Oh my, holy goodness.

*I started writing this about 2 weeks ago, only to finally finish it now. 

We are living in a small house. The house belonged to my husband's maternal grandmother, she passed away a few years back. The house is amazing, quaint, 1920's, random add-ons over the years, we actually have a hard time telling what is the "original" house and what has been added on. Our bathroom was added on, hmmmm, guess they didn't have bathrooms in the 1920's. :) Well we have gas and electricity here, in the last county we lived in we just had electricity. We bought an electric clothes dryer a while back, while still living in Crescent City. The house heater is gas, it is a wall heater that does not allow heat to reach the bathroom or the kids bedroom, so we have an electric heater in the kids bedroom. We have two refrigerators running, one very old (has an actual ice-box) small (maybe 8-10 cubic feet) and then our not huge (maybe 18ish cubic feet) one that is in our laundry room. Ok then we have lights, a microwave, a small heater in the bathroom we use when we take a shower (it is like an ice box in there), a stove, a hot water heater, and on and on. But mind you we live in a house that is roughly 1000 sq feet. Do you want to guess how much our gas/electric bill was this month? Come on guess!

FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS! Are you totally joking me. That is insane.

Ok so we have uncovered some useful information. Our so-called lighting in the living room is a chandelier, it has 12 bulbs that have 40watts in each of them, so burning 480watts are burning when it is on. I got out my tape, that chandelier is not longer in use, HAHA! And we found out from my in-laws that when the house was completely vacant there was a gas/electric bill of around $70 each month. It has to be that old fridge. Cute-old-energy-sucking fridge you are UNPLUGGED! Take that!

We are being extra, extra mindful of what lights we have on, making sure we turn them off when we leave the room, unplugging items that are not in use as much as possible  and bundling up before putting the heater on.

Will our efforts be rewarded?  Will our bill take a dramatic dive?  One can only hope (and pray, HARD).

Eliminating Debt

This year we are really tackling our debt.  Honestly we don't have that much, especially in comparison to the national average, which is about $9900 in credit card debt, plus car payments and mortgages.  We have no where near $9900 in credit card debt, but if you add in our car loan we are just $10,000.  We have made a debt pay-off plan with the help of Dave Ramsey, and we will be completely debt free in April of 2009.  The target date of April 2009 is very easily attained and we hope to be debt free by the end of the year, we are praying for Gods will in this.

We are doing a few things to help pay-off our debt:  using the cash/envelope system for most purchases, using the Dave Ramsey debt-snowball,  COMPACTING, budgeting our money before we spend it and using some of our tax return to help pay down the debt.

So far so good.  We are paying off a few little debts this month, and old dentist bill, a garbage company bill that I got tired of fighting, along with our closing cable bill from our last house (we just received it, WEIRD) .

As you noticed, I said nothing about a mortgage, well that is because we do not own our home.  We live in the home that my mother-in-law grew up in.  Our hopes and dreams are to add on and remodel.  I am not sure it is possible, but I dream of being able to pay cash for the remodel/add-on.  Right now any big changes to the house are on the back burner, it will definitely have to be in Gods timing.

Tackle it Tuesday

My DH is gone again. We are newly self-employed, so we really can't say no to really good and good paying sub-contracting work. Even if it is 2 hours away. So prayers for me again this week please :)

As a surprise to Nick I am going to clear off all of my files of photos and organize other computer files that have just gotten out of control. (He has been bugging me for quite some time to take care of this.)

Anyone know if I can just use regular CD-R for my photos or do I need some fancy-smancy CD?

My fear and The Megas

About 6 years ago I had a huge, I mean huge fear. I feared one day I would loose my best-guy-friend to stardom. See at the time he was living in Southern California, going to school at Cal State, Long Beach, making movies, playing in bands and being beautiful. One night I told him (I actually think I was crying), that I was so afraid that one day he would be famous and he would forget about me. That we might pass on the streets and not even know each other. I couldn't stand the thought of that and thankfully nor could he. See, our lives had gone different directions, he was working on becoming famous in LA and I had gotten married and was having a baby. Honestly our lives couldn't have been more different.

