A Jolly Good Week!

Here's to a Summer Filled with Awesome!  Now, I realize that really doesn't make sense but I like the saying :) 

After one week of Little being off of summer, and me on Day 4 of Summer break - we already accomplished three popsicle activities!

One of my most favorite purchases after the holidays was a Martha Stewart chalkboard. The board has a wonderful border already printed on, but it's not too easy to write and erase.  The cuteness factor makes up for the moments of frustrations!  

After we pick a few activties for the week off of the twine line of popsicles, we  stick them on the board with clothespins.  After we accomplish the task, we check it off and initial the date.  

This week's Checked list: 

Summer pedicure

Drive In Theater

See a baseball game

Eat Breakfast for Dinner

I just love how it's turning out!

A Journey from broke to wealthy ( or somewhere slightly between)

 

 I used to come home from work, and as I approached the back door - I would hear a southern twang  over the radio waves, and I would be filled with frustration.  Why would Mr. listen to such nonsense?  Who wants to hear about other people's problems?  Not me!  I had enough to worry about, paying our bills, that I didn't want to hear about some random guy in Arkansas and his financial troubles. I knew troubles. I didn't need to suffer through listening to it. As I would enter the house everyday, I would wonder, really - what does this Dave Ramsey from Tennessee know about my debt?
Well....fast forward three years later. Clearly, Dave knew his stuff.  I, unwillingly at first, agreed to be part of "Financial Peace University" with my husband, (really with the hope that we didn't have
 to listen to the crappy podcasts anymore). We took a class for a year, and only started implementing what we learned last year. I can't tell you why it took us that long, I blame it on pure stubbornness. We were used to a certain way, and even if it wasn't working, it was our way.  But after taking the course, we decided to actually give it a try.  In that year, we paid off almost $70,000 in debt. It wasn't this magical class and POOF - no debt. It honestly took A LOT of extra side jobs, tutoring sessions, and a few cutbacks - but we did it. We did it with a little, okay - A LOT of structure and help from Dave Ramsey course. We are still left with about 6,000 in debt - but that number seems like peanuts compared to what it was.   

How did we get there? What made us even attend this class?

PART 1: Facing the Financial Mess We Created

I don't think we understood HOW badly we were in debt. (Nothing like pointing out how far you've come!)

I have to say it was more my mindset than Mr's of wanting things you couldn't afford. He didn't have a  credit card (and still doesn't), and when I wanted something I didn't have the cash for - I would charge it.  Simple as that. Nothing seemed out of my reach! Good 'ole Visa would come to my rescue. What happens when you start charging vacations? Furniture? wedding? OH BOY!  I didn't realize, basically because I never added it up before the financial problems we created.  Four years ago, when we were about to get married, we had to really take a hard look at our finances. How can you save when your bills were more than you were making?  It was time to face the facts.  We needed help.  At the time, we had satellite radio (an expense we no longer have), and a good fellow, Dave Ramsey had a show where people screamed about how they were out of debt. Literally, they would call in and shout "Debt Free!" What a celebration! Could we eventually make that call and shout those words? It felt like the light at the end of the tunnel was barely on.

Looking back, things could have been so much worse. Somehow each month, we always paid our bills.  We never missed a payment.  We were able to continue to  live our lives and enjoy ourselves.  But we were slave to our jobs. We HAD to make a certain amount of money in order to make payments each month.  There was no true freedom.

What we learned from our year of taking the course (and believe me we learned a lot) was to BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET.  You want something? Save! My trusty Fisher Price piggy had purpose again. 
The most important and hardest part of this was to follow your budget. Track your money. Follow where it goes. 

I created this budget that I use - Feel free to download and use as it works for you!

