Wedding planning & budget living

Wow, planning a wedding is expensive! I mean, REALLY expensive. My adorable husband and I have cut every corner possible, and it's still going to be a big change in lifestyle to save up for our wedding.


From the food to the decor to the music, it is not cheap to celebrate your big day with every one. However we are crafty folks and it will predominately be a DIY wedding for the most part.
On that note, we have re-adjusted our budget and lifestyle to allow us to save up for the next 9 months. I was worried that we would be eating nothing but rice & beans (which really wouldn't be a bad thing, since I made some DELICIOUS beans recently in the crock pot..) However.. I am finding that it is a fun sort of challenge to eat on a strict budget. Combine that with my newfound healthy eating regimen (can you say veggies?!) and I have quite a task in front of me.

  

We are the type of folks who like to eat meatloaf, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and the fixin's. We have never had a good healthy diet, and I've honestly never worried about what I (or we for that matter) ate. But now, it is different, and we are really enjoying it.

meatloaf, I will always love you. You too, mashed potatoes. 

I have been trying to eat healthier, work out, and get fit. You know, the same resolution every one has as of January 1st.. no but really. I'm trying to stick to it. And it's been difficult, but I'm trying to view it as a challenge!

On that note, I made some delicious Lo Mein tonight simply with all the leftovers in my fridge. Lo Mein is a great way (as is stir fry, or pizza) to clean out your fridge on a Sunday evening. Here is my hodge podge of ingredients (spinach, onion, half a red bell pepper, frozen broccoli, whole wheat linguine noodles, mushrooms, and some carrots I had cooked up earlier in the week that I knew would come in handy.)

Saute all your veggies, then throw in your (cooked) noodles with a cup of chicken broth and 1/4 cup soy sauce, and bring it up to a boil. I simmered it about 10 minutes.

For the finished product you get beautiful, delicious Lo Mein (with no scary additives, and healthy whole grain noodles.) 

We ate at FireBowl Cafe this weekend for the first time, and I can honestly say my Lo Mein trumped their food. Our dining experience there was a real disappointment. 

So here is to the start of our new healthy eating. And for those who have husband's/boyfriend's/partner's who may not want to eat healthy, take it from me, it can be done! 

We made Porkchops recently and cooked them very differently, my husband marinating his while I made a "chutney" and only used spices for flavoring. I had a baked sweet potato and he had a regular baked potato. He still got to eat hearty and I made some small adjustments. It works! It can be done. 

Happy (Healthy) Eating!

xoxo: Ash

Correction: I guess I'm not leaving Blogspot

Oh the world of blogging.. almost everyone has one, reads one, or subscribes to one. I seem to have like three accounts for some reason.. I really was impressed with tumblr's ability to make mobile blogging so easy. Blogspot, not so much. But tumblr doesn't allow you to post a series of pictures, i.e. a tutorial or "how to" type of post. Which is rediculous! I like to post step by steps for crafting and cooking and other random things, and tumblr won't have it. So I'll take it elsewhere!

So needless to say, I haven't left. And I'll be sticking around. Blogspot, I love you, just make your mobile app easier to use! Help us out here!

Love: Ashley

2011 has come to an end - on to the next one

As the end of 2011 approaches, I find myself remembering so many good and wonderful things that happened this year. It was truly the best year yet, and I have so much to be thankful for. I try not to be one of those cheesy people who goes on relentlessly about how blessed they are, but I feel that 2011 deserves a little thanksgiving and attention.

To begin with, we have finally made a steady and great life here in Austin, TX after a random move from Corpus Christi. It was a bit of a "whim" decision. But it couldn't have been a better one. Lupe found a great job earlier this year and we are so thankful for it.

our pups were so cute during the move. Can't believe August of this year made it a year! 

We got to enjoy SNOW in Texas! I think this was January or February? Hopefully we will see it again this year!

We both got new cars ( we needed them!) I got a Nissan Cube and Lupe got a Lexus IS300. We were overdue, and it felt so good to be at a place in our lives where we could upgrade and buy a nice car for ourselves. 

Bella is going strong even through her kidney problems. The doctor checked up on her in October and said her levels were actually going down (which is good, since they are mostly elevated.) She's a trooper!

We got ENGAGED! It only took us 3 years ;) I couldn't be happier. It's a rare feeling to be able to say you've found the one you want to be with for all eternity. And I think we are lucky to say that we have.

We got to visit New Orleans! (free trip courtesy of our local radio station.) This was our first real travel experience together, which is crazy becuase we have been dating for such a long time. It was a lot of fun and something we definitely plan to do more of.

