Something Important

The other day G's sister Terri sent us a link to a site where we found a link to another site that I just have to share. Volunteer Match. You can type in your city, what category of volunteering you are interested in and voila! they show you places you might be helpful.

I used to volunteer with the Special Olympics in my small college town. It started because my Special Education for Elementary Education degree required volunteering. But in the end I became attached to the 4 guys I worked with and for long past the requirement, until I left the town, I went almost every week (consistency is important there).

Dan, Ricky (who I affectionately called Ricky Ticky, misspelled but after the children's story), Chester, and Kenny became another part of my family of sorts. Dan's mother helped run it all. He was a fantastic bowler, as well as being involved in other S.O. activities. He played a mean game of pool, and would save a spot for me, telling others who were in "my" spot to move. Ricky was quiet. Halfway through he got a girlfriend, so it wasn't hard to make him blush. Sweet soul. Chester smoked far more than he should have and drank copious amounts of coffee. I used to tease him that his smoking and caffeine habits made his hands shaky and that that is why he would get the occasional bad bowl. And Kenny was about 6'7" so of course I called him shorty. He was incredibly quiet and social all in one package. After running in to him at the bar once he decided I must go out drinking all the time and harassed me endlessly about it.

These were my guys. I wasn't particularly friendly about sharing. Dan, his mother, and I would occasionally catch dinner together. And I finally gave in during the summer and bowled with them. It was horrible, since I wasn't that great of a bowler anyways, and they were fantastic. Just another thing to rib me about!

I loved my experience and have talked about it enough that G wants to get involved with Special Olympics with me when we go back. Some days I didn't want to go, I wanted a nap in the late afternoon. But going there and realizing these people loved me, quirks, sarcasm and goofiness. I loved cheering them on. I loved getting them to smile when they didn't do so well (because boy could they get moody). I loved having them defend me when another guy would try to claim me for his girlfriend (this generally resolved in Dan telling them to step off, I was his). I loved introducing others to it, and watching them realize quickly that these people were special all right (they could whip you in so many sports), but overall they were just normal people.

This world needs more volunteers. Whether with an organization, or simply helping a neighbor with their yard. It helps someone else, but selfish as it sounds, it also helps you too. You get to grow, and to be grateful for the life you've been given. And that my friends is something you cannot put a price on.

Allowance?

So I have a question for the married women who read my blog, particularly the stay at home ones, but any wife really. Do you have an "allowance?"

See, G and I occasionally talk about me having one, with a separate account for it. Because since I don't "work" in the traditional sense, I sometimes have a hard time spending money on myself. Those cute shoes I blogged about recently? I pined over them for days and finally it was G who told me he liked them and to get them. He even okayed spending more on some other things, but in the end I just got the shoes.

I think I have a hard time thinking of it as "our" money, since he's the one who earns it. It's unusual for me. I love the show Mad Men, and sometimes I am envious of a time period where this was considered normal, the woman staying in the home, but surely they had an allowance? Maybe part of my freaking out is that I like nice things, I just hate their prices, since I tend to squirrel away money (or at least attempt to).

Today G and I discussed me having an allowance of sorts where I can buy 1 dress or skirt every pay period. Yes, eventually I would have to stop buying dresses (or get a much bigger closet), but it would work for awhile. I love the dresses at Anthropolgie and ModCloth, and it would perhaps allow me to buy some without panicking. (and I could squirrel away my "allowance" and really go to town when the sales hit)

Why dresses and skirts? Because I'm a girly girl, and G loves me in them of course. And really, you can never have too many in my opinion, particularly black, navy and grey dresses. They make a great clean palette. So perhaps I need to begin backlogging my allowance now? Because these beauties call to me like sirens to a sailor.

(Jacqueline Dress, Anthropologie)

(Nights at the Lyceum dress, Anthropologie)

(Behind the Clouds dress, Anthropologie----also available in a turquoise I want as well).

Aren't they just ladylike and divine?

Dream Home

In a perfect world it would be simple to find your dream home, and affordable. But this is reality, and so we're looking for a will work for now, just give me something to paint home.

In our dream home you would have:

A huge front porch with room to sit and drink tea.

A beautiful foyer that opened up to a sweeping staircase.

