H54F

High five for Friday!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!

1. Lots if puppet shows happening at the Smith House as of late. 

2. I love that these two are so close. 

3. Birchbox. Nuf said!!!

4. Looking at travel items means we're getting closer to CRUISE TIME!!

5. Thank goodness the artistic side of our family is not lost. Emma and her beautiful drawing. 

Have a great day!!!

H54F

It's that time of the week again!!!

Happy Friday Everyone!!!!

1. Love taking walks in the neighborhood!

2. Deodorant wipes??? Um. Yes. 

3. Blanket tents are the best!

4.  Air popped popcorn in our Jammies!!!

5.  Sleeping babies. 

Have a great weekend!!!

H54F

1.  LOVE shopping with my family.  And LOVE that this guy is dating my sister!  What a trooper

2.  This is what happens when KA lets her hair air dry.  (Yes I am speaking about myself in the 3rd person)

3.  How can you not love this little guy?  

4.  The art of a 5 year old boy.  How can we forget about the art of a 5 year old boy?

5.  So grateful that God produces a means for our earth to replenish, but also grateful that we got out of this storm safely.  

High Five Everyone!!!!

Mischievous Monday........

Ok....So I seriously can not believe I am sharing this with everyone except to get some support. If you are easily offended, or only a mother of girls and have no brothers, this may not be the post for you..... Here goes.

Boys have penises. Just in case you didn't know. When boys are little and discovering what their penises can do, it can make for some interesting conversations with your little guy. Like "We don't pee off of the deck" or "Our penises are not sprinklers". Any way, now that I have said the word penis more times in one conversation than I ever have before.......Here comes the mischievous part of my post.

So you all know our youngest is 5. Well Little Lord Fauntleroy has decided to explore his "potty" options. This may mean that he pees in his bathtub......Our shower.......again off of the deck..... Evidently this also means that he pees in the drainage hole in the garage and makes a little art while doing so. I don't want to impede the little guys creative side, but seriously. GROSS!!!!!

Yesterday, my husband was in the house and heard the garage door open. Now the garage is right next to the downstairs bathroom so having Elliot head that direction is not unusual. By the time DH got to garage door, Elliot had already created his "art". When my husband asked him if in fact he had peed on the garage floor my little angels response was, "No, dad. Addy did it."

Ok. Let's recap. Elliot=BOY, with boy parts. Addy=GIRL, with girl parts. Clearly my 5 year old does not understand physics and that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for sweet Addy to urinate in the below pattern, but it didn't stop him from throwing her under the bus. At any rate, DH is smarter than that and re-asked the question. He did get a more honest response that time. Please tell me that my child is not the only one with "pee creativity"......Good heavens.

Mischievous Monday Blog Hop!!

So, Little Lord Fauntleroy (aka Elliot) is our picky eater. I don't know what we did to him. We offer him veggies, different types of food. We don't make him special meals. We don't let him snack in between. Everything you are "supposed" to do. None the less, my child's diet consists of popcorn, cereal, hot dogs bologna and tortillas.

Now to the mischievous part...... I went in my room, which is just outside the kitchen and living room, to fold and put away a load of laundry. The door was open the kids were watching a show on the big tv in the living room. I come out to LLF running around growing with his tortilla mask on his face. No big deal, right? Until I discovered two days later while making tacos for dinner that he had done the mask thing with ALL of the tortillas in the package. Good times. 

H54F

1.  Absolutely living the watch that my dad got for me for work. The perfect combination of feminine and functional! 

2. So excited about my new job and recent promotion. 😊

3.  Birchbox came this week. Yippee! 

4.  LOVE, LOVE this stuff. It's even better because my sweet sister gave me this one!

5.  I've mentioned this little miracle before. It definitely came in handy again this week. If you don't have it. Get it. 

High Five For Friday everyone!!!! Have a great weekend. 

House of Rose Vlog Hop.........

Join the "Stop and Smell the Roses Vlog Hop" like I did!!!

