Travel

***Disclaimer: We paid for all of our travel expenses out of our own pocket. Any mention of companies or their likeness is purely out of recognition and please know that we did not receive anything free for our recommendations.***

First things first, we have a plain and simple rule when we travel and we really try not to break that rule. That is that we don't eat at any places we could eat at home. That usually means no McDonald's, Chic-Fil-A, or anything else like that but I will divulge that I consumed Chipotle on the first night of this trip because walking around downtown DC with every restaurant having a 2+hour wait time will make you crave the comforts of home haha!

I also feel that it is appropriate to divulge that we do not mind using Uber, public transportation, or just our plain old two feet to get around while we're in a new city so if you cannot handle that, this blog post is not for you!

When we were planning my 30th birthday trip, I was clueless at what exactly I wanted to do. it ultimately ended up being Stuart's idea of Washington, DC as our destination. It was a place that I had been begging to go for years and it was just enough sight-seeing for our 4 days in the city.

We happened to be driving by our local Amtrak station one night (that happens to be 5 minutes from our house!) and we both had the realization that we should take the Amtrak as a part of this once in a lifetime adventure!

Amtrak Travel: approximately $350.00

When traveling Amtrak, you have a ton of choice but our most logical option within our time frame (which was less than a month before our trip 😬) was the  reserved coach seats which gave us 2 seats together in a train car similar to an airplane. But the big differences were that we had so much leg room! (similar to the exit row of an airplane) and that we could move about the train cars any time we wanted! This is especially helpful because loading the train car at 5:00am meant that my coffee that I consumed while loading the car hit me about an hour outside of Camden! haha!

The biggest seller of train travel for us was that we could carry so much more than we could when traveling by air! We were allowed up to 4 checked bags, 2 carry on bags, and 2 personal items/bags. Now, our local Amtrak station does not allow checked bags so we didn't even explore that route but not having to worry about the weight of my carry on luggage was a game changer!

The biggest downside fo train travel was not something that we really experienced but just a few days before we left, it definitely made the news! An Amtrak train stuck for 36 hours! 😩 My dad actually texted me that article the day before we left and honestly, that was all I could think about the entire ride! But in our favor, this trip was uneventful and we made it in the recommended trip time! I will caution you that if you have a tight schedule, Amtrak is not for you. Anything can happen along the way and deter the trip.

We arrived in Washington, DC around 2:45pm and at Union Station, you can find all of the eating and shopping facilities that you need! for me, I had been craving a Shake Shack Burger so that is what we had as soon as we got off the train!

Shack Shack: approximately $20.00

After I got my fill of Shake Shack, we headed for the Metro, which is right outside the Union Station in DC. We always opt for the unlimited ride passes on metro systems in larger cities so we paid $60 per person for a 7 day unlimited pass (we normally gift our cards to hotel personnel before we leave so we feel that it is not a waste.)

Metro passes: $120 for the whole trip

We didn't know it at the time but we realized that our hotel had a shuttle from the Pentagon City Mall to our hotel almost around the clock every day so we tried to time our Metro trips with those shuttle times when we could. We ended up having to book an Uber twice while we were there so we will add those into our travel for the sake of cost.

2 Uber trips: approximately $18.50 (includes fare plus tip) 

We were pleasantly surprised to realize that most of the attractions in Washington, DC are free! All of the Smithsonian museums are free admission and so are the National Archives, Library of Congress, US Capitol, and the White House. The US Capitol can be booked in a group tour but we adamantly advise that you book through your local congressman's office. This is also how you would book a visit through the White House and even if you can't get into the White House at first, be patient! We found out the day before we left that we got into a last minute spot on a White House tour on our last day in the city and it is completely worth it!

As far as the monuments go, you can visit them whenever you'd like. We walked to most of them from the National Mall and didn't feel like the crowds were overwhelming.

Arlington National Cemetery has two highlights that we absolutely recommend visiting. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the graves of John F. Kennedy and his Family. We found that waiting until the last hour of the day (around 4:00pm as they close at 5:00pm) is the perfect amount of time to walk to both of these sites without much distraction and the crowds are almost non-existent.

During the days, we packed light with Stuart only carrying his wallet and phone, and me only carrying a small clutch with a phone, wallet, and chapstick (because the weather was FRIGID!) This made going through security relatively easy but still be prepared to strip all of your outer layers going through security!

