Wonderful Wednesday

I am going to start a segment called Wonderful Wednesday. Every wednesday I am going to post something that is wonderful and brings joy to my life. Sometimes it might be little things, sometimes it might be dramatic things, but whatever it is, it brings joy to my life, thus the saying Wonderful Wednesday. Today's joyous occasion was brought about by a wonderful craft project that I did about a week ago. The story of my craft came from an idea that sparked in my head wondering whether or not I could turn a rusty old fish into something more attractive. I got the fish from the people who lived in this house before Clay and I moved here. They said they would purposely leave things here, and whatever they left we could do whatever we wanted to with it. They left a few things, but the most striking to me were the "outdoor enhancements" like this fish. It was old and rusty, so I tried my hand at painting. I bought some acrylic paint at Michaels in a beautiful blue tone that matched the stones on the fish, and away I went with the paint brush. I loved the outcome! It was fun in the process of painting it, and now I love to look at it when I walk outside. What do you think about my newly painted fish?
                                                                         Before:

After:

 What is your verdict? Do you like the change? I hope you and yours have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Until next time,
Tiffany

What is Important in Life?

Many people ask this question to themselves. What is really important in life? Whatever you come up with defines who you are. If you value spending time with your family at the dinner table, you are definitely a family oriented person. It is the same concept Brother David (my pastor at Antioch) says, "If you want to know where your heart lies, look into your checkbook. You invest everything, your money, your time, and your efforts, into what you value the most". This is true, if you spend all your money at the bookstore buying new books to read, you value reading and being by yourself more than anything. I value many things. I value my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ more than anything, and closely following Him is my Dear Husband Clay that God gave me. I also value my immediately family, My Dad, Mom, Hanna, and Caleb. I value Clay's immediately family, Mr.Troy, Mrs. Melanie, Katie, Johnny, Rachel, Rebecca, Anna, and James.I value my church family at Antioch, as well as at New Oak Grove, although I am not as close yet to them as I was Antioch. I did not realize how closely I hold Antioch to my heart until I moved. I miss my Antioch family, and I refer to them as my family because I see the people that go to my church more than I see most of my real family. I have known the Antiochians for longer than I can remember, I was born and raised there with most of the same people that are still there today. When Clay and I go home to visit we stay until after church on Sunday morning so I can visit my family at church. They mean the world to me, and they are the most genuine, loving, caring, and Godly people you will ever meet. I am sure that my new church will become like Antioch to me, it will just take some time getting to know everybody. I just wanted to say that I value Antioch so much. I love the Antiochians and always will. You all hold a special place in my heart. (Because I have A.D.D. {self-diagnosis} and cannot stay on one thought process at a time, I will now continue on with the things I value). The store Michaels, I value very much. I love to do arts and crafts, which remind me I will show you the craft I did a few days ago, SO CUTE, and whatdayaknow I bought the supplies at Michaels. That place might be the death of Clay's wallet (I need to start making some money). I also value family time. I love to spend time with both of our families, just sitting around eating, playing cards, watching movies, and just spending quality time together. I value cooking, and the smile it puts on Clay's face when he sees how hard I have worked in the kitchen to make him proud. I value well, so many things. I'm going to make a bullet list because this writing thing is getting tiring saying "I value" "I value" every sentence, and I'm sure you're getting tired of reading it. So here it goes.
I value:

• shopping time with Hanna
• taking pictures with Rachel
• getting cooking tips on how to make things from scratch from Mrs. Melanie
• a clean home
• candles burning and the aroma they bring
• sweet tea
• pictures colored with crayons made from the little girls I babysit
• making an A on an assignment
• no dirty dishes in the sink
• pretty tableclothes
• Clay getting all his work done and coming home before dark
• friendship from everyone
• family (even Aun'ts, Uncle's and Cousins who are dear to me)
• washing machine and dryer (how did the Pioneer's live?)
• the body that God gave me
• the list could go on and on.....

The point is that there are so many things that I value and that I am thankful for. I think everybody should sit down every once in a while and write out the things that you value and that you are thankful for. It does my heart good to see how many things I am blessed with, and how much thanks I should be giving to God for everything He has done for me. I challenge you today to write out as many things you can think of that you value and that you are thankful for. I guarantee your hand will be tired of writing before you finish! How blessed we are. Thank you God for all that you bestow upon us!

