Stretching Birthday $

Yesterday as I was getting my grocery list ready, I remembered that I had $50 in birthday money to spend! That made my shopping trip all the more enticing.

My first stop was St. Vincent de Paul, my favorite thrift store. I find it easy to shop there because they organize their clothing by size. I wondered how far I could make my birthday $ stretch at a place like this.

I found a pair of Columbia cargo-type shorts, a pair of Old Navy khaki pants, and a pair of Cato brown dress slacks (tags still on) for a total of $9.50.

With the rest of the money, I decided to buy shoes. I have been so good at not buying shoes and purses the last few years, so I decided to buy myself some cool footwear even though I don't actually NEED shoes right now. That's what fun money is for, right? I found gray and blue New Balance tennis shoes on sale for $29.95 and a pair of nice flip flops (with a real sole and thick straps) for $12.95. That brought my grand total to $52.40...pretty close to $50!

Shopping with deals in mind helps your money buy MORE FUN!

How do you like to spend your birthday money?

Cutting Board

Many of you know that I just returned from completing my Kodaly certification at Indiana University. To save money on lodging, my in-laws graciously agreed to let me stay with them at the church camp they oversee outside of Bedford. During the first week, my husband Seth was holding down the fort at our house and taking care of his mowing business. But the 2nd week brought him to camp to serve as head cook for 3rd and 4th grade camp. We got to do our individual tasks during the day and be together in the evenings after dinner. Seth even stayed up late with me when my homework was particularly intense. It was a great arrangement!

One evening when I arrived back from class and went down to the dining hall to eat dinner, Seth pulled me aside; he wanted to show me something.

He had gone out to his dad's workshop, found some thick beech wood lumber, and made a cutting board for our home. I had thought about buying a cutting board for Seth (and me) this past Christmas, but we talked about it and decided he could just make one sometime. I am so glad we waited because our new board is gorgeous (albeit gargantuan)!

Check it out!

I have been searching online to find out what something like this would cost if we were to buy it at a store. The closest I can find is this board which costs $195.00 retail, and it isn't even as big as ours!

Yes, I know I am boasting, but I am just so proud of my husband, and I want to shout it from the rooftops. Will you forgive me?

Most importantly, this is an example of the following guiding principle for frugal living:

Before you buy, think about how you could either make it yourself, buy it secondhand, borrow it, or trade for it.

Thoughts on Lost

Last night, I finished my long-time favorite television drama, Lost. I wasn't able to watch it when it was originally broadcast because we do not have cable or satellite and our antenna does not bring in ABC. This past school year, when Season 6 became available on Netflix, I chose not to watch it, desiring instead to save it for summer when I could give it my full attention.

In the interim, many people have shared with me their disappointment about the way the show finished up. Someone even told me that the last episode would turn me against the entire series. With full confidence in the show's writers, I did not heed the warnings and set off on that final journey.

In just under a week, I have watched the entire sixth season. As true blue Lost fans will understand, my mind is absolutely reeling from what I've seen. Far from being a disappointment, I felt the ending of Lost was absolutely brilliant. I could probably write a book on my thoughts, but instead I will discuss just one element that I found particularly meaningful.

I must begin my discussion by stating that I do NOT believe that Lost is a parallel to the Christian faith. I know that the writers intended to brought out religious themes, some of which were crucial to the show's meaning, but Christianity is not where the show begins or ends.

Still, I believe that great literature (and I do believe Lost to be an example of great literature) invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions apart from the writers' intent. The best writers are willing to take that risk; they are willing to give the reader some ownership of the literature because they know that the archetypes they use belong to humanity.

Although Jack has at times been a disappointing character, I love the moment when Jacob "passes the cup" to him. He is to be the new guardian of the island's light. After Jack drinks the water in the cup, Jacob states, "Now you're like me." When Jack later passes the leadership role on to Hurley, he tells Hurley the same thing. These particular scenes sent chills up and down my spine because I saw Christ in them.

When we invite Christ to rule in our hearts, he invites us to his table. He offers us the bread and wine that are his body and blood. Essentially, he invites us to fill ourselves with him. He does this because he desires to make us like him, to carve his image on our hearts.

Whether the writers intended it or not, their "passing of the cup" gave me a fresh perspective on my relationship with Christ. I desire to daily drink of his living water and to hear him whisper gently, "Now you're like me."