 

We still have a long way to go, because following Dave Ramsey's Steps to Financial Peace - the battle isn't over.  After creating a budget, and sticking to it - there are many other steps that will secure your freedom in the finance department!  Another post shall tackle that :)

 

52 weeks of baking...or just 51

As previously stated in other posts, I decided last year that completely ONE single resolution wasn't enough for me (seriously what was I thinking?!). I wanted to come up with monthly goals, and this year I came up with goals that involved the number 3 (because really, who doesn't like a theme?).  In addition to those goals, I came up with something else that may not help me lose weight....but will definitely make our tummies happy!

There are so many recipes that I would like to try so I decided as part of my New Year's resolution I would bake once a week.  Sundays maybe?  But seeing that I already passed the FIRST SUNDAY of the year, I am one step behind.....I hope this isn't a look into things to come for the year!  I have a few days to figure out something to bake.......so many delicious recipes to try!

Goals for 30

I almost want to laugh, to keep myself from crying - when I look back at my goals for the previous year. I don't think I could have done anything LESS towards those goals.... That really isn't totally true - I have definitely stayed on task with sticking to a cleaning schedule (something I pride myself on). But, other than cleaning - I didn't do anything else!

 This year, I will 30. The big 3-0. What does that entail?  That means that I would like to set the 30 Change.  I made that up - haha. but I would like to:

1. Lose: 30 pounds
2. Try: 30 new things
3. Watch: 30 movies
4. Read: 30 books
5. Complete the 30 day challenge by Jillian Michaels
6. Cut down 3 credit cards debts
7. Go on 30 dates :)  (with my husband of course)
8. Run: 3 miles (that doesn't sound like a lot to most people - but I can't run down my driveway right now!)
9. Create: 30 crafts

Since I have 6 months, I figure all of this is pretty reasonable.  I like my list because it is divisible by 3. This isn't a list like "Oh my goodness, I'm turning 30 and my life is over. I'm official OLD." It's more like I love lists and due dates.  I also want to feel like I achieved something.

How to Stay Sane (perhaps I found the solution!)

I keep mentioning back to school but that is simply because my life will be on a schedule again.  Work 6-3:30, tutoring, homework, dinner, practice, blah blah blah.  Usually with this schedule, out goes the laundry, vacuuming, dishes, dinners, and everything that seemed orderly this summer.  FINALLY we are caught up on the laundry.  We have been sticking to our Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday laundry day routine.  And for the first time in years, it's working! wahoo!!  I am afraid that with the start of school, out will go what I strive for. Piece of mind. 

Perhaps I need to cut myself some slack.  With that, maybe I need to come up with ways that myself and my mental health will stay intact this year.  I don't want to spend my first minutes of every morning scrambling to find my other shoe, locating the butter in the packed fridge, and emptying the dishwasher so I have a clean water bottle for work.  I think about how I spent the previous year, and it boggles my mind that I didn't lose my cool. (well, totally lose my cool).  

Instead of a New Year's Resolution in January, I decided a New School Year's Resolution - since that is really how my year starts and stops.  

How I plan to keep a sane brain:

1. Connect with Others

        Time and time again, I say to myself "I should really call so-and-so", but I don't!  I would like to make it a point to contact one person a week and spend a fair amount of time chatting with them.

        I also would like to ACTUALLY mail out cards when I think of it - birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, thinking of you - I'm always LATE!

2.  Shake that Body! 

        I need to actually move my body this year.  I would like to go to the gym (I hate that forbidden word).  I would like to do yoga in the morning.  Now that we have a new member in our family, she needs a walk every morning and afternoon.  

  3. Stay with the program

        I've been mentioning our schedules - our cleaning calendar, our laundry days, our chore list.  No matter how busy we get, as a family we need to try to stick with what has been working. It also helps to plan our meals ahead of time, and ACTUALLY have the ingredients in the house! (gee what a concept).  Mr. doesn't really have a routine, or doesn't really believe in it (and I'll blame his childhood), but it's important to follow a schedule.  

4. Food on the brain

      This school year I am going to attempt to always bring my lunch and eat breakfast.  I am going to try to incorporate fresh veggies and fruits in my diet.  Any ideas for a healthy lunch??

