I'm here! Just pregnant!

Nope, haven't dropped off the face of the earth! But I am 5 weeks from delivery and recovering from a nasty sinus infection so...things have been interesting. But I did want to share this little project with you!

Tomorrow is the last day of school for us here, so I was working on some end-of-year gifts for teachers.  My son's teacher has had a particularly difficult year with her class (she had 27 kids and about 9 of them were troublemakers- my son not included!) so I thought this would be an appropriate sentiment for her.

I pretty much just copied the "Keep Calm" posters I'd seen out there and found a similar font, then worked with it on my computer until I liked how it looked. I just used free clipart for the book image, and then I printed it out on plain paper to see how it looked and make sure it would fit correctly on my dictionary page.

Then I took my dictionary page- the one with the definition for "teacher" on it- from an old dictionary and I centered it over the printout on the plain sheet of paper. (I held the dictionary sheet up to the light so I could see the wording on the plain sheet behind it and get it lined up correctly.) Next, I used scotch tape to secure it- I used just a thin edge of the tape on the edge of the dictionary page, leaving most of the tape attached to the plain printer paper. That way it would feed through the printer without getting jammed and, if the tape was difficult to remove from the dictionary page I could just trim off that little edge with my paper trimmer. A word of caution: make sure you know which way text will print on your paper before feeding it into your printer- you don't want to end up wrecking your chosen dictionary page with upside-down text!! I will sometimes draw a little arrow for myself on my test sheet to remind me which way I put it in. :-)

Once my words were printed on my dictionary page, I mounted it with glue dots onto a piece of patterned scrapbook paper (like a mat) and put it into my thrift store frame. The whole project cost less than a dollar and turned out quite nicely!

Did you do any crafty/thrifty projects for your kids' teachers this year? Leave a comment and share! (I always need new ideas for next year!)

Backyard Toys and the Book Exchange

Spring has sprung and that means it's time to get outside! If your kids are at all like my kids, their outdoor toys get cracked, faded, and brittle from being out in the sun or broken from being chewed up by the lawnmower or the dog. This year was no different! In preparation for the first lawn-mowing of the year last week I went around the yard collecting the various plastic pieces of what once were toys and tossing them in the trash.

Sadly, the kids weren't left with much.

So we made our annual trip to the Goodwill Outlet for outdoor toys! My kids love this trip because they can toss all the junky toys they want into the cart and rarely hear a protest from me. I love this trip because my kids get to have fun and because all their new goodies will keep them busy outside for hours! I love using Goodwill as our source for outdoor toys because then when they get cracked, broken and eaten by the lawnmower I don't mind tossing them in the trash and no one sheds a tear.

This year we picked up a plastic baseball bat, watering can, dump truck, several small cars and various figurines (most from McDonald's at one point, I think), some baskets and cups (great for collecting flowers and having a tea party), a squirt gun and some other random odds and ends. Most of the small toys will live in the sand & water table.

As soon as we got home the kids raced outside with their loot and had a grand time!

And I got to spend some time with my loot as well:

The stack on the left are books I bought for me- 3 books by one of my favorite authors, Adriana Trigiani, plus two books I've read before but I don't own but think I should because they're just great books (The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands and All Your Worth).

The stack on the right are the books I plan to take to The Book Exchange, a used bookstore that allows trade-ins of paperbacks. They'll give you 1/4 of the cover price in store credit which you can then use to buy any of the books in the store, all listed at 1/2 their cover price. Since the Goodwill Outlet only charges $0.25 per paperback, it's always a good deal for me. That stack there should net me about $22 in store credit and I only spent $2. Even if they only accept 2 of the books (they don't accept everything) I'll still have come out on top. Sweet, right?

Total spent at the Goodwill Outlet this trip: $8.36 (about $4 for toys, $4 for books)

What's your outdoor toy situation like? Do you prefer to buy used?

Let's Go Window Shopping at Twigs!

I got to spend a lovely spring break with my kids up at my mom's house in Lovettsville, Virginia. It's about a 3-hour drive to get there, but when I visit there it's like a whole other world. The scenery is amazing, and it's hard to believe it's only an hour outside of Washington, DC.