There is a happy ending to this story! The Megas have released their first album and are on their way to becoming famous and Eric and I are still friends. We still live pretty different lives, but we get to talk (not as much as I would like) and we are still friends. He hasn't forgotten about me, well not yet anyway. So here is my plug for The Megas. Check them out, support them, for all of you Humboldt folk, LOVE them so they have to come here and play.

The Megas MySpace

 Buy The Megas Album

My favorite gift.

The day after Christmas my best friend Kristy, her husband Greg and their two boys Luke and Peter came to stay with us.  The visit was a little crazy, good crazy, but how could it not have been, we had 10 people staying in our one and a half bedroom, one bathroom, 1000sq ft house.  There were people sleeping everywhere.  I will do anything to spend time with the Campbell's and would have them back in a second.

Kristy and I have amazingly odd connections.  (We think they are normal, they are odd to other people, hehe.)  She lives four hours from me, yet I know what she does each day of the week and if she isn't home I can most likely tell you where she is.  We talk daily and not just once or twice, I would say an average of five to seven times a day.  Usually they are not long talks, but quick check-ins, had a minute in the car, I just had to tell you something, calls.  Anyway, moving on.  I was so excited to give Kristy her Christmas gift, it was so perfect for her, I had bought it atleast a month prior to Christmas and had even considered buying it for myself it was so perfect.  So they were here and it was time to exchange gifts, I handed her the gift and she handed me mine.  I held mine, it felt, well oddly familiar.  I began to open, she began to open, we started laughing, almost to the point of crying.  We had gotten eachother the same gift.

I am having so much fun cooking and baking things out of this cookbook.  We are very healthy eaters, but this cookbook allows you to make foods even healthier with added fruits and vegetables (the greatest part the kids don't even know it).  Applesauce Muffins w/Butternut Squash, Pancakes w/Sweet Potatoes, Mac and Cheese w/ Cauliflower and many, ,many more.

Happy Birthday Téadora!

Téadora you have forever changed our life.  You came into this world a tiny little girl, a few weeks earlier than we expected.  And each day since then we have thanked the Lord for bringing you to us.  We love you!

Two years ago, with 11 minutes to spare we arrived at the hospital. There was exactly 11 minutes from the time we pulled into the parking spot to the time I lifted her onto my chest.  Those 11 minutes were jam packed with adventure.  I was thrown a gown and told to put it on.  I said no and took off my pants.  She was 3 1/2 weeks early so I had yet to "pre-register" meaning I was hand a kagillion pieces of paper to read and sign.  I set them on the side table.  I was having my 2nd VBAC, so there was a nurse trying oh-so-hard to get an IV put in me, she had no luck.  However the worst was that one nurse did not believe me that the baby was actually coming, so she decided to check and see how far dilated I was.  I wanted to laugh, I wanted to scream, but I nicely said, you don't need to "check" she is coming out.  She proceeded to check me, she prepared, started in and yelled, GET THE DOCTOR, we have a head.  HAHA, I thought, I was right.  Crazy a woman right about her own body.  But the best was yet to come.  Dr. Anderson (the same Dr.Anderson that delivered my husband) came waltzing into the room.  "Good thing you called on your way here, I was in the parking lot going home to take a shower."  Like I care, I am having a baby, I thought.  He put on his gloves and went to take his position, honestly I never wanted a man in sitting there staring at me, but I had no choice he was the only one there.  (But according to him I should be ecstatic that the nurses caught him in the parking lot.)  I was then told that she was coming out with her face up (posterior), which explained my back labor.  Next thing I know I see a HUGE needle.  "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?", I yelled.  He calmly answered, "you are going to need an episiotomy, so I am numbing you." " Do-not-cut-me, I don't care if I tear."  Next thing I know I am pulling my little girl up onto my chest.  She was wonderful and tiny, a whopping 6lbs 1oz and 19 1/2 inches long.  (For what it is worth, the doctor did end up telling me that I made a good call about not wanting an episiotomy.)

Well onto what you all have been waiting for the finished kitchen!

The sink was cut out.  We use a stainless steel bowl for the sink.