Have a great and thankful day!!!

www.houseofroseblog.com

August Bloggy HOP with Bloggy MOMS!!!!

Just BLOGGY HOPPIN'!!!!! Come check everyone out!!

Update Weeks 8, 9, Oh who am I kidding....I don't remember

So you all may have been wondering where on earth I ran off to.  I haven't done a weekly update in quite a while.  Sorry!  I have been working my patutuie off!!!

I was finishing up one class, starting another and getting a promotion at my main job.  Need less to say, I have been HOPIN'!!!

The good news is, we are still making progress.  We have paid off another $1000 worth of debt and put some money away in savings.  That may not seem like a ton given it has been a few weeks since an update, but keep in mind, it is back to school season.  And holy moly can school supplies get expensive. We use coupons and try to buy in bulk when we can, so that most definitely helps.  But there are still things that we feel strongly about buying quality and that does not always mean the cheapest. 

Shoes are one of these examples.  Again, we buy on sale and use coupons when we can, but buying the absolute cheapest shoes is not always smart or money wise.  We have had seasons where we have had to buy each of the kiddos 2 or 3 pairs of shoes from Target or Walmart where one pair from Famous Footwear or Land's End would have been cheaper in the long run.

This can be frustrating when you are spending good money on shoes, only to have to buy them again in a month.  We spend anywhere from $20-30 for a pair of shoes now.  That is much better than $10 or $15 a piece only to have to replace them in a month.  You end up spending more that way.

Any way.....We are still moving forward.  We have also decided to save for a vacation for my husband and I.  This was a long conversation over several months.  We realize that we are paying off debt.  Our thought process is that we need time away also.  In order for us to be motivated, {for most people to be motivated} is to have something to look forward to.  In our case it's a cruise.  We are excited!!!!  We can plan ahead and stay on budget.  Most importantly, we don't have to add more debt to have a good time.  

This will set back a little of the debt payoff, but in the end, like the shoes, it will help us and be more cost efficient in the long run.  It's a way for us to recharge half way through the first year of our journey.  

I promise to keep up.  I am on a pretty good schedule now, so it should be easier!!!

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week. 

H54F

1.  I love my Scentsy warmer.  It's patriotic AND smells yummy!

2.  I got the Defining Eyes Palette by Sigma last week.  LOVE!!

3.  The kids at Bandimere.  

4.  I love how it feels to get my hair done.  FINALLY!

5.  The Cabella's here opens Augus 15th.  I can't wait!

High 5 for Friday everyone!!!

H54F

1.  Love that the kiddos are so excited when they lose their teeth.  The tooth fairy came to visit us this week.  :)
2.  During out debt pay down, I love that we can get things on sale.  HUGE sale at Old Navy this week.
3.  Thankful for all of the men and women that are putting out the fires here in Colorado and everywhere else.  Praying for the Arizona hot shot families that lost their loved ones this week.
4.  Can anyone say CRUISE?  I think there might be one in our future.  :)
5.  We finally broke down and got a grill.  Our other one was left in Iowa.  Boy did we miss it.  We LOVE grilled food.

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Week 8 update.............REAL PROGRESS

Hello!!!  So we have had some real progress this week!  We finally got some of our reimbursements as well as a bit more money that we were able to play catch up with.  Yay!!!  We were able to pay off about $4,100 in debt this week!!!  Woot woot!!!  This will save us about $560 per month. Of course this will go towards getting caught up on other things.

We discussed putting some of that in savings instead of paying off the debt, but when looking at the big picture, decided this route, THIS time was the way to go.  

So......We are making progress.  We took my dad out for a late Father's Day dinner, but have otherwise kept spending under control.  I am really proud of us!!!

We also haven't added any new debt.  HUGE accomplishment.  We do love our credit cards.  But after my cut up party a couple of weeks ago, we haven't added any debt or done any sneaky things like get the number off of our statement and use it to buy something. 

So more next week.  Baby steps!!!

