A Simple Morning Routine

The meal that we had last night didn't turn out as I wanted, so I am going to have to keep working on perfecting the recipe.  I always feel so disappointed when I the meal doesn't turn out because it's money down the drain.

Lately I have been working on housekeeping and how to spend the least amount of time doing it.

I hate the idea of not being able to be as attentive as possible with Janni, since she is constantly getting into EVERYTHING!

I've found that if I follow these simple steps in the morning, that I am able to just do all the cleaning during her naptime.

After Zack and I do our morning devotional, I put a load of laundry in the washer.  I didn't have to separate my load because I do that the day before, right after I put that day's laundry in the washer.

Second, as soon as Zack gets into the shower, I begin his breakfast and in between cooking, I put several dishes from the night before away.  While Zack is eating (I wait to eat with Janni later), I put the rest of the dishes away.

Zack gets ready and I get his lunch and everything he needs together and ready to go.  We say a morning prayer for safety and to glorify the Lord through our action and deed and Zack is on his way.  I immediately go and make our bed.

I try to shower before Janni is up and then once I am fully ready, I wipe down the bathroom counter and pick up the bathroom.

Once Janni is up, I go into her room and we make her bed together.  This involves putting a comforter over the edge of her crib and setting her pillows up nicely (Janni loves to help).

That's it!

The house is always going to need a good pickup throughout the day, actually, several good pickups, but the house is usually in ready to play order because I do a final pickup after Janni is sleeping.

So the 5 things I do in the morning:

1. Put a load of laundry into the wash
2. Separate the load of laundry for the next day
3. Put the dishes away from the night before
4. Wipe down bathroom counter
5. Make beds

Happy Tuesday!

Cheers!

Happy Monday with a Recap to a Nice Sunday Outing

I really don't mind Mondays.

By Monday, Janni and I have had "Daddy" home all weekend and although we would like to have him home longer, I understand his desire to provide for us.  So letting him go back to work isn't so bad.  Friday will be here before we know it!
  
Yesterday was a nice day.

We ended up going to our old church (long story short, my mother-in-law has cancer and we have been going to her church in order to spend as much time with her as we can) and it was nice.  Janni always loves this church's nursery and its toys, and since our new church is family-integrated, we actually don't have a nursery, so she was thrilled to play in a playroom.

After church, we went out to eat at Culvers.  We did grain-free and didn't have their delicious butter buns, which was sad, but since we have started our full-fledged diet in hopes to lose some weight and actually feel better, it was a huge win that we both said no to a bun!

They were out of highchairs, so Janni got to sit in a booster.  She thought this was the greatest thing in the world.  I, on the other hand, did not.  I spent most of our meal making sure she didn't slide off of it and face dive into the table.  But she ate a lot (music to my eats- pun intended) and was very well-behaved; even the couple next to us noted how adorable she is and how it was actually pleasant to sit next to a family with a young child.  So, another win!

We went to the mall and Janni got to play in the play area for a while.  So, she had double the fun between church and the mall.  Double win for Janni!  We also looked for a new pair of church sandals and a Thanksgiving dress, both for Janni, with no luck.

We came home and put Janni down for a late nap, I picked up the house, and Zack did a few things.

It was such a lovely way to start the week.  

Today I have accomplished to following:

I have this week's meal plan and grocery list written out.

I have grocery shopping just about done (I still need to run to Costco for meals later in the week).

I got an unexpected 45 minute nap in and feel fantastic!

The house is clean and ready for Zack to come home.

I am trying a seemingly yummy twist on a popular meal in our house and if it turns out, I will post the recipe tomorrow.

Happy Monday Evening!

Cheers!

New Series: Partners in Crime

Hey Momma, let's go down the slide!

Are you coming?

                                        

Almost to the top!

                                                              

Weeeeee!

Heeeey Frodo, let's go and cause some mischief! I hear it makes Mommy's hair fall out!

C'mon, Frodo! Let's find something bright and shiny!

Alright,  Human Partner! I'm using my sniffer.  Where could it be?

You found it, Frodo! Perfect!

