Our Trek {Newlywed Trek}

Life with a Puppy

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 29 May 2012 02:20:00 +0000

Wondering how the impulse buy we made a couple weeks ago is doing?

He's fit in quite nicely for the most part. I think Nenya does actually like him.

She's still top dog around here.

This is my first puppy, so it's been an interesting experience with a roller coaster of emotions.

It's easy to be happy with your dog when he's being adorable sleeping on the love seat.

But when he's tearing up the love seat?

Sigh...that's a little more difficult to deal with. But I still love him.

We've had him eight weeks, and I've been doing training with him daily for the past six weeks. He's doing great at sit, lay down, stay, roll over, and has even mastered shaking. He's smart but super stubborn, so it's been a lesson in patience. He seems to be learning what's his and leaving our stuff alone, but we won't be leaving him in the house unsupervised for a few hours again any time soon. Although Adyn doesn't seem to have had any obedience training with his previous owners, one bonus is that he's completely house broken. We haven't had any accidents yet!

It was a little crazy in the beginning, but having two dogs has been good for all of us. I do think two dogs is my limit though!

An $8 date

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:55:00 +0000

We've made it a priority in our marriage to have a date every week. This may sound expensive, but our dates are rarely the traditional dinner and a movie type dates. In fact, the one time we did eat out and see a movie the same day, it was lunch and a matinée.

For our most recent date, we took a long walk downtown.

We walked along the canal...

watched the local animals...

had fun taking photos...

watched part of a free concert that happened to be going on...

and saw parts of the city we'd never seen before, like the central library.

(It's pretty epic.)

And we just had fun.

We bought some sorbet at the mall, which was our only expense other than the unavoidable parking costs.

It was one of the best dates we've had in a while!

A New Trek

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

One of the 12 things I want to tackle in 2012 is figure out my blog purpose. As you may have guessed by my recent lack of posts, I've been thinking a lot about that one. Here's my state of the blog address. I'll keep it short.

Wedding Trek
I started Wedding Trek not long after getting engaged as a way to document my wedding preparations. To be honest, my main motivation for starting my blog was to have something to submit to become a wedding blogger for Weddingbee. It soon became evident that there was no way I could write 3 good posts a week, so I kind of gave up on that. But I had a few friends and relatives reading by that point, so I kept writing.

Newlywed Trek
When I got married I kept on writing, but I never have had a true purpose for Newlywed Trek. I wrote some about learning to live together, dealing with our differences, and figuring out my role as a wife. While we're still learning and always will be, that initial adjustment is pretty much behind us. Does that mean we're no longer newlyweds? Possibly. But either way, I think it's time for a new name and new direction for the blog.

The new name? Our Trek
The purpose? Writing about our lives

Sometimes I skip writing about things Nathan and I do because I worry they aren't "blog worthy." This blog should be what I want to write. Although it's been fun to experiment with ways to grow my blog, my focus shouldn't be on my stats. After all, I don't make any money from this blog. I know it's possible to earn a living from blogging, but since I would rather continue to earn a living as a designer, it makes more sense for me to spend my free time building my freelance business rather than building this blog.

In short, all that's really going to change around here is the name of the blog and the way I approach it. Thanks for reading.

The Impulse Buy

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:48:00 +0000

We made a bit of an impulse buy this weekend. His name is Adyn.

How did this happen? Well, I normally go shopping by myself, but this
time Nathan came with me on my Saturday shopping trip.

On our way to Meijer, we drove past Petsmart, where they had dogs out for adoption. I wouldn't have stopped had I been alone. But Nathan is a total dog lover, so we stopped.

And then something crazy happened. I was the one who fell in love with a dog.
We went on to do our grocery shopping, but I was almost crying as I
walked through Meijer thinking about him.

So along with our groceries, we brought home a new dog.

I think he was a pretty good deal though.

If you read my blog post about things I'd like to do before kids,
you might remember that getting a second dog was something we planned to do soon.

So, this really wasn't a complete impulse buy. We aren't completely crazy.

Just...mostly.

I think Nenya is adjusting well. I can't say that she loves her little brother yet, but she at least tolerates him about as well as I tolerated my little brother when he was born.

She's pretty independent these days, sometimes preferring to be left alone, so having a 9 month old attention hog come into the picture isn't too traumatizing.

Although trying to walk them together by myself the first time made me wonder if I was truly sane, this change will be good for me. Knowing I would have to crate Adyn while I was at work, I took him on a walk/jog Monday morning before 7:00 am. I'm lucky to be out of bed by 7:00 these days, let alone outside running by then.

Impulsive? Yes. But also really wonderful.