         

   

H54F

1.  We love the 4th of July and the awesome parade that goes with it. 

2.  I have a new love. This little pink miracle has gotten me over the 3 am hump at work multiple times this week 

3.  I love being back in Colorado and around family. Sushi night for a late Father's Day celebration!

4.  Look at these handsome Veterans eating and chatting it up at the American Legion post 209! Grateful doesn't even begin to express how I feel. 

5.  My guys. Napping together. ❤❤❤❤

Happy Friday all!  

After we bought socks.....

I am convinced that God has a sense of humor.  I believe that he looks down at us at times and thinks "Silly child.  When are you going to learn that I am in control.  Here maybe this curveball will help."  And then he smiles, maybe even laughs.  

I say the aforementioned because my husband and I had it all figured out.  We just KNEW what we wanted in a child that we adopted.  We wanted an older child so that I could still work.  We were ok with a small sibling group, but thought that starting one at a time may be best.  We wanted a child that was ready to adopt because we didn't want the biological parents to "interfere" in our child's life once they were placed in our home. 

Insert God's sense of humor here {   }........

Our case worker called my husband to tell him that she thought she had the perfect children for us and could she come over to chat with us about them.  She wouldn't give us any details over the phone.  So DH called me at work and told me that I had to be home on time, because the case worker had called and she had the perfect children waiting for us.  I was stunned into silence.  This was really happening.  All of the waiting.  All of the anxiety.  All of the socks.  Were all now coming together.  

Addy Kathryn. 6 months old

Emma Grier, 20 months

Week 7 Update......

Getting closer.....and closer.......

Well this week has most definitely had its challenges.  I started my new job a week before last but had my first overnight shifts this week.  Holy moly.....My husband has been great with the kids and letting me sleep.  But my house looks like it exploded.....Clothes....dirty dishes...you name it.  

The upside is that I have already gotten my first check.  Yay!  Playing catch up is really nice.  In spite of the "extra" money, we did not shop for any extra stuff or go out to eat a ton.  We did eat out once this week as a family and I had lunch with my sister.  Other than a pedicure, which let me tell you, was necessary (can you say sore, cracked heels?), nothing extra. 

Can I tell you how huge this is for us, for just a moment?  It is really huge.  The hubster and I are both shoppers.  We shop when we are happy, we shop when we are sad, we even shop when we are mad. One HUGE gain for the Smith family.  I think I already said it was huge.  But really....It was huge.

So to give the gory details....Still no money in savings.  This will change next week.  It has to.  We paid off another $321 dollars in debt.  We didn't add any new debt and kept our spending under control.  As tiring as this week has been with the new schedule, it was a satisfying one for sure.  

    

                                      

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H54F

1. How crazy is it that I love to see updates come up on my phone??? Sorry, folks. Call me crazy. But it makes me smile every time! 2. I got my office nice and clean recently and am feeling uber appreciative of my Thirty One totes at the moment. Cute and they hold EVERYTHING! 3. Along with my hubby's birthday, the Army celebrated their birthday last week. Yet one more opportunity to thank our military personnel. 4. We got a new faucet this week. Our last one had a mini explosion. 5. Feeling blessed to be living back in Colorado. We have had (and still do) had several wildfires, yet our state pulls together and gets it done! Thank you firefighters, police, military and volunteers for keeping us safe. Have a great Friday folks!!! Talk to you soon and thank you for reading.

 

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Week 6 Update......

Well week 6 is over.  Finally....This week has had some added stress with the fires close by our house. We are so fortunate as over 400 homes were lost in this fire alone.  So very sad....

All of that to say, I start my new job tomorrow.  I am happy for that.  FINALLY, I can start bringing in some money.  We have still done really well this week as far as buying extras.  We have only spent money on bills, food and gas.  That is a big step.  I don't think we've gone quite this long without caving in the past.  We are doing well, sticking with our budget too.  Now if we could just get that $1,000 in savings....... Soon.