A kitchen so big that I could have caterers in there no problem for a child's wedding someday.

A walk in pantry that kept cool year round.

A wine cellar.

A sitting room, parlor, office with french doors, and a family room somewhere a bit more comfy.

A library that is 1 1/2 stories tall.

A ballroom next to the library.

A dining room that would hold a table for 20 for the dinner parties I want to throw.

Wooden floors polished till they shine.

5+ bedrooms, with the master bedroom having a huge walk-in closet (think the size of a small bedroom), huge claw foot tub for 2, and a fireplace.

Vaulted ceilings.

And a huge yard that would be sectioned off into different areas such as a cutting garden, a walking garden, a vegetable garden, and perhaps a tennis court. Oh, and a place to play badminton and croquet.

We're old fashioned, no doubt about it. I basically want Gatsby. A huge home where I can always make friends and family feel welcome. Where we can throw a masked ball, or host a family member's wedding. We have big goals, we realize that. But every so often we talk about this list, and why we want to save money to someday come close.

For now we're looking at a tiny little cape cod house and a couple town/row homes in Baltimore. They aren't perfect, but they suit us for now. And something we can be paying on and painting is good enough.

For now.

Oh, and don't forget the old 1930's Ford. Our hometown parades always have a couple and I simply swoon! (photo found through yahoo)

Shoe Love

Once upon a time Kalee was a crazy college student. She had a mild addiction to shoes and purses, and well, everything to do with dressing up and looking cute. When she moved into the real world and was preparing to marry G she kind of got over her love for those things. She dressed to go to work in sensible loafers and carried a handbag large enough to carry everything for planning the wedding, a large bottle of evian and the essentials.

Now, 3 years later, her love has slowly come back. She picks up cute shoes occasionally if the price is right (still saving for those shoes she loves but cost as much as a house payment). And she's picked up a few nice handbags to use in her (semi) grown-up life.

Well, a couple weeks ago she fell in love with a pair of shoes online. They were on sale, she asked G about them, and they both agreed that she needed them. They were loafers with a slight heel, but a cute chalky blue grey. For her they would be perfect for fall. For him, they were perfect for him liking the idea of her looking like a hot school teacher. And for a girl with size 10/11 feet they came in 10's but fit more like 10 1/2's or 11's. Sweet.

So here they are, in all of their her-husband-cannot-find-the-light-with-the-point-and-click-camera for the life of him glory.

(These are the Nonfiction Pumps from ModCloth. I think they only have one pair left, so I am glad I picked them up when I did!)

24 Days and Counting

So, I feel like I'm Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. In the tornado part. I'm still waiting for the fun, colorful wake up to cute singing munchkins part. I mean, when we move to MD, I am fully expecting the Welcome Wagon to be a lot like the Lollypop Guild.

So last night in an attempt at resembling a great wife I decided to make puff pastry with nectarines. We had picked up 4 packages of nectarines (with 8-9 nectarines in each) for $0.59 each. Great deal, so I picked up some puff pastry (it contained margarine as it's main ingredient, the first time I failed to check in a long time, so next time I will make my own), and away I went.

Quickly I should note that I really am a huge fan of fruits and vegetables. We've already eaten 3 of those lovely nectarine packages (yes, that means we overeat fruit and can safely say we got our daily allotment of fruit and fiber in). If it came between cookies and fruit, 9/10 times I would choose fruit. But I do not like cooked peaches, nectarines, or berries with the lovely exception of my blueberry muffins.

I tried to scallop the edge as the recipe said, but once cooked you couldn't see a thing.

So I made these little buggers. And they were okay. The freezer boxed version of the puff pastry was almost literally tasteless. And as mentioned I was not a huge fan of the cooked nectarines. Garret agreed about the pastry but loved them. I found that I loved them better cold this morning, so maybe it's just hot, overcooked nectarines I don't like? (these were ripe, so a pain to get off the pit and they cooked quickly, so next time I think I will buy them under ripe and see how that goes)

Cuteness With A Side of Spicy

Me: "I know, I know, I'm a bleeding heart liberal."

G: "That's okay, I love you for it."

Me: "You love my bleeding heart."

True love people. True love.

