Farmgirl Alee and Farmerette Nora

2011-08-01T16:40:00.000-06:00

2011-07-29T13:58:00.001-06:00

2011-07-29T13:49:00.001-06:00

2011-07-29T09:21:00.000-06:00

2011-07-27T12:48:00.000-06:00

Email between my husband and I at work today:

Me: Sweet!! J J J J J

BTW Pandora Radio is saving my sanity!!

HIM: Hahahha.. it’s good stuff.. the only thing that stinks is that when the servers get full, you lose the connection abruptly.

Just wait.. you’ll be be-bopping along and you’ll realize you can’t hear any music.

And you’ll be like:

How long have I been without music?

ME: Shut your mouth ;)

2011-07-21T16:16:00.001-06:00

Sydney and Tala!

2011-07-21T16:16:00.000-06:00

Heather riding

2011-07-21T16:15:00.000-06:00

Emily's first ride

2011-07-21T16:14:00.000-06:00

Kameron's first ride!

2011-07-21T16:13:00.000-06:00

Nora and I were cuddling on the hammock when I snapped this picture. What a sweet, devilish girl I have!! I love her!

2011-07-21T16:12:00.001-06:00

2011-07-21T16:11:00.001-06:00

A storm brewing over two outbuildings at the ranch where I board Tala

2011-07-21T16:10:00.000-06:00

Nora loves to play at the park. She is growing up so quickly!!

2011-07-21T13:43:00.001-06:00

2011-07-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

2011-07-20T20:48:00.000-06:00

2011-07-09T14:42:00.000-06:00

2011-07-09T11:15:00.001-06:00

Cuddle time with mommy on Tala

2011-07-09T11:13:00.000-06:00

I love the lines and angles in this picture!

2011-06-25T19:51:00.000-06:00

Nora

2011-06-25T19:49:00.000-06:00

My seven dollar garage sale bargain

2011-06-25T19:48:00.000-06:00

Zoom zoom zoom

2011-06-25T19:44:00.000-06:00

This is our decorations for the fourth!

2011-06-25T17:29:00.001-06:00

Beautiful summer sunset over Wyoming roads

2011-06-25T17:28:00.001-06:00

This is my dad. Can you tell he is a big hit at birthday parties?

2011-06-25T17:27:00.001-06:00

Firefighter Nora!

2011-06-25T17:26:00.001-06:00

Nora in her new hat and gloves from Down Under

2011-06-25T17:25:00.000-06:00

I thought this was such a pretty picture. I love the texture that the window screen puts on it!

2011-06-25T17:24:00.002-06:00

2011-06-25T17:24:00.001-06:00

2011-06-25T17:23:00.000-06:00

A Room with a View!

2011-06-25T17:20:00.002-06:00

This is just one little part of Tala's new pasture. She has great trees, a river, geese and even a duck. She can socialize with horses over the fence but she has all this to herself. It is probably about one and a half acres!

2011-06-25T17:17:00.001-06:00

I have so much to do in one little day. This weekend, my goal is to get the living room cleaned and organized from top to bottom. I am all stocked up on cleaning supplies and I want everything from the ceiling, to the walls to the carpets cleaned and smelling good! J Oh and I also have to take a test for my Finance class! No sweat, right? LOL

I also want to spend time with Nora and maybe do a fun craft project or something!

Long Time- No See!

2011-06-03T01:47:00.000-06:00

I must be the world's worst blogger! Life gets in the way and this is what is dropped!

Hmm- so what has changed recently? Alot!

First, I finally got my tonsils removed and I am on the last dregs of medical leave recovering from that. It honestly was not as bad as I had been led to believe it would be. Sure there was pain- but NOTHING compared to the agony of the last strep infection I had. The doctor said it was a "very good thing" that I had my tonsils removed as they were "completly colonized by bacteria." Yuck. So long tonsils. You are not missed! My voice has finally returned to normal. For a long time it felt like I was talking through goop in the back of my throat.

One interesting thing that has happened as a direct result of surgery- my taste buds have changed!! For the most part things are okay and pretty normal. But I can no longer handle food colorings, preservatives and other such chemicals in my food. I can taste them. They taste like battery acid coading my tongue and sometimes if it is bad enough- it makes my mouth feel numb. No thank you. Recovery Jello was just not worth it!

Another good thing has happened since the recovery- I have lost 9 pounds so far in about 3 weeks. I am hoping this is the start of a weightloss snow ball. I am really ready to be rid of my extra baggage. I want to lose between 40-50 pounds. 50 pounds would bring me back to my highschool "fighting" (soccer playing) weight so I know that might be a bit harder to achieve, but I am shooting for losing weight before a couple of weddings we are going to be attending this fall! So I really need to stay ontop of myself and watch what I eat before then. I am also going to be increasing my activity level and trying to really push myself when I want to sit on the couch and veg.

Another change that we have gone through is moving our horse from our old boarding facility to a new one. The new one is about 25 miles away which is the only negative. However the positives by far outweigh that one draw back. She now has a two acre pasture all to herself with a fresh mountain stream running through it. We have 20,000 acres to ride in and the barn manager is awesome. Her previous barn did not have much in the way of riding trails during 75% of the year and by the time you could use the islands in the middle of the river to ride on, it was hunting season and the owner invited a lot of people to hunt over there. No thanks! I would prefer that my horse doesn't get shot! Plus I just had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach which I listened to this time. Last time I did not listen to it, Tala had to spend almost a week at the equine hospital with life threatening pneumonia. Anyway- about a week after I moved Tala up to the new barn, we started getting torrential rains. We have had intense flooding through the entire region- including her old barn!

Life has been chugging along. Nora has completed her first year of preschool. We are now entering into summer session as of Monday and it looks to be a great line up! The kids are even going to build their own homemade rocket! Yes I said a rocket! They are all going to be buying a rocket kit and launching the rockets at school. I didn't get to do that until High School!!

My graduation from college should be December 2012. I will be graduating with my degree in Business Management- Accounting. Then I will most likely be taking classes for another semester which is "CPA Prep" Eeek. Yes! I am going to sit for the CPA exam and am completely terrified. All I have ever heard is how hard they are! But once I can become a licensed CPA things will be looking a lot better for us.

We have been really working hard on getting back on track financially and have been making some pretty good progress this year. DH's student loans are compltely paid. And we are going to be tackling my debt sometime soon. We are going to need to get a new or very gently used car or something sometime soon. We need more fuel economy. I budget $100 every two weeks for the two vehicles and soon I am going to have to increase that if something doesn't give. I think I am just being stubborn because I don't want to adjust the budget but really if I am being honest I need to budget more like $150 every two weeks for gas. If we could get a car that only needed one fill up a month then we would have paid for the increase in insurance and some of the car payment right there.

So overall the family is doing good. We are on the path to a healthier lifestyle since I can't tolerate processed food- not that we ate much of it anyway- and will be working towards becoming 100% organic as quickly as possible. I am networking with local food sources to try to get as much of our food as locally as possible- including meat and eggs. It's amazing the resources that you unconver once you start digging!

Spring and New Beginnings

2011-03-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally trying to arrive in Eastern Montana. I am so grateful. We have a couple more days of predicted snow still in the forecast, but it is the type of snow that falls and melts away in a couple of days. It has been a long, cold winter with bitter windchills and very dark days. I am looking forward to growing a vegetable garden and spring sunshine.

I stayed home from work today with a nasty chest cold. I am in training for a new (to me) division at work so I feel very bad about missing some of this valuable training time but I also don't want to spread my germs around too much either. But I think I am on the mend. I just need a few days of rest for this to be all behind me.

There is a lot of worry in the world right now and it is so easy to get wrapped up in what could be or what might be. Oddly, I find myself in a very peaceful place. I feel God is providing in our life. I am going back to full time at work which will really help out our family finances, and we are getting our debt paid off slowly but surely. We are trying to both fix the past and prepare for the future.

Nora has grown up so much! We are preparing for her 4th birthday! I can hardly believe it! She is learning so much at her Preschool and I am so proud of her.

More Later! I have laundry to do!

2010-07-09T17:13:00.000-06:00

SweetTarts taste like Halloween J

2010-07-09T13:01:00.000-06:00

You win some, you lose some.

We had ALMOST gotten rid of all our revolving debt. Then our tire shredded on the interstate and I had to advance ourselves some money. Luckily we have those resources- even if they do cost high interest. I am sooo ready to be out of this mess so we can start a savings account. However over all we have done pretty well in reducing our revolving debt. This setback has only set us back by 2 weeks. Roughly $700 of Revolving debt should be resolved our next paycheck and the remaining $1-200 will be resolved first of August. Phew and good riddance!!

Yesterday I spent $140 on groceries for 2 weeks. That included laundry supplies, hygiene supplies, a swimming pool for Nora and groceries. I always smile a bit when we can get away with such a “cheap” amount for groceries. I am looking forward to being able to increase our variety of fruits and veggies more in a couple weeks, but $125ish per week has been doing well for us.

Nora is really growing up. Her vocabulary is increasing every day, and we are trying really hard to not fall into the pattern of understanding what she wants so not making her fully vocalize.

We spent the 4^th of July weekend in Wyoming with my parents and the Cousins. It was SO much fun. It was great seeing Nora play with her cousins and really enjoy their company. The next “big” purchase I want to make is a bike for Nora. She wants one so bad. What do you think? A bike or a Tryke? Nora finally mastered the forward pedaling on the tryke. I think that is pretty good since she has only ridden it about 2 or 3 times! But she is already asking for a bike. And she LOVES riding on the child seat of my bike. So I am thinking we might skip the Tryke stage. Or maybe we will buy both if I can find a good deal at a thrift shop!

I wish I could get about a week off of work. I got so much done around the yard yesterday. I watered, weed whacked, mowed, worked in the garden, got Nora’s pool set up and wanted to get even more done. I need to buy some better tools next pay day to trim the trees in our yard. Some of them are getting flat out of control. I love the shade they provide, but we need to be able to drive our cars under them and mow around them. I also need some tar or something to see off the sucker branch forming areas.

The good news is that the garden is doing great. The carrots are growing long and straight, the tomatoes are coming along, and we have apples all over the tree. I am going to try to put in a fall garden since I didn’t get as much variety as I wanted planted this Spring. Our local Extension Agency lists each month things you should do in your yard per the growth stage and what you can plant. I am going to try to get back in “tune” with their schedule.

http://www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/extension/horticulture/grapevine.asp#july

Budget Win

2010-06-13T17:10:00.000-06:00

I budgeted $150 for Groceries and the total bill came to $96.00! And I only cut a few things from the list because I realized we had alternatives at home (like brown rice in our cupboard instead of buying a bag of white rice).