When it comes to breaking down a food budget, we kinda played both sides of the fence. We packed snacks for the train ride and waited until we got into the city to have a full meal. Although Amtrak has a full cafe car that has sandwiches and snacks readily available from 6am-11pm on most trains. (We did partake in their coffee about halfway through our trip there! 😉)

While you're in the city, you can spend any amount of money that you'd like on food while you're there. We utilized a free breakfast one morning thanks to our hotel rewards program but then spent money at a real patisserie another morning. Really, you can do whatever you feel! There is even a McDonald's or Starbucks on just about every corner. Even when it comes to lunches and dinners, we ate everything from sit down dinners to food court dinners. You can really make this trip as expensive or as cheap as you'd like. And especially since you can bring more items along on an Amtrak train, we packed our own alcohol in "cruise flasks." 😂 (sorry Mimi!)

We recommend starting to plan this trip no later than 3 months in advance. That is the prime time to book tours to the White House and US Capitol so start there first. Depending on the time of the year, you can hold off on booking travel and hotel like we did. (HAHA we book our train tickets less than a month before we left and our hotel less than 2 weeks before!)

I would recommend spending the most of your budget on souvenirs (after your hotel and travel!) I couldn't leave any of the gift shops without buying something for myself or our niece and nephew!

Stuart and I are always welcome to questions about our travels and how we make them happen! So please feel free to ask us questions and we will help as much as we can!

Train travel:~$475.00 (includes 2 round trip train tickets and 2 unlimited metro passes)
Hotel: ~$350.00
Food: ~$375.00 (includes snacks, meals, etc. for the entire 4 days)
Uber: ~$20.00
Souvenirs: ~$150.00 (I bought a lot of books while we were there!)

Total: ~$1370.00

Introductions

It has been WAY too long since I used this blog (excluding last night's post obviously!) So I decided to do a little introduction to update everyone on who we are and what we love!

-Stuart turned 30 this year and we rang in his 30th in NYC!

-He works full time for the 246 Army Band in the Army National Guard and he honestly loves every minute of it! He gets to travel our great state with the band and play for some of the best people!

-He also plays in a New Orleans style brass band called Soda City Brass Band and they are awesome! 

-I work full time as a Toddlers Lead Teacher at a local private, Christian preschool and it is amazing! Who knew that I'd love to use sign language to communicate and change diapers all day?! 💖

-I am in school for an Associates in Early Care and Education and hope to pursue my Bachelors in Behavioral Health with emphasis in Childhood and Adolescent Disorders and do ABA therapy in the very near future!

-We just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and are loving life together!

-We recently got to see Muse and 30 Seconds to Mars in concert which was definitely on Stuart's bucket list and was a night to remember! 

We hope to keep sharing our lives with you and we hope you'll keep reading!

Season of Change

Back on Labor Day of this year, Stuart and I went with our realtor to look at potential houses for us. We found a house we loved and the price was just what we were comfortable with. So that week, we put in our offer and started packing up our rental in Forest Acres. On September 30, we moved out of our rental and into Stuart's parent's house for the short 3 weeks between our move out and our closing on the new house.

Long story short, we never closed on our house. In fact, this week we backed out of our contract and decided that that house was no longer in our future. I'd like to say that I was devastated but honestly, I wasn't. I was at peace with the whole thing before we even knew it wasn't going to happen. You see, we had been made to jump through hoops over the past 3 months that just made me TIRED. I would go to work every day and just be on edge waiting to hear the news on the house EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And let me tell you, that is no way to live.

So... where I would have normally decorated for Christmas at the beginning of November, I spent the first week of December finally moving into our "for now" home (AKA apartment that happens to be bigger than our rental house downtown 😳) and I can't help but struggle to get into the Christmas spirit. At almost 29 years old, I have learned through this process that sometimes God just says flat out NO. And we need to be okay with that. And let me tell you, I do not like to be told no. Just ask my husband! 😏

But here's what it taught me... No is okay. No is normal. No shows you what's truly important. No really just means "I've got something better for you!"

So here I am, laying next to my snoring husband in our apartment adjusting to our new normal. We are okay with it but I can't say that I don't still cry over what I thought my Christmas and life would be like in that house. We are just trusting that the Lord knows our needs better than we do and that He has the BEST for us in mind.

Recipes We Love

So today is the first Monday of the new year and I am so thankful to have one more day of winter break! Stuart went back to work today though and he started on Whole30 today so yesterday I took some time to prep a few things for him. These are staples in our house each week and they are super easy!

Whole30 Basic Vinaigrette (this makes 1 cup and only takes like 5 minutes. We easily double the recipe or I will make 1 or 5 jars at a time ;))
-1/4 cup white wine or apple cider vinegar
-3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper

This goes great over salads obviously but I also love to use it with my sliced bell peppers for snacks.

