1 YEAR LATER

Well, one year ago I left retail for good. After 4+ years with VS, 18 months at B. Bro and a long but very beneficial 16 months at Fran's I called it quits. BEST. DECISION. EVER! Ok, marrying Murph was the BEST. DECISION. EVER. but this is a close second.

I told Murph on a walk last night that no amount of money could outweigh working nights, weekends and holidays, and I will never go back on that statement. Although, I LOVED the business and creative side of retail, being on my feet all day and the discount, I love spending quality time with friends and family so much more.

Cheers to my first year out of the mall, can't wait to see what's in store!

28

Another trip around the sun, another year of blessings. On Monday I was able to celebrate what I think should be a national holiday, my birthday! Often I deem it Birthday Month with Nic, so here are some of the fantastic celebratory things I've done.

BC '12
Our 4th annual Booze Cruise was at Saylorville Lake this year. Our pontoon was in rough shape and we almost filled her with water once but overall the day was a success, that is until the winds rolled in and we struggled for an hour to get back to the dock! Here Nic and I are "poppin' bottles" except it was a screw off top and didn't really "pop" :)

Les Mis!

Although I can't cash in on it until October, Murph got us tickets to Les Miserables at the Civic Center, can you say pumped! 

State Fair

After sleeping in Murph and I hit up the State Fair Monday. His job is generous and give us free tix and $10 in food coupons or we probably wouldn't go, truth be told. But the weather was finally cool enough to enjoy a day outside so we roamed through a few buildings, got our fill of grinders, turkey & funnel cakes and left in 2 hours time. Now THAT's how you "do the fair"!

iPad Revival

After shattering the screen on the iPad shortly after our return from Jamaica, we finally took her in. This whole process was a mess but we have a brand new iPad now and I won't be throwing a jar of garlic at this one!

Starbucks and the Couch

We quick stopped at Starbucks after running a few other errands and it's much more of a treat for me now that I no longer have daily access to it and spent the rest of the day on the couch. We grilled, had delicious Peace Tree beers, celebrated with friends who stopped by and relaxed. It was a wonderful low key day spent with my favorite person on earth.

Peace Tree Brews

Classy ... party of one!

Des Moines market bag from S&J & Nic! On our new memo station

Of course WillyDog was there too, some people see a mutt, but I see the greatest naughty er I mean cuddly and lovable pup ever. He melts my heart.

FINANCIAL PEACE

I guess this whole getting married thing has made me feel like I should be more of an "adult", and a big task Murph and I are undertaking is combining our finances and coming up with a life plan. I won't lie, it's exhausting! I am the dreamer and thankfully Murph is the realist. If it were up to me I'd have a new wardrobe every year and lots of other fun things, but Murph helps me keep things in perspective. We've already met with a financial planner and are in the process of finding a good accountant too, but the biggest step will be paying off our debt.

Our friends S&J took Financial Peace University while we were in our marriage prep class last spring and couldn't say enough good things about it so we are taking the plunge and following in their footsteps starting on September 17th.

If you haven't heard about FPU before head over here and you can read all about it. Essentially Dave Ramsey suggests 7 baby steps to becoming debt free, mortgage included!
#1 - $1000 Emergency Fund
#2 - Debt Snowball
#3 - 3-6 Months of Savings
#4 - 15% in Retirement
#5 - College Funding
#6 - Pay Off House
#7 - Build Wealth and Give

Thankfully Murph and I aren't in the position of the person we heard on Dave's Podcast yesterday who was $330,000 in debt JUST IN COLLEGE LOANS, um guess I won't be a pediatric dentist any time soon! But we do want to start off on the right foot and take care of my student loans ASAP.

I am so excited to take this class, just listening to Dave's podcast makes you eager to get to a position where you can give freely, and that is our overall goal. To be able to give without looking back sounds AMAZING, and I can't wait to share our 9 week adventure with you. Stay tuned!

WISH LIST LOVE

Just some must haves topping my wish list right now...

Des Moines Market Bag - $68 at Badowers

Ok, I agree $68 is a little pricey but I love the leather, canvas & burlap and it makes Des Moines look pretty darn classy! 

Pink Nosed Pup - $125 at the Des Moines ARL

This is Pepper a 4 mo. old Border Collie pup, and she's at the ARL here in Des Moines. Murph and I have been in serious discussion over adding her as a second pooch, but can't pull the trigger on owning 2 big dogs. We love her pink nose though,  and we refuse to go look at her knowing we couldn't say no to that face! He's gonna hate me for posting her pic here :)

Schoolhouse Numbered Hooks - $15/each at Pottery Barn

We are on the hunt for some entry way organization and have two small (24") walls to work with, these hooks and the system below top my list, but a sale would make them sweeter!

Union Office Collection - $49/each at Pottery Barn

New 'Do!

In desperate need of a haircut and I can't get in until the end of September, erg! Thinking this simple long bob might be the way to go for the fall.

Monogrammed Bracelet on Natural Leather - $45 available on Etsy here

Loving the monogram right now, wish this was stamped instead of engraved though, might have to have my friend Emily help me out with something like this

What's on your wishlist?