It's Not About The Money, Money, Money

Yesterday, as I was walking around Hobby Lobby, I started looking at wedding decorations and such. I figured it couldn't hurt to start looking around and getting an idea of some things I wanted to then go and get when they were on sale.

I saw this beautiful sign that was a count down to the wedding day.

They wanted over $20 for it. That's fine and good, but I'm not made of money. I went over to their craft section. I found a back board, a wooden heart, a wooden 'P' for Peters, some plum and slate blue paint (the colors Justin picked for the wedding, along with fall colors,) and knew I had chalkboard paint at home. 

Since I am a bargain/clearance/coupon shopper, I got all of the supplies to make mine for $7.

I honestly forgot to take pictures of the step by step, but I can go through them.

1. I painted the back board plum.
2. I painted the 'P' blue.
3. I painted the heart with chalkboard.
4. I got a piece of scrapbook paper and cut out the shape of the middle. I didn't want to write directly on the board, so that after we are married, I can use the sign for something else if I wish. 
5. I wrote the phrase "Until We Say 'I do'" in silver sharpie.
6. I used wood glue to connect the heart and the 'P'.

 Here is my finished project:

Snail Mail.

Do you remember being little and getting a letter in the mail, whether it was a Christmas card, a magazine, or even junk mail, and you were SO excited?

I still love getting hand written mail and letters from people, in fact I have had a number of pen pals across the United States and eventually, they all just stop responding. It can get costly, stamps, envelopes, paper. Most people don't want to spend the money on letters when they can pull out their smartphone and send a text or email for free. It's all about the penny pinching.

I've been trying to start on wedding details, but seeing as how we are two years out, there isn't a lot I can do at the moment. Therefore, I've been trying to at least start a rough guest list and create an address book. How am I getting addresses? Texting. Facebook. Email. Phone calls. Crazy how even when I'm trying to get a way to get a hold of someone via USPS, I rely on technology.

Just a random thought of the day.

Where's The Loyalty Rewards?

I have been on Verizon since before it was even Verizon. My mom has been on the same phone plan with the same phone number since 1993. But you never hear about anything for loyalty, only "Sign up today and get a free ____!" "We will pay your termination fee!"

Sure, I get "rewards points" for paying my bill on time that coincide with the amount I'm spending, but lets be honest: They are USELESS.

I just logged into my account. 208,860 rewards points. You know what my options are?

1. Use 200 points to enter into a sweepstakes.
2. Use rewards points to buy things in auctions (if you win).
3. Local deals. Get $10 of every $30 spent at Rue21 for 1000 points. Get a large pizza for the price of a medium pizza for 2000 points at Godfather's Pizza. Awesome, but you still have to spend more money. 
4. There is merchandise, like jewelry. For example, you could get Swarovski Swan Lake earrings that retail $119 for $80 if you spend 3,900 points. 
5. Gift Cards, same as merchandise. 
6. Hotels. Once again, I don't have extra money. 

So why can't they make it to where you can use your points for something useful, like money off your next bill, or a otterboxes or lifeproof cases to help keep your phone in working order? Their rewards system is as good as pointless. 

Bullying

I've been thinking a lot about my short little post from yesterday. It got me thinking, I am going to bring something up that I find to be quite troubling.

Kiannah has never been to a daycare. She has never been to a babysitter. When she needed to be watched while I was at work or school, my grandma, my uncle, my mom, my sisters watched her. Never a babysitter. But with that, there is the fact she wasn't around kids much. Her little cousin, yes. We did try to take her to parks often, so she could socialize.

She always did amazing playing with others. Even if they were mean, or hurtful, she would still play and be nice. We went to the park one time, and went to the bathroom. When we came out, there were two buses at the park. Two different schools had brought their special needs kids to the park to play. Kiannah played with all of them. When we left, she said "Mom, I loved those kids, they were older than me and still played with me and had so much fun." She's always had the biggest heart.

But now, in school it's all different. She's started acting out. She has an assigned seat on the bus for spitting on someone for being mean to her.

The most heartbreaking thing though, happened right before bedtime.

We were getting ready for bed and I asked her if she was excited to see her friends tomorrow at school. She said "Mom I don't have any friends." I asked her what she meant, there are around 100 kids in her grade, surely she has a friend or two at the least. She proceeded to tell me that at recess they have this bench that is called the "buddy bench." If you are alone, and want a buddy you go sit on said bench and if someone sees you there, they are supposed to go get you from the bench and find something you can do together so no one has to play alone. She told me she will go to that bench at the beginning of recess, and at the end of the recess, she is still there alone. Alone. My beautiful, amazing, little girl. Alone.

How do you fathom that as a parent? When it's you, yourself, you can brush it off. Say oh well, and try again tomorrow. But this is my daughter. The person I'm raising. The woman I am supposed to empower. Alone.

She told me that people at school make fun of her and say she has an ugly face. My beautiful little girl.

Parent Teacher Conferences

I have never been the parent at the parent teacher conferences. I have always been the one to sit and listen or in elementary school, went down to the book fair to play while my mom went. But now, I'm the parent. Next Thursday, I am supposed to go to the parent teacher conference for Kiannah. Her very first one. And, in all honesty, it's terrifying.

Do I just sit and listen while her teacher tells me how shes doing? Do I have to be prepared with questions? Is she going to drill me as to how I am as a parent?

It's terrifying.

It's A Family Thing.

Does your family get family photos taken? 

My family never got photos taken of all of us, unless it was for something important like a baptism. (I think my baptism was the last one we had.) But, I do have a few generational photos with my family. One on my mom's side, and one on my dad's side.

My first family photo looks a lot more professional, we got them taken at the mall. A photo studio was doing $20 for one 8"x10" photo and you got a full session so if you liked any of the other pictures, you could buy a full package. We bought the whole package. :)

The first generation in this photo is my grandma, Helga. She was 63 when this photo was taken, and still looks the exact same. 

My mother, generation two, is Corinna. She was 44 when this picture was taken. 

I am generation three, and was 17 in this photo. 

My eldest daughter, Kiannah is generation four, and was almost one year old. 

My second generation photo is of my dad's side of the family. Though I am not sure of ages, the order is as follows:

Generation 1: Marjorie, my great-grandma. She has since passed away. 

Generation 2: Gilbert Dale, my grandfather. 

Generation 3: Steven Dale, my father.

Generation 4: Britni Kay, myself.

Generation 5: Kiannah, my daughter. 

I need to make it a thing to get more photos, for more memories like this. 

Today, The Announcement.

Two years from today, Justin and I will say 'I do'. 

We chose a date two years in the future so that we have adequate time to pay off the engagement ring, both bands, and save up for the wedding itself.