Well, it feels like it's been forever since my last blog post. Lately I've been feeling rather drained from work. Drama upon drama has unfolded, and I don't thrive in drama... so I've felt both a physical and mental toll. All of this has reminded me of how much my feelings toward my job have changed. Once upon a time, I was absolutely in love with my job. I was happy to come into work, spend extra time, knowing I couldn't get paid for overtime... hell I was excited to be a part of an academic library and university life... but... isn't there always a but. When my daughter arrived just a little over a year and a half ago, I knew that I no longer wanted to spend so much time away from home, I even discussed the possibility of moving to part time employment with my supervisor, but I've, so far, chosen to trudge on. I partly have been hanging on in order to ensure I get more of my debts paid off and am in a better place financially to care for my family. That's probably the largest part of it actually. And I've partly been hanging around because I'm afraid. Afraid of what staying at home would mean to us financially... afraid of what I would do if I needed another job since the current job market isn't all that friendly.. and I guess part of me is just afraid of letting go of what's familiar to me, even if it's starting to make me miserable. This job has become like a favorite book... I know the story, I know every little stain and ink blot, every tear and crease... the typos and misprints are old friends... but the cover is falling off, the paper is becoming dry and brittle, and somewhere along the way the story that meant so much to me and carried so much meaning stopped having that deep, sure connection to me heart that once made it so beloved. I've changed... my job has changed... and I'm thinking, once again, about moving on.
I keep dreaming, much to my dear Justin's dismay I think, of a little hand built house in the country (this is the part he dismays over) with a garden, some chickens, maybe a couple goats... homeschooling Jess a couple years, teaching her some of the more practical skills she won't get in school like cooking and budgeting, raising animals, woodworking and sewing. So far they're all just dreams and they'll stay that way for a while yet. There's still so many little complications that I have to find a way to deal with before I could have hope to homestead or become a work-at-home mom. But when I'm dreaming about these things, that's when I feel the old spark, the one I used to feel about my job, that excitement and joy at the idea of doing something and doing it well. I may not be much of a salesman or marketer, I'm certainly not the type to go about hobnobbing as a lawyer or doctor, but I am a hardworker, especially when I'm inspired and motivated.
Here's to moving on... maybe not today, but someday... and hopefully in the not too distant future. Here's to making a handmade life for myself and my family. Wish me luck... and wish some of those complications out of my way while you're at it. ;)
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Book Review-The Hunger Games series...
I've been in love with reading since my mom took a job at our local public library once my brother and I were both in school. Since then, I've gone through periods of having reading, and lulls where I hardly cracked a book open, but I've always enjoyed a good story. Lately my reading has been more on the YA side (Young Adult for you non-library types). Among my latest reading materials I've had a penchant for survival tales, characters fighting for their lives against natural and man made obstacles. One of my recent favorites has been the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The story revolves around the life of a girl, Katniss, who has grown up in a future America where all that we know has fallen and been replaced by lose knit society made up of specialized districts, each kept mostly ignorant of each other, and all governed by a capitol district. Each year a lottery selects a male and female tribute, age 11-18, to participate in a gladiator style competition to the death. Katniss, nearing the end of her eligibility is shocked to hear her sister's name (her first year of eligibility) called, and bravely takes her place. From here Katniss's story escalates from one of daily survival back in her home, District 12, in the coal fields of Appalachia to a the glamour bestowed on the "tributes" before they enter the arena. The games show themselves to be a televised popularity contest, where popular tributes are gifted helpful items to assist their victory, while the less popular are left to fend for themselves.
As you read through the first story, you're confronted with the fact that the Hunger Games are just a way for the Capitol to keep it's distant districts subdued. A cruel, annual reminder that a once failed rebellion failed to take power from the Capitol. Katniss, who wants nothing more than to ensure her family's safety, unwittingly becomes an icon of rebellion through her acts of mercy during the games. Her growing popularity leaves the government in a bind and she and Peeta dare to take a deadly gamble to save their lives, making fools of the Capitol. Victory is bitter sweet as Katniss realizes that she is being held responsible for rebel behavior.
As we start into the second book, Katniss is besieged with fear for her family and loved ones. Trying to maintain the identity that helped ensure her victory is proving harder than she expected since Capitol spies are watching her every move, and so is the rest of the country. A winner's tour across the continent proves educational and threatening as she realizes the full impact of her actions in the Games. With rebellion on the wind, President Snow decides to punish Katniss by issuing a special Hunger Games, where only previous winners (normally forever exempt from the lottery) are selected, ensuring her a place in a new a deadly arena. Her life more or less forfeit, she vows to keep her partner alive no matter what. But as the games begin, competitors become allies and Katniss isn't sure who to trust. A dramatic series of events leads to a daring rescue by rebel forces who've marked Katniss as their savior and an icon for their war on the Capitol, leading us into the final chapter of Katniss's tale. But not everyone is rescued from the Capitol's clutches.
Espionage, rebel attacks, and propaganda abound in her new role as rebellion figurehead. Katniss worries over what the Capitol might be doing to those left behind, but the leaders of the rebellion have more "important" tasks for her. Soon our reluctant hero is swept into a war she didn't want, a rescue mission with unforeseen consciences, and a final stand off with President Snow.
Overall, the series is riveting. The first book is especially amazing as Collins brings you into the world, bit by bit. The character development is well done... and though Katniss is not always the most loveable of characters, she is a remarkably strong one. Romance enters the story lightly in the first book, so you romance fans won't feel left out here, especially as you learn more about the characters throughout the series. Action and adventure lovers will also have plenty to enjoy. And there's even a good dose of mystery behind figuring out who's trustworthy and who's not.
The Hunger Games is an amazing tale of government abuse of it's citizens, the struggle and will to survive, and the horrors and casualties of war. If you get a chance, please take a few moments out of your busy day... drop by your local library or book store, and sit down to read a good book. It doesn't have to be the Hunger Games, though it would be an excellent choice, but sit down, grab a book and let yourself get swept away in it for a while.
As you read through the first story, you're confronted with the fact that the Hunger Games are just a way for the Capitol to keep it's distant districts subdued. A cruel, annual reminder that a once failed rebellion failed to take power from the Capitol. Katniss, who wants nothing more than to ensure her family's safety, unwittingly becomes an icon of rebellion through her acts of mercy during the games. Her growing popularity leaves the government in a bind and she and Peeta dare to take a deadly gamble to save their lives, making fools of the Capitol. Victory is bitter sweet as Katniss realizes that she is being held responsible for rebel behavior.
As we start into the second book, Katniss is besieged with fear for her family and loved ones. Trying to maintain the identity that helped ensure her victory is proving harder than she expected since Capitol spies are watching her every move, and so is the rest of the country. A winner's tour across the continent proves educational and threatening as she realizes the full impact of her actions in the Games. With rebellion on the wind, President Snow decides to punish Katniss by issuing a special Hunger Games, where only previous winners (normally forever exempt from the lottery) are selected, ensuring her a place in a new a deadly arena. Her life more or less forfeit, she vows to keep her partner alive no matter what. But as the games begin, competitors become allies and Katniss isn't sure who to trust. A dramatic series of events leads to a daring rescue by rebel forces who've marked Katniss as their savior and an icon for their war on the Capitol, leading us into the final chapter of Katniss's tale. But not everyone is rescued from the Capitol's clutches.
Espionage, rebel attacks, and propaganda abound in her new role as rebellion figurehead. Katniss worries over what the Capitol might be doing to those left behind, but the leaders of the rebellion have more "important" tasks for her. Soon our reluctant hero is swept into a war she didn't want, a rescue mission with unforeseen consciences, and a final stand off with President Snow.
Overall, the series is riveting. The first book is especially amazing as Collins brings you into the world, bit by bit. The character development is well done... and though Katniss is not always the most loveable of characters, she is a remarkably strong one. Romance enters the story lightly in the first book, so you romance fans won't feel left out here, especially as you learn more about the characters throughout the series. Action and adventure lovers will also have plenty to enjoy. And there's even a good dose of mystery behind figuring out who's trustworthy and who's not.
The Hunger Games is an amazing tale of government abuse of it's citizens, the struggle and will to survive, and the horrors and casualties of war. If you get a chance, please take a few moments out of your busy day... drop by your local library or book store, and sit down to read a good book. It doesn't have to be the Hunger Games, though it would be an excellent choice, but sit down, grab a book and let yourself get swept away in it for a while.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Walking through the jungle... of our back yard.
A while ago, I mentioned that our lawnmower had been stolen. Since then, we've been on the hunt for a lockable shed to place by the house before even considering purchasing a new mower. Finally, a suitable shed has been found and purchased. It's not much, just 4.5x7 ft in all, but of sufficient size for our meager needs. It only took around 3 hours to put together (Justin did most of the work while I was at work, so I just was there to help put the roof on... and I must say, it wasn't too bad). The price was a bit steep... $500 once we added in the taxes, etc... and we didn't pay to have it delivered and installed. :( Oh well, at least thieves will have to work a little harder to steal our next mower... (here's hoping they won't be interested in trying).
So, with the shed in place (on the uneven ground that we call our yard), we're now awaiting mower buying day. Our yard, last mowed right before the mower was stolen, has grown into somewhat of a jungle. The rain, which would have kept us from mowing most of the days since our mower was stolen, has brought about an amazing (and annoying) amount of grass and weed growth. Right now, I'm thinking that our eventual new mower is going to get a painful initiation into the family.
