DONE
For those who haven't done this, it was a pain, but not as much as I anticipated. Once you have a copy of the marriage license, it's not too bad.
Surprisingly the most "official" accounts, such as credit cards, are the easiest to change; I just called them up and gave them my new name.
The pains were places like Frequent Flyer accounts. They all wanted copies of the marriage license. Luckily, though, I had my maiden name become my middle name. That meant I could have these pain places simply add my new last name to my account, and since nothing was deleted, they didn't need the marriage license!
Good luck to all of you who have to do this. It's not that bad, so I suggest you take an afternoon to just call all your account places and get it done.
To see my entire 50 Goals in 500 Days list, click here.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
3. Speak at church about the health benefits of a vegetarian diet
DONE
I did the worship at my church's youth group (Pathfinders) and spoke about the biblical basis for a animal-free diet. It wasn't about the health benefits, but I think it satisfies this goal.
This presentation was several minutes long and had a sweet PowerPoint, but let me give you the condensed version here:
1. Eden: it was full of vegetarians!
"Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.'" Genesis 1:29 (NIV)
He gave them plants to eat, not animals. This is the healthiest way to live, the way that brings us closest to God.
2. What was the first thing God did after Adam and Eve broke the rules?
He killed an animal: "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Genesis 3:21 (NIV)
This shows the connection between sin and cruelty toward animals
3. Animal Cruelty: God created all of these animals for us to rule, but not for us to ruthlessly slaughter for our whims. He values and cares for every life, even the birds. Go ahead and perform a google image search for "factory farm" and then tell me that God would want Christians to support that type of industry.
"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26 (NIV)
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. " Matthew 6:26 (NIV)
4. The Environment: Unless you've had your head buried in the sand, you know that humanity is polluting the environment. You should also know that a major cause of pollution is the meat (and dairy) industry. If you don't know this, Google it. Why should we care, from a biblical perspective?
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1 (NIV)
God created this wonderful world, and nature is a place we can feel God's presence. We need to preserve nature and not destroy it.
So there are some of the reasons that leading a cruelty-free life is a part of my Christian walk. There are more reasons (including health ones!) but this was a 5-10 minute event, not a 30 minute lecture.
To see my entire 50 Goals in 500 Days list, click here.
I did the worship at my church's youth group (Pathfinders) and spoke about the biblical basis for a animal-free diet. It wasn't about the health benefits, but I think it satisfies this goal.
This presentation was several minutes long and had a sweet PowerPoint, but let me give you the condensed version here:
1. Eden: it was full of vegetarians!
"Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.'" Genesis 1:29 (NIV)
He gave them plants to eat, not animals. This is the healthiest way to live, the way that brings us closest to God.
2. What was the first thing God did after Adam and Eve broke the rules?
He killed an animal: "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Genesis 3:21 (NIV)
This shows the connection between sin and cruelty toward animals
3. Animal Cruelty: God created all of these animals for us to rule, but not for us to ruthlessly slaughter for our whims. He values and cares for every life, even the birds. Go ahead and perform a google image search for "factory farm" and then tell me that God would want Christians to support that type of industry.
"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26 (NIV)
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. " Matthew 6:26 (NIV)
4. The Environment: Unless you've had your head buried in the sand, you know that humanity is polluting the environment. You should also know that a major cause of pollution is the meat (and dairy) industry. If you don't know this, Google it. Why should we care, from a biblical perspective?
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1 (NIV)
God created this wonderful world, and nature is a place we can feel God's presence. We need to preserve nature and not destroy it.
So there are some of the reasons that leading a cruelty-free life is a part of my Christian walk. There are more reasons (including health ones!) but this was a 5-10 minute event, not a 30 minute lecture.
To see my entire 50 Goals in 500 Days list, click here.
Monday, March 29, 2010
An Award!
I feel honored to have been passed the Honest Scrap award by Holly at Scattered Words. So with no further ado here are 10 things you may find interesting about me:1. I'm scary good at mental math. I can add, subtract, divide, and multiply in my head like nobody's business.
2. I would love to re-learn French and speak it well. I took 4 years of French in high school and knew it pretty well, but alas a lot of that is gone since I never used it.
