Project Number #1

This weekend I started my very first DIY project!

Okay so it's not big at all but I'm happy because it's the first step in turning this house into our home.

These wine bottle wall paper decals are scattered throughout our kitchen. They are all fine and dandy but they are not really my style so I took 'em down!

Here's the before:

(The first one is starting to fall down because I tried to see how much of it I could get off on moving day.)

And after:

Much better :) I just have two more wine bottles (in another part of the kitchen) to go.

Goals

I'm great at goal setting. I'm not so great at goal achieving.

My goals for this blog are...

To post three days a week (at first) probably Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
To write about things I love (easy)
To include one picture in each post (this one I will be a challenge for sure)

That's it. That's all the goals I am setting for myself. I'm hoping that by making my goals few and simple I can start improving my rating for actually achieving the goals I set out for myself.

I hope at least someone else will enjoy what I have to say. We will see.

Getting to know you...

Getting to know all about you... (sorry couldn't help myself)

Since I'm just starting this blog up I thought it would be fun to introduce myself by share a few fun facts.

1. I am terrible at spelling (thank you spell check!) Seriously, it's embarrassing how bad I am at spelling. For example? Spell check just caught me spelling "embarrassing" wrong. (Twice)

2. I once went to a potato party where everyone brought some form of potato. For example one person brought potato salad, somebody else brought mashed potatoes, potato chips, I brought potato candy etc.

3. I've kept a journal for the past twelve years.

4. I love books. All kinds of books, fiction, non-fiction, young adult, picture books. Love them all.

5. The five most played songs on my iPod are:
Life is Wonderful - Jason Mraz
Look After You - The Fray
Return of the Lion - Harry Gregson-Willams (The Chronicles Of Narnia Prince Caspian Soundtrack)
Up is Down - Hans Zimmer (Pirates Of The Caribbean At Worlds End Soundtrack)
Gravity - Sara Bareilles.

6. I am starting to really enjoy football, especially the NFL.

7. A pet peeve of mine is when people don't take the stickers off of things. Like the stickers on binders or notebooks declaring the size of the pages and the rule of the paper. Or those little clear stickers on the side of Old Navy flip flops. I think it looks stupid when store stickers are still on products.

8. I love all types of music even opera.

9. I have a cat named Ellie.

10. Someday I'm going to go to Ireland... someday.

Once Upon A Time...

Today I'm beginning my story on this blog. My name is Sam and I am passionate about making life beautiful on a budget. Everyone fantasizes about what their life would be like if they won the lottery (even though they don't play,) but I want to make the most of my life right now, where I am at in this moment. I want to collect memories, not things. When I'm old and grey I want to look back on this life God as blessed me with and know I lived it to the fullest.

I want to blog about decorating, organizing, budgeting and more. My husband and I moved into our first house a week ago and we have a lot of work ahead of us. This blog will be a place for me to share our progress and write down our experiences.

I also really like numbers in the budgeting / personal finance sense. (Hence, the blogs name.) I want to look at our budget as a challenge to work through and not as a barrier we cannot cross. I want to make our home and life beautiful but within our means. I also hope to inspire others to do the same.