Weekend Recap & What the hell is a Budget?

Monday, May 18, 2009
This has been a stressful week! My father was hospitalized last week with some rare bug and had to get surgery but I am happy because he is recovering quickly and was released today! 

Hubby went out of town for a week and comes back on Wednesday for a nice long memorial day weekend which is also our 1 year anniversary! YAY :)

We most likely are not going anywhere since 1. the H1N1 is still out there! 2. I'm planning Hubby's 30th birthday celebration and 3. I'm trying to go see Hillsong in concert on 6/1 which means I need to budget! 

The word Budget is foreign to me, I will admit I am not good at money management but it's something I'm trying to change because we have plans and because hubby and I have been thinking about merging bank accounts. EEK!

Since I'm clueless when it comes to Money, my dear friend, themommychase, recommended I check out mint.com and let me just say AMAZING! You enter in your info and it does all the work for you! Mint tells you when you are over budget, categorizes your spending and recommends areas where you can save. Some of the areas I seem to be overspending is:
  • Grocery
  • Metro - Which I can't do anything about
  • Rent - again, i can't do anything about
  • Electricity
What sucks is that now that we want to really get serious about budgeting we also want a puppy, a new car and husband wants the palm pre. Sigh!


Marriage Tips

Friday, May 8, 2009
I just came across a lovely post on Wisebread.com on How to be Happy & Married and they posted 24 tips that I thought I'd share: (I summarized, click on link for detailed tips)

1. Talk. Take time to talk everyday.
2. Don’t expect your spouse to be a mind reader.
3. Forget the type of compromise that means thinking of yourself in favor of finding solutions that work for you as a couple.
4. Let her have her way (or his way) sometimes. (I am sending this one to Mr. as we speak!)5. Go to weddings where you’ll likely be reminded of promises you made.
6. Be your spouse’s advocate. There are times when you may need to protect or defend your husband or wife.
7. Never go to bed mad.
8. Make reasonable requests but don’t pressure or make unreasonable demands.
9. Don’t compete with each other.
10. Play outside. I like to go hiking or swing (at playgrounds). Just because you’re married now doesn’t mean you always have to act like a grown-up.
11. Give something up, if necessary, to reach a mutual goal…s
12. Celebrate.
13. Laugh.
14. Indulge.
15. Take care of your kids but don’t put them first in everything you do.
16. Learn to love your extended family.
17. Be flexible.
18. Talk about problems with your spouse or a counselor, rather than your best friend or someone who may tend to see just your perspective and may not encourage you to talk things over with your beloved.
19. Don’t depend on your spouse for everything.
20. Encourage your spouse to develop her or his talents, and do the things he or she enjoys.
21. Go on dates.
22. Keep learning about each other and the world.
23. Be loyal and faithful.
24. Believe. To me, promising that you’ll stay married to someone forever, whether you were childhood sweethearts or dated for a few months (and neither is a guarantee of marriage longevity or brevity) is an act of faith.


I will say that #9 is an issue for me and the Mr. - we joke a lot that there's a power struggle in our marriage because neither of us like to be told anything and like to always be right.
One thing i'll add that my big sister told me and I keep in my mental rolodex is to pick my battles with the hubby! I'll also add Prayer and Putting God first not only in your marriage but your life.

Any tips of your own? Share with this newlywed :)

Organizing My Home

Thursday, May 7, 2009
or-gan-ize [awr-guh-nahyz] verb, -ized, -iz-ing.
1. to systematize
2. to give organic structure or character to: to organize the elements of a composition.
3. Informal. to put (oneself) in a state of mental competence to perform a task: We can't have any slip-ups, so you'd better get organized.
4. Another Skill I Lack!
I desperately need to organize! We moved into our apartment last august and because of our work schedules we have neglected our apartment! My goal this spring/summer: Organize & Decorate!

My priorities right now are my coffee table, side table, Bookshelves (that is currently housing DVD collection, laundry room, and bathroom.

WARNING: These pictures are graphic in nature and may shock you but don’t judge! Lol

Coffee Table in Living Room

Bathroom Closet



End Table in Living Room

I'll be back with my progress. Any advice or tips? SHARE!

First Year the hardest??

Friday, May 1, 2009
I am really tired of people telling me the First year of marriage is the hardest. I’m having a ball. Yeah it was a little hard in the beginning, I come from a big family and I’m a daddy’s girl – I was sad to leave my parents and my brothers but I got over it in like a month. I talk to them everyday and since we live 20 minutes away, I can go see them whenever I want.
Yes, there are some adjustments like my husband trying to get used to the fact that I don’t make the bed! It makes no sense to me if I’m about to get back in it in a couple hours, this irritated him because he leaves before I wake up most the time so I’ll try to fix the bed at least once a week because I know it makes him happy.
Other ‘adjustments’ we had to get used to:
-I don’t always turn off lights in other rooms when I leave them
-He leaves his socks on the couch and bed
-I leave my clothes EVERYWHERE – I pick them up eventually
-I also leave my shoes everywhere
-He owns 200+ pairs of shoes that are all in their respective shoe boxes
-I lose my keys and Phone every day but I find them again
I’m sure this list can go on and on but my point is – adjusting to newlywed life hasn’t been hard, I’m with the man I love and it’s been amazing going thru this experience together.
I read an article on
Life After Marriage and the following paragraph is exactly how I feel:
Married life is not like a romantic movie with one exciting moment after another. Married people have to still live everyday lives, do mundane chores and go about their daily routines. The sparks of romance and laughter will come and go; it's up to us to keep the fire going.


 
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