Doors

We walked through the doors of that little blue house on Walnut Street in May of 1997.  I was 20, My Sweetie was 22.  He had just graduated from college, we had been married for just under a year and we had a 6 month old baby boy.  

I remember walking in those doors and feeling like I was finally able to breath for the first time in about a year.   It had been a whirlwind.  

 Just a year prior I was finishing up my sophomore year at college and planning a wedding.  We had gotten married in June; I had moved from my parents’ home into a small home of My Sweetie’s parents just after we were married which we lived in for about 2 months.  We then moved about an hour away to college where My Sweetie finished his senior year and worked.  Every weekend we packed up and came home to be with family so I could work.  In November we had a baby.  I had gotten a job back home so I moved in with my parents about 6 weeks before My Sweeties graduation going back to our apartment on my days off.  My Sweetie finished college in May and then we packed up and moved again into the little blue house on Walnut Street when he graduated.     

As we walked through the door I instantly felt at ease; I finally felt like I could start to get settled into our life.  Even though we would share the space with his family for a few more months until their house was finished being built, it didn’t matter because I knew I was home.  

Just inside the doors of that little blue house a lot of growing took place over those 13 ½ years; much like a baby growing in a mother’s womb; warm and safe, growing until it was time to leave the safety and warmth of the only thing that baby knew into something else warm and safe-a mother’s arms.  

Our maturity and wisdom grew;  our marriage grew into something more beautiful than any young, scared, 19 year old bride could have ever dreamt; our family grew to 3 boys; our boys grew more quickly than anyone ever told me they would; our faith grew into something I never could have even wrapped my mind around all those year ago.  

Then at just the right time we walked out of the doors of the safety and warmth of the only house our children had known, the house where we had spent most of our marriage, the house that had been cozy and comfortable (literally and financially) through the doors of another house that was warm and safe; The yellow house on the prairie. 

On a beautiful Friday afternoon in October our family pulled into the drive way of this yellow house on the prairie.  I unloaded the kids, their exciting squeals as I set them free made me smile.  I filled my arms with the first things to be carried into our new home and began to walk into the garage (Grin!!). 

   

“WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!!”  My Sweetie exclaimed, “Put your coffee down.  Put your stuff down.”  He said as he practically took it all out of my hands and put it down on the ground.  

My handsome groom led me to the front of the house, scooped me up into his arms and carried me over the threshold of the door to yellow house on the prairie.

“Welcome home,” he said and he bent down to kiss me.  

Home indeed is where we were and it felt good!!! 

Although that little blue house on Walnut Street was the place we called home for so many years and the place where all of our babies took their first steps and celebrated their first birthdays it’s really only a house.  All of those memories belong to me and my family, not the house.

The house is not what makes a home a home.  A home is created in the living, loving, growing and creating of memories by the family that lives just through the door of a house. 

Even There...

"Even there your hand will lead me" 

Psalm 139:10

 I was heading home from my first MOPS meeting of the year.  This verse was rolling around in my head.  It was our theme verse for the year.  (Isn't it a GOOD one!!!)

It was a beautiful September Tuesday afternoon.  I kept peeking over my shoulder to see if Little Dude had fallen asleep yet.  It wasn't until we reached our little town that sits along the banks of the Mississippi river that his eyes began to get droopy.  I decided to drive around just a bit longer to make sure he was good and asleep before going home and carrying him in the house.  

As I was driving I had this nudging to "drive by the house" 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

Not my house.  But a house that My Sweetie and I had looked at back in April. 

We had looked at the house several times, taken our parents through and then just dropped the subject. 

We didn't need to move.  But for the past 3 year have been causally looking on and off at houses. 

While visiting with his barber (ehem, who just so happens to also be a realtor!  Small town livin' IS the best!), My Sweetie learned that seller was to desperate to sell.  We knew that they had re-listed the house with a new real estate agency (the same agency that the barber/realtor guy works for, of course.) and had significantly dropped the price since we had looked at it last.  We had driven out to the house Sunday after Church and our interest in this home was perking up a bit.  