Until next time,
Tiffany

Full-Time

Well,
Today I did alot of everything but I don't feel like I accomplished much of anything. Have you ever had one of those days? I woke up and went to town to take Clay something he left at home and ended up eating lunch with him in town. Afterwards I remembered I needed to go get some groceries and made a pit stop to Office Max for their great deals on binders (Office Max has notebooks for 1 cent while supplies last, but you can only get 5 at a time, so every time I go to town I get 5 more! I mean come on, 1 cent, who can pass that up?). After I got home I realized I had spent 4 hours in town and got practically nothing done. I put on a load of laundry, put away the groceries and notebooks, and proceeded to my laptop to do my on-line schooling that I love oh-so-much. I just realized that I have been sitting here doing Accounting on-line for 3 hours, and I haven't even touched any of my other courses for the day! Whew, I am exhausted, and yet the house is still a mess because I haven't done any house work. Sometimes I wish I could pack more hours into the day to get more things done, but I don't know if I would have enough energy to use the extra hours anyways! Has this ever happened to you? I'm going to try to get up early in the morning tomorrow and see if I can get some things knocked out early so I can feel good about myself and my contributions to our family of two. Have a great night, sweet dreams, and talk to you all tomorrow!

With all my love and until next time,
Tiffany

P.S. Happy 2 Months Anniversary Dear. :)

School!

It has been a while, hasn't it? I didn't post anything this weekend because I was spending time with my family. Yesterday was the first day of school. When I was younger, I would look forward to going to school after each summer vacation. I loved going to the store with my parents and buying new school suppiles in hopes that they would buy me a folder with horses on the outside of it. I would walk into the classroom on meet-your-teacher day and hope that I knew somebody in that class, and that I was sitting by them. School used to be so much fun and exciting. I liked to get good grades, make new friends, and I strived to be the coveted student of the month so I could get my name on the bulletin board. Those were the good days. Now that I am in college, I have to pay for classes and books, walk into class and know no one, and hope that the professors I have do not cuss every other word. College is all about will power; if you don't want to be there, you don't have to, so you have to make a conscious effort to stay up on your work and don't let it get behind. There are many people who would love to go to college who don't have the finances to do so, and I think about that alot. That makes me greatful for being where I am. I know that when I graduate I have bettered myself and I know that if something were to happen to Clays' business that I would be able to support us. Only one more year and I will be done! Hallelujah! Well, I am off to do some newly found school work.



Until next time,
Tiffany 

Premier Designs Jewelry!!!!

I thought about NOT putting this on my blog but decided that I should. I didn't want to be pushy or advertise too much about one particular thing, but when you are excited about something, you want to tell the whole world, right? Kind of like salvation, when you get saved and you know Who is in control of your life now, you want to tell EVERYBODY! Well, same thing with Premier. I love it. I can't get enough of it. It is just the most awesome business anybody could be in. I mean come on, hold 1 or 2 shows a week and make between $800-$1600 a month, and doing what you LOVE! I love to be fashionable, and wear the latest fashions. With Premier, I make money to be able to stay home and focus on college while not being burdened about finances. I also get to offer women FREE jewelry for letting me use her home as a way to showcase me jewelry with her friends. Who doesn't want to be a jewelry lady? Or FRIENDS with the jewelry lady. If you are the jewelry lady you make money, and if you are her freind, you get jewelry! It's a win-win situation. And Premier is for everybody, the full time working woman who wants an escape from the same-ole-same-ole to the woman who is a stay at home mom who wants to make a little extra money while being able to spend some "girl time" with the ladies at the party. When I first got started in the business I used to tell people that even if I didn't make any money, it would still be worth it just to spend time with other ladies and eat their food at their home! Of course, the money is nice too. If you love free jewelry or know somebody else who would love free jewelry, tell them to come talk to me! If you need extra income or know somebody else who could use the extra income, send them my way. I would love to share Premier with you, tell you my story of how I got started, and how Premier has helped me. I hope you all have a wonderful day today and know that God loves you through everything.