We are waiting for payment on the odd jobs that we recently took and the money for selling things is no longer coming in.  Once my husband gets back from his business trip, it will be time to set down again and reevaluate priorities.  We still have some catching up to do.  About 4 more weeks and we will be at water level, instead of below.  Can I get an AMEN????

The Cut Up Party Hostess..........

This week too, I pulled all of my department store credit cards out of my wallet and had a cut up party. I was surprised that when I pulled them out, I was actually hesitant.  I know that we have not been disciplined with them and I know that they needed to go.  But, honestly, a part of me struggled to pull them out and cut them up.  That may sound strange.  To have some sort of attachment to my credit cards. I would venture to say that I am not the only one who feels this way.  If I was, we wouldn't have the debt that we do in this country.  Not only do the cards give us some imagined buying power, but they are also almost a status for some people.  I know that in years past, I have thought how "LUCKY" some of my friends were for having as many cards as they did.  WOW.  Now that I have them, I see how easily they can take control of your life.  You get trapped into thinking that you will only use them "once" or "just for this sale" or "just until next payday"......Well, many a payday has rolled around and many a cards have been left with a balance.  NO MORE!!!!!  Here are my before and after shots of my credit cards.  This week, I am going to call and actually cancel them.  But for today, while I had the guts, my scissors and I had a party.  And then a glass of wine.........

                        

Before........

                        

After.....

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High 5 For Friday.......

1. There's nothing like being upgraded on a flight.....A little more leg room=One Happy Traveler!

2.  Loved that my cab driver from the Toronto Airport had was a closet Disco Man!

3.  My new travel hair care routine......Let's just say the Ottawa water and lack of good hair products did not make for a very pretty week.  Thankfully, Toronto was much better in the hair department.

4.  This was my snacking material for the last three days in Canada.  I was lucky enough to have a market with a fruit and salad bar just around the corner from my hotel.  YUMMY!!!

5.  Strawberry, banana Jamba Juice.  I think I will.  

High 5 Everyone!! 

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Week 5 Update...

Well, we are in the delayed gratification stage of our debt payoff.  We have worked a ton of hours, sold a bunch of stuff, gotten more jobs and now we wait.  We wait for the money to start coming in from the jobs, the reimbursements to come in from the things that we sold to pay for the trips that made us some extra money and for the new jobs to start.  OH!  But before I forget, I did make $118 dollars this week with my direct sales company.  Yay me!  That was really helpful.

    *Me working in the hotel.  Loved this lap desk by the way.........

It is a bit of a struggle this week.  I have been in a different country and wanted to shop, shop, shop.  But I didn't.  Part of me feels really good about it and another part of me REALLY wishes I could have just bought some stuff.  Not a lot of stuff, but stuff none the less.  *SIGH*  Like I said in the beginning, it is what it is.

Another thing that was a bit different this week was how we handled our food bill.  We did shop a little for necessities {milk, bread, T.P.; Can we please not discuss the catastrophe that happens when we are out of T.P.? Thank you.}; but have been using the stuff that we have to make it through the next several weeks.  We have had 2 of my husband's second job paydays go by now without a paycheck as he is on hiatus for the summer and man does it hurt.  You don't realize how much you depend on that money until it's gone.  

All of that said, we are still in a pretty good place.  Still doing better, not creating any more debt, and looking forward to paying off some in just a couple of weeks.  I think the best thing that's happened in all of this, is that our attitude has changed.  SIGNIFICANTLY.  We are both working on the debt now, neither one of us is in the corner trying to hide from it.  I can not even express in words how much this has changed our relationship and our bank accounts.  It still isn't pretty, but it's definitely headed in the right direction.

We still do not have any money in savings.....Ugh....But maybe by next weeks update I will have better news in this department!  Wish us luck. 

                                 

  *Traveling 31 Style.  I am exhausted, but the outcome will be well worth it. 

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Adoption Classes......

In order to adopt through the foster care system, potential adoptive/foster parents have to go through a series of classes, home visits, background checks and piles of paperwork.  You have to get a physical, be updated on your vaccinations and make some changes to your house.  All of it is worth every moment you have with your children when they come to your home, but it is stressful none the less.  

