Date Nights At Home

So along with expecting a baby, comes saving lots of money! Which means our date nights out have become date nights in. I still get all dolled up for the husband, even on nights in, to show him that I really do dress to impress for him. But it's just as fun when you're both in pajamas! Our nights at home are cozy and fun. I don't mind staying in with him one bit.

My favorite date nights include cooking dinner together. We enjoy cooking together and helping each other out in the kitchen. Who wouldn't love sneaking a few kisses in between pouring and stirring and putting pots on the stove and pans in the oven?!

After making dinner, we serve each other and light a candle at our table. We lower our heads to say grace and dig in. One up side to dining at home is not having to wait for refills or the check. Which means there's more time for fun!

Doing a bible study together or just reading aloud our favorite bible verses and digging into God's word is another great way to spend date night.

Sometimes we flip through Netflix to see if there's a movie we haven't seen yet. We also get DVDs delivered from Netflix, so if we have a DVD that we got in the mail, we usually save it for date night. Other times we like to pull a game out of our closet.

Some fun games for date night:
Uno
Scrabble
Go Fish
Speed
Monopoly
Sorry
Aggravation

If you're a couple of old school nerds like us, you might even opt for some old video games. Between me and Brian, we have quite a collection of game systems. Super Nintendo, N64, Playstation, PS2, PS3, Xbox, and Wii. We have tons of options for date nights at home.

All of these ideas are even more fun when you build your own fort! Yup, a fort. If you can't tell, Brian and I are still kids at heart. Who has more fun than anyone? Kids! So don't be so serious. Date nights don't always have to be dressy and serious nights out. They should be fun and spontaneous, even at-home date nights!

Brian and I have known each other since 11th grade, and one of my favorite things to do is to recreate old memories. We were young and didn't have a lot of money, and so recreating memories with each other is just another amazing way to spend time together on date night.

I hope you and your spouse enjoy fun date-nights at home when you can't afford to go out. Sometimes not being able to go out is a blessing in disguise.

One Year Later

I cannot believe it has been almost an entire year since I have written anything for this blog! Well it has been a very busy, crazy, and amazing year full of some awesome blessings!

I am still in school. I am a year away from my degree! Honestly, I can't wait for it to be over and done with. Fellow students who have been in school for 5 years plus, know how I feel! So school has taken quite a bit of my time.

In February, Brian and I purchased our first home!! We are finally home owners. It's just a great feeling. We went from living in an apartment for two years (in the third story!), to spending four months with my dad to save up a bit more money for a down payment, and BAM, God showed us a house in Brian's parents neighborhood. It was just meant to be. We are so happy where we are, right now.

And in March, we finally tied the knot! It was an incredible day, filled with incredible people! We were so blessed that so much our family was there to support us on one of the most important days of our lives. I would like to make another blog post with more details on the wedding. Maybe around our one year anniversary! It was a really special day for us. We loved it so much!  And we honeymooned in Colorado for a week.  We got to play in the snow and enjoy the beautiful mountains.

We also took a summer trip to California and got to visit Disneyland!  Is my husband the best or what?!

Then, on July 31st I found out I was pregnant! It’s a funny story of how I found out, but I’ll save that for another day. It’s been a fun ride so far! I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with a little girl! We could not be happier! We are so incredibly excited. I have already started working on her nursery since my mom saved my brother and sister’s crib, my grandma had a changing table for my little cousins that she didn’t use anymore, and my sister-in-law gave me a swing and some other pretty pricey items that she is done with. We are so blessed! My mom and sister-in-law both also gave me a ton of baby clothes. I am so grateful. It will save us a lot of money, which is a huge help!

God has been so amazingly good to us in 2016! We are just so, so, so grateful.

I am hoping since I am on winter break from school, I will be able to post more! We will see. I am supposed to take two certification exams during the winter break, and I will also be going back to work.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Surviving Your Next Semester

It’s pretty stressful being in school full time and also working (part time or full time), along with life’s everyday challenges, and I don’t even have kids yet (props to the moms finishing school!). This past semester was one of my most hectic. It was my first semester back to school full-time, and also my first full-time semester at SHSU. On top of returning to school full-time, I started a new job, was busy packing to move out of our apartment, and planning a wedding. Needless to say, I was pretty stressed out. But by the grace of God, I managed to pull off all A’s. He is my strength. He kept me sane and helped me through the struggles. I am so grateful.

Here are a few things that I did to make the semester as smooth as possible:

1. A few weeks before class starts, get your schedule printed and write down what you think each day of the week will be like.
This really helps with time management; realizing how much time you’ll be spending at school and work, and figuring out when your study/homework time will be.