                             (isn't this ring AWESOME! and we have tons more in all different styles!)

Until next time,

Tiffany

Grandma's Apron

Cooking dinner for my Husband! I'm wearing my apron that I made a few years ago with my Grandma. I would visit her a few times a week, and each time I would visit her we would work a little more on completing my apron. She offered to make me one and save time, but I wanted to make one with her so I could savor the fun memories we had together. It took me two or three months to complete an apron that should take 2 days, but she was patient, and I was a slow and steady learner. We finished it together, and it makes me happy when I pull it out of the drawer to put it on. Well, I must get going. Dinner isn't going to cook itself! We're having shepherds pie and biscuits for dinner, with peanut butter pie for dessert. What about you? I hope it's good, and made with love.* Whatever it is, eat it while spending time with your family. I am convinced that mealtime is what many families are lacking, and that's why they aren't a close-knit family. The family that eats together, stays together. :)

*Everything I make is made with love, if not I don't think Clay would eat half of it. He is a picky eater, but he eats what I cook because he knows I work hard on it. So, I cook with love and he eats with more love.

Until next time,
Tiffany

Crest

Hello All! I trust you are having a marvelous Thursday! Today I would like to share with you what caused our first marital disagreement.

Time: Shortly after returning from Puerto Rico
Place: Grocery Store
Who: Clay and Tiffany

So, we were walking down the personal care aisle and we come upon the toothpaste. Clay reached down for the Pepsodent and I shot him a weird and questioning look. "Who has ever even heard of Pepsodent?" I ask. Apparently Pepsodent is an off-the-wall cheapo brand of toothpaste. So, Clay and I are in the store, I am on my hands and knees looking on the bottom shelf for something a little bit better and more heard of than Pepsodent for something to brush my teeth with. Clay told me I was being ridiculous about the whole ordeal and pointed me to the active ingredient on both bottles of toothpaste. Crest has 0.243% sodium fluoride while Pepsodent has 0.24% sodium fluoride. I think that the 0.003% extra sodium fluoride is a good enough reason right there to get Crest, but Clay begged to differ. I have to defend myself saying that I grew up using nothing but Crest as toothpaste my entire life. Every family has their own little quirks. Some people only use Ragu sauce for their spaghetti, some people drink Pepsi and not Coke, some people use only Dove soap, and the list goes on. Everybody has their preferences, and I begged Clay to let me get the Crest. All of this happened while I was sitting on the floor in the grocery store looking at the toothpaste boxes that surrounded me as the people walking by stared at our absurdity. My argument was that Crest tastes better, and Clay's argument was that I wasn't going to be eating it, just brushing my teeth with it. True, but I'm going to be tasting it, so same thing! We ended up getting Clay's Pepsodent toothpaste because it costs $0.69. Yeah, I know, a toothpaste that is that cheap has to have something wrong with it, or it has to be bad for you, or something! The next time I went home, I told my Daddy about this horrible happening and he promised he would give Clay a hard time about it (all in good fun of course). Clay walks in the door and my Dad says to Clay "Son, did you know I have invested over $2,000 in that girls' mouth and you are making her use the $0.69 toothpaste? What a shame." Then Dad started laughing and Clay knew he was joking. It scared Clay for a minute though! Well, needless to say, I have been looking for coupons in the paper for Crest, and so has everyone who knows me, so I can get Crest at a discount. Round 2 shopping trip came about two weeks later and we come home with this.

We found a good deal, so Clay let me stock up for a year. Haha! It was all really funny, but serious too. I mean, hey, Crest is the Best! We both got to be right. Clay got to be the head of the house and have the final say the first time at the grocery store. I got to be the neck of the household the second time we went to store, because the neck turns the head whichever way she wants it to go! :) I hope you enjoyed our story. Everyone we have told it to thus far have. And I think I have everybody at our church looking for coupons for me in the paper and letting me know when there is a good deal on Crest. Toothpaste is serious stuff around here.

