A year in review

In 2013 we are going to continue to work on paying off our debt, living within our means, and learning how to live frugally.

This last year we:

• Learned how to cook beans.
• Started buying a lot of thrift store items.
• Finished some sewing projects.
• Paid off debt allowing us to afford braces for two of the kids.
• Cash flowed college classes for two oldest girls.
• Cash flowed our home school supplies (after switching to homeschool for all the kids).
• De-cluttered our home making it more organized and peaceful.

In 2013 I want to continue all of the things we have worked on in 2012 and learn how to live more frugally paying off all our debt as quickly as possible and being able to pay for our kids missions and weddings.
I also want to lose 30 pounds.

I am so grateful for the experiences my kids have had this year. Carrie was able to take 2 classes at the community college, and she did really good. Katie took 5 classes and she did really good too. This year we have had so many amazing experiences here in Show Low.  I am so grateful for a Loving Heavenly Father who brought us here and enabled us to be here and to make some wonderful friends and do some great things.

We don't know how long we will live here. There is a good chance that we will be here at least one more year, but we are willing to see how things turn out. So grateful for a Loving Heavenly Father who knows more than we know about what we need.

Christmas this year was so nice. We worked really hard to get the kids gifts that they will like and take care of. I think we did a good job. There are a couple of gifts that we got that I think we could have went without, but overall I think we did a good job. Again, I am so grateful for good friends and family who helped to make this a great Christmas.

My son's Eagle project has four major parts and three of them are completed. The final part involves locating children who are in need to the clothes that he has collected and getting the clothes to them. It could actually be the most difficult part, but at least he is almost done.
I am so grateful for so much help and love from friends who have helped and supported us.

It Came and Went

How many times are we so busy that something comes and goes and we miss it completely. I had been looking forward to 12-12-12 for a while. I had no particular reason, I just thought it was cool. I wanted to be able to write it at least once on the actual day and think, that is so cool. Yesterday evening one of my kids mentioned it was 12-12-12. What, it had come, and now it was almost over. I still had a lot to do that evening and I didn't enjoy my "date." That is okay, but I ask myself, how many other things come and go and I am so busy that I don't take the time to ponder and reflect and enjoy the date.

Eco Nuts

I am washing my laundry with Eco Nuts for the first time today. I am happy to report that with the first load the wash smells clean and nice. Eco Nuts are actually soap berries and have been around for a very long time, but I didn't know about them until recently. I am excited to see how they come out of the dryer. I am not suposed to need dryer sheets.

Victories come in all sizes

My daughter called me and told me her father and I needed to go out on a date because he wasn't doing too well. I came home and my dear sweet husband of 18 years was definitely stressed. He made an odd request and asked me to rearrange the bedroom/office. Wow, I just don't hear that very often. I am pretty sure it was a cry for help. He needed a change in his work space. So the two of us dug in and de-cluttered, organized, shredded papers and made some major progress in his work space. I don't think that he will have any less stress Monday morning, but it feels like a victory tonight. And tonight I will take a victory no matter what the size.

I have just come down with the flu for the third time this winter. Since my kids are homeschooled I think that I probably pick up most of my germs from the grocery store. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired, so now I have more motivation to limit my trips to the grocery store. Blah!!!!