Unfortunately, Doug has come down with this Flu so I might have to spend some of the savings on buying "sick food" but that's okay! I am thrilled that I got 99% of our groceries for considerably under budget!

Economic Check In

2010-06-13T11:12:00.000-06:00

So we just got our first Paycheck of the month.

So far we have paid an extra $550 in debt, not including what Doug paid since he has his set up to come out before his paycheck gets direct deposited. I know he makes a bit more money than I do since he has been their longer so I know it had to be around $300 that was paid. So roughly $850 in debt payment right off the bat.

We had an eating out night at Outback so that was approx $50, had car maint that was $35, Rent at $725 this month, Cable at $125, Electricity at $100. I still need to pay some bills but we are on track so far for the month (mostly).

We also have a LOT of left over food from the past few weeks of buying so I am writing my shopping list around reducing what is in the house. I want to set up a better food rotation system. I love having food in the house but not if we end up complaining that there is "nothing" to eat when there is a bag of brown rice, frozen meat and veggies, flour, budget mix, milk etc. Just because Doug doesn't like the brown rice as much doesn't mean it doesn't need to get used up.

I also am looking into maybe moving my shopping day to Sundays so I can take advantage of Sunday coupons. Or maybe I will reserve $2 to buy the Sunday flier the week I go shopping. Not quite sure yet.

2010-06-09T11:33:00.001-06:00

I haven’t done an update in a while.

So far my weight loss is about 6 lbs. Yes I have been cheating. But at the same time I feel good that the weight loss will stay off. Even with my cheating I am still losing and it is not coming back! Yay! Each morning it’s exciting to see if I get to update my weight ticker. It’s really interesting to see what your body does and how much energy you burn during sleeping!

It has been incredibly rainy this year. The river is flooding and I hope it doesn’t rise much further or I might need to find a new temporary home for Tala until the flood waters recede. Tala is looking great though. Her three year old year is agreeing with her. She really is starting to look more like a grown up horse instead of a baby. I don’t always see it since I am around her a lot, but when I look at her pictures from last year, I can see big changes. She’s beautiful and such a sweet horse. It’s going to be an awesome summer with her! :D

Nora is growing and we are having lots of conversations about not cutting her hair. She has mutilated her hair so badly at this point *sigh*. Oh well. Hair grows. Her latest thing is that when she enters a room she’ll take a little jump, do a rock star stance and yell “Rock and Roll!” and then proceed to play air guitar! It’s hilarious!

The garden is loving this weather. Lots of rain seems to be just the thing. I am looking forward to some sun so the tomatoes can really take off. I want garden fresh tomatoes!!! I also need to replant some radishes and really work hard on some weeding. It’s starting to look like jungle out there!

2010-06-01T13:57:00.001-06:00

So Here is our budget that we try REALLY hard to adhere to:

Rent: $700

Boarding Tala: $265

Gas: $120

Food: $300

Water: $100

Natural Gas: $50

Electricity $100

Car Insur: $75

Car Maint: $50

NetFlix: $9

Website: $10

Daycare: $400

Clothing: $25

Total $2204

Phew! It sure adds up fast. We also usually end up having some eating out, especially at work since we can get decent priced fresh made salads (like $3). Hubby is making payments to his debt about $2-300 per pay period which ends up being between $400 and $600 a month! Lately we have had a few emergencies (getting car towed and repaired) and last month we still managed an extra $500 debt payment! YAY! I am really excited at the progress we are making!

I SOOO Cheated

2010-06-01T06:40:00.000-06:00

But it's okay! Yesterday my parents treated us to Burger King (bun and fries!) and pizza which really really was bad cheating on my no carb diet- but it's okay! I didn't gain anything back! That gives me lots of hope for the end/transition phase of this diet.

Today is back to square one. Absolutely no carbs, no restricted items (sorry tomatoes) and more water than ever. If I can lose 5 pounds and keep off 4 from my first week, I want to shoot for more loss this week. It would be AWESOME to be back down to the 160's this week.

I tried on a pair of pants at Christopher and Banks while at the mall with my mom. I would have LOVED them...if I weighed 130 pounds. It was an unforgiving fabric and instead of hiding weight- it emphasised it. Yup...definitly left THOSE on the rack! YIKES. But the patter was super cute. It was a grey based pants with dark blue pin striping in various shades of blue and various widths. It needed a solid color top, but I really liked them. It also opened my eyes to a lot of the new fashions that are out there. JC Pennys had some really cute clothes and now I want to go back and find this one shirt. I might have to do that next pay period. I have been wanting one of those shirts for FOREVER.

In other news- it looks like Nora cut her hair...Again. There is a chunk missing out of the back, out of the front and she shortened the top. *sigh* I am never going to see long beautiful hair again, am I? Looks like another trip to the kids haircut place is in order.

Debt payments are coming along nicely. Got $500 of our Stupid debt paid off last pay period, now we just have to get the next $1600 paid off as well. I am looking forward to being free and clear of this and being able to get some other debts that are impacting our credit paid off.

That's pretty much the update for me today. I might have another post in me about our budget- I will work on that one while at work (Yeah email blogging!). A farmgirl sister over at MaryJanesFarm posted a challenge to see how little you can get by on. She is making do with $1,200 for the month for her large family! Way to go! We have a few other mandated bills that I can't avoid due to contracts and such so our's will be a bit higher, and several other farmgirls were mentioning they couldn't go that low either so we are going to be posting about our required bills and see if we can trim the "fat" in any other part of the budget.

A few days of cheating-

2010-05-30T07:24:00.000-06:00

Well I have to admit I did cheat. It started with trying to make a cheesecake that would work since I bought Doug one from the store. I overbaked mine so the consistency was...not good. I just couldn't eat it.

Then I caved in yesterday and ate a piece and a half of Doug's cheesecake.

But I have still stayed away from most other carbs and am getting back on the plan as of today.

But even with my cheats and over eatting my approved protien at night, I only gained back half a pound. Normally I would have seen at least a 2lb increase. So I am coming to the realization I need to have my afternoon protien snack around 5 ish so that I am not so hungry for dinner. Then I need to eat my salad first and maybe give it 10-15 minutes before I eat the protien of dinner so I don't want to overeat so much.

It's all about making it work for you in real life so while I did gain a little back I still LOST almost 5lbs in a week! I am very excited and encouraged about this! Being back at work this week after 5 days off will make the diet easier since I will have more things to concentrate on and less options to cheat.

Day Five

2010-05-28T10:49:00.000-06:00

Doing good so far today. The scale didn't show a loss this morning, but that's okay. I went a little outside of the diet yesterday so I kindof expected that. However I still feel great and I also think some of the lack of weight loss this morning is due to just internal workings. I had a large late meal and it hasn't completely gone through my system yet. I am sure that tomorrow will show more loss.

I have some awesome friends on the MaryJanes Farm Forum that are providing some amazing recipes! Wow! People are very creative when making work-around products that are carb free but still look/taste like they have flour in them! My hat goes off to all the creative cooks out there. I am looking forward to trying califlower rice and califlower mashed like potatoes. Yum Yum. I am trying to decide if I want to do the mash or the rice first.

Today is the Montana Arabian Horse Associate show. I am going to drop by and see them. I had wanted to show Tala this year, but it just wasn't feasible.

Nora is being my little buddy. She has been helping out with the chores and has decided she likes cuddling again. Life is good! :D

Day Four!

2010-05-27T06:56:00.000-06:00

Doing great so far. I am really really enjoying looking at the scale each morning. The weight is just melting off. I am so happy!

So far I have lost over 5 pounds in 3 full days- I can't wait to see what the end of a full week brings!

I do have some carb cravings, but I am not tired or hungry at all. I eat an egg for breakfast, then have a salad with chicken or ham for lunch and then have a protien of some sort with steamed veggies at night.

Well of to get chores done and hopefully get to go play with Tala today. Also grocery shopping-that's a priority today! LOL

Entering Day 3

2010-05-26T06:57:00.000-06:00

Doing good so far. Of course I have only been up for an hour! LOL

So far a four pound loss for this week. That's pretty great in my books. I am very encouraged. I don't think today at work will be hard. I am going to cut up some peppers for a snack at work. Starting tomorrow morning my body should be completely running on stored energy. I can't wait to see what my final weigh in for this week will be on Sunday!

I certainly thought this would be a lot harder than I am finding it. So far the biggest carb cravings have been happening at night right before bed. So far I have avoided caving to my carb desires. I am looking into making some low carb/carb free deserts for this weekend though. Doug gets cheesecake on Friday so I am looking into a recipe I found online. I am going to run it through a recipe nutritional calculator to see if it would work for me or not. The last think I want to do is mess this up!

My first big challenge

2010-05-25T21:39:00.000-06:00

Went out to eat tonight with an old childhood friend. Awesome. It was great to see him again. We shared stories about our families and got caught up on each other's lives. It was really good to catch up. I was even good on my diet and ate a nice healthy salad.

Then I got home. You know how even when you have dinner if there is your favorite meal, you always want to eat? Yeah. Well Doug made pasta. Our own version of super quick goulash. Yummy yumm yummy. And I can't have any. (The dirty rat!) Who makes pasta when someone in the family is going off carbs? Seriously!

Oh well. So I have had a glass of milk which technically is a little cheat since I am only supposed to have a limited amount of skim and this is whole, but it's frozen and I can tell by the taste most of the fat and such is still frozen. It tasted mostly like water. If I am still a little hungry after about half an hour or so I might have a little cheese but really I am not HUNGRY- I am more just missing that blood sugar rush that carbs can give you. That comfort food feeling.

I am so looking forward to the day when I can eat carbs again. Just one more day to get through and I will be carb free! Whoo hoo! I am definitely looking forward to that. So starting Thursday I will be burning mostly fat fuel not food fuel. I am ready! Bring it baby! *LOL*

I think the biggest challenge is that I have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday off. When I am at work I have very controlled times that I am off the phone. If I don't have bad snacks at my desk I simply can't eat. At lunch if I can win the battle over myself and order a salad or bring a salad to eat then I win. I can master THAT part of it.

It's when I am home. When the boredom strikes or when I am avoiding doing my chores. That's when it starts to seem like a good idea to eat. And eat frequently. And how about some cookies... Uh yeah... Maybe there is a reason I am so big? LOL

Well here is goes. Two days down. One day left till I am carb-free. I'll keep you posted!

