Monday, September 28, 2009

Weekend Update

This weekend I came down with a lovely cold. At first I thought it was just allergies, so I didn't stop loving on/kissing/snuggling the Baby Bug, but... when I woke up Saturday unable to breathe, I felt immediate remorse. So far he seems fine, some small symptoms, but nothing too bad. I'm just worried that if he does get sick we will have to pay out of pocket because the insurance company is taking their sweet time putting him on our policy. I have a love/hate relationship with insurance. They seem so out of tune with the real needs of the people who pay them but the alternative is SO much worse. Customer service that takes days, weeks, months or government "help" that take years? Anyway, I'll just hop off my little soap box....

So this weekend was fun. We....

.... made some money selling our moving boxes on Craigslist! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

.... had a cheap date at Sonic- we ordered off their Dollar Menu! I really like their Jr. Burgers. Just the right size for a woman trying to lose here "baby belly"!

....checked out a new grocery store called "Bottom Dollar Foods". It seems like it will be a great place for us to shave some $$$ off the grocery budget. Their prices are less than some other stores and they accept coupons. The produce was great, even better than some of the upscale stores in the area.The only drawback is that it's kind of far and not in the best area. I'll let you know how the deals pan out.

....made my own laundry detergent. So far it works better than the stuff from the store and much cheaper too!

....used RedBox for the first time!

So all in all a great weekend.

(Photo: Prevention Magazine Online)

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sweet Sabbath



Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Menu for the next two weeks



My desire is that I'll be able to plan my menu one month at a time and post it right around the time of my shopping trip. That didn't happen this month because I was still unpacking and setting up our new life here but everything is settling into a much better routine, so I have hope for the future!

Week One
Sunday: We ordered Little Caesars. Hmmm!Pizza! Pizza!
Monday: Baked potatoes with sour cream, bacon, and cheddar cheese
Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Pie with salad
Wednesday: Beef Stew and homemade biscuits
Thursday: Pasta with cauliflower and breadcrumbs
Friday: BBQ Chicken with potato salad and corn on the cob
Saturday: Beef Stew and homemade biscuits

Week Two
Sunday: Pork Chops with Rice
Monday: Spinach Bacon Quiche and salad
Tuesday: Sauteed Sausage and Peppers with rice
Wednesday: Thirteen Bean Soup with homemade wheat bread
Thursday: Chicken Tortilla Pie with salad
Friday: Spaghetti Carbonara
Saturday: Black beans and corn over rice

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sweet Sabbath


" Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him" Psalm 34:8

Friday, September 18, 2009

Finally Friday!

This week has been a complete blur. It seemed like everyday I was asking my husband what day it was because I just couldn't stay on top of it in my mind. I'm so thankful that whenever we don't "get it right" we are given the next day/next week to start all over again fresh!

I'm really looking forward to this weekend because I might get some rest. The Baby Bug has been going though a growth spurt (again!) so he's not been sleeping through the night. But he's getting big enough that I could take a nap and he and his daddy could have some play time! I was able to get into the very messy office and clean it up so I feel pretty good about that room and won't be thinking about it guiltily while I'm doing nothing. Today I'm going to make some delicious Strawberry Banana muffins so I won't have make breakfast in the morning, just in case I get the chance to sleep in a bit.

This weekend I plan on
...watching some TV or something from Blockbuster Online
...finding my knitting so my hands have something to do!
... taking a nap! (Maybe I can convince my husband to take us to the beach and I can take my nap there!)

What do you usually do on a lazy weekend?

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thankful Thursdays



I can't believe it has been an entire week since I last sat down and wrote. I will get better at this, I promise!

What I am especially thankful for today:

... that I am healthy and with relatively no work on my part!
... a wonderful home that I feel "at home" in
... grace when it is given.

What are you thankful for?

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Thankful Thursdays




You know what? Today I am thankful. Not that I'm not thankful on other days but I think on Thursdays I will try to be freer in expressing my thankfulness.