 

We cut a dowel rod that we had in the garage to make the faucet.  We used the rest of the dowel rod for the to hang the curtain (see below).

 The curtain went with her crib bedding set, I had to hem it (in 1/2).

Here is an up close of the curtain and the shelf inside.

 

And here is the finished product with her pots/pans and utensils set out.  The pots/pans set was purchased prior to Christmas.

So how did we do?  Do you like it?  We found everything in our home/garage with the exception of the pot/pans and the knobs for the sink and burners.

I don't want to.

Part of my COMPACT agreement (to myself) was that I could still participate in my gymbucks redemption.  See in November and December I earned myself $75 in gymbucks at Gymboree.  I told myself that I would limit myself to using $25 or $50 worth and giveaway or sell the remaining gymbuck(s).  Well I had my cart all ready tonight, I had already talked myself down to only using $25 worth of gymbucks, which basically meant I was getting $51.95 worth of stuff for $26.95, plus shipping and tax.  I closed the browser.  I don't want to.  I don't want to buy those clothes.  Are they a good deal, YES!  When I add up the regular prices of the items it comes to $120.50 and I would be getting them for $26.95.  As Kristy would say, they are basically paying me to take them, right!!  But it is the principal of the matter.  Do I want the clothes, yes, do I need the clothes NO.  Who cares what a great deal it is.  I am not buying the kids new clothes this year and I am sticking to that.  YAY ME!

A sneak peak.

A few posts ago I made mention of trying to find items in my home/garage that could be put together to make a play kitchen for Téadora's 2nd birthday (which by the way is on Thursday). Well her kitchen is almost finished. God truly blessed us through this adventure. It really came together quite easily. I was prepared with ideas of kitchens that I liked, see this, this and this (made by my friend Brynna and her husband Luke).

So the finished product will not be revealed until Thursday, January 17th, but here is a sneak peak.

We started out with a cheap-o computer desk from WalMart.

It was sitting in our garage taking up space :)

The top was removed.

And then sawed down to a lower height.

Here it is with the top removed and sawed down.

Check back on Thursday to see the rest of the project and the FINISHED PRODUCT!

On another sort of related note: how does your family do birthdays? Do the kids have "parties" every year? Or some years is it just immediate family for cake and ice cream? As your children get older will you change the way you handle birthdays? Will they ever have "friend only" parties? I would love to hear your responses.

Breadmaking

One of my goals of our version of compacting was to bake bread weekly. Well I made bread on the 11th of January, so technically not in the first 7 days of January, but it was in the first FULL week of the month :) Also, I decided to get better at planning when I was going to make bread, so a week or two wouldn't go by with my continually saying "oh, I can't do bread today, we are too busy". I went through the next two weeks and picked a day (or two) that would be available for baking bread. Then I wrote it in my handy-dandy planner, Family.Time.Mine. This planner has been the best thing for me. A little over a year ago my sister (AKA "E") brought it home for me, saying that she saw it and it just looked like me, she was right. I bought a new one a few months ago. I love it.

Ok, back to the bread making. I am completely old-fashioned when it comes to breadmaking. I have no fancy gadget, no Bosch or Kitchen-Aid. My supplies were literally, a stainless steel bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a wooden spoon, 2 bread pans, my countertop (hehe) and the ingredients for the bread. Start to finish was about 3 1/2 hours, most of that was spent letting the bread rise and letting it bake.

Everyone in the family enjoyed the homemade bread, in about 12 hours the first loaf was GONE. Nick was full of compliments when he came home from work to a home smelling of freshly baked bread. I did fall a little behind on laundry on Friday, but hey I made two loaves of bread.

The dough, rising.

Obviously I need a little help in splitting the dough into two equal parts ;)

Warm, homemade bread, plus butter = very happy children

The Business of Being Born

Birth: it’s a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to examine and question the way American women have babies.

The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.

Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?

Make sure you check out The Business of Being Born. I would love, love, love to host a community screening of this movie. But where? And I might make some enemies in the local OB's offices :)

Snow!

Life's tough.