There.  My four rules to live by.  Let's hope I stick with it!

Meal Plan Monday

It's that time! School time! And with that comes a lot of planning at home.  As the school year starts, our schedules get busy. Super busy. Therefore, Mr. and I decided that planning our meals weekly would cut down on the stress at night.  I am going to (hopefully!) stick with it this time around!  

This week is CHICKEN week (That is only because for some reason we have an obscene amount of boneless chicken in our freezer. It is taking up all the space, and there is no room for ice cream! gasp!)

This week's menu looks like this:

 Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken w beans

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo w side salad

 Parmesan Broiled Tilapia  w green beans

BBQ Chicken Pizza 

Taco Night!!

These recipes aren't in any order - but atleast I know I have the ingredients for the meals!  Wait - there are seven days in a week, but why did I only plan five meals?  We always have SOME sort of leftovers - so one night a week is leftover night, which is a mishmosh of all foods.  On the 7th day, we more than likely will eat out or eat over our families' houses.  If not, we have "quick" food that we can throw together (sounds unpleasant and unhealthy but more than likely we will run late from practice or work ONE night).  Therefore, I plan only five!  

As a special treat for the first day of school, I plan on making Bark. This treat has many different names, but in my family we call it Bark because my Uncle Mark and Aunt Barb make it every year for vacation.  YUM!

Oh the Horror!

After crying my eyes out, and looking around my house in horror - I decided that maybe I shouldn't watch Hoarders again.  Every time I catch a minute of this show, I feel the need to purge.  Our unfinished basement holds all our useless treasures.  Yet it also functions as our laundry room.  In a perfect world, my laundry would have a real floor, real walls, and wouldn't be in a musty basement.  Till then, I must make due with what I have.

 After turning off the TV, I went downstairs and promptly made the basement look worse.  I threw everything that was organized on the shelves, on the floor. But - there is a method to my madness.  Does anyone else find when cleaning, or re-organizing, it seems to look worse before better?  I hope I am not alone.  if you are looking at the picture, I promise you there are walls and a floor somewhere.  And before I came downstairs and completely destroyed the space, everything seemed organized.  But after watching Hoarders - I felt I needed to redo everything. 

We recently redid Little's room, and had two extra short bookcases.  I wanted to move them in the basement, but didn't know where they would go.  Right now, all our holiday decor is stored under the stairs, and loads of extra things/garage sale items are in boxes all over the place.  I would prefer to use the bookshelves for the following:

Extra towels for the new member of our family (Princess, the dog)

Party Supplies (ribbons, party bags, etc)

Gifts (I ALWAYS have a gift lying around or two in case something comes up - housewarming etc)

tissue paper

Gift bags

I am not sure what else to do with the space so its more orderly....but I started bragging to my husband that my design (ummm.....what design??) will blow his mind.  I said it nice and slow too, to emphasize the blowing of the mind part.  Awesome. I have no plan at all.  And in less than ten minutes, I tore the basement up.  eeck! Now, the real question is - how long will it take me to put it back together?!

May Goals

I fell off the Goal Wagon during the months of March and April. I reined it in, and hopefully will accomplish some of my lofty goals this month. Since I never posted about my accomplishments for February, I did the following:

YAY! Goal #1 Organize ALL my craft items, including what is in our basement and bedroom. It needs to all go in one spot. YES - I did this. I now have a Craft Closet! wahoooooo. Now I just need to put it to some good use.

BOO Goal #2. Walk twice a week. ----- I have not completed this at all.

YAY! Goal #3. Make and mail valentines. Half of this was complete. I mailed out valentines, but I did not make them.

YAY! Goal #4. Organize books and magazines. ALL my magazines are gone. They are finito.

HALF yay! Goal #5. Organize basement. It WAS organized in February, but not so much now......

BOO Goal #6. Tell my husband that he is great. I am ashamed that I didn't do this enough.