3. I just got bangs a few weeks ago. I hadn't had them since elementary school, and now I have a full-on fringe. Plus, I love it.
4. I had my first green smoothie last week! It was soy milk, banana, frozen blueberries, and spinach. Verdict: yummy, but it really gets stuck in teeth! I look forward to having more since they're supposed to be so crazy good for you. I'm even planning on freezing spinach for these purposes.
5. We went to the shooting range this past week, and on my first shot with a target, I got a perfect bulls-eye! Here's a picture for proof (it shows the bangs too!):
6. I love Star Wars. My husband got me hooked on the movies/culture.7. I hated onions until my now-husband introduced me to delicious cooked onions. Now I eat onions almost every day.
8. I would love to be an athlete. I didn't play organized sports after elementary school, and I always wish I had. I would try sports, but my family never supported me really getting into it. I'm trying to workout more, so maybe someday I'll have a sport.
9. I tutor for the S.A.T., and because of that I'm a grammar whiz. Now that doesn't mean I apply everything I know when writing a blog, so don't hate! I can pick up most grammar errors in a written work, though.
10. I love to read and wish I had more time for it. I also wish I could be the next J.K Rowling or Stephanie Meyer.
Miserly March Wrap-Up
Well, Miserly March was a good experience. Nothing earth shattering happened. We were able to save a bunch of money, but to be honest that's in part because we made a lot this month. My hubby's been getting overtime pay, and I did a lot of tutoring.
We did have some notable saving experiences, though:
1. Thrift Stores
We needed wine rack. All the ones I found at stores were overpriced for what they were. So I decided to checkout the local Goodwill. Well, the first two visits, I had no luck with finding a wine rack. That's the bummer about thrift stores: you never know what they'll have. Well, that plus the smell. They always smell funky. On my third visit, though, I found the best wine rack! It fits in our space perfectly, it's sturdy, and it was only $4!
While at the thrift store, I also found awesome brand new pink heels for $6! They still had the sticker from the store on them! It made my day :-)
I don't love thrift stores. I dislike the smell, and the stigma of being there. But, logically, I appreciate them. Thrift stores allow me to get stuff in an earth-friendly way: I'm saving stuff from the trash, and I'm getting something without energy being used to produce it, since it was already produced and used. Plus thrift stores are inexpensive, especially for household stuff.
2. Costco in Moderation
Don't get me wrong here, Costco's great. But everything there does cost a decent chunk of change, and I am prone to getting stuff we don't really need, or at least we could live without. So by going to Costco less often, we end up saving a whole lot on groceries! I think we went only once in the whole month of March, which is great for us!
3. Going Out to Eat/Drink
We only went out once this month, I believe. At the beginning of the month we made an effort to eat at home, and that quickly became a habit. Now we usually eat at home, but we had taken to eating out when in a hurry or far from home. In March, we really tried to take food with us instead. This was surprisingly easy, even for a sandwich-hater like me. (I don't hate all sandwiches, just PB&J, which is the one type for which we always have supplies). When we took food, we made pitas with falafel we'd made a few days prior. We spread some homemade hummus, put in spinach and falafel, and voila! A yummy portable meal.
When we did go out, it was to visit with friends. We went to a local bar with a great happy hour, so it didn't cost us much.
Well, that's my Miserly March wrap-up. Sorry it's not too exciting :-/ Hopefully someone else gets some ideas to help save money!
We did have some notable saving experiences, though:
1. Thrift Stores
We needed wine rack. All the ones I found at stores were overpriced for what they were. So I decided to checkout the local Goodwill. Well, the first two visits, I had no luck with finding a wine rack. That's the bummer about thrift stores: you never know what they'll have. Well, that plus the smell. They always smell funky. On my third visit, though, I found the best wine rack! It fits in our space perfectly, it's sturdy, and it was only $4!
While at the thrift store, I also found awesome brand new pink heels for $6! They still had the sticker from the store on them! It made my day :-)
I don't love thrift stores. I dislike the smell, and the stigma of being there. But, logically, I appreciate them. Thrift stores allow me to get stuff in an earth-friendly way: I'm saving stuff from the trash, and I'm getting something without energy being used to produce it, since it was already produced and used. Plus thrift stores are inexpensive, especially for household stuff.
