Show Us Your Life - How you picked your kids names/future names

Welcome over from Kelly's Blog. 

Of course, we don't have kids yet but we have talked about names.
Trevor is the 7th generation, first born son. Did that make sense? For 7 generations, the first born has always been a son. T's dad(first born and son), T's granddad(first born and son), etc. So there is NO pressure for us to have a boy first. ;) 
If we are blessed with a boy, first born or not, he will be named...

(Kit credit: Boys will be boys by Vicki A Work in Progress)

He would go by Trace, because that's a big name for a little boy. ;)

And if we were blessed with a girl, she would be named...

(Kit Credit: Pink Mocha by Vicki A Work in Progress)

Trevor likes the name Mary. Rainey is my mother's maiden name. Since I like double names and we both love family names, we though Mary Rainey was cute. I have literally fallen in love with this name. =)

Other family names that we would like to use...

Mac(after T's grandfather)

Lawrence(after my Granddaddy)

We have just toyed around with how to put the two of them together and I think Mackensie Lawrence is adorable(and could possibly) be changed around to suit either male or female. 

Any suggestions for using those two names?

Show Us Your Life - Money Saving Tips

Welcome to Show Us Your Life - Money Saving Tips.
Thanks for stopping by from Kelly's blog! If you are new, welcome to my humble home blog. I love making new friends. :)

Let me begin by saying we live on a seriously tight budget. This may be revealing too much, but I am all for keeping it real... and honestly, I'd like to look back one day and realize how different things really are for us. Our joint income in 2009 barely reached into 5 digits. Yes, last year we barely made over $10,000 between the two of us. I can honestly say this past year has made us stronger spiritually as a couple and individually and we only made it by through the grace of God. Looking back it is amazing and humbling to see how He has provided. In the fall Trevor and I were both in school. When time came up to register for spring, he opted out to work as a security guard full time. Since then, our income has changed some but not significantly. Despite the difference, we are still using the tighter budget and finally able to save some money. I've learned how to save money and budget and I am still learning, growing and changing. I actually take it as a fun challenge now. ;)

Ways we learned to save money:
1. Set a budget and stick too it. Seriously, it takes a while to get used to it but once you do it will almost be second nature. We researched what percentage of your income each area of your budget should be. Some things had to be adjusted for us... Housing is only supposed to be 20-30% of your income. Ours is a whopping 56.7%... ouch!
Funny story. Tuesday, T and I went to the grocery store before he had to go to work. The young couple in front of us spent $189 and some change on groceries. As the husband was swiping the card, the wife said, "I hope this is enough to last us through the week." She was honestly worried that almost $200 worth of food wasn't going to be enough to feed them for a week? We aren't talking steaks here. It was just a lot of convenience foods and snacks. My grocery budget includes our eating out. On a good week, we have $60 to spend. Yes, $60 on eating out and groceries for 2 people for one week. I am hoping to gradually bring this amount even lower. Trevor turned to me after they left and said, "Baby, I may tease you about the whole budgeting thing, but I want you to know I appreciate that you know how to feed me and keep money in the bank." THAT made all of the effort completely worth it.

3. Cutting back on "spending money". T and I both get $20 a week spending money. This is to cover any snacks/food(at work or, for me, at school) or saving for special things. T likes to spend his spending money on fishing/sports/cars. I like to spend mine on books. ;)

2. Envelope system - this might not work for everyone but it definitely works for us. The only money that stays in our bank account are tithe, housing, and any bills that we pay online or are automatically taken out. There are several main areas that we set aside first, priority areas(tithe, housing, utilities, etc). After that we divide the remainder of the money over the lower priority envelopes. We have always tried to save money but it never really seemed to work before the envelope system. The "swipe it and go" theory IS NOT how I want to live my life.

3. Couponing - for just an hour or so a week you can save big time. Couponing blogs are some of my favorite. It takes more time and effort when you are first getting started but it is definitely worth it. If I can invest 1-2 hours of my time and save more than $20, I consider my time well spent. If I can save $60-100, I consider my time exceptionally well spent. ;) Once my time isn't as consumed with school(oh Monday, please hurry), I plan to spend even more time couponing. For those who have never used a coupon or think it is a waste of time or money, here is something to think about... If you buy 1 newspaper a week at Walmart for $0.99 and only use 1 $1 coupon, then it has paid for itself. Even on slow weeks, it pays for itself. Sounds good to me. ;)

4. Eat at home. Sounds simply, right? Eating out makes a HUGE dent in people's budget.

5. Eat from your pantry/menu planning - During January I took part in the Eat from the Pantry Challenge. I set a budget for $100 on groceries and only spent $85.65. I truly stretched myself. This was hard but so rewarding. After all, the money we saved helped pay for a trip to Disney World. ;o) I plan to try it again in May. Not sure how well it will go but I definitely want to empty out my pantry and freezer before we move.
Want to know more about what I learned from the EFTPC? Check out my first post, last post and all the posts in between. Menu planning goes a long way in saving money. After shopping sales and coupons, I usually only have to buy a few items, if any, to make several meals. This week I bought less than 20 items to make almost 2 weeks worth of meals because of what I already had stockpiled(thank you, coupons!).

