If there is love in your heart and your mind, you will feel like Christmas all the time

We had a very relaxing Christmas season this year. Luckily we got our shopping done early and were able to focus on traveling and spending time with loved ones. On Christmas Eve, Greg and I traveled to Milwaukie for a White Elephant gift exchange.

Eric and Nikki (newly engaged) Mona and Greg

The theme for their gift exchange is "killed, caught, cooked, baked, homemade, or re-gifted." One of our gifts was a Jersey Shore gift pack with a bobble head of "The Situation,"  a Jersey Shore towel, and tshirt. Neither of us are fans of the show, but they were in Corvallis and left gift bags at Greg's work. For our second gift I made some cards using my Cricut machine and scrapbooking stuff. I was really happy with how they turned out.

Afterwards, we went to a second White Elephant gift exchange at my sister's in law's (we didn't bring anything, we were more just spectators). However, my brother in law Kyle got some awesome gifts at the gift exchange!

An awesome dinosaur hat!

A vuvuzela (the horns blown during the World Cup in Africa).

We spent Christmas day my parents' house. It was nice to have everyone there and have no agenda other than being together all day.

the "kids"

2nd Christmas together as husband and wife

Mom and Dad

There is so much more I could write and pictures that I could post, but I won't get ahead of myself and wait to do a more focused blog tomorrow or the next day. Excited to post about Greg's new KINECT for the Xbox some other gifts. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We were very fortunate and thankful to spend time with LOTS of family this Thanksgiving. We hosted Thanksgiving at our home for Greg's mom and two brothers, my parents, my brother, and my sister and brother in law.

Mom and I got up at 8am Thanksgiving morning, put in the turkey and went for a cold jog around Independence. I was able to truly appreciate how nice it is having your family visit your home and experience some of the things you do every day. The rest of the morning flew by as we showered, got ready, had a small snack, and guests began to arrive.

From top left to bottom right: Kyle, Greg, and Eric staying busy with the Wii. Mom and Dad helping me with dinner. Britt and I slaving away at the stove, the group enjoying our delicious meal! Below you can see how the Thanksgiving harvest decor turned out on our dinner table and serving table.

 

All in all, the first Thanksgiving at our place went quite well. We had a lot of fun having our families together and appreciated all the help!

Attempts at Festive Decorations

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year for a group of 10. I was a little nervous at first having never baked a turkey, no television for the guys to watch football, and limited chairs around our dinner table. I managed to deal with those stressors by creating some fun center pieces and decor for the special day. I used items I already had at home and was able to come up with a few cute things.

Already had the candle and added a bow and some dried leaves.

Leftover candle from our wedding that I added a couple bows to.

Bought some bulk beans from Winco and used a small glass and then holder from our unity candle set :)

 

top view

We'll see how it all comes together. My mom is staying the night with us tomorrow night and we'll attempt to start the turkey together. Hope to get in a Thanksgiving day jog around Independence, come back and get cleaned up and get ready for the family fun! I'll be sure to post pics of the food, decor, and guests later on.

Money, Money, Money

In attempts to save money Greg and I have been really tightening our budget. Here are a few things we've implemented:
1: Eating out only once a week
2: Plugging in tv, game systems, etc. into a power strip that we turn off while out of the house.
3: No heat until November 1st
4: Bye bye tv $20 a month, hello Netflix $8.99 a month

Eating out only once a week was tough at first, but now we set aside Sunday as our day. We normally meet friends after church, but if that doesn't happen then we grab takeout during the week or save the day for a week where we may "need" to eat out. Spent $70 between the two of us on eating out all month. The power strip started out as a struggle. Greg got annoyed when he would sit down on the couch and grab the remote and realize it wouldn't do him any good unless he got up to turn the power strip on. I was a little disappointed in our savings on our utility bill from using the power strip. It only saved us a little over $4. Not using heat has been tough the past couple of weeks. Greg and I have been in sweats, sweatshirts, slippers, while wrapped in a blanket when we hang out in the the evenings. Our power bill is below $45 a month though so I think it made a difference. We turned the heat on first thing this morning though, and it feels sooooo good! Last week we made the tough decision to cancel our tv package all together. We were only getting 13 channels or so (the basic of the basic) but felt as though we don't even need the 13 channels. After a day of no tv we broke down and got Netflix! It's actually been nice. We are more conscious about the shows/movies we watch and I am more likely to leave the tv off and spend time on more productive things. Only downside is that we can't watch the news anymore, we think we'll need to invest in the Sunday Oregonian. Upside, coupons!