G's sister and I got into a rousing debate on facebook (ain't it grand) about Obama's policy, politics in general, falsehoods, etc. A.K.A. I made a comment on my profile that she disagreed with and proceed to wax on. I had two choices, let it go or respond. Realizing she would most likely take my silence as a won battle (and I am never silent anyways, who am I kidding?), I responded. She responded back, and I responded again. Suffice to say we will never be at the same political parties unless one of us is protesting. And that's okay. I used to be a political science student. I can debate for hours. Literally, ask G, hours.

Garret and I are an odd couple. I had made contacts through a yahoo group for the spouses here before I arrived and one member had seen my myspace with some wedding pics. Let's just say we looked like an odd couple. I love G, and he's come far, but he is and always will be a geek. And that's my geek so watch it!

However when we first got together he was a libertarian atheist (more agnostic, but we're going with his dogtag title). I was a bleeding heart liberal democrat and a Catholic. While we were engaged we could easily sit for 5 hours on the phone paying international rates to debate these particular views. In the end we both won the other over. G's a Catholic, and I lean more towards the libertarian side of things. But I am, and always will be a bleeding heart liberal. It's just me, who I am, and it's never going to change. And I also have a tendency to be easily excitable in debating. So his poor sister chose the wrong person to debate (*cough* attack ----G's words, not mine). I have my beliefs, you have yours. I am willing to never post anything on your page criticizing yours, but if you choose to not follow the same policy, I reserve the right to argue till the cows come home.

Perhaps we should have warned her?

Busy As A Bee

Well, yesterday and today I am in a cleaning frenzy trying to prepare for the antiques assessor to come this afternoon to assess some damage from 2 years ago (yes we procrastinate like no other). This mainly means moving boxes out of the way for the guy to get a gander. And I am cleaning out some drawers on my vanity because there is damage and it's easier to see without the things in there.

G has this week off to help out preparing for the move. We're looking into homes to buy in Maryland (yes, we realize we're crazy, but we figure there's a good chance we'll be there longer than 4 years.....it's a black hole for his career field). So we have to look into lenders and mortgages (because we didn't save enough to even touch much of a down payment there, we were saving for more reasonable areas of the country). And we've found a cute little old home that a little old man has been living in and taking care of (and yes, he's adorable, he's peeking into the room in one of the shots!). It's exciting and terrifying, and I will probably end up being my reasonable self and saying we should wait a bit. But it's got 4 little bedrooms, and a big backyard with plenty of room for the dogs, future children, a garden and it even has the equipment to hang clothes outside to dry in the sunshine!.

( I Had to show the picture of my new grey and white striped cardigan. I found it at a charity shop for less than 4 pounds!)

We've also bought a painting by a local artist from a charity shop. We said no the first time we saw it because the composition will be difficult to fit into our aesthetic. However a few days later it was still haunting us because we loved the colors. We decided to go back and see if it was still there. It was, so we brought it home. I want to paint the frame white to bring out the snow on the mountains. And I figure if we end up not knowing where to put it we will sell it. The artists name and address is on the back so I plan on writing to her to ask her about the painting.

This photo doesn't really do the painting justice as it makes it appear flat. In reality is very clear, almost like a photo, and it draws your eye to it anytime you're near it!

Oh, and here's how the tea trolley looks temporarily as I try and figure out what on earth I want to do with it!

Other than that we have been preparing for our first real big move. It's overwhelming and exciting. And I cannot wait to make a whole new slew of friends in Maryland!

28 Days and Counting!

I am freaking out slightly. In both good and bad ways. Garret went in to talk to the travel people this morning and we are booked to fly out of here on the 3rd of August!!! Oh holy shit, that's less than a month!

I'm excited, stressed, scared (I hate to fly), and thrilled that things are wrapping up and a new chapter is beginning!

Breathing A Little Easier

So G finally got his paper orders and we are leaving in about a month! There are still flights to book, movers to arrange, furniture that's damage should have been assessed 2 years ago, but we are headed home in a month! I know I should probably be feeling more pressure, not less, but I am feeling calmer than I have in weeks.

It came to me the other day that we won't have to move our furniture until we are ready to go to the hotel before leaving. We are picking up quite a bit of furniture, dishes, etc from my grandmama's home, so we can afford the time that it will take to get our furniture in Maryland. Another breather.