Grilled Cheese Rolls with Bread Heels

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

We don't eat a lot of meatless meals around here, thanks to my meat-loving, anti-vegetable husband, but one meatless meal we do enjoy often is grilled cheese with tomato soup. I normally use eight slices of bread for grilled cheese, making 2.5 sandwiches for Nathan and 1.5 for me. But when I wanted to make grilled cheese this week, I realized we only had four slices of bread left. However, we also had two heels. I had recently read about making grilled cheese rolls by removing the crusts and rolling a slice of cheese with a slice of bread, so I decided to give that a try with the two heels I had.

The verdict? They were delicious! They're really more grilled cheese "envelopes" than rolls since they wouldn't fold that well, but they tasted fantastic

What do you do with the heels in your loaf of bread? Do you eat them like the rest of the slices or use them for something else. I have a few in the freezer that I've been meaning to use to make bread crumbs. Sometimes I'll put them in with the brown sugar if it gets hard to soften it up again. And now I know I can use them for grilled cheese!

My Home Office

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

If you've ever wondered where I am when I write my blog posts, this is it. It's been a little over two months since we moved, and my little work space is finally getting close to how I want it.

I use the term "home office" loosely, as you can see. My desk is very much out in the open! So, I've tried to make it look as nice as possible without spending a lot of money.

With two monitors, I don't have a lot of room for much else on my desk. The keyboard and mouse are wireless so they can be shoved in my desk drawer when I'm writing or clipping coupons. I keep all the papers that need to be addressed (bills, coupon inserts) in one pile that I try to go through once a week. Other than that, I only have a coaster and a magnetic sculpture on my desktop.

My brother-in-law put up this shelf for me (thanks, Tim!) that I can use for my office supplies, a few design books...and toys.

Hanging from the shelf brackets are my cork board and dry erase board. I wish I'd taken before photos of these! For the cork board, I spray painted the frame of an old bulletin board, cut fabric to size and adhered it to the cork with spray adhesive. The dry erase board was just a large picture frame that I also spray painted. It had a collage mat in it that I wrapped with matching fabric and put behind the glass.

It's may not be the fanciest home office, but it's a functional and happy office!

And unlike at my cubicle at work, I can actually see outside!

Shared at Take it on Tuesday at Romance on a Dime.

Being a One Car Family

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

One cost-cutting measure I've seen recommended numerous times is becoming a one car family. Ugh. Every time I saw someone make that suggestion, I cringed. I vowed that would never happen in our family. I'm sure part of my thinking came from my grandmother, who had her own car despite the fact that she almost never drove. Cutting back to one car just seemed too radical.

I started to think a little differently when we moved at the beginning of this year. Instead of being 20 miles away from work, my commute is about 0.4 miles. In other words, I can walk to work, home for lunch, back to work, and back home in less time than it took me to drive to work before. Do we really need another car when I'm that close? Even if the weather conditions make it unsafe for me to walk, it wouldn't be too inconvenient for a coworker to give me a ride. In fact, three people offered to take me home one day when it was snowing.

I still resisted the idea of going down to one car. I wanted to at least have the option to drive. But two weeks ago, Nathan's car died. Completely died. There's still a chance it could be fixed, even though we've been advised not to put another dime into it, but so far we haven't messed with it. Nathan has been driving my car to work, and I've walked every day, even in rain and snow. And guess what? It hasn't been that bad. Will we buy a replacement car? Maybe..maybe not. It will of course be necessary when we move or if I change jobs, but for now, one car is actually okay.

There are several advantages of not having a second car and walking to work...

I'm forced to get some exercise.
The walk to work makes me much more awake and ready to start my work day.
I can't go buy fast food for lunch (at least not on my own).
I sometimes see geese, ducks, and killdeer on my commute.
We save money on gas, even if not a lot.
If we do get rid of the second car, we'll save on insurance and maintenance.

And the disadvantages?

I don't feel like jogging when I get home. (I do walk another mile with Nenya though.)
If Nathan has car trouble, I can't go pick him up.
I can't run errands during lunch.
It's not easy to go to doctor's appointments, although I found a dentist right by work.
People think I'm weird. Walking commutes are rare in the suburbs I guess.
I don't like inconveniencing people, so I hate asking for rides.

We aren't sure what to do about our car situation for the time being, but at least I know we can survive with one car.

Are you, or have you ever been, a one car family? If not, would you ever want to be one?

Once a Week Cooking in 2 Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

If you read about my once a week cooking experiment last year and wondered if I've kept up with it, well, I haven't. I never tried it again after that one time. It would be rough for me to do that much cooking on a weekday (I work full time), and my weekends have been fairly busy with other things. But a couple weeks ago, I decided to try it again.

This was my dinner menu plan for the week:

Potato Bacon Corn Chowder

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Chocolate pancakes with strawberry topping (for Valentine's Day)

Salmon patties, macaroni and cheese

Pizza casserole

Chicken Fried Rice

Dinner with friends

I didn't make every dinner ahead of time since the others were quick ones anyway, but I was able to get two main dishes ready to bake and two others ready to assemble. Before I started, I listed all the tasks I would need to complete and then ordered them in a way that would keep things moving. I forgot a few things initially, so this probably would have taken much less than 2 hours if I'd been more efficient. I also didn't menu plan based on the idea that I would be cooking ahead of time. Next time, I would choose more meals that are easy to prepare ahead of time and that share common ingredients (two dishes with pasta, two with beef, etc.).