Goals for MAY?? UGH. I don't think I can even put that pressure on myself now to formulate goals, though I should have little to no excuse as I didn't post anything for March or April. So here it goes...May:

1. I would like to write a budget and stick to it.

2. I would like to organize our closet.

3. Sell Jetta.

4. Re-Clean basement.

5. Hold a garage sale and weed through the garage!!

I think that is enough for now. Maybe it's just the day, but all my tasks seem overwhelming and daunting....

Menu Plan Sunday

Mr. and I have all the intentions of cooking home meals every day each week, but I'm not sure what happens. After work, we both are tired and don't plan well. We will realize at 6pm that the chicken is frozen and we don't have peas. Or we will need two eggs and butter, both of which we are missing. We have started planning out our weekly menu and loosely scheduling when we will eat a certain meal. But I have a new idea for blogging (though I have a hard time keeping up with the old ideas!)

I have found on Organizing Junkie, a list of do's and don'ts for Menu Planning. The bold steps are from the website, and then I remarked on each step.

1. Pick a day to get it done: This for us would be a two day process. We (or really I) look through the store circulars on Thursday/Friday when they arrive in the mail, and compare them to the coupons I have. This starts the menu process! After figuring what is on sale, we start to look through our cookbooks and determine what we would be in the mood for. I currently only plan dinner meals but am going to start planning other meals and snacks, as soon as this actually becomes part of our routine. For me the best day of the week to shop is Sunday. I’ve tried various days including Monday but have found Sunday is the best because it allows me to take my time in the supermarket, without rushing through the store.

2. Look at the week ahead: "When it comes to picking meals for the week you’ll want to grab your calendar and consider what’s going on that week." This could never be so true - between Mr. working late, my tutoring and aftercare programs, and Little's sports schedule - it is mayhem!

3. Let each family member have a say: My husband and I generally like the same things but I like to include his favorites (as well as mine!). I usually let Little pick out a meal or two, and when American Idol was on, we would invite my parents over for dinner. He would even cook part of the meal.

4. Ensure Balanced Nutrition: This is SO hard because we usually just focus on the main dish (the meat/fish/chicken part) without putting much thought into the rest of the meal. This does not make for a balanced dinner at all. I am hoping that in the future we will have a more nutritious dinner planned out!

5. Incorporate simplifying techniques: I have found that picking “theme nights” makes planning easier and more fun. UM. right up my alley!!

"The last simplifying technique I use is pre-prep. Every night before bed I look at what’s for dinner and do pre-prep if needed. It’s either taking meat or fish out of the freezer, chopping fruit and vegetables, making salads or putting together slow cooker dishes for the morning. The key is to do most of the work ahead of time so the preparation part is easy." Organizing Junkie couldn't have said it better.

If found this menu chart with meal ideas. If you don't have a chart yet, this could come in handy! I happened to find a really cute shopping list/menu planner at Target. It is currently on the side of our wine fridge - where we can write down what we may need for the following week.

Happy meal planning!!

New dream

I have decided that my next step in life after my teaching thing has run its course (and that could be thirty years from now), I would like to do TWO things.

Open up a coffee shop. I have the details planned (minus how I will fund my dream) The name, the style, the colors, the menu - all picked out. I also have the fictitious town (think Gilmore Girls mixed with Eastwick). I have already started looking for props for my shop - but of course NOT buying them (because that would be plain silly. of course.) I would love to have a patio/porch attached to my building, with vintage furniture. Think eclectic. I would like to have theme nights,with board games and fun for all :) I have no pictures of course because all the designs are in my head.... I realize in this day and age, the thought of opening your own business and actually being successful is daunting. Till then, I will dream.

Secondly, open up a consignment/bookstore. How fun! In a perfect world, my successful businesses would be neighbors. So if you were shopping and suddenly had urge for a frozen coffee treat - yippee! You can get it.

I would love to display the crafty items I will be crafting ( I wanted to see how many times I could use that word in a sentence!)