We got to see some beautiful friends get married, Abby & RJ. They have a beautiful love and their wedding was one of the most fun and exciting I've been to!

Sarah and Chase also had a beautiful and fun wedding in Houston. She was an amazingly gorgeous bride and the wedding was a BLAST!

I got a PROMOTION with Kaplan this year (woo hoo) and love my job. I also go to visit Chicago for a work conference and fell in love with it. Here is Pam and I downtown at their Harbour, we were convinced we wanted to move there! It was beautiful.

We went to some fun festivals including this one, Eeyore's birthday, an Austin staple. We truly live in the best city and we don't take advantage of it enough!

I made an AMAZING friend who is practically my soulmate. I swear this girl & I were destined to be friends. One of the kindest, most genuine people I know. Not to mention she's a Gamma Phi :)

Took lots of pics with our great camera. Resolution for next year: More pics, and actually print some!

Lupe particpated in an art show at a bar called Spiderhouse here in Austin. He was among amazing talent and it was a great publicity opportunity for him. Hopefully more art shows to come in 2012.

I got to start planning our wonderful wedding :) My sweet Lupe even went to a bridal fair with me. Good sport.

It was a year of craziness with work, but my planner and blackberry held steady. I love having a planner, I go to it for everything. Can't wait to pick up a 2012 one! "Man may plan his course but the Lord determines his steps."

Got to help my BEST FRIEND pick out her wedding dress for her May wedding, and meet her wonderful friend Holly. Bunch of dolls!

Also got to celebrate my bestie's birthday! And Domani,Mary, and myself are all planning our big days for 2012. So much fun! (This is seriously the year of weddings for GPB's!)

My sweet friend Tracy came to visit Austin twice! Love getting to see her.

New years Resolution: Spend more time with Morgan. She's only 45 mins away from me!

Spent a lot of time realizing how lucky I am. And how happy I am.

Lucky enough to spend the holidays with our loved ones. I've also turned out to be quite the good cook, now I just need to spend 2012 working on my baking. Although these pumpkin cheesecake muffins turned out great!

Had a FANTASTIC Christmas. Our families truly went all out for us, and we are so so lucky.

Oh, and we had a cute little JOP wedding with our closest family and friends. We are still planning for a big ceremony in October, but we were more than ready to be married already. :)

So we end 2011 on a fantastic note, and I don't know what to expect from 2012. I don't know how we could top it, except with a fantastic wedding. Hopefully everything keeps going well for us and the pups. We are heading down to CC for New Years eve to spend it with our closest friends, and I'm super excited about it! We leave you with pinscher love.

New Years Resolutions include:

taking more pictures with our SLR

going to more free events in Austin (we are so lazy!)

spending less time on the computer and more time outside

puppies deserve more walks!

working out (for me.. and half of America)

reading more books (some good trilogies should do the trick)

Getting back into creating things. Work took over and we have really slacked.

And lastly, for anyone that may read this, I'm switching to tumblr. It's sad, but blogspot has nothing to make mobile blogging easy, and tumblr is fantastic to use from your smart phone.

Our wedding website: lupeandashleyvaladez.tumblr.com

my hobby website: luckylightning.tumblr.com

xoxo

The Valadez Clan

Old Navy's new workout gear - fantastic!

So I'm not one to like working out, to be honest. I just don't usually enjoy it, and it's much harder when you are going at it alone. I barely made it through what my hometown calls "beach to bay", where I ran 4.5 miles. Here is me afterwards (not a pretty site..) Pretty amusing, right?

But honestly I'm at the point in my life where I need to step it up and start working out. I won't look like I'm 25 forever, unfortunately. So here and there I've been running, weight training,etc. I also just recently started advocare (more on that later..) But the point of this article is that I was fortunate enough to sample some fantastic workout wear from Old Navy's new workout line, and it's great!

Their "Go Dry" and "Compression" line are made out of this fantastic material. It fits to your body so well, especially with the pants, that it almost feels like you are wearing nothing (in a good way.) I know doing things like yoga and pilates can be difficult if you're wearing clothes that have extra fabric hanging, which can also be true for running and strength training. But these pants from Old Navy are just the opposite. In this picture I'm wearing a set of long compression pants (they also come in capri), and I love them. Not to mention Old Navy made them just girly enough for me to enjoy. I'm also wearing one of the matching zip up hoodies which is fantastic. (A girl can NEVER have too many hoodies.)