10 Things I'm Excited For

1. My In-Home Daycare is on its way to actually hosting children. It'll be a good 60 days before I actually have children other than Janni!
2. That soon, in about 2 years (opposed to 10-15 years on average), my student loans will be paid off!
3. For my current natural laundry detergent, Boulders, to run out! Boulders bombs.  It has very little scent and my clothes don't have that, "oh so fresh" smell and it annoys me to no end.  Costco stopped selling my beloved Ecos in the big bottles but I just found out that Sam's Club does sell it.  My sister-in-law has a membership to Sam's Club (as we do not) and is willing to allow me to purchase it off her account!  I am thrilled to tears!  Here's to fresh smelling laundry!
4. My living room carpet is oooh so clean and every time I look at it, I get super excited! Carpets in rentals just seem to get dirty and nasty quick and Janni loves to roll around on the carpet! So, the idea that my carpet is now very, very clean makes my Momma Sized Heart very glad!
5. Zack got another website side-job, which means that without a doubt, I am going to Florida in January for my bestfriend's wedding!
6. Going to Florida to be a Bridesmaid! I've never actually been anywhere near the east cost! The furthest East that this Western Born and Raised girl has ever been is Texas. 
7. That the house is spotless and all I really need to do today is make the beds and do a few dishes!
8. That it is after 8 a.m. and Janni is still asleep (she will awake soon but usually she is up at the 7 o'clock hour).
9. That tonight's dinner will be via slow cooker! Nothing brightens my day like a slow cooker meal!
10. That it is still September and that means it's still okay for me to buy gifts for myself!

What are some things you're excited for?

Cheers!

Giveaway Postponed and The Giver

I really want to have a giveaway but we're still working on a nice layout and more posts.  I think I will wait until I reach a decided number of hits.  So sorry, but keep reading and tell a few friends, soon enough I will have regular giveaways!

Yesterday was my birthday, though.  I'm 27!  My birthday was very low key.  Zack gave me my birthday card in the morning after we did our Devotional.  Janni and I visited the new TJ Maxx store that opened two days and I bought my niece (we share our birthday) her birthday present and Janni a board book with colors because we are really working on her colors and she has utterly destroyed her other colors book.  We took Zack his lunch and had a nice lunch as a family.  I didn't really do any cleaning except for making the beds and picking up the house.  I just took the day off from chores even though my in-home daycare home visit is today and I really need to mop the kitchen, bathroom, and entrance way floors and also steam clean the living room carpet.

Zack took me to see a movie, The Giver, and we left Janni with our sister-in-law at her house for the first time.  We've only left Janni two other times with my mother-in-law and that was at our house.  We were worried she would be upset and left her with heavy hearts, but lo and behold, she did fantastic!  Once the movie was over, we rushed to get her but she was happy and really wasn't bothered that we were gone.  Zack and I were a bit saddened that she didn't seem to miss us but happy that we know we have a future babysitter! 

I really enjoyed The Giver.  Zack said he liked it but it was confusing to him and he was having a hard time figuring out how to categorize the movie.  I think that I found it more appealing because my 6th grade teacher read us the book and it has been forever dear to my heart. 

About 4 years ago, when I was nearing the end of my degree, we received several books for our classroom library and The Giver was one of them, so I reread it and thought, "This is such a wonderful read, why haven't they made a movie out of it?"

Ask and you shall receive? 

But I didn't ask, I just went on my merry little way and then saw that the movie was coming out.  I have to admit, even though I thought it would be nice to make it into a movie, I was nervous to see it.  There were several things that were changed in the movie that made me irk, but overall, they did a good job keeping to the script.  I would suggest reading the book first (it's meant for middle school kids, so it's a quick read) and then seeing the movie.

Cheers!

Black Widow Dilemma

Last night, I was brushing my teeth and finishing up getting ready for bed, when Zack came in to the bathroom and asked me to come outside to see something.

When Zack had put our dog, Frodo, out to use the bathroom before bed, he noticed that we had several black widow spiders with webs in our backyard! When I had first gone out and seen them, I froze, but within a minute of registering the urgency for me to act, we managed to kill all three of them and decided to search for more black widows.  We lifted the dog house and ahhhh! We found two more hiding underneath it!  This seriously makes me sick to my stomach!  How many times have we taken Janni out back to play? So many times!  And it has never really occurred to me that, "hey, there may be bugs out here that could very well impose death on my toddler!"  I am so grateful that we haven't had any bites from the spiders because Janni is typically in to E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G!!  Thanking the Lord that He protected my sweet girl!

When we made a call to the landlord about our neighbors, we made sure to inform him about our current deadly spider situation  He plans to send out an exterminator (I am not going to get into how deeply I dislike the idea of toxins mingling in my home), so that will at least keep Janni and my future daycare kids safe!

After our bug killing fiasco last night, we decided that we needed to clean the backyard up so Zack is currently outback, cleaning the backyard of any items that the black widows may use as a hiding place.