Till these fantasies become a reality, I will continue slaving away teaching our future in humid, damp, and sweat-reeking conditions. (If you didn't guess, I teach in a high school and yes. without air conditioning. )

Always dreaming.

February Goals

With the end of Jan, I only truly reached one full goal. I have off a week in February, and I will have the whole week to myself. It will be wonderfully exciting - as I plan to accomplish some of these goals during that time.

In the month of Feb, I would like to do the following:

1. Organize ALL my craft items, including what is in our basement and bedroom. It needs to all go in one spot.

2. Walk twice a week. Rather than being somewhat general with my healthy goal, I think I need to be more specific in what I am looking for.

3. Make and mail valentines. I will ALMOST settle for just buying and mailing, as I am horrible at mail. I found Christmas cards that I stamped and addressed that I never mailed. The REAL kicker was the stamps were 37 cents. So that gives you a little insight on how long I had them for....I apologize to my friends and family that in 2002 I never mailed my cards.

4. Organize books and magazines. That is quite a project. However, I have found that this goal is almost accomplished, as I started it in January. There is no need for magazines dating back from when I was in high school. No need at all.

5. Organize basement. THAT is a task - and I won't be too disappointed if I only complete half of that.

6. Tell my husband that he is great because I know he doesn't hear it enough, and I know he doesn't think this often enough.

I hope I find more success in February then I did in January.

The 29th brings January goals to an end

One month. 30 days. January goals? Let me repeat them:

Posted on Dec 29th

"January's goal I am already trying to achieve and that is:

Simplify. Minimize. downgrade. We have SO much stuff - I really want to spend the month sorting through each room, and reorganizing furniture, wall hangings, belongings - and decide what we outgrew (or just what I outgrew), and rearranging everything so there is less.

My second goal (which I attempt every year) is to actually get healthy. Get on the path to rightousness through my diet and exercise (lack of!). I am carrying around all of this weight, making me feel less like me. If I could find excerise TWICE a week (in any shape or form) for the month of January - that would be 8x more than normal.

Craft space.

I would like a space of my own."

Back to 2010. About those goals - soooo.....Organizing? half check. I didn't realize when I made this lofty goal I had so many paper. I didn't factor in that I am a packrat, and I seem to have every piece of paper I ever wrote in stored in bins. I also didn't factor in that we own alot, and I will restate that ALOT of stuff. I dutyfully attempted to downsize our "important papers" from four plastic bins, to two paper boxes (neatly ogranized and filed/color coded.) Our "paperwork" is in order. Our closets? pantry? bathroom? Our life? Not at all. I think this will be a goal that I will be working on for the rest of the year, perhaps rest of my life. Looking back, I should have been more specific when I said organize. If I was to travel back 30 days ago - I would say "organize paperwork in basement, and properly file all our important papers." Let's pretend I can do that.....and yay! My goal has been met! (well...not really...so I'll give myself half credit)

2nd goal. Healthy? Eating better? Exercise? ummm.....let me just hang my head in shame......

Craft space? check. (See soon-to-be post). Organized craft space? big hell to the no. My dad, handy man that he is, helped me design the craft closet of my dreams. Everything I need and want (for crafting and creating) can fit inside the space. I have yet to find the time to finish organizing it. It seems I have an extraordinary amount of crafting materials lying around the house. HOWEVER, I went back and looked at the wording, and my simple goal was finding a crafting space of my mine - well, by golly, I think I've found it! Goal completed!! (Maybe Feb can tackle actually putting all the materials away!)

So - I posted three goals for the month of January, and after some revision of Goal #1, I have completed 1.5 goals. That is quite sad. Let's hope February brings more success. I will pot February goals on the 1st ....don't want to get ahead of myself or anything.....

Goals for Year

New Years Resolutions vs. Goals

After much thinking, I really like to set a goal - a focus on what this year will bring. So far this year has brought my motivation at work and a terrible cold. I have been sick all week. In fact, I feel worse and worse each day. However, I am not letting that stop me! This is what I would like to tackle by the end of 2010.