12:50 - I start cooking the rice and heating up the skillet for the bacon.

12:58 - Cover rice to simmer; still cooking bacon

"Can I have some?"

I start putting together the enchiladas (with chicken I had cooked previously). Then I remember I need to be cooking hamburger and pasta for the pizza casserole and get that started.

1:44 - Enchiladas are ready, except for the sauce. The tortillas are falling apart (they were a little old), so I switch them to a smaller dish to keep them together a little better.

1:56 - I remember I have laundry that needs switched to the dryer.
Nathan steps in to work on browning the hamburger.

After the hamburger is done cooking, I make the sauce for the enchiladas.

2:22 - Enchiladas are done and I start assembling the pizza casserole.

2:33 - Pizza casserole is done!

2:34 - Oops! I forgot I needed to cook onion for the chowder.
I chop one up (sniff, sniff) and cook that.

2:49 - And we're done! Chicken enchiladas, pizza casserole,
rice for fried rice, and bacon and onion for chowder.

I try to pretend the kitchen doesn't exist for a while,
but Nenya is happy to begin cleanup for me.

Shared at Works for Me Wednesday.

Back to a Monthly Budget and Other Budget Changes

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:00:00 +0000

One of my most popular blog posts and the oldest one still currently in the top ten most read is No More Monthly Budget. I'm sure we scared a lot of people with that title. What? No budget? If you haven't read the post, what we did for 2011 was track our budget in periods based not on calendar months but on thirteen periods of four weeks. Since I'm paid weekly and Nathan is paid every two weeks, there can be quite a variation in income from month to month. With four week periods we would have consistent income (two of Nathan's paychecks, four of mine). It sounded good in theory, but it only took a few months to realize how inconsistent income really is. Although we kept with it for all of 2011, for 2012 we're going back to monthly budget periods. We've also made a few other changes to the way we budget that should work better for us.

A monthly allowance

A new budget category is an allowance for each of us. For the first year and a half of our marriage, we basically had to discuss every purchase with each other. And if one of us made a big purchase, that meant the other had to curb his/her spending for that budget period. To help eliminate some of this, we've now budgeted a small amount of money for each of us to spend each month however we choose. If Nathan wants to eat out for lunch, I can still buy shoes. We still have a "General Spending" category for purchases that we agree to make.

A dates category
Last year, we lumped all eating out (lunches during work and dates) into one category. We also had a separate entertainment category. We've now eliminated "Eating Out" as a separate budget category and made it a sub-category under our allowances and under a new "Dates" category. We've also made "Entertainment" a sub-category under "Dates."

Adding "rollover" money
What we did last year if we had money left over in different categories, was put the leftover money into paying off debt or our emergency fund. Now, if we have $7 left in the date category at the end of the month, for example, that's money we can still use for dates next month.

A new budget system
We track all of our spending, income, and bank accounts in an Excel program Nathan made. Last year we had a separate spreadsheet for each budget period, but this year Nathan made one Excel file that we can use for all our financial tracking for the entire year. If anyone would like to know more about our system and how Nathan programmed it, I'm sure he'd be happy to explain it.

Here's what the big picture looks like for February. That big chunk we're putting towards student loan payments still isn't enough to keep us on track with our goal of paying them off in two years, but it's close and there's not much else we can cut. I said it was an ambitous goal!

What changes have you made to your budget to make it work better for you?

My 10 Favorite Books Read in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Looking for books to put on your reading list? These are my top picks out of the books I read last year. All of these titles are nonfiction, which is generally all I read, even though I'm reading The Hobbit right now. I've listed the books in the order in which I read them.

1. Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America's Cheapest Family, by Steve and Annette Economides
This is a great book on saving money since the entire book is dedicated to one category. Some books do not provide much detail because they try to cover too many different aspects, however this is a good, exhaustive resource on saving money on food. Read my full review here.

2. Unplanned, by Abby Johnson
Abby Johnson started working at Planned Parenthood as a volunteer in college and worked her way up in the organization to becoming the director of a clinic. This is the story of why she was passionate about Planned Parenthood and why she is now passionately pro life. While written with a pro life bias, this book gave me a better understanding of both sides.

3. Committed: A Love Story, by Elizabeth Gilbert
In this sequel of sorts to the popular Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Glibert tries to make peace with the idea of marriage after finding herself "sentenced to wed" after her Brazilian boyfriend gets in trouble with Homeland Security. Although this may seem like an odd choice for a happy newlywed, I enjoyed Gilbert's look at the idea of marriage throughout history and across cultures, even though sometimes I wanted to yell at her as I listened to the audiobook.