6. Pay Cash if possible - we want to pay cash for as much as possible. Unfortunately, we have learned that this is not always a good thing. Unestablished credit is worse than no credit. Apparently our utilities and such aren't enough.
*Please correct me if this is wrong, I am simply going on what I have learned from the people at our bank as well as friends and family members. I welcome any advise or opinions in the matter. I am credit clueless but don't wish to remain so.*We were advised by many people, whom we completely trust, and all of them told us basically the same thing. It boiled down to this: loans, credit cards, etc are not reported on your credit until after 6 months. Also,it apparently looks best on your credit report if you pay only the minimum for the first 6 months and then pay it off in full. If you pay it off in full from the get go it doesn't even make a difference, good or bad, on your credit.
We just got our first credit card and are only paying the minimum for the first 6 months. After that we will not use it at all if we cannot pay it off completely at the end of the month. Also, we plan to make minimum payments on students loans and then start paying as much extra each month as possible. Oh goodness, don't get me started on the interest that accumulates!

7. Adding this a little late. I can't believe I forgot it! Swagbucks. Basically it is a search enjoy, with the same results as google but you when points for your searches. I love cashing in my points for gift cards and have raved about it before. ;)
I am hoping that with graduating and, hopefully, finding a full-time job we will be able to live a little more comfortable. But now matter what, I want to hold on to what I learned, that resting in God's arms is much more comfortable/comforting than any financial status or lifestyle could ever hope to provide.
What are some of your money saving tips?

Show Us Your Life - Schedules

My schedule is not really a schedule. Honestly. :) Between school(16+ hours/week) and work (30+ hours/wk), I feel like I have zero time to get things done at home. I have honestly felt like I have been failing as a wife and a homemaker recently. And we won't even begin to talk about how I have felt the last few days with all the time in the world on my hands, Thanks Strep Throat, and not being able to get anything done.
I am open to any and all suggestions on how to better balance this!
T works 3-4 days a week from midnight-8am and then 2 random shifts. This makes life with 1 car rather interesting. We shuffle a lot. ;o)
Monday through Thursday
6:00 - wake up. Or try to at least. I get up no later than 6:20
6:40 -7:15 Breakfast, let Coach and Lady take care of business and feed them.
7:20 Out the door for the commute to school (If I have to pick T up from work before I go, I leave at 7).
Mondays 
8-2:15 Architectural Design 2, short lunch break, Structural Design
4-10:30pm Work
Tuesdays/Thursdays
8-10:15am Elementary Surveying (this is the class I hate because it is outside half of the time. I would NOT be taking this if it wasn't a requirement for graduation in May. Ha)
10:30-12pm I work on my hybrid Revit Architecture assignments
2-10:30pm Work
Wednesdays
8-2:15 Architectural Design 2, short lunch break, Structural Design
6:30pm Renewal at Church
7:45-9pm Adult Choir practice
Fridays/Saturdays
no classes! I try to spend my morning productively getting things done around the apartment or running errands. But I do enjoy sleeping in until a *shocking* 8am. Those extra 2 hours are heavenly!
2-10:30 Work
Sundays
11 Church
Lunch at my parents
4:30 Chi Alpha (youth choir at church) practice
Sunday evenings are spent with T. With his crazy hours and my busy hours, we know that our Sunday nights we can just be still and relax. We call this our "date night" even if that date night consists of us vegging out in bed catching up on some shows via the internet.
Cutting off our cable several months ago seemed like a crazy decision at the time but honestly, I don't even know where I found time in the day to watch all the shows we watched! If we had it now, I can guarantee that I would get nothing productive done when I find some spare time. :)

I'll be home for Christmas

Hey there! Welcome to the humble Spence apartment. Thanks for stopping by!
Some of you might have seen my tree portion of the post before for Kelly's Show Us Your Life Christmas Tree Tour. But don't skip the post because then you'll miss out on all of my other Christmas decorations. ;)

Our Christmas tree is decorated in maroon, cream, and gold.
Most noticeably, it is highly Disney themed. If you have been around for any amount of time, you shouldn't be surprised. ;o) I adore Disney. Since our first Christmas as a married couple was spent working at Disney it seems rather fitting. We used our Christmas money from my Grandmommy to invest in Christmas ornaments that we wanted to have for our first Christmas and many years to come. I have no doubt in my mind that our future children will love Disney. It's in their genes, after all! ;)
Anyway, on to my tree.

