Setting Goals.

At school my teacher told us to write out 5 goals for the year, so being the college student I am - I did it. It went a little something like this:

1.  Read 3 books that will help me learn something I've wanted/needed to learn about. Can't be fictional (i.e. all 3 Hunger Games books I read can't count). 
2. Work out twice a week for 3 months.
3. Make 1 new recipe a week for the rest of the year. 
4. Make and follow a chore chart.
5. Create items that can be sold online and have my shop operational by the end of the year.

Okay, so my goals aren't the hardest things to accomplish, but I think this is the right kind of challenging. 

"The goal you set must be challenging. At the same time, it should be realistic and attainable, not impossible to reach. It should be challenging enough to make you stretch, but not so far that you break." Rick Hansen

I've been working on these goals, some with more eagerness than others (that chore chart I'm dreading!). We made these goals the first night of class and we're just a month in. I've made progress. Check this out.

1.) I've started to read 2 books and I'm little less than 1/2 the way through with each. I need a suggestion on what to read for the third book. 

2.) I've not done so well on this, but I'm trying real hard. I love yoga and my balance ball. Try it!

3.) Recipes.. this one I've done well on. I love cooking and looking up recipes. I get most of mine off of my pinterest so you can go check all those out. It gets addicting - watch out.

4.) No chore chart, yet. We've come up with the chores that are going on it, but that's all for now. This one is Grant's favorite. =)

5.) Creating items. I do have items in mind, some I've made for Baby already. I've approached Grant about purchasing some supplies to really get started, but right now we need to focus on other things. This will come in the Lord's time if it is meant to be. 

"Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor." Brian Tracy

"There is no achievement without goals." Robert J. McKaine

"People with goals succeed because they know where they're going." Earl Nightingale

"Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination." Fitzhugh Dodson

Take Me Back Tuesday

It's Tuesday and I've been posting regularly for a few days now so I'm pretty excited, wanna know my trick? I write when I have a couple hours free time and save back posts that don't need to go out right then. I edit it and send it on - 5 mins instead of 30 minutes! Call it cheating if you will, but I won't!

Baby was 1 week old here! Amazing how time flies.

She stopped taking the paci not too long after this shot.

My darling cousin (left) got married and this is at her bridal shower with the towel cake my mom and made for her!

Oh so young.

So pregnant. =)

We're High School sweethearts if you haven't guessed by now. 

My cousins wedding we had button bouquets! So neat! She's actually selling these and a few other items in her etsy shop StudioElix so go check that out!

Baby's first time actually doing anything at the pumpkin patch. She was less than a month old for the 2010 festivities. 

We were Batman, Basketball player (LeBron James to be exact), and a Hershey's Kiss!

My Christmas wreath I made of ornaments. I love it. Not recommended to put outside and it may not fit between the screen door and regular door anyway. If you want to know how I did this you can check out this blog.

I had my wisdom teeth removed on Friday and have been struggling to fully recover the last few days so I've been laying down and research pinterest. Check MINE out and if you need an invite just let me know and I'll shoot you one!

Well, theres a flashback in my life. What times do you remember most in the last few years? Few weeks? Days? Did you capture them with a picture? I'd love to see!

Baby is 1 now!

In the previous post I mentioned that while I was away Baby was still growing up. Sad, but true. We had her 1 year pictures taken by a young lady in our church! 

She had a great time. I think this spring/summer area we'll have our family pictures done again. I think it's so special to be able to look back and see how things change. How often do you get your family pictures done? Just for Christmas cards? That's good timing, but my life is always so hectic I can't make the afternoon to do it so I use the timer function =)

While I was gone...

I knew I'd start this and drift away because I got too busy. True! We moved and then school and whoa, let me tell you! School last semester was insane. I felt like I was just treading in the water and not getting anywhere. This semester has started and we're 3 weeks in (yes, I even have a count down in my planner). I feel like I'm drowning. This past week has been an awful mess. There was just so many little things pushed up against a heart break that I kept telling myself "It's just Satan attacking you. Stay strong!" I believe that the Lord puts us in places where we can do His work for us and sometimes we don't see because we're too busy seeing all that's going "wrong". 

So while I was away Baby turned 1!

 The theme was princess, of course. With pink and green. I made her Tutu and my mom gave her this onesie that has a "1" blinged on it.

 G Daddy and his BF grilling on the deck. We have a bigger grill, but someone didn't put it together ;)

 Everyone seemed taken aback with the hot dogs I selected. We do things big here!!

She sure enjoyed her cake...

The Princess got a new carriage!

Chillin with Daddy as the guests leave.

We had it at our new house and wasn't sure how well it would work. My side of the family is big, plus our close friends, who most have children, and then my in-laws which are 4 people. So I really didn't think having 2 different parties would be beneficial for anyone. Instead, our house was packed! Maybe for the Terrific 2 we'll have more confidence and go outside for some things since there will be over 10 children ages newborn to 4! So you'll see me planning on here and maybe things will be the same that day, maybe not!

Stay tuned ;)

Coupon Starter Kit

So.. I've started to coupon! I know, I'm kinda late of the craze, but we're just now getting back out into the "real world" so we are depending on me to be frugal with our money. There are tons of great sites and blogs that I've read lately to help me start out.

Here's Fake It Frugal and that's pretty nice - it shows all these "faked" items for cheaper! I just saw fake Windex...!

Coupon Mom has a database that allows you to search for your zip code and then the store you shop at and it hooks you up with the sales that go with the coupons in certain inserts you get in the mail. Simplifying your work. - I use this now because I'm just starting out, but I'm sure I'll continue it!

This website is helpful, Coupon Lingo can be confusing, but with this you can figure it out!