4. The Other 8 Hours, by Robert Pagliarini
If you work full time and need help managing your time, this is the book to read, whether you want to start a side business or just spend more time with your family. Read my full review here.

5. Organized Simplicity, by Tsh Oxenreider
Even though I'm not ranking this list, I can safely say this was the best book I read last year. I checked it out twice from the library, and when the Kindle version was free last month, I downloaded it on my phone and started reading it again. I was inspired to declutter and organize and think about what really matters.

6. Eat This, Not That! 2012
I had no idea how many unhealthy foods are masquerading as healthy ones, and vice versa. No one has time to read the labels on every box of crackers or the nutrition facts on every dish at every restaurant, but this book gives a good overview. Read more of what I learned here.

7. Evolving in Monkey Town, by Rachel Held Evans
Rachel Held Evans grew up thinking she had all the answers about her Christian faith, but than she began asking questions. I don't entirely agree that faith needs to evolve to fit the postmodern world, but I still appreciate how though-provoking this book is, which is why it's in my top ten.

8. In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
This was another book that challenged my thinking, this time in the area of nutrition. How is it that with all of this nutrition "advice" of the last few decades we don't seem to be getting healthier? A lot of the information in this book seems like common sense, but clearly it's not so common anymore.

9. Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment, by Linda Dillow
I was expecting this to be about dealing with anxiety (a struggle for me), but the broader "finding contentment" of the subtitle is really what it's about. The different chapters focus on finding contentment with your circumstances, yourself, your role, etc. Linda Dillow gives practical advice and encouragement, not just a "pray and get over it" kind of message.

10. The Money Saving Mom's Budget, by Crystal Paine
While I wouldn't call this book life changing for me, I learned a lot about saving money and goal setting, even after reading MoneySavingMom.com for quite a while. Read my full review here.

What are some of the best books you've ready lately? Any books you look forward to reading this year?

Shared at Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda.

12 to Tackle in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

For 2011, the goals I set were really habits that I wanted to develop and sustain. This year, my goals are much more measurable. They're "bucket list" type items that I can check off (although some I hope to do more than once). I started making a list a couple months ago, and I've finally decided on the 12 things I most want to accomplish.

Financial Goal (a.k.a. the BHAG)

1. Pay off half the student loans

This is by far the most ambitious goal, but we're now at the point where this is our only focus financially. A financial adviser Nathan met with even said we shouldn't worry about investing now since we can pay off the loans so quickly.

Business/Career Goals

2. Update my physical portfolio (I haven't touched it since I started my job 2.5 years ago.)

3. Create an online portfolio

4. Decide on a freelance business name and create a business website

5. Complete at least one paid freelance job (That extra money has to come from somewhere!)

Homemaking Goals

6. Bake with yeast

7. Switch to using homemade or natural cleaning supplies

8. Decorate our bedroom (Mainly putting something above our headboard)

Personal Goals

9. Complete a 5K race

10. Figure out my blog purpose (I started this as a wedding blog. What is it now?)

11. Make something with a sewing machine (I haven't used one since 8th grade)

12. Visit a place I've never been before (if not a new state, at least a new part of a state)

What do you hope to achieve this year?

First World Problems We Encountered While Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Oh, the first world problems. When you consider that one-sixth of the world's population does not have access to safe drinking water, can we really look at our own lives and say we have a lot of problems? Of course it's natural to get used to luxuries we've had our entire lives, but it's important to keep things in perspective and remember that they are just that: luxuries. I'm not the first to write a Top Ten Tuesday post of first world problems (here's a good one), but to remind myself how good I have it, I wanted to make a list of the "problems" we faced after moving into a house at the beginning of this month.

Our garage isn't big enough to easily park both cars in it.
The water company doesn't have online bill pay. We have to mail a check.
Since we only have one extra bedroom, my desk has to go in the living room.
It took two weeks to get internet hooked up.
We discovered our refrigerator was blowing hot air, so for the five days until a new one was delivered, we had to eat what was in our pantry or get fast food.
The living room had so many boxes the first couple days that we had to go through a maze to get to our table.
I didn't buy enough shelf liner for all my kitchen cabinets, so I had to go back to Meijer for more.
The cable outlet is on the opposite side of the living room from our TV.
It costs more to have the newspaper delivered here, so I canceled my subscription. Now I have to go to a store to buy a Sunday paper. (Edit: Just hours after writing this, the paper company sent me an e-mail saying they "want me back" and offering the rate I was previously paying.)
The landlord didn't give us a remote to open the garage door automatically.

I think we'll make it through...

Check out more Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda.

Winner of The Money Saving Mom's Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

The winner of my giveaway for a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget was Tony and Heather Snyder! Thanks to all those who entered.