Example of my upcoming Spring Semester:
Monday:
Online Class (SPED 2301) + Homework/Study 8am-10:30am
Work 11am-5pm
Continue Online Class (if necessary) 6pm-8pm
Tuesday:
Work 10am-3:30pm
Class (Math 3381) 4:30-5:50
Homework/study 7pm-8pm
Wednesday
Work 11am-4:30pm
Class (READ 3380) 5:30pm-8:20pm
Thursday:
Work 10am-3:30pm
Class (Math 3381) 4:30-5:50
Homework/study 7pm-8pm
Friday
Online Class (BESL 2301) + Homework/Study 8am-10:30am
Work 11am-5pm
Continue Online Class (if necessary) 6pm-8pm

Weekends:
Wedding Planning
Time for family
(I usually try not to do anything for school on the weekends)

So this is just an example of how I think my week will be going next semester. My school schedule is set in stone, but work isn’t. Luckily, my bosses are pretty flexible (mother/father in-law). But if yours aren’t, always make sure to set your priorities, so even if you work all day, don’t go home and watch Netflix, keep up the hard work and do what you need to for school. I am definitely one of the worst Netflix watchers, but I am also a crazed "to-do list” go getter. I am one of those people who has to get everything on my to-do list ASAP, or else it never gets done. So i do projects and papers ahead of time.

2. Look up your text books a few weeks in advance so you can do your research and order online according to get the cheapest prices.
I usually find my textbooks pretty cheap on amazon and I always order used if the option is there. But if you prefer to get new books, then you have the option of getting amazon prime to get free 2-day shipping. Students get it at a reduced price, but you can also get a 6-month free trial if amazon prime is not in the budget. If you intend to get used books keep in mind that free 2-day shipping doesn’t always apply to used items. And don’t forget to order your books a few weeks before school starts to provide plenty of time for them to arrive before school starts.

3. Find out where you’re going.
This may be extreme, but the day before I first started at Sam, I had maps of where all the buildings were, and where all the parking lots were. I made it very easy for me to find parking by arriving early and knowing the exact parking lot I wanted to park in to make sure that I would be close the buildings that my classes were in. It worked out pretty well! And saved me time and stress.

4. Gather your syllabi from each class and look at the schedules.
I usually like to write exam dates and due dates in my planner in case I lose a syllabus (but make sure you never lose any!) I always go through the assignments and projects I will be doing and the rubrics for them. I also look at how much each assignment/project/exam is worth. These are good things to review in order to aim for the grade you want (hopefully you’re aiming for an A).

5. Make a schedule for your assigned reading.
Each syllabus will most likely list what you need to read and when it needs to be read by. Look at how many pages you’ll have to read and determine whether the reading can be done in one sitting or will have to be broken up by a few days.

For Instance:
Read Chapter 3 by next Tuesday (4 days from now). Chapter 3 has 28 pages. You can wake up early, make a pot of coffee, and read the entire chapter in one sitting, or you can go easy on yourself and break it up. 28 pages in 4 days = 7 pages a day.

If you have to read a chapter in each book in 4 days, do the same for each book. Break the pages up between the four days, and read each books assigned pages of the day, but break that up too. Example: Book 1 in the morning (5 pages a day), book 2 during lunch (8 pages a day), book 3 after work (11 pages a day), book 4 before bed (4 pages a day). That way you don’t confuse your readings. And read them in the same order each day. You can decide which book to read during certain times of day, for instance, if I know I wake up late in the morning, I would choose the book with the least pages to read in the morning, or I would choose that book to read before bed because I know I will be tired and not in the mood to read.

6. Work ahead of your syllabus schedule
Try your best to start assignments or projects long before the due date (if your schedule permits) so you won’t be stressing and cramming when you knew the due date all along. I tend to work pretty well under pressure, but I prefer not to. I like to give myself plenty of time to work on something so I don’t have to feel like “there’s not enough time to do it, so why put in 100%?” So try to avoid procrastinating. As soon as you find out about a new assignment, start it right away. It feels awesome to get things done with a week or two to spare! Trust me.

7. Create a “time to study” atmosphere.
Make sure your desk is clear of clutter so you can focus on school. I don’t have an office/desk area at the moment, so I tend to do all my school stuff on my bed. I like to make sure that my room is tidy and my bed is made, this makes me feel less stressed and more focused. A mess can be really distracting, and I just can’t study until I clean it up. I also love candles, so I like to light one or two just to make myself a little more relaxed.

8. Keep your highlighters and post-it notes handy.
Highlighters are pretty much my best friend when it comes to reading textbooks and studying. If I think it will be important, I highlight it. It makes homework/research a little easier. Sometimes it really helps getting used books because the previous owner most likely already highlighted all the important stuff. But you might want to use a different color highlighter so you can tell what they highlighted and what you highlighted. Great minds don’t always think alike!

9. Flashcards & Study Guides!
Flashcards and study guides are great resources for studying for exams. Many professors create study guides for you about the material that will be on the test, they’ll go over key points that they hit throughout class that you will need to go over. That’s when flash cards come in handy. You can use them for vocabulary, formulas, and so on. This makes it easy to quiz yourself and review for your test. Not all professors create study guides, so use your notes you took in class and also what you highlighted in your textbook and create your own study guide.

10. Prayer for peace and rest
There were plenty of times last semester where I would lie awake at night thinking about all the things that I had to do the next day or the next week. I would stress and worry, but then God would put it on my heart to stop thinking about it, give my troubles to Him, and get some rest. His word reminded me of His truth. Read these verses and keep them in your heart:

”Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” -Matthew 6:27

”Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” -Philippians 4:6-7

"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength” -Philippians 4:13


I hope you all have a great next semester! Feel free to share your own tips for surviving a crazy semester!