Like most humans, I enjoy food. And since I’m blessed to have a husband with a stable job, I get to be a stay at home mom and enjoy avoiding the “starving artist” stereotype.

But it isn’t all gourmet foods here, either. Food is expensive, and now that we’re not able to shop at the commissary any more, our grocery bill has doubled. We’re paring it back as we can, learning new shopping and money-saving habits as we go. But we’re also trying to eat healthier. Healthy food isn’t cheap, but it doesn’t have to break the bank, either.

Choosing products wisely saves a lot of money.
It may sound kind of ‘duh,’ but hear me out – That package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts is a great choice, but you can have healthy meals from a cheaper alternative. And sometimes, healthy foods end up being cheaper. As some examples, a package of 5 chicken breasts might run upwards of $10 and will probably make 3 meals for the 3 of us. On the other hand, it’s not hard to find a whole chicken for $5 or less, and depending on how it’s prepared, we can squeeze at least 5 meals out of it.
Whole-grain cereal sounds like a good option for a healthy breakfast, but a box of cereal averages $4 or $5. On the other hand, oatmeal is even healthier and costs $2 for a two-week supply.

Planting a garden saves a lot of money.
Veggie gardens don’t have to be difficult. Ours was sort of a bomb, except for one thing that’s super easy to grow and also one of my favorite types of fresh produce: tomatoes! When buying them at the grocery store, it isn’t uncommon for us to spend $4 per week on tomatoes, because I use them so often. I eat a salad almost every day. Back in the spring, we purchased 3 tomato plants for $2 each. We only just now have to buy tomatoes again. Over 20 weeks later, that’s $80 we didn’t have to spend at the grocery store. Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow. Stick them in the ground and sprinkle crushed egg shell around them from time to time, and you’ll have delicious fruit for months.

Making detailed grocery lists saves a lot of money.
Impulse shopping is never good, and it can quickly drive a grocery bill sky-high. Be meticulous about writing down what you need and never get anything that isn’t on the list. Simple.

Knowing how to cook saves a lot of money.
And with the advent of sites like Pinterest, there’s no reason not to know how to cook. Prepackaged food may seem like a good option, especially if you’re on a budget, but often you can make something better for only pennies more if you know what you’re doing. Sometimes it’s even cheaper. A dollar for a box of pasta might not seem bad, but when two cups of whole wheat flour, an egg and some water can make noodles that are cheaper, tastier, and better for you, why wouldn’t you?

We’re still finding our way through establishing a healthy and affordable diet, but eventually, I’ll share some of my favorite recipes here.

There’s something about autumn that brings out the desire to create. I don’t know what it is, but it seems to affect everyone I know. Leaves start changing, temperatures grow cooler, and everyone’s breaking out the hot glue guns.

Me, I’m always working on something or other. I was cleaning the photo folder on my computer the other day when I noticed I had a ton of pictures of random projects going on at random times. Sometimes it’s “simple” projects, like repainting that awesome Hylian shield I picked up at the flea market for my sister, because the paint job was terrible. Other times it’s stuff like learning to cast plaster replicas of something because you need six of them for a costume.

There’s nothing I don’t do, really. Well, I haven’t learned to knit or crochet yet, but I’m sure I’ll pick that up at some point, too. The point is more that I always have to have something going, sometimes lots of little somethings, or I feel like I’m wasting my creativity.

It gets worse in the winter. I suppose that means the crafting bug bites me, too. Sometimes I take pictures of projects, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes they just get eaten right away.

I lie, the muffins are Mom’s handiwork. But I helped!

I’ve never run across a project I didn’t think I could do. Other people might be better at it than I am, but at least I try. And part of the reason I try is because I was never told I couldn’t.

My parents always encouraged my crazy, cockamamie creative ideas. If I wanted to use Mom’s kitchen or craft supplies or Dad’s power tools and hardware, they just told me to go right ahead. Not all my projects turned out well. Some still don’t. But the important part is that I’m not afraid to jump in and get my hands dirty, doing things like teaching myself to solder or busting a fireplace apart with a sledgehammer because I don’t like the way the wall looks.

There’s an intense satisfaction that comes from creating something. Sometimes it’s writing stories or drawing. Sometimes it’s cooking an excellent homemade meal. Sometimes it’s doing something else entirely. But my need to create is strong, so whenever I get a new idea, I try not to ever tell myself I can’t. Most of the time, it just means learning a new skill.

As I spend time creating, I realize I should share more of my projects. Especially since people often ask how I accomplish the things I’ve made or done. So, no promises, but next time I make something, I’ll try to remember to write about it.

