Make It Happen

As of late, things have been pretty tight in our home due to one income. I hate money. I hate doing the books and paying the bills(don't worry, I DO it, doesn't mean I have to LIKE it...). And I'm sure I'm not the only one to say that money, or, the lack thereof, stresses me out. Needless to say, I've been pretty stressed lately. After going over some of the numbers last night with Allen, we sketched out a little plan about how our money will be handled this month, and I'm sure we will be just fine. And since we've gone over the numbers together, it got me thinking. I'm very blessed to have what I have. We are happy, healthy, loved, and in love. We have a roof over our heads, food in our cabinets, cars to take us from point A to point B, families who love us, and friends who care for us.
So this morning, as I got into work, I decided to look up some uplifting quotes(I love quotes...especially ones I can apply to me. They make me happier and give me things to think about.) In searching for quotes, I came upon these two and thought I would share them.

QUOTE #1:

"Keep on going and the chances are, you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down."
- Charles F. Kettering

After reading this, I can't help but agree. If you want something, it probably won't happen if you don't do anything to MAKE it happen. I can definitely apply that to my current situation. I continually find myself, and Allen actually, always saying something like "Oh, well I wish I had this...or that....," "It would be awesome if we could do this...or that..." But the problem is....all we ever do is talk about it or wish for it. We hardly ever put actions to our words and DO something to make it happen. It's time to make a change. We are putting actions to our words to help make some of our wants and needs become a reality.


QUOTE #2:

"If you compared your troubles, or challenges, with those of others, you would surely find that there are those whose troubles make yours look like minor inconveniences."
- Catherine Pulsifer

This quote was definitely an eye opener. And I realized that despite the challenges Allen and I are going through now, someone somewhere is struggling more than we are. I have to look at our troubles as nothing more than another challenge that he and I need to overcome. Each trouble/challenge that we work through together can help us grow as a couple. So, in short, we should be grateful for these challenges. They will be learning experiences for us to help prepare for our future.

Ha ha...I apologize if all this sounds like I was trying to be profound and deep. But all it is, really, is just me finally figuring some things out that most have figured out a long time ago. Lol, so I thought I'd share a little of what I've realized. A little more "food for thought" I suppose. :)

The Weekend

So, even though this weekend SHOULD have been full of patriotic events, it wasn't. Regardless, it was a nice relaxing weekend with the families.

Friday Allen and I made a quick trip to Ikea and bought 2 new lamps for our living room, as well as a couple of shelves to install in our bathroom. Apparently I have alot of products and they clutter the counter. SO, we bought shelves to keep the counter space clear and free. They make the bathroom seem so much more organized. I'm glad we bought them. And the lamps we bought are quite a bit smaller than the huge lamps we originally had. They produce the same amount of light, and yet make the room feel just a little bigger since they aren't quite as large as the others. We also turned our whole living room around. I guess we were ready for a tiny change. But it makes a huge difference. :)

As for Saturday, the beloved 4th of July...I slept in, Allen went to work with a friend of ours, I cleaned our house, did laundry, and then eventually got myself ready to go for the day. When Allen got home, we went to my folks' house and prepared food for the BBQ. We had DELICOUS steaks...mmmm mmmm

After stuffing ourselves with all sorts of delicous things, we proceeded on to our neighbor's backyard to see the Pleasant Grove fireworks. It was fun for everyone...except our family dog, Max. He HATED it. He was barking and racing back n' forth, back n' forth.

Then it was on to our own private fireworks show. We all had fun with the sparklers, especially my brother, Ryan(16), who thought it would be hysterical to hold sparklers in each hand, running down the street waving them wildly and screaming like a crazy person....He was right...It was HYSTERICAL!!! He got all the neighbors up and down the street doubled over laughing. That was probably the highlight of the evening. :) All in all, it was a mild, but very fun 4th of July.

Sunday we spent at the Engebretsen's home for dinner with the whole family. It was great to see everyone and sit and visit.

It was a good 3 day weekend. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families!

Anniversary In Vegas

Well, we're back from our one year anniversary trip to Las Vegas. It was so fun! We exchanged gifts just before we left. I suprised Allen with two tickets to The Killers concert in September(btw, The Killers is one of Allen's all time favorite bands, so needless to say, he was SUPER EXCITED). With the tickets he got a Killers t-shirt. For me, he got me a card, and a note saying that he wants to take me to pick out a necklace from Jared's to represent our one year of marriage. I loved it! Now we just have to go pick out what I want. YAY! After exchanging gifts, we left around 9:30 Friday morning, and with a couple stops in between, we made it to Vegas at 3:30. Our hotel room was nicer than we expected. We had a king and jacuzzi suite! We loved it. We had a nice dining area, as seen in the first pic. A wonderful king bed(as seen in pic 2). There was a jacuzzi tub too! My fav! And then a nice big bathroom. Take a look!

After we got settled into our room and relaxed after the long drive, we prepared to go to dinner for our anniversary. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace. ZERO waiting time...Amazing for a Friday night. :) (I must say, if you order a salad there, SHARE it. The one I ordered was ginormous! I barely made a dent in it!)

After that, the rest of the trip was wandering down the strip, in and out of hotels, casinos, and shops. Saturday, after seeing Transformers with Allen's cousin and her new hubbie(they were there for their honeymoon), we split up. Allen and I went to dinner at Planet Hollywood, then proceeded on to go to Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum in the Venetian. If you have never been there, it's a big exhibit of celebrity figures made out of wax and plastic. You get to pose with them and take pictures with them. We had a blast. Here are just a few for your viewing pleasure. :)

All in all, besides the wretched heat(ICK!), we had a blast! It was a great get-away and anniversary weekend! It was totally worth it! Here are just a few more random pics from throughout our weekend. Enjoy!

It's true what they say, "The first year is the hardest." I can totally agree with that. This year was tough, but through the whole thing, Allen and I loved each other through and through. We still do and we are stronger now than ever before. I love Allen with my whole heart and can't wait to see what this next year brings for us.

Thank you ALL for your love and support in our lives.