My husband and I went through our classes with a great group of people.  If it weren't for them, I don't know that I would have made it through.  See, I went into the classes knowing everything.  I mean, I have a degree in Social Work, for crying out loud.  Plus, I had wanted to be a parent for so long, that I was READY. I'd also been parenting all of my friends children for years.  Ok, actually I parented those children from afar.  On rare occasions I would babysit, but I just KNEW how to fix everyone's issues with their children.  

Your kids won't go to bed??? I have an answer for that.

Your kids are picky eaters??? I have an answer for that too.

Your teenager won't listen??? Well, good thing I'm here to fix that for you.

Um.....folks.....I am sure you have all figured it out by now, I know nothing.  Well not NOTHING, {yes, I know that's a double negative}; I could tell you about any stage of development you wanted to know about; cognitive, emotional, physical or social.  But book knowledge did not prepare me enough for the practical knowledge that a person needs to be a parent.

Thankfully, this epiphany occurred in class; before the Great Lord blessed us with any children that required our care.  I remember sitting there and all of a sudden, I teared up..... I stated a bit more loudly than I intended {this always happens to me} "But, we don't even have SOCKS!!" 

Now before you judge, I know many moms who have had a similar experience at some time during their pregnancies.  They were excited, but at some point that "HOLY CRAP WE ARE REALLY DOING THIS" kicks in.  For me, it manifested in socks.  As everyone in the room looked at me, some giggling, some thinking I was crazy, I went on to explain that my fear was not just because of the socks but because we didn't know what SIZE of socks to get.  Again, stay with me.  I know this sounds crazy, but for parents who are giving birth to their children, it is safe to say that you are going to buy new born socks.  With a few exceptions of gigantic babies, you aren't going to buy socks from the part of the store that you would for your 10 year old.  My issue was, I may VERY WELL need to buy socks for a 10 year old. Or 5 year old. Or 7 month old......DEEP BREATHS...DEEP BREATHS... I'm getting anxious just thinking about it.  

See the Good Lord saw fit to make me a planner.  Well when he did so, I found it necessary to take things into my own hands.  Often.  Too often.  So this meant that I needed {honestly I still do most of the time} to have my little plan in place.  Down to every detail.  Well for those of you who have ever adopted or are in the middle of adopting, you know that planning too many details ain't gonna make them so.  

So there I sat, in my class, knowing that we were about to be parents, worried about socks.  

Then I was reminded, Walmart is open 24/7.  And guess what...They sell socks.  All different kinds of socks. In all different sizes and colors.  Our child's feet would not be cold or frostbitten because I didn't have the right socks.  

I also had a sweet lady in my class that brought me a huge gift bag of socks the next class.  There were several pair, in all different sizes.  

We had the socks...........We were ready...............

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Savings.....

So I met some very interesting people this past week, while working for a bit in Canada.  The conversation of money came up and I discovered a new {well, new to me} way to save money.  It is called a sou-sou.  It is popular with Caribbean and African cultures.  Let me explain my understanding of how this works...... A group of friends and/or family get together and contribute the same amount of money into a "savings account" every month, week, bi-weekly, whatever works for the group.  Then each member picks a month that they get to draw from the sou-sou.  For example, if there are 10 people contributing a total of $100 per month.  That would mean the sou-sou would have $1,200 each month for a person to draw.  Each person then picks a month either by mutual agreement or by drawing a month out of a hat.  If you draw October, then in October you get the $1,200 for that month to with what you wish.  

This tradition started as a means for people to get the down payment for their houses or other large expenses, when credit from a bank was not available.  The sou-sou has been around for generations and is still very active in Caribbean and African communities today.  There are different amounts that are contributed as well as different time frames for saving the money, but everyone benefits.  

What are some different ways you save?  What would you do with your sou-sou draw?

