What a year this past one has been. It really feels like a roller coaster, except I'm back to that low spot wondering where to go from here? I know there's something at the top, but my car is stuck and doesn't know how to get up there. I have found myself again after a year of teaching with no job next year. I can't help but think that means that this isn't for me. For now, I'm open. I just need to get through these next 21 school days and be free for a little bit. I just feel like I need to be out in the middle of nowhere with the wind on my face with my arms stretched out wide, palms open...listening for God to tell me what's next.
Honestly, I have considered opening my own business, but it's such a big risk, I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of possible financial failure.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
I'm addicted...
I've been off this blog since I became a teacher. Let me update, then I'll tell you why I was gone. We moved on up like George and Weezy (thanks to my bills notebook that helped me know what we could afford--see previous post) to The Woodlands. I am no longer a Kindergarten teacher. GASP! I taught Kinder for the first 9 weeks and then they needed a 2nd grade teacher. So, I gladly took the 2nd grade spot! :) Now, I've got a whopping 4 students and it's A-mazing!
Now, why have I not been blogging? Because of my addiction. I think about it all the time, talk about it all the time, spend all of my extra time doing it.
Crossfit.
Yep, this heifer started working out. Wait, not working out...crossfitting. I can't sell this short. It's SUPER intense and I'm getting great results from it. Look at these chicks:
Crossfit.
Yep, this heifer started working out. Wait, not working out...crossfitting. I can't sell this short. It's SUPER intense and I'm getting great results from it. Look at these chicks:
Isn't that crazy??? The last 5 pictures are of my new role model: Christmas Abbott....isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen that could put you in a choke hold with her fingers?!
Oh my. (Boys can have their man crushes on Tebow, this is my chick crush)
Now, with that being said....Tomorrow we start a new lifestyle...Paleo.
What is that? It's all grass fed meat, veggies, limited fruits and good fats. No added sugars and no starches. We're doing a challenge at our crossfit box (that's what they call the locations- boxes).
I just want to scream it from the rooftops what God gave us by moving here. A whole new lease on life and our marriage. Had we stayed in Dallas we would have NEVER done this for ourselves. Ever. We would have worked and ate and worked and ate and worked and ate and slept. I've got a bunch of goals that I'm going to post for 2013. I'm not doing a resolution because you break resolutions, you don't break goals. I'm kicking my life into beast mode. :)
More to come about Crossfit and Paleo and my goals for 2013.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Slacking Off
Hey everyone? How have you been? I know, I know. I've totally been slacking off on blogging. BUT, I did a guest post on my friend Amy's blog! If you go to the right side of my page I've got a button for her blog "Love Bug" Go check it out!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Classroom DIY
So, I mentioned in my last post that I got a job as a Kindergarten teacher! I'm so excited! I'll be at a private Christian school pretty close to where we live. Now, because I've been without a job for a while and Isaac works off of commission doing body work AND we just had to spend a little over $5,000 for a new air conditioner inside and out of our home we are renting in Dallas AND I need to stock a classroom and find clothes to wear to teach (what a run-on sentence, huh?) I'm trying to do as much DIY stuff as possible! So, here's my project for the day with instructions.
I plan to use these as seats for the kids for things such as guided reading. The top is removable and we can store guided reading materials such as books and whisper phones in the crate! :)
Supplies:
crate (walmart has them for $3.47 right now 7-24-12)
plywood (not pictured) (hardware store)--they cut it for you if you want
staple gun (hardware store)
staples (hardware store) I got 5/16" so they wouldn't be too long but long enough.
mattress foam (walmart)
pliers (hardware store or husband's tool bag) ;)
scissors (who doesn't have scissors?)
fabric of choice (craft store like Hobby Lobby)--I chose a Peanuts theme for my classroom and anything I can't find that goes with that I get dog stuff to go with Snoopy. :)
First thing's first! There's a lip inside the top of the crate that you will need to measure! * Have it cut to where the wood isn't snug in there because you'll be adding fabric but still big enough that it'll sit on there.
My finger is on the lip you need to measure. Ignore the jerky treats in the back. :) (although, I will say, Costco puts them on for BOGO sometimes AND we had a coupon for other dog treats one time and those were still cheaper. They look like a piece of bacon and I tear one in half at bed time and give each dog one half) I digress....