There are SOOO many I can share - I have a lot ;) - Here is the last one, for now. Kansas City Mamas have tricks of the trade and they also share the hot coupons available.

So the purpose of this post is to share my starter kit for couponing!

This is what I started with. I bought a clear box with a lid, a 1 in. binder, sleeve protectors, & tab dividers. All at Walmart. I would have waited until school started because most everything you will need will be on sale up to 75% off within a month of school starting, but I needed it sooner.

My wonderful husband collects sports memorabilia and these are sport card holders we already had so I didn't buy any new. You can get different or more Pocket Pages there. <-- that website also offers binders and starter kits you can buy from them instead of making your own!

I put the sleeve protectors in the front - I'll put print outs here. Like the downloadable ones from Money Saving Mom. They have shopping lists & menu planning. Also, most anywhere online they have e-books and printable coupon 101 pages that you can add in here so you'll have it with you. You can also stash the ads of the stores you shop in so you'll have that too.

Then I spaced out the tab dividers throughout the binder. You can section it into coupon categories like - "baby, food, snack, laundry..." 

 Wonder what the box is for? I put my coupon inserts in there and keep them for awhile since couponmom.com has the database and it will tell you the date the insert is in and which one so you can maximize your savings!

I mark the date with a sharpie in the corner so I know what date this insert came out on. (I got all these tips from couponmom.com & other great websites I shared up there ^).

I was given some extra coupons and I wasn't sure which date these inserts were from... so I clipped out what I think our family will use and put into my coupon pocket pages. If I won't use them I can always give them away.

I haven't mastered this, yet and I'm sure I'll come up with things that work better for us later. This is just a starter kit I've put together and wanted to share! Maybe you can coupon too! You're always welcome to share your great ideas with me. Go make your coupon binder & start saving money!

Oh My!

It's been so long since I posted. Well, It's mostly my fault. I've gotten distracted and started my summer class so I ignored this! =( Bummer. But I'm back. Really.

It's been a little over a year and a half since we've been married and lived off our seemingly small income. I look back now and see that we were just bad with money. We had credit cards that we would have been paying off for the rest of our lives if Grant didn't lose his job. It's amazing how the one thing you would think would ruin us - saved us.

A year ago this month, August 6th actually, will be 1 year since Grant said bye-bye to his first job. I remember it so well. It was a friday & I was 7 months pregnant washing the HUGE piles of clothes at my grandma's house because we did own a washer & dryer & I was NOT going to the basement of our our apartment to wash. Grant called me earlier than usual. He wasn't supposed to be out of work for at least 2 more hours. I was excited because I was washing Aubrey's clothes we got from the baby shower so we could get everything ready for her. It seems like a month long nightmare now... Grant called angry and I was confused. He said he got fired & I actually thought he was kidding. Nope. Not kidding Sam. I told him that's okay, sweetie, we don't need that job. We'll find a way through this.

Well, before this.. 12 hours before, around 2 am, I started my unpaid maternity leave because I was unable to preform the job due to pregnancy related illness. Get the picture? We had no income. Bills to pay & a baby on the way. My 7 month pregnant hormones went wild. I laid first on the floor and cried (sounds dramatic, but I was already sitting on the floor folding clothes), then moved to my grandma's bed. I didn't want Grant to see how scared I was. My grandma kept saying I need to calm down or I'm going to go into labor. Pshhh. I didn't & when I was 9 months pregnant & 1 day - I wish I had gone into labor. =)

We decided that since we needed 1 stable job to pay all our bills & we didn't have that so we broke our lease with the apartment September 1st & moved into the back room at my grandparents. I didn't go into labor at all through the whole crazy period. Luckily - since we weren't ready for her. Most of our wedding gifts we didn't get to use, yet are packed away in a shed my grandparents bought for everything so we could move in. We have our dressers, bed, Aubrey's crib, a TV and furniture so we can feel like it's just a studio apartment.

Let me tell you. It's not ideal, but I like it. I like being this close to  my grandparents and did I tell you my mom & dad live right next door? Yep. My little brother moved back from his junior college this summer so we had everyone together! I got the much needed help with having a new baby & then I started school in January & had babysitters. I have sitters anytime I need or want. I'm spoiled, really.

So after 1 year of living with my grandparents we've finally got on our feet and are moving out. The end of August actually.. which will almost be exactly a year from when we moved in. I will miss this like crazy, but we have to do what we have to do. Our society isn't meant for multiple generations to live together anymore. This will be good for my husband and me! I hate to take away Aubrey from such loving family, but she will see them everyday - they still are my babysitters even if we live in another town, not too far, but farther than I expected. 

The Lord knows what we need & will always provide for what He sees fit. I have come to the conclusion this past year is that He will provide. No matter how deep you are drowning in something, debt, hate, sickness... He will never leave you nor forsake you [Deuteronomy 31:8]. 

Swag Bucks

Yes, I've been gone awhile. I know. We had puppies (8 of em) 6 weeks ago and they are monsters! Cute little monsters, though. They chewed the cable for the internet and so we were without. Then I've been sick and unable to really focus for so long because of pain, but I'm able to lay down and function just fine.

Check out this Swag Bucks! You can get FREE gift cards for just searching online. Psh. I can do that. I research things all the time. You get more points for more searches and if you get people to follow up through you, you get more points faster.

I Just Won 7 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

**Update: I sent our creditor dispute letters out today. We had 11 letters to mail. 3 to CSRs & 1 to a debt collector for a dispute then the rest were to creditors for a "goodwill" write off. I sent the 3 CSRs, 1 debt dispute, & 1 goodwill letter certified mail, then I just mailed the other 6. It cost me a little less than $31! I'll let you know what happens next. Check out those swag bucks & if you missed my blog about the creditor letters you can check this out.

Hope you had a great weekend and everyone was safe!