(please ignore the fact that it is lopsided. This issue has since been rectified - literally)

I am not going to show pictures of all of my ornaments but I am going to share my favorites of our Disney ornaments! Most of them are a part of Disney's Gift of Love Christmas Collection (I tried googling to give a link to the collection but couldn't find anything. I do know that they were park exclusives last year).

Kissing under the mistletoe - Love it!

This ornament was given to me by my friend and sorority sister, Ila. She was working at Disney with the Disney College Program when we got married. She missed the wedding but she got us incredible discounts on our honeymoon and greeted us with this lovely ornament.

It was after our honeymoon that we decided to go back to Disney and participate in the College Program. 2 months later, we moved to Orlando to live, work and play at Disney World for 7 months. =)

Just married. *sigh* =)

More kissing under the mistletoe. By the way, I am on the search for mistletoe to make a "kissing ball". We will see if I succeed or not. So far, it's not working out. Haha

Magic Kingdom *another happy sigh*

Trevor picked this up for our little mini tree last year. He worked at Hollywood Studios the whole time we were there. I worked at Magic Kingdom but then transferred to HS for many reasons. Anyway, he wanted this ornament since we both worked at HS our first Christmas season together.

I have yet to put a picture in this ornament frame. Sad, I know. But I am waiting for the perfect picture. And since T doesn't like taking pictures - that perfect picture might never happen. ;o)

I really liked the way this picture turned out. I think it very well might be my favorite of them all. Just because of the Disney "Love" hanger and the honeymoon ornament.

Here are some of our other, Non-Disney ornaments. =)

On to our mantle. I used a simple, unlit garland and embellished it with white mini lights, extra garland, and other little extras. =)

I found these candle holders a few weeks ago for only a few dollars at a local antique store. I thought their cream and gold color would go perfectly on our mantle.

I used the leftover maroon and cream "berries" from the mantle to add a little extra to my wreath. The glass, framed "S" hangs over our mantle regularly and it fit perfectly inside of the wreath. Not sure if I will ever to do again, but it worked for this year. ;o)

Here are a few pictures of the mantle with the living room lights on. I love sitting in the living room with only the Christmas lights on. It's so cozy and peaceful!

I didn't hang our stockings on the mantle. They just didn't seem to look right with the garland. Instead they are hanging on a wall adjacent to the mantle underneath one of our shelves.
Our stockings were made by my mother and one of my sisters. My family has always had hand-made quilted stockings like these. My parent's still have mine and Trevor's original stockings but last year they mailed us our "own" set of stocking.

And how completely fitting for us that they have Disney print on the back. ;o)

I have 2 of these little trees on either side of the fireplace. I won them as door prizes at our church's choir retreat in August. The decorations were Christmas themed since we were kicking off learning our Christmas music. I won two of the table centerpiece trees.

This little mini tree is on our entry table. It is decorated in gingerbread and candy ornaments. The table also includes some of my Christmas gingerbread collection.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I can't wait to look at your home decked out in all of its Christmas splendor, as well as all of the other homes being shared. I love getting a sneak peak into other home and seeing how they add personal touches to their decor.

This post is linked to:

The Christmas Tour of Homes


Hooked on Houses


The Inspired Room


Southern Hospitality Blog

Funky Junk Interiors

Christmas Traditions

If you haven't entered my giveaway, go check it out!

When we lived in Texas and Alabama when I was younger, we usually traveled for the major holidays. Now that we live in Mississippi, we are closer to our family(those here in MS and in Louisiana).

Generally we would spend Thanksgiving with my mother's side of the family and do our Christmas gift exchange then. Unfortunately, my mom's side of the family doesn't really get together for the holidays anymore.
My MaMa(grandmother) and Nanny(great-grandmother) always gave us the same thing, every year in addition to our presents. I won't mention what it is here because, since both MaMa and Nanny have been gone for several years, I have decided to carry on this tradition with my younger siblings. It wasn't anything big, just a little treat. We would get 2, one from each of them. So this year, if I can find these treats, my siblings will each receive 2. :)

We would usually stay home for Christmas. I remember a few years of doing the traditional Christmas morning opening of presents but most of my memories are different, my families non-traditional traditions. :o) We ALWAYS have Poppa's pizza on Christmas Eve. My dad takes orders from everyone and makes homemade pizzas. We each get our own personalized half of a pizza(translation: leftovers for most of us. Yum!). We usually open our presents after pizza. With 7 kids in the family there is a lot of chaos but we try to go in "rounds" and take turns opening presents. Many years the timing was worked around Christmas Eve services at church. I love candle light Christmas Eve services.

Christmas day was spent as a family. We have a time of praise and worship, and read the story of our Savior's birth. My parents decided when I was 5 or 6 to open presents before Christmas day actually hit so that, on Christmas day, we would focus on the true reason for the holiday and spend time simply enjoying our family.