Now, I'm fortunate enough that my husband cut the wood for me. Usually Home Depot is really good about doing stuff for you if you tell them you're a teacher. But, my husband did have to sand the corners to make them more rounded.
Next, I went to Walmart and got a twin sized mattress pad. It was called a 'convoluted mattress topper'.
After that I went to Hobby Lobby (or for those of you not in the south you can go to a Michaels) and picked out my fabric. I got a simple cotton fabric, but I'm sure fleece would work ok, too. But, to me fleece shows more dirt and what not when it gets dirty.
Now, lay the wood on top of the mattress topper and trace it and cut it out. I ended up using 3 layers of cushion on the seats so that they would have enough cushion on their little booties. :) AND so it would stick over the top of the crate.
It doesn't look like it but there are three layers. The layer in the middle is smaller than the rest.
Now, turn your fabric upside down and stack the foam and put the board on top. Then you can cut enough to stretch REAL tight over the board and staple.
Also, I'm going to get a short piece of sturdy canvas (like on backpack straps) and make a loop and staple it under one side of each stool for a handle to pull on to lift. :)
I plan to use these as seats for the kids for things such as guided reading. The top is removable and we can store guided reading materials such as books and whisper phones in the crate! :)
Supplies:
crate (walmart has them for $3.47 right now 7-24-12)
plywood (not pictured) (hardware store)--they cut it for you if you want
staple gun (hardware store)
staples (hardware store) I got 5/16" so they wouldn't be too long but long enough.
mattress foam (walmart)
pliers (hardware store or husband's tool bag) ;)
scissors (who doesn't have scissors?)
fabric of choice (craft store like Hobby Lobby)--I chose a Peanuts theme for my classroom and anything I can't find that goes with that I get dog stuff to go with Snoopy. :)
First thing's first! There's a lip inside the top of the crate that you will need to measure! * Have it cut to where the wood isn't snug in there because you'll be adding fabric but still big enough that it'll sit on there.
My finger is on the lip you need to measure. Ignore the jerky treats in the back. :) (although, I will say, Costco puts them on for BOGO sometimes AND we had a coupon for other dog treats one time and those were still cheaper. They look like a piece of bacon and I tear one in half at bed time and give each dog one half) I digress....
Now, I'm fortunate enough that my husband cut the wood for me. Usually Home Depot is really good about doing stuff for you if you tell them you're a teacher. But, my husband did have to sand the corners to make them more rounded.
Next, I went to Walmart and got a twin sized mattress pad. It was called a 'convoluted mattress topper'.
After that I went to Hobby Lobby (or for those of you not in the south you can go to a Michaels) and picked out my fabric. I got a simple cotton fabric, but I'm sure fleece would work ok, too. But, to me fleece shows more dirt and what not when it gets dirty.
Now, lay the wood on top of the mattress topper and trace it and cut it out. I ended up using 3 layers of cushion on the seats so that they would have enough cushion on their little booties. :) AND so it would stick over the top of the crate.
It doesn't look like it but there are three layers. The layer in the middle is smaller than the rest.
Now, turn your fabric upside down and stack the foam and put the board on top. Then you can cut enough to stretch REAL tight over the board and staple.
Abby wouldn't have anything to do with the staple gun or scissors
and I could hardly get Mia out of my face. I think she thought I was
making something for them with all the kisses she gave me.
Pull the fabric really tight over the corners and staple. Then pull the rest in towards the middle so there's nothing on the sides puckering out. If any area puckers a tiny bit it won't matter. But, it doesn't have to look perfect on the bottom. But, if you'd like it to get another rectangle of fabric and lay it over the bottom, fold the ends under and staple.
Voila! They definitely hold up. I sat on one and it held me--that means it's SUPER sturdy!
Look who came to claim she helped after all the stapling and cutting was done! She weighs 40 pounds in case you're wondering. So, she roughly weighs as much as a 5 year old kid.
Also, I'm going to get a short piece of sturdy canvas (like on backpack straps) and make a loop and staple it under one side of each stool for a handle to pull on to lift. :)
Friday, July 20, 2012
Finances
Ok, so here's another contrast from Dallas to Houston. If an apartment looks nice in Dallas--it's usually nice. If an apartment complex looks nice in Houston that means squat. We live in a kind of ghetto area. I'm at fault for that. I didn't research what this area is like, had one day to drive the 4 hours here find an apartment and drive 4 hours back. Most importantly, I didn't know what we could afford. I kept making these small mistakes and apologizing to Isaac and saying, "I'm sorry I don't know how what we can afford." Well, I got tired of saying that. So, I did something about it. There is nobody that wouldn't benefit from doing this system on some level!