My mom and I got a chance to sneak away one afternoon to visit one of my favorite shops in nearby Purcellville, called Twigs (www.twigsva.com). I thought it would be fun to take some photos as we shopped so you could all window shop with me- eye candy is my gift to you! Many of the items are out of my budget but it's just so fun to be amidst all the girly-ness and such lovely high quality items.

I fell completely in love with this gorgeous lacy tunic just inside the front door- the scarf was beautiful, too.

One whole room of the store was dedicated to scents- scented soaps, candles, and cleaning products. My favorite scent was the lavender pine- mmmm! They also had bathrobes, pajamas, and personal beauty pampering supplies.

There was also a room upstairs with children's toys, decor, and clothing. I loved this little pinwheel- I think I may try to make one myself!

This birdhouse was completely adorable. I love the rustic driftwood look.

This room was dedicated to kitchen and dining- don't you love those flatware chandeliers? How fun!

I love going to stores and seeing items that are strictly luxury splurges, like these Rice Flower scented drawer liners. I want some Rice Flower scented drawer liners!

Then there were these emery boards- I just loved the bright colors and fun patterns.

I reeeeally loved this gorgeous bracelet! I discovered that it was part of the Robin Goodfellow jewelry collection. There were several other pieces there that I adored, all very leafy and delicate and beautiful.

This was my one purchase of the day: a little $3 scented sachet. I just love it. Every time I get a whiff I just go, "Ahhhh."

Do you have a favorite little shop like "Twigs"? Leave a comment and tell me about it!

Linking up to:

LDS Writer Blogfest: Revelation and Inspiration

Welcome back to the LDS Writer Blogfest! You may remember that I participated in this fun event last year with my post, Guided By the Holy Spirit. This year I am hopping in once again to share my thoughts on the inspired words of the apostle Richard G. Scott, from his talk, "How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life," from the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 2012.

President Scott holds a special place in my heart. When I was in college (NOT in Utah!) I got to attend a special Young Adult Fireside where he spoke and I had the opportunity to meet him afterward. He truly has a kind and gentle soul. Currently, his nephew is actually serving as my stake president (for those of you who are not members, he is the leader in charge of multiple congregations in central Virginia). I love seeing the family resemblance when I hear both President Scotts speak, both in General Conference and Stake Conference.

So how exactly do you receive personal inspiration and revelation and what's the difference?

President Scott taught that revelation is "crisp and clear and essential," while inspiration is "a series of promptings we often have to guide us step by step to a worthy objective."

Have you ever had either?

I remember one distinct experience I had with personal revelation, mostly because it's one of the only times anything has ever come to me in such a "crisp, clear, and essential" way. I was asked to be a "parent" at our Stake's Youth Conference. The parents were required to do a series of morning devotionals with our youth "family", and while my husband and I had discussed these, I still felt that something was lacking. I took my concerns to the Lord in prayer and I remember feeling overcome with the feeling of the Spirit. At the same time, distinct words entered my mind. Each one began with, "They need to know..." The Lord gave me a specific list of things that He wanted these youth to know, and that my husband and I were to teach them.

Needless to say, that's what I taught! I was so overwhelmed and humbled by the experience, and mostly by the gravity of the importance of teaching these special youth. The most important message I gained from that experience were that they mattered to Him. He was putting them in my charge and that was no small thing- He gave me that experience not only because He needed them to know certain truths, but because He needed me to know how incredibly important they were to Him.

I have had other experiences with revelation- much like President Scott knowing he should marry his wife, my revelation that I wanted to marry my husband came when the words came out of my mouth, "You do know I want to marry you, right?" I was as surprised to hear them as he was! We had only been dating for 1 week! But it'll be 10 years next month since our wedding day and I still know that this was a match made by God.

President Scott also talks about how important it is to ask God when we have concerns, and he explained his method for receiving revelation and inspiration:

1. Fast

2. Pray, ask the Lord to direct you to scriptures that will aid you in finding answers.

3. Read the scriptures; ponder and pray

4. Repeat.

I would add one more step to this list that President Scott has discussed in previous talks- write down any impressions you may have. This will be your own personal scripture to which you can refer when doubts arise in your mind.