Today I am thankful:
...for a new friend.
...for the sounds of military jets reminding me of those who protect my country.
...for the sweet sounds of my husband telling my son a story as he put the Baby Bug to bed.

What are you thankful for?

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Perfectionism- the enemy of productivity




I try to keep my house pretty clean most of the time but sometimes perfectionism gets in the way. How could perfectionism possibly keep you from having a clean house? Shouldn't your house be cleaner if you're a perfectionist? Not at all.

Case in point- When we moved, we planned the boxes to go directly into the room they belonged to make our unpacking simple. But we had a few stragglers that didn't belong in specific rooms since they had come from storage. Thankfully we have a second bedroom to put them in, while going through them. This room filled up with the random stuff much quicker than I anticipated. In fact, it was so full we weren't able to close the door! So every morning I'd walk by this room and say "I can't live with all this junk! I HAVE to go through it and get rid of it all!" A good intention, right? Enter real life. I have a baby who very adorable-y asks for my attention, most minutes of the day. There are meals that have to be made. My charming husband has papers he needs me to read and cases to discuss. Needless to say, not a lot of work has gotten done on the room.

A few days ago I was thinking about my everyday household cleaning and realized I hadn't vacuumed in more than three weeks. And as I was thinking about the vacuuming, I found myself saying "I can't do that yet, I need to clean the guest room clean first". What?! I can't do basic maintenance until an out of the way upstairs room is clean and organized? Why?

Because perfectionism got in the way. I needed the perfect house that was in my head before I could maintain it. And I wanted it with the wave of a magic wand, not breaking it into bite size pieces that could be accomplished while my son is in bed.

I find myself often struggling with this problem. Whether it be losing the last few post pregnancy pounds, growing in the Lord, or maintaining a budget, perfectionism frequently gets in the way. I don't want to do the little things that maintain or move me slowly in the right direction. I don't want the kind of results that you can only see from hindsight. I want them NOW! I want them BIG! But life rarely works that way.

So after I vacuumed that day, I realized what a difference that one little thing made and like anything worth doing, we do it in hope.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Law School Widow?



I doubt it.

My husband of almost three years started law school last week. Previously we had lived in the Washington DC metro area, where I was a stay at home wife and he worked for a successful non-profit. It was a lovely easy-going life for us full of eating out, taking trips and watching movies whenever we felt like it. We had a sweet little apartment with arched doorways and beautiful parquet wood floors. Our love for antiques and unique decor fit perfectly.

Most people in DC thought we were crazy for going to Law School (People are always confused when I refer to "us" going to law school. But I will continue to say "we"because this is most definitely a joint venture.) "Why leave your good job with security and go into thousands of dollars of debt to enter a profession that's over saturated anyway?" "Don't do it. It will ruin your finances" and worse "It will ruin your marriage" was the advice we heard all too often. "Why do we want to do this crazy thing?" we asked ourselves. Because my husband has a dream. And I also have a dream.

He dreams of becoming an honest, godly lawyer and offer his services to those who genuinely need them. His hero is Atticus Finch. My dream is to have a husband who loves what he does professionally. I believe a huge portion of your family's happiness depends on a husband/dad who loves what he does. My heroes are the millions of women who stand next to their husbands, with radiant smiles, and say "when everyone else doubted, I believed in you and I knew WE could do it".

So we packed up our little apartment, our even littler 10 week old baby and moved 200 miles to begin the Law School Adventure! We now live in a bigger apartment with hilarious faded Smurf blue siding. Instead of arched doorways and parquet floors we have and an "open" floor plan and construction grade carpeting. But I love it all. There are so many blessing already. And I'm so excited to see where God takes us.

I am confident we will not only survive law school but we will flourish during law school. It will take hard work, flexibility, and sacrificial love I'm sure but, by God's grace we will do it.

That's what this blog's about.