I haven't done any chores since it's Sunday and the house does need a good pickup, so while Zack safe-ti-fies (yes, I just invented a really cool word, you're jealous, huh?) our backyard, I am going to go be productive, too!

Cheers!

The Neighbors are Back

I wrote earlier about our neighbors leaving early yesterday and leaving their dogs kenneled for over 24 hours.

We gave our landlord a call and let him know about our concern.  He told us that they were actually going to a wedding and would be back soon.

They are now home safe and sound.  I'm glad they are safe.  I'm not glad that I had to listen to the dogs bark for the last 24 hours.

Multifamily living dilemmas!

Cheers!

Our Neighbors

We currently live in a four-plex.  We all pretty much keep to ourselves.  We're friendly to each other but do our own thing.

Yesterday morning, around 7:30 a.m., I ran to a department store, desperate to get the twins,  whose birthday we attended yesterday, presents.  On my way home, I saw our neighbors driving the opposite way.  This was around 8.

These neighbors are similar to us.  They have a 2 year old boy and a newborn girl; we have a little girl.  They also have 2 small dogs; we have 1 small dog.

When they leave, they kennel their dogs.  If they go on a long trip, somebody comes by and gets their dogs.

Yesterday wasn't the case.  They have yet to return and nobody came by to get their dogs.  Their dogs are so desperate to get out of their kennels that they are barking constantly.  We heard them barking some last night, but just figured they would come home later.  Luckily for us, we did not hear them when we went to bed because the bedrooms are on the opposite side of the house.

This morning, I got up and went to the living room to hear their dogs barking over and over again.

It is now about 8:45 the next morning.  Over 24 hours later.  This isn't like them.  There should have been somebody who came to get the dogs.

I really hope our neighbors are okay and that they didn't get into a car crash or have some sort of freak accident!

We've decided that after we get home from church later this afternoon, around 1 p.m., that if they have not returned, we are going to call our landlord and let him know the situation.  Since he has their number and we don't, we'll have him call and do a welfare check on them.

Say a prayer that they are okay and this is just an out of the ordinary situation!

I would end by saying my normal Cheers! but that just isn't the most considerate things to do in a situation like this!

I Am Ready For Another Baby

We went to a birthday party for twin boys today.  They turned 2! I got to hold their 5 month old sister and I was in Heaven!

I am sure it was the baby pheromones, but ever since holding that baby, I have had baby fever so badly that I get mad thinking about the fact that I indeed am not pregnant this month.

 I got to thinking, since their sister is 5 months old, that means that when their sister was born, they were 19 months old!  Janni is just about 17 months old now and if I were pregnant this very day, she wouldn't be a big sister until she was 26 months old!

 I really, really, really want another baby!


Hello there, Baby Fever.  Unless you're going to bring me another baby asap, if not sooner, please go away!

I guess I will count my blessings!  I have a sweet and healthy Angel and a husband who loves and cherishes my baby girl!  I guess that this baby fever has blinded me.  I am going to go hold both my babies!

Cheers!

My sweet girl at about 8 months!

27 and a New Feather/Down Pillow

My birthday is this Monday.  September 22.  It's actually, to my knowledge, the only date with more than one family member calling it their birthday - there are not two, but three of us that the date marks their entrance into the world.  The other two are my Mother-in-law and my nearly 2 year old niece.

There's just something special about September. The air just seems different and I always seem to splurge.  You know, it's like the air is telling me it's okay to buy that skirt, bag, shoes, that shirt for Janni!  I come home during September with a new bag of a new something and when Zack raises his brow, I say, "That September and her air! It's like she whispers through the air to me that it's okay to buy that skirt, bag, shoes." 

September, you sneaky, sneaky month!

So far my Mom has sent Janni winter clothes per my request.  I am such a Mom! I prefer receiving things for Janni than things for myself and since my Mom lives aboout 90 miles away, she really enjoys the opportunity to spoil her only grandbaby!! So far, Zack has bought me some very practical things: a phone charger meant for my phones because mine died and a really nice feather/down pillow! He gave them to me early and I was thrilled with both.  I am sure he has more surprises where they came from!  My Mother-in-law is going to watch Janni and Zack and I are going to do a dinner and a movie.

In the Spirit of September, I am going to sponsor a giveaway of something (maybe a bag, purse, makeup) that starts on my birthday! Let's see how this goes!

So excited!

Now, I'm going to bed with an oh so soft pillow.  Good night!

Cheers!