2010-05-25T10:03:00.001-06:00

Losing Weight!

I have a friend who started a diet a couple of weeks ago. It’s the Ideal Protein Diet. I was suspicious at first, but then she lost 10lbs in a week. She is looking amazing. I did some research into the diet and it makes sense to me. So I am trying it as well. We’ll see how we do. Basically you eat protein, certain veggies but stay away from all carbs/sugar/fruit. What the literature that I have read says that our bodies have a built in reserve of energy supplied by carbs that lasts about 3 days. After 3 days of not consuming carbs, your body starts looking elsewhere for fuel. The best fuel source is our fatty deposits and our muscles. By consuming adequate amounts of protein and non carb filled veggies you supply your body with enough to keep it from consuming too much muscle mass and keep the digestive track moving.

Yesterday was my first day off carbs. I didn’t find it too hard until the evening when Nora was eating popcorn in front of me. Suddenly making caramel corn (popcorn carbs plus loads of sugar carbs! EEK!) sounded really good. I ate a little low fat mozzarella cheese as a snack and went to bed having successfully avoided the carb trap.

Today I was making Nora breakfast and her oatmeal smelled really good- especially with the maple syrup! But the good news is I started at 178 and this morning I stepped on the scales and weighed in at 175.8 I don’t think I have ever gone a full 24 hours without eating carbs before. Also some of that might be water weight that is shedding because I was retaining before but I am definitely encouraged.

An important part of this plan is to drink lots of water to help the body flush out the nasty stuff that can be stored in with the fat. I personally am just looking forward to getting down to a healthier weight.

After you get down to the weight you like, you enter phase 2 which allows a lot more food variety in the diet while helping your body adjust back to burning carbs too. After completing stage 2 there is a final stage- stage 3. I am not too concerned with a weight gain back since I maintain my (high) weight rather well with my normal eating habits, though I think I will probably always watch my carbs a bit closer.

Wish me luck on my day 2! One third of the way to ridding myself of carbs and then onto fat burn!!

I am Hutterite By Mary-Ann Kirkby

2010-05-10T22:37:00.000-06:00

I am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby

This is an autobiography by Mary-Ann Kirkby about growing up in a Hutterite Colony in Canada in the early 60's before her parents decided to leave the colony and make a life outside of the community living. The majority of the book is devoted to rich detail of early childhood in the Hutterite structured living. Mary-Ann gives wonderful details about her trials and tribulations when transitioning to English living.

I found this book very facinating. I have always been interested in the lifestyle and traditions of various Christian Sects, including the Hutterites. It was very intersting to see a glimpse into the family structure, the Colony Structure and to have a balanced view about it. Mary-Ann does show some of the hardships that can be experienced when living outside the societal norms, and also the struggles that everyday people go through no matter their living arrangements or their belief structure.

One section of the book I found very powerful was the paralels drawn between the hardening of the Pharoh's heart and the treatment her Uncle gave her father. I would definitely recommend this book. Not only was it facinating, Mary-Ann has a natural talent for story telling which rolls through the book. It was an informative, thought provoking read that came full circle.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

2010-05-03T17:40:00.001-06:00

I really dislike when the weather keeps me penned inside on my day off and then is gorgeous on Monday morning. Luckily today is NOT like that today... It’s cold and windy outside. Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE wind? I love the idea of wind turbines generating clean wind. Now we just need to figure out how to have windmills but create a wind break for the ground level plus not block the sunlight I need for my garden… it’s not like I’m asking for a lot…. LOL ;)

This is going to be a bear of a work week for me. I volunteered for almost 20 hours of overtime work. I could certainly have it a lot worse- not having a job, or working in bad working conditions. In all reality I have a pretty cush job. I have my own space, yes it’s a cubicle but since the walls are only 18 inches high I can look out and around so the mental feeling of space is there instead of feeling closed in. Though honestly I am one of those crazy people that loves small places so I wouldn’t mind having walls- except I do like to chit chat with my neighbors. I also get to speak with lots of different people every day and my job is to help. I get to help people when they are frustrated and feeling out of options or when they are worried they don’t know what to do next. It’s nice.

So other than the fact that I’m not going to get to do much if any gardening or playing with my horse this week- It’s not too bad. And it will help us get caught up on some bills which need paid so that’s always good. And if I decided to be slightly crazy and volunteer for tons of overtime, then this week was the right week- windy and cold and totally spring like…just the side of spring that I don’t normally enjoy as much.

Yesterday’s weather had multiple personality disorder. In the morning it was cold but clear, then clouds rolled in with winds. Throughout the day we got cold weather, hot weather, windy weather, calm weather, sun, rain, and hail! I got halfway out to the barn when the hail started coming down and decided I wasn’t that enthusiastic about being out in the hail. The indoor arena was being used for a dog competition so any working with the horses was going to have to be done outside. Hmmm… hail + horses or going home.

Eventually I did make it out to see Tala and it was totally worth it. She is growing up so beautifully! I worked with her for a bit and even did some desensitization exercises as a per cursor to mounting. I won’t take my first ride for a while yet on the excellent advice of my dear friend and Mentor Nancy. But I must admit it is tempting when my horse is falling asleep during desensitization! LOL

2010-05-01T17:14:00.000-06:00

2010-04-28T16:09:00.000-06:00

2010-04-24T17:04:00.001-06:00

Testing pictures via email blogging

2010-04-24T16:36:00.001-06:00

I started working on getting Tala under saddle last night. We have been moonlighting with the idea for a while now. Getting her used to the saddle (she hates it), getting her used to bit and bridle (not to fond, but willing to tolerate), and doing ground driving (very confused at first but a pro at it now!).

So last night I had my barn manager help me. She held her head why I stood on the mounting block and stepped into the saddle and laid belly down in the saddle for varying lengths of time. We practiced me doing this on both sides for about 20 minutes. She did great! No freaking out, and only a little bit of side stepping. I was able to step right back on to the mounting block about 95% of the time.

Tomorrow morning I am going out again and we are going to practice some more. I am hoping that she will give me the okay to actually get on her. Maybe by Monday or Tuesday we can get to the point of walking around the arena a bit.

We are taking it slow. I want to make sure that Tala doesn’t get sour and that we are making progress.

But I am so happy that we are that much closer to taking that first real ride together!

In other news, the garden is getting planted. I dug up a small dirt patch by our ultra ugly garage that was just clogged with weeds. And not the nice easy weeds like grass or something, but the super nasty bindweed and common mallow. These roots are amazingly thick and very hardly. A little tiny plant above ground might have huge taproots thicker than my thumb just lurking below the surface. These roots are also able to send up new plants in a heartbeat much like mint. I used my garden claw like digging tool to scrap away at the dirt and plucked out little tiny hair-like roots until I thought I was going to go cross eyed. And I also played tug of war with roots that I had already dug down 12 inches into the soil to “loosen” them until I thought I was going to give myself a hernia!!

Anyway I think I had quite a victory in that little patch. So Nora and I sowed a mixture of Sunflowers, Hollyhocks, Lavender, and Snap Dragons in the bed. Oh and couple of carrots for edible beauty! :D I am so excited for the next two weeks when seedlings will hopefully start to emerge! I can’t wait to see Nora’s face when she sees how quick the sunflowers grow. Though I am disappointed to learn that they can take 90 days to blossom!! Holy moly!

Bad news though, we got a POUNDING rain last night followed up by a near freezing night. It looks like it might have been too much for my little tomato seedlings that were doing SO well! I am a bit discouraged right now. Some of them might make but as many as half might have to be replanted.

I have four very strong tomato plants growing upstairs. They are already about five times bigger than the seedlings so I am going to reserve them for planting after mother’s day. These things are HUGE. They were normal sized seedlings but I planted them in a window box of soil and put it in an eastern window upstairs where it is warm. It hasn’t even gotten that much sun until recently but they are probably close to 10 inches high and with stems as big around as my pinkie finger! At this rate they will flower before they are even transplanted to the garden. Perhaps this is what I need to do with my remaining seedlings.

Part of my spring cleaning fever has been a determination to make use of our unusable garage. There is one room that has a southern facing window and it gets WARM in there. I am thinking of moving my seedlings in there so they get good sun and warmth. Maybe that will give them the growth jump start they need!

I know this is a huge long wandering post. I got email posting set up and am able to post from more locations now!

More on our wayward gardening adventures later…here’s to hoping we can grow a bit more of our food this summer!

Test

2010-04-24T13:23:00.001-06:00

Testing 1 2 3

Long Time No See!

2010-01-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

I think I must be the world's worst blogger. Sorry to everyone!

Nora is doing great. She is growing like a weed and learning new things everyday. Her paternal grandma Dee got her a learning laptop for Christmas. It has several games on it- including a maze game. Nora has learned to manipulate the joy stick like mouse and now can navigate all 10 levels of the maze as well as logging on to the game without help. This is less than a month after she got the toy and at first she needed help to log on and even to complete the first and easiest level. She really caught on fast!

Another one of the games this laptop has is "It's Raining Letters!" Where it brings up a screen and says the phonetic sound of the letter. The child then needs to recognize either the sound or the shape of the letter and push the appropriate letter on the keyboard. Nora rocks this game too!

Tonight we were practicing on the grown up keyboard. The only problem I see with the learning laptop is the keys are laid out A-B-C way instead of QWERTY. So Nora is a little confused when she looks at my keyboard and the keys aren't where she expects them to be.

Also I quit my job as a Cashier and am now working full time at a large bank. I am still in training for another week and will be providing phone support for bankers all across the nation. The bankers if they need help with anything regarding an account can call a 1-800 number and can choose what department they need help in. I am currently being trained in the general account questions- basically policy and proceedures. It is really interesting work and I am happy to have this great job.

I am really looking forward to this spring. Tala is doing great and I starting to work on more intensive training regimes. I am stalled a bit until I can get some more equipment. Once I have her saddle we will be able to do a lot more. I am going to work on her headset and neck with side reins and ground driving before attempting our first ride. I am really looking forward to seeing how she will do since she has been so great about learning to wear a bridle!!

Well I think that is all the news so far...

Seek the road that makes Death a fullfillment

2009-09-15T08:44:00.002-06:00

I was driving across my home state tonight and enjoying beautiful scenery and some of the most amazing sunsets (In Wyoming you get multiple sunsets if you are driving because the weather patterns can change so fast!) and the book I was listening to had a quote in it that really made me mentally stop and think.

"Do not seek death, for it will seek you out. Seek the road that makes death a fullfillment."