Where did I go first? Pinterest, of course! I found a blog that gave an example of a lady's binder she uses for their bills. So, I made my own. I'm about to be a Kindergarten teacher for a private Christian school. So, you can guess how much I love binders!
*I made the cover using Stampin' Up's My Digital Studio, if you want more info about that comment on this post. :)
I'm still working on this, but so far I have the front inside pocket finished:
In the front pocket I keep: Envelopes, pen, stamps, check book and 4 envelopes. The four envelopes are labeled- Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4. This way, every Sunday I look in the envelopes and see which bills have come in according to when they're due. If I don't get a paper bill I made a notecard with the name of the bill and due date.
Also, I put a checklist in my binder.
I made this list of all of our bills and months for the rest of the year and put a D for paying with Debit and C for paying with Credit. NOW LET ME ADDRESS THIS. I made this before I went back and researched Dave Ramsey. So, the new one has all D's.
I am so on fire right now for this process for our money. Before we were just throwing a random amount money at the credit card when we got paid and because we threw so much at it we had to use the credit card to pay other stuff. So, it was a 2 steps forward, 3 steps back kind of thing. We also had no idea how much we were spending on other stuff like groceries and eating out. I totaled it up for the month of June and I was appalled. Between Walmart, Costco and restaurants we spent about $1,000. I couldn't believe it. No wonder we didn't have any money!!!!! I mean can you believe that?! I still can't. ANYWAYS...
Dave Ramsey has a list of recommended percentages for how you should spend your money. This makes me happy. How happy? Happier than Gallagher at a farmer's market. :) THAT'S pretty happy.
Ok. So here are the percentages:
Tithe: 10-15%
Savings: 5-10%
Housing: 25-30%
Utilities: 5-10%
Food: 5-15%
Transportation: 10-15%
Clothing: 2-7%
Medical/Health: 5-10%
Personal: 5-10%
Recreation: 5-10%
Debts: 5-10%
The best part is that it doesn't matter how much you make! My husband is an auto body tech and works off of commission. So, his check varies. This way, no matter what his check is like we still make a dent in our debt AND get some money in savings, because like my dad says, "It's not how much money you make, it's about how much you can keep." Now, obviously you'll have to decide how much of the percentages you'll need to use because if you do all the highest percentages it's more than 100% and all the low end percentages total less than 100%. But, this helps you live within your means!!! And you still have personal and recreation money.
In my next post I'll include his worksheets so you can see EXACTLY what each category covers, i.e. transportation-car payment, gas, tires, oil change, money for a new car, etc...
And I'll also go over using cash envelopes!
Mimi are you proud??? ;)
Where did I go first? Pinterest, of course! I found a blog that gave an example of a lady's binder she uses for their bills. So, I made my own. I'm about to be a Kindergarten teacher for a private Christian school. So, you can guess how much I love binders!
I'm still working on this, but so far I have the front inside pocket finished:
In the front pocket I keep: Envelopes, pen, stamps, check book and 4 envelopes. The four envelopes are labeled- Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4. This way, every Sunday I look in the envelopes and see which bills have come in according to when they're due. If I don't get a paper bill I made a notecard with the name of the bill and due date.
Also, I put a checklist in my binder.
I made this list of all of our bills and months for the rest of the year and put a D for paying with Debit and C for paying with Credit. NOW LET ME ADDRESS THIS. I made this before I went back and researched Dave Ramsey. So, the new one has all D's.
I am so on fire right now for this process for our money. Before we were just throwing a random amount money at the credit card when we got paid and because we threw so much at it we had to use the credit card to pay other stuff. So, it was a 2 steps forward, 3 steps back kind of thing. We also had no idea how much we were spending on other stuff like groceries and eating out. I totaled it up for the month of June and I was appalled. Between Walmart, Costco and restaurants we spent about $1,000. I couldn't believe it. No wonder we didn't have any money!!!!! I mean can you believe that?! I still can't. ANYWAYS...
Dave Ramsey has a list of recommended percentages for how you should spend your money. This makes me happy. How happy? Happier than Gallagher at a farmer's market. :) THAT'S pretty happy.
