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Gratitude for my Grandmother

Gratitude for my Grandmother

Gratitude For My Grandmother With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s a great time to reflect on everything we have to be grateful for. This season, my thoughts have especially turned to my grandmother. She is an amazing woman who has taught me a lot 

The Covey Center for the Arts

The Covey Center for the Arts

While it may seem that you have to travel to Salt Lake City for any professional play, ballet, or production, Provo has an arts center of its own! The Covey Center of the Arts is a wonderful place for anyone in Utah County to see 

Thanksgiving DIY

Thanksgiving DIY

Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy being with family and reflecting on the blessings we have received.

And, of course, who can forget about the food?

Sometimes we can focus on making sure the turkey and stuffing are cooked to perfection, that the table is set, or that the house is clean and festive. I know, for me, having as many preparations done beforehand helps make the holiday a little less hectic. Such things as having the house decorated, place settings done, snacks and treats made, etc. before starting the Thanksgiving feast helps me to more fully enjoy season of family and gratitude.

Here are a few things that you can do now to get ready for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday:

Thanksgiving Table Setting
tablesetting

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

Rosemary Wreath Place Cards
Rosemary place cards

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

Thanksgiving Message Board
leaves board

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

Cozy Votive Holders
Candles

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

Pumpkin Centerpiece
Pumpkin Centerpiece

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

Turkey Treats
Turkey Treats

 

 
Source found here.

Kids Crafts, Turkey Style
Yarn Turkey

 

 

 

 

 

Source found here.

Thanksgiving Banner
Thanksgiving Banner

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

Cinnamon Apple Chips
Cinnamon Apple chips

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

Fruity-topias
Fruit Cornucopias

 

 

 

 
Source found here.

 

 

—Bridget Lewis, Editor, Stance

Home Safety for Kids: Burns and Scalds

Home Safety for Kids: Burns and Scalds

Smelling yummy cookies baking, watching mom do her hair in the morning, or plugging something into an outlet are frequent occurrences in a home. Accidents can occur during these activities, but with a few tips you can easily avoid burns or scalds. Don’t hold children 

Legal Benefits of Tying the Knot

Legal Benefits of Tying the Knot

You may think that marriage is mostly about twitterpation, true love, and white dresses, but starting a new life together is more than just the affection you feel for each other—it’s actually doing life together too! That means not only living together, but doing EVERYTHING 

Be the Tortoise–Patience in Finances

Be the Tortoise–Patience in Finances

Finance 2If there’s one thing that’s hard to learn, it’s patience. I even remember a time when I realized how impatient I was being and how I decided I wanted to change my attitude. The funny thing was the first thought I had after that realization: “Okay, I want to be more patient. How can I learn to be patient as quickly as possible?”

I laughed at myself when I realized how ironic that thought was, but I think it’s a common thing that we live through—it’s human nature. It’s normal to want to see results immediately: it can be really encouraging to see a positive outcome happen quickly because of a choice you made. It helps provide motivation for similarly healthy choices in the future.

The problem is, some of the most important things in life take a long time to show major results. Our relationships with others, our health, our education, and our finances—all of these things require a long-term commitment in order to grow. We might see some benefits rather quickly, but we won’t achieve our end goal until quite a while after we start.

Just like we can’t expect to suddenly be in perfect shape once we start exercising, we can’t expect to have enough money to retire as soon as we start saving. Patient accumulation of savings has to be a habit that we develop, not an occasional worry-fueled expense. We have to recognize that we’re building up our future financial security—just like patient and diligent exercise will build up our future physical health. It’s difficult, but we need to learn that, when it comes to things like this, “slow and steady” really is the way to go.

 

—Sam Watson, Editor, Stance

Simple Savings

Simple Savings

I mentioned in my last post that a “slow and steady” approach to saving is the most beneficial way for us to prepare for our long-term financial future. However, there’s another, equally gradual thing that we can do to help our family finances stay balanced: 

A Babymoon?

A Babymoon?

Being six months pregnant, I have heard multiple people mention a babymoon, and I’ve received tons of pregnancy ads and articles about babymoons. But what are they? For anyone like me who hadn’t heard of them before, babymoons are similar to a honeymoon. Babymoons are 

No-hassle Trick-or-Treating: Bags

No-hassle Trick-or-Treating: Bags

Perhaps one of the biggest dilemmas of Halloween is deciding what costume to wear. We all want to stand out, to be remembered as the one who had the scariest, cutest, or most creative costume of the night. But when you create your costume, why not include your trick-or-treating bag as a part of it? Why not make your candy bag as unique and clever as your costume?

We’ve all seen the classic plastic pumpkins that the kids carry around, and don’t forget about the pillowcases. But rather than settling for the traditional candy bags, why don’t you try something different?

Here are a few ideas to help you get creative and stand out this Halloween.

Cereal Box Freaky Frankenstein
green monster

 

 

 
Link found here.

 

Personalized Treat Buckets
kate and emma

 

 

 

 

Link found here.

 

Milk Jug Monster
milk jug monster

 

 

 

 

 

Link found here.

 

Embroidered Tote
embroidered tote

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link found here.

 

Silhouette Tote Bags
sihouette tote

 

 

 
Link found here.

 

Glow-in-the-Dark Bag
glow in the dark 1

 

 

 

Link found here.

 

Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!

—Bridget Lewis, Editor; Stance

Life’s Dark Trails

Life’s Dark Trails

The trail was very dark, the sky lit with stars. With a small silver flashlight in hand, I could only see two or three steps in front of me, but well enough to know I was quickly falling behind the very fast and fit group