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Out of the Country.....But now I'm back

I've been a bit of a slacker this week with the blog. The good news is that I am back in the saddle and ready to go! I got a ton of new ideas for the blog while I was gone. Holy Moly!! I almost don't know where to start. For now, I am on the monthly Blog Hop with Bloggy Moms! Come and check it out!!!! Keep your eyes open for new posts. There will be a lot to see this week!!!! Have a great day!

1.	A Bloggy Mom	2.	A Money Maven
3.	Gingerlillytea	4.	The House of O
5.	Ramblings of The Geek Wife	6.	Hushed Voices, Secrets Untold
7.	always Josefa	8.	Thyroid Thureen
9.	A purpose driven wife	10.	Thyroid Thureen
11.	Mama Love Diaries	12.	Suburban Epicurean
13.	Mrs Flams	14.	Plus the Magic
15.	On Loneliness...	16.	Mommy Writings By Daughter of Maat
17.	Cool Moms Cool Tips	18.	Mamamusing.ca
19.	The Non-Martha Momma	20.	The Dairy-Free Home
21.	Flotsam of the Mind	22.	willamette valley wonder woman
23.	Grateful with Twp	24.	The Born Unique Baby Guide
25.	This Girl's Life	26.	Baby's Own Room Blog
27.	Mommy Call	28.	DecRenew.com
29.	Raising Hunter Lane	30.	Sweet on Books
31.	The Mommy Rundown	32.	My Life on the Divide
33.	Hope Whispers	34.	Two Little Humans and Me
35.	DaysnThoughts	36.	Ebabee
37.	Becoming Synena	38.	Carrigan's Joy
39.	MotherStucker	40.	The Army Life of an Aviators Wife
41.	Home and Never Alone	42.	sunnydaytodaymama
43.	DecRenew Interiors	44.	Michelle @ Our Three Peas
45.	Magic, Memories, Mayhem	46.	Sand In My Toes
47.	Ann @ Such a Mama	48.	Meals by the Week
49.	Just Everything Ashley	50.	Life away from the office chair
51.	I Support Mental Illness, How About You?	52.	All My Loose Ends
53.	Kingdom 1st Mom	54.	This is Really 40
55.	Sockadoodle- World of Accessories	56.	Practips: Tips for Family, Home, Garden
57.	Mama And The City	58.	This Is Really 40
59.	BeforeSexAfterBaby	60.	A drink in one hand, a baby in the other
61.	Successful Homemaker	62.	Chikadee Creations
63.	This Momma's Ramblings	64.	She Turned Her Dreams Into Plans
65.	Love to Laugh and Learn	66.	Big Foot Tribe
67.	Sisters Raising Sisters	68.	Anywhere Is....
69.	Practical Mama	70.	Country Bunkin Mama
71.	Papertree	72.	Housee of Bedlam
73.	Running In Pearls	74.	Organized Island
75.	Frugal Fit Family	76.	Sewing and Crafting with Sarah
77.	My Papaya Jambalaya	78.	The Real Housewife of Ohio
79.	The Sticky Mom	80.	DevelopaChild.net - About Child Development
81.	First Time Mommy Adventures	82.	Pretty Little Dahlia
83.	Another Cent Saved	84.	Road Trip the World
85.	Krazy Momma	86.	Stringtown Home
87.	He Married Me For My Cooking	88.	Domesticated Breakdown(follows back)
89.	Byrd is the Wyrd	90.	Baby Social
91.	Blueberry010	92.	Christin @ Manicures & Extra Sprinkes..Please!
93.	The Chocolate Bottle	94.	Epic Mommy Adventures
95.	Harvey Ever After	96.	Momsters Gabwheel
97.	Modern Hippie Momma	98.	Oh Hey Baby
99.	A My Name Is Amy	100.	Where the Submarine Takes Us
101.	Homemakers Heart	102.	Mommy Works a Lot
103.	Roberta's Realities	104.	Messie Jessie's Kitchen
105.	Searching for the Happiness	106.	Inspired Passions