"Even there your hand will lead me"

As I turned onto the long, narrow country road that leads to the housing addition that the house was in, I giggled thinking how funny it would be if My Sweetie just happened to have driven out there also.  Perhaps THAT'S why I had such a strong nudging to drive out to the house. 

As I approached the neighborhood I could see the back of the house.  I gasped just a moment and in my head said, "That is MY house!"

"Even there your hand will lead me"

I turned into the neighborhood and then my heart stopped. 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

The sign was GONE! 

The Realtor lock box was GONE!!!! 

My stomach sank and I was ANGRY!!! 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

I attempted to call My Sweetie but only got his voice mail so left a cheery, "HEY!!  How's it going." message. 

Two year ago there were two houses that we were interested in.  We were ready to put an offer in on one and someone else did it before we did and we didn't do anything about it.  We put an offer on a second home and shortly after 2 more people put an offer in our the same home.  Our offer was countered but we chose to keep our offer on the table as it was. 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

So you can imagine how frustrated I was to see a third house that we were interested in to no longer have a sign in front.  A THIRD closed door????  UGH!!! 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

When I got home My Sweetie was on the phone.  Which would explain why I had gotten his voice mail.  After he was off the phone I told him he needed to call the Realtor and see what was going on!!!! 

Apparently the seller had decided to unlist it briefly to refinance the home since the rates were so low and since no one had been interested.  He was preparing to use it as a rental when his contract expired with the real estate agency. 

My Sweetie just so happened to live next door to the guy who lived next door to the house that was for sale and called him.   

 "Even there your hand will lead me"

 He was able to get the sellers personal phone number.  They talked for quite awhile, My Sweetie told him he was interested in the house, and would like to work with him privately. The next day the seller called My Sweetie saying he was going to re-list the house and if we'd like to work with him privately he'd be willing to do so once his contract expired in November. 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

This sounded like a GREAT plan to us!  We had time to prep our current home and could really look hard and close at our finances and be prepared!!!! 

The weight had been lifted. 

I was free to plan BuhBuh's birthday and get back to enjoying life. 

Less than 48 hours after the perfect plan was in place the phone rang. 

It was the seller. 

He had received an offer. 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

OF COURSE he received an offer, because WEEEEE WERE INTERESTED!!!!!  ****sigh**** 

 "Even there your hand will lead me"

He told us if we were interested that he would wait for us to make an offer but we had to do it quickly.  Otherwise he was going to accept the offer that had been made.

"Even there your hand will lead me"

So here we were feeling rushed, overwhelmed and unprepared to make such a huge decision in just a few short hours. 

 "Even there your hand will lead me"

The realtor put together paper work for us and we met him at the house that evening.  We went over the paperwork carefully, asked questions and decided to walk through the house one more time.  Then came the time to sign the offer.   My Sweetie froze.   He was thinking and re-thinking and maybe even over-thinking a wee bit but I was not going to sign or tell him to sign a thing.  He needed to be the one to sign first and to take this first step.  He is and probably always will be the main provider for our family.  The financial burden rests solely on him.  I wanted the house.  Yes.  But I wanted a happy husband more.  I don't want him to feel like he's working to make a house payment.  That is not what he wants and it's not what I want for him or our family.   

He decided that he needed some more time; that he would sign it sometime the next day if the window was still open.  I assured him that it was OK.  

 "Even there your hand will lead me"

 

The realtor turned off the lights to the house, we walked outside and My Sweetie sat down on the front porch with the boys.  The realtor walked out, locked up the door and stood there for a moment.  He said good bye and started to leave.

Before he could leave, My Sweetie stopped him saying he'd sign the papers.  Back into the house we went, flipped on the lights and signed the papers.  

 "Even there your hand will lead me"

**deep breath**

When we were done My Sweetie asked if we could have some time and lock up when we left.  After the realtor left we went and sat in front of the fireplace (SQUEAL!!!) as a family and My Sweetie just took a deep breath and told the boys that this wasn't something that happened everyday and it was something he wanted them to remember.  We walked through the house one more time before driving away.

