Better late then never, but I had to give a shout-out to the Anniversary of my Blog. Reading back one year ago on October 22, 2010, so many things have changed! Foremost, I don't even live in Del Rio, Texas any more, my son is now 16 months old and I have a husband who is currently in Afghanistan. Also, as an honorable mention, we no longer have a mouse sharing our residence anymore ;-) He was a friendly little guy, but he had to go.
Blogging has been an interesting outlet for me to declutter my brain. I am not sure that anybody reads my posts, but I never intended it to be extra-public. I mostly have just wanted to chronicle events in my life and write about things that are interesting to me. I don't even think i am a good writer, but my husband enjoys reading my voice, so if anything, Ill continue to write something for him to read and me to look back on. I always intended to have one of those neat little leather bound journals to write in daily or whatever, but I never do. I have even neglected my blog during the last 5 months and am now recalling past events, stories, and posts that I have been wanting to write about. So my next years blog resolution will be to visit more often and hopefully make improvements on my page. I still cant figure out how to personalize my page! How do you do it?
If you are one of my 'followers' I hope that you continue to be interested, entertained, inspired, and even drop me a comment now and again so I know you are out there.
So cheers to me and til next year...
Peace, Love and Young at Heart
<3 <3 <3
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Saying Goodbye is the Hardest Thing to Do...
Wow, how time flies... It has been nearly 6 months since my last blog- guess i'm a negligent writer, aye?
In my defense, we have been real busy in these parts... Here is a recap (actually can I recap something, that I didn't even mention?) Let me rephrase, here is a story about what a wife and small child do to keep busy while a husband goes away for a deployment.
May 2011::
On May 9, 2011, Bryan went away for his first 'short-tour" deployment to Bagrame AFB in Afgahnistan. The day was a very emotional and gut-wrenching day as I drove Bryan to the airport, gave him one last long kiss and hugg, and said goodbye to the man I love for 6 months. Looking back, May is a fog in my mind. It was a time of adjustment, tears, anger and sadness. Finn and I spent alost every day at Karyl and Phils while we were getting settled into the 'casa de Chrystal and Finn'. Our little shoebox apartment just didnt feel like home away from 100 degree days in Texas, Friends (ie. a social life), the dogs and cat, and most of all the Daddy and Husband we loved and missed so dearly. I dove right into developing a routine and normal life. I met some amazing and simpathetic women through Redeemers Fellowship Church- a Moms Group, and found a place to relieve stress- Crossfit Roseburg. As June approached and Finns One Year Birthday; I was busy making plans and notating all of his little milestones. A few highlights of May included a circus! Though not your average Circ de Soliel, it was entertaining and they had lions! We also made a brief trip to Bend, Ore to visit Judy (Bryans Aunt). It snowed on the way there in MAY! Craziness. The trip was much needed and we were all able to say our last goodbyes to Judy. She passed away that weekend due to Breast Cancer. She was a very sweet woman and is dearly missed.
June 2011::
Finn began seeing A physical therapist through the Early Intervention Program here in Roseburg, Ore. The PT came highly reccomended and she has been a great help to us over the last few months. Before leaving Texas, we were concerned about Finns 'wobble' and had him checked out by the pediatrician. A CT scan was done (which was agonizing), and thankfully, it was clear. Everything looked good in his head ;-) Our Dr did suggest to get with doctors and therapist once we got settled in Ore- so I went about doing that- with some resistance and denial. At this time, finn was not crawling yet, but he was finally rollin gover front to back and back to front. He is making progression, but very slowly. June 4th, rolled around and it was Finnys Birthday!!! My mom came down from Portland to help set up and such. The theme was Airplanes!!! My mom decorated a beautiful cake and Karyl help the party at her house and decorated the house so cute! We had mostly family and a few friends there. It was perfect. Bryan was able to Skype with us and sing Happy Birthday to Finn and watch as he dove into his cake. He had blue poop for two days!! His little butt was stained.
June 9th! We made it one month... Five to go....
In my defense, we have been real busy in these parts... Here is a recap (actually can I recap something, that I didn't even mention?) Let me rephrase, here is a story about what a wife and small child do to keep busy while a husband goes away for a deployment.