Whole30 Basic Mayonnaise (makes 1.5  cups)
-1 1/4 cups light olive oil (this is important. you must use light or you will remake this 5 times like I did my first time)
-1 large egg
-1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-Juice of 1/2 lemon

Place 1/4 cup of olive oil, the egg, mustard powder, and salt in a blender, food processor, or mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. While the food processor or blender is running (or while mixing in a bowl with an immersion blender), slowly drizzle in the remaining 1 cup of olive oil. After you've added all the oil and the mixture has emulsified, add the lemon juice, blending on slow or stirring to incorporate.

This mayo is a staple because you can use it like you would normally use mayo or if you're like me and don't do mayo, you can switch out the lemon juice for lime juice, throw in some cilantro, and it makes an awesome "sauce" over a steak.

I use this mayo to then make Stuart's chicken salad. He eats this by itself or over lettuce. I got this recipe from my aunt when she sent it to me she just said, "These are the ingredients. Add them and mix til it tastes right." (We get it honest. Mimi never measures. You always just add and mix til it "feels right")

Chicken Salad
-Shredded chicken breast
-Mayo (I use less because we like a dry chicken salad but that's up to you)
-celery, chopped to your liking (we like it a little more chunky)
-parsley flakes
-salt and pepper to taste

I just throw everything in my Ninja with the dough blade attachment and mix until it is all combined. It's that easy and extra yummy!

We keep eggs (fresh and hard boiled), clementines or mandarins, bell peppers, and bananas around all the time for "snacks"

As for an update of our weekend and how we've done with our plans. It was not a success but it was not a complete failure either. We walked 3.5 miles Saturday and Sunday which was nice. We did kinda okay with our eating but we did go to Sonic for ice cream last night ;( Stuart said it was our last blow out with sweets haha.

So what are some of y'all's favorite healthy recipes that you make each week? 

Here We Go!

So today is January 1st and as I said, today was SUPPOSED to be the start of a new lifestyle. But things do always work out the right way do they? We had meals at both of my grandparents houses today. One for lunch and one for dinner. Let me tell you, that is always some GOOD food but boy do I have self-control problems when we go there. Cornbread and sweet tea get me every time.

So tomorrow I will wake up to a new day and a new opportunity to put my plan into action. I don't start my AdvoCare All-In 24 Day Challenge until January 11 but I am going to start eating clean and exercising now to get ready. If you're interested in more info about the challenge or just about AdvoCare in general, check it out here or feel free to ask me! 

As far as meals this week, I am working on our menu and I'll be making chicken salad with Whole30 mayonnaise and a few other staples. This pork loin recipe is going in the crockpot tomorrow for our dinner and the leftovers will be for lunches this coming week. Tomorrow I'll post about the recipes we love to use each week and what we prep on the weekends to get ahead for the week.

New You Resolution

Y'all. First of all, it's been almost a year since I've written anything on this blog. Actually, I've written a lot but never finished anything to publish. I'm not really surprised. I wasn't a good "finisher" this year.

So for 2016, I'm going to do something about it. My "resolution" is to end 2016 better than I started it. Easy enough right? Not really. I have some specific health and wellness goals but I feel like putting them into words is setting myself up for failure. So this is what I've come up with... Bear with me because theis may get wordy. ;)

Long story short, after a little over 4 years of marriage, I've gained a substantial amount of weight. After taking into account that I was a little on the "too skinny" side before, I have set a weight loss goal for myself for this year. I'm not gonna get specific with numbers on here yet but just know that the ultimate goal is going to require a total change. A reinvention if you will.

So that leads me to the re-branding or reinvention of my blog. The Cupcake Intervention is going to be about my daily (read "hourly") struggle with sweets and all things not-so-good for me. I will share goals, stories, achievements, recipes, and ideas as I dig through the "healthy" stuff and find the "good AND good for me" stuff.

I will be blogging at least every other day but let's be honest... some days there won't be much to report. But other days there will be so much that y'all may just get tired of hearing from me ;)

Oh, and you'll hear about Hubs and his journey as well. His is different than mine but still the same on so many levels!

Now excuse me while I go drown in the sea of Christmas meals and homemade sweets! ;)

2015

2015 is just a few days away and we have been talking a lot about resolutions around here! Although we don't actually call them resolutions because we're more likely to succeed without the pressure of a new year's resolution ;)

I find that when you share your goals with people, you find common ground and in turn, find accountability. I'm not good a being vulnerable so here goes nothing...