Ok. So here are the percentages:
Tithe: 10-15%
Savings: 5-10%
Housing: 25-30%
Utilities: 5-10%
Food: 5-15%
Transportation: 10-15%
Clothing: 2-7%
Medical/Health: 5-10%
Personal: 5-10%
Recreation: 5-10%
Debts: 5-10%
The best part is that it doesn't matter how much you make! My husband is an auto body tech and works off of commission. So, his check varies. This way, no matter what his check is like we still make a dent in our debt AND get some money in savings, because like my dad says, "It's not how much money you make, it's about how much you can keep." Now, obviously you'll have to decide how much of the percentages you'll need to use because if you do all the highest percentages it's more than 100% and all the low end percentages total less than 100%. But, this helps you live within your means!!! And you still have personal and recreation money.
In my next post I'll include his worksheets so you can see EXACTLY what each category covers, i.e. transportation-car payment, gas, tires, oil change, money for a new car, etc...
And I'll also go over using cash envelopes!
Mimi are you proud??? ;)
Monday, July 2, 2012
My Better Half
Isaac! Oh my Isaac! He's the man for me! I must be the girl for him, too since he was given the option to back out a month before the wedding and didn't take it! :)
He loves our dogs more than he's willing to admit:
I just want to spend this blog post letting you get to know him better! :)
He made me the happiest girl when he married me May 21, 2010!
He's got his grandpa's farm truck that he restored. He loves the truck more than me...just kidding...sort of ;)
He forgives:
Like when accidents happen and he leans over when I go to reach for something and my diamond on my ring catches his forehead. Don't get too jealous ladies it's not THAT big! :)~
Or when I mess up haircuts: (i can't find the one of where I almost scalped him) :)
He's sweet:
He loves our dogs more than he's willing to admit:
And above all he's goofy with me and puts up with me:
I love this man o' mine! He's everything I ever wanted and is a strong Christian man that prays for us and others! He's so hard working and takes care of his little family better than most grown men would!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Nails on a Chalkboard
First off I'd like to thank my friend Amy Hughes for highlighting my blog on her blog! :) Love ya girl! I grabbed one of her buttons and have it on my blog ------> over there. :) Follow her, she's a mom, photographer, nail polish addict and all around great person. She's kind of the reason for this blog today! LOL! I keep seeing her instagram photos of her desperate search for Giada's nails! ;)
You know those cheesy photos on the walls of the nail salons? Well, I love them. I always get a little laugh out of them at least. They always try to convey that having your nails done is conducive to having money.
If I had money I wouldn't be getting my nails done at Skillman and 635. (All my Dallas girls will know!) And no lie. I got my nails done there for a while. I've gotten my nails done in just about every hood in Dallas. Can't beat that $11 fill! HAHA!
And I know you've all seen the pictures on pinterest that girls post insinuating that they did their nails.
I mean they must have done it since they're holding the bottle!!! So, between being a hand model this week and realizing my calling in life is to be an OPI nail polish namer...here's what I came up with.
You know those cheesy photos on the walls of the nail salons? Well, I love them. I always get a little laugh out of them at least. They always try to convey that having your nails done is conducive to having money.
And I know you've all seen the pictures on pinterest that girls post insinuating that they did their nails.
I mean they must have done it since they're holding the bottle!!! So, between being a hand model this week and realizing my calling in life is to be an OPI nail polish namer...here's what I came up with.
Anyways. I got my nails done for an interview and when the interview was over I wanted to change polishes to something more funky like a Bel Air Blue that I have in my arsenal of nail polishes. But, instead of finding nail polish remover I found something better. Drug store glitter polish! I love this stuff. That's only one coat on top of OPI 'Pinking of You' . You can add all the coats you want. It just gets better.
I'm running to Wal Mart this afternoon for food!!!! We've been kinda making sporadic trips to Kroger since the power went out to get enough to get us through a couple of days. Chicken is my main staple for dinners and we haven't had chicken. In fact I added up looking at our bank accounts that we've spent more in the month of June on eating out than I've spent on groceries plus Costco combined!!!! WHAT?!?!?! So, I'm kind of overhauling the fridge. My main advice is to have recipes in mind of what you're making before you go shopping. That's the best tip I can give including to myself. Anyways. I've got a seasoning that I'll recommend next blog but I don't want to recommend them without having a picture of the finished product! :) So, that's it for now! See y'all later!
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