May 2011::
On May 9, 2011, Bryan went away for his first 'short-tour" deployment to Bagrame AFB in Afgahnistan. The day was a very emotional and gut-wrenching day as I drove Bryan to the airport, gave him one last long kiss and hugg, and said goodbye to the man I love for 6 months. Looking back, May is a fog in my mind. It was a time of adjustment, tears, anger and sadness. Finn and I spent alost every day at Karyl and Phils while we were getting settled into the 'casa de Chrystal and Finn'. Our little shoebox apartment just didnt feel like home away from 100 degree days in Texas, Friends (ie. a social life), the dogs and cat, and most of all the Daddy and Husband we loved and missed so dearly. I dove right into developing a routine and normal life. I met some amazing and simpathetic women through Redeemers Fellowship Church- a Moms Group, and found a place to relieve stress- Crossfit Roseburg. As June approached and Finns One Year Birthday; I was busy making plans and notating all of his little milestones. A few highlights of May included a circus! Though not your average Circ de Soliel, it was entertaining and they had lions! We also made a brief trip to Bend, Ore to visit Judy (Bryans Aunt). It snowed on the way there in MAY! Craziness. The trip was much needed and we were all able to say our last goodbyes to Judy. She passed away that weekend due to Breast Cancer. She was a very sweet woman and is dearly missed.
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| Scary Clown! |
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| Circus in Yoncalla, Ore |
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| Snow at Diamond Lake in May! |
June 2011::
Finn began seeing A physical therapist through the Early Intervention Program here in Roseburg, Ore. The PT came highly reccomended and she has been a great help to us over the last few months. Before leaving Texas, we were concerned about Finns 'wobble' and had him checked out by the pediatrician. A CT scan was done (which was agonizing), and thankfully, it was clear. Everything looked good in his head ;-) Our Dr did suggest to get with doctors and therapist once we got settled in Ore- so I went about doing that- with some resistance and denial. At this time, finn was not crawling yet, but he was finally rollin gover front to back and back to front. He is making progression, but very slowly. June 4th, rolled around and it was Finnys Birthday!!! My mom came down from Portland to help set up and such. The theme was Airplanes!!! My mom decorated a beautiful cake and Karyl help the party at her house and decorated the house so cute! We had mostly family and a few friends there. It was perfect. Bryan was able to Skype with us and sing Happy Birthday to Finn and watch as he dove into his cake. He had blue poop for two days!! His little butt was stained.
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| Finn with crazy hair and Theratogs on. |
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| Opening Presents on His Birthday |
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| He Dove Right In! |
At the end of the month, we went camping at Cottage Grove lake. This was Finn and I's first camping trip together (with family, of course). We had a delightful time with amazing weather and made acquaintances with a friendly deer.
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| We named her Grace |
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| Bath in a Bucket ;-) |
As June was coming to an end, I was somewhat relieved. Summer was coming, we had been enjoying being back in the NW, visiting family, and spending Tuesdays at Music at the Half shell at Stewart Park. I was also meeting new people and we were getting settled in. Tears were less and Bryan and I were in a positive place and Finn was being happy and healthy.
July 2011::
To be Continued...
A Tribute to Military Wives
This is for the young women that are waking up at 6 a.m. every morning with small precious children that they have been left alone to care for. This is for the pregnant Military wife wondering if her husband will make it home in time to watch their miracle happen. This is for the childless Military wife, living in a town or on a base alone where she is a complete stranger to her surroundings. This is for the women that feel like a third leg when they go out with their friends and their husbands. This is for the Military wife that cancelled all her plans to wait by the phone, and even though the phone broke up and cut off every time you spoke to him you waited anyway. This is a pledge to the women that cry themselves to sleep in an empty bed. This is to recognize the woman that felt like she was dying inside when he said he had to go, but smiled for him anyway. This is for those of you that are faithfully in that long line at the post office once a month handling 2 large boxes and 2 small children like a pro. This is for that woman that decided to remodel the house to pass time, and then realized that she had no idea what she was doing and sighed and wished she had a little help. This is for all the lonely nights, all the one-person dinners, and all of the wondering thoughts because you haven't heard from him in days. A toast to you for falling apart, and putting yourselves back together. Because a pay check isn't enough, a body pillow in your bed is no consolation, and a web cam can never compare. This is for all of you no matter how easy or hard this was for you. Our military men are brave, they are heroes, but so are we. So the next time someone tells you that they would never marry a Military guy, don't bother explaining to them that you can't control who you fall in love with. Just think of this and nod your head, know that you are the stronger woman. Hold your heads up high, hang that flag in your front yard, stick 100 magnets on your car, and then give yourself a pat on the back. Be proud to be the woman that you are, be proud to be a MILITARY WIFE ♥...
Monday, May 23, 2011
Motherhood is the Ultimate Sacrifice
Upon becoming a mother, your life truly changes; in all ways you never knew. It is normal to a mourn a loss of life. For how long? It is different for everyone. I'm not saying I am still in the mourning period but I do have my days. I mourn my previous life sometimes.
It has been 9 months and 17 days since I began writing this new chapter of my life.
In my previous chapter of life; I was a free spirit, career- oriented, life of the party, stayed up late, slept in even later, sometimes flaky but also a totally committed to friendships, and even had selfish tendencies. I had all the time for myself and my husband.
Now I am more schedule oriented, baby oriented, trying new things, going to bed early and waking up earlier, and always late to places. I am even more committed to good friends, more patient, more organized (sometimes). I wear less makeup and often don't have time to do my hair. I almost never have time to myself and when I do, I am thinking of the baby.
