Valentine's Event at "Simple Delights"

"Simple Delights" blog is hosting a Valentine's event!  To participate, too, click on the link here or in the sidebar & follow the instructions!

1). What is your favorite part about Valentine's Day?  The love part! =)

2). Your favorite romantic movie...  Belle & the Beast: A Christian Romance  

3). Dark or milk chocolate?  Both, of course!

4). What is something you do to make Valentine's Day special?  I've got sort of a tradition going that on every Valentine's Day I write a love letter to my future husband.  Plus, I pick out an especially cute outfit to wear & eat chocolate!    

5). Which would you prefer getting as a gift on Valentine's Day: Flowers or chocolates?  I find buying myself chocolates is easy {it is a source of nourishment, after all - & every once in a while we all could use some chocolate}, but as a single girl I have trouble rationalizing buying myself something just for the sake of beauty & happiness - especially when that something's petals eventually droop & fall to the ground.  So, I'd love to find a guy who thinks enough of me to buy me the flowers that I've been waiting for.  Give me flowers, please!   

6). If you're married, what do you enjoy doing with your husband to celebrate? n/a at the moment

7). If you're single, what do you hope to do with your husband if you get married someday?  I look forward to spending quality time with my prince - just me & him... chatting, taking a walk, having an adventure... 

I love love... & you, dear reader!

-Bess- 

Mr. Darcy Turns 200!

Source

Today is the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice!  Don't hate me please, but I've never read it... I have seen a couple of different movie versions, though {Does that count?}.  It's on my reading list for this year.  Anyways, Mr. Darcy is the guy of classic literature!  It's such a romantic tale!  Have you read the novel?  What do you think about Mr. Darcy?  

Source

Bookish Love, 
-Bess-

True Love Waits Stories {Rebecca St. James}

 Rebecca waited for God's perfect timing.  I'm sure at moments she wondered about His clock, & felt lonely & unchosen, & yes, spent Valentine's Days without a boyfriend to send her chocolates & roses.  But, she lived her 33 single years to the full... knowing life doesn't begin when you get a diamond ring on that special finger.  She waited & kept herself pure.  Now, she's married to her prince!  Her story is a beautiful melody about God's faithfulness; He cares & fully knows the desires of our hearts. 

Love {& LIFE} in the Waiting,

-Bess- 

Healthy New Year

It's a new year & a new reason to get healthy - or healthier {or healthiest?}.  One part of the equation is activity {cough, exercise}... if you make it fun it's more like play & less like the "e" word - that's how I like it, at least.  The other part of the equation is what you choose to eat.  I'm trying to eat more of the old fruits & veggies.  One simple way to do this is to smash em all up together in a blender & drink the yummy goodness in a smoothie.  You can pretty much use whatever fruits/veggies you have.  One of my favorite combinations is the standard strawberries, blueberries, & orange juice {shown above}.  If you're not much of a breakfast person {or if you're like me, loving breakfast - just not at breakfast time}, this makes a refreshing light-feeling start to the day.  My mom has taught me well... & I'm passing it on to you {as if you don't already know}... you have to eat something in the morning - something to break that fast {that's where the word comes from (yes, my mom taught me that as well)}, as my mom would say.     

Here's to being healthy in 2013!  We shan't be perfect.  We shall eat chocolate & ice cream at times {oh, & fudge}, but we shall try to eat more of the good & move about in play!

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."

-1 Corinthians 6:19

Love,

-Bess-

Just Cause...

                               Source: Uploaded by user via Rachel on Pinterest

My new favorite song for January 2013!  You were made to BLOOM!

-Bess-

Adventures in {Mini} Extreme Couponing

The other day I jokingly told a close friend, "I need to find a boyfriend just for economic reasons... someone to pay for all my meals & drive me everywhere."  Now, of course, I'd never ever {in a million years} "get" myself a boyfriend for financial reasons.  It's just hard sometimes when you open up another bill or see the gas prices sky rocket as soon as your tank is getting low {it's like Newton's Law that it will always happen so}.  God hasn't called us to worry about well, anything, but especially not His provision for us.  Say it with me, "He will provide!"  Just look at what His Word says:  

   "Once I was young, & now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread."

-Psalm 37:25 NLT

This doesn't mean we just sit around & wait for the manna to fall.  Nope, we have to work & be smart with what He blesses us with {it's all His anyway - I wonder if that would help sometimes when we're about to make a not-so-wise impulse purchase, if we'd just think, "I can't squander God's money on a teal taffeta skirt that will just sit in my closet, now can I?"}.

Taffeta aside, this year I'm trying to do something new, bold, &/or brave each day.  On January 1st I did something new & created a coupon binder.  If you've read Bess' Bag {my main blog} then you probably know I'm pretty thrifty - make that, majorly thrifty.  It's just the way I am.  But, even though I'm frugal by default, I know I can be even smarter with my money if I try.  I don't know how many times I've let a coupon's expiration date slip past because I misplaced it or forgot.  So, I cut some scrapbook paper to size, added some stickers & decals, & created a coupon binder.   

I don't claim to be anything like those couponing ladies that can take a $150 buggy of groceries & come out with a receipt that reads $10 {but I wish I was} =); I'm just trying to corral my coupons in one place & organize them a bit {which I haven't finished yet - I need to create some tabs with headings like: groceries, bath/beauty, fast food, miscellaneous, etc.}.  

Here's some more money saving/couponing tips for us single girls:

-print coupons off the Web {Google coupon sites}

-many companies offer coupons/deals if you "like" their Facebook page

-the Dollar Tree just recently started accepting coupons, which could make for major savings {even freebies}

-if you eat a lot of frozen meals from a particular brand see if they have a rewards program where you can enter points & earn stuff {I participate in Stouffer's Dinner Club & Lean Cuisine's Delicious Rewards (I just earned a lunch box with Lean Cuisine)}

Love,

-Bess-

P.S.: Don't forget to give back to God: tithe. =)   

New Year's Eve {In Pics}

Did you read my New Year's Eve post?  Here it is if you didn't {click me}, & here are a few pics from it...

my Martinelli's sparkling white grape juice, non-alcoholic, of course {such a cute mini bottle for 1}

my pizza {which I don't know why the pepperoni's are placed that way - I ate late & was so hungry I sorta just shoved it in the oven helter-skelter}

the back of the fancy dress I wore {it's not easy getting a good pic when you're the model & photographer}

midnight kisses =)

one of the songs I sang to bring in this sweet new year God has given us

Happy New Year, girls!

-Bess-