President Scott talked about the things that can hinder revelation and inspiration: "emotions such as anger, hurt, or defensiveness" and "haughtiness, pride, and conceit" can push the Spirit away, as will "loud, inappropriate laughter" and "exaggeration or loudness in what is stated." I feel that last one is why General Conference and the meetings of the church hold such a different feeling about them than meetings of other mainstream religions- we don't have a preacher shouting from the pulpit, walking around, using grand arm gestures and verbose language. Words from the Lord come quietly and clearly, spoken by the Spirit, without great fanfare from man.

Another important message from this talk was President Scott's counsel that, "Exercise, reasonable amounts of sleep, and good eating habits increase our capacity to receive and understand revelation." As members of the church, we believe that our bodies are sacred, and so it makes sense that we should be caring for them as the temples for our spirits. The more pure and refined the temple, the greater its ability to be a receptacle for the Spirit of the Lord.

President Scott's talk held many other beautiful truths, but these were just a few I wanted to share with you today. I encourage you to ponder his words and, like he has done, develop your own pattern for receiving personal revelation and inspiration. It is not only possible, it is essential to living our lives in accordance with God's plan for us.

Have you had any experiences with personal revelation and/or inspiration? Please leave a comment and share- I would love to read about it!

To find out more about what I believe as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please visit www.mormon.org.

For those of you fellow bloggers who have come to visit me for the blogfest, be sure to visit the other blog where I contribute, Mormon Mommy Writers. We'd love to have you join us!

Check out these other fantastic bloggers who are participating in the blogfest this week:

Amanda Sowards

Angie Lofthouse

Ben Spendlove

Brittany Larsen

Charity Bradford

Danyelle Ferguson

Giselle Abreu

Julia Keanini

Julie Coulter Bellon

Kasey Tross

Kayeleen Hamblin

Kelly Bryson

Krista Van Dolzer

Laura Johnston

Melanie Standford

Rachelle Christensen

Rebecca Belliston

Sierra Gardner

Stephanie Worlton

A Caribbean State of Mind

I promised y'all some pics, so here ya go!

Guess who came to see us off at the airport in Richmond? Yep, that's Airforce One. It was nice of President Obama to stop by.

The view out the plane as we approached Caribbean waters.

There's the Freeport, Bahamas airport. Yep, the whole thing.

There's our airplane- never deplaned using stairs before!

Cabs were at the airport to take us to our hotel.

The front of the Grand Lucayan

The back of the Grand Lucayan.

If you stand in the middle of that back lawn and turn around, this is what you see- the sea!

My hubby standing on our fifth floor balcony. The rooms were in separate buildings from the main building.

The view from off our balcony.

The day after we arrived we went on a kayaking tour through Lucayan National Park. This is our guide, Ricardo! He was hilarious and so much fun.

We paddled through mangroves in crystal-clear water that led out to the sea.

This is Gold Rock Beach, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. That splash is my husband diving in. The sand was so white and it felt like walking on a memory foam mattress. They actually filmed parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean at this beach.

I'm lovin' it!

Mmm...sushi for dinner! (The doctor said it was okay for me to have sushi, don't worry.)

Moonlight on the water. Seeing this picture makes me hear the waves crashing on the beach.

My feet, and another splash that is, again, my husband diving in. The water was TOO ROUGH for me that day!

The Port Lucaya Marketplace- like an outdoor mall with lots of local restaurants and vendors.

One of the "straw markets" where island ladies sold their wares.

Took this one on a walk around the hotel.

Wuv, twoo wuv.

Guess who got a Mother-to-Be Massage?

My cutie pie walking the beach.

Pensive me.

My poor little snapper. He doesn't look particularly happy about this arrangement.

Like my new headgear?

Playing the nickel slots. Lost all five dollars. Bummer.

My sweetie feeling sad about leaving.

Hanging at the airport after our flight was delayed 5 hours...and then another 2 hours...

Turns out our plane had mechanical problems. So they sent a beast (767) to rescue us!

One last glimpse of the island. I can't wait to go back!!

When we got home we felt so chilled out, it was awesome. My husband and I both agreed we felt like we'd taken some kind of happy drug. If you have the chance to go on vacation- especially to the Bahamas- I highly recommend it. Life on the island is so much smaller and more chill. Shoes are optional everywhere, and it's just such a beautiful place. Good for the soul. :-)

Spiritual Sundays: My Wish for You

I borrowed this video from Laura at Decor to Adore. Love the music, the beautiful scenery, and the inspiring words.