My Thoughts on Couch to 5K

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

At the beginning of 2011, I set the goal to exercise on a regular basis. Month after month after month, I got nowhere. Finally, I started the Couch to 5K program, which was just what I needed to get serious about getting fit. At first I wasn't sure if I was capable of becoming a runner, but after finishing the program last week, I actually want to keep running.

What is Couch to 5K?
As the name implies, Couch to 5K is a progressive running program designed for those who are not physically active. For the first week, you alternate walking 90 seconds and jogging 60 seconds. By the end of the ninth week, you should be able to run for thirty minutes. The only downside with this program is that you have to keep track of how long you've been running or walking and how many times you've done each. That is, unless you download the app for Android or iPhone. Honestly, I'm not sure how anyone could complete this program without using the C25K app. You can run with headphones plugged into your phone, and it will tell you when to switch from walking to running and give you a one minute warning. If you listen to music on your phone, the voice alerts will just pause the music temporarily.

How my running improved
When I first started, a minute of running was about all I could handle. I was gasping for air by the end and didn't know how I was going to handle 2 minutes the following week. Each week I thought the same thing: How will I make it through next week? The most I'd ever run at once was a mile, and I hadn't done that since high school. I honestly didn't know if I could make it through all 9 weeks. But guess what? I did. Your body can do a lot more than you think. I've only run three miles once so far, and I did it in 33:10, while running over snow and ice for part of that time.

How I changed physically
It was never my goal to lose weight. For me, starting exercise now is being proactive. I want to try to prevent heart disease and other health problems. That being said, I still wasn't too happy when four weeks into the program, I had gained 4 pounds. A weight gain of a pound a week when I'm more physically active than I've ever been? How is that possible? I had never seen that number on the scale before. So, I had Nathan hide the scale, and I kept running. After that, I lost 7 pounds, making me 3 pounds below my starting weight. I'm sure I was just gaining muscle before losing fat, but it was still discouraging to see that I had gained. I would recommend hiding the scales before you even start running. I felt like I was in better shape, even though I was heavier.

Source: keepsweatingandgetfitandhealthy.tumblr.com via Amanda C on Pinterest

(NOT photos of me, but a good illustration)

How long it took me to complete
Although Couch to 5K is supposed to be a nine week program, between the holidays, vacation, and moving, I wasn't running three times a week every week. In fact, I didn't run at all for two and a half weeks. I started the program on October 10 and finished on January 10, more than thirteen weeks later. If you miss a day, just run again when you can. I was shuffling around menu plans and plans in general the whole time. Don't give up!

While Couch to 5K may not be the ideal workout plan for everyone, if it worked for someone as unathletic as me, I think it could work for a lot of people. Nathan ran most days with me to help him get back into running, and our dog Nenya ran every day.

For another opinion on Couch to 5K, check out this review from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.

Have you tried Couch to 5K? Have you found a different way to exercise? I'd love to hear about it.

Note: I'm a graphic designer, not a doctor, Jim! The information above is strictly my personal experience and should not be considered health advice. Also, I was not compensated in any way for writing this post. I'm just sharing what has worked for me.

Shared at Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Review: The Money Saving Mom's Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:10:00 +0000

With all the books and blogs out there about financial management and saving money, it’s difficult to know which ones are worth reading. When I first started trying to figure out couponing in the spring of 2010, I was reading at least six blogs on the topic. It wasn’t long before I’d unsubscribed from all of them except for one local blog and Money Saving Mom, written by blogger Crystal Paine. What set this blog apart? I began reading during the middle of a series on how Crystal and her husband paid cash for their first home. And she wasn’t even 30 yet! She knows her stuff.

I was excited to read Crystal’s book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, and even more excited to have the privilege of receiving an advance copy. By the end of the first chapter, I knew I would not be disappointed. This isn’t just a book of money saving tips that you’ve already heard; it’s a book that helps you discover what you want to achieve and then shows you the steps you can take to achieve it. At first glance, the second chapter, “Streamline Your Life and Cut the Clutter,” isn’t even about money at all, but it’s possibly the most important one.

Although some of the concepts will seem a little basic to those who are a little more financially stable, such as the “secret formula” of creating a budget and saving $60 a year, unless you have met all the financial goals you ever hope to achieve, you will learn something from this book. My husband and I have had a written budget since the beginning of our marriage, but I still enjoyed reading through the chapter on budgeting since our system is far from perfect. And if you’re worried this book will tell you that you have to live on beans and rice and never have any fun until you’ve achieved your financial goals, you will be happy to see chapter eight: “Going out on the Town Without Going Broke.” It’s a book for real people.

What I love most is that Crystal shares this wealth of information in a way that is like a friend cheering you on, leaving you inspired rather than discouraged. Most of the time when a book I’m reading gives some “exercise” to do, I brush it off and just keep reading. But when Crystal talks about setting financial goals, I actually thought about what financial goal we could achieve in the next six months to a year. There’s a lot of passion in this book.