Despite all these things. I now know what real life is. I know what it means to walk the earth with an extension of my own body innocent in this world. I know what it is to be constantly worried, but feel pure joy and excitement over the little things. I know how to let little things go. I know what it means to sacrifice.
Most importantly I know that I would never give it up for the world. Being a mom and experiencing the things I have in the last 9 months and 17 days will never be better than what I experienced In the previous 28 years of my life. So I open this new chapter without regret but with anticipation and excitement. God wrote this chapter and for once I feel like I am walking the path he laid for me. I will stumble along the way, but I will not stray. He sacrificed for us, so I am here to sacrifice my all for the well-being of my child. I have been truly blessed with the opportunity to raise Finn.
Thoughts from a pondering mind originally written on April 5th, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunday Snapshots: 6th ed., She'll be Coming Around The Mountain...
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Finn is 10 months old now and getting so big! I know I say that alot, but its true. He is trying to get the courage to start crawling, eats finger-food meals (as opposed to pureed food), and he is social as ever.
Two Sundays ago, we had the divine pleasure of having Nana in town from Oregon. She came during spring break to enjoy a week of Finn kisses, sunshine and good ol' Texas shenanigans. It is always nice to have family in for a visit, but this time was extra special. After finding out about our impending transition from dual parenthood residing in Texas to single mom in Oregon while daddy away at war situation. It was nice to have a distraction via loving family in The Rizo. So, Karyl if you read this, thank you so, so much for coming. We loved having you here.
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| Nana Lovies |
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| We went out on the boat |
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| Finn enjoying a pickle for the first time. |
Friday, April 1, 2011
FPU Weeks 9 & 10: Falling off the Wagon
As with most things in life, when there is a life changing event- no matter how big or small, it is only normal for your daily rhythm to be thrown off. We have made it this far and have done great, but with the news that Bryan is deploying for 6 months and that our little family is relocating, we have hard an extremely hard time following our budget for the month of March. Just as if you were on a diet, the key is to not be discouraged when you stray from your regimen. April is a new month...
Dave recommends that when these "life-changing" events occur, this is when your emergency fund comes into place. At this time you also pause on your debt snowball, hoard your money, and then when life gets stable again, you can continue where you left off.
Despite our set backs this month, we were still able to move forward with our debt snowball by paying extra money toward our bedroom furniture (which I don't even like...sigh*). So a small victory to keep in mind and keep our spirits up.
Our budgeting will go on and our goal toward a debt free lifestyle continues.
Last week week we learned about how to get a bargain on the big stuff. I have never been that great at negotiating, but after this lesson, I got fired up and wanted to try out my new "skills." We had been looking on Craig's list for a small couch for my little apartment and found one that was a great buy, so I was all psyched to do some N-E-G-O-T-I-A-T-I-N-G (Bryan's Dad had gone earlier that afternoon to give it a look over). I mustered up all my courage, had my script in mind, called the guy, and BAM!! No such luck, it had just been SOLD. So round two, we are in San Antonio and have been researching Ipads. They are the same price everywhere, except at the BX, where they are cheaper, so we headed to Best Buy to negotiate. Fail again! BB does not negotiate a better buy for Apple merchandise, it is "extremely regulated." Moral of the story: the best things to negotiate are really big, expensive items, and the best places are consignment shops, auctions, real estate, garage sales, craiglsist, and etc. AND don't pay full price!! You will NOT offend anyone by bargaining; they expect it!
Onto this weeks lesson: Of Mice and Mutual Funds.
This lesson touched on the importance of investing. It was really interesting and definitely a subject I'd like to learn more about. By investing, your money starts to work for you by making more money. Capitalization. Dave says to never invest in something that you do not understand, so I want to learn more about this subject. Unfortunately, investing is baby step four and we are only on baby step number two (the Debt Snowball). We will not be at step four for about 2.5 years. So I have some time to do some reading and maybe take a class.
A few tidbits that stuck out to me:
*Savings is for 5 years or less
*Investing is for 5 years or more
* Always invest at 6% or more to make up for inflation
I would encourage anyone and everyone who wants to be financially secure to learn more about investing and take it seriously. This is how your money will work for you. Dave Ramsey and most other millionaires, are in a position where their investments make more money annually for them, then they have in annual income! Do you get what I'm saying!? Their money makes more money than they do! Put that in your back pocket...
Til next time. Ciao!
Dave recommends that when these "life-changing" events occur, this is when your emergency fund comes into place. At this time you also pause on your debt snowball, hoard your money, and then when life gets stable again, you can continue where you left off.
Despite our set backs this month, we were still able to move forward with our debt snowball by paying extra money toward our bedroom furniture (which I don't even like...sigh*). So a small victory to keep in mind and keep our spirits up.