Once we manage to get the yard back under control, I've seriously got to get some interior work done. I've got stuff that needs to be sold or sent off to Goodwill soon to make way for Jessie's toddling. And I'm hoping that making a little more room in the house will help make clean up easier and faster. Lately, with all the changes in schedules and what not, we've been exhausted and running around without a shred of organization... and the house has suffered. It's become somewhat of a jungle all it's own. Dishes and Laundry awaiting my attention, dusting to be done... boxes to be gone through and things to be made ready for the yard sale (still need to set a date) and other items just waiting to be put away or worse, find a place for the first time.
Funny enough, despite all of the stress of late with unexpected expenses (the car's front brakes had to be replaced this week too... completely), I'm still feeling positive. We've paid off the highest interest debts, so we're not having interest beat down on us while we deal with these current necessities. Sure we've still got medical bills to pay off, and the car is still being paid on (the next big item I hope to get paid off)... but somehow I'm less stressed about these things.
Our 4H club has finished meeting until after the summer, so we've one less time commitment for a while, though I kind of wish we were staying more active over the summer, but that's ok. We've planned some weekend hiking/camping trips with the kids. I've got all but one of bub's 4H project books now, so we should be able to finally start getting some of them done before the fair. I've even started working toward my disaster/emergency preparedness goals of setting up some simple food storage for us (goal is to set up 3 months worth of reserves) in order to ensure we're able to eat even if one of us (or both) should lose our job or be injured, etc. I'm hoping to even set us up with Grab'n'Go bags this summer in case of a fire or any event that would cause us to have to evacuate our home with little warning. So despite some recent mishaps and minor emergencies, life is still working on shaping up for us. Now if I can get organized enough to start cooking ahead a little again, I'll be rocking and rolling. :) Life my not be easy all the time, but it is good. Well, to all a blessed day.
So, with the shed in place (on the uneven ground that we call our yard), we're now awaiting mower buying day. Our yard, last mowed right before the mower was stolen, has grown into somewhat of a jungle. The rain, which would have kept us from mowing most of the days since our mower was stolen, has brought about an amazing (and annoying) amount of grass and weed growth. Right now, I'm thinking that our eventual new mower is going to get a painful initiation into the family.
Once we manage to get the yard back under control, I've seriously got to get some interior work done. I've got stuff that needs to be sold or sent off to Goodwill soon to make way for Jessie's toddling. And I'm hoping that making a little more room in the house will help make clean up easier and faster. Lately, with all the changes in schedules and what not, we've been exhausted and running around without a shred of organization... and the house has suffered. It's become somewhat of a jungle all it's own. Dishes and Laundry awaiting my attention, dusting to be done... boxes to be gone through and things to be made ready for the yard sale (still need to set a date) and other items just waiting to be put away or worse, find a place for the first time.
Funny enough, despite all of the stress of late with unexpected expenses (the car's front brakes had to be replaced this week too... completely), I'm still feeling positive. We've paid off the highest interest debts, so we're not having interest beat down on us while we deal with these current necessities. Sure we've still got medical bills to pay off, and the car is still being paid on (the next big item I hope to get paid off)... but somehow I'm less stressed about these things.
Our 4H club has finished meeting until after the summer, so we've one less time commitment for a while, though I kind of wish we were staying more active over the summer, but that's ok. We've planned some weekend hiking/camping trips with the kids. I've got all but one of bub's 4H project books now, so we should be able to finally start getting some of them done before the fair. I've even started working toward my disaster/emergency preparedness goals of setting up some simple food storage for us (goal is to set up 3 months worth of reserves) in order to ensure we're able to eat even if one of us (or both) should lose our job or be injured, etc. I'm hoping to even set us up with Grab'n'Go bags this summer in case of a fire or any event that would cause us to have to evacuate our home with little warning. So despite some recent mishaps and minor emergencies, life is still working on shaping up for us. Now if I can get organized enough to start cooking ahead a little again, I'll be rocking and rolling. :) Life my not be easy all the time, but it is good. Well, to all a blessed day.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Genealogy break through...
I've been working on mine and Justin's family trees for a couple years now. I had started working on my family tree several years ago, doing work here and there in short bursts, and just before we decided to try to get pregnant I had started to explore Justin's family tree so that his son would have it when he got older. Anyhow, in my own research, I had been trying very hard to find out information about my great great grandmother, Mahala. She was a bit of a mystery. Family stories always referred to her as a Native American, Cherokee even. This has always been fascinating to me, but no one could ever tell me more. So as I was rechecking the WV Vital Statistics page (a favorite free tool I use, and something WV should be proud of as few states have made much effort in digitizing this info and making it available) I came across Mahala's death certificate. I don't know if I had missed it in the past because I hadn't tried a different spelling of her last name or if it just hadn't been digitized previously (this was the case for another great great grandmother), but low and behold after years of trying to find her parents, here they were on her death certificate. So with renewed interest I began looking for these new people, John Potter and Hulda Wright of Fletcher Co. KY.
After googling their names and searching several census records here and there, I came across the website of Nancy Wright Bays and her work on the genealogy of the Wright and Bates families. Through info that she and Linda Potter Whitt had pieced together, it appears that I've found Mahala's family, or at least part of it. There's now a new mystery. On Mahala's death certificate her daughter, Della Hall, had listed her parents as John Potter and Hulda Wright, but from the information I've found on Hulda Wright, from Nancy and Linda's research, Hulda was married to a Reuben "Rube" Potter. Now, I know it wasn't uncommon for a brother or cousin to marry a widowed woman when her husband died (found this a couple times before), but according to what Linda and Nancy have pieced together on the Wright family, they doubt that Hulda would have stayed with the Potter family after her husband died (Linda's recounted a very interesting story passed down in her family here). So why would Mahala's daughter list her grandfather's name as John Potter instead of Reuben or Rube? Mahala would only have been a couple years old when her father died, but it seems unlikely that her daughter would know of Hulda but not Reuben, unless Hulda had remarried and Mahala had been raised by this possible second husband.
So, one mystery solved and several more unlocked, waiting for answers. I will have to start looking more closely at Kentucky records and trying to find a descendant of Della Hall who might have further information on Mahala. If you think you may have information on these families, let us know.
Thomas "Boone" Salmons b. 4/1/1856 KY d. 10/30/1932 Hamlin, WV buried at Harvey's Creek Cemetery
married
Mahala Potter Salmon(s) b. 11/6/1859 (according to death certificate signed by daughter Della May Salmons Hall) Letcher Co KY d. 9/12/1951 Hamlin, WV buried at Harvey's Creek Cemetery
Their children are:
Bertha Salmons (married James M. Langley of KY) stayed in KY after parents and most siblings moved to Hamlin WV.
Elmon/Elmond Salmons (married Dinah Jeffers and Ora Hazel Woodall)
John Ervin Salmons (married Bonnie Duncan and Dolly Johnson)
James "Jim" Salmons (married Etta Tussey?) Believe he stayed in KY as well.
Robert "Bob" Lee Sammons (married Mary Alice Reffett)
Williams J. Salmons (married Dollie E. Burns) These are my great grandparents.
Henry Harrison Salmons (married Spicy Alice Elkins)
Thomas "Tommy/Tom" Salmons (married Rose/Rosa Burns-Dollie Burns' sister)
Della May Salmons (married Roy Hall)
Dollie/Dolly Salmons (married Earl Stickler
After googling their names and searching several census records here and there, I came across the website of Nancy Wright Bays and her work on the genealogy of the Wright and Bates families. Through info that she and Linda Potter Whitt had pieced together, it appears that I've found Mahala's family, or at least part of it. There's now a new mystery. On Mahala's death certificate her daughter, Della Hall, had listed her parents as John Potter and Hulda Wright, but from the information I've found on Hulda Wright, from Nancy and Linda's research, Hulda was married to a Reuben "Rube" Potter. Now, I know it wasn't uncommon for a brother or cousin to marry a widowed woman when her husband died (found this a couple times before), but according to what Linda and Nancy have pieced together on the Wright family, they doubt that Hulda would have stayed with the Potter family after her husband died (Linda's recounted a very interesting story passed down in her family here). So why would Mahala's daughter list her grandfather's name as John Potter instead of Reuben or Rube? Mahala would only have been a couple years old when her father died, but it seems unlikely that her daughter would know of Hulda but not Reuben, unless Hulda had remarried and Mahala had been raised by this possible second husband.
So, one mystery solved and several more unlocked, waiting for answers. I will have to start looking more closely at Kentucky records and trying to find a descendant of Della Hall who might have further information on Mahala. If you think you may have information on these families, let us know.
Thomas "Boone" Salmons b. 4/1/1856 KY d. 10/30/1932 Hamlin, WV buried at Harvey's Creek Cemetery
married
Mahala Potter Salmon(s) b. 11/6/1859 (according to death certificate signed by daughter Della May Salmons Hall) Letcher Co KY d. 9/12/1951 Hamlin, WV buried at Harvey's Creek Cemetery
Their children are:
Bertha Salmons (married James M. Langley of KY) stayed in KY after parents and most siblings moved to Hamlin WV.
Elmon/Elmond Salmons (married Dinah Jeffers and Ora Hazel Woodall)
John Ervin Salmons (married Bonnie Duncan and Dolly Johnson)
James "Jim" Salmons (married Etta Tussey?) Believe he stayed in KY as well.
