Second Jobs and Stuff

Levi started a second job on Monday. He works from 6:00-11:00 in the morning Monday-Thursday now in addition to three days a week at the salon. This job is a major blessing to our family. The hours are pretty much the only hours that he's available, and it just kind of fits right into our life.

It is a change though, and it's requiring some adjustment. We're working on getting to bed earlier so that Levi gets more than four hours of sleep a night! It's tough for us. He doesn't usually come home from the salon until 7:30/8:00 so it's hard to eat dinner, unwind, clean up, put Cecily to bed, and spend some time together in such a short span of time. I've been going to bed after everyone else this week so that I can have a little (desperately needed) alone time. I get time to myself during the day while Cecily naps, but since her naps are only like 30-45 minutes long, I never feel like I get a real break. Once she's in bed at night, I finally feel like I can count on some uninterrupted time. But I don't like being the last one to get into bed when everyone else is sleeping. It makes me feel lonely for some reason.

I should probably just go to bed earlier and switch my alone time to the morning. I'm more productive when I'm up in the morning. Blah. It's so hard for me to make myself do things!! I get really frustrated with myself. My best days happen when I outline my day the night before and begin the day by reading my Bible and praying that God will give me the grace to actually get things done. I'm so weird - I need routine and a schedule, but at the same time, I hate routines and schedules. I love being awake in the morning and typically have a lot of energy once I'm up, but I'm also a total night owl. My entire personality is pretty much a contradiction. Best of both worlds maybe? I'm working on it, and I'm improving. Slowly, but surely.

Anyway! Even though I'm still feeling pretty thrown off, Levi's new job is a really good thing! It'll help us get caught up financially so that we can feel a little more stable. Levi and I have never been very good with financial planning, but we're trying so hard now. It's difficult when our income is so irregular and unpredictable, but it is possible. We've started having little planning meetings on Tuesdays to review our deposits, bills, etc. We're also starting to plan our dinners for the week ahead of time. This one is soooo important for us. We spend a ridiculous amount of money on groceries. And we're creating goals and planning ways to save for specific things. Yesterday, I counted all the change we had lying around the house and put it away to start saving for the downpayment on the Disneyland annual passes we plan on getting once we take care of a couple debts! We're really excited to get them, and I know we'll feel really proud of ourselves for saving the money over time instead of just waiting for Levi to have a really good day at the salon. But if you'd like to help us get there sooner and you happen to need a headband for your baby or a really awesome original drawing for your house, head on over to Ménagerie. Or book a hair appointment with Levi (562.436.4255). Hint hint. ;) ;) How's that for a totally superfluous, shameless plug for the shop and salon??

I'm so grateful that I have a husband who's willing to take a second job (and wake up super early in the morning) in order to provide for his family. I'm also really grateful that it's important to him that I stay home with Cecily. I always dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom, and it makes feel really good that it's a priority to Levi too. I'm a lucky woman!

wedding planning: collecting addresses & save-the-dates

we have almost finished the dreaded address collecting process.

fortunately, we got a really good start at our two engagement parties.

i bought an address book and made a little sign so that guests could give us their information.

for now, the address book only includes the information of the people we're inviting to the wedding, so it will be really helpful for save-the-dates, wedding invitations, and thank you cards. there are a lot of extra lines in each entry, so i'm going to record our gifts in the book and check them off as we write thank you cards (that means you're writing them too, levi).

i also have a pretty crazy notation system on our guest list. it's seriously like reading another language...i should probably create a legend, so that levi can read it too. haha!

our save-the-dates still aren't done yet...we were supposed to send them out last week. oops! we're going to do them postcard style to save on postage and paper costs. we're using this site for printing since they're really affordable.

this is the background image for the front of the postcard:

it isn't done yet. levi will be doing some hand drawn designs right on top of the photo to give it a really whimsical look. i hope they turn out well!

a little this, a little that

seriously. she makes the prettiest necklaces.

isn't that beautiful? i love it.

i'm headed over to my brother's house today to upload christmas photos onto my computer! i can't wait to see the photos he took and relive our fantastic christmas again. most likely, you'll be reliving it with me tomorrow. so beware!

i know i've said it before, but i'll say it again - this whole no camera thing has become quite a bore. annnnnd my blackberry just broke. on christmas eve, the screen went black, and it just wouldn't turn on anymore. bye bye blackberry! secretly, i'm kind of glad it broke...i think i'm ready to move onto bigger and better things (aka - the iPhone).