2. Costco in Moderation
Don't get me wrong here, Costco's great. But everything there does cost a decent chunk of change, and I am prone to getting stuff we don't really need, or at least we could live without. So by going to Costco less often, we end up saving a whole lot on groceries! I think we went only once in the whole month of March, which is great for us!
3. Going Out to Eat/Drink
We only went out once this month, I believe. At the beginning of the month we made an effort to eat at home, and that quickly became a habit. Now we usually eat at home, but we had taken to eating out when in a hurry or far from home. In March, we really tried to take food with us instead. This was surprisingly easy, even for a sandwich-hater like me. (I don't hate all sandwiches, just PB&J, which is the one type for which we always have supplies). When we took food, we made pitas with falafel we'd made a few days prior. We spread some homemade hummus, put in spinach and falafel, and voila! A yummy portable meal.
When we did go out, it was to visit with friends. We went to a local bar with a great happy hour, so it didn't cost us much.
Well, that's my Miserly March wrap-up. Sorry it's not too exciting :-/ Hopefully someone else gets some ideas to help save money!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Vacations
I've been bitten by the vacation bug! I like vacations. Specifically, I like seeing someplace new. I did just go to Hawaii last October, but right now that seems like eons ago. Plus, it wasn't a new place: I'd been to the same exact place twice before. Now I want to do something new! The biggest problems are that vacations take time and money. I'm already crazy busy, and we're trying to save money, not spend it!
Of course I'm currently very optimistic about the physical effort involved in backpacking, and
For the past, oh half hour or so, I've decided that I've come up with the perfect solution: take a backpacking vacation! Drop the dog off at my sister's, and we can just go explore the wilds of California. (I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but we do have mountainous natural areas that are far away from LA and urban sprawl). We could go for just a few days, plus the only costs would be to get some gear.
We could see pretty things like this:
Of course I'm currently very optimistic about the physical effort involved in backpacking, and I'm thinking of it as a good opportunity to get a workout :-)
Has anyone gone backpacking? Would anyone recommend it? I think it's something I'd like to try. But there's a lot of things i say that about.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Welcome to Miserly March!
Geez, it's already the 3rd and I haven't had an exciting Opening Day celebration yet! Let the saving begin!
So what have I done in the last few days to save moolah?
-On Sunday night I made lots of food so that we'd have plenty of stuff for lunches, and no matter how busy I was in the morning, we wouldn't have to buy lunch.
-Last week (pre-MM, I know) I made choc. chip cookies for people instead of buying them gifts.
So what have I done in the last few days to save moolah?
-On Sunday night I made lots of food so that we'd have plenty of stuff for lunches, and no matter how busy I was in the morning, we wouldn't have to buy lunch.
-Last week (pre-MM, I know) I made choc. chip cookies for people instead of buying them gifts.
-I'm currently holding off on grocery shopping until we're out of everything perishable, both so that nothing goes bad, and so I make less trips to the store and avoid impulse buys.
-I'm being extra hardcore about turning off lights when I'm not in the room.
One unexpected windfall is that we received our Costco American Express cashback redemption thing in the mail. So next Costco trip we'll use that, meaning we won't have to pay anything, and we'll get cash for the amount leftover. Yay!
Other exciting upcoming frugal events include:
-making split pea soup! This is an inexpensive (and delicious!) food, plus it'll help us use up some leftover carrots and celery.
-Making some mock meat stuff! This is one of those non-perishable things that I never get around to because I'm too busy using up perishable stuff. I might use some recipes from Vegan Dad, or Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. I was given vital wheat gluten for Christmas, and I'm ashamed to say I've only used it once! I will do more in March, my friends, and I will catalog it here.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
An Awesome Cause
I know there are a million causes out there, and most of them are for a good reason. There's one, though, that I especially like. It is Hackers For Charity, and its main project right now is Johnny Long and his family living in Uganda and working to help people there learn vital computer skills. These computer skills will help them get jobs, and can help these people rise out of poverty.
I would recommend taking a look at Johnny's blog. It's a great insight into what it's like to give your life over to God, and to doing his work.
I would recommend taking a look at Johnny's blog. It's a great insight into what it's like to give your life over to God, and to doing his work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
