"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!