It’s been about a year since Joe’s contract term ended, releasing him from the reserves and letting us move on in life without worrying about someone else owning him. There’s a lot to be said for civilian life, but sometimes, I still think of things I miss about being a military wife. One of the great memories from our first year of marriage highlights one of them: Mandatory fun days.

Now, you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that sticking the words “mandatory” and “fun” together means the the day is going to be anything but fun. For a lot of people, my husband included, “mandatory fun” meant “stuck in one place with a lot of people I don’t want to see and not having any fun at all.” It’s some sort of weird, magical happening, where you put the two words together and it automatically sucks all the fun right out of it.

Then there’s me.

This mandatory fun day in particular sent us and a ton of other Marines and their families to the beach. It was a really hot day and the Marines pretty much stood around looking sullen and glum, all because they had to be there. Joe was no exception, sulking on the sand with his arms crossed, scowling out at the Atlantic while I frolicked in the surf.

I loved it.
I jumped around in the water, ran on the beach, built sandcastles, hunted for sea shells. I was having a blast. Then while I was looking for shells, one of the other Marines came wandering up the beach, looking at the sand. He paused to ask if I’d found anything interesting and I showed him the shells and one sand dollar I’d scrounged up.
“I’m looking for shark teeth,” he said. “My sister found one on this beach while she was visiting last year. I’ve been looking ever since, but I haven’t found one yet. She just looked down and there it was!”
 I glanced down. “Like this one?” I asked, bending over and picking up a black shark tooth from the sand.

He was mad. He didn’t curse (which surprised me) but he clenched his fists and shouted, kicked the sand and threw rocks at the sea.
I laughed. Joe laughed. And after that, mandatory fun suddenly became a lot of regular fun. We scoured the beach for more shark teeth. We found teeth in all sorts of shapes and sizes, some still quite sharp, all of them varying shades of black and gray. When it was time to go, we didn’t pack up right away, still scouting the surf for treasure. We ended up finding quite a few, putting them in my bucket with the shells we took home to keep.

I often miss the ocean, but because of memories like these, I definitely miss mandatory fun.

Everyone remembers a point in their life where everything changes. Reality suddenly warps and twists around them, changing their perspective and understanding of the entire world. Sometimes it’s big things. And sometimes it’s little things we never think of as life-changing.

For me, one of the most pivotal moments in my life is a very early childhood memory. My mom tells me I must have been two or three when it happened, but I remember it, clear as day. Sitting on the hardwood floor beside the television, paging through one of the many books in the house. That day, it was The Poky Little Puppy. It was nothing out of the ordinary at first, just looking at the pictures and thinking through the story. Obviously, I had it memorized. I’d probably made my mom read that book to me five hundred times. But something different happened, that day, something that has stuck with me through my entire life.

I looked at the words on the page. And for the first time, I knew what they said.

A lot of people tell me they think it an unusual memory. We’re fortunate to live in a world where reading is so commonplace that most people don’t even recall learning to read. It’s just something they always did, something they could always do. They don’t seem to understand that, one time, they sat down with a book in the same way, and their entire world changed.

I often read things above my grade level, things you wouldn’t expect a child my age to read. And I always relate it to that one moment in history, that instant of pure elation, realizing that I could read. All of a sudden, nothing was off limits. The entire wealth of human knowledge was at my fingertips from then on, related in one of the most remarkable forms of communication to exist. A bunch of strange shapes printed on a page, relating not just language, but emotions, feelings, history, stories.

Reading is a wonder of human development often taken for granted. But sometimes, when I crack open a book, I still get that incredible sense of elation I got when I first learned to read.

Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to visit a castle. I still haven’t seen a real castle, but I’ve come close – I’ve been to a fortress built in the 1600s.

When visiting Acapulco, Mexico for our honeymoon, we were both excited to visit a local landmark: Fuerte de San Diego.

Originally built in response to the threat of pirates, the unusual star-shaped fort has served as an armory and barracks, a hospital, a jail, and even a convent. Now it serves as a museum and historical landmark.

All the original cannons are still in place. Parts of the armory remain in their original state, and the kitchen remains as it appeared when people first lived in the fort. The site is beautifully preserved, though it’s difficult to picture it as a busy military outpost. Most of the fort has been filled with exhibits of historical importance, from relics excavated from the area to beautifully preserved gifts and treasures given to the inhabitants of the fort throughout the years.

As impressive as the fort itself was, some of the things housed within it were amazing. Chests of jewels and spices were on display, as well as some of the gifts from places as far away as Asia.

Joe was most interested in the swords, but I found myself most intrigued by the colonial-era carriage in a perfect state of preservation, down to the original gilt paint and upholstery. It was just as I’d always imagined such a thing would be, and I was delighted to know I’d always portrayed such carriages accurately in my writing, even before actually seeing one.

I’d still like to see a castle someday, but the fort was a good start.