Crystal Paine’s passion for helping others is truly evident in her reason for publishing this book. While originally hesitant to accept the book deal, she realized what an impact it could have if she gave all the proceeds away. And that’s what she is doing: all of her proceeds will support Compassion International. When you buy a copy of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, you will be giving money to a Child Survival Program in the Dominican Republic that offers life-saving health and medical care to expectant moms, young moms, and at-risk babies and young children.

~~Want to win a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget? Just leave a comment!~~

~~For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each entry):~~

~~1. Like Newlywed Trek on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you liked the page.~~

2. Follow Newlywed Trek on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you followed.

Be sure to leave a link to your blog or your e-mail address so I can contact you!

~~The giveaway will end January 18, 2012. Winner will be announced January 19.~~

5 Goals for 2011: How I Did

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

One important thing I learned through setting goals for this past year was that goals need to be measurable. I can't just say I want to "improve" something. How will I really know if I've improved enough? What will prove that? After setting my initial goals for the year, I revised them in September. Did I achieve them? Well...sort of...some of the time. My goal setting clearly still needs work.

1. Exercise for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

In October, we started Couch to 5K, and I loved it. Had we stuck with the program consistently, we would have finished December 9. However, we didn't make it to week 9 of the plan until December 15, and we haven't tun since then. The trip to California, Christmas, sick husband, and moving kind of threw me off. I really am serious about becoming a runner though, and I hope to finish out the program and continue to run 30 minutes at a time. I had never run more than a mile prior to last year, so I'm still really happy with my progress.

2. Go to bed at 10:00 each night and wake up at 6:00 each morning.

I kind of revised this one to 10:30 and 6:30 after I gave up on running in the morning. Sometimes I achieved this, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes we went to bed on time but talked for a half hour or more. This year Nathan's the one with the long commute, so I'm not sure what bedtime is anymore.

3. Complete my daily chores and leave no dishes in the sink at the end of the day.

I did terrible on this one for December with all we had going on. I just didn't care about my apartment anymore since I knew we'd be moving. But for the most part, I did develop good habits in this area. Thanks to my new shorter commute and the six-quart programmable crockpot Nathan got me for Christmas, I should have much more time in the evenings to focus on cleaning this year.

4. Spend less than $200 a budget period on food (groceries and eating out).

We actually achieved this one in December, but of course we also spent money on vacation and Christmas. This isn't a goal I plan on keeping in 2012, but it's good to know that we can cut back when necessary.

5. Write at least 2 blog posts a week.

Had I achieved this one, I would have published 104 blog posts. I only made it to 88, or about 1.7 posts a week. At least there weren't any huge gaps between posts. Blogging is a funny thing. I thought maybe I was spending too much time on each post and that I should try just writing without a lot of editing. When I wrote a post that way, it became my first post in months with no comments. I guess I still have a lot too learn.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to achieve in 2012. We moved everything into our new rental house on January 2, so I'm just taking it one goal at a time for now

How did you do with your goals for 2011?

Our 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:36:00 +0000

It's been a good year. We haven't really had any major events in our lives, but we've gone on several trips and had a lot of fun together.

January

Nathan gave me a special birthday.
We had our first fondue date night.

We decided to stay in our apartment for another year.

February

Nathan wrote a blog post.

We figured out our first joint tax return.

I got sick of winter.

March

We saw Michael W. Smith (one of Nathan's favorite artists) and Amy Grant (one of my favorite artists) in concert. We teared up as soon as they walked on stage.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory for Nathan's birthday.

We paid off the last of our debt, except graduate school loans.

April

I bought a bike.

We went to Florida so I could see where Nathan went to college.

May

We went to the Indianapolis air show.

We went camping with my Uncle John and Aunt Kathy and our dogs.

Nathan flew a helicopter.

June

There was a huge flood in our apartment complex.
We celebrated one year of marriage.

On the same day, Nathan graduated with his MBA.

July

We went to Chicago for the July 4th weekend.

Nathan's car window got smashed.

We went to Arkansas for our friends Kayla and Austin's wedding.

Nathan lost his job.

August

We went to GenCon.

We started tackling reorganizing and decluttering.

I met Crystal from Money Saving Mom and experienced a huge spike in page views.

September

Our friend Eddy got married.

Nathan started working a second shift job.

We got our first smartphones.

October

Nathan switched jobs again, this time back to first shift.

I finally finished our wedding album.
We started Couch to 5K.

We visited two pumpkin patches.

November

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family, and Nathan's family the day after.

My car window got smashed.

December

We signed the lease on a rental house and started packing for our move.

We visited Nathan's brother and his family in California.

We celebrated Christmas with my family, and Nathan's the day after.

The theme for the first part of 2012 will be boxes, boxes, and more boxes since we're spending our New Year's weekend moving everything (hopefully) into our new rental house. After that? Who knows.