Backyard Garden Tour

This is the view I enjoy from the top of the stairs that lead into our apartment. This summer, my husband and I are truly living the outdoor life.

When we found out we could not plant our garden on the church's land out in the country, we were disappointed and thought we could not have a garden this year. When we mentioned that fact to our landlord, however, she generously offered us an area of the backyard! This new plot offers rich soil and is close enough that we can easily monitor and care for our little garden. We are growing zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, green beans, and corn. Seth is trying a few new techniques: tomatoes with fencing on either side to support the plants, a raised bed for the green beans, and corn mulch walkways over newspaper to keep the weeds down.

I have enjoyed tending the flower beds at the bottom of the stairs. This year I went all out and even added a weed covering and mulch.

With all the flowers and foliage downstairs, we didn't want our stairs and deck to feel left out. We put wave petunias in a flower box and in pots. They add such a great pop of color to our space and are easy to grow!

We also planted some edible items in this area. In the other flower box, I planted four herb plants, and at the foot of the steps I have two containers, one with a cherry tomato plant and the other with a yellow pepper plant. I am curious to see how well they grow in containers.

Ever since my grandmother passed away (one year ago this weekend), I have been extremely interested in birds. As a result, I have several bird feeders. My favorite feeder is the one I have hanging outside our living room window. Cardinals and house finches are frequent visitors! The picture below is the best one I have of Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal (as I affectionately call them) hanging out on the roof under the feeder.

Living in an upstairs apartment has not stopped us from living life to the fullest! How do you enjoy your outdoor space?

101 Things Update

Here is my 101 Things Update for March:

#8 Finish paying off debts

We are now $11, 500 away from being debt free! We're starting to taste freedom now!

#26 Get a fast enough internet connection so that we can easily watch TV online

We upgraded our internet slightly, and while it is not a cure-all, we can get through an entire episode of Lost without the connection having to re-buffer. It used to happen every 12 minutes, so this is a definite improvement.

#42 Visit Luke and Kayla in PA

We made this our spring break trip and had a wonderful time!

#56 Start my cute owl decor collection

I got the cutest little painted owl from my grandma's things, which we are still sorting through.

#101 Get the dryer fixed

We decided to put some money into the dryer we have instead of buying a new one. We had to get the control board replaced. It now works like a charm!

Eyewitness to a Miracle

A number of children in our church are picked up by the church van. Their parents allow them to come, but for whatever reason will not come with them. Seth and I, along with a several others in the church family, provide a place for these kids to sit during the church service. A little girl, A., about age 7, and her brother, T., about age 5, often sit with us.

On this particular Sunday, A. was keeping herself occupied with a pad of paper and a pencil. I assumed she was not paying attention, but I was so thankful that she was sitting still and quiet that I didn't have a problem with her doodling. Soon I realized that she was indeed listening...maybe not to the Pastor, but certainly to her heavenly father.

She held a folded note in front of my face and said, with a look of pressing concern, "I wrote this note for Jesus, but I don't know how to give it to him!" I was taken aback, and although I would have loved to ponder this statement for a while, I didn't have time. Thinking fast, I took her hand and whispered for her to follow me. Her brother took my other hand, and up to the front we walked. A. carefully placed the note on the altar and then stood looking at it with a countenance I had never seen before. I asked her if she wanted to kneel. She shook her head but continued looking at the note intently, as if praying. I waited, giving her the time she needed.

After church, I went to retrieve the note. It read,

"I love you Jesus and God.

I love you Savior.

Love, A."

A few weeks later, A. bounded up to me (and everyone else in the vicinity) after Sunday school and shouted, "My Mom is coming today!" She stood in the foyer expectantly and sure enough, her mother walked through the doors and into the sanctuary, holding her daughter's hand and greeting others cautiously. Throughout the first half of the service, I sensed God asking me to pray for this lady, that her heart would be moved and transformed by what she saw and heard. I, along with many others, silently prayed just that. God answered. Although I was out of the service for the second half teaching the early childhood children's church class, I heard later that A.'s mom went to the altar after a particularly moving skit by the youth group.

Thank you, Lord, for your great work in the heart of this little one and her family. May I have the boldness to seek you as A. sought you that Sunday morning. And, like A., may I find you waiting for me.