Robert "Bob" Lee Sammons (married Mary Alice Reffett)
Williams J. Salmons (married Dollie E. Burns) These are my great grandparents.
Henry Harrison Salmons (married Spicy Alice Elkins)
Thomas "Tommy/Tom" Salmons (married Rose/Rosa Burns-Dollie Burns' sister)
Della May Salmons (married Roy Hall)
Dollie/Dolly Salmons (married Earl Stickler
Happy Easter! Blessings pour into our lives when we least expect them...
Here in our hilly Ohio Valley area, spring has sprung and April has indeed brought us showers. Lots and lots of showers, and thunderstorms. :) The Ohio and Guyandotte Rivers, that so recently were starting to ebb, are back up, muddy waters churning their way toward the Mississippi, thankfully still within their banks if just. My beautiful little girl, now a one year old toddler, got to enjoy a little bit of Easter with her grandma Cover, wearing the beautiful blue dress her grandpa Alford picked up for her. I'm working today, of course, as I've worked most Sundays for the past 5 years, but that's ok. :)
It's ok, because just over a week ago, we finally got a little break. Justin, who left an upper management job about three years ago, to take the chance on something better eventually, and to spend more time with his son, finally was given the opportunity to move up the ladder at his current job. He's been patient, a little irritated from time to time, but overall patient as he slowly tried to work his way up from the bottom. He'd made a couple moves, and gotten little raises here and there, but this time, he finally got to show his hand at his managerial skills again. :) I'm proud of him. I'm proud that through the frustrations he's stayed and tried to make a name for himself. I'm proud that he has stuck to his guns and not been afraid to speak up with his ideas for improving things. And I'm thankful, that he's finally been given a chance to shine a little brighter. :) And better still, Justin's schedule will finally for set... no changing from day to day and week to week. Now, he works the same thing all the time and now I can try to schedule myself for a steady shift as well! Yay! Oh how I've missed a steady schedule each week and not having to carry a calendar around constantly just to remind myself of where I'm supposed to be each day. And maybe, just maybe, we can get Jess to bed on a set schedule again! It's been months since we could do that. Here's hoping.
Now good news never seems to come into our lives alone, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that just a couple nights after getting our lawn mower back from my mom and her husband (who had kept it over the winter to work on it for us), and one lawn trimming (first of the season even, and on the same night), our mower was stolen from the porch. Gotta love thieves. But things could be worse and I'm still more thankful for Justin's promotion than I am annoyed about the mower.
Anyhow, still working on downsizing some of our possessions, the mower wasn't meant to be among them though. I'll have to ask for a weekend off soon in order to actually have a yard sale to get rid of stuff (maybe we'll be lucky and make enough to replace the mower).
Well, time for work. May your day be filled with blessings and a sense of renewal this Easter Sunday.
It's ok, because just over a week ago, we finally got a little break. Justin, who left an upper management job about three years ago, to take the chance on something better eventually, and to spend more time with his son, finally was given the opportunity to move up the ladder at his current job. He's been patient, a little irritated from time to time, but overall patient as he slowly tried to work his way up from the bottom. He'd made a couple moves, and gotten little raises here and there, but this time, he finally got to show his hand at his managerial skills again. :) I'm proud of him. I'm proud that through the frustrations he's stayed and tried to make a name for himself. I'm proud that he has stuck to his guns and not been afraid to speak up with his ideas for improving things. And I'm thankful, that he's finally been given a chance to shine a little brighter. :) And better still, Justin's schedule will finally for set... no changing from day to day and week to week. Now, he works the same thing all the time and now I can try to schedule myself for a steady shift as well! Yay! Oh how I've missed a steady schedule each week and not having to carry a calendar around constantly just to remind myself of where I'm supposed to be each day. And maybe, just maybe, we can get Jess to bed on a set schedule again! It's been months since we could do that. Here's hoping.
Now good news never seems to come into our lives alone, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that just a couple nights after getting our lawn mower back from my mom and her husband (who had kept it over the winter to work on it for us), and one lawn trimming (first of the season even, and on the same night), our mower was stolen from the porch. Gotta love thieves. But things could be worse and I'm still more thankful for Justin's promotion than I am annoyed about the mower.
Anyhow, still working on downsizing some of our possessions, the mower wasn't meant to be among them though. I'll have to ask for a weekend off soon in order to actually have a yard sale to get rid of stuff (maybe we'll be lucky and make enough to replace the mower).
Well, time for work. May your day be filled with blessings and a sense of renewal this Easter Sunday.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Back again...
Well, I suppose I'm not the best at this blogging stuff. :) It's been quite a while since my last post back in February. Life hasn't been too hectic though, and I suppose there's not been much to tell.
Anyhow, since my last post and my painful incident of breaking my toe (healed now, but still a little painful from time to time) Justin and I took a wonderfully relaxing trip for two to North Bend State Park. Absolutely wonderful. We came in just in time to catch the tale end of their winter special at the lodge which included lodging, dinner and breakfast for two (anything we wanted on the tasty and wonderful menu) all for $99 per night. Not extremely frugal, but given there were no hotels in the area that we could find, B&B prices where about $100/night and eating out involved a twenty minute drive and offered your basic fast food fair instead of tasty, home cooked meals... well, that being said I think we made out like bandits! The weather we great, my toe was healed just enough to walk fairly comfortably (good since our main reason for picking North Bend was their Rail Trail access), and the trail was awesome. Rail trails are a wonderful way to get out in nature even when you're not in the best of shape, since the trails tend to be nice, flat or gently sloped and usually have great access sites so you can park almost beside the trail. North Bend Rail Trail is a total of 77 miles and runs between Parkersburg, WV and Clarksburg, WV. It runs through several small towns along the way and has many beautiful bridges and tunnels! :) We only put in six miles (from Cairo to tunnel 19 and back), but it was nice and easy going. We hope to eventually go back and maybe bike the whole trail with friends (faster by far) and maybe to try taking the kids. Such an as going trail is great for families.
When we got home, we were greeted by an elated little girl who was tickled pink to have mommy and daddy home again. Not that she didn't love her weekend with grandma, but she's always happy to come home to us. :) Best feeling in the world I must say. But unfortunately our return was followed with sniffling and congestion and suddenly I'm experiencing my baby's first sickness. As I'm a new mom, part time stepmom (our little man lives with his mom and just gets to visit us) I was a little worried, but I think I stayed pretty calm. I tried cough syrup and treating her at home first as was recommended since she started out with such mild symptoms, but then had to take her to the doc (and later myself) because it just wasn't working and she was feeling and sounding worse. My sweet little Jess had caught bronchitus and developed a sinus infection. :( A quick shot of steroids, antibiotics and some breathing treatments and she was right as rain again in no time. Hell, she was up and better far faster than I was. :) I'm still sounding all froggy in the voice over two weeks later.
Unfortunately, Jess and I were not well by her birthday (very first!) on the 3rd, so birthday dinner with the family (at least as many as were available to come) was postponed until a few days later. Thankfully by then, we were feeling much better and we managed to have a wonderful dinner at home followed by cake and general fun.
As far as debt updates, I've managed to payoff the last of my medical bills from Jess's birth. Yay! There's still the rest of her NICU bills to pay, and now I've added ER bills for my toe, but I'm feeling pretty good about it still. My savings was moving up nicely, though I have to dip into that for the unexpected expense of broken glasses. Somehow bub managed to run face first into a pole at school. He was happy to let us know that he wasn't the only one either, and that at least he didn't have to go to the hospital for stitches... yeah... I'm glad of that, thankful even... though utterly amazed at the ability of children to run without watching where they're going. Anyhow, new glasses have been ordered and should make it in before his upcoming testing at school.
Well, time to get ready for dinner and spend some quality time with the family. Have a wonderful evening everyone.
Anyhow, since my last post and my painful incident of breaking my toe (healed now, but still a little painful from time to time) Justin and I took a wonderfully relaxing trip for two to North Bend State Park. Absolutely wonderful. We came in just in time to catch the tale end of their winter special at the lodge which included lodging, dinner and breakfast for two (anything we wanted on the tasty and wonderful menu) all for $99 per night. Not extremely frugal, but given there were no hotels in the area that we could find, B&B prices where about $100/night and eating out involved a twenty minute drive and offered your basic fast food fair instead of tasty, home cooked meals... well, that being said I think we made out like bandits! The weather we great, my toe was healed just enough to walk fairly comfortably (good since our main reason for picking North Bend was their Rail Trail access), and the trail was awesome. Rail trails are a wonderful way to get out in nature even when you're not in the best of shape, since the trails tend to be nice, flat or gently sloped and usually have great access sites so you can park almost beside the trail. North Bend Rail Trail is a total of 77 miles and runs between Parkersburg, WV and Clarksburg, WV. It runs through several small towns along the way and has many beautiful bridges and tunnels! :) We only put in six miles (from Cairo to tunnel 19 and back), but it was nice and easy going. We hope to eventually go back and maybe bike the whole trail with friends (faster by far) and maybe to try taking the kids. Such an as going trail is great for families.
