Am I Weird Because I Like The Snow?

by | Jan 12, 2019 | From the Heart | 2 comments

Hello Elegant People,

I hope you are having an awesome weekend.
In my area, we received over nine inches of snow yesterday and today we are expecting to get another two to four inches. It has not snowed like this in many, many years. The last couple of years, we only have gotten a few inches for the entire winter season. But I must ask you this question.
Am I weird because I like the snow?

Every time I say that I like to see and play in the snow, I get these Bah Hum bug facial expressions. I don’t look at you crazy when you say you like to bask in humidity and heat.  I get rebuttals like It needs to be 90 degrees,  I hate driving in the snow, or all I need to see is a dusting on the grass and that’s enough.
I hear you, some people drive crazy and that’s even with no snow. I can’t tell you how many people I see speeding up to beat the red light or it’s red for a few seconds and they run it any way.

Seeing the snow fall makes me feel like a kid again, what can I say I am a big kid anyway.  I want to keep that magical glimmer of fascination, peace and wonder alive each and every day. Life is what you make it so might as while turn that frown upside down and smile. Would you believe I married a man who enjoys the winter too, bonus.

Ever since I have been a little girl, I have always enjoyed the snow, being out in the snow and, of course, playing in the snow with my doggies. When the snow first started to fall and I saw it begin to accumulate, my heart fills with excitement and anticipation. I remember that my feet would get cold for being outside for a long time. Also, as a child, it would snow regularly throughout the winter season. I remember thinking, how much snow will we get?  Will school be cancelled?

Now as an adult, I still enjoy seeing the snow come down. It is so peaceful when the snow has fallen and I can go outside. Many people are not out and about. There’s nothing like it.

If you don’t like the snow, there’s nothing wrong with that. Be safe in the snow while you’re driving and are able to get in the house quick. I pray you have four-wheel drive and it doesn’t take a long time for you to get to your destination.

For those of you who are kids at heart or have kids, let’s build a snowman.

Jay with the snowman

Today’s snow was perfect for making a snowman. A little on the wet side, so that the snow could be packed together. It wasn’t not too wet where it was slushy. And too dry where it wouldn’t stay together. And we hadn’t had this much snow in a while where we could. be building a snowman.

Let me know your thoughts about snow. Yes? No? Only at Christmas time? Only on TV?

Twenty One Days of Prayer and Fasting

by | Jan 10, 2019 | From the Heart | 0 comments

Hello Beautiful People,

January 11th is the beginning of our church’s annual 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. This is the fourth year that my hubby and I will be participating in the fast since joining Church on the Rock at the end of 2014.

via COTR.org

Why Fast? 21 According to COTR, Days of Prayer and Fasting is a time designed to prioritize our relationship with God and to focus our attention on what matters most. How you start the year matters. We want to encourage and empower you to start 2019 seeking God’s wisdom, strength, and direction for your life.

What is so refreshing is that you are not alone while on the fast. For each day of the fast, our Pastor has a video of encouragement with a focus on a specific scripture from Proverbs. You can access the video each day here. If you would like to participate and you are not in Missouri, there are ways that you can be a part of our family.

All these tools are great during a fast because it keeps us centered and gives us direction.

I know you are asking, why fast?  Fasting clears my mind of the clutter and allows me to focus on my personal relationship with God at a deeper level. I will not say that it is easy because you are giving up something for 21 days that has created a habit whether it be sugar, facebook, soda, or football. Fasting is putting God first and allowing him into your heart.

Should I share what I am Fasting?
If you want to share what you are fasting that is fine; but if you want to keep it to yourself, that’s okay too. Some people fast social media, but I fast certain types of food. The Daniel Fast is what my hubby and I have started doing in January these past few years and it leaves you so energized at the end that you don’t want to stop the Fast. For this fast, we will not eating any meat or food from animals, or any food that includes sugar.

How To Get Your Finances In Shape This Year

by | Jan 9, 2019 | From the Heart | 2 comments

Image Credit

The start of a new year is always a time when people begin thinking about their goals for the year ahead and what they’d like to achieve – whether it’s fitness and health goals, giving up bad habits, or simply starting to save more money for those things on their goal list, such as one day buying a house.

If you feel like you’ve not been great with your finances in the past and really have a big goal this year of finally getting them in shape, then hopefully the tips we’re going to share with you in this post will help you to do that.

Before we start, though: it’s important that you realize that you’re probably not as bad with money as you think. Often we’re our own worst critics and will say things like about ourselves like “oh, I’m awful with money” – yet, you’re probably better than you think. These things are often stories that we carry from early childhood, and once we clear those stories and start building good habits around money, then it becomes clear that everything is always teachable for those who are willing to learn.

So, let’s get into some simple strategies you can start implementing to finally get your finances in shape this year so that you can start working towards that goal of being able to approach a company like https://altrua.ca/ and be able to get a mortgage for your first home.