Wow. That quote really touched home with me. Not that I seek death or anything, but it is true. We will all eventually find our lives coming to a close in one manner or another. But we can choose how we live.

Sometimes I feel like I coast through life waiting for the next thing to happen. Waiting for Spring, for Summer, for Fall, for Winter. Waiting for the next school semester, waiting for the semester to end. Waiting for graduation, waiting for a career. Waiting for Nora's potty training.

Or time is wasted looking back and saying "I wish I had done this, that or the other."

But this year I have been looking for those little opportunities that really make life a joy. Nora is amazing and she give me so much joy day to day. This year even though it is hard for our family, I fulfilled my dream of owning my horse.

I guess it is another way of saying Carpe Diem. Sieze the Day. Live life to the fullest so when that inevitable day comes the promise of your life has been fullfilled. We can't get lost moments back, but we can fill up future moments and savor the experiences.

Just thought I would share! Anyone else squeezing life for all it's worth? :D

Sky Dog likes Organic Apples

2009-09-15T08:01:00.002-06:00

My apple tree did pretty well this year. It was the first year for us to be here with this particular tree and I expected the apples to be ready about another month down the road so unfortunatly we lost quite a few because I was to busy to go to the back yard and about 80% of them fell in a wind storm. The hornets have also been having their way with the apples. I have picked some off the tree that have had hornets eatting them, not to mention the ones they have eatten on the ground.

Today I am goig to work really hard to pick up the wind fallen apples and sort out ones that I can still do something with and the ones that can go to the horse stable and ones that just need to go to the compost pile.

So back to my subject of the post. Yesterday we went out to the back yard to play. Nora found an apple she wanted to eat. And she ate about half of it before throwing it for the dog. Sky was playful and chased it, but when she picked it up, because it was already a bit juicy, she got a taste for apples. She ate the remainder of Nora's apple and then started hunting up ones others for herself.

She doesn't eat a whole lot from each apple, but it is so funny to see a dog eating an apple!! This coming year I am going to take better care of my apple tree. I am going to put up hornet catchers after spring pollination and hopefully I can get rid of some of the nests in our yard. I am hoping to be a better farmgirl and utilize this resource better next year!

I am such a ditz!

2009-09-14T21:37:00.002-06:00

So I just happen to have four days off that coincide with two of my out-of-state Aunts and a cousin coming down to my grandparent's home for a little bit of a reunion. Great, I think! Awesome! I can go see everyone! So I as Doug to check the Suburban and make sure the battery is charged and maybe we should go ahead and get gas in it on Friday? But he thinks he will have time Saturday morning before work. No problem.

Saturday morning dawns and the plan was get Doug off to work, pack quickly- get in the car and go. Doug comes in and tells me the truck is dead and I have to take him to work. Can't we jump start it and you still use the truck? Nope. No time.

Darn. That means I have to wait until after 2:30pm to leave. Okay. Roll with the punches. It's okay. I still get to go. So we stop and say Hi to Tala on the way back from dropping off Doug. That was fun. Then we jumpstart the car and let it run to re-charge the battery. Note to self: Make sure the radio is ALL THE WAY OFF in the old truck so dead batteries can be a think of the past! Whoops!

So then I let the truck idle to re-charge the battery and of course forget that it is running and almost run it out of gas. So I drive around the block to the gas station and put some $$ into the tank. Ouch.

We get Doug, gas up the car, drop him off.

"So Alyssa, where are the truck keys?" Doug asks. Warning! Warning!

"Uh...I think in the key basket?" Kiss kiss bye bye. Yup. Nora and I left for an 8 hour car drive without verifying where the critical ONLY set of truck keys were. WARNING!! DANGER!! DITZ ZONE QUICKLY APPROACHING.

So I get an hour and a half down the road and have to stop for a call of nature and as I am paying for a candy bar so I am not a complete and total rude person for only usng the facilities I find...you guessed it...The truck keys. Dang.

So I am an hour and a half down the road. It's already late. Do I turn around and go home? Delay my visit? Don't go at all? Do I go on to Laramie and see family that I haven't seen in about 3 years? Darn darn darn.

So I decided to go to Laramie. I got to spend about 18hours there hanging out with family (and sleeping). They got to see me, Nora, and pictures of Tala. And then we packed up and came back! Talk about speed trips! 16 hours of driving in a day and a half. All because I didn't check to see if I had the keys or not.

I am such a ditz! But Nora had fun! And I had fun so it could have been worse!

Toddlers

2009-09-06T20:38:00.002-06:00

Nora is sleeping later these days which is a huge blessing to me. Don't get me wrong- for the right reasons I like seeing the early side of 6am. But it starts to get old after a while when your brain is screaming at you "SLEEP! GIVE ME SLEEP!" Unfortunatly, Brain, my daughter comes first.

So lucky for me- she is now sleeping in until 7:30am-8am ish. Hurrah for shorter daylight hours. I always mourned the ending of the long days when summer was coming to a close before. Now I am starting to see the beauty of longer periods of dark!

We've all be sick lately which means we have all been spending WAY to much time in front of the TV. I have seen all of our child-friendly DVD's at least once (we only have a handful) and I swear if Dora yells "Say Backpack! Say Backpack" one more time...

If I were feeling better I would feel guilty about all the TV time. But I don't so I don't. Nora has been so good. Today was the reading day. We read five books in a row and then she sad and read to herself for another 15 minutes. She has also been really into her blocks. We have been working on color recognition a lot this week and she is getting better. She is doing great at Yellow, Blue, and even green and red. Sometimes she gets them mixed up still, but it is getting tones better.

Nora wanted to wash dishes today. Usually this consists of soapy water in the sink, her with the scrubber/spounge thing and lots of water ending up on the floor (Look mommy- I am bailing out the sink!). Today I though- Sure! The floor needs mopped anyway!

Sure enough water goes on the floor (and counter tops and the clean dishes) but after a while I hear her get down from the chair and I peak around the wall furnace that blocks full kitchen vision from the living room and she is on her hands an knees scrubbing the floor with the dishes scrubber. Uhm. Okay so we have another cleanig spounge, need to get out a clean one for dishes, but hey! The floor is clean! Go Cinder-Nora, Go!

My little naked baby is also learning the joys of clothing. Normally I give her about 15 minutes from the moment I get her dressed to the moment she is running around shirtless, pantless and diaperless. However recently she has been asking to wear clothes! Awesome! Maybe she will learn the lesson before it frosts!

Speaking of winter coming- our garden is done for the year. I know some plant fall gardens but with only about 10 days left before the first predicted frost- I don't think I would even get radishes planted, sprouted, and grown before the frost killed everything. That means I need to either spend a lot of time digging in the garden and working in some manure from the stable or I need to rent a rototiller. Note to self- go talk to the rental guys!

Our apple tree is shedding apples like crazy. I am not sure if I will be able to keep up with them all! I hope so because they are fantastic! The wasps and ants have been getting a good fall treat! I hope the squirrels have been taking some as well.

Well I am going to go lay down and hopefully go to bed early tonight. I have had the flu for about 5 days now and have work tomorrow. We are joking that it is swine flu. I hope not. But I feel pretty recovered so I don't think I will be a Typhoid Mary at work tomorrow!

Ciao!

Alee

Learning...

2009-08-31T00:25:00.002-06:00

So I have been feeling lately like I haven't been doing enough for Nora as far as helping her learn basic information... like colors and counting. I know I know- she is only two and a half so counting is still ambitious. But she did count to five until her dad started play a game with her where he said one, she said two, he said three as he tickled/tossed/or twirled her.

So lately we have been doing a lot of naming games. I point to things, name them and ask her to repeat the name. I have also been telling her the names of colors and having her repeat them back to me. Again Doug "broke" her she was saying "Yellow" properly and he said (in her hearing) that she was saying "Lellow". SO guess what she is saying now. LOL Oh well. She'll get it eventually!

One of her favorite things to do right now is to look at the stars and the moon. Doug and I are thinking of getting those constellation stars that you can put on a child's ceiling.

How is everyone out there doing?

Trying something new- Pay Per Post

2009-08-28T13:49:00.002-06:00

Okay so I am trying something new and I have no idea how good it is or if it even works. It's called Pay Per post. To prove that I own this blog, I have to post a random sentance that they gave me:
On the first day of xmas your true love gave you a schadenfreude

Okay so before I post some weird word on my blog (see shadenfreude) I had to look it up. LOL Neurotic I know...

Philosopher and sociologist Theodor Adorno defined schadenfreude as “largely unanticipated delight in the suffering of another which is cognized as trivial and/or appropriate.”[2]

Cheers! We'll see if this thing actually works!

I love this Picture

2009-07-18T15:08:00.002-06:00

I just had to share this picture of Nora enjoying playing in the back yard!

Such a busy summer!

2009-07-15T07:53:00.005-06:00

Wow! I am such a bad blogger! I have really dropped the ball here!

Lets see here. When last I posted, Nora and I had just been in a car wreck. Boy was THAT a mess to get everything straightened out. We ended up finally getting some injury money, our car fixed, but had to pay for a couple of days worth of rental car rent. But in the end the wreck helped us be able to move out of our OLD house in the very scary neighborhood into a sweet house in Laurel. We are in a better neighborhood and their are safe parks close by! The house has some weird things about it- like the floor slopes pretty bad in places, but over all it is a good house with a huge lawn and an apple tree! Previous owners even left a swingset behind.

The end of the semester went well. I passed all my courses with great grades except for one- my math course. The class average on the last two tests was below a D so I am not too upset- except that I will have to pay to take the course again. GRR. I was going to take a summer course but it was going to cost me over $1200 for just one course AND I would have had to pay that off before fall semester. So instead I am a year behind my graduation again. Oh well. By taking an easy year this year, I will lighten the load on myself during my hardest classes.

Then, Nora and I went up to Idaho to help some friends. Rockin' Heart Ranch took HS Infinite and two of his fillies to the Egyptian Event this year in Kentucky. They did really great, but that meant they needed someone to stay behind and watch the ranch. So Nora and I had a blast out there. Nora really bonded with this sweet goat and I seriously thought about calling our landlords and asking if we could keep her.

Nora and the goat would play together so well. I actually looked outside and they were sleeping together. Honest! But both woke up as I snuck up to get a picture, so Nora was holding her down a little so I could get a picture of kindof what they had looked like! LOL

Then when I got home, I had to hurry and get ready for my stall at farm fair. A few of the things- like my packaging- didn't happen the way I wanted them to. But we had a fun time anyway.

