I made a birthday cake for my friend and it turned out so cute! I made it mint chocolate.
Unfortunately, as I was running up the stairs to deliver it my phone popped out of my pocket and landed on the ground.:(( Luckily, I came across this guy who fixes cracked screens on craigslist. :) I got it repaired the next day, and it's mostly fine. There's still a few quirks now, but it will last me until I get my next phone. So probably like 10 years. ;)
This is what happens when you have no monies and you still want to decorate for Halloween:) I did this for about $7. Inexpensive Halloween decorations are the best!
$3 for the pumpkin, $3 for six little pumpkins, and $1 to print off this printable on glossy cardstock. I already had the orange yarn:) I love wreaths and things on the door, I feel like it sets the mood for the whole apartment, even if decorations inside are sparse.
I just threw three little pumpkins on the bookshelf to make it more Halloweeny.
I put my AMAZZZZZING Salt City Pumpkin Spice candle on the TV with two baby pumpkins:)
My adorable BFF for life just had a baby! A little babe! A Wee Bairn! And she is so perfect. And Rosi and Patrick are the most adorable parents ever:)
Me and Cece!
Babies have such a special spirit:) It was so wonderful to hold her!
Here's a little baby quilt I made for Cece, it's the first quilt I've ever made by myself! I can see how it would be easier with more of the proper tools...but it still turned out:)
I used double high loft batting, because I just wanted it to be super fluffy!:)
Of course, I had to incorporate duckies for the Hoffmeiers! :)
I quilted it in diamond crisscross on my regular sewing machine since it was such a small quilt. I just rolled it up to keep from being too bulky on the machine side.
Here we are at Rosi's baby shower:) And now little Cecilia Rose Hoffmeier is here!
We went camping this weekend and it was phenomenal!! We were all just dying to go before the season ended. There's something about fall camping. I just love it:)
We went somewhere off the Alpine Loop. Katie basically made me swear in blood that I would keep it secret, keep it safe, sooo, it was just somewhere in that area;)
Gorgeous!!!
It was super hard getting a flash group selfie at night. Like, ridiculous :)
The next morning
It was seriously such a blast to be up there. One thing I was thinking about while we were up there is that camping is one of those things that grows richer every time you experience it. Some things get boring, but camping just gets richer! You learn every time you go. You know better how to prepare. You know what to pack and what to leave behind. You know which foods are AMAZING camping foods and which are not. You learn how to stay safe from things that cause harm or annoyance. And you sleep more comfortably, you enjoy the views more. You get out of the car and smell that familiar mountain smell and you just feel happiness bubbling up inside you.
I want to fill my life more with the type of experiences that increase in richness, rather than diminish.
Carlos is the most amazing fire builder ever.
We arrived later than we had anticipated, about 9 at night, and we were all RAVENOUS when we arrived! We ate a whole pack of hot dogs:) And many, many s'mores. Delish.
Found this amazing little teepee someone had set up
It's funny because it's true and you laugh so you don't cry ;D
But yes, debt. Ew.
I'm like the opulence guy...
"I like the best. But I also like savings da money."
I definitely try to make smart financial choices, although of course sometimes I make mistakes. But I've had a budget that I've TRIED to stick to!!! For the last 3ish years, I've tracked every purchase and made payments on my debt. I have a little debt from my car, a lotta from school, and just a tiny amount from my recent gum surgery.
I've always been pretty good at not getting financially out of control, but I've never really felt on top of my finances. As they say, "If you don't control your money, it will control you." That's how I'd sometimes feel. Like I was living paycheck to paycheck and trying to get my debt paid off and just not making any progress. :/
It was on my mind a lot especially because at work we were setting lifelong goals. I wanted to make sure I was being smart about my money, not just going along for the ride. Another quote I love, "Money is a a game. You have to figure out how to win it together."
I really, really, really liked this pin I came across. So simple. Yet, it's been making all the difference for me. In the last couple months I've been trying to get my financial house in order.
I've made all the bills that I can automatic. I used to pay them manually, because I would sometimes get my paychecks late, etc. and I didn't want it to overdraft my account. But I sat down and planned out which bills would come out of which paychecks to make sure they were semi-evenly split between my two monthly paychecks. Then I set up auto pay for them all a few days after my paycheck is due. It's awesome, because I'm not worried anymore if my paycheck is a day or two late. It's nice to have that stress gone. Now I just have one manual payment per paycheck, and the rest just get taken out, including some automatically going into savings.
Because the first step is to build an emergency fund! This is so important. I've always felt wrong somehow about saving while I was also trying to pay off debt. Dave Ramsey says that's a common mistake, that people think it's one or the other, when really they should do a little of both. I love this, because I've had little financial emergencies where I just need a little more money, and I've borrowed from my loving sis, but I hate having to live with that worry. It already feels SO NICE to know I have just a few dollars in the bank just in case. My plan is to save and put half towards a $1,000 emergency fund and half towards other things, like dental work and fixing up my car and stuff. Then, once those things are all taken care of all of my mula is going to go to debt repayment.
Seriously, it will be so nice to just be that financially stable:) But after a small savings and getting those odd expenses paid for, I'll be able to start really focusing on my debt. By then my gums will probably be paid off, so I'll focus on getting my car paid off then snowball that towards school. I should be out of debt in about 2.5 years, which will be awesome!!! My goal is by April 1, 2017, which will be my 27th birthday. (Weird...)
There are a few more steps after that which are just as important, but these first couple are what I'm focusing on for now. It feels so good to just have a plan and know that I'm getting in control of my finances and I can feel good about where I'm at, even if I currently have debt and even if I'm not a zillionaire. :)
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