A day or so after Christmas, we used to head to one of my favorite places, Ponchatoula. If you've read this blog for a little while you know of my absolute love of this small town. I adore it.
Since my Granddaddy's death, things have changed some. These days, Grandmommy is the one who does most of the traveling. She takes turns going to visit her children/grandchildren, as well as her siblings.

T knows that I love anything and everything Christmas. Last year was the first year that we didn't go to Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, AL at Christmastime. It wasn't too disappointing since we were at Disney World at the time. I love going to Bellingrath to see all the Christmas lights, walk the gardens and tour the home.
T and I don't have too many Christmas traditions of our own yet. I am sure this will develop over time. :)

I love Christmas movies. Check out my previous post on Christmas movies. Strangely enough, half of the people who arrive on my blog through Google arrive on that post. I have been watching them for weeks now, though there are some that I watch year round. My DVR will most likely go nuts this year. I like Hallmark Christmas movies and especially like ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas.

I also love Christmas music. My ipod has been playing Christmas music consistently since mid-October. It is the only thing I listen to while I am working at my computer at school.

We might not have as many traditions, special moments, or big things happening in our family at Christmas. But I love it none the less. It might seem simple to some, but it is precious to me. =)

Let me know if you dropped in. I love finding new blogs. ;)

Show Us Your Life - Dinner Recipes

These three recipes are so simple to make but absolutely delicious. They are my mom's recipes so I grew up eating them and, thankfully, Trevor loves them! :)


Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
1 pkg Beef Stew Meat
1 Onion - cut in rings
1 pkg mushrooms - slices
1 Onion Soup Mix
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
16 ox Sour Cream
1 pkg Egg Noodles

Put stew meat in the crockpot, covered with onion, mushrooms, onion soup mix, and cream of mushroom soup.
Cook on LOW all day.
When ready to serve, stir in sour cream and cooked egg noodles.

Campfire Stew
1 lb ground meat
2 cans vegetable soup
1 can corn
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Brown the ground meat and drain off excess fat. Add other ingredients plus 1/3 can of water. Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Chicken Rice Casserole
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Noodle soup
3/4 cup rice, long grain - raw
4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp Italian Dressing
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper

Combine the two soups in a medium casserole dish. Add 1/4 cup water and the rice. Blend well. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Pour Italian dressing over chicken. Salt and pepper lightly. Cover and back in a 350 degree over for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Uncover and brown 15 minutes more.

My Favorite Vacation Spots

This week Kelly is hosting Show Us Your Life - Favorite Vacation Spots.

Ok, since I am completely clueless... I have no idea how to put the button onto my post. Can someone help me out here? =)

First on my list, of course, is Disney World! Definitely my happy place.

I love Pennsylvania. We went when I was little and I am looking forward to going back. I love Lancaster and I have a slight obsession with Amish people. ;o)I love, love, love Ponchatoula, LA. It is where my dad grew up, where my Grandmommy still lives and where Trevor and I got married. I like going to Ponchatoula anytime but my favorites are during Christmas and their Strawberry Festival. I love the small town feel and going through all the antique shops. I love going to visit but I think it would lose some of its magic if I ever lived here.

Here is a list of places that I want to go visit for the first time or a return visit:
- New York City
- Savannah, Georgia
- Branson, Missouri
- Europe (no where in particular, I would just like to see a little bit of everything)
- Hawaii
- The Bahamas
- Every Disney park (yes, slightly ambitious but I can dream, right?)
- Williamsburg, Virginia

Kelly's Korner's Show Us Your Life: Wedding Reception and Honeymoon

Welcome to my wedding reception and honeymoon via Kelly's Show Us Your Life Tour.
Check out the previous post for a look at my wedding party and flowers.
My wedding reception was held at my grandmother's house.

This next picture is one of my favorites. It brings a smile to my face every time I see it!

Mr. and Mrs. Trevor Spence

Martina, one of my bridesmaids, caught the bouquet. She got married 5 months later. :)

We went to Disney World on my honeymoon. We fell in love with it so much, we returned 3 months later to stay and work May 2008 through January 2009. Disney World is forever my favorite place, and, for me, most definitely my happiest place on earth. I cherish the memories, not only from our week long honeymoon, but from our 7 month "extended honeymoon".

Magic Kingdom =)

Mickey and Minnie "wedding" ears. :o)

Disney's Hollywood Studios at Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. I was inside of the dog's nose. :)

Yes, I know we look young in this picture. Shocking. ;)

More Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.

Such personalities joined together forever...

At the beach of the Grand Floridian, Trevor wrote "March 8, 2008 Trevor and Ashley Spence" in the sand. :o)

Thanks for dropping by. Please leave some love. I adore reading new blogs so leave a comment and I will be sure to check yours out.

Have a Magical Day!