Who Am I Riddle & Winter Wonderland

Today I thought I'd share a great riddle I stumbled across many years ago. See if you can guess the answer, then click "read more" for the answer, and more winter pictures.

Who Am I?

I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper, or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things I do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed. You must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. 

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human. You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin. It makes no difference to me. 

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who Am I?

My Vintage Favorites

I've been stalking various vintage inspired blogs, Facebook groups, and other corners of the internet.  Some just aren't my style, but like every excavation there will be more rocks than gems. A few are truly kindred spirits!  I thought I'd share my favorites here, in no particular order...

The Memory Budget

I get a lot of questions about how we afford to go on so many vacations.  So I thought I'd share our method regarding the finances and philosophies behind it.  We call it the Memory Budget.

Jump into Vintage Day 7

This ends my Jump into Vintage week, and I've saved the best for last!

You can see the rest of this week's Jump into Vintage posts here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6

Jump into Vintage Day 6

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our men and women serving in the armed forces! Your sacrifices of family time, hard work, and in some cases health, is very much appreciated.

Today was 30's inspired hair, by default.

Jump into Vintage Day 5

It's my day off work. I'm cleaning, working on May's house projects, wet setting my hair, and staying in my pj's all day!  I thought I'd share pictures of last week's vintage week prep thrift store finds. I stopped at 4 thrift stores and 2 yard sales over the course of last week in preparation for my jump into vintage style.

Jump into Vintage Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of my vintage journey!

Jump into Vintage Day 3

Today I wore my favorite brown floral skirt, red blouse, brown cardigan, and brown shoes.

Jump into Vintage Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of my vintage inspired journey! 

Jump into Vintage Day 1

I must admit, I've gone overboard for vintage.  Specifically the 1940's.  Well, I've always loved all things Victorian, 1930's, 40's, and 50's but now I'm interested in spending some time and effort to emulate a vintage inspired look on a regular basis, and on a tight budget. I'm going to Jump into Vintage every day this week!
Update: you can see the rest of the week here:
Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

We're off to see the Wizard....The Wonderful Wizard of OZ!

Ha! Caught ya with my title, right?!? Here's the scoop. We're not reeeally going to Oz to see the wizard(unless you count the magical lights in the sky). We're moving. Where? Somewhere magical, of course. Isn't anywhere more magical than where you are?

Why, you ask. Oh, lots of reasons. The biggest would be my husband's job...or lack of one. He was laid off and we are now jobless. So we thought...why live where we don't want to be without a job when we could live where we DO want to be without a job? Logical, eh?

Are you CRAZY? Yes, well, we've known for about two years that we weren't happy in our current state. It's on the opposite side of the country from our friends and family. We've known for about 9 months that he was going to be laid off. 9 months. Ironic isn't it? It really feels like we've been in labor for the last month.

How? Movers, of course. We've been saving up, scrimping everywhere since we learned of the coming lay off. We've sold off and pared down our belongings by 75%. Yes, I said 75%! It was quite a feat with 4 pack rats and 20+ years of stuff. But leaving this place was more important to us and our long term goals than keeping excess stuff. It's amazing what you can live without and don't even miss.

When? VERY soon. WAHOO! Oops, sorry. Just get a little excited at the prospect. We've sold our house. Another big hurdle in this economy and we took a 28% loss, but we've planned ahead and we'll be okay.

Why are you sharing this? Because I want you to be encouraged. You can make your dreams come true and live the life you want. You only get one chance at it. When the news is nothing but doom and gloom, there is always a beacon of hope out there. We rely on our faith in God to bring us through. We plan ahead. We spend wisely. You can do it too.

We're about to be homeless, jobless, and untethered...at least for a little while. It looks like an adventure waiting to happen!