1. Sometimes it's the simple things that make the biggest differences.
I've seen so many instances of this. John cleaning the apartment one day while I was at work may seem like simple a nice gesture to anyone else, but to me it was HUGE! I was happier with that than flowers and a fancy dinner! My latest adventure in finding the joy of simplicity is our curtain experience. I had mentioned that I'd like to have curtains, but not really acted on it. I had browsed through a couple of stores and looked online, but was never so wowed with anything that I had to have it. One night about two weeks ago I was mentioning to John that I just wasn't sure the vision of curtains I had in my head even existed and that I feared we would have to be curtain-less forever. He suggested that we go to Bed Bath and Beyond to check out their selection and possibly use our $25 coupon - courtesy of Megan, one of my college roommates and nursing school friends using us as a wedding registry referral :). We headed over to the BB&B down the street. and low and behold... there was my vision! After bringing them home and John spending forever putting them up (making sure the rod was perfectly level and that the curtains brushed, without laying on the floor) I took a step back and gasped - our little apartment had finally become a home! Such a simple thing to bring me such happiness!
Not the best picture of my beautiful, magical, home-creating curtains... but it will do!
The curtains have also lead to my second adult lesson:
2. Everything costs money! Even the simple little things... and lots of times, they cost a lot more money than you imagined!
Mom and I experienced recurring instances of sticker shock throughout the wedding planning process. I blamed it on the wedding industry and moved on... until after the wedding when those sticker shock instances kept happening with every shopping trip! We needed food. Groceries are crazy expensive, even when using coupons and all the great discounts Kroger offers! I feel so proud of a penny saved - and I always save many pennies on our Kroger trips, but it's still a lot of money! I was given 2 Kroger gift cards as wedding presents. At the time I had no idea how precious those were and wrote a standard thank-you card. I appreciated the gift, but I didn't have any idea how relieved I would be to have those gift cards a few months down the road! I am now considering writing the givers of the golden cards second thank-you notes now that I can truly appreciate their beauty!
3. I have always loved being in the kitchen, but it wasn't until entering adulthood that I realized my passion for it.
I am so thankful to have a career in which I can work three nights a week. This allows me 4 glorious days a week to plan a menu and cook away! One of my newest loves is the pioneer woman. Check her out here: www.thepioneerwoman.com. I hope you will love her also. My favorite section of her site is "The Pioneer Woman Cooks". She has scrumptious recipes and takes a picture of every step of the cooking process so you never have to wonder "is this supposed to look like this?" Love it! I channeled my inner pioneer woman and took pictures of some of my most recent pioneer woman endeavors:
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| Orange Zest Muffins with Orange/Brown Sugar Glaze |
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| Penne a la Betsy (Penne Pasta with a chopped Shrimp and Tomato Cream Sauce - YUMM!!) with a side of Garlic Cheese Bread *Both dishes made from scratch in less than 45 minutes! This meal led to lesson #4 |
4. When cooking for only two people, most recipes should be halved or quartered. I'll let the picture speak for itself.
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| Why yes, this is just the leftovers. Welcome to our lunches for the next two weeks! |
