One of the many sayings my mother-in-law uses is “onward and upward.” I think these two words and the images they create in our minds can differ slightly depending on the context we place the phrase during any moment of our day. But ultimately, both words invoke the idea of progress. Progress forward, progress upward. I have come to love this portion of a catch-phrase. Onward and upward. One of the unfortunate realities of life is that we all falter. We all stumble, and occasionally fall, on this personal journey we each are trekking. And although it is often tempting…
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I have always loved writing. Writing, for me, has been a form of not just communication to other people, but a way of communicating with myself. It is brainstorming, finding clarity in my own thoughts and my own beliefs. Writing is therapeutic. It gets things out of my head so I can then move on, like removing the pressure of a thought. Writing has always been a huge part of my life (at least it has been a huge portion of my life when calculating the numbers of my life I’ve spent doing in :). As a student in high…
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As we enter November and enter the holiday season, the familiar feelings of gratitude and charity embrace our hearts and minds. Yet despite our feelings of gratitude, this time of year can also stand to remind us of what we lack and wish we had. It is such a joyous season, offering opportunities for us to outwardly see the goodness that still survives in our local and national communities. Charitable giving of time, money, household necessities, and even dreamed-of frivolities becomes the usual this time of year. Soup kitchens are blessed with additional supplies and volunteers, efforts to hand out…
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Chicken Mac and Peas
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Prior to getting married, I received advice from close friends, family members, neighbors, acquaintances, and even some strangers on how to be successful in that major adventure of sharing my life with someone else. One token of advice was to “Always say ‘yes’ to someone else cooking.” Though this advice was targeting eating food prepared by either a spouse, child, friend, or neighbor out of the goodness of their heart, it can be just as applicable to dining out at a restaurant where a backroom cook or chef is being paid to cook your meal. We all appreciate the respite…
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As I push my shopping cart through the crowded grocery store, I see a hundred different people all with their own individual stories, experiences, and struggles. But one struggle we all share in common these days is the struggle of buying our groceries without overburdening our pockets. Every generation experiences the financial pressure of an economic downturn. And many generations feel it more than once. For those of you who, like me, are experiencing that financial clinch for the first time as an adult, it is an eye-opening experience. My flooding-over grocery cart gives me plenty of looks from fellow…
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Days as a young parent are busy and noisy to say the least. As a stay at home mom, I find myself both attuned to the constant commotion of kids in the background, while simultaneously feeling like my head is constantly below water. I am drowning in the noise. The sound of bare feet running across the kitchen floor and tennis shoes skipping on the sidewalk. The sound of singing in the bathroom while going potty and midnight whispers when they’re tucked in bed supposedly asleep. Fighting over seats at the table, screaming when someone gets their hair pulled, or…
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Chicken Mac and Peas
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As we step further into October and all hopes of an extended summer that September sometimes holds fastly falls behind us, I find myself ready to curl up on my couch with a warm cup of tea and read a good book. I am ready to sink into fall, to embrace that feeling of cozy that falling leaves brings to our doorsteps. But as I sit on my couch, I can’t help but find myself lacking the cozy feeling. Enter Fall The whirlwind of summer kept me busy just enough to not worry extensively about the long term future — thoughts instead tended…
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Chicken Mac and Peas
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I picked this simple little dresser up from a Goodwill for $20. Although the peg legs, color, and even drawer handles brought on 60s era nose-wrinkle, I was interested in it because it was small, lightweight and easy to pull drawers. The dresser was meant for my 3-year-old daughter, so having easy sliding drawers was crucial for the independent little miss to get her own clothes in and out. The size was the next big thing. The dresser needed to be short and narrow enough to fit under the window of my girls’ room, and it could only be the…
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My household has always operated under a budget. A very tight budget. Like many, my husband and I started our life together in undergrad, which put us under a lot of pressure to live … “lightly”. Our adventures following undergrad also demanded light living as we started out working modest paying jobs, trying to save up money for my husband to attend law school. Our time in law school demanded was the lightest of all as we tried to limit our student loan debt as much as possible while at the same time welcoming a baby into our home. Our…
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We all want to see growth in our lives, monetary growth included. Here at Pockets of Pennies and Dirt we are all about figuring out the best ways to utilize the things we already have – and that includes money. Though we wish money was of continuously flowing supply, that isn’t always the case, especially not in the quantity we’d like. When it comes to money, I feel like my most creative self is forced to come out in order to stretch it to its max! Money always seems to be in short supply around my household. Here are some…
