Priorities

I have always been someone who sets my goals high and expects myself to reach them all. Well... when real life sets in, I tend to realize that priorities change and goals need to be adjusted. When I started my journey to complete these 25 challenges before my 25th birthday, I think I knew that not all could be achieved. Even with my energy and enthusiasm, every single challenge would not be 100% complete. When looking over my list of challenges to still complete I can already tell which ones I will fall short of completing. One of those challenges is saving $2500 for our Baby Savings Fund. If you would have asked me a year ago, or even 6 months ago what our baby plans were, then I would have said sooner rather than later. Well, after much discussion with my husband, we have decided to wait at least a year before we start trying to have a family. Since we have delayed this life event, I also plan on delaying the savings goal. We will still work on contributing money to our baby savings fund, but in the near future we will be focusing our finances on other priorities we have for our lives. I plan on leaving this challenge on my list, because even if I don't reach it by next March, I know I will hit the savings mark eventually. Life really is all about setting priorities and adjusting when needed... that is how I will look at this one... 'adjusting' instead of 'not completing' the challenge.

One Week Till Gingerbread Party!

Only one week to go until my coworkers and I get together for a gingerbread house decorating party. I just called the bakery today to order the adorable premade mini gingerbread houses for each of the ladies to decorate. We will be having cocktails and appetizers while using our crafting skills and decorating our gingerbread houses with lots of icing and candy! I can't wait to see what our creative minds come up with. I plan on picking up all the fixings for the party next week and before you know it, Wednesday will be here. Stay tuned for all the party details!

Amazing Time in Ouray!

My husband and I just returned home from Ouray, where we had an incredible time! This relaxing getaway was just what we needed to unwind and relax and recharge our batteries. Last night we enjoyed window shopping on main street before enjoying an incredibly delicious dinner at a place called Bon Ton. We enjoyed delicious wine, an amazing smoked salmon appetizer and then we shared the scallops fettuccine and the stuffed carbonara tortellini and then finished off the evening with an incredible tiramisu. Then we headed back to our lodge and spent the evening enjoying the relaxing hot springs. This morning we slept in, enjoyed another round of hot springs, and then did some shopping and had lunch in town before coming home. This trip was amazing for us and so relaxing! I feel like we rested up, enjoyed our time together, and were able to appreciate all the blessings of life! If you plan on traveling to Ouray anytime soon, you have to stay at the Box Canyon Lodge and have dinner at Bon Ton. Hope you get a chance to enjoy this amazing getaway!

Gingerbread House Party - December 1st

The gingerbread house decorating party has been scheduled for December 1st and I have invited my team of co-workers to get together for a holiday celebration and spend the afternoon decorating adorable gingerbread houses. The adorable invitation is shown below.

I can't wait to organize this party and celebrate the holidays with my team. Now I need to get busy on ordering the premade gingerbread houses from the bakery and start buying all kinds of candy and frosting to us. This party is going to be a blast!

Holidays - Right Around the Corner

I can't even believe that the holiday season is right around the corner. I love the holiday season for so many reasons, but mainly the holiday parties and the time spent with family and friends. This holiday season I will be planning a party to decorate gingerbread houses. I enjoy being crafty and what is more perfect that decorating with adorable and colorful candy and icing. I plan on putting this party together sometime in December and I even found the perfect invites to send out. I love using the website http://www.tinyprints.com/ and you can see the invite I have chosen here. I can't wait to order these invites and start planning a festive and fun gingerbread house party. Stay tuned for the party planning details!

5 Days till Ouray!

Even though the week just started, I am already counting down till Saturday. On Saturday morning, my husband and I are leaving for a night away in Ouray. Life has been so hectic lately with us both working long hours and I can tell we really need a break. This quick trip away will be just what we need to relax and enjoy sometime together. We hope to get out of town on Saturday morning around 11am and plan to be back on Sunday around 3pm. I can't wait to relax in the hot springs and enjoy the breaktaking beauty of Ouray! Only 5 days to go...

Going to Ouray!

Last night my wonderful husband took me out to dinner and we started talking about taking a night away and going to Ouray. I have been really stressed and overwhelmed at work, and a night away in Ouray sounds perfect. We plan to head out on a Saturday morning, spend the afternoon in Ouray, go out for a nice dinner, and then soak in the hot springs for the rest of the evening. We have decided on the night of Saturday, November 13th for our little escape away from the crazyiness of life! We plan on staying at this quaint little lodge that has private hot springs tubs that are open all night long... I can't wait!

Adorable Invitations

I absolutely adore the website, tinyprints and I just ordered the invititations for my Pink Pajama Party next month. You can see what the invitations look like before personalizing here. These invites are pink and so perfect for this party! I love taking the printed invitation with me when picking out the favors and decorations for a party, that way everything is a perfect match! The invites should be here in a few days and then I can send them out to the girls and start planning the rest of the party!

Made It! $12,500 in Retirement

I made it to my mini-goal of $12,500 saved for retirement by the end of November! As of today, I have $8989.35 saved in my Roth IRA and $3719.90 saved in my 401k for a total of $12,709.25 saved. I am so thrilled to hit this mini-goal on my way to my ultimate goal of $15,000 saved by next March. I still can't believe that I have been able to get such an early start on saving for retirement and I look forward to be able to reach my next goal!

So Close to $12,500

Awhile back I set a mini-goal of $12,500 in retirement by the end of November. As of this morning, I am so close to that goal with a total of $12,374.29 saved between my Roth IRA and 401k. This means, that after my paycheck deduction to my 401k this Friday, I will be at my mini-goal! This just means I am one more step closer to $15,000 saved by next March!