When we got home, we were greeted by an elated little girl who was tickled pink to have mommy and daddy home again. Not that she didn't love her weekend with grandma, but she's always happy to come home to us. :) Best feeling in the world I must say. But unfortunately our return was followed with sniffling and congestion and suddenly I'm experiencing my baby's first sickness. As I'm a new mom, part time stepmom (our little man lives with his mom and just gets to visit us) I was a little worried, but I think I stayed pretty calm. I tried cough syrup and treating her at home first as was recommended since she started out with such mild symptoms, but then had to take her to the doc (and later myself) because it just wasn't working and she was feeling and sounding worse. My sweet little Jess had caught bronchitus and developed a sinus infection. :( A quick shot of steroids, antibiotics and some breathing treatments and she was right as rain again in no time. Hell, she was up and better far faster than I was. :) I'm still sounding all froggy in the voice over two weeks later.
Unfortunately, Jess and I were not well by her birthday (very first!) on the 3rd, so birthday dinner with the family (at least as many as were available to come) was postponed until a few days later. Thankfully by then, we were feeling much better and we managed to have a wonderful dinner at home followed by cake and general fun.
As far as debt updates, I've managed to payoff the last of my medical bills from Jess's birth. Yay! There's still the rest of her NICU bills to pay, and now I've added ER bills for my toe, but I'm feeling pretty good about it still. My savings was moving up nicely, though I have to dip into that for the unexpected expense of broken glasses. Somehow bub managed to run face first into a pole at school. He was happy to let us know that he wasn't the only one either, and that at least he didn't have to go to the hospital for stitches... yeah... I'm glad of that, thankful even... though utterly amazed at the ability of children to run without watching where they're going. Anyhow, new glasses have been ordered and should make it in before his upcoming testing at school.
Well, time to get ready for dinner and spend some quality time with the family. Have a wonderful evening everyone.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Ouch!
Well, after carefully arranging to have babysitting for the weekend before Valentine's Day so that Justin and I could sit back, chill and enjoy each others company for a while, I went and tripped on one of my daughter's toys and snapped my pinky toe. :( I caught it between two spoke like things on her Garanimals Shape Sorter as I was trying to take my sleeping girl to her crib so I could get some housework done. Oh the irony of trying to get things cleaned up only to break my toe on something that wasn't. Anyhow, after putting her down (thank heavens I didn't fall on her or drop her) in her crib, now totally awake, I proceeded to limp/hop into my bedroom and check my toe which hurt like hell. Given the not so pretty sound I heard when I tripped and the severe pain, I highly suspected it was broken. The funny lumpiness only added to that assumption, so I called my mom and asked her to drive me to the ER. I knew there wasn't much they could do for a broken toe, but I was hoping they could at least give me something so I wouldn't have to try and put a shoe on that foot in the cool weather we were still having.
A few hours later I had sent my mom home with my daughter, had my dear Justin pick me up, and I had a couple nice new additions to our home medical care supplies, an ortho-shoe and crutches. I was so thankful for the shoe. :) To add to my misery, the sun decided to come up and remind me just how much I want to be outside and on a trail somewhere, taking in a little nature and soaking up the calm I get when I'm out in the woods and country... calm I could so use of late. So the last week has been a bit disappointing. Beautiful, dry, warm weather and me unable to get my hiking shoes on again until today, and I'm starting to regret that decision as my foot has begun to swell a little more and is starting to hurt. Lol. One romantic weekend ruined for a broken toe along with any hopes of getting out to some of my favorite local trails with this first real brush of spring. So here's hoping for a speedy recovery so I can get out on the trail, test my new hiking shoes and hopefully be walking comfortably by the time Justin and I get our next time off together, in about a month it appears.
The toy, by the way, it perfectly fine. No dents, dings, paint chips or breakage at all... lol, that's what I get for buying a quality toy... lol.
A few hours later I had sent my mom home with my daughter, had my dear Justin pick me up, and I had a couple nice new additions to our home medical care supplies, an ortho-shoe and crutches. I was so thankful for the shoe. :) To add to my misery, the sun decided to come up and remind me just how much I want to be outside and on a trail somewhere, taking in a little nature and soaking up the calm I get when I'm out in the woods and country... calm I could so use of late. So the last week has been a bit disappointing. Beautiful, dry, warm weather and me unable to get my hiking shoes on again until today, and I'm starting to regret that decision as my foot has begun to swell a little more and is starting to hurt. Lol. One romantic weekend ruined for a broken toe along with any hopes of getting out to some of my favorite local trails with this first real brush of spring. So here's hoping for a speedy recovery so I can get out on the trail, test my new hiking shoes and hopefully be walking comfortably by the time Justin and I get our next time off together, in about a month it appears.
The toy, by the way, it perfectly fine. No dents, dings, paint chips or breakage at all... lol, that's what I get for buying a quality toy... lol.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Revised Financial & Life Goals, 2011 edition
I'm not one for setting resolutions for the New Year, largely due to the fact that I think goals and resolutions should be made and revised all year long, not just once a year. So that being said, it's been a couple months since I last reviewed and revised my goals. Time for a checkup.
Most of the time I don't put a real time frame on my goals. I know what ones I would like to meet first, but beyond that, I try not to set specific dates. I find that too often life gets in the way of hard dates and that I generally feel frustrated and annoyed that I couldn't meet my goal deadline. So here's a list of my previous goals and their progress, and any revisions for the immediate future.
Debt Reduction-Credit Cards
Pay off Bank of America Card, balance about $1200.-CHECK, Paid this account off for a reduced amount of $1000 in the fall. Used a retirement loan at 4% interest to do it, but that beats 20%+ interest any day. And if something happens and I cannot repay my retirement loan, there's no late fees, it just gets reported as income to the IRS. Not ideal, but no accumulation of fees and charges to make matters worse over time.
Pay off MBNA America Card, most recent balance about $3000.-CHECK, paid this one off with my tax return this month. That leaves me CREDIT CARD FREE!!! All credit cards paid and closed! YAY!!!!!
Debt Reduction-Medical Bills
The birth of my daughter left me with quite a few medical bills, first for the OB, then the hospital for the birth, and then the NICU stay because she was a month early and need a little help along.
As of this month, the OB is paid up. YAY! One down.
I only owe about $180 for my hospital stay and the birth, which I hope to pay off in the next month of so. Yay! Almost two down.
And I have about $1400 for Jess's NICU left. I suppose I still have a ways to go there, but with the OB paid, the birth almost paid off, this should start to move more quickly.
Unfortunately, I'll have to add hospital bills for Justin's heart attack in September, about $5000. Thankfully he's still alive and kicking and feeling better overall, so I can't complain about more bills if they keep him with us longer. :)
Debt Reduction-Retirement Loans
I have a few of these from little emergencies here and there. I paid off one in the fall, but replaced it with another to pay off my Bank of American account. So no major progress there except the lowering of an interest rate (which is actually really helpful in the long run).
I've paid down another to about $200 and hope to pay it off next month unless something comes up. So there's some progress. The rest aren't a huge priority yet as I have a car loan still with a higher interest that I would like to get paid off a little faster. The goal though is to have most of these paid off by the end of 2012.
Debt Reduction-Car Loan
Well, as of this month I have just over $6000 left on my car loan. I get going back and forth on making this a priority and throwing all my extra payments into it alone (it is the higher interest rate), or paying off my retirement loans faster (still have several of this with smaller balances that would be easy to have paid off by the end of 2012). The car's maturity date is 2013, so I'm not saving nearly as much interest on it for making the bigger payments as I would have when I bought it. So I'm leaning more towards focusing on the smaller retirement loans and my savings (both of which can be liquidated for an emergency easier than my car, and would be worth more than my car in the long run). That being said, I would really like to trade in my car (a 2005 Monte Carlo-2 door nightmare) for something a little more family friendly (something with 4 doors preferably, like station wagon or maybe a van). Not sure how that's going to affect things. If I can put back a couple thousand in savings, I might be able to buy a used older model family car outright, but that's still going to leave me with added insurance costs... so I see me waiting until I've at least paid off the retirement loans or the Monte Carlo so the extra insurance payment isn't likely to destroy my debt reduction goals.
Debt Reduction-Student Loans
These are the largest chunk of my debt. These have been placed on Income Based Repayment in order to help me pay off my other debts. Income Based Repayment is a program from Federal Student Aid. It's a great help for those with Federal Students Loans who, like me, have chosen career paths that aren't as glamorous or wealthy, or those, like me, who hit on hard times and need a little help, but don't want to keep deferring their student loans constantly. Once you've been accepted (which is a simple process done mostly over the phone, with a few documents faxed or mailed in) your tax information will be automatically sent to the Federal Student Aid office so that they can determine each year what your payment will be.
Additionally, I'm hoping to stay in my current or similar job situation where I fall under the Public Employee category. By making my IBR payments on time for ten years (not missing ANY payments) I can apply for the Public Employee Loan Forgiveness program. This means, that as a state employee, teacher, federal employee, etc... you may be able to have your loans forgiven, that's right FORGIVEN, after 120 consecutive payments. By combing these two programs, I hope to have my loans taken care of in about 9 more years. The trick is, I have to be a public employee for that entire time. Not likely a problem, as I don't see myself being able to quit working before then, and I don't see myself leaving the type of public servant job that would qualify me for forgiveness later. So, it's a bit of a gamble, lower payments now, that may not meet my interest each month and thus extend my payments considerably (though they will still qualify for forgiveness after 25 years on the IBR plan, and with other payments out of the way, I can always pay more each month), or maybe get lucky and only have to pay a fraction of my student loans as a reward for public service (even easier if I joined Americorps or the Peace Corp).