1. This is a two part goal- the first part is to rock my bikini in the Bahamas over Spring Break. This means no feelings of needing to cover up or hide! Then I want six pack abs! I know, it's a little reaching but I'm willing to work on it. This will obviously be null and void if I get pregnant but a girl can dream right?!

2. Read a book a month. We actually are allowing ourselves to count the books we are reading right now so I'm hoping to add the first one to my list by the end of the week! Right now I'm reading "Yes Please" by Amy Poehler (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!) and "The Best Yes" by Lysa TerKuerst.

3. I am going to spend this year really digging into the Word. I plan on using podcasts and studies to dig deeper and to really learn more about the Bible. Thankfully I have a husband who has been doing this for years so I have a great resource to answer all the questions I may have and someone to encourage me to continue. If anyone wants to join me, let me know! I'd love to have some ladies studying along side of me! :)

Well... that's all we have so far. I like to give myself smaller goals that I can build on and grow in so we'll see how it goes. I will try to update the blog (easier said than done) on where I am with everything and I hope to hear your "resolutions" so that I can cheer you on as well!

"Housewife"

When I used to think about the word "housewife" I always saw June Clever. You know... Perfectly clean house and ALWAYS a freshly cooked meal on the table. I am not THAT housewife. Yet by definition, I am a housewife.

At 25, I am what I like to call a part-time housewife. I sometimes joke with Stuart that that means I only have to have part of the house clean. ;)

You see, I work at SVBC Preschool and since we are a morning program, I am done every day around 12:30. I used to work the other half of the day in an office but it got too much to handle when I took over as a Lead Teacher. So I come home to an empty house at lunch every day.

And guess what... I LOVE IT! Now I will admit, I have just now gotten into a routine that works for me and that actually gets some real work done every day but I am loving it.

I have always wanted to stay at home and do DIY projects all day and bake the day away. But real life will tell you that there are dishes and clothes that need washing and carpets that need cleaning. There's a dog who seems to always need to go out when you need to start dinner and there will eventually be children who need attention. I struggled for a long time with the fact that if I was staying home then it would be my job to "manage" our household. That meant getting a handle on our finances and knowing all the ins and outs of the bills and when they needed to be paid. I needed to learn to buy groceries to feed us but buy them with half the grocery budget that we had when I was working full time. That also means that I handle our Advocare business and my Initials Inc business all while juggling laundry and groceries!

I am so thankful that I am a part-time housewife. I feel that because we made this choice for me, it is my duty to make sure that Stuart, who works 12 hour days 5 days a week, is taken care of and that he is prepared each day for his job. Because that's MY job. And it is the "housewife" that I never thought I'd be. But that's what's great about God's plans. They are better than our own and way more rewarding!

I can't talk about housewife things without sharing what we're having for dessert tonight! This Salted Caramel Pear Crisp is going to be amazing!

Sorry for what is probably a rambling mess of words but I'm going to try to get back into this blogging thing!

DIY Ruler Growth Chart

I feel like before I even begin this post, I am NOT preparing for a child! LOL. I have always loved the look of the oversized ruler/growth charts and I just had to have one! And it won't hurt to have one when there are little Ray babies WAY down the road!

Now that that's out of the way, here's how I made the ruler. I ordered my vinyl kit from Groopdealz. At the time, I didn't think it was something I could do on the vinyl machine I had but now I wish I had waited because the machine I have now could crank this out in no time! That will factor into the cost of the project when we get to that!

I started out at Lowe's. I picked a 1"x8"x6' plank. I went back in forth in the store about whether I wanted a 8" or 10". The width of it is totally up to you. I liked the idea of something substantial but thick because you never know what space you'll have for it if you ever move.

Here's a picture of all of my supplies...

Please excuse Sadie. She insists on being a part of all things that happen in this tiny apartment.

I bought my stain at Walmart. I didn't want a ton because I wanted it to look uneven and worn. I picked a dark walnut. I laid the plank out on trash bags cause that's how we roll around here! Side note: I highly recommend staining it outside and wearing gloves. I am a messy painter anyway but this is definitely not something you want to drip on your clothes or the carpet.

I started with just one coat of stain and let it dry. I will say that when I went to finish this tonight, the top was completely dry but when I went to pick it up, the sides were still tacky and even wet in some spots. I recommend leaving it outside for 24 hours to make sure you don't get stain all over your house!

This is what it looked like after one coat of the stain

I decided I liked it enough that I didn't need another coat. Once it was dry, I went back with a measuring tape and chalk to mark every 6 inches. I made sure that my measuring tape was straight so that I could use the 6 inch marks to actually line up my vinyl. 