Happy New Year!

Ready to Move On

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I haven't felt much like cleaning lately. Or cooking. Or blogging. Or crafting. Or doing much of anything really. It's not depression or illness. The problem? Want-to-move-itis.

I've been doing my best to be content here. I know this apartment is much nicer than what many people have. But when I open up a dryer in the community laundry room and find something, uh, unmentionable, or when we come back after Thanksgiving and see my car looking like this...

...after Nathan's was broken into five months ago...well, it's hard not to want to get out of here.

The good news is, we are getting out of here very soon! While I had a list of the pros and cons of staying here a year ago, there is no way we could renew our lease for another year. Next month, we're moving into a rental house. It has a garage, a fenced in back yard with a deck, and washer and dryer hookups. The overall square footage is a little more than we have now, with a master bedroom as big as I could ever want. And, quite possibly the most exciting part for me, the house is only a half mile from where I work. After a year and a half with a 30 minute commute, I'll now be able to bike or even walk to work.

Although it's wonderful knowing how close I am to having so many new conveniences in my life, it's also making it much more difficult to live in the present. I'm trying to focus one major event at a time, and we have a few of those in the last half of this month! Tomorrow, we're getting on a plane to go visit Nathan's brother and his family in California. Once we get back, I'll be getting things ready for Christmas with both of our families. Since I have a company wide shutdown the week of Christmas, I'll have a week to work on getting everything packed to start moving our things in January.

I'm excited about all of it!

Recycled Wedding Invitation Ornament

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Wondering what to do with your extra wedding invitations? Or need a Christmas gift for a newlywed? Here's one idea.

One night I was going through my DIY Ideas board on Pinterest and making a list of what I would need to actually make some of the crafts I had pinned. When I came across this invitation ornament, I realized I already had everything I needed and got started right away. I was finished in about an hour.

All you have to do is cut the invitation into strips, curl each strip, and put them inside an empty glass ornament. If you have an X-Acto knife, you can use that for the cutting and then curl the strips around the handle (after removing the blade of course).

Nathan was a little disturbed when he saw me cutting up our wedding invitation, but I assured him it was okay since we still had a bunch of them. Then he reminded me we had gotten rid of all the extras and that was the only one we had left. Oops. Good thing I still have the original files and extra paper.

I realized I never actually blogged about my wedding invitations, so here's what they looked like before I mutilated them.

I actually cut up the entire suite, but I ended up just using the strips from the invitation and a few of the more interesting ones from the other pieces. The ornament was plenty full.

It fits right in with all the other mismatched ornaments. Our tree looks mostly the same as it did last year.

I wanted to buy one new Hallmark ornament this year, and we picked out Tom and Jerry.

Another change is that we're using Bob and Larry as our tree topper this year. Maybe someday I'll buy or make a real tree topper, but it's kind of fun to decide what to put on top as we're decorating it.

Did you do anything with your wedding invitation?

How to Make Me Happy in Four Easy Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I need your help. Nathan is in a Facebook contest to win free LASIK vision correction. Winning is based on how many "Likes" this amazing photo gets.

Here's how you vote...

Step 1: Click this link.

Step 2: Allow the Application.

Yes, you do have to allow it, but you can remove the application afterwords and your vote will still count. All it does is make a post on your wall saying you voted.

Step 3: Click on the picture of Nathan.

If his photo isn't showing, just click "Enter Gallery" below the photos.

Step 4: Click the "Like" button below the photo.

And you're done! Thanks so much.

5 Goals for 2011: November

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

1. Exercise for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

The last four weeks we accomplished this, even when we were out of town for Thanksgiving. This week we'll probably only make it two days. Our first attempt this week, during a snow storm after dark, went fine until I stepped in a puddle of icy cold water.

2. Go to bed at 10:00 each night and wake up at 6:00 each morning.

This hasn't gone well lately. I'm shooting for 10:30 and 6:30 now that we're not running in the morning, but the holiday weekend threw me off.

3. Complete my daily chores and leave no dishes in the sink at the end of the day.

I haven't focused as much on this one this month, but things have at least been mostly presentable.

4. Spend less than $200 a budget period on food (groceries and eating out).

I set and achieved this goal the month we were living on just my income but haven't had success with it since then. As much as I try to avoid lifestyle inflation, having nearly three times as much income makes it difficult not to spend a little extra.

5. Write at least 2 blog posts a week.

Due to one of our computers being down, Nathan and I have been sharing my computer for the entire month. In other words, I haven't had a computer this month. He's working on an online graduate certificate in accounting (he will most likely be in school forever, in case anyone was wondering), so it's more important that he has the computer. We should have the part to get the other one back up and running by the end of the week. I have ideas for a dozen posts that I can't wait to write.

One more month to go! How have you done with your goals for the year?

