun plates.  These suckers were super popular a few years ago. It seemed like everywhere you went there were tons of sets to choose from for tons of different holidays and occasions.  But I think they have faded in their popularity because they have been pretty difficult to come by.  But I love them anyway, and that makes me cherish the ones I do have even more!

On a side note you can see that we have a real "mission control" situation going on with the switches.  Geesh, it's a lot of them to handle!

Also in our foyer is this sweet shelf from Pottery Barn.  I like to put definite kid-friendly things here as this is what our kiddos friends see when they come to the door to ask if our kids can play.  Also, our kids are in the foyer lots in the autumn with their shoes and as they start to get back in the habit of wearing jackets again after the summer weather. 

For serious though, how stinkin' cute are these little guys? 

Our outdoor décor is where it's at.  Legit.  Which by the way, I had lunch with my best friend this afternoon and she reunited me with that word so you can thank her for that.  Legit.

Anyway, here's the "from far away" view of our door.  You've got 'cha garland and pumpkins, and ornamental kale, and pumpkins, and gourds, and mums.  The standards are there.  

I love our pumpkins.  Love, love, love.  Has anyone else seen a price increase in pumpkins?  Our pumpkins cost us $40 this year!  I almost fell over...like a pumpkin!

I always love a good pumpkin tower.

I love this sign on our house.  I purchased it earlier this year when we were visiting Tennessee and have been so excited to put it up! 

The last photo I have to show you is this festive wreath that my sweet grandmother made.  I love the giving spirit that my grandma has passed down.  She is always making things for people just to make them happy.  It makes me smile when I see it because it reminds me of her!

---

So there's a taste of our fall décor.  I hope you enjoyed seeing what we have been up to in our house.  I love decorating and enjoying the seasons with our sweet, little family!

October 17 Edition of What I'm Loving this Monday

Today is a great day!

Why you may ask?

Because we are not having school today!

That's right friends, and this was planned.  How uh-mazing does that sound?

Soooo...to tell you that short story of it (yeah, right!  How often does that happen that I only give you the short story! lol).  Last year I planned EVERYTHING for the entire year and as we went along the year and got behind on things it was miserable! 

Miserable, Jerry!  Miserable!

So this year I feel like I have really matured and actually read the advice given on other blogs because this year I decided to only plan 6 weeks of material. 

That's it! 

The rest of my planner is just a wide abyss of white.  Nothing on the horizon.

So this week I have today and tomorrow to plan and prepare and dream about how I want the next 6 weeks to go (that takes us to about Thanksgiving...totally do able!) 

I love this set up so far because I get a break, the kids get a break and knowing there are breaks coming up helps us to be able to keep our focus and work hard for as long as is necessary. 

That being said I thought I would share with you a few things around here that I am loving!  I did this a couple of weeks ago and it was surprisingly, LoVeD!  If you guys love it then I am all about it!

I am loving our fall décor this year.  It's been pretty simple but I love decorating and celebrating all throughout the house.  This cute thing is on our door's decorations.  Love it!

Okay total mom fail confession here...there are days that I just don't care what the kids drink.  Is that horrid? 

You want juice? 

Sure, live it up.

These Fruit Shoot's walked into my life and we love them.  Well, the kids LOVE them and I love that they are convenient.  They aren't good for them but conversely they don't have crap in them so I guess it's kind of a tie between the kids and me. 

We love them so much I bought 2 cases of them. 

Yikes. 

The kids love grabbing them when they need a snack outside of the house or during an occasional moment of weakness when I will let them have something not good for them at home.  Usually it's all organic carrots this and hide the spinach in that.

This is our pup, Lucy.  We got her when Emma was 3 and we were told Lucy was 3 too.  Recently though she's been declining in health very rapidly.  The vet told us she could be a lot older than we thought she was.  You can see she has to sit kind of funny because she has a huge tumor on her back leg that would be too big to remove.  The vet does not think it's cancerous which is good and luckily it doesn't seem to hurt or bother Lucy at all. 

Anyway, all that being said we're just trying to enjoy Lucy as much as we can.  We love her so much and she is the world's best dog.  She takes such good care of us. 

When I am planning lessons and the kids are around I a lot of time will give them a chance to just play in the schoolroom with me. Calvin loves these widgits.  Here he wants me to show you he built a frog.  I love how well he can build with these things. 

---

So those are the things that are making me smile today as I get going on lesson planning and shopping for everything we need for all our school projects in the next 6 weeks. 

What is making you happy today?

Comment with what you're loving.  I would love to hear from you!