We had lots of fun at Farm Fair- Nora was excited to see Stella again-

And then on the way home we got to bring my sweet sweet horse home with us, which is of course where I have been spending as much time as I can!!

Officially Done!

2009-02-16T11:52:00.004-07:00

I am officially done with one of my debts! Hurray! Now I have set up reoccurring payments with two more debtors. For a total of $425 being paid each month out of my account. I am really hoping to get these taken care of ASAP! It will be fabulous to see positive changes on my credit score.

Looking at my credit report during Christmas break was heart breaking. It's hard to keep in mind that $13,000 of that debt gave me the best joy in my life- Nora! But I also look at a lot of it and see massive mismanagement. I am worried that a poor credit score will hurt my employment chances if I don't fix this now. Who wants to hire an accountant that can't handle her own personal finances.

If I can manage a few extra payments here and there, get an extra job over the summer and keep a strong hand on the family finances, then I think this will turn around really quickly. YAY! More debt paid!

I am SO looking forward to the day when there will be NO BAD DEBT on our record! I swear I am going to throw the biggest party!

At least I know that my debt collectors have a secure job. At least on guy does! He secured a payment agreement from me today so that should make his bosses happy!

Lost a bit more weight!

2009-01-30T10:31:00.002-07:00

In the last nine days, without any modifications other than watching what and how much I am eating, I have lost a pound!

Today I restarted my yoga routine (okay so I was supposed to do that earlier, but it just didn't end up happening). I did one routine already today and I am hoping to get another in before Doug gets home. I am so happy! I still have almost almost 50 pounds to lose, but I am losing it and getting healthier! I can't wait until I can see my cheekbones again! They have been MIA for a LONG time.

Watching the Biggest Loser-

2009-01-27T22:00:00.003-07:00

Really makes me want to get into shape!

I am going to start by going to the Rec center tomorrow! Edit- I didn't realize that Doug's Work Schedule had changed so I am revising my plan to doing 2 yoga workouts and one cleaning workout *aka I need to shampoo the carpet before I can do yoga!! I am going to work out on the treadmill and the weight machines that I can. Then when I get home I am going to do at least one session of yoga!

Made Another Debt Payment!

2009-01-26T17:52:00.002-07:00

Well, our second debt payment went off without a hitch! Another $230 paid to one company. In another 2 weeks they will get the same again and they will be gone- out of my life forever! Hurray! After that, as much as I would love to be giving an equal amount to everyone, I have two companies that are being particularly ugly about being paid. So each will be getting roughly $200 a month which will be great because it will be getting things paid.

One of the debts is to the University of Idaho. They are being particularly ugly and holding my transcript hostage. So they will get their money until the end of April at $200 a month and then at the Beginning of May when I take my summer job- I will use my first few paychecks to write them off the register completely. That will be nice. I want to have them send in my transcript before Fall so I can get more financial aid and have a better idea of what it will take to graduate.

It is looking like my graduation date will be December of 2011 and will incur an additional $40,000 in debt unless I can get some more free money. This summer I am going to be writing applications for all sorts of scholarships so hopefully that will help out.

But really, in the long run it won't be a full $40,000 of additional debt. Some of the money is going to be used to "pay" bad debt. I know that sounds weird, but in the long run I will take something that could be costing me as much as 20% interest and switching it to something that does not charge interest and when it does kick into interest it will be to the tune of around 6%. It will save a lot of money.

And if we continue to pay on our debt, there will be a lot paid off before I graduate. Once I do graduate, Doug and I have agreed to use my salary to pay off debt fast!

Really we are just holding on and doing the best we can until the end of 2011. 2011 is going to be a fantastic year! That will also give me a full year of paying on debt before Doug's stock in Winco matures. I am really looking forward to that. We have lots of plans. We will possibly be buying a house and land with that money (securing our home base so to speak). We should be able to pay the house completely off and maybe just make payments on the land (I want AT LEAST 5 Acres). Or perhaps Doug will be starting his own business. It really depends on how the economy is looking, and how happy Doug is where he is working.

I think he should continue to work at Wells Fargo and work up the ladder there. I think it is a great job with lots of potential.

Anyway- as much as I hate feeling broke all the time- I am so happy to have debt being paid off! Yay!

Calculations

2009-01-20T12:19:00.002-07:00

I called my academic adviser today to get a pulse on my academic life. It looks like I am on target for a December 2011 graduation! I am really excited about this. I do need to take one class over the summer so that I can take the accounting classes I need in the fall. Otherwise it will set me back a whole year! Yikes. No Thanks! I am so glad I called her!

Also by my calculations- if I can up my weight loss and start losing 2 lbs a week, then I will be at my target weight in time for the BBB Fourth of July Weekend in Idaho! How cool would that be? So I am super motivated to
1) Stay strong in my determination through the semester and
2) LOSE THIS WEIGHT!

I want to be healthy, fit, strong, vital! I want to be a success in my own life! I am going to graduate and get a great fabulous job that will help enable me to do the things in life that I have dreamed about!

So I guess that means I better stop procrastinating and get to work on reading my business law chapter, eh?

Made my first Debt Payment today

2009-01-15T15:52:00.002-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well, I made a tiny baby step in the right direction today! I paid $100 to a debtor. More is going out later this month and first thing next month! I am SO exited!

Sure, it's not going to be much fun to never have any money. We could use all this debt paying money to eat all organic food and do fun vacations- but how can we truly enjoy ourselves when we know we owe so much to so many other people?

So it's kind of funny. I paid $100 and I updated my debt ticker. That only puts me at 0.3% paid! LOL That sure puts that into perspective about how much we owe! When we get into the full swing of things- when we are paying roughly $600 a month off on debt- that will only be 1.5%!

But then again- each month the perchentage will go down. For example, February's debt number will be $39,670. So $600 off $39,670 is 1.51%....okay so not that big of an improvement but the March's debt will be 39070 and $600 paid off that will be 1.53%.

So even if the percentage each month isn't all that huge- from January to the end of March, if all goes according to plan, we will have paid off 3.34% of our total debt!

So it will be a long road but really worth it. And each time I can pay off a debt in full and say forever goodbye to that debtor- It will be cause for a celebration! In fact I might throw myself a party on the blog and perhaps I will do something fun around the house- like baking cookies! :D

So Excited!

2009-01-10T07:13:00.003-07:00

I am sooo excited. My financial aid check has already been mailed to me! So hopefully it will arrive today! As soon as we get that sucker, we are going shopping at Costco! WOOO HOO! We still have plenty of food in the house, but we had to use all our money to get caught up on bills and we are going to pay more to finish getting caught up. It is soooo nice to have a huge amount of worry lifted off my shoulders!

I am going to sit down after I write this blog and write out how much money it is and how we plan on using it.

Life is good and I am so thrilled to feel like we are moving forward for the first time in a very long time!

Managing the CheckBook and Paying the bills.

2009-01-09T09:25:00.002-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with paying bills. I love the feeling of having it DONE! No need to worry about it any more. But I also hate when
(a) There is not enough money to go around and
(b) the money is gone!

Doug's paycheck hit his account last night and *POOF* It's gone this morning. Because I had to pay bills. Ugh. Normally paying the bills isn't this painful, but we were behind and so we had to pay extra on all of our bills. We even still owe money to our electric company. But our cable bill and our gas heat bill is paid. We even have a few more days to pay on the electric bill so we will be fine.

Here I sit. We are deeply in debt, budgeting like maniacs, and finally, FINALLY some financial wisdom is starting to seep in.

Doug still has $70 something dollars left in his savings account. His paycheck automatically diverts 10% to the savings account each pay period. So, while I could pull that money out and use it to pay more on our overdue electric bill, is it not wiser to listen to the old advice that says "PAY YOURSELF FIRST"!!

There have been several times especially this past year where we could have really used a "rainy days" bank account. It could have saved our bacon several times if we had just never touched the savings and probably would have saved us banking fees and such too. In other words- our attempt to be economical and use every drop of money that came our way backfired and cost us more money in the long run.

So the money stays in savings. The savings is linked to the checking account so if Doug does manage to bounce a check, he has a back up cushion. But we both have agreed to ignore our respective savings accounts. We are going to be both saving up some money each month and hopefully that will help us get into a cheaper and better rental come Spring or Fall!

I guess until recently I always thought "If I owe people money- how can I justify keeping some in savings?" But this past year has shown me that having some money in savings saves you from having to owe people in the first place!

Uh Oh!

2009-01-07T16:42:00.002-07:00

Have you ever had that thing- you know that thing that is really important.... like a birth certificate...that you never use but you see all the time so you "tuck it away" in a safe place? Then the time comes that you really need it and... you can't remember where that safe place is?

Yup. I can't find my birth Certificate!!! I need it so I can switch my driver's license from Idaho to Montana so I can get cheaper tuition!!! So guess what I am doing tonight? Ripping and cleaning the house from top to bottom until I find it!

Yesterday my vacuum was not working well so I checked the bag and sure enough- it was full. Really full. But I was out of bags, Doug doesn't get paid till Friday and the carpet really really needed attention. So I cut the bottom out, cleaned out the bag and taped it back together again. The vacuum is working great again and the carpet looks so much better. And today when I was opening a box looking for my birth certificate- I found an extra bag!!! Hurray! But I think my duct tape job on the first bag will last a while longer so I am going to save the bag until I am done with this current cleaning spree. Then I am going to figure out how to wash the cloth outer bag to the vacuum (I have an old Kirby) and then it will be all spruced up for the next 6 months or so! :D

I ran errands today. I dropped Nora off at daycare for about an hour and half. Not long- just long enough for THEM to feed her not me! (Hurray for me!) and long enough for her to get to play with some kids about her own age.

It was nice to be able to run errands and not have to worry about watching a toddler. I think it went much faster.

Well I guess I had better get back to cleaning and looking for my birth certificate. I have until Friday to get my driver's license changed. Wish me luck!!

So What's the Plan?

2009-01-07T09:36:00.002-07:00

I told you all a few days ago how in debt our little family is. Scary, huh?

So what's the plan?

This week is a pay week and bill have got to get paid! It is also the week that the college is going to release funds to me! Oh happy, happy day! I am very very excited!

I am going to put my check in the bank and pretend it isn't there, then I am going to wait for the second check to come later this month and once those two are in the bank together getting chummy- I am going to start calling everyone on my credit report. I am going to pay one of entirely since I know it is only $36. So that company might get more than their share this month, but it will reduce the accounts I have to divide the money between next month.

