Sunday, January 15, 2012

Snow

A rare snow day on the Valley floor and some good news!  First the snow.



The good news is I have reached a blogging milestone (at least it is for me!)  I have reached over 100 views of a single post!  Check it out here!

Thank you all!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Happy Birthday and New Year!

Hello!  I would love to share some wonderful things I did last year and maybe some wonderful things I will do this year!! I am sharing these on my birthday because I was too lazy to do them on the first it seemed more fitting than on the first!

Photo Credit: Salvatore Vuono


Last year we (hubs and I) sat down and took a good hard look at the budget.  Oh yuck!  It is no fun to sit down and see how much money you do not have but it had to be done.  We did a combination of Dave Ramsey's (the envelope method and savings plan) and took some advice from Gussy about budgeting every last dollar.  The only money we didn't budget was my income from Scentsy since it was so irregular; we instead used it to pay for unforeseen bills or it went directly to debt.

Now I was all for paring down to no extra money but the hubs needed some extra money to have a little fun with so the compromising began!  And we worked it out without killing each other!  And  to tell you the truth it was a lot easier having a budget than not.

End result: Paying off the windows on our house ($11,000 on a credit card), a trip to Hawaii for me without putting any money on a credit card, and the piece of mind that we will be living freer in 2012!

We will continue along the same path with adjustments to the budget as needed until we have all debt paid off (student loans and house remaining).  But it feels so amazing to look back and see that if you do set goals and make a plan things really do happen!

Nieces and Nephews Oregon Coast Dec. 2011


Next was/is a personal goal of mine, to get outside more.  To go hiking, biking, walking, work in yard and go letter boxing/geocaching.  I did get out more than I did the previous year but there were still way too many days we stayed inside.  Days where I convinced my daughter to do other activities instead of going for that walk.

This year I will write out my goals and make them measurable (and maybe get a better raincoat) so that I will have no excuses not to just get out and go!!

Oregon Coast Sunset Dec. 2011


Another very personal goal was also set by my husband and I.  I will not go into details but pretty much any parent will know how important this type of goal is....adult time for  mommy and daddy.  We followed the advice of this woman.  And I have to say if any of this at all sounds like you and your spouse try it!! Do it (hee hee) for 2 months and tell me if it doesn't change your (sex) life.

My last goal was made part way through the year and that was TO BLOG MORE!!!!  And if you have been following along you will know that I have met that goal.  So for the year to come I will change that goal to blog more consistently and learn how to take better photos by doing projects like this! Thanks for following along and have a great new year!!