Time-My newest enemy

Beginning a new business is a lot more work than I expected. Every free moment has been dedicated to perfecting a video for a client, finishing our website, or designing our business cards. Although we still find time to have fun (on rare occasions it seems these days), this blog hangs over my head every time that I find something fun and free to do in Sacramento. Just a couple of weeks ago, I went to an amazing free jazz concert sponsored by a public library with my sister and her adorable son. The week after that, I attended an all-class reunion at my old high school with my mother, who is also graduated from the same school. I gather pictures and take video in the hopes of sharing them on my blog. Alas, there are far too few minutes in the day to make this blog what I dream that it could be.

For now, then, I am taking a break from the blogging world. I may revisit again when the new year begins.

Enjoy the holidays. Halloween is by far my favorite of them all. I'm already thinking of all of the wonderful free costume possibilities....

Activity #8-River Cats Game

One advantage of participating in free activities is all of the invitations that we receive! By simply deciding to only have free fun and telling our friends, we get more invitations than we can accept! It's really exciting to see how supportive everyone else is about what we are doing!

Last night, a friend of ours had free tickets to the Sacramento River Cats game. It was the last home game and the crowds enthusiasm was almost tangible. Even the field smoothers (I don't know what else to call them) performed a dance between one of the innings. What a wonderful girls' night out!



(Image found at http://martinflynndesign.com/)

Activity #7-Frisbee Golf

Bryce and I went to play Frisbee golf in Orangevale last week with a friend, my sister, and my brother-in-law. From a scale of 1-10, 1 being my least favorite activity, I give Frisbee Golf a 1. It was hot and dusty and I was terrible. Fortunately, my sister brought her 6 month old baby girl. We used her as an excuse to hide in the shade under a tree while she was fed. On scale of 1-10, I give sitting in the grass under a tree a solid 9.5. :)

Activity #6- Film a Wedding

I filmed a beautiful wedding this past Saturday. It doubled as a free activity because Bryce attended the wedding with me as the audio technician.

The wedding was held in the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg (think deliciously green grape vines, rustic wine barrels, and red brick). The couple was also very photogenic. I am very happy with the outcome! I am finishing the final touches on the wedding video this week; I will post it in this blog within the next few days.

August-Clarksburg Wedding from Melanie Owens on Vimeo.

Activity #5-Float Down the River

On Friday, we went for a float down the river. A 2-3 hour planned trip turned into a much longer trip. We floated down the American river beginning at Paradise Beach and ended just before I-5. Only one of us had been warned about the evening winds, though, and that wonderful bit of info wasn't shared with the rest of us until we were starting to be blown up stream around 5 or 6 at night. Fortunately, a friend of ours thought to bring paddles and paddled us down stream. We were finally rescued by a very kind couple on a ski boat. They hitched us up to their boat and pulled us the rest of the way. "Next time," they said, "begin at Sunrise and end at Watt." You learn as you go. :) Good company still made the trip very enjoyable, though, and I'm very glad that we went!

Activity #4- Salsa Dancing

When it rains it pours (and I mean that in a good way)! I had a long, enjoyable 4 day weekend and am only know finding a few minutes to share one of the many free activities in which I participated. On Thursday night, we went salsa dancing at The Station in Roseville. It gets really crowded around 10:30, but there was plenty of room to dance after the free lessons at 9:30. With no cover on Thursdays and great music, how can you go wrong?

We forgot our camera, but I'll update with pictures the next time that we go. Dance on, everyone!

Disappointments...

It continues to be an adventure searching for free activities in the Sacramento area. I am still learning to deal with disappointment, though, when we are invited to something that costs money. A friend of ours just invited us to have dinner with him and a few friends; as much as we want to go, Bryce and I have agreed to avoid restaurants for the next year. It's hard to turn down invitations when we want to spend time with friends and family. We continue to invite people over for dinner. It just isn't quite the same.

I know that budgeting is worth it. It still doesn't make the disappointment any easier.

Activity #3-Karaoke

The many pros and cons of singing karaoke at the Maple Room:

Pros:

• amazing music selection
• spending time with great company
• meeting new people with cool nicknames
• drunks singing karaoke off-key makes it a lot easier to get up and sing in front of everyone
• no cover

Cons:

• metal bars on the windows on the outside
  
• peeling paint on the inside
  
• there is a sprinkling of sketchy patrons
  
• the bartender wags his finger at you when you yawn
• clouds of tobacco smoke

My conclusions? Who wants to attend a cookie cutter bar and spend $5-$10 on a cover? Not me, which is why I'll be visiting the Maple Room again someday. :)

Free Activity #2-Zombie Walk

Yesterday was the 10th Annual Trash Film Orgy in Sacramento. To celebrate, hundreds of zombies marched through the streets of city. After packing a picnic dinner, we biked downtown to watch the eerie procession. It was wonderful!

Saved:

$25-$35 by packing our own lunch
$3-5 by biking instead of driving

Another biking perk was not searching for parking!

Free Activity #1-Archery

We borrowed a bow and long arrows from my brother; I already had short arrows. Since it was only my second time this year, we were only able to shoot a few rounds. It takes a lot of strength to pull back the bow. The disadvantage of shooting for free is that we can only use the arrows that we have. Bryce used the 3 arrows that my brother had and I used the 6 that I had. Custom arrows are expensive; they are about $40 a dozen. Also, my shots were really inconsistent. I could definitely use some lessons! Maybe I'll look into them in a year from now. :)

Saved:

$120 by borrowing a bow
$40 by using the arrows that we had instead of buying more
$5 by shooting at a free range

1 Year of Free Fun

After evaluating our living expenses, we have determined that we can live on $1600 a month. Our rent is $885, we share a car that we have paid off, and we shop at a discount grocery store. We have also decided to stop paying for fun.

My goal over the next year is to find 101 free activities.

Goodbye restaurants, hotels and theaters.

Hello possibilities! Hello swimming at the river, biking, attending street fairs, finally finishing that book that I started, drawing in the park...

Our Dream

I just married the love of my life on June 12, 2010. Every moment since that day, I think about starting a family. It may be because I'm turning 30 this year or because I have finally found the father of my children. Either way, we have determined to change our lifestyles so that can afford our dream: raising our kids with a full-time mom.

We have a lot stacked against us. My 8% pay cut at work begins next month. My sweet husband is a Navy vet and is working on a degree in computer science. We are so fortunate that he has the GI Bill. Still, 3 years until his graduation means that we are living and planning our future on my salary and his school allowance.

It's going to take a lot of sacrifice to realize our dream, but I know that it will be worth it.