looks like we're going to be doing some serious shopping for electronics in january! checking account, i apologize in advance.

dabbling in poverty

our finances have kind of plummeted again recently.

we haven't been able to drive for almost a week because we can't afford to put gas in the car.

it's kinda funny.

luckily, i love where we live, and there are plenty of beautiful places to walk to. i can't buy anything, but it's nice to look inside shops and walk through pretty neighborhoods anyway.

and my sister came over to visit twice! we both beat levi at boggle (i'm not gonna lie, he sucks at boggle).

my mom took pity on us and offered to sponsor us in setting up an internet connection (and cable!!!) AT HOME so that i won't have to wander around all over the place with my laptop anymore hunting for a reliable internet connection. isn't she the sweetest??

and the cutest??

oh my gosh, we are so embarrassing.

anyway, even though we're in a very temporary tough patch right now (there is hope on the horizon), i am still very grateful for all the amazing things we do have - a great home in a beautiful neighborhood, an amazing family who would do anything to help us, and, of course, each other.

p.s. we selected a giveaway winner last night using a random number generator. the winner is#10: camille from life less ordinary, a fellow art history major! please go here to select your scarf! and then email me your selection and your mailing address. congratulations!

p.p.s. a couple-few months ago, i told lindsey my three in three. if you want to know what i'm talking about, go here and find out.

cheap weekend day one

we did a pretty good job being cheap yesterday.

expenses:

peet's iced latte - $2.90

(p.s. does anyone else hate nonfat milk as much as i do? they ran out of lowfat & substituted nonfat. blech. that stuff is more water than milk!)

strips at the beach & a coke - $5

TK burger (for levi) - $5

entertainment (the beach) - free!

more from the beach later!

out with the old...kinda

levi hates my pajama pants.

he's made it no secret that he thinks they're the ugliest things he's ever seen.

i don't blame him. they're awful. one pair i've had since i was 15. they're worn thin, full of holes, and just about the dumpiest things i've ever seen. the crotch goes down to my knees. my mom actually threw them away once.

i dug them out of the trash.

call me crazy, but i like when levi's attracted to me. so my mission for today was to find a new pair of pajama pants.

i was successful! i found a pair of cute, fitted, comfy pj pants on sale at anthropologie.

here are some before and afters.

exhibit one: ugly

exhibit two: ugliest

exhibit three: much much better

p.s. i found a skirt on sale at anthropologie today that i really really wanted to buy, and i didn't. please be proud of me for exhibiting restraint and being responsible. it was hard.

p.p.s. i am toootally NOT getting rid of my old pj pants. i had to hide them from levi because he wanted to throw them out.

p.p.p.s. sorry for my lack of blog interaction for the past couple days. i've been busy with the new job, sort of foggy brained, and dealing with a very slow internet connection. but i have read all your lovely emails and comments (gosh, i love hearing from you. it just makes my day), and i will be responding to them very soon. i promise.

an experiment in spending

we had such an excellent "weekend"! and now levi's back to work. i don't go back until tomorrow. speaking of my job, it's still great! some of you have expressed some curiosity as to how it's going (thank you for caring!!), and i am very pleased to inform you that is going very well indeed. i made a lot in tips this week. it was amazing. levi actually had a really great week in tips too. we had so much money by the end of the weekend (the real weekend that most of you get to enjoy - the saturday/sunday weekend) that we were a little nervous.

we really had no idea what to do with all this extra money! my instinct was to just horde it and not spend a cent, but that's completely impractical. we have bills to pay and needs to meet. we can't be afraid to spend money.

so we spent our weekend buying essentials, paying bills, and just having an all around amazing time in each other's company.

our first stop was target. ohhhh how i love target! we bought:

toothpaste

toothbrushes

lint roller

kitty litter

mascara

a shirt for me to wear to work

and guess what??? we still had (a lot of) money afterwards!! it has been soooo long since we have been able to buy things we need and still have money after! imagine that?!?

next on the list: macarons!

after that, we went shoe shopping so i could get some shoes for work.

i think these men's size 20 nikes look rather nice, don't you?

we also stopped by see's candies. yummmmm.

said hi to this little guy.

and levi bought me a yellow (!!!) cutting board that was on sale at crate and barrel!

i don't have any fun pictures of us paying bills 'cause, really, that's just not much fun.

the rest of our weekend was spent laughing, talking, planning, watching the lakers, hanging out with my family, and just bein all in love and stuff. it was plain old fantastic, and i can't wait for next weekend!