Month: June 2010


Jun
2010

home tour – our comfy, casual, and slightly rustic bedroom

categories: decorating, frugal
our bedroom is a peaceful place.
the simplicity of the white, green, blue, and brown color palate
is relaxing and natural.
best of all, everything in our rustic bedroom was free or found at a very frugal price.
jed made most of the furniture from reclaimed fence wood when he worked at windy gap. he created the headboard, picture frame, bedside tables, and shelf. i love the rough wood and the fact that they were created by my husband’s talented hands.
the bedding was a wedding gift from my meme, aunts barbara and kelly, and cousin jessica. we use this summer quilt in hot weather (a birthday gift from jed last year), and a duvet cover and down comforter in cold weather. the lamps, dresser, and chest of drawers were bought from windy gap (when they redecorated the camp) for under $100 total. the mattress was given to us by the camp for free. you can read about the fence wall art here.
the tiles were a flea market find, as was the painting. the empty frame was a pottery barn outlet find. i’ve got to find a photo to fill it. jackson’s bed was a gift from my parents. the baskets full of headbands were used to hold favors at our wedding. the curtains are hand-me-downs from my meme. the sign and vases were wedding gifts. the fabric leaves were an etsy purchase. i made the paper flower.
i hope you enjoyed the tour!
i’m sure not everyone shares my taste, but the important thing is that you love your own space, and feel comfortable there. both of those things are true for us in our home.i would define my style as comfy, casual, and a little rustic.
what is your style? 


Jun
2010

frugal friday – an ode to aldi

categories: finances, financial freedom, frugal, recipes
oh aldi, how i love thee…
you force me to remember my reusable shopping bags.
you fill your aisles with cheap olive oil,
affordable frozen items,
off brand chips that seem glamorous and european,
and even organic produce that fits into our budget.

this week we found fresh organic strawberries for 99 cents a pound!!!! i am in love. the downfall of this little german wonder is that you can’t find them everywhere, you have to bring your own bags (which i appreciate), and you have to pay for a cart (you get your money back when you return the cart). also, you can only use cash or debit, no credit. yay!! dave ramsey would approve. they don’t take manufacturer coupons, because they sell all of their own brands. we shop there first, because you won’t find everything you need there. but, you will find some great deals on some of the items on your list.

currently, jed does most of our grocery shopping. he says i always come back with some expensive fancy cheese or an unnecessary baked good. so not true, but who am i to get upset when the man wants to go to the grocery store? he’s on summer vacation, right? might as well make himself useful. we make a list, look through the grocery ads, collect the coupons, and then hit the stores.

i was in no way compensated or coerced to write this post. it was written purely out of love for aldi, and gratitude for the amazing 99 cent organic strawberries.

what is your grocery shopping strategy? do you visit a bunch of stores, or stick to one? clip coupons or search the ads? share your wisdom.


Jun
2010

jewelry organization – a repurposed bulletin board

categories: crafts, organization

a few weeks ago i created a cake plate style jewelry holder that i love. it created a problem in that it couldn’t quite contain my jewelry collection. i don’t have anything fancy, but i want to take good care of it and have it organized in such a way that i can use it easily. we had an old bulletin board lying around, so i thought i should put it to good use.

i painted it with the can of antique white we’ve been
trying to finish up for ages. then i bought some blue and white
striped ribbon to cover the ugly edges.

here is the corner of my bedroom.
i think the jewelry bulletin board fits in nicely.
the flower was used on the guest book table at my wedding.
i didn’t know what to do with it after,
and i think it adds a sense of whimsy to the room.

so here we are, slightly more organized,
with everything having a place. much better!
now, on to organizing the craft table…
what’s next on your “need to organize” list?

i’m linking to: toolsareforwomentoo The Girl Creative Keeping It Simple http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/ Organize and Decorate Everything


Jun
2010

a little taste of young life camp

categories: Uncategorized

here’s a peek into what i’ve been up to for the last week. i took my high school friends to windy gap in weaverville, north carolina, for a week at young life camp. we guarantee kids that it will be the best week of their lives or their money back. i’ve taken kids to young life and wyldlife camps for the last 11 summers, for a total of 16 best weeks ever. every trip has been special, but this last one was really incredible.

here’s my cabin of girls dressed in our team unis for the volleyball tournament.

laura, whitney, and i giving it our all during the leader tug-o-war.

the horseback ride

view from the horse ride

our group got all dressed up for hillbilly night.

jed and i at the hillbilly night, the “ramp festival”
i love partnering with my husband in ministry.

my girls and i at the top of the mountain hike
the view was a little cloudy, but the hike was awesome.

i’ve missed my calling as a nascar driver.

i just wanted to give you a little insight into my job. i am so blessed to get to hang out with high school and middle school kids and share Jesus with them. we lived in asheville, nc for 3 years, and jed worked at windy gap, so taking kids there felt like going home. we got to see some of the friends that we love and miss, spend time in one of our favorite places in the world, and help our high school friends slow down enough to take a look at the Gospel.