How I Keep a Laundry Schedule

Or How Do You Eat an Elephant? One Bite at a Time!  or Ten Things That Make Me Feel Unloved: #1 Asking Me To Help with Laundry.

I was just joking about that last one, but it's true, my least favorite chore is laundry!  Not the putting it into the washer and dryer part.  I can manage that.  I really, really, reeeeally hate having to fold and put away laundry!  I can't explain it.  It's just not fun for me and for that reason, I do one of two things. 1.) I put off laundry and get backed up to the point where Zack is begging me for clean socks and underwear or 2.) I have piles and piles of clean, wrinkled laundry that get shuffled between our bed and the top of our dresser.   It's actually super embarrassing how long I have gone without actually putting the laundry away. We've literally worn an entire pile of clothing without it actually seeing the closet or dresser drawers.

Then one day I had this brilliant (or at least smarter than what I was doing) idea.  I thought that maybe I could manage the awful, daunting task of laundry if I broke it up into sections rather than try to conquer is all in one day ... and I was right!

I found limiting the amount of laundry that needed to be done by categorizing them 1.) made the task easier to do and 2.) actually made each load of laundry smaller because I was routinely cleaning say, the darks or whites, and it never actually had the time to accumulate to no return!  Putting laundry away has never been such  a pleasant task (as pleasant as it can get)!

Here's what my schedule looks like:

This picture reiterates me need to get a high quality Canon or Nikon but my husband has really encouraged to keep blogging regardless of my camera quality. So, as we look for an affordable, high quality camera, this is what I have. :)

Weekly Laundry Schedule:
Monday: Jeans
Tuesday: Colors
Wednesday: Janni's Clothes
Thursday: Darks
Friday: Whites
Saturday: Linens/Towels
Sunday: Rest

I write mine out by hand to make it more personal.  I then place it in a plastic paper protector and tape it into the top of my washer (I have a top loader,  but if you have a front loader then just tape it on the wall to the side or wherever you can always see it) ) so it's there to remind me what gets washed that day.

It takes a week of faithfully doing your laundry and putting it away on the day it's scheduled to be done to experience the benefit of a schedule and to see smaller piles of laundry to put away.  When I told Zack that I had planned to start a laundry schedule, he agreed to help me put the laundry away every evening for a week, so it made it easier from the get-go.  You may want to have somebody commit to helping you put the laundry away for the first week.
  
So, how do you eat a massive elephant? One small, beautiful bite at a time!

Cheers!

Cheryl's Broccoli Salad

I never really cooked too much before I got married.  Sure, I wanted to try a meal out here and there, but never really anything consistent.  When I first got married, I mostly called my Mother-in-law for recipe ideas and help because she knew Zack's taste buds better than I did.

My Mother-in-law had us over one night and made a wonderful dish that I can't recall, but I am sure it was wonderful, because I can honestly say that I have never had a meal at her house that I didn't like!  But I do remember one of the sides dishes that night and I enjoyed it so much that I begged her for the recipe.  It was a really tasty Broccoli Salad.

Recently, we were over at a Home Fellowship Potluck through our church and I brought this dish.  While we were eating, somebody said, "Who made this broccoli salad? Because it is my new favorite thing!"  He asked me for the recipe and while I was writing it out, I decided to name it after my Mother-in-law, Cheryl, since receiving accolades from my burglarized meal just didn't seem right!

It's real easy and a sure hit!

Not sure what that brownish thing on the upper left hand corner is.

Ingredients:
1 head of broccoli
4-5 pieces of bacon
1/2 cup cranberries
1/4-1/2 cup sliced almonds (must be sliced, whole or chopped just don't work right)
1/2 medium red onion, chopped (not diced)
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 sugar or 1/2 cup honey

Cook bacon until it is crispy, place on a paper towel to remove excess grease and allow to cool.

In a small bowl, add mayonnaise and sugar or honey.  Stir together well and allow to sit.

Chop the onion in to small pieces.

Cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces, discard stem.

In a large bowl, add broccoli, onion, cranberries, and sliced almonds.

Once bacon has cooled, dab any excess grease with the paper towel it is sitting on.  With another paper towel (or just use your hands), crumble the bacon so that it is in small bits.  Add to bowl.

Return to your mayonnaise mixture and stir it. Then add to the large bowl. Stir together well.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Be sure to stir it up really good because everything but the broccoli seems to sink to the bottom! Enjoy!

Cheers!
 