After it was marked, I laid my vinyl pieces out. I lined them all up first and then peeled the contact paper away. 

 The next part is up to you. I was on the phone with my mom when I was trying to do the numbers and we were scouring pictures on Pinterest trying to decide if we liked upright numbers or sideways ones like a real ruler. The choice is ultimately up to you! I chose to make them sideways like a real ruler so that means that when it is hanging on the wall, all the numbers will be sideways but I love that look!

Here's a picture of the final product! Please excuse the iPhone pictures... it's just easier...

Another note about this ruler... You have to make the choice before you lay your vinyl lines. Do you want it to start at the floor or is it going to hang on the wall a bit away from the floor? That will just change how you lay your lines. If you choose to start it flush with the floor, you will start your ruler at zero technically. If you do it like I did, I started it 6 inches off the floor so I started at a half a foot and I just added the extra half a foot at the top above the 6 foot mark. The choice is all yours! :)

Now let's break down the cost:

-Wooden Plank: $9.66 at Lowes

-Stain: $4.97 at Walmart

-Vinyl kit: I paid $10.99 but I can cut them myself for $8!

How would you customize your own family ruler/growth chart?

DIY Chalkboard Countdown

So, while I should be cleaning and organizing our apartment for the hubs to come home, I've taken on  DIY projects instead. Totally appropriate right?!

My first DIY project was an easy one. I found the idea on Groopdealz. I LOVE shopping on Groopdealz but I really dislike paying for things that I know I could turn out in 2 seconds and for a fraction of the price! I had seen this idea on Pinterest after I gave up the deal on Groopdealz and was longing to make it!

The only problem with making the sign is that I sold my Cricut, bought a Silhouette, and then fried the motherboard of my computer... all in one weekend. So I had to wait to get the computer back (which finally happened on Monday! Huge shout out to Best Buy!)

I went to Lowes for my wooden plank. I had a size in my head but without measurements, I was kinda walking around blind. I found a piece 1"x5.5"x14.5" and was on my way! Long story short, the piece I picked out rang up for $25!!! The lady at checkout agreed that that was completely wrong and tried to get someone from lumber to give us another price. After several attempts and no help, she decided that it must have been someone's cut scraps and that I could have it for FREE! Whoop whoop! The great thing about this chalkboard countdown is that you can make it however you'd like. You can have a different saying on it, use other colors for paint, and use a bigger or smaller plank! It's totally customizable!

Here's what I used:
-wooden plank from Lowe's
- Martha Stewart Chalkboard paint in Grey
-Vinyl cut of saying

and that's it!

I painted the plank with the chalkboard paint. Once the first coat was dry, I tried it out with my chalk markers (the best invention ever!) and realized that it needed another coat because the chalk wouldn't come off. I added a second coat and this was what I ended up with...

Then I cut my vinyl out using the color of my choosing. The great thing about vinyl is that it comes in a ton of colors and if you know someone who is super awesome (like me!) you can get your saying cut for dirt cheap! (More about that at the end!)

I applied my vinyl and ta-da! I was done! I could not be more pleased with how it turned out and it is currently in my living room with the countdown of days until Hubs come home!

So how much would one of these cost you?!

-Wooden plank: Free or around $5 from the ones I saw at Lowes. A 4 foot plank would be ideal if they would cut it in half for you! Then you'd have 2 that you could do something with and it wouldn't cost more than $10 probably. 

-Chalkboard paint: $1.99 for Jo-Ann's. They have a rainbow of chalkboard paint colors! Think outside the box! Don't just go with black!

-Vinyl cut: $3 if you buy from me! I have 30 different colors to choose from.

As far as the sayings go, you could do something like "Today I'm Thankful For {   }" or anything your heart desires!

What are some DIY projects you've been working on lately? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Be Better 2014

I am not one for resolutions. I go Gluten Free every other week and crash and burn by day 2. Resolutions just DO NOT work for me! I think that resolutions set some of us up to fail. I am not one who can handle huge tasks without breaking them into smaller, more manageable tasks. So saying I'm going to lose 40 pounds is NOT going to work for me.

I've decided that this year, I will cling to one phrase. This phrase doesn't hold me to a certain change but instead encourages me to do my best, no matter what that may be!

I've decided in 2014, I will Be Better. I want to just be better, do better, and feel better.

I'd like to be a better...

**Christian- I want to seek God more and dig deeper into His word. I want to go to Him more in my times of need but also in my times of joy and excitement.