Leaving a Legacy

Today in church a girl sang As the Deer during our offering. As I sat in my seat listening to the song I closed my eyes and the familiar song took me back to my grandparents house sitting around their piano. I remember that song being played and sung many times during my childhood. Grandma and Grandpa singing the words as the cousins surrounded the piano. I opened my eyes to tears rolling down my cheeks. I was blessed with such wonderful grandparents on both sides of my family, but this song will forever take me back to the Olaen's house in Springfield, OR. If you've never heard this song, the following link is to a youtube video of the song being played.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70&feature=related

After the song was over I got to thinking about what a legacy my grandparents have. They raised their children in a Christian home, instilled wonderful values in them, and had an incredible influence on their children, grandchildren, and great granchildren. I wish that I had a chance to know my grandparents longer while they were on this earth. They had so much wisdom to give and I feel that as an adult I could appreciate that wisdom so much more. I only pray that I would leave such a legacy in the lives of my family and friends. Here are a few photos just for sentimental sake (I don't have many old pics on my computer to share but I was able to find a couple).

Baby Megan with mom Teresa and grandparents Lowell and Nellie

 

 

 

 

Some of the blessed cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6


Blessing: Greg and I are feeling more "at home" in our new church family.

Fall is Here and I'm Feeling Crafty

I know it's been a while since my last blog, but I haven't had a whole lot to write about. I had planned to sit down this weekend and reflect on the past couple of weeks as I blog, but suddenly today I found inspiration! Crafts :)

I have always been a "scrapbooker." I love pictures and enhancing photographs to tell a story in my scrapbooks. Unfortunately, I have been feeling burnt out with scrapbooking lately and discouraged with the fact that so much can be digitally done now; I will probably give in to the digital photo albums in the near future.

Greg and I made a Michael's stop today for me to buy some ribbon and pins to decorate pumpkins.... you heard me correctly. It was my first time decorating pumpkins in this way and here is how they turned out. I'm excited because the colors I chose are all fall like and I think I can get away with leaving them out through Thanksgiving time.

We also made another purchase at Michael's that I hadn't planned on. I bought a Cricut machine. It's essentially a paper cutter with a stencil built in. You can change out different letters, phrases, and shapes and decide on what size you want. As a teacher I am VERY excited to use it, and I'm also excited to get creative in my greeting cards, home decorations, and creative gifts. As soon as I get  a chance to play around with it I will post some pictures on a blog. For now, here is what I'm talking about:

I plan to take it out of the box tomorrow and play around with it all afternoon. Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 
Proverbs 31:30

Blessing: Our house is staying warm enough while we continue to leave our heat off... trying to keep it off until November 1st!

26 Sure Feels a lot Older Than 25

I celebrated my 26th birthday on September 29th. Greg was incredibly sweet and invited some of our friends over to surprise me. What made it even more special was that he stopped at Dairy Queen on his way home from work and bought me an icecream cake! My family has celebrated birthdays for many years with icecream cake and it was very sweet to have my husband remember and continue the tradition.

We were able to see the rest of the fam on the 3rd where we celebrated my birthday at The Roadhouse.

Britt and Kyle just moved to Salem where they will live until March, when they will move to Virginia for Kyle's training in the Marine Corps. Greg and I are looking forward to having them close by for the next 6 months. Always good to have another married couple around for game nights, and even better when they're family :)

So nice to have parents who are (and still want to be) very involved in my life as an adult. It's a good thing they only live a little over an hour away!

After our meal we all went to the AT&T store to upgrade our phones. Not gonna lie, there was a 20 minute time period where I was seriously considering a smartphone. Luckily Britt helped talk me out of it! I stuck to my guns and did NOT get a phone with a data plan. Britt and I both went with the Samsung Mythic. I was frustrated with the touch screen at first, but am getting used to it now. Greg says the phone is "boring" and "there is nothing fun to do" on it, but I can make calls, text, and take great pics; I'm a happy girl!

Proverbs 4:23 - Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Blessing: Began small group this week with young married women from my church.

No Data Package, Thank You

I have never been much of a "techy" person, but I do enjoy having a computer, cell phone, and an iPod to use. My thoughts on smartphones such as the Droid and iPhone have been mixed. I have nothing against people who own such phones, I on the other hand have no desire to be so "connected." I'm beginning to think however, that staying connected will be inevitable.

It's time for a cell phone upgrade, so last night I was on AT&T's website checking out some of the latest cell phones. I browsed the site knowing that I was looking for a cell phone with: great texting capabilities, excellent battery life, and a camera that takes better quality pictures than the one I have now. I found a few excellent candidates until I read the fine print below indicating the extra monthly charge I would need to pay for a REQUIRED data package. Soon I became quite frustrated that I am being required to pay for a data package that I simply do not want to use.