 "Even there your hand will lead me"

By 9 a.m. the next morning we had a verbal acceptance from the seller.  Then Monday morning the offer was officially signed. 

"Even there your hand will lead me"

We have been frantically packing, repairing, cleaning, getting appraised and getting finances in order.

  Today we officially closed a new house and this weekend we will move our children from the only home they have ever known into a new home.  

And despite the crazy that has taken over our house in addition to the normal crazy of the fall season I know that.....

"Even there your hand will lead me"

I know that people buy houses all the time.  I know that new home dreams are fulfilled for both people who have a relationship with Jesus and those who don't.  I know that new home dreams are crushed for both people who have a relationship with Jesus and those who don't.  Things either go your way or they don't.  

But I also know that often times people only cry out to God in their time of deep need and forget to give thanks for the blessings that God's hand has lead them too as well.  Believe me, I too have been guilty of this.

I know, with all my heart, that the only way things have turned out the way they have for our family has been by His hand leading us all along; leading us through the dozens of houses we've looked at, leading us though the heartbreak of house offers that didn't work out, leading us through blueprints possibilities for the house we are in now that didn't work out, leading us in ways that we may not have recognized, all so we could be right here with this blessing in our life.  

So I'm recognizing His hand and thanking Him for this blessing.  As we move forward with this move and with trying to sell our current home, I will trust that.

"Even there your hand will lead me"

My challenge to you...Look for the places in your life that God's hand has been leading YOU.  They may be big.  They may be small.  They may seem insignificant.  They may be in the middle of a valley.  His hand has been guiding you all along to this point, can you look back on something and see it now?  We can't appreciate all that God does for us, all the ways that His hand leads us if we don't look. 

Mommy Brain is.....

...giving your 13-year old son the sippy cup at dinner time and...

...finding yourself with an arm load of clean laundry to put away then realize after standing there confused for a moment too long, that you're in the wrong child's closet.

So I've *ahem* heard....yeah....

You Might be a Redneck If.......

Your window treatment is a micro fleece blanket

and is being held up with duck tape

Oodles of Moodles

I LOVE homemade Chicken and Noodles.

LOVE

LOVE

LOVE

LOVE

LOVE

I remember that my Grandpa used to make them. I remember having them for Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncles house.

My mom made them for us kids too. She has a home video of her and my brothers and I helping her make noodles when we were kids.

Although I much prefer when my mom makes them (I think they taste better) this has been one of our staple winter meals in our home. In fact I have lost track of how many times we've had this dish this winter. When chicken and potatoes are on sale and it only takes flour and eggs to make the noodles it is a very cheap, yummy meal to feed my family and there is ALWAYS leftovers! YUM!

I know my older boys at one time or another have helped me make noodles. So I figured it was time to teach Little Dude how to make them too.

He helped mix the eggs and flour

Helped to roll out the dough

And was most thrilled when he got to unroll the dough

He excitedly declared, "SNAKES!!! SNAKES!!!"

After explaining to him that they were not snakes, he then was just as excited to sit down and have "Moodles" for dinner.

March Wrap Up...

It's the end of the month....the bills are done, and all of our purchases/expenses have been put into their little homes in my little excel spreadsheet. This is such a chore!!! I dread it, but it really helps me to see exactly WHERE the money went from month to month and the time I spend doing this is worth it.

To re-cap real quick....there was a $300 difference between our basic household/grocery expenses from January and February. Our overall spending between the two months was pretty substantial as well. Our dining out cost was unchanged, which was bad because it was high.

I was certain that with the kind of month we had that my expenses were going to be through the roof. Between a sick baby and the big boys being on Spring Break I didn't have as much time for my planning and research that I've been trying to do. I had My Sweetie pick things up for us a couple of times, there was one shopping trip that I didn't even have my coupons with me and I let (not intentionally!) $15 of RR from Walgreen's expire (I thought I was going to throw up...what a waste!)

