If I had a MILLION dollars...

If I had a million dollars...heck, if I just had $100,000 I'd already have it earmarked.


You see, combined, my husband and I don't make a ton. Surprising, I know, but we don't. We've always been careful with money, however, and we're not frivolous spenders.


We WANT to be, but we're not. We've followed the Dave Ramsey budget for years. We're paying our bills every month, we're saving for retirement, and we have an emergency fund, but that's about it. Unless we each save our weekly "allowance" for weeks, we don't buy anything big.
We've decided being able to go on a family vacation every year is more important than some other things.


Now, I'm not complaining. We have a happy life. A "homey" home filled with used/borrowed/hand-me down things. Things we've chosen for ourselves. But we don't have the extras.


Try to keep your shock under control when I mention we don't have a Wii, we don't have ANY flat screen tv's, we don't have a gaming system, and cable/dish is just a long-forgotten memory.

Guess what, we're alive. We actually walk among the living without having any of the above things.


Now, don't get me wrong, we would probably enjoy many of the above things, but our kids know they are ok to live without them.


However, it doesn't mean we don't WISH or WANT things.


I get all these wonderful catalogs in the mail, and just drool over the pages. I mainly get the catalogs for ideas. I know I can replicate many of their things on my own, for peanuts, but I like to dream people.


Here are some of my current wants....you'll see what I mean.


I was looking through the Garnet Hill catalog the other day. Beautiful catalog, beautiful website, beautiful ideas.


So, if I had a million/$100,000 to blow, I would probably buy the cashmere sweater in the top corner. (Just for the feel alone) It was originally $178, and on clearance it's still $68. The grey sweater is more my speed in price. It was $88, but now retails for $24. Manageable. The skirt, however, is my FAVORITE! It was $138, and is now $39. A possibility....but I'm currently looking for patterns to see if I can make it myself. The rings, lastly, are very cool, but on clearance for $98 a piece, is ridiculous.

I have also long dreamed for a bathroom that I LOVE. I don't have that. Our 3 bathrooms are passable at best, but here's what I found in Pottery Barn. These are much more my speed, if I could only wrap my measly budget around them....

Then, the living room and bedroom.....ah. Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware once again captured everything I've been dreaming of.

The vintage gameboards, the armoire, and the colors of the bedding. Beautiful. You see, we've been using the oak tv cabinet my husband made in shop class in high school. It's 20 years old, and I have a feeling if my husband has anything to do with it, it will die along with us.



And lastly, outdoor ideas have been flashing through my head for the last 5 years we've lived in this house. I would love a flower garden out back, and a pea-gravel patio area or deck with wicker furniture, etc. One of the problems, we have no trees and live in an area surrounded by fields, so things are windy around us. There is no wind break, and I could just imagine wonderful wicker chairs flying all over the yard on a regular basis. Can't help but dream about it, though.

The set with the red umbrella from Pottery Barn is ONLY $699 on sale! And the sconce for the front porch is only $80 on sale. (without the extra cost for numbers). I'll just go right out and buy these tomorrow!


Now, remember, I'm not complaining. I'm NOT. But you can't help but feel a little green every once in awhile.


I have to keep remembering, we can't take any of this when we're gone. We can't. But sometimes it would be fun to have some just for a little while.