So the progress will be slow- but I am hoping to see progress on my credit report within 6 months. I can't wait until my credit starts climbing instead of falling!

Then, after buying books and buying staple foods for the next 5 months, I am going to see if I have anything left over from my school money. If I do I am going to use it to "cannonball" some of my debts. I know that isn't going to actually lessen my overall debt amount, but it will reduce the overall interest I will be paying.

I know I have 5 months before I can go get a full time job for the summer. I am really looking forward to that now. It will be wonderful t0 be able to toss money at debt and watch it shrink rapidly! And next semester should bring an improvement in my financial aid status! Hurray!

More tips on how to clean like a housekeeper

2009-01-07T09:29:00.003-07:00

-Tie a medium sized garbage sack to your belt loop. Don't put goopy or gross garbage in this one- that's just asking to up the ick factor, but it's great to toss junk mail into and other such benign garbage.

-When vacuuming take a second afterwards to attach the hose. Use the one with a brush on it (not the rotating brush if you have that attachment) and use it to dust your base boards and around door frames. You vacuum can also get those pesky cobwebs from the corners and walls!

Cleaning Tips from A Housekeeper

2009-01-06T08:59:00.003-07:00

I used to clean people's houses for a living. I learned to streamline my cleaning routines to stay within time constraints, but I have a hard time doing this in my own house as I don't have a time limit.

So I thought it might encourage me to get back to my good habits by sharing some tips with you all!

Tip 1-
Gather dirty things into their washing places.
- So run around the house and collect all dishes into the kitchen sink area. If you have more than one load that is fine.
- Get all dirty laundry into laundry room.

Okay so now the house is looking a bit tidier already because you have gotten two things that seem to drift all over the house into piles.

Tip 2-
If things need to soak- get them started next. Soaking will reduce the amount of elbow grease needed to get things done.
-The tile in the bathroom is looking pretty grody? Spray it with cleaner, and in places if you can, soak rags with cleaner and pile around deposits.
-reduce water out of toilet bowl and line inside of toilet with rags soaked in vinegar. This will loosen up mineral deposits and disinfect at the same time.
-take off shower nozzle and soak it in vinegar to eat away hard water deposits.
-get those greasy pots and pans soaking in hot water.
-stained clothes? Get them soaking in washer as well.

Tip 3-
If you have machines- use them. Get all dishwashers, clothes washers etc going at the same time. Let the machine clean things while you work on non automated tasks.

Tip 4-
Don't take clean things into a dirty room. Clean the staging areas of the automated tasks while the machines run.

-Why fold laundry in a dirty laundry room? If you drop that sock on the floor it will just need to be washed again. Or if you fold in the living room- same goes there. Why set clean shirts on a dusty surface?

Tip 5-
Wear either an apron with utility sized pockets or jeans with pockets. Always have a dusting cloth handy. If you are going up and down stairs, why not dust the hand rail as you go instead of making a special trip for it?

Well- let me know what you think so far. I will post more as I think about them. I am going to follow my own advice today and apply to our house! It needs it!

Sick Baby Sick Husband

2009-01-06T07:50:00.002-07:00

Yesterday at 3:30 Nora woke me up crying. She had thrown up all over herself, the bed, and the wall. Of course I had just jumped out of bed so I wasn't quite thinking clearly. At first I thought she just needed put back into bed. And then when I smelled it, I though- "Oh Diaper!" But when I picked her up I yelled for Doug. Why? For the past 4 days our hot water has been broken. We have been having to go up and down these really dangerous stairs to the root cellar/basement to shut off the water main. If the main was left on- water was pouring out of the hot water tap non stop.

So anyway- I had to yell for Doug to come help. He went and turned the water on for me and we got Nora taking a bath while I stripped down her bed and made a nest for her on the couch. Poor baby was so sick and she couldn't hold anything down at all. She had never thrown up before so she was feeling understandably scared and confused.

Finally mid morning she was able to eat some Jell-o, hold down liquids and then she even ate some Carrot Cake!

To top it off- I finally tried to fix the shower by myself and it worked! So no more having to run to the scary basement 100 times a day! Plus hot water to cook and clean with! Even better!

Then Doug comes home at 3:30 after working only half a day. He started throwing up at work. Ick. So then Doug was home and getting sick here and Nora was on the mend.

Lets just hope that the fever and diarrhea I had Saturday and Sunday was me fighting off this flu bug.

On a plus note- everything in the house is getting cleaned and sanitized which it needed anyway!

Harsh Realities

2009-01-02T21:38:00.002-07:00

Well, I have decided it is time to face up to some harsh realities. Doug and I both need to get healthy in both body and finances. We are seriously over our head in debt and things need to change drastically for our family to become successful.

Without doing an exact accounting our family is somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 in debt. Yup. Ouch. I think that deserves a double ouch.

So why are we so far in debt? Doug went to school for roughly 3.5 years on student loans and then as things didn't quite work out for many reasons- the loans didn't get put into a deferred state and have since defaulted. And since they are currently in default- we can't do much except pay with astronomical interest rates until after 6-9 months they are eligible to be re-written into a consolidation loan.

In addition to that, we ran up some consumer bad debt living in Moscow due to bad economy and bad decisions. Oddly enough it is relatively easy to ignore bills when you just don't have the money to pay them. The bad side of that is that eventually you have to pay them or people start getting ugly to you. People are being ugly.

We want to take care of our debts. Right now some of the student loan places are going to garnish Doug's pay and seize any income tax return that comes our way. Plus if we live really tight- and I mean the budget screaming in protest each month- we could very possibly put around $600 towards debt each month. That will put us at about a 5.5 year pay period until we are out of debt free and clear- a bit less if we actually stick to the budget as close as we can because of the Income Tax returns being nabbed. Also we are planning on Nora going to some sort of preschool/daycare during May/June/July/August so I can get a full time job and work. If I can make an additional $1000 a month that would really help a lot too!

So by my calculations if we can pay $600 a month plus a $2000 return and $4000 earned over the summer... then that would drop our total pay off to only 3.5 years.

Over the years the stress has really taken it's toll on our bodies. We have gained weight and lost energy. Starting Monday morning I will be returning to the gym. I am going to work out a plan and go every day to the gym from 5 to 7 or 8 (until my workout is done and give myself some cool down time).

Our house needs to get clean and stay organized and I need to have another great semester at school.

What is your vice?

2008-12-10T14:30:00.002-07:00

My vice is sugar. Real sugar...HFCS (eww I know..) anything sweet! And for a while now- the easiest way for me to get my sweet fix was to chug a soda. Yup. I know. It's really bad bad bad bad.

So I have devised a "get away from sugar" scheme. I am on a sugar diet. I really hate the "sugar alternatives" I think they are really horrible for you. But I made a bit of a "deal with the devil" so to speak. I switched from regular pop to diet. I am still drinking way to much soda- but right now I have to get through finals and soda delivers the caffeine I have been needing. So I figure that as soon as finals are over I am going to restrict how much soda I am drinking. Then I plan on by Valentines day to have it down to only drinking soda on special occasions.

My other way to help with the sugar addiction is going to put a cap on how many treats I can have. If I have home baked goods in the house- I can have a small sweet after lunch and dinner and maybe one before bed...we'll see.

But no buying sweets. My one caveat to that rule is special occasions. If I get really stressed, or we go to the movies or something... A girl has to have her chocolate.

But as lenient as this all is- it is still a big restriction from what I have been doing for the past few years. So wish me luck please! I am hoping to change my taste buds and quit wanting sweets so often!

So does this mean that Stress actually has a weight to it?

2008-12-09T12:23:00.002-07:00

I have been so stressed out for the past 6 months. If you read the MaryJanes Farm Chat Forum www.maryjanesfarm.org/snitz you might be familiar with the past 6 months of money debacle that my family has been trying to live through. Anyway. the Scale has been steadily creeping up and up and up to the point where I weigh as much as my husband should (who also needs to lose some weight!)

Well yesterday I thought I was going to break under the stress. It all seemed too much to handle. But what can you do except to move forward? Well today we talked with the bank and we are on a fast track to financial recovery. My landlords are being very kind and my worries about eviction or resigning of the lease are now over. We can stay as long as we like. We can take our time getting our finances in order. We don't have to try to be moving on Christmas Day.

So does stress actually have weight to it? This morning I had accepted the situation and just by doing that, a lot of stress was lifted from my shoulders. I usually weigh myself naked and right after I use the bathroom first thing in the morning. That way it is only "me" being wieghed.
Well, with wet hair and clothes on, I just had to step on the scale. I weighed the same as I had yesterday so I knew that there was some weight loss. And I just changed clothes and decided to step on the scale. I usually step on 2-3 times just to make sure it is accurate and I have lost a pound! Now I know that some of that is because my diet is starting to work, and I know some of that is because of eating more fiber=more elimination of my intestines. But I am thrilled!

Now not only are we getting our train wreck of a financial situation back on the rails again, but I am seeing the first positive change in weight for almost 3 years! I had just started really losing weight when I got pregnant with Nora, and then of course I was so ill that I lost weight initially, but then baby weight and such packed on and nursing didn't help me lose the weight.

Now I am watching portions and what I am eating and I think it is paying off!

Working on getting a new place to live.

2008-12-04T21:34:00.002-07:00

So the saga of our rental this summer.

When we were moving we were planning on moving into some apartments that only let people in _below_ a certain income guideline. Because Doug was a new employee, his income verification was held up and renting from this complex fell through.

Well there I was with Nora just about 14 months old, staying in a hotel room with my husband, child, and dad with our Budget Truck sitting outside with no where to unload it.

Every rental I looked at said they would take at least a week to process an application, so we had to go with a "other" property owner. He owns a lot of properties in Billings, and will rent to anyone as long as you have the money.

So we forked over $730 for July rent, plus $200 for the remainder of June, plus a $730 deposit PLUS a $300 or $400 deposit for the dog! Yikes. Talk about empty bank account!

So we moved in on a Saturday. The carpet still wasn't laid down, and the place was filthy. It honestly should not have been listed as habitable. We didn't have a working oven all summer- for about 3.5 months. Then our faucets in the bathroom broke and we had to turn the water off to the whole house to not have it gushing full force 24-7. That took several days to fix and now our cold water tap is broken in the bathroom shower as well. It is leaking a lot- we are talking about gallons upon gallons of water per hour and they still haven't fixed it.

Then, in addition, there is a leak in the basement from the shower that has been there since we moved in. They still haven't fixed that.

