Hello August!

Can you believe that it is already AUGUST 2013?

Did anyone else just blink and realize that more than half of a year has flown by? I mean seriously FLOWN by. It's like I blinked, finished graduate school, got married, rounded out the school year and said good-bye to my 5 out of 6 transitioning Kindergarteners and eight months flew by without me even realizing it.  It has been a busy 2012-2013 and I feel like as my life slows down I am finally able to breathe and get a handle on life as a MARRIED woman.

I am kicking off my return to blogging with a new template, isn't it cute? Thanks to The Cutest Blog on the Block for making it easy to switch up the look on the fly. Get ready for more on the wedding and what's happening in my married and professional lives as I learn more about being a wife and obtaining my BCBA and becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Love,
Malia E.

Living the Frugal Life: Month One....

So far this month's money saving has been a success. Spending has only been on bills, mortgage, car payment and groceries.

Here's hoping avoiding Target stays this easy until I reach my goals!!

Kicking Credit to the Curb

Have you ever had your super busy, back to back scheduled life come to a screeching halt leaving you with nothing left to do but reflect? Oh, man! It's both wonderful and terrifying all at once. That is how this past week was.

It was wonderful spending time at home with my fiance and our families for the holidays. It was wonderful hosting our first ever Christmas dinner for both families at our first place. 

Wish we had more pictures of our first Christmas, but here's a shot of the brothers and their moose mugs, courtesy of my future sister in law and instagram.

It was wonderful decorating the house for the holidays (incase you missed it you can catch the decorations here). And it was wonderful having some time for myself to gather my thoughts and catch up on the last 8 months. 

It was wonderful that is until I realized that there was one severely neglected financial disaster hanging over my head that my highly scheduled life had allowed me to ignore for FAR TOO LONG. Now, don't get the wrong idea here, I haven't been neglecting any bills, but man, I certainly wasn't making the dent on my debt that I thought I had been. Insert panic mode here. 

After a couple of minor panic attacks and some serious embarrassment when talking it out with the future Mister. No, my debt was not a secret, it was just never talked about in detail.

No longer will I be ignoring my debt, no longer will I be spending money on things I already have or definitely don't need, no longer will I make excuses for my sometimes, read excessive spending. I will live this year on what I already own and get rid of things I don't need to  help me reach my goals. 

I am owning my debt and will be working hard to make it disappear.   

So, drumroll please, 

Here's to a credit card free 2013 and a happier, more financially stable me! 

Wish me luck!

Resolution.

It is no big secret to those who know me well that 2012 was a crazy year full of non stop work as a preschool autism teacher, part time ABA therapist, masters certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis student, new home owner and wedding planner. So, when I finally had a week off, thank God for that teacher luxury, my mind was spinning with a list of to do's and resolutions for 2013. The year where classes end and I become a Mrs. The year where doors open to both building a family or changing careers. Another year of trying to figure out this adult life and setting goals.

This year I resolve to better my health by finding more time for me. This year I resolve to read books for myself and not just books that people tell me to read. This year I resolve to de-stress by making time for me to take up yoga. This year I resolve to pay off my debts. This year I resolve to better and own my life and come May our lives as a married couple.

My hope is to keep motivated by using my blog to track my accomplishments of course with a little side of wedding planning, homemaking and more.

Here's to 2013!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe that 2012 is over and we are on to a New Year. It seems like we just celebrated the start of 2012.

It has been an amazing year and we sure were busy....

In March, I started my BCBA Certification, May brought on J's 30th birthday and an unforgettable proposal. June kicked off our house hunt and August was J's start to online classes too. September started a new school year with lots of new challenges and closing on our first place. October and November flew by keeping us busy juggling school work and real work and attending holiday get togethers with family and friends. December was another rush full of lots of holiday fun and reflection. 

2013 will bring us more firsts as we finish planning our wedding and start our journey in to married life. 

Happy New Year to you and yours! 

Love, 

Malia E.

Holiday House

Welcome to our first place.  Christmas is my all time favorite holiday. I love spending time with family and friends and the decorations just make everything feel so cozy. So, I am really late to the game with Christmas house tours, but here is a little piece of our holiday home.

Here's hoping your holidays were Merry & Bright and your New Year is already off to a good start.

Love, Malia E

Bridesmaid Dress Dilemma

According to all of those timeline and checklists out there for the Bride To Be it is time to start thinking about what my gals will wear. I don't know if I am the only Bride out there that feels this way but I am absolutely dreading it. I don't know if it's the closet full of two-hundred something taffeta and chiffon that I will never wear again (sorry ladies, but it's true) or the idea of getting 8 girls to agree on something but this task has been totally hanging over my head and I have been putting it off for as long as possible.

My first thought was to let everyone pick out their own cocktail dress in the same color family and to have an ombre look and everyone in a dress of their choice. Thinking something like this:

http://www.theweddinghunter.com/2012/01/02/hunted-bridesmaid-trend-mis-matched-bridesmaids/

I love the way everyone is different but they all coordinate so well. I love the idea that everyone gets to pick their own dress and feel comfortable in it. A friend of mine did this with black cocktail dresses and it just seemed like one less stressor. The awesome thing about black is that it is easy to match and even the differences in materials weren't super noticable.

via Facebook

Although, as a part of this bridal party I felt a little stressed about finding a good dress that was going to blend with the others and that would meet the standards of the bride. Just me?

Well, after lots of research and debating (just with myself) I have narrowed it down to two options. Option A being risking it and using Little Borrowed Dress, where the girls have the option of renting their dress for $50 or buy it for $150 but won't be able to try it on unless they go to NYC or Option B where the girls can pick any dress they want from Bill Levkoff as long as it is short and chiffon and they will be able to try on their choices at any store that carries his line, likely with a price tag of $150-$200. Both options have tons of different styles so I would still be able to get the look of everyone looking slightly different in the same color.

So, if you were a bridesmaid which would you prefer? Renting and risking or buying and trying?

I'm running out of time to order and am still so torn and none of the girls seem to have a big preference.