I’m at my parents’ house with the kids through the end of the month. It was a very fun, spur of the moment (a month ago) trip that came up because of random circumstances with Chris’s job that would make it convenient for him to be in Minneapolis in a week. So, rather than come for 2 days, we came for 10.

It’s so funny- I always come up here thinking that I’ll be able to relax and just get away from everything, when, in reality, it’s usually just as busy if not more while I’m here.

I have to work my regular hours the whole time I’m here because I’m hoarding my last week of vacation for our planned family trip in August.

I want to reconnect with some friends I haven’t seen in a long time.

I want to nap.

I want to go take pictures.

I want to play in the lake.

I want to get away and figure out what’s next for me. It’s time to move on to something new.

I need to have a goal check in.

This is what my friends and I painted on my bedroom wall on my 16th birthday. It’s no masterpiece, but it struck me when I saw it today that art has always been in my life in some form. I made some of the furniture in my parent’s living room. I took several of the pictures on the walls. I got in a river for my graduation pictures for heaven’s sake! There is this artsy fartsy side of me that is dying to become more. More what? is what I need to start to unravel.

Last fall, my husband’s job situation changed, and since, we have been working to be more careful with our spending. We have a budget and try to use cash as much as possible. The only debt that we have is our cars and our houses.

But we both struggle. We don’t live in a society that encourages saving, careful consideration of spending or even a conscious awareness of spending. When so many websites so kindly store your credit card information, with one click bata-bing-bata-boom- you are the new owner of this or that knick knack and your budget is shot.

We have frugal friends, but no one ever seems to go without. Wants are bought on a whim, vacations are scheduled and taken. I struggle with jealousy for what I think others have a lot, when, in reality, I know that they probably have a mountain of credit card debt following them around.

What is your budget philosophy? How do you determine when a “want” is worth it and when the money in the savings account really needs to just stay there? Has your outlook on this changed in the last few years?

Ha! Somehow I accidentally just published this post without actually writing it. So…if you see the blank one, sorry about that!

I had such a lovely evening last nigh. I came home from work with a throbbing headache on the verge of turning into a full-on migraine (I’ve been having a lot of these lately, not fun) so Chris took the kids to the playground without me and I took a half hour nap. Between the meds, the nap and dinner, I was able to stave off the full on headache. Chris helped me get the kids bathed and then he headed out for a show.

I settled in and got to play with my kids. Then, when they went to bed I finished the last 150 or so pages of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I sat outside for a while to read and saw a mama bird feeding her baby. I made some popcorn. When I was on the second to last page, Austin started crying and I got to rock him to sleep while he cuddled into my shoulder, something this active child rarely ever does. I went to bed and laid and talked to my husband, who I seem to never see anymore, for a long time before falling asleep in his arms.

It was a lovely night.

I love necklaces. I love how they can bring out colors in my outfit, draw attention to, well, you know, the girls, and how they can just make me feel pretty.

Today I’m wearing this necklace from What’s In Store, my favorite store right now. I love it because it inspires me. I make jewlery, and ever since the first time I walked in I’ve been inspired to make more and do more. I only buy things that I don’t think I can make myself. They are my treats.

The flood coverage is terrifying, especially because I'm not home. I'm thankful that Chris and the kids went to Kentucky yesterday so I haven't had to worry about their safety. I spoke to the President of out home owners association thus morning and he assured me that the neighborhood was okay, but I can't help but be nervous about what I will find when (if) I make it home tomorrow. The weather channel said the rain is supposed to quit by midnight, I hope they're right and that the airport re-opens tomorrow.

Amanda Moon