Until next time,
Tiffany

Hanna

As most of you know, I have a wonderful sister named Hanna and a darling brother named Caleb (well, most of the time they are wonderful and darling). Anyways, I was texting Hanna a few days ago and she told me that she loved my blog! I love to hear that people actually enjoy reading my thoughts-turned-to-blog. When I was younger people used to tell me all of the time how "it will change"... meaning my taste for things. I used to despise onions, and now they aren't so bad. Same thing with tomatoes, zucchini, squash, boys and their 'germs' and the likes. The one thing that I thought would never change, however, is wanting to share my clothes with Hanna. More times than not, the reason my sister Hanna and I would get in trouble growing up would be because of not sharing our clothes with one another. Being the older sister, Hanna would always want to borrow my clothes, but I wouldn't allow it! To me, it was a point of saving my babysitting money to buy clothes for myself, not clothes for myself and my sister. As we grew older Hanna grew to have similar taste in clothes as I did, so we began to share. To this day Hanna has clothes of mine in her closet, and I have clothes of hers in mine. It is more difficult now than ever to share our clothes, or anything for that matter, because we no longer live together. It is such a special bond between two sisters, and I am so thankful for mine. We are best friends, we always have been, and always will. That is God's special gift to us. I heard a saying once "God made us sisters, but love made us best friends". This fits us perfect. Time goes by so fast! It's scary, because I know how fast I think time has gone by, I can't even imagine how my parents feel! I can remember like it was yesterday playing dress up in our dance costumes and making tents out of beach chairs in the backyard. I wake up today and I have been married for almost two months! So, the advice for today is treasure every moment that you experience, especially those with your family. In the end, family are the ones that matter the most. Have a great day!

Until next time,
Tiffany

Macaroni

Good Day all! It is a wonderful day today, the sun is shining, I am drinking pink lemonade, and my husband is outside doing what he does best, mow the lawn :) . Yesterday my darling family came over and we laughed and talked and played cards and ate. Isn't that what most families who haven't seen each other in a while do? Everybody just sits around and eats. I'm sure there is somewhere in the Bible that says you shouldn't do that, and I know it can't be healthy for you, but it brings everybody around the table to talk, so that means it must be worth it, right? I think so. Besides, if you live in the South, it's manadatory to do that. Eat until you can't eat anymore, and then get another plate full. That's why there are so many all-you-can-eat buffet's around here. I've been to New York and Washington before, twice as a matter of fact, and I don't remember seeing any buffet places anywhere. So, it is good to be a Southern. What isn't good is to wake up wanting to make waffles from scratch and not having any flour. That's what's no fun, because then you are forced to eat left overs out of the refrigerator. If only cereal wasn't $10 a box (I'm exaggerating, but still) then we wouldn't be forced to eat leftovers. Ahh, the joys of being married while also being broke. Please though, have no pity on me. I want to be able to look back when I get old and look over at Clay in my rocking chair on the front porch and say, "Hey, remember that one time when we ate macaroni and cheese for breakfast?" (and even besides that, I like macaroni and cheese). These are the good 'ole days. Well, the chores aren't going to get done with me playing around on the computer all day, so sadly, I must go. My words of advice today are always look on the bright side of things. While I do my chores I normally turn on some music and sing along to make the time go by quicker. It's fun, and since there is no one in the house, I can sing as loud as I want to! Well, high ho, high ho, it's off to work I go! Have a great day!

Until next time,
Tiffany

Thankful

Good morning all! Today's post is about being thankful. I woke up this morning and found a recipe my wonderful mother had given me on a sticky note on my floor. I hurriedly picked it up and went into the kitchen to transcribe my mother's recipe in my handy dandy cookbook. This is no ordinary cookbook, mind you, this is in my opinion one of the best wedding gifts I have received and by far the most personal to me.This cookbook was given to me by all of the women in my church. They all got together and collaborated with one another on what to put in this cookbook to get me started. As everybody knows, a newlywed definitely needs help in the area of cooking when she is just starting out, and I am certainly no exception to this rule. In this cookbook there are all kinds of recipes, and it is so neatly organized. The different dividers are labeled Appetizers, Delicious Desserts, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Vegetables, and Soups & Salads. I can tell that the ladies that did this really took some time putting this together for me. So, if you are out there, and are in need of a wedding shower idea, look no further! Put your new Bride-to-be a cookbook together and she will cherish it always. Today, I found that I am thankful for all of the women in my life who have given me a positive outlook, encouragement, and advice throughout the years. What are you thankful for today? Through everything you can always find something to be thankful about, even if it is something as little as being able to wake up to a brand new day. God is so good! Thank Him for the blessings in your life.

