Being Beka's Guest

I'm so honored to be featured as a guest blogger on "a beautiful home" today. Beka is a college friend and an absolutely amazing photographer. She invited me to write about what a beautiful home means to me.

So head on over & read my post.

Let me know what you think & be sure to keep checking Beka's blog for a good read (or two. or two hundred!)

our slow start in budgeting

I mentioned a while back that we're trying a new system of keeping track of our money. I was really encouraged by a couple whose blog I read, as well as some of my friends who use a similar system (hi, Ash!).

It's taken almost a month to get this new budgeting thing off the ground. Here's why:

1. My computer AND our brand new external hard drive broke just before Labor Day! All the spreadsheets I'd started were saved in both of those places. Without them, I couldn't access our budget allocation or the place where we record spending. It was really frustrating, but now we're back in business with both electronics. So October will be a fresh start!

2. It's hard to delegate budget categories at places like Target & the grocery store. My receipt will include toiletries, cleaning products, food, school supplies, etc., all on one receipt. It would be a tedious process to separate all the items into their individual categories... so I don't do it. Laziness is a major roadblock to change!

3. The "groceries" category isn't enough to accommodate spontaneity! This week I'm going to make a meal for a family at our church because not enough meal makers signed up & I don't want the family to go hungry. I already used up my week's groceries budget, but then I got the supplies to make that extra meal. Additionally, we were invited to our new neighbors' football watching party on Sunday night & I can't show up empty-handed. SO, ingredients for peanut butter pie must be bought! Neither of these spontaneous purchases can really come out of another budget category, so I may need to add extra in our grocery column for things of this nature. We'll see how it goes in the weeks to come.

it's starting to feel like fall, so let's decorate!

I was inspired to actually make something I saw on Pinterest (instead of just re-pinning cool stuff all day long...) since I don't have to work today and tomorrow due to Jewish holidays.

Melissa had a bunch of burlap left over from her wedding, so I stopped by to pick it up. The only other supplies I needed were the wreath frame and fall-colored silk flowers. The twine is from a HUGE roll Joel has (& is the same stuff I used for our bedroom curtains and the photo board!) and I already had a hot glue gun.

I used the leftover flowers to spruce up the coffee filter wreath my Mom made, which stays on our living room wall all year long. I pulled off the wooden "A" and switched the white ribbon out for more twine. Festive, right?! Though I think a bigger bow might balance it out...

This is the first stage of another project I'm trying. I got the idea from this Pinterest post. I didn't remember that it used stickers, so I just bought a stencil. We'll see it turns out.

life while working part-time

My daily schedule is pretty relaxed right now. I get up at 5:50 to eat breakfast and get ready with Joel, like we did last year. I usually leave the house around 6:40 to be at work before 7. At 8 I take the 5th/6th graders to their auditorium and hang out with the elementary kids until 8:45. Then I come home, eat a snack (second breakfast, ha), and chill out or run errands. Usually I spend far too much time checking blogs and Twitter. Yesterday I had a meeting for work and the day before that I had an interview for subbing, so hopefully that will start within the next couple of weeks.

Today I made myself go running. This is an ongoing battle for me. I don't really like running but I know it's a good way to stay healthy so I make myself most days. On Wednesday I decided to try an experiment instead of pushing myself. I didn't look at my watch, just ran till I felt like it wasn't fun anymore. I only ran for 16 minutes. Ha. So lazy. Better push myself from now on...

Here are a few other things I've been doing to fill my time:

1. Laying on my bed admiring my new curtains. My mom's bringing me some insulating fabric to attach to the backs of these guys from Target. I was inspired by this post and decided to tie the curtains with twine since the green/white photo board has twine, too. [Unfortunately, I'm way too lazy to remove the window fan before taking photographs...]

2. I also busted out my sewing machine to hem some new pants I got at the Banana Republic outlet. Sadly, dress pants are almost always far too long for my legs.

3. Creating a Pinterest board for activities we can do with the kids at work. I'm pretty jazzed about it.

conversations at work 1

This morning:
me: S, those are cute shoes but they aren't the best for playing on the playground. Tomorrow you might want to wear something different.
S: Do y'all have any extra sneakers I could use?

[WHAT?! haha!]

Tuesday morning:
S: J, did you have a crush on D when you were in first grade?
J: Yes, be quiet!!!
S: It's okay. I liked him, too.
D: Yeah! Everyone liked me in first grade!

Wednesday afternoon:
B: Miss Kelly, why do you have your hair like that?
me: I was just trying something different today.
B: Well tomorrow can you do your old hairstyle? This hairstyle is creepy.

[see above for a similar hairstyle. maybe it's because my headband was black...?]

on housework and gender roles

Last Sunday our community group gathered at our house. Joel and I spent a good chunk of the day prepping to host and were quick to begin clean-up once people began to leave. Two ladies brought snacks in dishes that needed to be rinsed before they took them back home, empty and uncovered. Joel quickly grabbed the sponge and towel, then gave them back clean and dry. He told me later that both ladies commented on the fact that he washed their dishes, calling him "so domesticated."

Even though I was proud of my handsome man for being thoughtful, it also made me a little annoyed that they found his dish-washing such a big deal. I do not ever want to take Joel's participation in our life for granted. I know he's amazing & helpful & loving. It's only natural that they thanked him for going above & beyond. What bothered me was their reaction: surprise.

This makes me think that many husbands don't wash dishes. That they have grouped household tasks into male vs. female chores. That they work outside the home all day and expect their wives to keep everything perfectly tidy and clean since they're "stay-at-home-moms." That they think the kitchen is a woman's place and all food-related stuff is the responsibility of their wives.

When I brought the subject up to Joel, he was annoyed too. He said, basically, "Even if I'm working outside the home all day someday, I don't expect to just be done helping our family when I come home. Please stop me if I ever start assuming you're going to do all the house chores."

Now I know that there are some things Joel prefers and many that he does better (mowing the lawn, ironing, cleaning the floor, etc.). I also know I love cooking and have gladly accepted meal prep as one of my primary roles in our family.

But one thing that I love about our marriage is that we don't have typical gender roles just because they're typical. We're both working hard to give selflessly to each other and to make our home someplace special.

welcome, september

Dear September,

Thank you for bringing a long weekend to start our month off right. We got some quality family time and had a nice indoor BBQ with some friends.

I'd appreciate a little break from your asphyxiating humidity, though. And could you let up on the rain already? Middle schoolers (and their supervisors!) like to play outside and tend to get a bit antsy when they have to hang out inside for 6 hours straight. After a half-first-day-of-school. Ugh.

September, so far (5 days in!) you've been full of adjustments. Yesterday was the first day of school and it brought a bittersweet taste to my mouth. I didn't miss my old school, no sir. I did miss being in a classroom, though. It was really nice to spend time with kiddos and get to know them, but I'd like to actually be teaching them. Not just pegging them with dodge-balls and getting stomped by their killer Uno skills. Not that I really mind those things... but it's not quite what I pictured myself doing five years ago when I completed my bachelors degree in childhood and special education.

In the next 25 days I'm looking forward to a break in this heat, watching more "Friday Night Lights" free on Netflix with Joel, guest posting on Beka's blog, becoming a substitute teacher, taking more photos, and settling into a new routine.

Thanks in advance, September, for what you'll bring. 

(What's with this relatively old-school photo, you ask? Well, this past weekend my laptop died, after just two years of use. I'm currently writing from Joel's, which he has selflessly started calling "ours" & this photo is one of very few semi-recent pictures!)