However, much to my surprise, although it wasn't as significant of a drop there was STILL a $90 drop this month in our basic household/grocery expenses from the previous month!!! Not only that, but our dining out dropped by over 50%!!!! When I went over all the numbers with My Sweetie from the past three months he was still wondering where all the money is going. BUT, we are THRILLED that we are continuing to DROP in the areas that we know we can actually have some control over.

I think part of the success of the month is from having things stocked up and on hand. Having a full freezer, pantry and overflow cupboard HELPS!!! I still might not ever get as good as some of the other people I've seen out in blogville, BUT as long as we can continue to improve where we can...I'll be happy!!

Adventures in Couponing:January wrap up February looking up!

One of my goals for the year was to be more of a coupon/sale shopper. The month of January is over and most of my purchases have been entered into the spreadsheet. I was a little taken back by our total spending for the month. Then thanks to my spreadsheet, I was able to analyze the spending a little closer. My Sweetie had a good month of commission checks so our tithe was higher. With that subtracted out, (that money is NOT ours to begin with so it shouldn't really count as an expense but I leave it for cross check purposes. I'll leave that subject for another blog post!) It looked a little better. A lot of the bills from The Boy's arm fracture came due and that was a nice chunk. I also pre-paid for My Sweetie's birthday gift, which was also a good chunk of money. I purchased some winter coats for next year at a nice low price and a couple of clothing items for myself, also at sale price. We spent WAY TOO MUCH on dining out. UGH! Total spending is total spending (except for the tithe) and I really am able to get a better sense of where things are going when I can see it on paper/my computer screen.

Food and your day to day personal items still seem to be what is killing us. So, after a lot of reading of other blogs and clipping coupons and shopping other stores and cleaning out my cupboards (so I could plan meals around things I have) just prior to my big grocery trip and PLANNING AHEAD, I was able to have a savings of $141 in JUST coupons for the month of January. Some items I bought were buy one get one free (BOGO) which helped but isn't reflected in my coupon savings. I had about a 8% savings on food and daily/household items from coupons. This number would probably be higher if I were to add in the BOGO and other sale prices, but I don't. I was happy with these numbers being that it was my first whole hearted month of trying. HOWEVER, My Sweetie always says, in the end things cost what you pay on them. My total grocery and household items spending for the month was still over what I would like it to be. I'm hoping as I get better at this, get my printer fixed so I can take advantage of a couple other coupons and get a little bit of a stockpile that MAYBE that number can begin to drop to my goal or lower.

With THAT said, it is a NEW MONTH! I have meals planned out until Feb. 13th and most of the ingredients for those meals in the house in hopes of cutting down on trips to the store which leads to more spending. I know that milk, fresh fruit and veggies are something I am going to have to buy by the end of the week so that we can get through the second week of the month.

Today I headed out and did my CVS and Walgreen's shopping. I don't have complete hang of this art and I'm not convinced that grocery items are in fact cheaper there with there "sale" price than the grocery store. Before I never paid attention to prices in the grocery store. I would have made a TERRIBLE Price is Right contestant. My theory on buying was if I needed it, buy it, if I don't then don't. My new theory is to buy what I can cheap or free and use what I have. I digress....I know what I paid today for some of my grocery items at these stores and I will cross check them when I get to the grocery store later.

At CVS today I got 3 sets of items that were BOGO. I had $5 in Extra Bucks that I applied to my total bringing my out of pocket to (OOP) to $42. I also earned $13 more in extra bucks for my next visit. YAY!

When I was at Walgreen's I was feeling a little uninspired. Until I got to the cash register!!!!! I did two different transactions and purchased the following items: (YUP! I took a picture!)