Spring Break 2011

Last Saturday, Seth and I left on the first vacation we have ever taken (since our honeymoon). We arrived in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, very late at night. Why Kittanning, you ask? Seth's brother Luke, and his wife, Kayla, moved there shortly after marrying last summer after Luke took the youth pastorate at the Kittanning First Church of God. Their apartment is so cute!

On Sunday morning, we visited Luke and Kayla's church. It was wonderful to see them in their element! We even got to ride the church bus to and from service, since Luke is in charge of the bus ministry. This afforded us the opportunity to visit more fully with some members of the congregation, including some very cute old people.

Upon arriving home from church, Seth suggested that he and Luke cook for the ladies. This is how the afternoon went...

The boys did a great job--pan fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits!

After lunch, we went on a walk at Riverside Park in Kittanning. I loved the old buildings, the bridge, and the river!

On Monday, we took off for Gettysburg, which was the bulk of our vacation. Seth and Luke rode together, and Kayla and I rode together. We took two cars because Seth and I left directly from Gettysburg to come home. I had such a wonderful visit with Kayla. I am so blessed to have another "sister" in my life. Of course, our visiting caused us to get a little lost on the way to our destination, but we got there in the end, and the boys had fun rubbing in our faces that they had arrived at the hotel 20 minutes before us.

As soon as we got to the hotel, we took off for dinner. We chose to eat at General Pickett's Buffet. The food was good and the conversations interesting. The waiter spent most of our meal talking with the people behind us about finding human remains on the battlefield. Apparently the park service goes out at night and reburies them...Conspiracy theory, anyone?

Since we were so stuffed and it was not yet dark, the four of us walked the battlefield at the location of Pickett's Charge. Across the road along the union line were a number of monuments, which we explored until it became too dark to see.

The next morning, we were able to tour the town and battlefield with a private tour guide. Our guide talked for three solid hours about the battle. I didn't understand half of what he said, but it was still a great opportunity. My favorite part was seeing the statue of Robert E. Lee riding Traveller. The book Traveller by Richard Adams, which describes the Civil War through the eyes of Lee's horse, is one of my all-time favorites!

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to eat lunch. We had brought lunch food along to save money on eating out. As soon as we arrived in the room, the boys parked on the beds to watch...the HISTORY channel. As if we hadn't had enough history! These guys are more alike than they realize!

That afternoon, we went back to the Gettysburg National Military Park to tour the museum, Cyclorama painting, and bookstore. I was amazed at how huge the museum was. The highlight for me was seeing Gen. Lee's cot, writing desk, and gloves. The cyclorama is a 360 degree painting created by a French artist and restored for placement in the new visitor's center just a few years ago. The bookstore is almost as large as the Borders in Evansville, and an hour almost wasn't enough time to spend there.

After finishing up at the Visitor's Center, we went to the National Cemetery where Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg Address. This speech is my favorite of all time for a couple of reasons. For one, did you know that Lincoln actually was not the main speaker at the dedication of the cemetery? He was thrown onto the program at the last minute and delivered a surprisingly short address, yet no one remembers who the keynote speaker was or about what he spoke. That just goes to show that Lincoln was a brilliant orator. Secondly, my dad made us memorize the speech in sophomore honors English. I remember working very hard on that assignment and carefully considering the words I was committing to memory. Here are the four of us standing at the site where Lincoln delivered his famed speech.

Our next stop was Little Round Top, which is the part of the Battle of Gettysburg that seemed to interest Seth the most. No wonder this was the coveted battle position. The union army could see everything from here!

By this time we were getting very hungry, so before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at Tommy's Pizza to sample the local fare. I, for one, was very impressed with the pizza! So was Luke!

Before bed, we went swimming in the world's smallest indoor hotel pool. Despite the pool's modest size, it was a treat to get to go swimming!

The next morning, we enjoyed walking around downtown Gettysburg. Mostly we did some window-shopping and looked for bullet holes.

Around 11, it was time to part ways and head for home, or so we thought. When we were about 30 minutes into our journey, I realized that we had left our nice pillows and blanket at the hotel. So we turned back to retrieve those items. All told, this detour cost us an hour in an already 11-hour journey!

Despite this set-back, we had a wonderful trip home. We traveled south through Western Virginia on I-81, which runs between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountain ranges. These views of God's wonderful creation were pure eye candy!

Other than a few stops here and there, we headed straight home, arriving in the middle of the night and sleeping throughout the next day. We couldn't have asked for a better vacation! When is the next one???!!!