Live More Simply-Embrace Frugality More
This goal is more recent. Just here in the last couple years. I've never been one for a lot of extravagance, but that doesn't mean I'm above wastefulness. :( So I've been trying to live more simply, more frugally, and more mindfully. This partly goes hand in hand with the desire to become debt free, as frugality is a GREAT way to cut costs and pay bills off faster. But in all honesty frugality and mindfulness as more than just a way to save money. By being more mindful of my purchases I can be more aware of their impact on my life, on my family, on the community, and the environment.
Ultimately, I hope that simple living will help me become more self reliant, more focused on my family than my things, more aware of how my purchases affect my local economy and the environment. Right now, I know I'm still purchasing things that are chosen more for their convenience and price than for their quality and such, a matter than falls under both necessary evil and annoyance for me. But as I repay my debts, learn to live below my means (something I think has become a foreign concept for most of America), and become more self reliant (growing some of my own food, sewing and repairing my clothes instead of just buying new ones, taking care of what I own)... I hope that I will move more toward mindful purchasing in the future.
Already, I am starting to avoid purchasing cheaper, low quality clothing, and trying to purchase one or two strong, quality items that will last me a long time and will meet many needs. I'm watching Goodwill and thrift stores more for quality used clothing that's still cheaply priced. This speaks to my desire to improve my environment my reusing and recycling clothing that people might otherwise have just thrown away.
Live More Simply-Declutter
Lately I've been looking around our space and wondering if we really NEED everything we've crammed into it. With Netflix, do we really NEED to keep a collection of hundreds of DVDs when we can just as easily stream most of them online? Probably not. Are there movies worth keeping? Sure. I will likely keep a BluRay set of the Harry Potter films, our Monty Python DVD boxed set and a few favorites that we love, but I really would like to cut our collection to 50 or less. The rest I would like to try to sell first in a yard sale, $1 a piece. Those that don't sell will either be donated to our local library, giving us continued access to them, and giving us the chance to write them off our taxes as a charitable donation. Part of me is tempted to just write them off, though a little extra cash to put back now would be nice too, and the fact that we get a return pretty much every year means we're already paying more than we need to, so a write off isn't going to be that big of a deal for us.
Same goes for books. We both have Kindles now, so for future book purchases I would like to stick with Kindle editions. As for the books we already own, I'd like to really look at them, decided on which ones we most want to keep, and start purchasing Kindle versions of them as we can. Cutting our DVD and book collections alone will create an exceptional amount of space in our rather small home. Books will likely go to the library. They just don't sell that well in yard sales and I really like the idea of sharing them with lots of people.
Clothing has already started to be purged. Things we don't wear or that no longer fit us have largely been boxed away and are awaiting a run to Goodwill. A few old band shirts of Justin's have been held back for a t-shirt quilt. The hope is that I will take the time to get this done so that Justin gets to keep his treasured shirts in a useful way instead of donating them or throwing them out. Here's me crossing my fingers that they don't just sit around the house. :) I do tend to collect "projects" from time to time. I don't mind it when I get progress on them, but I hate having them lie around indefinitely. I'm already working on a Blue Jean quilt and rug with lots of little hand embroidered blocks... so cross your fingers the t-shirt quilt doesn't get "lost".
There's still plenty of decluttering to do. I would like to sell off extra furniture, look into purchasing shelves for the kitchen for food storage, and I'd like to rearrange some of the rooms to make more efficient use or our space.
Savings
Savings has never been a strength of mine. Once I get a good sized sum of money, I can usually avoid spending it quickly, but as for really "putting back" money, I've never succeeded in saving much at a time. Generally, that's been due to unexpected expenses here and there that eat away at my savings before it gets very far, but to be honest that's not terrible. At least they are keeping me from further debt in that case. But ideally, I would like to save back a couple thousand dollars for emergencies, enough to buy a second car once other things are paid off, and eventually enough to buy some property and a home (nothing special, but a nice little place to call our own). I hope to buy the second car, acreage and house with cash, or at least be able to put half down on them and pay them off before any other major purchases. After that I want to put back as much into savings for retirement as possible, as well as possibly helping us start our own business.
Health
With our recent scare in September with Justin's heart attack, both of our cholesterol scores being high and the addition of our daughter to our daily lives, I'd really like to see us get into better shape. Personally, I'd like to lose about a 100 lbs or more (something I haven't gotten any headway on since September when I made the goal), and get back into trail running shape and start hiking more often. We had hoped to be able to go hiking together at least once a month, but that hasn't worked out with the recent weather and our lack of a dedicated babysitter option. Right now, we're lucky to walk outside without freezing our toes off... lol, and cold temperatures with heart problems aren't a good combination. So for now, we're in a holding pattern. Hopefully as the weather improves (crossing my fingers) we will be able to at least start walking around town more on our days off. I also want to talk to my doctor about checking out my risk for heart disease since Justin's heart attack nearly scared me to death, I'm overweight, and I have a family history. Let's just say, that I'm more cautious of my health of late, and I'd really like to avoid a surprise like we had in September.
We had hoped to take a hiking trip this spring if we lowered our cholesterol numbers (CHECK) and got in better shape (not quite there yet), so that trip's up in the air still. We had successfully hiked 8 miles back in October or November, so I guess I'm not as out of shape as I look, but I'd like to be able to do that hike in half the time and with less effort. Eventually I would like to try short trips along the Appalachian Trail.
To help our health, we've already moved to all whole grain breads, lean meats, and increased veggies. I'd like to cut back our portions more, and of course get more exercise, and I think as things progress we'll come up with more things to improve upon. I am concerned that my current working/childcare situation is creating unneeded strain both mentally and physically for both of us, though I can only fully speak for myself, and this is something that is going to have to be dealt with soon to avoid more serious health issues.
To Wrap Up
Well, that's about it for my goals review and revision. We're a little closer to being debt free. We've got a lot of work to do to get completely debt free, and to save back for our future. Our health could use a lot of work still... both with weight management and knowing where our health stands to help us avoid "surprises". We're cutting back on our stuff and trying to make more room for living and worrying less about making room for stuff. We're staying about as social as ever (neither of us are real social animals), though we may want to change things up in the future, especially if improving our health improves our energy levels. I really am going to HAVE to find a daycare/babysitting situation that doesn't have me working a slightly different schedule each week and working myself stupid all the time. I think this is having a HUGE impact on my immediate mental and physical health, so we will have to renew our search for quality, inexpensive daycare, even if for only 1-2 days a week. I would rather stay home full time with my daughter, but I've committed myself to paying off my debts, not just for me, but as an example and lesson for my children, so that they don't see me walking out on my debts and responsibilities, especially just to make life easier. There's a big difference between making like BETTER and making it easier. I want a BETTER life for me and my family. A life where our debts are paid and we aren't owned by our impulses, enslaved by our stuff, and always waiting for the lottery to give us a break. I want to teach them how to do for themselves so they don't have to wait on someone else to have the time to do it for them or to be able to afford to have someone do it for them. I don't care if they choose to NOT go to college, because if I teach them to be life long learners they'll have all they need to keep learning and be their own teacher.
As a treat for the progress we've made overall, I'm buying us new hiking shoes, and trying to work out a short vacation with my brother and parents. And that's about it. Time to take a step back, continue working on my goals and to check back again in a couple months to see where we're at.
If you've got any goals you'd like to share, either successes you've already met or things you're working toward for the future (there really isn't much in the way of failing our goals, we postpone them, but as long as we're still breathing, our goals are fluid things that can be reached or revised, but rarely failed), post them in the comments below. I wish you all a blessed life.
Most of the time I don't put a real time frame on my goals. I know what ones I would like to meet first, but beyond that, I try not to set specific dates. I find that too often life gets in the way of hard dates and that I generally feel frustrated and annoyed that I couldn't meet my goal deadline. So here's a list of my previous goals and their progress, and any revisions for the immediate future.
Debt Reduction-Credit Cards
Pay off Bank of America Card, balance about $1200.-CHECK, Paid this account off for a reduced amount of $1000 in the fall. Used a retirement loan at 4% interest to do it, but that beats 20%+ interest any day. And if something happens and I cannot repay my retirement loan, there's no late fees, it just gets reported as income to the IRS. Not ideal, but no accumulation of fees and charges to make matters worse over time.
Pay off MBNA America Card, most recent balance about $3000.-CHECK, paid this one off with my tax return this month. That leaves me CREDIT CARD FREE!!! All credit cards paid and closed! YAY!!!!!
Debt Reduction-Medical Bills
The birth of my daughter left me with quite a few medical bills, first for the OB, then the hospital for the birth, and then the NICU stay because she was a month early and need a little help along.
As of this month, the OB is paid up. YAY! One down.
I only owe about $180 for my hospital stay and the birth, which I hope to pay off in the next month of so. Yay! Almost two down.
And I have about $1400 for Jess's NICU left. I suppose I still have a ways to go there, but with the OB paid, the birth almost paid off, this should start to move more quickly.
Unfortunately, I'll have to add hospital bills for Justin's heart attack in September, about $5000. Thankfully he's still alive and kicking and feeling better overall, so I can't complain about more bills if they keep him with us longer. :)
Debt Reduction-Retirement Loans
I have a few of these from little emergencies here and there. I paid off one in the fall, but replaced it with another to pay off my Bank of American account. So no major progress there except the lowering of an interest rate (which is actually really helpful in the long run).