Here I am ready to brave our 50 degree weather we just got in Austin (woohoo!) I love it, you can see what I mean how the pants are fitted all the way through until the bottom. Love it! And the jacket is great because it's got lots of great zippers and pockets. You could easily tuck your keys away in one and take off for a run with no worries. love that. But my favorite part of the hoodie is listed in the below picture..

I LOVE the thumb holes. I don't know what it is about thumb holes in hoodies, but I love it. In my early soccer days I can remember wearing a hole in my hoodie right where the thumb went, so Old Navy hit the nail on the head. This secures the hoodies right on top of your hands, taking the place of hand warmers and keeping the hoodie in place. Love it!

A friend of mine was also able to sample these and she loved it as well. We almost always show up to work out together in one piece or another of the Old Navy gear. I was so impressed with it that I went in and got a set of black capri's and a black zipper hoodie as well. I LOVE the capri's also, they are fitted to your leg which is perfect for yoga!

Next time you're cruising Old Navy or searching for work out gear, make sure you pick some of this up! It's really reasonably priced, ($10-$25 a piece or so). When I went everything was on sale fairly cheap. They've got everything from sports bra's to fleece all the way to these lovely items. 

Hopefully having all this great workout gear will help get me off the couch and out in the trail more! Happy shopping! 

XoXo

Ashley 

Bzzagent.com & The Domino Project from Seth Godin

So I've told you about Bzz Agent, where you can test products or ideas & then you spread the word about them. Well one of the recent campaigns they launched is called "The Domino Project". It's a project where new books are released to the kindle (or kindle app) and you receive the selected books for free, in exchange for your honest feedback.

Well the first book I read in this campaign is called "Do the Work", by Steven Pressfield. This book is phenomenal. I'm a sucker for funny, smart, motivational books, and that sums up this book to me.

The book is all about pushing through that "stuck" stage you may be in. Say you're writing a book, or a play, or trying to lose 50 lbs, or trying to get a new fantastic career - this book tells you how to cut out resistance in your life and push through to the end. It's fantastic. I personally have always wanted to write a book, and "Do the Work" not only inspired me, but it set the ball rolling for me. It's a must read.

Here's what Seth Godin has written about it:

"Steven Pressfield is the author of the most important book you've never read: The War of Art. It will help you understand why you're stuck, it will kick you in the pants, and it will get you moving. You should, no, you must buy a copy as soon as you finish reading this.

In this manifesto, Steve gets practical, direct, and personal. Read it fast; then read it again and take notes. Then buy a copy for everyone else who's stuck and push them to get to work as well.

—From the Foreword to Do The Work by Seth Godin

A picture from "Do the Work". 

So you should really get your hands on this book if you are trying to get out of a rut, need some motivation, or are just looking for a good read. Amidst the reading of the book I even blogged an excerpt here. You can get a sense of his writing style and how the book is written from this short excerpt, and it's pretty ingenius. I bookmarked a lot of the pages, just because I want to go back and write them down or print them out or paint them on a wall! Sometimes, you just need motivation to slap you in the face. And this book is the answer!

Pressfield has a new book coming out called "The Profession", and oddly enough it arrives on my birthday. I'll be picking it up, for sure!

XoXo

Ashley Rion 

Upcycling Vintage: my customer's creative ideas

So when Lupe & I started Lucky Lightning , we were really trying our hand out at different creative projects. We especially have fallen in love with our suitcase dog beds , made out of vintage suitcases. We love to create these and pooches around the world have fallen in love with them!

Check out Odie, from IL, in a red suitcase pet bed. 

Now, though, our store has more of a Vintage vibe to it, and it's starting to become a collection of lovely vintage treasures we find here & there. It's so much fun, the thrill of a great vintage find! And thank heavens for Etsy, where we have an outlet to share our obsession.

Often we find neat items that we have a few uses in mind for, but our customers often turn out to be way smarter & more creative when it comes to upcycling! I wanted to give you an insight to their ideas.

We found these great vintage, wooden, 70's - esque cups that I thought were fantastic. One of our customers turned them into the perfect game companion. 

His exact words were, "exactly what I was looking for." I do love hearing that! 

We found this vintage case that was actually a holder for a vintage travel coffee set. It was great, it had a coffee maker, cups, filters, & more. But we stripped it of that, and one of our customers used it as a costume piece for a comic con she was attending. Very different! (and later down the line, we ended up finding an identical one of these, very random!)

I nearly died when I found this pink luggage set. It's very hard to find hot pink luggage in the vintage luggage realm. I was even luckier to have a super sweet customer from Canada snag these, and she was really excited to have them. I love when customers are stoked about what they're purchasing! She used them to hold her sketchbooks & supplies, and she mentioned that she actually already has a hot pink train case she's using for a supply holder! Lucky gal. 