Until next time,
Tiffany

Let's Explain....

Just as soon as I posted my first post (yay!) I realized I told nothing about myself or why I chose to blog and the name behind my blog. Therefore, I am going to do blog a second post merely minutes behind the first. My name is Tiffany Dale and I am a newlywed alongside my wonderful husband Clay. I chose to call my blog Southern Adventures because I wanted to log my adventures that I have on a day to day basis. I was born and raised in the south and currently live in the south, so I am definitely a Southern Belle. I like to cook almost anything, and since I am a new bride and wife, cooking means something along the lines of experimenting at my house. Clay is a trooper and eats whatever I fix him with a big smile on his face, which is alot considering he would get spankings as a child for not wanting to eat the foods that didn't look like chicken or hamburgers on his plate. Clay is also a good 'ole Southern Gentleman, meaning he likes fried chicken, hamburgers, steak, and....yeah, that pretty much sums it up. He is a VERY picky eater, and so here comes my quest as the new wife. I am going to get Clay to eat new foods! I cannot tell you how may times we have been out to a swanky nice restaurant and I get a fancy dish that 'expands my horizons' and Clay gets chicken fingers. He promised me when we got married though, that he would try everything I made him, and in return I promised to not make him eat it again if he didn't like it. Fair enough, I say, because at least I'm not having to spank him to get him to eat, right? :)

On the subject of being a newlywed, it is GREAT! We love spending more time together and doing what we want when we want to, but we also miss our families. It is a hard adjustment going from living with your family and seeing your fiance on the weekend to being with your new husband all of the time and seeing your family every other weekend. I have also learned that this is not the only adjustment I am going to have to face. Marriage is definitely about give and take. Lately I have noticed I do alot more taking than giving.
Example A:
Clay and I went shopping (he actually LOVES to go shopping with me!) yesterday for groceries. I was SO excited because I bought the paper and had decided I was going to be one of those coupon gurus who spends less than she saves. Well anyways, I cut out about forty coupons in the paper and off we went to the store. I was so excited to save money and make him proud of my efforts, but everytime we went to use the coupons there was something else that was cheaper, so I didn't get to use my coupons. Then I started feeling bad that we were spending all this money and I look down and there is chocolate milk in the buggy. I go all crazy saying there is no way we can buy chocolate milk when I just bought chocolate syrup to make his chocolate milk with, so he put it back. That made me feel really guilty and horrible, but after I made a big fuss about it, he wouldn't get the chocolate milk. Well, we left the store and ended up using only one of my forty coupons. It was .40 off a bag of chocolate chip cookies that costs $2.49 that we really didn't even need. I was upset that we didn't use my coupons (mostly because I didn't know how to do the good bargain shopping like everybody else seems to be able to do), I was upset because I made Clay put his chocolate milk back, and we spent $118.00. Good gracious alive. So the moral of the story was that Clay was being very gracious about taking me shopping and letting me walk around the store trying to find the best deals to use my coupons, and I should have let him get the chocolate milk. Hindsight is 20/20.

Marriage is not tough to me like everybody said it would be. It is just something I have to get used to. It isn't all about me anymore or what I want, it's about pleasing Clay and making him happy. If he is proud of me at the ed of the day, that makes me happy, so it is a win-win situation.

What I learned thus far-
Marriage is a never ending learning cycle.

Until next time!
Tiffany

My Blogging Adventures

Well, Hello there world! This is my first blog, and I have to admit, I am pretty ecstatic. I decided to create a blog after being inspired my cousin Lindsey, a church/family member Mrs. Joyce, and the movie Julie and Julia. I love the idea of having a 'digital diary' and the ease of being able to share your thoughts and actions with family members who live at a distance. I am so excited to capture the many things that make me smile, laugh, and cry and share it with those I love dearly. So, here's to you, loved ones! I hope you enjoy some insight into the life of.....The Dale Clan!