107.	It's me, Deb CB!	108.	Michelle Mossey
109.	Sweetpea Lifestyle	110.	The Hodge Podge Diaries
111.	Day to Day Life	112.	Piloting The Zoo
113.	Aileen's Thoughts	114.	Vodka Infused Lemonade
115.	Frugal Texas Diva	116.	My Little Sunshine House
117.	Uncommon Designs	118.	Mom In Love Forever
119.	Finding Myself Young	120.	Love, Umi The Master Rantor
121.	Ef Zin Creations...Live Well!	122.	Rachel's Country Roots
123.	Thee Mommy Diaries	124.	Shh!! Momma's Writing!
125.	Behind the Makeup	126.	The Harris Life
127.	Sharing Thanks	128.	Back Home Again
129.	CREATE WITH JOY	130.	The Elements of Review
131.	Beauty, Fitness & Health...Oh my!	132.	Momma Candy
133.	1mommy2monsters	134.	Live Simply, Live Thrifty, Live Savvy
135.	My Fruitful Home	136.	Everyday Morning
137.	Just Mildly Medicated	138.	Rich Single Momma
139.	Busy Mom of 4 Kids and A Blog	140.	Alphabet Soup
141.	Word Traveling	142.	I Sarah Take You
143.	Hot Commodity Home Decor	144.	Sharing Thanks
145.	Life With The Crust Cut Off	146.	Life and Other Stuff
147.	Dear Creatives	148.	Simply Sweet Savings
149.	Diy mason jar lantern	150.	one family's first home swap experience
151.	Simple Sojourns	152.	Disentangled Heart
153.	Super Fun Mama	154.	Running Through Motherhood
155.	Beauty Health Goddess	156.	Mom Spot
157.	Dayton Mom Spot	158.	sincerely, sara d.
159.	Sockadoodle- World of Accessories	160.	A ChicMom
161.	What Does She Do All Day?	162.	Love Inspired
163.	BossDivas Fashion Cents	164.	From the Desk of Elle Ay Ess
165.	Momfever	166.	Welcome to my cloffice!
167.	A Bit of Wine	168.	Rosels' Mom Diary
169.	Dandy Giveaway	170.	Heart of Carrot
171.	Countryside Mam	172.	A Few Days in the Life of Courtsie Ann B
173.	Hot City Cool Mom	174.	Living on Phosphenes
175.	Western New York	176.	Love to Laugh and Learn
177.	My Real Food Family	178.	Left Brain Buddha
179.	Ashlie @ That Love Rush	180.	Behind The Scenes
181.	Max and Me Marketing	182.	Frugal Fanatic
183.	Urban Almanac	184.	Mommy Madness
185.	Our Everyday Harvest	186.	Carpool Goddess
187.	Living on Phosphenes	188.	What Vegan Kids Eat
189.	The Bluebird Patch	190.	Looking at life CreativLEI
191.	Top Free ebooks	192.	Geomatics tools
193.	Toronto Mama	194.	The Power of Play-The Best Way To Teach Your Toddler To Talk
195.	Budget Hotels Delhi	196.	Car Booking
197.	Royal Proclaims	198.	Project Courtney
199.	Melanie Britt Project Life	200.	FILL IN THE BLANKS
201.	Your Mom Is Strange	202.	Mommys Juice
203.	Ting's Mom	204.	The Redder Side of Pink
205.	Avon Beauty with Mary	206.	Miss Mama Me
207.	Ef Zin Creations	208.	My Life as a Trimommy
209.	Meredith's Musings	210.	Mom Imperfect.
211.	Pixie Budget	212.	Diary of a Working Mom
213.	Night Owl Venting	214.	Jewelry box creation
215.	Nom Monster	216.	Frugal Fit Family
217.	Trending Belly	218.	Babs in Blogland
219.	One Reason I Love Disney World	220.	Life With The Crust Cut Off
221.	RENOfamonthego	222.	How Long Are You Going to Breastfeed?
223.	The Jenny Evolution	224.	Not My Year Off
225.	Georgie Lee Books	226.	Alena @pidala family 5
227.	Flirting with My ISMS	228.	Umoya Designs LLC
229.	Umoya Designs LLC	230.	Blogdeedah! - Summer Food Fun, Corona Cupcakes Recipe