Get honest with yourself:
The first step in getting good at managing your finances is to get really honest with yourself about your current financial situation. Yes, doing this can often be scary, but it’s also empowering once you take back that control, and the good thing is, often things are nowhere near as bad as they might seem. So, open up all those reminder letters you’ve been hiding in drawers and create a spreadsheet or paper list of everything you owe and really get a look at what you’re dealing with. This is the only way you’re going to be able to improve your situation if you actually know where you’re going to be starting from.

Set a savings goal:
If savings are going to be part of your new financial fitness plan, which most likely they will be, then you need to set a goal for how much you’d like to save and by when. The thing with setting goals is – especially financial ones is most people will choose a quite arbitrary number which they either just pluck out of the air or they pick one that sounds good. Like, “I’d like to have $10K in the bank by the end of next month.” That’s a great goal for sure, but it’s a little unrealistic for most people, and you want to be able to make a goal that’s easily achievable because this is what will keep you motivated to keep going. For this to happen, you need to set specific goals- preferably an amount you have a connection with and that pertains to something you want. So, for example, if you’re saving for a house deposit, and you want to buy a house in 3 years, how much would you need to save each month to have a 10% deposit in that time? Now you have a number that’s related to a very specific outcome you want to achieve.

Create a budget:
Budgeting is one of those things that people often shy away from because they feel like it’s limiting, but actually it’s quite the opposite – it’s all about taking control and giving each dollar a home and purpose. So, instead of just hitting the supermarket each week with no real plan and spending a few hundred on food, then it’s a better idea to have a specific weekly grocery budget and then, not only will you save money because each penny is allocated to something, but you’ll make better choices with your food which will impact your health overall. You should also then budget a certain amount for savings and other things that you want to buy – either long term or short term. If you’ve never created a budget before, it’s really simply. You can find many free and low cost budgeting softwares online to help you, or you can simply use a spreadsheet – how you do it is up to you, but starting and sticking to it is the most important thing.

Automate your savings:
Once you’ve set yourself a savings goal and have accounted for that amount in your weekly or monthly budget, then one of the best ways to get into the habit of sticking to topping up your savings is by automating the process of the money leaving your main account and going to your savings account. You could also give your savings account a specific name – for example, you could name the account “Dream House Savings” so that when you feel tempted to take some money out, you see that and remember that if you do, getting your house will take longer than you want it to.

Start slow:
One of the most important things here is to be kind on yourself – you may be tempted to go in at the beginning all excited and full of enthusiasm and start saving like crazy, and although your intentions are great, you need to remember that this is probably not sustainable and has a higher chance of failure than if you start off more slowly. You may feel bad about this or like you’re not saving enough, but just the fact that you’re saving anything in this day and age where the biggest majority of adults don’t have any savings is a great thing, so you need to start slow and be okay with the fact that some things will take a while, but that the wait will be worth it.

Reward yourself:
Another goal setting technique to keep you on track is once you’ve set your main goal, then break it down into certain milestones – this can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, or whichever time frame works for you. How this works is instead of focusing on the main goal, you break it down into smaller chunks and once you hit that milestone, you reward yourself with something nice because your efforts still deserve recognition. So, for example, say your goal is to save $30K in 3 years, then you can break that down and once you’ve saved a certain amount – let’s say $3K towards that goal, then you could treat yourself to a nice day out somewhere or you could even purchase something for the house that you’re now even closer to buying.

Keep things that will motivate you:
It’s important when setting goals that you’re able to be reminded of them each day. If you’re a visual person, you could keep a vision board above your desk, or you could keep a scrapbook of images of what your new house will look like. This is to keep your goal front of mind and keep you motivated to achieve it. If you’re not a visual person, you could use words instead. You could use post-it notes that you could keep on your fridge reminding you of your goal or what it will feel like when you’ve achieved your goal.

Look at where you can cut back:
Most of us nowadays are spending more money on things that we really don’t need, so when you’re setting your budget in the step above, make sure you take a look at the things you’re buying that you really don’t need. For example, the cup of coffee you buy on the way to work each day doesn’t seem like much, but when you add it up over the course of a month or year, it’s a good chunk of money that could be going in your savings, so why not try making your coffee at home instead – even just a few days per week and seeing if you notice the difference? You’ll be surprised just how quickly all these small things do add up.

FTC Disclaimer:
This is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links.

What Does Labor Day Mean To You?

by | Sep 3, 2018 | From the Heart | 0 comments

Hi Lovelies,

Today is Labor Day and I hope you are relaxing and enjoying your day off.  However, everyone does not get Labor Day off. Yes, it’s true, not everyone gets a day off on Labor Day. If you have to work today, I want you to know that BubblingWithEleganceAndGrace.com appreciates you and hope you get a day off soon because you deserve it.

It may be September, but it’s still summer and very hot. The flowers are in full bloom and I had to stop and think about what this day really means.

Flower Garden

This video clip from the CBS Morning Show goes into great detail about the origins of the Labor Day holiday. I found it be very interesting and it expanded the my understanding of the holiday. Watch it here!

Did you know that not wearing white after summer did not start out as a fashion statement? Being life long learners, we must grow and learn everyday.