Gluten-Free Chicken Pot Pie: Casserole Style

During Zack and my engagement, my now sweet and thoughtful mother-in-law made an effort to invite us over every week to help wedding plan.  Each week, she made sure to cook one of Zack's favorite meals.  She would always ask me to help so that I would be able to make Zack a few of his favorite dinners once we were married. Clever woman!

One of Zack's all-time most favorite meals is a homemade chicken pot pie, casserole style.  It doesn't actually use a pie crust, but you add a biscuit on top of it.  I actually make sure that the entire filling is covered with biscuit so that it is more of a casserole (in other words, it doesn't just look like there are separate biscuits on top of it).  I had to modify the recipe because I use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free baking flour and the recipes are close but not perfect, because gluten-free flour difficult like that.

This honestly took me months and months to perfect, because I was constantly not making enough biscuit and then trying to cover the chicken mixture and ending up with holes in the casserole due to too little dough!

I finally created the perfect pot pie casserole that can use gluten-free or regular flour.  


Ingredients:

Chicken Mixture:
3.5 cups water
2 tbsp better than bullion  (or 2 bullion cubes)
1.5 cup frozen mixed veggies
1 cup chicken, shredded (about one medium chicken breast)
1 tbsp of flour
(optional: garlic salt, pepper, onion powder for taste: I do about 1 tsp of each)
Biscuits:
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp honey
1 egg
4 tbsp semi-soft to soft butter (not melted) 
2/3-1 cup almond milk


Preheat oven to 350.

Chicken Mixture:

In a medium pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.

Place chicken breasts whole into pot and allow to boil.

When chicken is fully cooked, place onto a plate and allow to cool.  Discard water.

Once cooled, use 2 forks to shred.

In the same pot used to boil the chicken, add 3.5 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Add Better than Bullion, and mixed veggies to the pot (if you're using garlic, salt, and onion powder to season, add this now).

In a small measuring cup, add tbsp of flour and 2 tbsp of water and mix until there are no clumps.  Add to boiling water.

Allow to cook for about 15 minutes.

Add shredded chicken, allow to cook another 10 minutes.

Biscuit:

5 minutes before the chicken mixture is done, begin to make the biscuit mixture.

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

Add butter, you may need to use your hands to break in the butter. Wash hands.

Fold in the egg.

Add honey

Slowly add in milk but don't add in all at once, it may be too much and your mixture will not work and you will be so disappointed!  Once your mixture is the consistency of dough, you're ready to use it.  If you're using gluten free flour, do not allow it to sit and rise. The baking powder causes the flour to get air-filled and it doesn't make too great of a biscuit.

Pour the mixture into either an 8 x 8 or 7 x 11 Pyrex pan (any bigger and you won't have enough biscuit dough).

Using your hands, take a handful of dough at a time.  Flatter the dough like this.

Place dough on top of mixture, covering the chicken mixture until the entire Pyrex is covered.  You may need to take a utensil spread the mix and cover all the tiny holes as pictured below.

Put in oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes and enjoy!

Cheers!

I'm Still the Biggest Burglar I know

When I was attending the Northern Arizona University's School of Education, we read several books by a man who is considered to be the Education Guru!  His name may make you giggle, but I promise I am not making it up.  His name is Harry K. Wong (clearly that middle initial K. was put in their to help distract immature college students, myself included!). Here's proof, if must have! :).  Did you click the link? Are you laughing yet?  Trust me, there were countless immature laugh fests during discussions of this man.  All this to say, he said a quote during one of the countless videos we watched that I remember whenever I am getting ready to "borrow" an idea from somebody.

He said, "When it comes to originality, teachers are the biggest burglars around."

I have tried a million different ways to meal plan, but nothing really seemed to stick with me.  I would usually find it too difficult and complicated and I give up within the first week.  I've tried everything from monthly planning to weekly planning. I've tried typing it up on a calendar to a printout that you write in yourself ... to no avail.  After all this frustration and many, many tears after calculating how much we were spending on groceries each month, I was thrilled to tears when I decided to try one more method for meal planning and it worked!  And we saved money!  A lot of money!  I found this meal planning method from Janssen at Everyday-reading.com. She has an excellent weekly meal planning system, complete with an easy to read menus and a shopping list.

So, yes, I have burglarized and stolen my meal planning system and I love it!

It's super simple.

First, I write out the weekly projected meal plan.  I use a notepad that I got from Michael's Crafts for a grand spanking total of $1.00.  You can get them from pretty much any store with an office supply sections like Walmart or Kmart.

