Happy Life

I didn't really do a Valentine's Day post so I feel slightly more justified in the post that I'm about to do.

*Warning: if you don't like mushy-lovey-dovey stuff, then you have my permission to avert your eyes from this post.*

I'm not going to go into all the nitty gritty details, but the second half of last year was pretty rough for Ben & I. Like, I didn't really think we were gonna make it. It was hard. But we made some serious changes & we have really turned our relationship around.

I know this is cliche, but I have never been happier. Honestly. And not just with our relationship, but in every aspect of my life.

I can't really explain it, but I just feel better. I'm happier, I feel less stressed, I'm living more in the moment & learning to really enjoy it for the precious gift that it is. I see so much more beauty in the day to day little things. I feel so honored & adored & loved by my Savior & Lord.

And Ben is pretty much the cutest, sweetest guy ever. Last week I got the flu & had to stay home from school & work for two days. Ben was sweet enough to stop at the grocery store after he got off work in the morning to bring me soup & orange juice (: And then the next days, which was Valentine's Day, he stopped at the store & bought be a huge bouquet of flowers, hand delivered with a letter (: (:

He treats me better than I ever thought possible. He's patient & kind & puts up with all my wild, crazy, unpredictable mood swings. He calms me down when I am upset, & he makes me smile when I am sad. This picture sums it up nicely:

That's really all I have to say for this post. But just to bring it to a close, I'm gonna share some pictures of my life in the last week.

Flowers from Benjamin

 My sister & I at a birthday party this weekend.

 I mean honestly, look at that handsome face. How could I not be happy all the time?

I just love him. Lots.

Alright, I'm done now. Thanks for sticking through all the lovey-dovey stuff. You're a peach (:

Have a great week!

In God We Trust

My church is currently doing a little mini sermon on money & finances. I know what you're thinking; Isn't that kind of a touchy subject o talk about in church? Why yes, it is. But that's just my pastor. He's not shy.

Anyway, today he was talking about the crazy, ridiculous debt crisis going on in this country.
Did you know that our money actually warns us? Yep, it's true. On every single dollar bill, every single coin, they all say this:

In God We Trust.

Yes, that is a warning label.

It means that we TRUST in our Lord & put our faith in Him, not in this flimsy little piece of paper. trust that He will provide, no matter what gets thrown our way. Trust that He is good & sovereign.

He let's us keep 90% of what we make & all He asks for in return is a measly little 10%. That's it. One dime for every dollar you make. That's practically nothing. He deserves so much more, yet that's all He asks of us. How incredibly is that?!

Did you know that we actually have the ability to reach into the future?! It's true. Credit cards give us the capability to reach our pretty little hands into the future, grab a hand full of money, pull it back & put it right into our pockets. Crazy right?!

There's just one tiny problem - most people don't realize that they will eventually have to pay all of that money back.

With credit cards come responsibility. It doesn't mean that you can buy that pair of shoes that you can't really afford. It doesn't mean that you can go on a vacation to Italy just because you "need a break". It doesn't mean that you should buy your girlfriend that diamond bracelet that she's been eyeing because you forgot about your anniversary last week.

I have a little secret for you: when you run out of money, stop spending. It's as simple as that.

Why would you want to spend money that you just don't have? What if there's a mix up with your bank? What if you loose your job? What if the economy suddenly crashes? Oh wait, that actually happened.

Seriously people, just stop being stupid.

Make a budget - a realistic budget - & stick to it.

So this is a challenge to all you bloggers out there! I have a budget. Ben got me to make one about a year or so back & I have to tell you I wasn't super excited about it - I mostly did it to get him to stop nagging me about it - but now that I have one I don't know what I ever did before.

Confession: I really have to work on sticking to it more. It's so easy to pull a little money from my clothes envelope to buy that coffee that I really [think] I need.

Anyway, budgets are awesome & you should make one. & if you have one already, then congratulations (:

Have a great week!

DIY | You + Me = Awesome

As soon as I saw this on Pinterest I knew that I wanted to make it for Ben for our anniversary. It's so perfect. So I went out & bought the materials last weekend - a canvas & acrylic paints

Because I knew I would screw it up if I just went for it with the paint, I sketched it out with pencil beforehand.

 *Warning: draw VERY lightly. I did not draw lightly enough & you can still see it in some spots =/

Next I used the silver to draw the plus sign & line across the bottom.

Now this was where the stress really began. Also, I'm a perfectionist, so that made this even more stressful.

The yellow was next, & this is where I wish I'd drawn lighter & that I would have erased it before I started painting over it, cause it did not cover the pencil at all. That's why the paint looks so much thicker - I was literally plopping it on to try & cover the pencil.

Now for the AWESOME.

I mixed the yellow & blue for the WE to emphasize it & for the subtle, sappy symbolism (:

The semi-finished product!

I tried wiping away the pencil with water & a rag but it didn't work so I resorted to nail polished remover & a Q-tip. It worked pretty well & it was nice because it also took away any smudges or splatters I had made.

Looking at it the whole thing I thought the top looked a little empty so I decided to add the date.

 I tried using the brush but it was too thick so I used the back of the brush to write.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

& I think he is too (:

A Not So Good Day

Today was definitely a day for the books.

Let me just preface this by saying that yesterday we had our open house at work - a time for parents to come in & tour the school & classrooms & hopefully like what they see so they will enroll their little ones for next year. On such a day, much prayers are said by teachers & staff for polite, kind, well behaved little friends.

Our prayers were certainly answered. The kids were awesome. They weren't yelling across the classroom, they weren't beating each other, they all had fun & played well together. Granted, less than 10 people came to the open house, but hey, who's counting?

So back to today. IT. WAS. AWFUL. The kids did not have such a great day.

Oh & did I mention that one of my teachers from school was coming to observe me? Awesome, I know.

It started out great. The kids built this awesome fort in the gym. They had so much fun & all worked as a team & it was wonderful. But then we had circle time & my teacher showed up & it all went down the crapper.

One boy threw the biggest screaming, kicking, fighting tantrum I've ever seen him throw in my entire life, so out of character for him. The kids were frustrated that they couldn't get their toothpick & gumdrop structures to stand up. Later in the day, I had to have another teacher remove a student for throwing toys at another. My little friends decided that throwing the chairs on top of each other in a giant heap was a better idea than neatly stacking them. Said tantrum boy decided in his words "he doesn't like to listen to people". & to top it all off, I had to stay late because they had 2 too many kids in their group so I had to stay until they dropped. It may have only been 15 minutes, but when you've had the emotionally draining day that I had, 15 minutes is like 15 hours.

Needless to say, it was a looong day.

Some days just aren't going to go according to plan.
Some days will be a little rough (or a lot rough).
Some days will require you to simply just get down on your knees & pray.

And that is what I am going to be doing tonight. Thanking Him for the good & the bad. Asking for his grace. Praying for a better day tomorrow.

On another note:
     In exactly 2 days Ben & I will be celebrating our 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!
     I'm just a little excited (: