Back in May of 2013, I helped a couple friends host a baby shower for our friends Seth & Kelly. We decided to have an open-house style baby shower at our house. There was subtle “woodland” theme to match their nursery theme. The decorations were pretty simple – a few buntings and pinecones here and there. They didn’t want a traditional shower (I don’t blame them) so we did things a little different than usual.

First off, gals & guys were both invited! People could stop in and go as they please. They could enjoy a taco bar and cupcakes, chat with the parents-to-be and friends, and participate in a few activities. We even had the backyard open for older kids to play. Since it was open house style, there weren’t any embarrassing games or present opening. Instead, we had a few stations for guests. I wanted to share these ideas in case someone wanted to replicate them. I made the graphics and Carrie framed them so we could set them at each “station.”

For the guestbook, Carrie had a tree drawn with no leaves. Guests at the baby shower left their thumbprints (no signature) on the tree with a couple different colors of green. She then framed it in an awesome wood frame and added the words “You Are Loved.” This served as a neat guestbook/decoration/gift for the baby’s woodland themed nursery.

Since Seth & Kelly opted to not find out the gender of their baby until birth, we had a little gender-guessing activity at the shower. We had pre-cut pieces of scrapbook paper so people could add a link (by stapling it) to either the girl or boy chain (that we started before guests arrived). It ended up being almost equal at the end of the night!

Another fun activity we had was for guests to write a message on some diapers that we set out (with sharpies). We figured it would give Seth & Kelly some entertainment or encouragement later. :)

Kelly was due at the end of June, so we had up calendars for July and August up where guests could sign their name on a date with what meal they would like to take to Seth & Kelly. I think the only thing I would recommend is to block out the first few weeks of when the baby is expected to be there if family is going to be around helping.

By the door, we had a little favor for the guests to grab as they left. Carrie bought a bag of wildflower seeds and divided them up into little bags. On the bags, we glued a piece of scrapbook paper and then a prayer request for Seth & Kelly. The guest could plant their seeds and hopefully be reminded to pray this certain prayer for Seth & Kelly as they watched the flowers grow.

The shower was lots of fun! Overall, we wanted Seth & Kelly to know how much they are loved and how excited we were to meet their sweet baby. :)

Here’s some of our highlights from 2013….

Closed and moved into our first house on the south side of Indy!!!

Moving to the south side meant I was able to babysit a little for a couple of our friends’ kids – Simon earlier in the year and Harry in the fall! It also meant that we grew closer to friends and made new friendships through a small group on Wednesday nights. So grateful!

Traveled to Atlanta for my first WordCamp with Ryan.

Adopted a Corgi –  named him Jasper! Became an official traveling circus with two cats and a dog.

Ryan’s brother and sister-in-law made us an Aunt & Uncle to Aubrey in May!

Experimented with a lot of new foods and recipes (like vegetarian biscuits & gravy).

Travelled to Michigan for a wedding (only my 2nd time there!)

Went to Indiana Dunes State Park on our way back from a wedding in South Bend.

We had several visitors this year – our Moms, Ryan’s Grandparents, my cousin Darah & friends, and my Aunt Marcie! We were able to see Darah & Marcie a lot this year, and even got to see my cousin Christy & her family over Thanksgiving.

Got a new bike – Cannondale Quick 4.

Got poison ivy for the first time. Itchy memory. :(

Rid our house/lives of toxins as much as possible. Still a work in progress. We now use simple cleaners like vinegar, baking soda, and Dr. Bronner’s soap for everything from the bathrooms to the laundry to the kitchen.

Our friends Seth & Kelly had their baby Eden, and we filmed an awesome family documentary for them. Coming soon!

Went on our belated honeymoon! It was so so awesome. Road tripped to North Carolina; spent half of it in Asheville, NC and half of it in the Outer Banks of NC. That was my first time to both. Also – first time in a lighthouse. First time seeing wild horses and wild bears. First time using AirBnb (we’re hooked!). First time exploring the mountains. Probably more firsts that I’m forgetting. :)

We returned to Asheville in September for the 1st Annual Sole Hope Ambassador’s Retreat. The next month I was able to help with a huge shoe cutting party in downtown Indianapolis and meet Asher, the founder of Sole Hope. :)

Renovated our office from the ceiling to the floor! Other home improvement projects: whitewashing fireplace, tearing down the shed and building garden boxes, putting in a Nest and a new garbage disposal.

Shot my first wedding without Ryan while he was on a WooTrip! A great friend filled in for him thankfully.

Speaking of weddings,  we filmed/photographed 16 weddings and officially focused our business on videography. We loved working alongside The Parkers at 3 weddings and met many other awesome people this year!

On the same note, we switched our gear – no more DSLRs!

The Parkers took our photos this fall!

Made gingerbread cookies for the first time (they weren’t just any gingerbread man cookies though, they were ninjas!)

The retreat really motivated me to continue to be involved with Sole Hope – which is why I really wanted to go to the retreat. I knew it would help me feel connected and inspired. I’ll be the first to admit that I have been super busy and Sole Hope has taken the back burner. I have been an ambassador for a little over a year, and was a roll for a while making videos and graphics for Sole Hope. Now I plan to get back to that and dedicate consistent time to it again.

Before we left to the retreat, I (finally!) had my first shoe-cutting party. I’ve attended several of Ashley’s parties, but never had my own. I had it during our regular small group time on Wednesday night and the ladies loved it! Not everyone could come because toddlers & scissors may not be the best combination, but that’s okay! ;) With 6 of us, we made 13 pairs of shoes and sponsored 6 of them – yay! Everyone was already talking about having another shoe-cutting party and I’m so glad they’re on board.

I feel like I learned SO much during the short time at the retreat. We talked about shoe parties, brainstormed, and made monthly ambassador goals for the year. A professional talked to us about fundraising, a man from Uganda told about his first hand account with jiggers, and we heard about the medical clinics that Sole Hope is hosting in Uganda. We even got to video chat with Asher & Dru (the founders) in Uganda! With every session and discussion, we were able to ask questions. Oh and – we took a barefoot hike -uphill on rocks, sticks, etc – to put ourselves in the place of the shoeless. It was eye opening and painful! The trip ended with a “tour” of the Sole Hope office in downtown Asheville.

This week I will be helping with a huge shoe-cutting party at the Influence Conference in downtown Indy. I’m really excited about that and excited to continue to spread the word about Sole Hope. :)

Right now Sole Hope is trying to raise funds to buy more sewing machines and hire more shoemakers in Uganda. A sewing machine costs about $1,000 and will enable Sole Hope to produce and give away even more shoes. Consider buying this t-shirt from Chrome Buffalo and $11 will go to Sole Hope. The fundraiser ends in one week.

You know how things never go as planned with home projects…. Well, demolition was fun at first and then became a pain. Poor Ryan was really sore from swinging the sledgehammer and axe. We thought we could rent a moving truck and take everything to the dump and it would be cheaper than renting a dumpster. Well, after renting the moving truck and throwing a bunch of the shed in there..we found out 1) it wouldn’t all fit in there and 2) it would cost $200+ to take it to the dump. The plan failed big time. I guess that’s what we get for planning poorly and trying to a take a shortcut.

So we unloaded everything out of the truck, took the truck back, and rented a dumpster. Take our advice – just rent the dumpster. ;) Oh and we even burned a little bit of it because the dumpster wasn’t quite big enough. Go figure. We also gave away the huge roof that was on the addition of the shed. It felt good to finally get everything in the dumpster and have a huge area of our yard back.

With the newfound space, we decided to build six 4×4 raised garden beds. The size of the garden boxes was determined by what size boards fit into our car. ;) At the time, my cousin and her friends were visiting so they actually kind of took over the building of the garden boxes. That was so awesome and helpful!!!

We secured them into the ground and our yard took on a much better look!! We wanted to get dirt and start a somewhat late garden (in June), but then that was a huge expense to buy it and have it delivered. So instead, we thought we’d find some free dirt on Craigslist (yes, that is listed a lot from people building pools, etc), rent Menards pick-up and go get some free dirt. Well.. unfortunately we never got around to it. Plus we were gone a lot over the summer and didn’t want our garden to dry up. So – next year – we will have six awesome raised garden beds with a bountiful harvest! Wishful thinking?! :)

Look how cute and sweet she is…

Yesterday we made our weekly/bi-weekly trip to Trader Joe’s. That’s our regular shopping spot even though it’s about 30 minutes from us. When we were making a list and meal planning, nothing sounded good to me. Honestly, I just wanted to buy frozen convenience meals and call it good. Well after some bickering between Ryan and me, we finally decided on a grocery list. We were also starving and grouchy while making this list and that’s never a good idea. Hah.

Here are a few items that are usually always on our list… I always think it’s interesting to see what other people buy.

• Mac & Cheese
• Bananas
• Cheese
• Pistachios
• Cereal
• Coconut Milk
• Eggs
• Butter
• Onion
• Crackers
• Salsa
• Tortilla chips
• Black beans
• Vegetable broth
• Bread

We ended up filling our cart to the brim this time around. Of course, we ended up getting a few more things than what was on our list. ;) Like a chocolate bar filled with cookie butter (OMG), frozen vegetable samosas, and orange juice.

Last night we had breakfast for dinner. I made egg, veggie sausage, cheese on a biscuit and oh my goodness, did it hit the spot! I was so happy that something actually tasted good. Not only that, but the veggie sausage helped satisfy my craving for meat. It tasted like real sausage and had the same texture (Morning Star brand). Ryan made fun of me for enjoying my “Egg McMuffin” so much. Hah.

With our leftover biscuits, I made mushroom gravy today for breakfast. This was my first time making mushroom gravy and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out! I used the gravy recipe from A Beautiful Mess. I tried mushroom gravy and biscuits at a restaurant in Louisville a few months ago and I couldn’t believe how good vegetarian gravy was! I really recommend it.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with friends for Mexican food. YUM! For the rest of the week, we have a few dinners planned: veggie burgers, tempeh sloppy joes (will be my first time making these), and vegetable and noodle soup. For easier/lazier meals, we can do mac & cheese, grilled cheese, pb&j, etc. For snacks we have: crackers and cheese or peanut butter, apples and peanut butter, chips and salsa, nuts, and carrots and ranch dressing.

Grocery shopping and meal planning helped inspire me to cook and eat again. I think we have a good plan for the week. :)

Do you feel overwhelmed by the cleaning supplies aisles at the store? Not only by the variety of products and the high prices, but also the smells too? There seems to be a different cleaning product for every surface in your house and that can get expensive! Not only that, but almost all of them are toxic to us either through touch, taste, or simply breathing them into our lungs. For example – why would you eat off of a plate or wear a shirt that was washed with toxins? It doesn’t really make sense to me why we would pay all that money for products that poison us and the environment. The only reason I still go down those aisles is for a good brush, sponge, or mop!

I’m happy to report that we have replaced almost all of our toxic products, from cleaning supplies to personal care items. It was more of a gradual process for us. The very first thing we did was get natural bars of soap for the shower – ones with no artificial fragrances or unnecessary chemicals. Isn’t it sad that plain ‘ol soap can be tainted with toxins?! Ugh.

Since then, we have replaced our shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, face wash, lotion, etc. Thank goodness for Trader Joe’s, as they have some awesome products! I still want to experiment more with these items and find even better and simpler solutions. We are also still working on finding a safer anti-perspirant/deodorant and makeup for myself. Makeup is a tough one so I really just haven’t been wearing it much at all.

For cleaning, sometimes all you need is soap, water, and a sponge. Who knew?!  Vinegar and baking soda are miracle workers as well. So simple, yet so effective. I have a spray bottle with one part vinegar to one part water and lemon essential oil in it. I use that for kitchen and bathroom counters and make a similar mixture to mop floors. I scrub toilet bowls with baking soda and scrub the shower with vinegar. Another product you could use is grapefruit seed extract and water. I use it for a produce cleaner, but it can be used to disinfect almost everything.

We have been using Trader Joe’s laundry and dishwasher detergent, but I am about to make my own! I bought the supplies and now I just need glass jars for them. Laundry soap will be: grated (pure) soap and washing soda, plus vinegar for the softener. NO dryer sheets – only lavender bags for smell. Dishwasher detergent will be: salt, washing soda, citric acid and vinegar for the rinse aid. If you want to clean your dishwasher or washing machine – just run a cycle with vinegar.

Like I said, I use lemon essential oil for the clean smell and because it’s also a disinfectant. You can also use tea tree oil as a disinfectant (which I should do!) There’s tons of essential oils out there that have many benefits and great, natural scents! I use lavender everyday on myself actually. :)

Don’t take my word for it. Do some research and experimenting. Here’s a great article on natural cleaning solutions to get you started! Give it a try and your home will feel fresher and cleaner than before!

The ironic part is we don’t have much discretionary income left over for consumerism to be a problem. I always wonder where the heck all our money goes, even though Mint tells me and we keep watch over it. The numbers just don’t add up in my head. We like to put all of our Two Are Better income back into our business so we live off of Ryan’s income, which I think is a very do-able number. But every month there’s bills and debt and groceries, and so on. It feels like a first world problem that X amount of money doesn’t seem like enough for two people (and three pets, I should add, who are expensive). It’s really beyond me how we paid for our wedding last year.

Here’s how my thought process goes: I wish we had money growing on trees (hah) so I could buy things I want. Like decorations for our house or craft supplies or clothes and the list goes on. Then I feel guilty that I want all of this stuff and feel like I should be thankful for what we have. Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have much money to spend on these items. But – if we did have the money, how would I balance my wants and needs? It wouldn’t be appropriate to spend every penny, and especially on things I don’t have to have.

I’ve already started looking into another part-time job for myself and I think I do need it to help pay off our debt (student loans hurt, which feels like a common theme). I just still can’t get over the fact how much it costs for two of us to live. I feel like we even do major things to cut back on costs, like being a one-car family with no car payments, not having cable TV, not buying meat, etc. However, there’s still our mortgage, other first time home owner needs, internet for work, student loans, credit card bills, utilities, and the list goes on. It really gets monotonous every month, doesn’t it?

Now I should be thankful that some extra money goes towards enjoying nights out with friends or extra expenses of that month (ex – we plan to buy a lawn mower this month). But in the end, there’s no money left to make major strides for a savings or emergency fund (shameful!) and certainly not decorative pillows or other fluff.

Please tell me this is normal. I’m just being honest and transparent about how I feel and again, I know it’s a first world problem. I am truly thankful that we have food on the table, a roof over our head, and clothes to wear, plus much more. In the end, I want to be good stewards of our money, no matter how much we have.

At the beginning of April, we adopted a 2(ish) year old male Corgi who we named Jasper. Of course, we had to continue the gemstone theme with our pet names. Now we have Onyx, Pearl, and Jasper. ;)

We don’t know much about his history except that he ended up in a Missouri animal shelter in January and a nice lady with a horse ranch adopted him. However, he didn’t work out too well at the ranch. He chased the horses and the cars on the busy road. She determined that it just wasn’t safe enough for him as he just wanted to run free. I really wish we knew more about where he came from, as he appears to be a full bred Corgi and they don’t end up at shelters too often.

We found out through Facebook and Ryan’s Mom that he needed a new home and it coincided with our trip to Missouri to visit family. We went and met Jasper and decided we wanted to adopt him! He’s SO sweet and loving. We liked the fact that he was past the puppy stage and that he was the perfect size for us. We gave him several baths and got rid of his fleas (as he was living in a barn) and he travelled back home with us to Indianapolis.

Jasper seems to love his new home with a big fenced in yard, long walks around the neighborhood, and a nice sunroom to sleep in at night. When he’s really lucky, he gets to come inside and sit by us on the couch or office. ;) So far, we have taught him to sit and shake and he caught on pretty quickly. He’s a smart little guy and just cute as a button. Our cats don’t love him… but it works. Onyx actually has been trying to play with him lately (we think) and Pearl hisses and growls at him (but that’s typical Pearl).

I’m so glad we found the perfect dog for us! We knew we wanted a dog at some point and he kind of just fell into our laps. I think they call that fate. ;)

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Edit:

I wrote this post before The Pet Fiasco of 2013 that happened yesterday so I’m not very happy with our pets right now. Jasper, the friendly dog, does not describe him at the moment.

First – Pearl decided to climb the neighbor’s tall, wooden fence because she loves to run away from our yard. I couldn’t reach her since the fence is way above my head. The neighbor’s dog smells fresh prey and comes out of the house and starts jumping up at her trying to eat her for lunch. She just sat stunned at the top of the fence, barely balancing, all while it looked like the fence was going to be knocked down from the dog. I seriously thought she was a goner if she jumped or fell into the yard. Well – she did.

I didn’t know what happened to her until I saw her way up in the neighbor’s tree. I guess she outran the dog by means of a miracle. I seriously couldn’t believe she was alive. After a while the neighbor got home and I told him what happened. He said he was surprised – and glad – that nothing happened to her. I tried coaxing her down from the tree and back into our yard.

In the process, Jasper somehow gets out of the gate in our yard and I thought he was going to run away. Instead, he goes after a group of three dogs who were being walked in front of our house. I run after him and he starts biting and fighting with this poor innocent Beagle. I did not want to get in the middle of a dog fight and it was nearly impossible with 4 dogs tangled up. I just yell at Jasper while I’m in shock of what’s happening.

Ryan hears all this going on and runs outside and pulls Jasper off of the dog. The Beagle gets loose and starts running down the street so I run after him so he doesn’t run away. It’s the least I can do for the poor lady and her dogs. Well, I’ve been sick so that about killed my lungs to run a block, but I did manage to chase the dog home and he stayed until the owner got there.

Thankfully she was really kind about it all and the dogs were unharmed. What a great way to meet our neighbors, right?! Pearl ended up coming down the tree and coming back inside and was unharmed besides a chunk of fur that is now missing. Well, right after all this drama, Ryan and I got in a big argument over it all and it ended in a lot of tears. I couldn’t get to sleep very well last night because I kept re-playing all of this in my mind. It just turned out to be a horrible, no good, very bad day.

I guest blogged about wedding thoughts when I was 21 – and now I’m 24 & married! This is interesting to look back on. :) The good news? I made it through my wedding day anxiety-free (with a little medication).

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Lately I’ve been thinking, probably too much, about getting old(er)… and what comes along with it. Even though I’m only twenty-one years old, more times than not I feel old rather than young. It seems like everyday I get on Facebook, someone is newly engaged, married, pregnant, or a parent. Some of these people are close to my age, if not the same age. It’s just hard to wrap my mind around that we’re getting old enough for this. Or are we?