**Wife- I want to encourage Stuart more. I want to love him more. I want to serve him the way I am commanded to serve him.

**Teacher- I want to show my 23 preschoolers Jesus every single day. I want them to know that He loves them and that I love them too. I want them to always feel that they are "super duper smart" as I always tell them.

**Blogger- Whew. This one is so tough for me! I want to record EVERYTHING that happens in life. Whether or not it will actually get posted is another thing. I tend to leave things unfinished because I start writing and realize I just needed to vent but I never delete them because I want to read them all again some day. I want to share more with my friends and hopefully be an encouragement to people.

**Business Owner- I just started Initials Inc. and I also still do vinyl and bake cookies. (I know, how do I have the time right?!) I want to give each of these my best when it is needed. I don't want to stress over the small things or things that aren't important.

**Friend- I want to reach out to my friends more and create a more open line of communication.

There are probably more but these are a great start.

So what are you doing in 2014? Are you doing resolutions? 

Long time coming...

Most of you probably saw my Instagram post on Tuesday... If you missed it, here it is...

And you're probably wondering why in the world he would shave off his beard. 

Fact: He hasn't been fully shaven since before we got engaged... that's over 3 years ago...

Well... Stuart is officially in the military.

Yep, you read that right. The military. He joined the Army National Guard Tuesday. This has really been a long time coming.

He has been working on this since February but this was not the first time he has tried. 

So you're probably asking what does this mean?

Well, he is in the Army Band unit of the Army National Guard. He will have to go to Basic Training and AIT in the spring. Other than that, he will still be teaching.

How do I feel about it?

We decided not to pursue this until we were both on the same page about it. So I was at peace with this from the beginning but I do have to admit that when the official papers were signed, I had a flood of emotions. I honestly cried more over him shaving his beard than joining the military haha. I know that there are hard times ahead but I know that this is a great opportunity for us.

How can you be praying for us?

Pray for peace. We are both at peace right now but as the spring rolls around, I know that we will struggle with it in some way. 

Pray for safety. Basic Training and AIT are not a risk but any time someone is going to be away from home for an extended period of time, you start to worry.

Pray for Sadie and me. It sounds silly but my biggest concern aside from Stuart being away from home for so long is that Sadie will not get the attention she needs. I know that it is going to be a hard thing to adjust to but pray that it will be easy and that the time will fly by!

For those of you who have gotten funny reactions from us when talking about the future, please know that we are sorry that we couldn't be honest and tell you what was going on. We have had to be careful about committing to things knowing that at some point, he would probably have to leave. We just didn't want to tell a bunch of people before it was a sure thing.

Anxiety

I promised an anxiety post a while back so here it is. Please excuse me if I go off on a tangent because this is something that I am passionate about.

First off, generalized anxiety disorder is an invisible illness. There's been a lot of things circulating lately on Facebook trying to raise awareness for invisible illnesses and that makes me super excited. The word needs to get out that you never know what the person beside you is dealing with and what their inner struggle is like.

generalized anxiety disorder is defined by Webster as "an anxiety disorder marked by chronic excessive anxiety and worry that is difficult to control, causes distress or impairment in daily functioning, and is accompanied by three or more associated symptoms (as restlessness, irritability, poor concentration, and sleep disturbances)"

For the people who have asked me "well what happens if you try to do things that make you freak out?" I feel like that definition alone should explain it all but I know that it doesn't because my anxiety cannot be bundled into a single definition.

Looking back, I know that I have had this disorder for almost my entire life. I was the child who worried about everything. My mom says that teaching me to read and write was torture. I do remember how upset I was every night when we were learning cursive because I was left-handed and we watched videos of right-handed people writing the letters.

I didn't like to talk to people. I still have issues with calling people I don't know or having to have normal conversations.

I wasn't truly diagnosed with anxiety until I was 18 years old. I started having panic attacks in crowds or when I had a huge task to perform. 

Anxiety is a hard thing to live with. It is something I work on every single day from the time I wake up until I go to bed at night and it will be that way for the rest of my life. 

When we got married, my anxiety was the hardest thing for Stuart to adjust to. For someone who has never experienced it or been close to someone who has it, it is a very hard thing to comprehend. I tend to come off as rude or I just don't want to do something. That's the hardest part for me. I would never be rude intentionally; That's just my anxiety.

Anxiety has a way of driving a wedge in relationships. Stuart and I have gone round and round over this. I don't want to come out and say "Hi my name's Meghan and I have anxiety" every time I meet someone but at what point does it get so much in the way that you have to say something?