2 12-packs of Sierra Mist Free
1 12-pack Diet Cherry Pepsi,
3 Walgreen's re-usable bags,
2 eco-friendly light bulbs,
2 boxes Jiffy corn bread,
2 boxes Jiffy blueberry muffins,
4 cans of Campbell's cream of chicken soup, 4 cans Swanson's chicken broth
2 packages of 146 Valentine Stickers
2 3 packs of Scotch Brite sponges
Revlon Creme Gloss

My total OOP (after BOGO, a mail-in rebate, coupons, two separate transactions and $9 in register rewards) was $13.19!!!!! YAY ME!!!!!! :) Not too shabby of a start to the new month!!! :)

I'll try not to bombard you or bore you too much with these kind of posts....that's not what this blog is about (but a little because I'm simply just a lowly reporter here to do my job of bringing you the latest scoop from both inside and outside our Laundry Trenches!) maybe I'll just post occasionally on my progress and an occasional celebration of a good shopping day like today.

Adventures in Couponing

One of my "goals" for the new year was to become more of a coupon/sale shopper. There are people, GOD LOVE THEM, who put A LOT of time into crafting this art. I've seen pictures of a big haul that they have gotten from Walgreen's or CVS for $7 and have been amazed. Now, I'm not looking to having an overflowing stock pile of toothpaste necessarily. Partly because I don't have the space and partly I don't have the time. BUT, I do want to be more conscientious on what and how I spend for our family on groceries and other everyday items. Maybe as time goes on, I'll get better at the fine art of "couponing". BABY" STEPS!!!!

I actually found myself giddy over my Walgreen's trip today!!!! My haul and out of pocket wasn't quit worthy of a photo because I was hoping to spend a little less out of pocket than I did. I DID however have about a 6% savings on my purchase with the over $23 I saved in coupons. (When I add up my savings, I don't add in the "advertised savings") Which, I thought for a rookie, wasn't too shabby.

I sat down yesterday with the add, clipped the coupons I would use and found a couple of manufacture coupons to add to the Walgreen's coupons. Walgreen's has what they call Register Rewards. I purchased 2 2-liters of Hawaiian Punch and 1 2-liter of Sunkist soda for a sale price of 3 for $4. THIS gave me $2 back in Register Rewards. I did my first transaction with the sale items that would earn me Register Rewards. My total in Register Rewards today was $6. Then I did a second transaction with the items that I had bought with Walgreen's coupons, Manufacture Coupons then added my $6 RR to the $10 RR from a previous trip to get to my final price.

Although I thought it seemed like it was all well planned and mapped out, I made a couple of mistakes...TWICE I had to go back and get the item that the coupon was actually for because I didn't read the sizes of products very carefully. Then I forgot to give them one of the coupons so I needed to wait for the manager to come and reimburse me. Thankfully they were patient with me!!!

Overall, as dorky as it may sound, I'm happy with the outcome of my trip. Maybe someday I'll have a trip which I think is worthy of a photo to post!

Food Glorious Food...Saving Money

It is RIDICULOUS how much money we can spend on groceries! RIDICULOUS!!!! We don't even have teenagers yet. There are a lot of reasons that I've realized WHY we spend what we spend. Some of the reasons are important to me and there are places that I know I can improve and MAYBE save a few dollars along the way.

I am a food snob. I like good food. I like as natural and fresh of foods as I can buy. I'm not going to chose the cheapest brand to save money if it tastes bad. I had the years when I did buy cheap food to survive....that was called college. Good food is something we have chosen to invest in because ultimately we are choosing to invest in our health.

I also prefer organic food. However, buying organic is EXPENSIVE so I've had to decide what is most important. Milk and meat and fruits and veggies whose skin we eat. Shopping farmers markets and growing your own garden is another way to get organic fruits and veggies. This past summer we did a little better planting the right amount of veggies and eating them. I only made it to the farmers market once last summer.

Wanting good, organic food makes saving money a little bit of a challenge. But I believe that there can still be a way to save some money along the way.

There ARE lots of GOOD quality store brand foods, I will buy these. I don't buy the pre-packaged or frozen foods, these are expensive and loaded with salt and fat. Planning my shopping and meals will keep me out of the store in between trips. This will save me money also. How many of us have gone to the store for "just one thing" and come home with several bags??