When the going gets tough, oh wait what is the rest of that saying, well anyway.  Life is tough.  I feel this is one of those times in my life that I will look back and say, Thank God I am not there anymore.  But hey, I am here right now, and man it is not fun.  They say, "pray about it", "give it to the Lord".  I am thinking that if so many Christians say those comments, it must mean that I am in the minority when I say, IT IS NOT THAT EASY!  I wish it were, I want to pray about every little aspect of my life, give my life ONE HUNDRED PERCENT to the Lord, but for me the OCD-control-freak that I am, I just cannot do that.  I know the Lord is standing right next to me through all of this, I know he wants nothing but the best for me, He is my one true Father, I know, I know, I know.  But when jobs aren't panning out, money is tighter-than-tight, children are going through life-altering events, husbands and wives aren't seeing eye to eye, there isn't enough time in the day, is it just me or is it hard to pray and give it to the Lord?

What shall I do?

January 4, 2008

So far compacting hasn't been as hard as I anticipated. However I look ahead to birthdays, baby showers (everyone I know is pregnant, hehe), anniversaries, trips out of town, Christmas and I am forced to make some decisions on how to handle these situations. I figure if I think about it now, when the time comes it won't be as hard to stick to an already made plan, instead of heading out to the mall.

Birthdays: gifts=homemade or buy used, party supplies=as much as possible use stuff we already have, none/limited paper products, make decorations, use internet to get ideas/print decorations, cards=homemade

Trips out of town: limit eating out, buying trinkets, really think about purchases. Ok I am not going to even attempt

Christmas. But I have one idea...instead of giving gifts to extended family, we adopt a child or buy an animal or something along those lines, possibly we adopt a local family and give them "Christmas".
Taken from "THE RED NOTEBOOK"

New Year but NO NEW!

We are doing it. Crazy huh!?! We are diving into our version of "The Compact". Some might be exclaiming, "not you guys", YES US, others might be cheering us on, THANK YOU, and yet most of you are probably saying "what the heck is a compact?" Well over the next months I will probably be in each one of your shoes. I am going to blog some of our journeys in compacting here, however most of the documenting is going to be done in a spiral bound red notebook. I am going old-school, I am going to hand write journal entries, can you believe it.

To get me to where I am it has been a long road.

I am a struggling Target, WalMart, $Store addict, I like nice clothes and things, I always am wanting more, I waste money on eating out and drinking "glamorous" coffee, I like the readily accessibility of new, I am a sucker for sales, clearance and anything that seems like a GREAT deal, even if I don't need it and sometimes I don't even want it.

We are a family of 6 living in a 1 1/2 bedroom, less than 1000 square foot house, with two cats and soon a puppy. We have been decluttering for over a year and simplifying and organizing throughout that time. We are earthy (some say). We cloth diaper, use cloth wipes, eat mainly vegetarian, we are about 50% organic at this point, we use natural cleaning products, recycle, we don't vaccinate, by kids breastfeed for a long time, I love tie dye and by goly I rarely shave my legs :)

Well anyway, I wanted to give you a little background on us. Moving on...

December 29, 2007

I am on a journey of less spending, less consuming, more happiness, no debt, figuring out what *I* really need, what we (our family) really needs.

I have some thoughts about what "COMPACTING" would look like to me.

*One time per month trip to Target and only for necessities

*No brand new clothes for kids until 2009

*Limit brand new clothing for Nick and I

*REALLY THINK ABOUT PURCHASES

*Do not use credit

*Buy local as much as possible

*Bake bread once a week

*Declutter 2008 things in 2008

EXCEPTIONS

*Aidan's uniform clothes (I will try to first buy used)

*Underwear, socks, undershirts, shoes

*New car seats for Aidan and Coda

*Things that will help us to become more self-sufficient (not sure if that is the right word), such as cloth diapers, seeds, potting soil, etc for planting vegetables.

*Items needed to run our business

January 1, 2007

So far today I wanted to buy a new magazine "Mothering" (maybe Kristy could send me her copy when she is done with it), I wanted to buy a new book, I am going to check out the used bookstores.

Téadora's birthday is in 16 days. We really wanted to make her a play kitchen for her birthday. So today/tonight I am going to search in the house and garage for items that could be used. I wish myself luck.
Taken from "The Red Notebook"