So the next stage in this drama. Our car broke down. The brake light switch is broken. So we had to buy a new part and we won't be able to fix it until Sunday when my parents drive me home. But we had to spend money to get the part. So...we are short on rent by just a bit. Like $30. Will the landlord give us any extra time? No. He gave us a 3 day pay or evict notice. And then they gave Doug a 24 premise inspection notice.

Doug thinks they are trying to find a way to evict us, which with the evidence of how they are behaving makes sense, but I don't understand it. We have been good tenants and the one time we have had to be late before, we paid the late fee with no grumbling. We take care of the property, we move the lawn, change light bulbs, keep it relatively clean. (we aren't perfect but we don't leave garbage laying around or food rotting). We don't do drugs or get into huge screaming fights. I honestly don't know why he wouldn't want us to continue to rent it.

So I have been looking for a new place to live. I think I have some leads and we might even save some money. Wish us luck!

Playing with Nora and Sky!

2008-12-03T09:03:00.003-07:00

The first picture of Sky looks like "Really....I didn't do it. I don't know what it was...but I didn't do it." The second picture is so funny because we were playing and she was about to pounce on my foot...LOL

Some of these pictures will make it onto my slide show, but here are some fun pictures from yesterday. Sky was in a playful mood so she was jumping and pouncing.

Some of these pictures will make it onto my slide show, but here are some fun pictures from yesterday. Sky was in a playful mood so she was jumping and pouncing.

More Jewelry!

2008-12-02T15:48:00.003-07:00

I have been busy all day doing homework, taking pictures of my mom's fabulous jewelry and adding it to the website. It seems that whenever I do a big add to my site I learn lots and it is really streamlining down. I may change the layout a bit down the line to be a bit more organized, but I am so pleased to be able to offer room on my site for this.

Mom, my sister Jen, and I are hoping to get spots as vendors in the MJF farm fair. We are making plans for crafting weekends to build up our inventories! I would hope to offer my bath and body lines as well as my dolls and even doll clothes! What do you all think?

Sometimes you just need a good cry on your mom's shoulder.

2008-12-01T16:34:00.002-07:00

Last night all the stress that I have been carrying around for the past 6 years just was a bit too much and I had a good crying session while talking to my mom. She is fantastic. Supportive and offering good advice. Mostly my stress stems from money issues. Ugh. Money issues. We have been super tight on money this summer because of mistakes, misunderstanding, lack of attention to detail... well you get the picture. We did it to ourselves but it still doesn't make the fall out feel any better! :(

But things are turning around. They are getting better every day and that makes it tolerable. It also helps to have my hands busy. I am currently waiting for the mail to bring me brand new wool batting to make some dolls for some kids for Christmas. That above all else is making me happy. I like to think of the kids playing with their toys for years and then maybe, someday they will pass them on to their kids.

I just added a new section to my website! Heritage Designs is where my mom's beautiful Jewelry is featured! I have had the privilege of taking the photographs and getting the site set up for her. I think it is looking pretty spiffy!

Nora is getting so big. She is so inquisitive and active. Some days it really tests my patience when she can be a bit destructive. But I am so thankful that she is how she is. She is learning and growing so much! She is learning new words each day and we understand her better too.

So, Cheers and here's to a great Holiday Season!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T23:41:00.003-07:00

Doug and I had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We got to see both sides of our family. We went to Powell to see his Grandmother, Mother, Aunt and a cousin! It was a blast!! His grandmother was born in 1933 in Sweden, where she lived until she was 21. She is such a fun lady. She is spunky and says what she wants to say, yet she is so sweet and loving. She gave Nora an amazing gift. It is a necklace that belonged to her great-great-great Grandmother and her great-great-great grandfather's baby ring. They are both simple but very beautiful. I will take and post a picture when I can.

Then we drove down to Worland to see my side of the family. Everyone was here, even my two grandparents! It was so nice to see them. My grandfather is still walking with a cane after being attacked over fourth of July weekend, and my grandmother is on a cane still too after breaking her hip and hurting her neck about 2 months ago.

I am staying for another week here in Worland to be with family, but Doug had to go back to Billings for work and such. I miss him already, but the week will go buy super fast!

Today, Doug called because the car won't shift out of park. I happened to have the owner's manual here so I was able to find him and tell him the override procedure. Our tail lights have stopped working, we aren't sure yet if it is a blown fuse or a bad bulbs. I really hope it isn't something serious as we just don't have the money for this right now.

I really hate money problems. We were really hoping to be all done with this silliness by now. We are doing much better, but still we are looking onwards towards next month. We are hoping to gain ground next month. I really want to stop having to live paycheck-to-paycheck. It is so nerve wracking when unexpected things come up.

Well, I suppose that which does not kill you, makes you stronger! I just might have a head of white hair to show for it!

Tagged!

2008-11-26T09:28:00.002-07:00

I was tagged by Diana of Frolics'N'Fibersfor a MEME! Basically, you get tagged, write 6 things about yourself and then tag 6 more blogs!

SO:
1) I am the youngest of four daughters, no sons!

2) I have a wacky personality! I love fantasy/science fiction, but at the same time, I love everything real, handmade...basically anything you could define as "Farmgirlish"

3) When I was younger I hated skirts/dresses but now I actually enjoy wearing them!

4) I used to think that I would hate having kids, that is until Nora came into our lives!

5) I love all horses, but my favorite breed is the Straight Egyptian Arabian.

6) I have found a away to combine two of my favorite things- Reading and doing crafts by listening to books on audio with my MP3 player which leaves my hands free to do other things!

Sisterly Fun

2008-11-25T23:54:00.002-07:00

I have webcam envy! Tonight I was ironing on some doll clothes, when I heard this weird beeping sound. I looked around at first thinking our phone was ringing. But no, the phone wasn't ringing so I went back to Ironing. Then something beeps again. So I decided to go make sure my computer wasn't melting down. Surprise! Two of my sisters were inviting me to a Yahoo chat conference! Fun!

So I got on and took the headset with the microphone from Doug. We chatted for a while...but here's the kicker...They both had webcams! So not fair!

I think I am going to request one from Santa!

Farmgirl meeting and Farmerette Play!

2008-11-24T07:32:00.003-07:00

Yesterday Nora and I went to our twice weekly farmgirl meeting of the "Yellowstone Prairie Flowers". It was lots of fun, especially for Nora. We met at a place that had some play equipment which Nora thought was just the best. She had fun climbing all over the place, sliding down the slide and playing with other kids. There was one little boy that I think fell in love with her. He was "helping" her up the stairs which was so sweet even though she didn't need it, and he was giving her bouncy rides on this bouncy dinosaur. It was really sweet.

We met a new farmgirl friend yesterday too. We are hoping she will join our group. She seems really sweet.

Madelynne took some fantastic pictures for me- isn't she the sweetest? She took some pictures of Nora, which are now added to the slideshow, and she also took some pictures of a doll that I had made. The doll will be on her way to her new owner today, so the timing was perfect!

Creating Dolls

2008-11-22T21:56:00.002-07:00

As you probably know, I made my own version of Waldorf Dolls which I also sell on my website. Waldorf dolls are made with all natural materials, (Cotton, wool etc). They are designed to enhance imaginative play instead of narrowing down play into one sector. For instance, if you have a themed doll, a child's play is often restricted to that one type of play. However, Waldorf dolls are meant to be open ended. The child can pretend a history for the doll that can change minute by minute if the child wishes because there are no pre-set parameters of though surrounding them.

I am so pleased to have had a week of making dolls. I am making one for a little girl's Christmas present, and I am making 4 to go into a shop. I really hope they do well for the shop owner.

It is amazing. I use the same pattern for each doll, but I have noticed that each doll takes on it's own personality as I make him or her. There are always slight variations in size. Some come out plumb like babies, and one came out super model skinny! I always cut the fabric on the same grain and use the same seam allowance. The only explanation I have is that there is a hidden doll in each yard of my fabric. Or perhaps my subconscious has an image of how the doll should be and that guides my hands. Either way I feel like each one of these dolls is unique.

I decided to start sewing the eyes a bit differently. I really like combining 2 colors of embroidery floss to achieve a multicolored, multidimensional look. Even the stitching pattern is a bit different. It might take longer, but I think it gives a really nice effect over all.

I hope to be able to take some pictures soon!

And now I get to go back to one of the funnest parts- sewing pretty clothes in miniature for the dolls!

Such a Little Thing...

2008-11-22T21:45:00.003-07:00

Yesterday we had to take Nora to the ER. She's okay. But at the time we thought she had a sprained wrist or even had broken something.

So I went to lay down. It's that time of the month and without my normal remedy (a long soak in a hot hot tub) I am suffering from exhaustion and cramps. Nora decided she wanted to climb up and take her nap with me. So she started to climb up on the the bed, and was reaching for the blanket to use as a hand hold. Thinking to help her, I help out my hands and was slightly pulling her up, when her little foot slipped. Suddenly she was crying and saying "Ouch Ouch Ouch." I got her comforted and we were laying together when I realized she wasn't moving her left arm at all. Any time I touched her arm she would cry out in pain.

So Doug and I rushed her to the ER where we were informed this is a very common injury and not to worry. (Don't worry? My kid is crying in pain and you say don't worry?!)

Luckily with a gentle twist (Even though this hurt Nora) he was able to fix her arm. It's called Nursemaid Elbow which is literally a dislocation of part of the elbow. It can happen up to age 5 in children by any tugging motion on the arm because of stretchy ligaments.

Within 2 minutes she was using her arm again and not showing any indication of pain. Today she was climbing all over things again and acting like her self again. I feel even more exhausted now than I did before. It was such a trauma and a scare. I am so grateful that she wasn't hurt more and that it was such an easy fix.

I have so much more sympathy for my poor parents who had to suffer through me having a broken bone at 3 different times and smashing up my face badly in a bike wreck. I don't think that anyone can quite comprehend fear that a parent feels until your child is hurt and you can't fix it. I am so thankful that we live in an area where a doctor is only minutes away.

Updated My post about my swaps/ Finishing Projects

2008-11-19T13:20:00.003-07:00

I have made huge progress in the swaps I signed up for. This week I mailed out the Christmas Ornaments, the tea towels, and am about to mail out one set of the pillowcases.

I have two doll orders that I am working on. The first one is a custom order that I hope to finish the doll part tonight, possibly even the doll clothes! I figure I will be able to get all my doll orders mailed by this weekend.

I have been feeling really bad about how long it has been taking me to get my swaps done. So having them all start coming together and getting mailed out feels great! Watch the mail ladies! Packages are coming your way!