One of the things I'm REALLY going to try to do is be a better coupon/sale shopper this year. This all has to tie into my planning in order to work. I have set coupon boundaries. Only buy items that I will use and make sure it's really a good deal. Buying 5 of one item to save 50 cents is NOT a good deal to me. I also need to think outside of the box a little bit. Walgreen's seems to have GREAT deals and coupons.....last week I saved over $20 by using coupons!!

The other thing that will save me money is to check my cupboards before I shop. Don't buy things I already have and create my meals around ingredients that I have. This will be especially helpful as I do coupon shop and stock up on staple/pantry items.

This is an area in which I hope to improve on this year. I hope that I can find a balance between buying foods that are healthy and taste good and saving some money. I hope to be better about farmers markets and our garden. I will continue to look for ways to save and cut corners. I'll keep you updated if I come up with anything brilliant and if you have any suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them!

Food Glorious Food...The Plan

I love food....who doesn't, eh?? As a mom I find myself spending a majority of time planning, shopping, putting away, preparing and cleaning up after FOOD! We are a family of five and four of us are BOYS!!! My Sweetie has a good sized appetite, The Boy can out eat me most nights (and I can eat!!!), BuhBuh is hit and miss still, and Little Dude eats ALL DAY LONG!!!! So, since we are snowed in today and probably froze in for another day or two I thought I'd do a little "blog series" on the different things I do as a mom to keep this family happy and fed and share what strategies I am trying this year so that as the appetites of the kids GROW, my money doesn't SHRINK!

The first thing I'm going to talk about is planning. I am a person who needs organization in order to function. Although I live in it daily, even organized chaos can drive me batty. I have learned (through failure!!) that the only way I can keep turning out meals in our kitchen and have things on hand for snacks is to have a PLAN! The days and or weeks where I don't have a plan are the weeks of extra trips to the store and lots of favors for The Sweetie to bring home take out. This is where we spend and lose precious extra dollars.

Coming up with things for dinner can be a daunting task for me. Before I do my plan I ask everyone if there is anything that they would like for dinner in the upcoming weeks. If I'm feeling stuck I will spend some time looking through my recipe box or through cook books for something new. I LOVE trying new recipes! I try to gather a list of several different ideas of things we can have for the upcoming 2 weeks.

Just before every pay day, I try to sit down with our family calendar and plan out our meals for the next couple of weeks; pay period to pay period works best for me rather than a monthly plan. I look over our calendar and see what we have coming up over the next couple of weeks and plan our evening meals accordingly. I try incorporate leftover nights into my plan as well. If kids are off of school or have a half day of school I try to have lunch items on hand also. I then jot down in pencil on the calendar what meals we will have each night. I use pencil because often times things change and I need to move things around! One thing I've learned running this family is to be flexible!!! Kids and life can be unpredictable. Take tonight for example. It's Wednesday and we always have dinner at Church on Wednesdays....but because school was canceled church is also canceled....so now I need to be able to come up with something for dinner. I know that I have things on hand for a meal and I can just shift things around.

After I know what we are having and when, I spend some time planning out my grocery shopping trip. Because of where we live, the closest grocery store is 15-20 minutes away. To "run to the store" to "pick something up" takes a lot of time out of a day. Typically I will shop during the day when the bigger boys are in school. Little Dude HATES shopping, so when I can I go at night alone it is pure bliss. Shopping alone doesn't always work which is why having a shopping plan is MUST!!! Mostly my shopping plan consists of an organized shopping list. I have a pre-printed list that has items grouped into categories. I go through and highlight the items I need to make the meals that we are planning to have. There are even blank spots to fill in for the things not included on the list. This system isn't fool proof, I don't think I've ever gotten through the store with everything on my list in my cart. I always forget something!

This year I hope I can be more consistent with menu planning and grocery planning. Dinner time is so much easier when I do so. It helps me on days when it's been busy and I'm too tired to think and it makes it possible for me to try new things on days when I have extra time. I also need to make sure I plan for treats and snacks too. My Sweetie and Little Dude are grazers and The Boy and BuhBuh like to have something when they get off the bus and before bed. Planning my shopping trips helps to make them more efficient and hopefully one day I'll figure out a way to get through the store and home with EVERYTHING I need!!