Getting Serious About Getting Fit

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

If you've read any of my posts on my goals for this year, you know I've been trying to start an exercise program all year and failing month after month. Now that it's November, I'm finally starting to find success, and it's really exciting.

Finding Motivation
Even though I've known for years that regular exercise is healthy, I had no desire to do it. Besides, I was thin without exercise. But I know I won't stay this thin forever living the lifestyle I have been. While I would walk up to three miles a day around campus in college, the only exercise I get at work now is walking up and down one short flight of stairs to get to the restroom. Something had to change. I read once that we're in our physical prime at age 18-24. I don't know if that's true or not, but with 25 just a couple months away, I'm determined it won't be true for me. I want to be in the best shape of my life at 25! Another huge motivation is making a habit of exercise before becoming pregnant.

Finding Time
I really didn't think I could fit exercising into my schedule. It wasn't even that I didn't have enough free time but that I couldn't figure out when to fit it in. Getting up before 6:00 wasn't working out, I was hungry by the time I got home at 5:30, and by the time dinner digested I was too tired. My solution was to eat a bigger breakfast, eat lunch as late as possible, and exercise as soon as I got home. Eating a bigger breakfast is healthier anyway. Dinners are either made ahead and put in the oven as soon as I'm done running, or really simple. Last night was boxed macaroni and cheese with carrots.

Finding What Works
I'm not a naturally athletic person. At all. In kindergarten, I did outstanding on everything except throwing and catching a ball. In sixth grade, I was the kid no one wanted on their team. When Nathan and I had tried to go running in the past, it didn't work well for me because I'd be gasping for air after running a minute. Now I'm halfway through the Couch to 5K program, and I still feel great after running multiple sets of five minutes at a time. Running 30 minutes straight still sounds scary, but I'm beginning to realize that my body can do a lot more than my brain thinks it can.

Finding a Partner (or Two)
I honestly don't know how I could get through these runs on my own. Nathan has gone with me every day but one (when he was working late). When I feel like there's no way I can go another two minutes, Nathan encourages me to keep going. Even though he could run a 5K right now if he wanted, he's doing this program to help me. Nenya has also been going with us. We didn't think she would make it past the first couple weeks, but she's been doing better than I have. It turns out this progressive running program works for couch potato Corgis too!

If you exercise, what helps you stay serious about it? If not, what's holding you back from exercising?

Keeper Recipes {Biscuits & Apple Crisp}

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:11:00 +0000

I don't know what it is about biscuits, but I haven't had much success making them. My first attempt was so bad that Nenya wouldn't touch them, and she's eaten radish and wasabi peas before. My imitation Red Lobster biscuits weren't much better, and neither were these. I've tried a couple other recipes, but I pretty much just stick with Pillsbury.

The other night I wanted to make biscuits but had no milk. I came across a recipe that used just flour, salt, butter, and oil, and it turned out to be the best one I've made so far. You can get the recipe here. Nathan was surprised when I told him I'd made them from scratch. They weren't amazing, but they were at least good.

My first attempt at making apple crisp was also not very successful. I tried a new recipe this year, and it was amazing!

I'm so glad I didn't just give up on either of these dishes the first time I made them. I've hardly mastered them, but at least I know there's hope.

For more recipes that have worked well for a beginner cook and baker like me, check out my Top 10 Recipes for Beginner Cooks and my Favorite Recipes board on Pinterest.

Are there any dishes you've tried and tried again to get right?

Adventures with Pumpkins: Carving & Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Can you guess whose pumpkin is whose?

Our approaches to pumpkin carving were a good example of our varying approaches to most things in life.

I kept my design simple since I had never carved a pumpkin before, but I still put a lot of thought into it. I sketched out my design, created vector art in Illustrator, printed it out, taped it to my pumpkin, and traced over it with a pushpin.

Finally, I was able to start carving.

Nathan grabbed a knife and went at it, with no plan whatsoever.

"Are you making a dog or an alien?"

"I'm not sure yet!"

We're good for each other.

I toasted most of the seeds, but I wasn't impressed with how they turned out. I'm not sure if I did something wrong or if I'm just not a fan.

I also put all the cutout pieces into the crock pot and made puree out of them. I got about a cup and a half out of it. Now I just have to decide what to do with it. I've made four pumpkin recipes so far this season, but I still have several recipes on my Pinterest pumpkin board left to try.

Have you had any adventures with pumpkin this year?

Gazelle Intensity

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda Cornelius) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

“Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.”
- Proverbs 6:4-5

You should have as much energy escaping from debt as a gazelle has when escaping from a cheetah. Dave Ramsey calls this gazelle intensity.

Run! Escape!

But sometimes, I get tired of running. Sometimes I don't want to live like no one, living in a cheap apartment and packing my lunch every day. When we go through periods of lost income, I feel like we'll never be out of debt. Why bother trying to escape?

If you've ever felt like that, here's some inspiration.