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H54Friday

What a great week!  I have been in Canada all week on business.  I feel so grateful that God has blessed me with an education that I can use to feed, clothe and make my family feel secure.  Canada is a beautiful country.  Thank you for this opportunity, Lord. Feeling Blessed.  :)

1.  Who knew two little chocolates could make a person feel so warm and fuzzy.  

2.  Keurig??? I think I will......

3.  This little guy is going to become a part of the Smith family sometime soon.  I can not tell you how easy it made posting on the blog and other places.  EVERYONE should get one. Now to find out where.....

4.  The beautiful view that God created, from my hotel room window.  Breathtaking.

5.  The sweet man that looked like Santa in the airport on the way to Ottawa.  It makes me want to be a kid again and believe in the pure, little things.......

Happy Friday everyone! 

Just say NO to giving out your email address

When trying to save money, I have found that getting the emails from Tiffany's and Coach, do not help my desire to shop.  Let's be real: I am a shopper.  I love shopping.  It could be anywhere; Target, the mall, the outlets, online..... ANYWHERE.  I do find though, that getting the emails telling me what sales are happening and promising free this or that with so and so purchase, make my task of lessening our debt more difficult.  

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind getting the emails and will probably sign up for them again when we are closer to our goal.  But right now, they make me sad.  They make me want to buy things.  Yes I am grown up enough to say no, but it's like that friend that drags you down every time you see her. You may leave that person questioning yourself or feeling inadequate in some way or feeling that your significant other is inadequate in some way....She/He is BAD NEWS.  Walk away.  Walk away quickly.  

That's how I feel about the "Retail Email".  Walk away.  Walk away quickly.  Now, I do know that sometimes there are really good coupons or other deals that come via "Retail Email".  But right now, I have to take the lesser of two evils.  Plus, there are a ton of other places that provide coupons now a days.  I still can't get all of them to quit coming to my mailbox.

So next time someone asks you for your email address, think twice.  Are you in a position to look at them objectively, or is it going to be counterproductive with where you are in your financial journey.  For me, I think I will pass........For now.  :) 

Week 4 Updates................

Two steps forward.......Four steps back.

This has been a rough week.  We have had do postpone paying some of our bills due to an issue that came up.  It is so frustrating.  I start work this week, so as of June 7th, we will be bringing in some more money.  

Next week, I will be out of town on business, but it is one of those, reimbursement situations.  I pay for the hotel, food and plane ticket up front and get reimbursed.  The ONLY reason we decided to do this at this time, is because I will make $1,000 for 4 days worth of work.  After babysitting clears, I will still have a chunk to put towards our debt.  

We also had to buy more than our normal amount of groceries this week.  We were out of every meat possible.  Meat is really expensive.  I mean seriously people----EXPENSIVE!  We were in the habit of buying a half a cow and a full hog when we lived in Iowa, which saved us a TON, but we haven't found anyone here yet that sells live stock for butcher.  We also TRY to have one day per week where we do not eat meat, {difficult to do with my Iowa born and bred husband} and one day is left overs.

But the good news is that the week finished strong!  We got an extra little bit of money--going towards debt--and the opportunity to make an extra $1,000 between the two of us on another job that came up.  It's going to require traveling a bit, but that can be exciting---aaaannnndddd, it isn't on our dime.  Yay!!!  I also had a good show with my direct sales business this week.  It won't be a ton of money, but definitely worth the effort.  It worked out to be around $42 per hour.  Not bad, people.  Not bad at all.

We have been so blessed this week.  Even though it originally started out rough, God AGAIN has provided for us.

In the last 4 weeks that leaves us with a total of:  $316,849.62   This is $1,400.00 less than we started with a month ago!  Baby Steps.  Have a great day!