I've paid down another to about $200 and hope to pay it off next month unless something comes up. So there's some progress. The rest aren't a huge priority yet as I have a car loan still with a higher interest that I would like to get paid off a little faster. The goal though is to have most of these paid off by the end of 2012.
Debt Reduction-Car Loan
Well, as of this month I have just over $6000 left on my car loan. I get going back and forth on making this a priority and throwing all my extra payments into it alone (it is the higher interest rate), or paying off my retirement loans faster (still have several of this with smaller balances that would be easy to have paid off by the end of 2012). The car's maturity date is 2013, so I'm not saving nearly as much interest on it for making the bigger payments as I would have when I bought it. So I'm leaning more towards focusing on the smaller retirement loans and my savings (both of which can be liquidated for an emergency easier than my car, and would be worth more than my car in the long run). That being said, I would really like to trade in my car (a 2005 Monte Carlo-2 door nightmare) for something a little more family friendly (something with 4 doors preferably, like station wagon or maybe a van). Not sure how that's going to affect things. If I can put back a couple thousand in savings, I might be able to buy a used older model family car outright, but that's still going to leave me with added insurance costs... so I see me waiting until I've at least paid off the retirement loans or the Monte Carlo so the extra insurance payment isn't likely to destroy my debt reduction goals.
Debt Reduction-Student Loans
These are the largest chunk of my debt. These have been placed on Income Based Repayment in order to help me pay off my other debts. Income Based Repayment is a program from Federal Student Aid. It's a great help for those with Federal Students Loans who, like me, have chosen career paths that aren't as glamorous or wealthy, or those, like me, who hit on hard times and need a little help, but don't want to keep deferring their student loans constantly. Once you've been accepted (which is a simple process done mostly over the phone, with a few documents faxed or mailed in) your tax information will be automatically sent to the Federal Student Aid office so that they can determine each year what your payment will be.
Additionally, I'm hoping to stay in my current or similar job situation where I fall under the Public Employee category. By making my IBR payments on time for ten years (not missing ANY payments) I can apply for the Public Employee Loan Forgiveness program. This means, that as a state employee, teacher, federal employee, etc... you may be able to have your loans forgiven, that's right FORGIVEN, after 120 consecutive payments. By combing these two programs, I hope to have my loans taken care of in about 9 more years. The trick is, I have to be a public employee for that entire time. Not likely a problem, as I don't see myself being able to quit working before then, and I don't see myself leaving the type of public servant job that would qualify me for forgiveness later. So, it's a bit of a gamble, lower payments now, that may not meet my interest each month and thus extend my payments considerably (though they will still qualify for forgiveness after 25 years on the IBR plan, and with other payments out of the way, I can always pay more each month), or maybe get lucky and only have to pay a fraction of my student loans as a reward for public service (even easier if I joined Americorps or the Peace Corp).
Live More Simply-Embrace Frugality More
This goal is more recent. Just here in the last couple years. I've never been one for a lot of extravagance, but that doesn't mean I'm above wastefulness. :( So I've been trying to live more simply, more frugally, and more mindfully. This partly goes hand in hand with the desire to become debt free, as frugality is a GREAT way to cut costs and pay bills off faster. But in all honesty frugality and mindfulness as more than just a way to save money. By being more mindful of my purchases I can be more aware of their impact on my life, on my family, on the community, and the environment.
Ultimately, I hope that simple living will help me become more self reliant, more focused on my family than my things, more aware of how my purchases affect my local economy and the environment. Right now, I know I'm still purchasing things that are chosen more for their convenience and price than for their quality and such, a matter than falls under both necessary evil and annoyance for me. But as I repay my debts, learn to live below my means (something I think has become a foreign concept for most of America), and become more self reliant (growing some of my own food, sewing and repairing my clothes instead of just buying new ones, taking care of what I own)... I hope that I will move more toward mindful purchasing in the future.
Already, I am starting to avoid purchasing cheaper, low quality clothing, and trying to purchase one or two strong, quality items that will last me a long time and will meet many needs. I'm watching Goodwill and thrift stores more for quality used clothing that's still cheaply priced. This speaks to my desire to improve my environment my reusing and recycling clothing that people might otherwise have just thrown away.
Live More Simply-Declutter
Lately I've been looking around our space and wondering if we really NEED everything we've crammed into it. With Netflix, do we really NEED to keep a collection of hundreds of DVDs when we can just as easily stream most of them online? Probably not. Are there movies worth keeping? Sure. I will likely keep a BluRay set of the Harry Potter films, our Monty Python DVD boxed set and a few favorites that we love, but I really would like to cut our collection to 50 or less. The rest I would like to try to sell first in a yard sale, $1 a piece. Those that don't sell will either be donated to our local library, giving us continued access to them, and giving us the chance to write them off our taxes as a charitable donation. Part of me is tempted to just write them off, though a little extra cash to put back now would be nice too, and the fact that we get a return pretty much every year means we're already paying more than we need to, so a write off isn't going to be that big of a deal for us.
Same goes for books. We both have Kindles now, so for future book purchases I would like to stick with Kindle editions. As for the books we already own, I'd like to really look at them, decided on which ones we most want to keep, and start purchasing Kindle versions of them as we can. Cutting our DVD and book collections alone will create an exceptional amount of space in our rather small home. Books will likely go to the library. They just don't sell that well in yard sales and I really like the idea of sharing them with lots of people.
Clothing has already started to be purged. Things we don't wear or that no longer fit us have largely been boxed away and are awaiting a run to Goodwill. A few old band shirts of Justin's have been held back for a t-shirt quilt. The hope is that I will take the time to get this done so that Justin gets to keep his treasured shirts in a useful way instead of donating them or throwing them out. Here's me crossing my fingers that they don't just sit around the house. :) I do tend to collect "projects" from time to time. I don't mind it when I get progress on them, but I hate having them lie around indefinitely. I'm already working on a Blue Jean quilt and rug with lots of little hand embroidered blocks... so cross your fingers the t-shirt quilt doesn't get "lost".
There's still plenty of decluttering to do. I would like to sell off extra furniture, look into purchasing shelves for the kitchen for food storage, and I'd like to rearrange some of the rooms to make more efficient use or our space.
Savings
Savings has never been a strength of mine. Once I get a good sized sum of money, I can usually avoid spending it quickly, but as for really "putting back" money, I've never succeeded in saving much at a time. Generally, that's been due to unexpected expenses here and there that eat away at my savings before it gets very far, but to be honest that's not terrible. At least they are keeping me from further debt in that case. But ideally, I would like to save back a couple thousand dollars for emergencies, enough to buy a second car once other things are paid off, and eventually enough to buy some property and a home (nothing special, but a nice little place to call our own). I hope to buy the second car, acreage and house with cash, or at least be able to put half down on them and pay them off before any other major purchases. After that I want to put back as much into savings for retirement as possible, as well as possibly helping us start our own business.
Health
With our recent scare in September with Justin's heart attack, both of our cholesterol scores being high and the addition of our daughter to our daily lives, I'd really like to see us get into better shape. Personally, I'd like to lose about a 100 lbs or more (something I haven't gotten any headway on since September when I made the goal), and get back into trail running shape and start hiking more often. We had hoped to be able to go hiking together at least once a month, but that hasn't worked out with the recent weather and our lack of a dedicated babysitter option. Right now, we're lucky to walk outside without freezing our toes off... lol, and cold temperatures with heart problems aren't a good combination. So for now, we're in a holding pattern. Hopefully as the weather improves (crossing my fingers) we will be able to at least start walking around town more on our days off. I also want to talk to my doctor about checking out my risk for heart disease since Justin's heart attack nearly scared me to death, I'm overweight, and I have a family history. Let's just say, that I'm more cautious of my health of late, and I'd really like to avoid a surprise like we had in September.
We had hoped to take a hiking trip this spring if we lowered our cholesterol numbers (CHECK) and got in better shape (not quite there yet), so that trip's up in the air still. We had successfully hiked 8 miles back in October or November, so I guess I'm not as out of shape as I look, but I'd like to be able to do that hike in half the time and with less effort. Eventually I would like to try short trips along the Appalachian Trail.
To help our health, we've already moved to all whole grain breads, lean meats, and increased veggies. I'd like to cut back our portions more, and of course get more exercise, and I think as things progress we'll come up with more things to improve upon. I am concerned that my current working/childcare situation is creating unneeded strain both mentally and physically for both of us, though I can only fully speak for myself, and this is something that is going to have to be dealt with soon to avoid more serious health issues.
To Wrap Up
Well, that's about it for my goals review and revision. We're a little closer to being debt free. We've got a lot of work to do to get completely debt free, and to save back for our future. Our health could use a lot of work still... both with weight management and knowing where our health stands to help us avoid "surprises". We're cutting back on our stuff and trying to make more room for living and worrying less about making room for stuff. We're staying about as social as ever (neither of us are real social animals), though we may want to change things up in the future, especially if improving our health improves our energy levels. I really am going to HAVE to find a daycare/babysitting situation that doesn't have me working a slightly different schedule each week and working myself stupid all the time. I think this is having a HUGE impact on my immediate mental and physical health, so we will have to renew our search for quality, inexpensive daycare, even if for only 1-2 days a week. I would rather stay home full time with my daughter, but I've committed myself to paying off my debts, not just for me, but as an example and lesson for my children, so that they don't see me walking out on my debts and responsibilities, especially just to make life easier. There's a big difference between making like BETTER and making it easier. I want a BETTER life for me and my family. A life where our debts are paid and we aren't owned by our impulses, enslaved by our stuff, and always waiting for the lottery to give us a break. I want to teach them how to do for themselves so they don't have to wait on someone else to have the time to do it for them or to be able to afford to have someone do it for them. I don't care if they choose to NOT go to college, because if I teach them to be life long learners they'll have all they need to keep learning and be their own teacher.