Thank You

2008-11-19T13:14:00.004-07:00

I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has been reading my blog and who have been visiting my Store website- AWarmheart.

If I am reading the information correctly, the more hits you get, the higher in the search engine results you site is listed. My AWarmheart has been showing more hits in the past week, and I am hoping to be able to offer my goods to people in time for the holidays.

Yes, by selling my items it does help my family, but for every ounce of lotion, cream, or soap I sell, and for every doll I sell that hopefully one less item being bought that was made in a chemical laboratory somewhere or one less toy made of possibly toxic materials.

So, Thank you all very much. I highly appreciate it!

Making Soap

2008-11-17T19:59:00.002-07:00

There is something magical about making soap. I have always loved making mixes and potions. Just ask my mom. I think I drove her to whits end sometimes. She would go in to clean the bathroom and there would be some smear of something or another when I was trying to create a powder lotion (Lotion plus baby powder... little did I know I was way ahead of my time. Lots of companies and even cosmetics have a cream to powder line now!) Or when I saw the commercials for products that had the "Shampoo and Conditioner in one" and I decided I should just combine my two.

So back to soap making. I started making soap several years ago after being inspired by Susan Dahlem- The Soap Maven who I met through MaryJane's Farm. There is something amazing in all the many varied chemical reactions that go into making that simple bar of soap.

First you have to know a little about what you are doing. You have to respect the Lye. Lye can be dangerous if treated cavalierly, but overall it isn't as dangerous as some things that are in most houses- like battery acid. I will take lye over battery acid any day.

The first amazing thing about soap making is how the combination of liquid and lye can take a liquid that is at freezing temperatures to well over 130 degrees in a matter of less than a minute. It is very very important to not use warm or room temperature water with lye. This can cause rapid boil which means drops of caustic liquid flung in random directions.

Then by combining warm oils with the lye, you can watch the soap form! In fact, you get soap bubble almost immediately!

I also love how you can make an infinite variety of soaps depending on the oils you use. Some oils make hard soaps, some make moisturizing soaps, some make lather, and others don't. And the best thing is that even if you don't get the exact product you were hoping for, you can usually still use your product!

I made a fun soap today that brings back wonderful memories of biting into a fresh cinnamon roll. The soap is called "Baked Cinnamon". And the best part? All of the ingredients in it are organic and the scent is from an essential oil. I think that is the thing I love the best about homemade soap. I know exactly what is in it, and there aren't long lists of questionable, unpronounceable ingredients and the dubious listing of "Fragrance."

Frugal Living Tip

2008-11-16T21:12:00.002-07:00

I love my Costco card. Costco saves me lots of money each month and allows us (Doug) to have a few extras (Mountain Dew). I am really pleased that they have so many organic choices now and some of them are hardly more expensive than the conventional product right next to it.

Now, not all organics are made equal. Some companies are certified Organic, and while they use and process their foods in an organic nature, they aren't living up to the Spirit of the movement. However, when I am standing in the store and I can choose a product that was grown with lots of fertilizer, pest and weed chemical control, or I can pick one that was grown without all that? I will choose the organic product every time.

So I feel great about frugally buying Organic at Costco. Their gasoline also runs about 4-10 cents cheaper per gallon which in of itself just about pays for our membership each year. So Costco gets a huge Frugal Vote Yes.

Another thing that I am finding very frugal is to shop my local Organic food Stores. Organic bananas for $.49 a pound? Yes please! Sure, they need to be eaten or baked into banana bread that day because they are at peak ripeness. But you won't hear me complaining! Also look for (especially in Montana) Milk that is about to pass it's "Sell By" Date. Usually the store will mark these down for quick sale because they lose money if the product doesn't sell. I have seen ORGANIC _GALLONS_ of relatively local milk on sale for only $4.99! Yup! That is what I call a bargain!

Strong Baby Nora

2008-11-16T21:02:00.003-07:00

Today we had to run a few errands. At the store, Nora was happy to be pushed around until just till the end. I asked her if she wanted to get down. She nodded yes and held her arm up to be picked up. I showed her how she could push the cart by grabbing the bars. Away we went! I just straightened her path when she was veering off course. She pushed that cart all the way to check out and then from check out back to the cart station. She even walked all the way to the car.

Now, Nora has been walking since before she was even a year old, but of course, being a first time mom, I get a bit over protective when we are out an about. She is so fast and so small (relatively) that I fear that unless I keep her mind occupied, she will wander off to occupy it herself! The world is an awfully big place, and so interesting to young inquisitive minds.

But I think I learned something today. There is a time to carry and restrict movement, and there is a time when you have to realize the baby you are carrying isn't quite a baby any more, and it is time to let them spread their wings just a bit.

Now we have to work on enforcing that she has to come when called. It is so easy to make it a game of chase, but I don't really want to play games when we have to make a trip to a store!

I am going to make another batch of soap tomorrow. What can I say... I am addicted to soap. At least it is a healthy addiction! I also found out that some of the materials I need to make the dolls that have been ordered are on sale! Serendipity! I love sales!

I spent all day working on homework. I really need to get more of this done during the week!! I hate wasting a full day on it. Okay, it's not wasted, but you know what I mean! What is really frustrating, is that I can't do part of my assignment for my Research class since I am supposed to find reference material in our Library in certain locations, and the library has let me down. Hopefully my teacher will have some good suggestions.

I am looking forward to the end of the semester. I will have passed my classes, registered for new classes, and then I get a blissful month off to relax and rejuvenate! Bliss!

Soaps, Dolls and more

2008-11-15T16:05:00.002-07:00

I updated my online store today. I didn't realize that some of my PayPal shopping cart options weren't working.

I also added a new checkout shipping feature for MaryJane's Farmgirls only! For my fellow MaryJane's Farmgirls, any product bought off my site receives free shipping! To get this free shipping, the shipping option "Pick Up" should be chosen.

A special soap order for Shaving Soap came just in time. I was contemplating making another couple of batches of soap soon and I think there is nothing a farmgirl loves so much as having a reason to do one of her favorite crafts!

I also am excited because I got some doll orders. I am really looking forward to making these.

If you have time, please stop by my store and then tell me what you think! Please!

Learning with a Toddler.

2008-11-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

Being a mom is amazing. I never really thought I would feel this way about being a mom. That is until Nora was born. Watching her explore the world really opens my eyes. The things that she finds amazing helps to lift the veil of disillusionment from my eyes. I start to understand why the little things are so wondrous again.

Nora has learned to pull her boots on all by herself. When she is tired, she goes to her bed and pulls her blanket up *sometimes*, and she has decided that her high chair is no longer something she wants to be in. She much prefers sitting at the table in a big person chair.

She also can pull pants on by herself now. Though she hasn't really figured out how to get them completely on, and sometimes she tries to layer up.

For a while there she was counting to four pretty consistently. Lately she is stuck on "2". Which is fine since she will be two in March :D. She does, however, understand the concept of how many items she is supposed to have. If there were five crayons in the box and she dropped some, she will stop and look around until she finds all five.

Discipline is hard. Sometimes she gets that look on her face and you know she is doing something just because she knows it is wrong. Like pulling the books off the shelf for the 10th time that day.

We use face-to-face contact (getting down on her level so we aren't looming over her). We only use the word "No" when we mean it. We are trying to be more consistent and back each other up. If Doug says "No, don't stand on the chair" I am trying to be better about enforcing that. We have been known to spank through a diaper, not hard enough to hurt, but just to get her attention if she was doing something potentially dangerous to her life. Like climbing inside the dryer, or reaching for pans on the stove top. I think it is the noise that startles her more than anything, and while she might test the concept on another day, she seems to get the point that day.

Overall, I think she is turning out to be a lovely toddler. We all have our moments when frustration runs high. I know she is right on the brink of breaking through and really communicating with us. I am trying to spend a lot more focused time trying to help develop her language skills.

This morning we were playing with her letter blocks and I think she was starting to understand that each letter has it's corresponding sound. She was trying to mimic me which was so cute.

Then later when we were doing the morning laundry, she was so helpful. She would bring the laundry out to the living room so I could fold it, and then would take folded laundry to her father who was doing dishes in the kitchen. This was a totally new game for her and she had so much fun being our little helper.

Starting on the Journey to Health

2008-11-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Today I am starting on the journey to health. I pulled out a notebook and labeled it my food diary, but really it is going to be my heath diary.

Every morning I am going to weigh myself. I will write down everything that goes into my mouth. Food, water, soda, candy. Everything. I will also write down a general description of my activities to give a general idea of my activity level.

Each night I will run my calculations through somewhere online to see what the balance of activity to food calories was.

At the end of the month, if I haven't lost weight I am going to the doctor for tests. I am going to watch portion control and try to get out and move more often. No matter what happens, I am going to find some answers. I hope the answer is just that there have been a lot of extra calories making their way into my diet that I can cut out and find health again.

I will update the blog to show how I am doing, and I also got this ticker from tickerfactory. Don't let me forget to update it!

I also will be using the site http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/ as an online version of my paper journal. I will be striving to do both so I can take one to the doctor's office if need be.

Wish me luck!

I feel a bit...busy...*update- Making progress!

2008-10-24T08:02:00.001-06:00

I have my everyday life that I of course can't just leave behind. Okay...some days I do, but then it just back fires and I have more to do the next day!

But I think someone should commit me to an insane asylum. Yup. Definitely. For Sure.

So in addition to taking care of home, husband, dog and toddler, I have now added a whopping 16 credits of college. Okay. I still think I can handle this.

Then on top of that I decided to go on a MJF Swapping Spree!

I have 3 adult sized aprons to make.
2 of 4 of pillowcases to embroider-
And some sort of Holiday themed project to make and swap!

Phew!

Okay...don't think I am nuts...but I think I am going to try to get this all done this weekend! Yikes! It's going to be lots of fun to try! Hopefully I can get some really good crafting time in.

Congrats Winners!

2008-09-19T07:10:00.001-06:00

No one guessed Nora's exact height, so I took the ones that were only off by half an inch! You ladies sure know your kiddos!

Could the winners please contact me at either my alee (@) awarmheart.com email or my alee (@) maryjanesfarm.org email?

I am going to send a pretty Christmas ornament your way!

So the winners are (drum roll please!!)
Trish!!! (One dog per Acre!)
Janice!!! (Miss Bee Haven!)
Elizabeth!!!
Jamie!!! (Simply Flowers!)

Ladies please email me your mailing address and I will get these ornaments made up as soon as I can! I promise they will be there before it is time to put up the tree! LOL