I hope this gives some insight into anxiety and hopefully people will think twice before judging people and assuming that we're all just rude and standoffish :)

Encourage

I try very hard to be encouraging to my husband. It is hard sometimes though! I struggle with trying to be the "fixer" instead of just giving him words of encouragement and letting him figure it out. Although I'm still working on that, I have decided that I can at least put a smile on his face every day at lunch.
Yesterday was his first day back with students. This is only his third year teaching so it is still filled with nervousness and anxiety on his part. We've made a few changes in the past couple weeks and so I have decided to get up with him every morning so that we can eat breakfast together and actually see each other before 5pm! Since I teach preschool 5 days a week now and we don't start until after Labor Day, I was not so excited about this first week and a half of getting up because I don't always have places to be and things to do in the mornings. But I have successfully done it two days so far and it isn't really that bad!
One of the ways I've started trying to encourage him is by fixing breakfast and packing his lunch for him. He says that it helps him because he will actually eat those two meals if he doesn't have to think about them so I am happy to help. :) I was just trying to be funny when I did this...

I was just trying to be cute but it became a challenge to me when people on Facebook started commenting on other things I should have drawn. So now I have challenged myself to see if I can do 180 days of lunch bag designs. I should probably draw them a few in advance because this morning I was struggling for ideas but that probably had something to do with waking up at 5:30...

Life isn't complete without at least one Star Wars themed lunch bag!

Please excuse my apple that definitely looks like a pumpkin! It was 6:15 and I wasn't awake yet!

So keep an eye out on the blog for updates each week on the designs of the week and keep the ideas coming!

Absent

I know that I have been absent from the blog for a little while but it has been for good reason! I've been super busy and that is a good thing! We have so many July birthdays in our families (6 to be exact!) So we have been busy celebrating!

Last week I went on an awesome trip to Student Life for Kids Camp in Toccoa, GA. This was my second year going and it did not disappoint. Kids Camp is so much fun because they are little sponges! They are so into the games at recreation, the songs at worship, and the bible study activities. Not to mention the canteen with 16 flavors of homemade ice cream! (that was one of my favorite parts, too!) As soon as I got home, I was headed for the rehearsal and dinner of the wedding I was co-directing. Our pastor's youngest daughter got married and it was a gorgeous wedding. Today is my first day in about 2 weeks that I've actually been able to breathe! So this will be a short post but do not fret! Tuesday is our 2nd wedding anniversary and I have a blog in the works for the coolest gift for your guy! I have been wanting to write about it earlier since I've been working on it for about a month but I can't trust that he won't read about it so we will wait until Tuesday!

Thief

I have anxiety. (that post is up next on my list) When I am anxious, I get stressed. When I am stressed, I tend to fall into a depression sometimes. When I am anxious for longer periods of times, it leads to weeks like this week. I don't have a reason or certain thing that has made me anxious but I have been in a funk all week!

I have been a bookworm lately. I am on my third book for the month of July. These books are ones that I haven't been able to put down.
(side note: if you are looking for some good novels that are Christian-based but aren't about a bunch of goody-goodies, you NEED to check out Karen Kingsbury! I recommend starting with the Redemption series) 

In the book I'm reading right now (Book #3 of the Redemption series), there is one verse that keeps appearing in the book and every single time it comes up, it's like a slap in my face! (the good kind!)

 A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10

My anxiety has been such a "thief" in my life. I can name multiple situations where I haven't experienced something or been able to do something because of it. But I have to remember that because of God's goodness and grace, I have a life aside from my anxiety. A life that anxiety can't steal from me. 

I get butterflies in my stomach when I think that I have a new body waiting for me in heaven! A body free of this thief that so often steals my joy, kills my spirit, and destroys my confidence. 

God is so good. His timing is so perfect! And I now have a new view of this "funk" I'm in

And the winners are...

Are you ready to know who won the vinyl monograms?!

Drum roll please...

The winners are:

Kelly, Alyssa, and Roxanne

Congrats Ladies!

Email me [meghansray(at)gmail(dot)com] and give me your address, your color choices(1 per monogram), and the initials you would like (please put the initials in monogram order. for example, mine would be mRs) All of the monograms will be in the style pictured in the last post.

Here are your color choices:

Garnet

Red

Light Purple

Dark Purple

Green

Lime Green

Yellow

Dark Blue

Light Blue

Gold

Silver

Grey

Brown

Black

Orange

Light Pink

If you didn't win this time, that's ok! I can still get you a monogram for a great price! Email me and we will work something out!

Keep Calm

And monogram EVERYTHING!

