Saving and Spending

I'm trying to learn how to save money. I don't spend like crazy, but I do dream like crazy. If I had it my way, the entire house would be big giant pieces of furniture side by side by side. Leaving little to know room to actually enjoy the furniture! Ha! I just love craigslist and furniture and the ideas of redoing things.

But, as it is we can't possibly do that. Jason "needs" room to see the tv, oh and sleep.

I also recently realized that I learn visually. So I grabbed my magazines and made a collage. Hello 4th grade! It was fun, and I love the end result.

Note: I pulled out my trusty goes-on-purple-dries-clear stick glue, and it was dark tan with a giant spot of MOLD! crazy. 

I posted this baby on the opposite wall of my side of the bed, so I can see it before I go to sleep and when I wake up. Oh, and here's what everything is.

Now, Jason and I are going to NYC to visit some friends who happen to be in the area. Excited! I had been thinking I want to bring a purse that I can wear like a messenger bag. But I wanted it to be big enough to hold things, but not as big as your traditional messenger bag. One night when I was pinning away, I ran across this tutorial. It's Fan.Tas.Tic! DETAILED!

Here's my finished product! It really only took a couple hours to complete. I made paper templates for the pattern pieces so I can do it again soon. I couldn't find the hardware I needed (metal sliders, etc) at any of my local fabric stores, and I didn't have time to order online (like she suggests), so I went to goodwill and bought a messenger bag that had the hardware on it, snip snip and I'm good to go! I actually spent less on the whole goodwill bag then it would have cost to order the material online. :-)

It took me 2.5 hours of wandering around Joann fabrics to find the fabric I wanted.

And it had to have a complimentary fabric. Look pockets!

I even did my first zipper pocket. Easy peasy!

And the front (just under the flap when the flap is closed) has a pocket.

It's perfect!

love, megs

Little Projects

I finally finished my quilt!

Look at how pretty she is!

There is a look at my binding, next to a map of NH of course.

Okay, I just picked this dress up at savers for 2.99! Ugly right? Yep.

Just wait until you see what I do with it!

Yay! Cropped and a .99 belt really spices it up.

C-a-ute right!?

And how great is the fabric? 

Oh, and I found this pear dish at goodwill for 2.99! Yeebo! And, that's the color I painted the side table.

Random Wedding Videos

The Hay Ride from after our wedding. SO windy. Miss every single one of these people.

The Girls doing the Throwdown.

That Moment

Jason passed both of his exams and is now a licensed pharmacist!

We went out to eat to celebrate last night. A tasty little joint located in downtown Manchester. For the first time in our dating or married relationship we bought a whole bottle of wine for the meal. Yumm.

There was a moment, a millisecond of time, but something about it brought tears to my eyes. I looked across the table at my husband who works so hard, and my heart swelled with pride, and eyes teared up. I couldn't help but think, "ten, twenty, thirty years from now we are going to look back on this happy occasion, what will our lives be like?"

I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know one thing. It will be Jason by my side.

Cheap and Easy

Jay and I moved to New Hampshire a little over a month ago. yay! And for the last month we have "lived on a budget" again. But Not REALLY. We basically threw budgeting out the window and lived like we were on vacation. Maybe that's a common side effect of moving thousands of miles out of your comfort zone. You go out to eat more and you don't mind seeing a couple extra movies on the big screen.

All fun and games, but we quickly realized we can't keep living like this, or we will soon be running back home to our parents, begging for money!

So, we found a couple of things we could do for cheap. Just the price of gas!

Merrimack is a town 20 minutes from our apartment, and there is a Budweiser brew house, with free tours, and real Clydesdale! Oh, and the best part...FREE BEER!

Enjoying the sunny day by the horse stables.

A free sample before the tour!

More free beer! After the tour we each got TWO beers. Yumm.

Jason with his booze of choice.

Look at that free deliciousness.

Budweiser flag. 

On Sunday we went to church. We are kinda sorta going to church in Hampton Falls, NH. It is 45 minutes away from where we live. :-( But the teaching is so sound, and so good, we are drawn back every week. Anyways, the ocean is 15 minutes away from church, so we decided to hit the beach!

Rye, NH

Jason reading

It's Cold

Unlike myself, Jason actually did go all the way in!

But it is COLD!

He's such a stud.

How lucky are we?

 

 

 

After the beach we returned home to watch the second Harry Potter. I just finished reading the book. I know, I'm getting on that boat like a million years late, right? The entire series is free for Amazon Prime members. I love my kindle.

Happy weekend all!

Bedroom Corners and Side Tables

We have enough space in our bedroom to have a chair. What a privilege. Seriously. Love it! I scoured craigslist and found the chair you will see. (It comes from a great older couple who live in Mass. They were so funny. Conversations, on top of conversations funny. Like, 40 years of being married to each other funny.)

I've piled as many frames as I can on the wall. I love laying in bed and staring at all of the pictures. There is a great picture of baby Jason in Twins gear. It makes my heart smile.

I realized that We needed a side table. Side tables are expensive, and silly. They are a couple scraps of wood, sitting, collecting dust, and there is no good reason for them to cost more than 5 bucks. Maybe I'm cheap. Okay, I'm cheap. I found a couple patterns to make my own, and I have most of the equipment (thanks Mom and Dad for the saw!), but I don't feel comfortable setting up shop in the middle of our apartment complex parking lot (I've read our lease agreement, and there isn't any statement that says I'm not allowed to use power tools in the parking lot, but I have a feeling it won't be allowed.)

Anyways, I've been to a couple of garage sales, goodwill, and a couple other consignment shops. Nothing. So I went to Savers today. A brand new store in Manchester! And that is where I found this side table for only 4.99. It's ugly. But I will paint it! But, what color?? That's where you get to help me!

This is the side table in its natural state. She actually doesn't look that bad. But trust me, she's no good in real life.

Bright blue? Also, I know that lamp needs a shade. It's a process.

Mint green?

Coral? Do you like my use of "hot" summer colors?

Yellow with grey stripes?

Orange. Not very pretty I know. But I recently saw a cute side table that was bright orange, and it had an orange slice painted on top. Cute.

Red?

The chair is grey/green. So maybe grey/blue/teal?

Or just plain old grey?

Grellow (green yellow) and grey? 

So, what do you think? I might just pick up whatever can of "oops" paint I can find and call it good, but maybe I will actually buy paint!

Things that I miss.

Listen, I know it's only been a month. I shouldn't be missing anything yet. Especially since it was our idea to move away. But when you realize it might be a long time before you see these things again, you start to miss them.

My mom.

Dad and Grandma

Parents

Siblings

Family and pajama parties

This girl.

This puppy dog

And this old man.

This lady.

And her beautiful baby.

Every single one of them. 

All of these.

Every second of this.