Ready to Meet the Mrs.?

So the day has come! (and gone..) I am a married woman now and that still feels like just a line in a script to me.  But I'm sure eventually it will be natural....or I'll still be calling him my boyfriend in five years.  Either way, the chaos of graduation and the wedding has come and gone and I am now struggling to return to reality after a great European honeymoon to Rome and Paris.

It's strange, because as happy as I am to settle back down and relax in my home with my boy(husband)friend, I have to now face the issues that come with being a recent grad.  That means - essentially jobless. My new legally attached other half keeps trying to remind me that I do have a job, and do plenty of work around the house (the same arguments moms have been making for themselves for years). However without a bun in the oven or any related situation, I can't accept that as a valid description of my day. Sure I clean and got unpacked and filled the fridge back up, preparing full meals when he gets home and catching the dogs up with the vet and heartgard.  I suppose there's also that online program for web design I just started. But with one course at a time, a "job" that still keeps me in the house all day, I am nearing a severe cabin fever.  Not to mention - WAY too hot to go running anymore, even after dark.

Hopefully something will turn up. I'll keep scourging indeed.com and various sources during the day for work.  I may even revert to my high school self and simply make rounds at the local mall for something in the mean time.  For now, I am trying to focus on my web program and take advantage of any extra resources and projects that come with it. I hope everyone likes my new blog banner, courtesy of my new Adobe CS suite and mandatory practice with Photoshop.  I'll also be listing items on my etsy shop from the wedding. So if anyone would like some conversation pieces for an event, my crafty projects can be found there.  I will post the address to my links page.

I hope an employer turns up soon, ready to meet the Mrs. me.  Because until I'm an established, working adult, I'm still not sure I believe it!

Hand-fasting

Jumping the Broom

New Year New Beginnings

Well here comes the mandatory new year blog post!  I'll try not to get into notions about positive thinking and starting fresh. That's a given and naturally each new year gives us a special time to refocus ourselves and reinstate old goals as well as develop any new ones.

Of course, I am very excited for graduation and marriage, all to come in the first half of this year.  So most of my time and energy will have to be aimed at keeping focused and not letting distractions get in the way.

Resolution #1: Maximize time efficiency to get all school work and wedding projects done and done well.

Spiritually I am finishing up my year and a day Wicca course at the Unitarian church.  Granted I think I've decided I'm more in the way of traditional witchcraft rather than Wicca, but that's the sort of thing I may not have figured out without attending this class.  Not to mention all the other great things I've learned. This class is truly designed to help us find our own way and lend tools that anyone can utilize and alter to fit our personal style. As it should be.

Resolution #2: Continue to learn, study, and grow spiritually in whatever way life leads me. In particular - use my new "Spell-a-Day" Almanac by Llewellyn to help me use magick on a regular basis and start internalizing some of the great information I have been learning.

Of course, there is also the need to hop on that job train that I will have to carve out more time for.  I have a fast approaching deadline to start rounding up some interviews toward finding something to do with my life post-wedding.  I can't wait to see what the world has in store for me (although it is most definitely scare to not know!).

Resolution #3: Try to use some of my spare time to actually apply to jobs, use the career center at school, and keep on top of networking opportunities to find a career. Never lose hope and never stop trying!

I have a few other goals that probably reflect those of many who read this.  Some people look at me and think I must eat healthy and work out and all that jazz.  I am a young adult and blessed with a good metabolism (for the moment).  But any day now, given my genetic predecessors, it will slow down and I'm going to have to do something about it.  So my final new year's resolution is to not only start exercising  but continue doing so.  I have started many times before, but my drive tends to fizzle out after two or three weeks. I need to buckle down and make exercise a routine. I think I have done well eating healthier lately, but I can always keep improving.  I did buy a cookbook today with a lot of delicious, fresh looking meals called "ten dollar dinners" that I am excited to work with.  Two birds with one stone on better eating and saving money! I'll try to take pictures when I get around to making those recipes.

Resolution #4: Exercise and cook great, healthy meals at home :)

So those are my resolutions.  As will any goal, I tried to keep them realistic. I also will try to keep in a positive mindset and realize that I may have hard times and hiccups in juggling all of these and that is ok.  Life goes on and so will I.  As long as I'm trying to stay on track and keep focused on these goals, I will be moving in a good direction.

Good luck to all of you in your resolutions, and don't give up! May the sun rise each day bringing brightest hopes and blessings for everyone.

Happy 2013!

Light on the Favors

I have finally been able to catch up on a few wedding projects over the break.  I don't have all of my RSVP's yet, but I have more than half of them so I was able to get cracking on my wedding favors.  Anyone whose working on this sort of thing might have realized that for some crazy reason most websites want you to spend around $2 a person for favors, which adds up quickly since most weddings are around 100 guests.  I was not ready to settle for that.  Especially when these $2 did not even seem very unique or personal.


I found a great site: save-on-crafts.com. This site has so many random craft supplies for all kinds of projects. It may not be the best organized website, but worth a look if you find something that will work for you. I managed to find some great natural beeswax votive candles, 48 for $25!  While plain looking, at that price I knew I could come up with something.  I later went to Michael's and bought a can of chalkboard spray paint.  I taped off the candles with blue painter's tape and with the help of a friend, we knocked out almost all of these in a weekend.

After all the chalkboard strips had dried on the glass, I used a chalk marker in a sort of sage green color to go with my woodsy theme to write the guests' names and the date of the wedding on them.  A vine flourish made them look unique, personal, and classy.

Nearly done now, I just have some pink/natural colored raffia strings to tie bows on them (pink for girls, natural for boys) and will top with lavender oil and iridescent glitter inside the candle to finish. I am trying to wait on the oil until the last minute so it stays fresh and fragrant :)  I can't wait to see these all over the room, marking the guests' places at their table and am curious to see if 90 lavender anointed candles will add a romantic aroma to the reception!