Send thank you cards for all gifts received- This is something you learn (or SHOULD learn as a child), to always say thank you. Sometimes, time gets the best of you - and thank you cards fall by the wayside. I am going to try my darnest to show my appreciation.

Improve blog - That is in the works!!

Become debt free from credit cards - I realize this may not take just one year, but I would like to end the year, and say I accomplished atleast ridding myself of one credit card.

Read 100 books of my choosing- Each and every day I read a book. Some people do not have that luxury. However, the books are not of my choosing, due to the fact I must follow a curriculum, and not everyone wants to reread Macbeth 5 times a year.

Lose weight - I won't say any specific number, but I plan on shedding some major poundage. That leads me to my next goal.

Take an aerobics class

Document life/the year in a scrapbook, daily activities photos etc. celebrate the year through visual art journaling.

Become more proficient with digital camera and taking better photographs-somewhat.

Completely organize office and creative space-

Hand make Christmas presents (at least half of the gifts I give)

Use only fabric bags when shopping

Plan weekly menu’s and stick to them!!

Restart dates with husband - I miss "our" time together, and I had so much fun planning out ABC dates - Hopefully, in the new year, we will be able to bring it back.



It's a hefty list for 2010, but so far, I am off to a fabulous start (minus the sniffles and cough). If I achieve HALF of this list, I will be more than thrilled :)

New year New tude

With this new year, new decade - it has brought a new fresh attitude. I realize that there are things that are out of my control, and the only thing I truly can control would be my own attitude. I make my day great, or otherwise.

So far, 2010 has brought me happiness and smiles. I am sure there will be moments where it seems unbearable, but right now, in this very moment, I want to enjoy the time I have.
At work we are starting the "Biggest Loser". You weigh yourself each Friday, and calculate the percentage of weight lost for the week. I competed last year, but my teammates and I found more enjoyment in beer and wings, then loose pants. However, again with the new year, I realize I can't hide forever in this body. My dear friend and I have matched up and plan on taking on the entire workforce. We win not only a positive attitude, but cash money. Seriously, what a better motivator??
I purchased the Jillian Michaels DVDs about 6 months ago (gasp!). They are still neatly wrapped in the orignal plastic, as my attitude 6 months ago was I was too busy. On June 4th, to be exact because I checked amazon.com - I ordered the following:
Workout: One-On-One Training with Jackie
Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred
Exhale: Core Fusion Body Sculpt
Jillian Michaels: Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism
Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones


I want to be a runner. Maybe not a marathon runner, but I would like to be able to run away if someone was chasing me. Not just give up. I think at this point I would pass out within twenty seconds...it would be easy for the attacker - whether it was a dog, man or elderly woman. Any person would definitely find comfort in the fact they would win a race against me. I would like to get to a point where I feel comfortable in this body, and know I am doing my best.

This is the year for that. Let's go 2010.

My own Personal Goals

Each year I set forth to stick to my New Year's resolution - and each year, about three days into it, I fail. I jump head first off the train - and purposely sabotage whatever I was planning on "sticking to." I am hoping this year will be different. It must be.

The goals I have in mind will start off small. Simply have monthly goals -

January's goal I am already trying to achieve and that is:

Simplify. Minimize. downgrade. We have SO much stuff - I really want to spend the month sorting through each room, and reorganizing furniture, wall hangings, belongings - and decide what we outgrew (or just what I outgrew), and rearranging everything so there is less.

My second goal (which I attempt every year) is to actually get healthy. Get on the path to rightousness through my diet and exercise (lack of!). I am carrying around all of this weight, making me feel less like me. If I could find excerise TWICE a week (in any shape or form) for the month of January - that would be 8x more than normal.

Craft space.

I would like a space of my own.

Those are my lofty JANUARY goals. I will post how I do at the end of the month, and hopefully - I will not dissappoint!