Then & Now

What a difference a year can make!

Us Then:

July 14, 2007

Us Now:
July 14, 2008

Happy 100th Post!

This is my 100th post since I've been blogging on blogger. Although I've been blogging for much longer via myspace. Can't believe it's been 100 since I started. I must have a lot to say! :) Just wanted to say thanks to those who read and follow along with me on this little adventure I call life. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and comments! Happy reading and happy blogging to you all!

Celebrating One Year of Wedded Bliss!

Yesterday was my one year wedding anniversary! Wow! A year has flown by so fast! The whole day I kept thinking, remember where we were this day last year?!!?! It's hard to believe that one year has gone by since we said, "I do." Orion and I spent the day together relaxing and remembering our wedding day.

Our weekend leading up to was a lot of fun. Here's a little re-cap:

Friday, we woke up late drove to Iowa for the weekend. Rolled in about 4pm. Checked into our wonderful hotel suite. Chilled before dinner. Then met my sister, Mom and step-dad for dinner.

Orion and I all checked into the hotel

Saturday, had breakfast together, went shopping, played a round of mini golf. Which I won! The headed off to dinner at Flemmings, then took a walk around the lake district, and of coarse took pictures.

Orion and I after a round of mini golf!

At Flemmings for dinner.

Sunday, we packed up to head home. But, not before getting my anniversary gift from Orion. What you might ask? Well, I'll tell you! A PUPPY!!! Yes, that's right. I was so excited. I'd been asking, wanting and desiring a puppy for a while. Orion just kept saying that it wasn't the right time, and he wanted to wait, etc. He's good..totally had me fooled and feeling like he didn't want one.

Me with Bentley.

Monday, we spent the day chillin' and hangin' out. I ran errands with Bentley and Orion washed the car. Later that night we headed out for dinner. Orion took me to Ruth Chris's downtown. This place is special to us, since this is the place where we got engaged. We headed back again for our anniversary. It was so good, and I was stuffed! When we got back to the house we cracked out the top of our wedding cake to partake! Let me tell you it wasn't as good as it was a year ago. But, I still loved taking part in a tradition! Year One: July 14, 2008

eating the top of our wedding cake.

Taking four days to celebrate was a lot of fun. I wish O and I could chill out everyday together, and not have to work. :) I'm such a lucky girl to have married my best friend, be so in love, and love every minute I get to spend with Orion. He's such a great husband, and this year has been one of the best years of my life. We both have grown so much in this last year, I can't wait to see what next year holds for us, and the year after that, and years to come! Check out more pictures from our anniversary here.

I love you Orion!

R & R starts tomorrow!

Today is my Friday, as we are going on a little anniversary trip for the next couple days. So you may not hear from me for a few days. Where are we headed you might ask? We are headed to Iowa; I know glamorous right? Well there's a story of coarse.... on our wedding night we stayed in the glorious suite in the Jordan Creek Marriott. My cute hubby got us the exact same suite and everything that we stayed in that night again, to spend our 1 year anniversary at. So, we will be headed to Iowa early tomorrow morning to stay for a weekend of shopping, eating, and fun. I thought it was such a cute idea that we came up with. I was so excited that we were able to get the exact room we stayed in. When Orion called the hotel they remembered us and everything from that night. And of coarse the receptionist that was taking the reservation thought Orion was so cute and thoughtful. Which, he is! It was my job to plan the weekend in Iowa, which I was more than happy to do. We will be coming home on Monday July 14th, which is our actual anniversary. Orion's job is to plan that one. So I have no idea what's up his sleeve! I got Orion the sweetest anniversary gift...I'm so excited. It's a surprise, or of coarse I would tell you what it is. You'll just have to wait and see come Monday.
Toodles-
oxox
Mrs. W

Local Pageant Season has begun!

The new local pageant season is now upon us, it's like baseball season: only better! Now that Miss Minnesota is now complete it's time to kick off the locals in grand style. Already a few new local queens have been crowned. We're in the planning stages, and it's so exciting to see everything come together.

The Miss Twin Cities 2009 pageant is being held October 11, 2008. If you would like to come and be apart please let me know, and we'd love to have you volunteer. There are many ways you can help by selling tickets, or being a hostess back stage with the contestants. These are just a few options to help. A Silent Auction will be held the night of the pageant, if you would like to donate and items or services please get in contact with us. It's going to be a great night!

If you would like more information about the show, the contestants, or the organization please visit our website at http://www.misstwincities.com/

She's a saver.

If you know me, you know I am cheap, I am a saver, I clip coupons and have them organized. Since moving into our house I've been trying to figure out ways to save and make sure things do not get out of hand. With a from an apartment to a house comes bigger electric bills, more to clean, and more ways to figure out how to save. I came across a few articles, that I thought were helpful, and I thought I'd pass them along:

10 Ways to Cut Monthly Bills


13 Tips from Financial Planners





Before I got married I had some debt, (a lot, actually) It was my goal to pay it all off before we got married, I didn't want to bring any debt into our marriage that was ultimately a result of my irresponsibility, I didn't want that in my new life with my husband. I set some real goals, and made a plan to get all my debt paid off. It took time, planning, and a lot of hard work that wasn't easy. But in the end, I paid it all of 4 months before we got married.
More and more I am seeing young people today throw their money away, or make silly decisions with their money because of lack of education on the subject. Debt at any age is serious, but when you are a young twenty something graduating from college is enough debt to carry. You shouldn't make it any worse by making silly decision that will effect you and your credit for years to come.

I learned this lesson the hard way, and I am grateful for it. Even though it wasn't fun at all, I learned a lot about myself, my spending habits, and the ways to correct it all. I am no expert by any means, I just know what I've been through and how I did it. And I know now that with lots of hard work and determination everyone can have the life they have dreamed of without going into dept. I don't mean to rant, but I really believe that if more and more people cared and were educated more about money matters we would see less debt in America.

Here's some tips that I learned:
- figure out how much you make, and then how much all your bills are.
- make a budget.
- figure out what items in your life you can live with out/or cut down (eating out, shopping trips, lower your monthly cell plan, etc.)
- make a list of credit card debt, if any. pay the lowest one off first, and then keep working from there till they are all payed off.
- open a savings account. If you don't have one already. Even if you just save $20 every pay check it will add up to a lot over time.

Some resources:
http://www.jeanchatzky.com/
8 Simple Ways to get out of Credit Card Debt
Money Moves for 2008

Happy Saving!
xoxo-

office space.

Hubby and I decided that we were going to paint the room that we're using as our office. I picked out the paint colors, and Orion came up with the design idea! He did all of the painting and hanging of shelves while I was gone at camp. To my surprise I came home to an amazing office. He really did a great job with it. It's something straight out of HGTV! Our home is really turning into something special. Here's a few pictures of the newly painted and designed office space: during the painting process.
finished, with shelves.

our lovely space.

this is where I will write, pay bills, and hopefully scrapbook.

Eventually we want to get a chair and use this space as our prayer room too. It's nice to finally have a place where you can go away from the t.v. and do something else. I payed bills there yesterday and it was so nice to have everything in one place, and just be in there and know that this space was reserved for those things! BIG thank yous to my Hubby for taking on this project, he's so good to me!