We have recently become hoarders of Vintage brass figures. We seriously are starting to get a zoo in our apartment, but I find them so unique and different. I advertised these little mice as decoration or as jewelry holders. I think they make adorable ring holders, myself. 

I loved this set of nesting suitcases, they zip open on the top-which is very different from most normal suitcases. I was lucky to have a super sweet, Austin based seller purchase these. You can find her unique shop Pressedufour on Etsy. She sells beautiful paper products, and uses these nifty suitcases to tote them around. I think that's such a unique idea, and a very pretty element to add to your business. 

We sold this triple set of vintage blue luggage to a customer who intends to make two end tables and a cat bed out of them. End tables will be neat made from these! I can't wait to see pics of their finished product. 

And I'm always talking about our dog beds, but I think it's great when kittens around the globe get to use them as well! Here's some happy pets & pet owners

Both of these kitty cat momma's were so sweet and wonderful to work with. The blue one was a custom order, and she made it so much fun to make. I swear, we get lucky with great customers.

One of our customers is a photographer, you can find her business, La La Clicks, here. She asked if we could do a custom bed for her to use as a prop in her photography! I thought that was such a unique idea, and of course obliged! 

Overall, we've been so lucky to have sweet, friendly, & creative customers! I can't wait to see what our future customers have in mind for our products. I do love that about recycling/upcycling, there is hope for items that get tossed to the way side! We personally use suitcases to hold our shoes, magazines, and more. We are constantly scooping up things and using them for new, innovative purposes. Keep the creativity going, all :)

We have lots of new goodies to add to the store, so hopefully they will be shipped off to new, and better uses. 

<3 Ashley 

What's really in your dog's food?

So with the recent issues with my little Yorkie getting sick, I've been doing my research on natural & holistic medicines and practices. Somehow I stumbled upon what is really in dry dog food. I've watched documentaries before on how mass produced dry dog food is really no good for your dogs, but I didn't know details. First off, did you know that a regular bag of big name dog food will normally sit an a warehouse for A YEAR before it is shipped to a big name store, to sit on their shelves? Not exactly fresh. But that is not even the worst part.

Most big name chain dog food contains "animal by products", which, ok maybe doesn't sound TERRIBLE. But that basically means it's the part of the horse, chicken, cow, etc. that is unfit for human's to eat (ok, obviously not of horse meat.) But you get the gist, it's the crap that's left over. Not to mention it's usually chock full of corn, soy, and other grains that are not natural to dog's digestion and development. Have you ever seen Food Inc. ? It's a fantastic documentary on the US Agriculture industry, and what really happens to our meat and veggies before they go into our mouths. (Pretty disturbing.) In this documentary, you see one very small, local farmer who discusses the fact that pigs, chickens, and cows are fed corn and other products that they normally wouldn't eat. These things are not NATURAL, so of course the animal's digestive tracts and bodies don't do well on these substances. Same thing with dogs, they weren't intended to eat things like this. Read more here: http://www.aplus-flint-river-ranch.com/define-animal-byproducts.php

The worst thing I've found that dog food can contain so far, EUTHANIZED DOGS. That's right, there's a plant in L.A. that takes hundreds of euthanized dogs from a shelter and grinds them up into Puppy chow. UM, GROSS. and not anywhere near natural. And you would never know, because it's labeled "animal byproduct", and we have no clue what that means.

Here's a few great articles to read about what dog food really contains:

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359

http://www.dogs-4life.com/does-your-dog-food-include-euthanized-dog-.html

http://www.crpf.org.uk/index.php?section=537

And there's a ton more. Just search google for "what is really in dog food." You may be shocked. I switched both my dogs upon reading this, because it just makes sense. The crap that is in this dog food is a huge factor in why dogs get kidney disease, liver disease, heart problems, joint issues, etc. It's not natural.

Sure paying $30 for a bag of dog food versus the original $11 is a big jump, but if it will keep my pooches alive it's worth it to me.

What to look for: Steer clear of dog foods containing:
-soy
-animal byproduct
-corn
-grains: these are tricky. some grains are good for dogs, some are not. A lot of grain/oat diets are given to dogs with special allergies. Ask a vet. Or ask the people at your local dog food store.

You want to know what meats are in your dog's food, and it should say it on the label. Some will say "chicken Meal", here's an article you can read more about "meal versus meat". http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=meat-meal

Cheers-to happy, healthy pups