Jun
2010

Are you hot? Make Gazpacho.

categories: recipes

i don’t know what the weather is like where you live, but here in dallas, it is HOT. i’m talking record highs. weather like this calls for a special summer recipe that is super easy. i studied abroad in spain during college, and fell in love with gazpacho there. my host family didn’t have air conditioning (like most families in spain), so my host mother would fix gazpacho as a solution to cool us off. it is basically a chilled tomato and cucumber soup, and i hope you will love it as much as i do. here’s what you need:

gazpacho:
1 cucumber, halved and seeded
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
4 plum tomatoes
1 onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepperprocess all of the veggies in your food processor.
add all of the other ingredients.
pour it into a bowl, stir, and chill.this recipe serves 8.
it is pretty light, and tastes amazing.
i like to enjoy it with a fresh baguette.
what’s your favorite summer recipe?

*this post was originally posted on aly & ash during a blog swap.


Jun
2010

cooking with friends

categories: frugal, recipes

i am blessed with creative friends who like to cook, and really like to cook together. we recently had our second sunday girls’ cooking night, and i think it is an awesome solution to the dilemma that is dinner. this particular evening we were helping betsy get some food ready to freeze in preparation for the birth of her child. here’s what happens…

we gather at betsy’s house because she has the biggest kitchen with an island range and double oven. everyone brings their own ingredients and 4 aluminum loaf pans, 1 for each person cooking. we spend a few hours preparing our selected dishes together, catching up, and laughing a lot.

it is way more fun to cook with friends.

do you like these aprons? whitney makes them.
once the dishes are ready, everyone divides their dish among 4 loaf pans,
perfect for storing or freezing, then reheating in the oven.
the great thing is that everyone goes home with 4 pans full of deliciousness for the week.
this time we had real mac and cheese, penne pasta with ground turkey and vodka sauce, mini-meatloaf, and zucchini bread. the zucchini bread was gone at my house by the next morning, but we made the rest last for several meals throughout the week.
maybe next time we’ll have a few more folks, and a few more dishes to take home. so, if you are in desperate need of a girls’ night AND a dinner solution, invite your friends over to cook with you.


*i originally posted this as a guest post on tatertots and jello.


Jun
2010

gone to carolina…

categories: Uncategorized

i’m gone to carolina. i’ll be at windy gap, a young life camp in weaverville, north carolina for the next week.  we are taking a wonderful group of high school kids to camp to have the best week of their lives.  this is my favorite part of my job.  i absolutely love camp, and windy gap is my favorite of all the 22 young life camps.  it is where jed and i met, and near where i lived for 3 years before moving to texas.  i’m so excited!  learn more about young life here, and windy gap here.  see you in a week!


Jun
2010

frugal friday – confessions of a shopaholic

categories: fashion, financial freedom, frugal, shopping

hi, my name is becca, and i’m a shopaholic. seriously, i have a problem. i love to partake in a little retail therapy when i’ve had a bad day, or really any day. we’ve been credit card free for a long time now, so that limits my spending. because of the strict budgeting, my new favorite places to shop are marshall’s, ross, and tj maxx. i have to tell you that i found the cutest mexican style dress at marshall’s for only $15.99! it has pockets and is perfection. i haven’t taken a picture yet, but i’m sure i will soon. the only difficulty i have at those stores is the search. i think you have to go in with a few items in mind, otherwise the madness and disorganization will drive you up the wall.

the dress is great, but my favorite thing to search for at those stores is… bras! i fell in love with calvin klein perfect fit bras several years ago, but they are pricy. they run $38-45 retail, and that is just too much. i have found many at marshall’s in the $6.99-$12.99 range. holy monkeys, that is a big discount!

my next mission is to find a new pair of jeans… i’ll let you know how it goes.
what is your favorite search item at discount stores?