Well, that's at least my motto ;)

I got a Cricut a while back and although I've done a few paper projects with it, it is mainly here for cutting vinyl!

I don't have all the time in the world so my personal projects are kinda on the back burner for the moment but I have enjoyed making monograms and personalizing a few gifts for friends!

 Some of the car monograms I've made!

Love the teal and white combo!

These chairs are such a neat gift and they don't break the bank!

If you're looking for some vinyl work, please feel free to contact me and we will see what we can do!

 

In the meantime, I'll be giving away some vinyl goodies to 3 lucky winners! All you have to do is comment on this post and tell me what you would do with a few vinyl monograms! I will use randomresult.com to draw three names at random. The winners will receive 2 monograms each! (each monogram will be 2.5inches tall) You have until Sunday night at midnight and I will announce the winner first thing Monday morning!

 

Good luck!

Mother's Day

I love Mother's Day! Some of my favorite people in life are the people we get to honor on Mother's Day! We had some big things happening at SVBC for Mother's day so I was so excited when my mom said that we were eating at her house! We always eat Sunday lunch at Mimi and Papa's with the whole family (there are at least 16 of us when everyone is there!) but there's something exciting about having everyone over at Mom's. 

All 16 of us! 

 The progression of the next few pictures is why I love the continuous shutter on my camera and I appreciate that my husband knows how to use it!

All the Dorton women!

I seriously LOVE family! We have been through a rough year but I am so inspired by the strength that everyone has shown, especially the women! They are showing me how to be a true woman of God and how to face disaster and devastation with perseverance and the knowledge that it's never goodbye, it's only a see you later...

Budget

I hate money! I know that hate is a strong word and I really do try to not use it but I do hate money. I would totally be okay with a world where we bought everything thing with hugs and smiles! I don't really know where my disdain for money stemmed from but it stresses me out to the MAX!

When Stuart went to talk to my parents about proposing to me, their one stipulation was that we take Financial Peace before we get married. I'm not gonna lie, I was NOT excited about it. Luckily, the class grew on me. I quickly learned that my love for math would make me a lover of budgets. I would geek out over calculating everything down to the last penny but my follow-through was not so enthusiastic.

We entered our marriage with all of the knowledge we needed to be financially responsible but we just didn't have the will power. I wasn't working at the time so I spent a lot of time at home alone with nothing to do. I was always stressed out that we never had money... I mean we were always counting down the days until pay day and then going and doing all the things we had wanted to do before pay day and then we'd be back to square one. It was a vicious cycle that made me physically sick. I decided to look into couponing. Now, you could not have told me at 20 that I would have been clipping coupons and scouring sales circulars by 22 but I did it because I was desperate.

I quickly learned that the things we were buying, specifically at the grocery store, were things that we didn't ever have to pay full price for! It was like an addiction. But we still weren't spending wisely and we honestly still couldn't tell you where most of Stuart's paychecks were going.

I still kept finding ways to cut costs around the house but it wasn't making a huge difference. I started making my own laundry detergent and added "CVSing" to my weekly couponing adventures.

Fast forward to recently and we are honestly still not where we want to be. It is not nearly as bad as it was before because I now work two jobs but we stink at budgeting! So this week, I tightened my belt and sat down and created these

Yes that is a Lilly Pulitzer print and yes I did spend the time to make my own budget sheets. When we decided to put a "family budget meeting" on the calendar, I decided that it needed to be something that we would keep up and that meant that I needed a binder. We needed to be able to refer to other months for certain things and we needed to have places to save receipts and bills. I scoured Pinterest for budget binder printables but I just didn't find any free ones that I liked and frankly I think its completely backwards to have to PAY for the forms to put together a BUDGET binder. Ever since I've gotten my Mac, I have loved playing around with Pages so this was actually really fun to design.

I plan to create a binder that we can put each month's budget in and keep it handy so that we can refer to it every pay day when we have to pay bills. I'm also adding a calendar of every month so that we can schedule things like what bills need to be payed when and special things like our alotted one date night a month. I also created a sheet that is a "checkbook register" for each of our accounts so we can start receipt tracking. It looks a little like this

The budgeting process for us is going to be long and slow process. It's probably going to be painful at some points and we are guaranteed to bicker over things like how much "fun" money each of us gets and "yes we do need to buy groceries every week"(we seriously have that conversation EVERY TIME I get my grocery store "stuff" together! We would live off Ramen and OJ if it was his choice!) But the thing that counts is that we're both committed to buckling down and working through it together.

Do you struggle with monthly household budgeting? What are some easy ways that you handle spending, saving, and giving?