Time is Money.

Colton and I have been on a budget all this month, a fairly strict one. We were testing to see where our money was being spent, and if we could live off a certain amount when it came to "misc spending". (Trying to save up a down payment for when we are ready to purchase our first home! Can't believe we're at that point in our lives already...yikes.)

Oddly enough, this has been the sloooowweesstt month EVER! It wasn't like it dragged by in a bad way, but Colton and I both felt the same, it seemed longer, it feels like two months have gone by rather than just one. It made me wonder...being more conscious of what you're doing and what you're spending, does that keep you from wasting time, does it make you slow down?

Instead of just going out and doing whatever, we find creative ways to be entertained...and then things don't fly by so fast. Instead of going out to eat, we take the time to prep and cook and then enjoy.

Obviously this is "common sense" to most...but how often do we actually put it to good use? At least in the Lindelof household, there is always room for improvement. We didn't deprive ourselves, and we still went out to enjoy a movie if we wanted to get out of the house (note to those in the Seattle area: there's a fun, slightly old, theater that plays $3 movies, usually right after they are out of the main theaters but before they go to DVD, check it out: Crest Theater), but we just looked at everything from a different perspective. It really was a treat to go "out" and do something that cost money. What a concept huh?

I just thought it was so bizarre how slow this month has gone. It's like we were literally handed the time to slow down and smell the flowers. It felt like there wasn't as much time wasted...wasted going to a restaurant rather than cooking at home with the hubs, wasted shopping for things we don't necessarily need, and so on.

There's always a balance in everything we do...I know there are times a restaurant is a much better plan for my own sanity (and maybe for the boy's bellies), there are times we will want to "splurge" on some fun items for ourselves...but this month of August has really been a nice lesson for how the pace of life should be, and where our time and money should be spent.

To be honest...part of the reason for this post other than sharing our immense brilliance on the topic...is to keep myself motivated as we go into a new month. Wish us luck!

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.”

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I suffer from travel-bug-itis. I hear it's incurable. *sigh* My side effects? Heavy daydreaming. Constant Google-ing. Unstoppable planning.

Oi.

I've been so blessed with the places I've been, experienced and seen. But I selfishly want more, and more. I want to meet different people, and experience other cultures, and most of all, travel the world with my favorite people and document life with my trusty 7D.

I know that you don't have to physically go to every destination to learn about cultures, and to experience life...but the explorer in me just can't help wanting that.

I want to see the wild animals in Kenya. I want to go back in time in Egypt. I want to stand where Jesus stood in Israel. I want to experience the old and the new in Europe (again). I want to climb the Great Wall. I want to learn to really dance in South America. I want to see the glaciers in Alaska. I want to see the rolling green hills and amazing castles in Ireland. I want to see NYC and Alcatraz and every mountain, valley, town and river in between. I want to swim in the turquoise blue waters of French Polynesia. And I'm just itching to photograph every little detail of Greece.

That's all doable right? RIGHT?

I want to see how other people live, and the beauty that God created all over. I mean, WA state alone is such a beautiful example of God's fingerprints...so imagine what else there is!

Eat. Pray. Love. is coming out this weekend...and I can't wait to see it. I just know my "disease" will only worsen after the movie, as I will immediately look into booking trips to Italy, India, and Indonesia. (Who's with me?)

Well, I'm concluding this with:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. - Mark Twain

and

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - St. Augustine

and

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. - Marcel Proust

oh...and:

Who wants to go on an adventure with me? I'm thinking Brazil at the moment. Maybe Norway? How about Prince Edward Island? Any takers...