Goals for the New Year

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9

In 2009 I will…

…establish and maintain a balance between the God who created me, the husband who swept me off my feet and the children who have melted my heart.

Priority Statement:

To be the servant God is calling me to be, the wife my husband deserves and the mother my children need.

I will continue to strengthen my relationship with God

1. Spend as much time WITH God as I do DOING for God
2. Establish and honor the a Sabbath day as a family
3. We will tithe both salary and commission in 2009
4. Continue with Bible Studies
5. Trust His path for my life

I will make family, friends and taking care of myself a priority

Husband
1. Create and maintain a marriage centered home
2. Plan once a month dates
3. Plan an overnight get away

Children
1. Get kids more involved with household chores/projects.
2. Offer fun, learning opportunities after school, on days off and during the summer.
3. Come up with some team building projects for Matthew and Lucas to do together
4. Create opportunities for positive, relationship building, one on one time with each child
5. Step back more often and allow Chad to father his children and respect his fatherly choices/decisions for his children

Butterfield 5
1. Plan and take 2 camping trips this summer
2. Plan 1-2 FAMILY FUN NIGHTS a week (try new things, get creative)
3. Eat together at least 4 times a week

Family/Friends
1. Send cards for birthday’s, anniversaries, thank you’s and thinking of you’s
2. Continue to make progress on Scrapbooks
3. Have lunch/dinner with Kathy once a month
4. Re-establish more regular playgroup meetings
5. Participate in Mom prayer group
6. Participate in Baby-sitting co-op with friends
7. Stay in touch with friends who I’ve recently re-connected with
8. Have family/friends over for dinner once a month

Self
1. Begin the candidacy program for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church
2. Have a mommy get away twice a month (groceries, friends, etc)
3. Make time for a daily time of solitude
4. Keep Monday’s as free and open as possible
5. Allow more time for leisure reading both alone and with the kids
6. Give myself 30-40 minutes a day to take a shower and fix my hair and face (not really a goal as much as a reminder that this is something I should do every day! HA!)

I will set up an effective plan to manage my home and focus my mission

Home
1. Reorganize and set up desk as an effective place to manage home and mission projects
2. Move Samuel upstairs
3. Finish up the little details in the living/dining room (lamps, curtains, pictures)
4. Decide on what to do with this house and stick with it!
5. Break home into weekly zones and accomplish 1-2 projects in that zone each week. (Week One: Kids Rooms; Week Two: Kitchen; Week Three: Bedroom; Week Four: Living/Dining/Bathroom; Week Five: Area of most need)
6. Menu plan and make shopping lists accordingly and keep a running list of other home items needed to cut down on extra trips to store and the purchase of other frivolous items.
7. Use salary pay checks for bills. Commission pay checks are for savings and special projects only…not to supplement the month due to overspending.
8. Become more of a sale/coupon shopper
9. Continue with newly adopted “green” habits and adopt new ones for the New Year.

Mission

To teach children/youth about God’s love for them and the awesome gift He gave us in His son Jesus Christ.

To live my life as an example and response to God’s grace

To reach out to those in greater need than myself

1. Prioritize my time to the Church that reflect my mission for 2009 while honoring my commitments to my family

Home is....

I was getting ready for bed last night and I was looking around our house feeling a little frustrated with the fact that we are still in this house. Twice within two months this year we had found a house that we were very interested in buying. Both times, the door of opportunity was shut on us on each of those houses. It didn't take me too long to get over it the first time. I was bummed but within 2 weeks I was ready to keep on looking. The most recent one still burns. We went to bed one evening thinking we were getting a signed contract to buy first thing in the morning just to wake up to a phone call with a counter offer that we just couldn't accept. That home is still listed as "under contract" and had we bought it we would have been moved in already.