The phones that caught my eye prior to realizing they required such a spendy package were:

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz with an 8.0 megapixel resolution and the Motorola Backflip with a 5.0 megapixel resolution.  Realizing that these phones are out of my budget with the required data package monthly payment I began a new search and found the following:

               
The Pantech Impact with a 2.0 megapixel resolution and the Pantech Link with a 1.3 megapixel resolution. Let me recap for you quickly: Data Package Phone camera resolution = 8.1 megapixels, Phone Without Data Package = 2.0 megapixels. WHY?!!!!

I feel like there is some great marketing ploy to stop improving basic cell phones to increase customer desire for a smartphone with a data package. If that's their game, it's working. I so badly want to pay the extra money for a data package JUST to have a better camera on my phone. I won't do it because it's a waste of my money right now and I don't need a data package. I guess I don't need a nice camera on my phone either. This may need to be my mantra as I enter the AT&T store next weekend for a phone "I don't need that cool feature, I don't need that cool feature, I don't need that cool feature," so that by the time I make my purchase I can tell the clerk "No data package, thank you."

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~Matthew 6:19, 21


Blessing: I am able to continue my Master's Program this week with my first class of fall term.

A Budget Keeping, Coupon Clipping, Receipt Saving Kinda Girl

 
I am 42 days into a 90 day study on living the Proverbs 31 life. I started reading Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be by Donna Partow when I realized that I would not be teaching full time. I knew that I needed God to carry me through this trial and thought this would be a great study to draw me closer to Him. So far in my study, God has taught me about how to change my life by incorporating the following: Godly habits, healthy eating, strengthening my body, management tools, and financial planning.

The most recent chapter I studied dealt with Financial Planning. I am incredibly aware of finances now that I do not have a steady income and I am disappointed that I was not more conscious of my spending while I had a steady income. By no means was I a "shopoholic", but I definitely took advantage of picking up a pizza when I didn't want to cook dinner, making a late night run to McDonalds for a McFlurry, or grabbing a Chai Tea when I was near a Starbucks.

I am currently obsessed with updating our monthly budget, making the best use of coupons, and saving money wherever I can. Last week I realized how greatly I had fallen into society's idea that you need to have the trendy clothing, matching home decor, or food court meal at the mall. Greg insisted on going to the mall last weekend to purchase a video game (he traded in some of his used ones to get a discount. He's doing so well with this saving thing!) As we headed into the mall my mind started to race knowing that I was not there to shop. I had done such a good job for 3 weeks of only spending money on needs and not wants. As we passed by a clothing store I said to Greg, "Wow. I think I have a problem. My stomach is seriously hurting right now just knowing I can't buy anything while we're here." He laughed and said, "I think you're just hungry." Before leaving the mall I used a coupon for a free pretzel at Auntie Anne's and felt much better. Maybe I was just hungry... or maybe I felt better because I had "purchased" something. At any rate, I was proud of making a purchase without spending any money!

I'm so thankful to see that God is teaching me so much already in this trial I'm going through. It's not ideal to be unemployed at the moment but I think that God is teaching me to be wise when it comes to finances and preparing me to support, provide for, and take care of my family in the future.

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ~ Matthew 6:25

Blessing: I have 3 sub jobs next week and have scheduled many more for October and November!

A Stay at Home Mom... Only I'm Not a Mom

A recent victim of our economy, I find myself unemployed after teaching 3rd graders for 2 wonderful years. Awaiting confirmation on my substitute teaching registration has left me at home 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I am beginning to realize how stay at home moms feel, only I have no children, not even a pet at home to keep me busy.

My average day consists of the following:
8am: up with the hubby, eat breakfast, and make him lunch.
8:30am: TAG (Time Alone with God)
9:30am: Monmouth Fitness for an hour of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training.
11am: hit the showers, hair, makeup, etc.
12pm: lunch
12:30pm: Try to find something to do to keep me from watching television all afternoon!

When I first found out my teaching position was cut in June I thought, "God's going to take care of me." July rolled around and I thought, "Maybe I should start looking for other jobs. Nah, I'll be fine, God will take care of me." August approaches with the promises of stimulus money and I think "Praise God! I knew He would take care of me!" The end of August comes and as I'm cleaning out my classroom I think, "Lord, why didn't You take care of me?"

September starts and I feel angry, hurt, betrayed, and helpless. I decided to throw myself quite a few pity parties which my incredible husband put up with, bless his heart. Greg has had to wipe many tears, give several hugs, and say lots of encouraging words the past few weeks. And now, after a few weeks of tearful prayers questioning God, I'm praising Him for all He can do and will do in my life.

One reason I wanted to start this blog was to see how God blesses Greg and I during this tough financial time. He clearly has other plans for us than we had for ourselves. I can't wait to look back on the struggles we have been facing and see how God worked it all out for good. 

And we know in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him. *Romans 8:28

Blessing this week: God provided medical and dental care for me free of cost at the Health Center at Chemawa. Amazing how He planned all the way back to something like my heritage to help provide for me.