Life's Most Awesome Moments

In all nearly twenty one years I've lived, I've had a lot of awesome moments happen. I've moved a few times, moved schools often, and experienced a lot. From training wheels on my bike to my graduation day, it's been quite an adventure.

When I was 16 years old I went to Panama City in Florida with my local church for a Retreat. We had the beach all to ourselves along with a pool by our rooms. The white sands were heavenly along with all the great food we ate there cooked by the ladies of the church. They had an altar call and baptized people that felt they needed to rededicate their life to God. When I got baptized in the ocean, it was such an amazing feeling coming out of the water because I felt like a new person. All I wanted was Jesus after that! No more soul searching for my purpose because I found my mine that day. The Holy Spirit really got ahold of me that day in 2011. 

I've been in band my whole high school career and have loved it like crazy! Music has been a big part of of life and almost all my friends were made in band. Marching has always been so fun. It's tons of hard work and multitasking skills to be able to march and remember at least five songs at once. I marched with an alto saxophone. I played tenor and soprano sax in jazz band throughout the years. Those saxophones are heavy for a girl! When I was a senior in high school, I went to a new school and became a Dragon. The year before I was also in a different great band. We worked so hard that we went to state finals. We marched at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, TX at the state finals. What a feeling it was in that huge stadium that echoed every sound. That was one of the best days I felt super accomplished in my music career in 2012. 

It was a hot sunny day when Jeffrey and I happened to be at Galveston for almost a week. We were dating and it was pretty serious, so I knew a proposal would come up soon. The timing was what I did not know. We went to the peninsula where it was secluded instead of the crowded beach on Galveston Island. We fished, played in the sand, flown kites, took pictures, found sea shells, and had a great time. We even caught ourselves standing in the middle of tons of crabs and that was pretty scary! We got super dressed up one of the days we were there and decided we were going to do a photo shoot with his tripod and awesome camera. We were doing poses here and there. He yells from the tripod "How about I do one on my knee?" As he runs to me from the camera(the camera had a five second wait) and gets down on one knee, pulls out the ring box, opens it, and says "Will you marry me?" It was the sweetest and most romantic memory I will cherish forever. I have a photo to capture the moment and will never forget how he proposed to me in 2013. 

Life Changes Right Before Your Eyes

In one year, my life went from one way to another. My last name, address, drivers license, friends, and even my schedule changed. It was the day I married my soul mate when my life changed. I recommend marriage to everyone because it's a beautiful thing to share your entire life with someone you are in love with. The little things that change don't really matter. I realized it was finally time I learn to cook. It took a while getting used to sleeping somewhere new. I had to learn to manage money and not blow it all. To a girl who loves to shop, this was the hardest. I got used to the fact that I wasn't going to keep the many friends I had in the past few years. It's good for married people with the same goals and aspirations to hang out with other married couples who had the same idea of life in mind.

Marriage is all about giving and putting the other person before yourself. I know it's God's way because it teaches someone a lot about love and sacrifice. It makes you a better person and teaches you to care deeply for someone other than yourself. Appreciation is very important because that simple "thank you" can make someone keep going with a smile on their face and feel it's worth it. When you learn to pray for someone else daily, God loves that. I have learned that in order for a marriage to be happy and everlasting, both spouses must be willing to meet in the middle and love like God intended us to love each other.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

My favorite things about marriage are all amazing. I have a caretaker who will always provide a great life for me. I love being able to sleep next to him every night. I have a best friend forever. He listens to me ramble and talk about everything. I get kisses every day and told I'm beautiful. (most women forget if they're not told) I love worshiping with him when we go to church together. I love that I can tell him anything. When I am upset, he is always there to hold me. I love getting hugs from him all day. It's just the best feeling knowing someone will always care for you. I have a hot husband to always see everyday. I don't talk about sex a lot, but I'm very happy I'm married. ;)

Our one year anniversary is coming up in two weeks and I am so happy it's been a year already. I can remember exactly a year ago how much Wedding planning I was doing and how excited I was. I was so nervous on my wedding day because I thought I would fall in my heels walking up to my husband to say "I do". I felt like a princess in my beautiful white dress. My whole family was there and the flowers were so pretty. It will be the day I cherish forever. Now it's been almost a year and I still love him as much as I did as year ago, but more. I've grown to know him more and fall more in love with him. When you get married, your life will change, but it will become more amazing than it ever was!

Homemade Oatmeal and Honey Soap

This past Sunday I was able to learn how to make soap from my Mom. She has always made soap the past few years and I have never been around to watch how it's made. I wanted to make some for Christmas gifts for my family. Homemade gifts are the best! Who doesn't need soap?

The soap that we made is homemade and even vegan. There were lots of oils and butters used in it along with oatmeal. We did cold process. This soap is oatmeal and honey and smells just amazing. It was like a science experiment and taught me a lot. It was exciting because I got to see the outcome of all the hard work. The best part was cutting the soap. Next time I see a bar of homemade soap I'll know truly how much work went into making it. I can't wait to do another soap adventure!

Living On A Budget

It's very difficult and challenging to live on a tight budget. Getting married and moving out for the first time has really taught me a lot about money. With all the freedom comes a lot of responsibilities of becoming an adult and a wife. I realized it cost way more than people advertise it to live on your own without parents paying for everything. It would be great if school taught one to write a check because I didn't know how to write one for the longest time. I also didn't know a lot of life skills that I do now.

Credit was something else I had to learn how to get because that was something else high school failed to teach me or inform me about. I went from no credit at all to now a score of 700 because I took the steps to get started with the help of my husband. Budgeting is about disciplining yourself with money. It's all about dividing needs and wants. Living paycheck to paycheck is something else that takes patience. It teaches one something, but also puts a hardship on a person.

It's when one learns how many things one can make instead of buying it already made at the store is when a celebration comes. I had to learn how to make meal plans. That saved me a ton of money because before I made them I bought tons of  expensive frozen meals that never filled us up. Just because money is tight doesn't mean a family has to eat mac and cheese, ramen noodles, or even hamburger helper every night. I cook all of my meals and eat out as little as I can. When you learn to make everything fresh, it isn't as expensive and much better for you. Avoid the frozen aisles and stick strictly to the meat and produce aisle. We are very thankful because my family lives a few miles away and invites us over for dinner often. Potlucks are the best!

When we go to the movies (not often), we go to our local theater on Tuesdays because it's discount day. It's only $5 per person instead of $9. We grab water, hot dogs, and candy at Target and bring them in my purse. I have a coupon app for retail stores I use when I buy clothes or other things. It's called Snip Snap on the iTunes App Store. My favorite stores that run great deals are JCP, Kohls, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels. One can always find at least a 15 percent off coupon used at the register. Just make sure there is a barcode or code they can get. Buying items on sale (if you need them) is a great way to stash some cash back. We have recently got a Sams membership and that will save lots of money if you buy only what's needed.  I bought 8 pounds of chicken breast for $12 and was very happy about my savings. I found the deal below at the Dollar General today, I've been needing these items for quite some time. They were each originally $10 each, but today they were on sale for $5.

Living on a budget teaches one to find good deals, cook meals at home, and be extremely appreciative of others.