As a treat for the progress we've made overall, I'm buying us new hiking shoes, and trying to work out a short vacation with my brother and parents. And that's about it. Time to take a step back, continue working on my goals and to check back again in a couple months to see where we're at.
If you've got any goals you'd like to share, either successes you've already met or things you're working toward for the future (there really isn't much in the way of failing our goals, we postpone them, but as long as we're still breathing, our goals are fluid things that can be reached or revised, but rarely failed), post them in the comments below. I wish you all a blessed life.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Happy Birthday to me... I get to downsize!
With my thirty third birthday coming up, my wonderful and sweet Justin decided to get me the most wonderful gift. It's even in keeping with my desire to downsize our possessions funny enough. :) A Kindle. We had discussed possibly getting Kindles for ourselves for some time and after Christmas, Justin took his Christmas gift money and purchased his own Kindle with 3G. After checking it out, I admitted I would kind of like to get one, though without the 3G as I really don't need to purchase and download books while out of WiFi range. I had even more or less decided to purchase my own after tax returns came in. Anyhow, my honey went ahead and bought me my very own about a week ago. Yay! Now comes the fun of slowly replacing our "must have" books with Kindle/ebook editions and selling off or possibly donating our paperbacks and hardbacks. Each Kindle can hold up to 3500 books, a huge space savings for us in our rather cluttered 1000 sq foot home (give or take). We had already gone through and brutally cut back our collection, giving away about about a hundred titles, mostly paperback fiction, to our library's book swap cart, and donating a few of my old college texts to the library in the hopes of helping future students out in their research. Now, as spring approaches, my daughter starts walking about the house, and our limited space begins to feel all that much more limited, I think a further purge will be coming. Some titles may just be put back in boxes for the moment, books more sentimental to us... but more than a few can be passed on to new homes I think.
With the book purge, I want to further our DVD purging as well. Since we subscribed to Netflix and can now stream the majority of movies we want to watch, our DVD collection has become more dust collector than entertainment. Again, there are the few movies, my Harry Potter collection comes to mind, that I would prefer to keep a physical copy of, but many, if not most, could be sold off to free both shelf and floor space (getting rid of the extra shelving would be a wonderful bonus!).
So happy birthday to me, I get to clear out space in my crowded house and give myself and my family some much needed breathing room.
With the book purge, I want to further our DVD purging as well. Since we subscribed to Netflix and can now stream the majority of movies we want to watch, our DVD collection has become more dust collector than entertainment. Again, there are the few movies, my Harry Potter collection comes to mind, that I would prefer to keep a physical copy of, but many, if not most, could be sold off to free both shelf and floor space (getting rid of the extra shelving would be a wonderful bonus!).
So happy birthday to me, I get to clear out space in my crowded house and give myself and my family some much needed breathing room.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Piecing together memories...
For about two years now, I've been saving our old tired and worn out jeans in the hope that I could eventually reuse them... well, I'm finally doing that. I'm currently cutting up the old jeans into 6 inch squares, many of which I've started to embroider designs on. With a stack almost 10 inches high, and about 15-20 embroidered squares, I'm seeing the beginnings of a patchwork quilt or maybe even a rug/play mat for my daughter. I have been thoroughly enjoying my embroidery, though that's not unusual... it's something I've taken up since my Grandma Erma Lee passed away a few years ago now as a way of remembering her. She and my Granny Jessie, both passed on now, were avid quilters and did many quilts with embroidered designs that they lovingly hand stitched... now I'm helping to carry on the tradition and the memories I have of them to my children. Hopefully soon I will be able to take a couple pictures and add them here for all to see. All the embroidery has even got me considering to do genealogy blocks as well... not sure yet how best to organize something like that, but I think a quilt with our family history embroidered on it, even just the names and dates of family members... I think that would be something absolutely wonderful to make. Perhaps making it with the denim squares would help to make it last longer as well. Anyway, I will try to start adding pics of my embroidery here soon. And if I'm stuck here at work much longer tonight, I may just ask my honey to bring me some dinner and my embroidery box so I have a chance to work on some squares.
Ah, here are a couple pics of some of the embroidered blocks I've done so far. They are all pretty much free hand designs. I've used some buttons as well (my daughter loves to play with buttons and the like... and chew them, hence the exceptionally large ones) and a cute patch I've had for ages. I've started a couple more and may add a bit more to some of these still. As work progresses I will try to do an update with new pics. Anyhow, enjoy. Criticisms and suggestions welcome.
Ah, here are a couple pics of some of the embroidered blocks I've done so far. They are all pretty much free hand designs. I've used some buttons as well (my daughter loves to play with buttons and the like... and chew them, hence the exceptionally large ones) and a cute patch I've had for ages. I've started a couple more and may add a bit more to some of these still. As work progresses I will try to do an update with new pics. Anyhow, enjoy. Criticisms and suggestions welcome.
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| Butterfly patch and huge buttons. Might look for another butterfly patch to add... just feels like there should be more here. |
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| A funky moon that may get a little added to it later. |
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| One of my favorites... part moon, part dream catcher almost. |
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| Our little sea turtle, because turtles are just too cute. |
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| A patch made on a separate piece of denim and sewn on with a little fringe cut that will fray in the wash. |
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| Dragonfly button and funky leaves. |
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| Paisley!!! |
Mobile butchers... helping to make local meat more affordable
Just read an interesting article from Mother Earth News (an awesome website focused of helping people homestead and become more self sufficient). Anyhow the article "Demand for Local Meat Brings the Butcher to the Farm" talks of how some small butchers have started to mobilize themselves in order to stay in business and help meat the demands for local meat. I think this idea is BRILLIANT! I remember the days of living on the farm, lovingly raising our livestock and then having to traumatize them trying to get them on the trailer to take them to the butcher. Most livestock like the open spaces, and they inherently aren't of much a mind to leave those spaces for cramped smelly trailers... and they certainly aren't fans of being in moving vehicles... ok, maybe there are a few out there, but not many. :) Anyhow, the idea of being able to call in a mobile butcher to come right to the farm, fully process our livestock to neatly packaged meat, all without herding everything into cages or trailers... that is so much easier, and likely CHEAPER. Hauling animals anywhere is not a cheap undertaking. First, there's the expense of having the equipment to haul the animals... a good sized trailer (couple thousand at least), vehicle capable of moving the trailer (think Ford F350 or similar, $28,000+ new), gas/diesel for the trip (averaging nearly $4+/gal, this adds up fast), processing fees by the butcher (varies, and I've not priced recently)... the list goes on. With all that expense, no wonder a lot of local meat prices are higher than your typical Walmart meats. Have a look at the article and I will try to look up some mobile butchers to list here. Perhaps there's one near your farm. Let us know if you tried this service and what you thought about it.
Also for those interested in the USDA requirements for Mobile Butchering Units, have a look here at the compliance guidelines. It will require Adobe Acrobat to read.
Mobile butchers as found on Google... most didn't have much info, so call your local butcher and ask. Perhaps enough interest in a mobile unit in your area would convince them to try it if they haven't already.
Thrush Processing LLC-AZ Pricing varies by weight and distance, but they do estimates over the phone. Also, reportedly family friendly and glad to let you watch the entire process. They process livestock and game meats and require an inspection of your animals for butcher to prove ownership by the AZ Dept of Agriculture.
Stockham's Mobile Butchering-ID No website listed for this one, but we do have an address and phone number. 150 Colorado Street, Gooding, ID 83330-1059 Phone: (208) 934-4028
Butcher's by state, not necessarily mobile (I may add more to this list later, these are mostly just outside my area)
MD
Cracked Cork Llc
301-791-2882 8 E MAPLE ST
FUNKSTOWN, MD 21734
PA
Cessna's Butcher Shop
814-847-2749 3327 MAIN RD
BEDFORD, PA 15522-3916
Guyer Ed Custom Butchering
717-532-8038 10125 MOUNTAIN RD
ORRSTOWN, PA 17244-9413
Landis Butchering
717-369-4211 2417 SHIELDS RD
CHAMBERSBURG, PA 17202-9138
Mellott's Butcher Shop
717-328-2232 7826 CHARLESTOWN RD
MERCERSBURG, PA 17236-9752
Miller Meats
717-375-2344 250 ALLEMAN RD
CHAMBERSBURG, PA 17202-7236
Rosenberry's Abattoir Inc
717-264-8255 1711 GABLER RD
CHAMBERSBURG, PA 17201-9566
Starliper's Custom Butchering
717-328-5125 13787 BUCHANAN TRL W
MERCERSBURG, PA 17236-9451
WV
Nelson's Meat Processing LLC
Also for those interested in the USDA requirements for Mobile Butchering Units, have a look here at the compliance guidelines. It will require Adobe Acrobat to read.