We're getting ready to sell some things that will not be going with us. Including our couch, good riddance. We're keeping the matching loveseat (I think, I am still debating this) for the office.

And that, along with reading a post by Bonjour Madame got me to thinking about finances. G and I haven't traveled hardly at all the 2 years I've been living here. We discussed it and decided that putting money away for the move home was more important. We both love Europe so much that we will be coming back quite soon, and so we didn't feel a rush to get all of our traveling in now. It took us about a year and a half of marriage (until just this last fall) to really figure out how to save (because we do like to eat out and buy things, I will admit). Since then we try and save about half of each paycheck. Some months we don't save as much, others we save more.

We have a lot to spend money on once we get home. We will have to buy a car (and we will most likely be taking out a loan), pay deposits on housing, and foremost we will be paying to get from Maryland to Kansas City because the military only pays to get us to Maryland (but we cannot check in there for another month, so we're headed home). And we have to pay to ship Sophie home. Fortunately, while we are home we are planning on being frugal and not going out to eat every night (we're staying at my grandmama's home, so we'll cook there), so by the time we reach Maryland there will be 3 paychecks almost untouched. This will help with the move tremendously.

Our only debt is my student loans (and we have a plan to pay them off within the next 3 years). We won't be buying a home anytime too soon (Maryland is quite the expensive place to buy). And we don't have any credit cards. Having sat through some of the Dave Ramsey classes, and having parents who always told me not to get a credit card, my first one wasn't until I was 22 and engaged to G. I got it as a way to make reserving things easier, and my limit was $1000. I never maxed it out, and it's now been paid off and closed. G and I opened a military one together in order to buy some furniture when we first got married, because we had no living room or dining furniture. After it was paid off, we closed it. We both realize how easy it is to get into huge debt if you have one of the magic little cards that helps you forget you cannot afford something. We get some weird looks from friends when they realize we don't have credit cards. But we have a debit card that has a credit card symbol on it, so we can use it anyplace that takes cards.

Now, we do plan on getting a credit card once we move back to the US. We're researching which ones have the best rewards and plan on using it for most purchases, simply paying it off each month. I know of other bloggers who do this and are able to get some nice rewards (gift cards to their favorite places). G and I talked about it, decided we're pretty good at being strict with ourselves, so we would give it a whirl. And if we ever don't pay it off, then it gets closed and we go back to being cash only.

Okay, I think I've rambled on quite a bit, so I will wrap this up. Basically I wanted to talk about how G and I try and live frugally. We occasionally splurge on something nice, but only if we think we can afford it. For us, affording it doesn't mean we have it in the bank, it means that we have it, plus a substantial amount more in the bank. I'm already nervous about our account getting so low when we move back home, but that's what we have been saving for! We still eat out, although not as often as we would like (because let's face it, with this move, cooking rarely sounds fun). We go out for drinks, we go shopping, we have a good time, just not all the time. But we have an even better time when we go out because we don't have to worry that our bank account if going to suffer for it.

So on this 4th of July, I am thinking about freedom. And for me, right now, foremost on my mind is us striving for financial freedom. Now if only we didn't have so many taxes...

Do You Have Your Library Card?

Oooh, I am so excited! I bought G a little present the other night. I won a vintage solid wood 2 drawer card catalog. Ever since I saw This Young House pick up a metal one to use in the kitchen I thought it would be handy. And for us it's more sentimental. We both love to read books. And G worked at the library in our hometown for 5 years before joining the military. So understandably when he sees something like this he gets a bit misty eyed and tells me he would love it, but it's up to me. That meant that while he was at work I was sitting anxiously at the computer, afraid of losing the auction. It was tense, I tell ya. We haven't decided where we will use it yet, the possibilities are endless.

So here is the pic from ebay:

We want to sand it down and paint it a different color. But it might fit into our decor being this color anyways. Because my grandmama is moving in with my parents, some furniture I hadn't thought we would be getting for another few years will be picked up and be integrated into our home. Which because my grandmother had fabulous taste back in her heyday, but tended to keep the same colors from the 60's and 70's I am hella excited about getting some great vintage pieces that I can see everyday. I think she will be glad they are getting to live again.