A year ago we completely renovated our living/dining room area. We got it all put back together just in time for Christmas. But the one thing we haven't done is put pictures back up on the walls. I'm not much of an interior decorator but I LOVE having family pictures all over the place. We haven't put up pictures for two reasons, My Sweetie doesn't want holes in his pretty, new walls and we have always had the sense that this home was temporary until the next thing comes along. Why go through all the work of hanging pictures if we're going to sell and move? This spring we did something kind of fun. We went to Lowes and bought chairs, tiki candles and flowers for the deck and around the house. In the 11 years we've lived here we've never done that. As I looked around I experienced a sense of peace that THIS was home and I was comfortable. Ironically, that was about the time we found the second house that we liked. I think it's time we get some frames and hang up pictures so we can have that sense of peace again that THIS is home until God leads us someplace else.

The quote, "Live simply, so others can simply live" rings loudly in my head. My Sweetie has been doing so well at work and we are FINALLY at a point where we are financially comfortable. I can't tell you what a great feeling it is to take a vacation and not worry if there is going to be enough money left or to simply go out to dinner and not feel guilty for doing so. We have made good choices the past several years and that's why we are where we are. I know that there is a reason and it is God who is in control and has a perfect plan. Maybe that's why "Live simply so others can simply live" is never too far from my thoughts. If we would have bought the house, we would have been able to continue our tithes, but we may not have been able to do the extra giving that we do; the other random acts of kindness that we enjoy.

After I got into bed, My Sweetie rolled over and said he just didn't feel in control of things and didn't understand how two houses that we actually liked fell through. I had to smile a little since I was just thinking the same thing. I wanted to say, "DUH! None of us are in control." But control is the one thing most of us want to maintain more than anything. I'm just as guilty of this as the next person. I guess it's not until we fully give God control that we can actually feel like we have a handle on things. Someday I pray I'll be there 100%. Until then, I just try the best I can on a day to day basis.

I have come to realize something, home for us isn't found a ranch home with a pool and a large yard or in a restored turn-of the century farm house with 3 acres. As they say, home is where our story begins. This house is certainly where our story began. This is the home where My Sweetie and I spent time with his family while we were still just dating; this is the home that we discussed our wedding plans in; this is the home where my sister-in-law gave me a baby shower; this is the home we moved into when My Sweetie graduated from college; this is the home where all of our babies took their first steps, celebrated their first Christmas and Birthday; this is the home where we share family meals and play games; this is the place I want to go after I've been away; this is the place that makes me feel safe; this is the place where we all rest our heads at the end of the day. That is our story and for now this IS our home and I know when and if God leads us someplace else, this place will always hold a very special place in all of our memories and hearts.

WHAT day is it???

WOWZIE!!!! For not having any "activities" during the day to shuttle kiddos to and from....it's ALREADY Thursday!!!! Where has the week gone?? Where will our break go once there are things to do during the day???? I need to remind myself that Monday WAS a holiday. So, I was off to a fast week to begin with.

I've been working on getting the kids involved with chores this week. M has been GREAT! Very helpful, very compliant. He's even been great watching S so that I can do what I need to do. L on the other hand has been whining and complaining up a storm. THIS from the one who will vacuum, clean the bathroom floor and dust....on HIS terms....not Mom's apparently. I did tell myself to be patient because I can't just assign a chore for the first time and expect them to know how to do it. I had to teach them. With the difficulties that BuhBuh gave me and the slower pace of the cleaning routine we did manage to get the house mostly "blessed" (bathroom scrubbed top to bottom, dust, laundry sorted and started, floors vacuumed and cleaned) In fact even yesterday I felt pretty ahead of the game. Got our bedroom a little more tidied, finally put winter coats and hats and gloves away now that soccer is over. For whatever reason....I feel like now that it is Thursday I have 20 trillzion things to accomplish before 5 p.m. tomorrow night!!! In fact 10 trillzion of those things should probably be done within the next hour. So what do I do instead???

BLOG!!! LOL!!!!

And what a boring post it is at that!!!!!

I have a few post ideas stirring around in my head....but no time now. I have 10 trillzion things to do....in an hour!!!! :)