Mobile butchers as found on Google... most didn't have much info, so call your local butcher and ask. Perhaps enough interest in a mobile unit in your area would convince them to try it if they haven't already.
Thrush Processing LLC-AZ Pricing varies by weight and distance, but they do estimates over the phone. Also, reportedly family friendly and glad to let you watch the entire process. They process livestock and game meats and require an inspection of your animals for butcher to prove ownership by the AZ Dept of Agriculture.
Stockham's Mobile Butchering-ID No website listed for this one, but we do have an address and phone number. 150 Colorado Street, Gooding, ID 83330-1059 Phone: (208) 934-4028
Butcher's by state, not necessarily mobile (I may add more to this list later, these are mostly just outside my area)
MD
Cracked Cork Llc
301-791-2882 8 E MAPLE ST
FUNKSTOWN, MD 21734
PA
Cessna's Butcher Shop
814-847-2749 3327 MAIN RD
BEDFORD, PA 15522-3916
Guyer Ed Custom Butchering
717-532-8038 10125 MOUNTAIN RD
ORRSTOWN, PA 17244-9413
Landis Butchering
717-369-4211 2417 SHIELDS RD
CHAMBERSBURG, PA 17202-9138
Mellott's Butcher Shop
717-328-2232 7826 CHARLESTOWN RD
MERCERSBURG, PA 17236-9752
Miller Meats
717-375-2344 250 ALLEMAN RD
CHAMBERSBURG, PA 17202-7236
Rosenberry's Abattoir Inc
717-264-8255 1711 GABLER RD
CHAMBERSBURG, PA 17201-9566
Starliper's Custom Butchering
717-328-5125 13787 BUCHANAN TRL W
MERCERSBURG, PA 17236-9451
WV
Nelson's Meat Processing LLC
2561 Yates Crossing Rd
Milton WV 25541 Primary: 304 743-5400
VA
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Goodbye uncle Allen...
Late last night I got the news that my uncle Allen, who had spend quite a long stretch fighting cancer, had lost his fight. Uncle Allen was an interesting part of my family. His wife, my aunt Doris, was from a rather "country" farm family, where you can imagine her brothers hog tying someone for hurting their sister, all while having a laugh and a beer in their soiled blue jeans and button up jean shirts. :) Allen, well... he always struck me as the hippy of the family, and yet he was always right there beside us when we worked the tobacco fields. He was always lighthearted, silly and playful. I remember his near constant smile... a big goofy grin that couldn't help but his eyes and leave you with the sneaking suspicion that he might have just come up with or pulled some devious prank. :) I remember going for a drive in the convertible loaner that my aunt Darlene had one Christmas Eve... Uncle Allen, my cousins Jamie and Stephie... the snow falling and Allen talking us into dropping the top down.
Fare thee well uncle Allen, may you find rest and peace, may your smile live on in our hearts forever. You will be missed by many.
Fare thee well uncle Allen, may you find rest and peace, may your smile live on in our hearts forever. You will be missed by many.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Struggling through... and finally seeing a little progress
Do you ever have days, weeks and months even, where it feels like you're not so much walking through your day as much as plodding through vast amounts of mud trying to reach your goals? You know the days where you find yourself exhausted just thinking about your goals, let alone actually working toward them. Over the last couple months I've been in the mud flats so to speak, struggling to keep the strength to keep moving forward on my goals... goals to make my life simpler, to get my debts paid and gone, to get my home more organized, and so on. Thankfully despite having to drag myself through the mud of doubts and obstacles, I'm making progress. In a month I will pay off my LAST credit card. Completely paid and gone. And trust me, I've no plans to ever bother with that scam again. Over the last 10-15 years, I've come to the conclusion that the credit industry is one of the worst industries in our country. Credit has become so easy to get, that hundreds of thousands of young people are starting their colleges careers with more and more debt. College itself isn't cheap, and without credit, it's not accessible by the majority of American youth, but to add credit card debt with it's ridiculously high interest rates on top of college loans... well, it's no wonder our economy is having issues.
Anyhow, it was this realization (some ten years ago... oh has it really been that long), that got me to first set the goal of getting myself out of debt. I, like the rest of the herd, started college and picked up a handful of easy to get credit cards. Visa, Mastercard, Sears, Lane Bryant, Walmart, Value City, Dell... so many little pieces of plastic and that little tiny minimum payment... recipe for disaster 99% of the time. Anyhow, since I first set on the goal of becoming debt free I've paid off around $15,000 in credit debt. This next payment (which will include a large portion of my tax return, again) will pay off the last credit card I have. It's been a slow process, filled with struggles between low student incomes, having grocery money, keeping up utilities and all the little and big disasters that make life "interesting".
So I'm happy to hit this milestone. It leaves me with my car to pay off next... not too bad, a couple of retirement loans with wonderfully low interest rates, and my student loans... a mountain that has been chipped at as best I can while trying to get rid of the nastier high interest debts. Here's to trudging forward through the mud, hoping for a few sections of easy effort from time to time, and eventually meeting my goals one at a time.
Anyhow, it was this realization (some ten years ago... oh has it really been that long), that got me to first set the goal of getting myself out of debt. I, like the rest of the herd, started college and picked up a handful of easy to get credit cards. Visa, Mastercard, Sears, Lane Bryant, Walmart, Value City, Dell... so many little pieces of plastic and that little tiny minimum payment... recipe for disaster 99% of the time. Anyhow, since I first set on the goal of becoming debt free I've paid off around $15,000 in credit debt. This next payment (which will include a large portion of my tax return, again) will pay off the last credit card I have. It's been a slow process, filled with struggles between low student incomes, having grocery money, keeping up utilities and all the little and big disasters that make life "interesting".
So I'm happy to hit this milestone. It leaves me with my car to pay off next... not too bad, a couple of retirement loans with wonderfully low interest rates, and my student loans... a mountain that has been chipped at as best I can while trying to get rid of the nastier high interest debts. Here's to trudging forward through the mud, hoping for a few sections of easy effort from time to time, and eventually meeting my goals one at a time.
Looking at ways to bring 4H to the city...
I don't know if anyone reading this was a 4Her, but as a 4H alum in WV, I've noticed that the majority of our clubs are rural and livestock centered (rabbits, steers, goats, chickens, pigs). Anyhow, these past 10 years I've been a member of the urban community. I live in town, have a small yard, and a smaller home... and aside from the possibility of a couple chickens or rabbits, livestock just isn't a real option for us. So I've been trying to look into ways of bringing some of the agricultural fun I remember from my farm days and years of 4H into my urban home and family.
Looking back at the projects I participated in of old... there are some that work just fine in town (sewing, canning, cooking), and others that either aren't feasible or have fallen out of favor (livestock, especially pigs and steers, and tobacco growing... yeah, I was a tobacco farmer/non-user, helping to feed the nicotine addicts out there). We're currently members of a rural club, which is great and all, but I find myself wanting to put more and more effort into reaching the kids in my neighborhood. The kids my son goes to school with, who've never seen a farm or don't really know much about gardening. The teens who are trying to avoid the dealers and need safe, fun activities where they are, not 20 minutes outside of town. I've been thinking about how I can get our family more involved in our immediate community.
Currently I've been bouncing ideas off our county extension agent... things like all ages Karaoke Nights or concerts with local talent, community gardening projects where club members start a school garden or maybe a small veggie plot in a park (maybe even have the kids take their produce to the Farmers Market to sell), sewing and crafting classes to teach youth how to make the most of limited means. Anyhow, I'm looking for ideas on how to make 4H more relevant to city youth. For country folk, the livestock and gardening all make sense because a lot of rural families have the space and are often already doing some of these things, but for those (country and city) youth with limited space and often limited income, we need to be finding ways to bring the principles behind 4H to them through activities they can get interested in. So among my efforts to simplify my own life and work towards creating more self sufficiency in my family, I am going to be working on ways to adapt and promote 4H for the youth nearest me. And if anyone has an idea to share, please feel free to post your suggestions... the more ideas flowing the better.
Looking back at the projects I participated in of old... there are some that work just fine in town (sewing, canning, cooking), and others that either aren't feasible or have fallen out of favor (livestock, especially pigs and steers, and tobacco growing... yeah, I was a tobacco farmer/non-user, helping to feed the nicotine addicts out there). We're currently members of a rural club, which is great and all, but I find myself wanting to put more and more effort into reaching the kids in my neighborhood. The kids my son goes to school with, who've never seen a farm or don't really know much about gardening. The teens who are trying to avoid the dealers and need safe, fun activities where they are, not 20 minutes outside of town. I've been thinking about how I can get our family more involved in our immediate community.
Currently I've been bouncing ideas off our county extension agent... things like all ages Karaoke Nights or concerts with local talent, community gardening projects where club members start a school garden or maybe a small veggie plot in a park (maybe even have the kids take their produce to the Farmers Market to sell), sewing and crafting classes to teach youth how to make the most of limited means. Anyhow, I'm looking for ideas on how to make 4H more relevant to city youth. For country folk, the livestock and gardening all make sense because a lot of rural families have the space and are often already doing some of these things, but for those (country and city) youth with limited space and often limited income, we need to be finding ways to bring the principles behind 4H to them through activities they can get interested in. So among my efforts to simplify my own life and work towards creating more self sufficiency in my family, I am going to be working on ways to adapt and promote 4H for the youth nearest me. And if anyone has an idea to share, please feel free to post your suggestions... the more ideas flowing the better.
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