Our budgeting will go on and our goal toward a debt free lifestyle continues.
Onto this weeks lesson: Of Mice and Mutual Funds.
This lesson touched on the importance of investing. It was really interesting and definitely a subject I'd like to learn more about. By investing, your money starts to work for you by making more money. Capitalization. Dave says to never invest in something that you do not understand, so I want to learn more about this subject. Unfortunately, investing is baby step four and we are only on baby step number two (the Debt Snowball). We will not be at step four for about 2.5 years. So I have some time to do some reading and maybe take a class.
A few tidbits that stuck out to me:
*Savings is for 5 years or less
*Investing is for 5 years or more
* Always invest at 6% or more to make up for inflation
I would encourage anyone and everyone who wants to be financially secure to learn more about investing and take it seriously. This is how your money will work for you. Dave Ramsey and most other millionaires, are in a position where their investments make more money annually for them, then they have in annual income! Do you get what I'm saying!? Their money makes more money than they do! Put that in your back pocket...
Til next time. Ciao!
Friday, March 18, 2011
FPU Week 8: Clause and Effect
Its been 8 weeks into our Total Money Makeover and I'd like to start out with a few victory stories.
First of all, we went to San Antonio at the end of February and we actually stuck to our budget for the weekend!! It felt so good, driving home the three hours and not pondering buyers remorse, or wondering how much money we had just blown. We had a great time, ate at nice restaurants and went shopping; all the while staying within a set amount of money. It was great! Secondly, we got our tax refund, and were able to pay off our last and final credit card, pay off the boat AND put a roof on the house. All do to smart money managing and budgeting. The ironic thing is, now that we paid off the boat, we have decided to put it up for sale... Sad, but we wont be using it anytime soon and would much rather use the money.
Unfortunately, Murphy's law decided to pay a visit to us. We couldn't just relish in our victories for long. We recently got notice that Bryan is deploying to Afghanistan for 6 months which definitely throws a wrench in our financial "plans." Luckily, those "plans" can be rearranged. We have an unexpected move to look forward to and some changes in our life to account for. In a nutshell, these next couple months will be trying, but I am a follower of God and I believe this is his plan for us, and he has a reason for everything. This will make us stronger in our parenting, marriage, faith, and as individuals. More on that later, maybe in another post.
Anyways... on to current events.
This week we learned about insurance *yawn* right? Actually It was quite interesting to me and I learned ALOT!!
There are SEVEN basic types of coverage that Dave Recommends. SEVEN!! And I don't understand any of them. Until now. At least I have an idea. The basic types of coverage needed are:
1. "Guaranteed replacement" Homeowners or renters insurance,
2. Auto,
3. Health (preferably a HSA -health Savings account),
4. Long term disability,
5. long term care insurance (at age 60),
6. identity theft protection, and
7. Term life insurance.
Alot to take in right? Mission this week:
Identify any insurance policies that need to be changed or added to our financial plan, get life insurance and make a will.
Next week, How to buy only big, big bargains!
First of all, we went to San Antonio at the end of February and we actually stuck to our budget for the weekend!! It felt so good, driving home the three hours and not pondering buyers remorse, or wondering how much money we had just blown. We had a great time, ate at nice restaurants and went shopping; all the while staying within a set amount of money. It was great! Secondly, we got our tax refund, and were able to pay off our last and final credit card, pay off the boat AND put a roof on the house. All do to smart money managing and budgeting. The ironic thing is, now that we paid off the boat, we have decided to put it up for sale... Sad, but we wont be using it anytime soon and would much rather use the money.
Unfortunately, Murphy's law decided to pay a visit to us. We couldn't just relish in our victories for long. We recently got notice that Bryan is deploying to Afghanistan for 6 months which definitely throws a wrench in our financial "plans." Luckily, those "plans" can be rearranged. We have an unexpected move to look forward to and some changes in our life to account for. In a nutshell, these next couple months will be trying, but I am a follower of God and I believe this is his plan for us, and he has a reason for everything. This will make us stronger in our parenting, marriage, faith, and as individuals. More on that later, maybe in another post.
Anyways... on to current events.
This week we learned about insurance *yawn* right? Actually It was quite interesting to me and I learned ALOT!!
There are SEVEN basic types of coverage that Dave Recommends. SEVEN!! And I don't understand any of them. Until now. At least I have an idea. The basic types of coverage needed are:
1. "Guaranteed replacement" Homeowners or renters insurance,
2. Auto,
3. Health (preferably a HSA -health Savings account),
4. Long term disability,
5. long term care insurance (at age 60),
6. identity theft protection, and
7. Term life insurance.
Alot to take in right? Mission this week:
Identify any insurance policies that need to be changed or added to our financial plan, get life insurance and make a will.
Next week, How to buy only big, big bargains!
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