Next, I take a white piece of printer paper and fold it so that there are 6 sections that look like mini lists. (Hint: I first fold it hamburger style, opposed to hotdog style).  I then label each section as seen below.  Produce, meat, dairy, frozen, can/dry, and miscellaneous.

Categorizing my shopping list has made it less stressful to shop because, say I am in the produce area, I can quickly see what I need from that area and I don't have to scan my list several times to make sure I got everything before moving on.

I read through my food menu, one meal at a time, and see what groceries I am going to need to be able to make these meals and add the grocery items to the list in the category it should be under.  I also write other things we may need as I think of them.

That mark under produce in from water that was on the table. Sadness.

And then I go shopping, usually every Saturday, for groceries.  We eat a lot of organic, mostly grain-free foods, which sadly means there are not a whole of coupons for these items.  I usually google websites for coupons, check the store ADDS anyway, and hope to get lucky.  Sometimes I do and then I do a little cheer for money saved!

So, Emily, you have only planned dinners. Do you only eat once a day?

Not this fatkid!

I get up with Zack every morning to do our morning Devotional and pray together and then once he has gotten into the shower, I make him breakfast and pack his lunch. Later in the morning, when Janni is up and at 'em, I make us the same thing I made Zack that morning and maybe anything else that she is into at the time.

Breakfast:

• Eggs and Bacon
• Grain-free granola
• Grain-free muffins (I will post recipe)
• Cut up fruit

I always make more than enough dinner so that there are almost always leftovers, and I send those with Zack. Janni and I will eat any extra leftovers or whatever she is really into a the time (this week it's Trader Joe's gluten-free mac and cheese (we're really working at grain-free eating, but she is a toddler and needs weight on her, so this is the exception)). Sometimes I scramble us eggs, eat tuna with peas (my favorite!), or pull out a frozen chicken breast and boil it so that I can pull it into BBQ chicken (or any other flavor that suits my fancy).

So, there you go! I'm all for keeping up with teacher stereotypes. Burglar at work and full of pride!

Cheers!

The Debt Must Get Paid

I am a former elementary school teacher.  I loved the year and a half that I got to be in the classroom.  I was a nearlywed, first year teacher... and I just so happened to be pregnant, too! I honestly had the sweetest, easy-going class a first year teacher could ever wish for!  Teaching them was work, but they made it so easy and were so considerate of me (their teacher the year before was pregnant as well). They were precious.  But I had a lot on my plate and a lot of those lovely student loans to pay back (I was stupid, stupid, stupid to take out max!!). 

There was no question, after the baby arrived in April of 2013, I would presume the role as stay-at-home-mom.  Our finances would work out eventually.

So, here I am in September of 2014, and I love my role as a SAHM!  It is so rewarding, and Janni is a jewel!  She is such a sweet and affectionate little girl with a mischievous side!  And our debt is getting paid via snowball.  I've struggled and struggled with the idea that I was the one who foolishly took out my loans for college and Zack, my sweet husband, has been and is more than willing to pay my student loans off - it's just going to take a while.

We're doing quite wonderfully on Zack's income.  Zack has his 9-5 job that has always provided more than enough to sustain us and then we're blessed beyond measure all several webdesign, computer repair, nerdy techy side work each month. But I want to pay off my student loans faster and actually help pay them off (since, ya know, I was the smart one to take them out).

I've decided to open up our home and start and in-home daycare.  The idea came up months ago, but I turned my nose up to the idea.  We plan to open up a separate account for this money to be deposited into and then have an automatic withdraw each month to go towards my student loans.  Ideally, we  won't have to touch the money at all!  The program in which I will be certified and running my daycare through id a government DES program, so it is committed to helping provide struggling parents with safe, high quality childcare.

It's a great program and I have an in-home inspection this Friday.  I have been organizing, cleaning, desperately working towards getting this place in an order in which I can prove to the inspector that our home is indeed, a healthy, safe, beneficial environment for children.

I am actually beginning to get very excited about the prospects of this business will be sure to blog the progress and document via picture the transformation of my very large livingroom and Janni's bedroom into an in-home daycare!

I can't wait!

Cheers!

To New Beginnings!

I guess I just never really made myself stick with this blogging thing.  Between taking care of my 16.5 month old daughter, Janni, and taking care of the house, I just felt the lack of inspiration to blog... but now I am feeling the fire burning deeper than ever before and whispering, "just do it."  And so, I am just going to do it.  I plan on writing out a schedule for the rest of September and come October, I will do the same until I have this blogging things on a roll!

Cheers!