Time to Vacate: How to Save a Ton of Money on Your Next Vacation

Is anyone else ready for a vacation right about now? Well, if you're like me then the tantalizingly close warmer temperatures of spring are making you want to jump the gun and get outta Dodge.

Lucky for me, I AM gettin' outta Dodge! And out of Richmond, too! ;-)

In January my husband and I started talking about our upcoming 10th anniversary in May and we both agreed that with me being pregnant with our fourth child that if we were planning any kind of couple's retreat in the near future, it was now or never (well, now or MUCH later than now). So I started planning.

As luck would have it, I happened upon a radio commercial that advertised very inexpensive nonstop flights to the Bahamas from Richmond International Airport. I started looking into it, and it turns out that it's a small charter airline called Vision Airlines that is offering great promotional deals. They have only a limited number of flights- their flights out of Richmond fly only to and from the Bahamas on Fridays and Mondays.

I checked out their website further and discovered that if you book your airfare and hotel accommodations together through the airline, you can get a pretty good deal. How good, you ask?

4 days, 3 nights for 2 at a 4-star beachfront resort, ocean view room, airfare included, for $750.

Call me crazy, but I call that a deal!! Once I got us all booked, I began looking into this further. I wondered, were there other airlines that offered deals like these? How else could I work my love of travel into my beautiful thrifty life?

I came across this article that mentions Vision Airlines along with several other small airlines that offer dirt-cheap rates between small cities in and near the continental U.S. For example, the airline Allegiant Air offers round-trip tickets from Newport News, VA to Orlando, Florida for as low as $100/person. Not bad! If you're planning any travel in the near future, check out the article and see if there are any small airlines flying out of airports near you that can get you to your destination for much less than major carriers. Keep in mind that you won't be able to find these low fares through websites such as Travelocity or Priceline. Airlines have to pay to be featured on these sites, and one of the ways that smaller airlines keep costs low is by not paying to be affiliated with discount travel sites.

Speaking of discount travel sites, another one of my favorite haunts is Kayak. If you want to have some fun, go to kayak.com and click on the link that says, "More". Then go down to the bottom of that page and click on "Explore". This will take you to a page where you can enter your closest airport and a big map will pop up showing the best current flight deals to locations all over the world. If you can do some research and pair these with good deals on accommodations, then you've got a budget vacation in the making.

Here are a few more tips:

- Be flexible with EVERYTHING! Have an adventurous spirit and be willing to go where the deals are, when the deals are.

- Think outside the hotel. Websites like www.homeaway.com can help you find vacation rentals that my seem pricey at first, but $1000 for a week is less than $150 a night for your entire family, plus staying in a home with a full kitchen will save you significantly on food expenses for the week. Not to mention it's a LOT more comfortable than a cramped hotel room.

- Team up. Consider inviting extended family or close friends to join you on vacation. You can split the cost of a vacation rental and save a great deal of money. Plus, you can take turns cooking and make GREAT memories together! Take this gorgeous waterfront luxury vacation home on Chincoteague Island in Virginia:

4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms, sleeps 11. Goes from $1500-$2500/week, depending on the season. Split that between two families and you've got $75-$125 per night per family. Split it between 4 couples and you could vacation for a week at a gorgeous home for as little as $375 for the entire week!

- Sometimes closer is better. The home above would be within a comfortable day's drive for my family. Scout around and find vacation spots that are close by- you don't always need an airline flight for a fabulous vacation!

- Go for natural entertainment. If you travel to a place like Orlando, Florida, you'll find that pretty much anything fun you want to do, with the exception of hanging out in the hotel pool, will cost you a lot of money. Find a vacation spot with a lot of natural entertainment for your family- beaches, hiking, national parks, sightseeing, etc. You can intersperse these activities with maybe 1-2 days of pricier pursuits to make for a well-balanced and well-budgeted vacation.

Remember, the best part of a vacation is the people you share it with. The time you spend with them is more important than the money you spend on them. :-)

Are you excited to start planning your family vacation getaway?? Boy, this has gotten me in the mood to start planning for next year...In the meantime, I'll be sure to post photos of our amazing island getaway after we return. :-)

How do you save money on vacations? Leave a comment and share your tips!