Life – Page 5

2015 Goals

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I’ve never been one to make resolutions. They never last long and normally they’re pretty vague like “loose weight” (how much? how will I accomplish it?). Goals, however, seem more achievable. Somehow, the word seems to imply that you’ve thought about them and have some sort of plan in mind. Or, maybe it’s just me.

I recently read Ruth Soukup’s Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life and one of the things she talks about is having goals – something to work toward. I have lots of things I want to accomplish this year, but without a plan, nothing will happen. I want to take this blog to the next level, increase my etsy shop sales, work through Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, travel, continue homeschooling my boys, eat healthier (or loose weight)…you get the idea. If I don’t plan though, these are just ideas, things that would be nice to do. So, I’m making a plan and then updating here each month with how we’re doing. That way I’m accountable to my readers.

So, here are my goals for the new year.

Work: I want to post more regularly and am working on a schedule where I’ll post on a certain topic on certain days. I also need to work on restocking my etsy shop. The holidays were busy and while I’m glad, I need to work on making more footie pants to rebuild my inventory. I would like to add 4-5 pairs a week.

Financial: We’ve had quite a few unexpected expenses recently (seriously, can we just go back to walking/biking everywhere?) that ate through our $1000 emergency fund and then some. We need to work on rebuilding that and eliminating the credit card debt that came from covering the rest of the expenses. We were working through Dave Ramsey’s baby steps and were on step three…now we’re back to step one. *sigh*

Personal: Three kids & one major surgery did a number on my body. I’m working on getting back to where I’m happy with the way I look. I’m trying to eat more fruits and veggies and take my kids for a bike ride everyday.

Homeschool: We’re starting the second half of our school year. This semester I’m also teaching art at the school where hubby works. School needs to happen first thing in the morning. Getting it done early works well for us – then the boys have the rest of the day to play and I can do some work. I need to work on art projects ahead of time as I have a habit of throwing something together at the last minute.

Family: We’ve been wanting to camping more, but it just hasn’t been happening. This year I want to be looking for more opportunities to camp (I’m working on our spring break camping trip). We want to go to Wales next year for a couple weeks so planning and saving for that needs to start this year! I would love to go to the Grand Canyon at some point in the next year or so. I need to look into it more – it would take us a week just to drive there and back, so it would need to be a two week vacation. We’re also in the process of selling/buying a house and there’s a lot purging going on. Once we get moved, we need to make our new house a home.

What about you? Do you have goals for the new year? If you need some inspiration, check out Ruth Soukup’s Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure page.

Contentment is a Choice

This post contains affiliate links.

This post is written as part of Ruth Soukupâ€™s Secret 13 Blog Tour, which I am excited to be a part of along with many other inspiring bloggers. To learn more about the blog tour and join us, click HERE. To find out more about the Secret 13 Essay Contest and your chance to win a weeklong Carnival Cruise for 4, click HERE.

I was privileged to get a preview copy of Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life. I’ve been following Ruth’s blog Living Well Spending Less for over a year and I love what she has to say. Her new book made a lot of sense to me! I’ve read it once – a quick read through and now I’m re-reading it.

She talks about the good life and how it isn’t what we expect. It isn’t more things or more money.

It is a life rich in faith, family, friends, and creativity. It is a life full of the richness that God has to offer; a life spent building treasures in heaven rather than here on earth. It is not a life of laziness and greed, but one of discipline, hard work, and self-reflection. It may not always be easy or comfortable, but it is always full in abundance and completely secure in Christ.

Last year, we moved across the country and did a major downsizing. We had to really think about what we wanted and what we could part with. I remember the final day of loading the truck – we still had more stuff to put it in and were rapidly running out of room. We had to reassess the leftover stuff and part with more of it. We left some stuff for the new owners – 25 lb dumbbells (the thrift store wouldn’t take them) and our glider swing (that was a tough choice!). The day we left PA, we made a final stop at the local thrift shop to drop off the stuff that wouldn’t fit. After the truck arrived in Florida and we started unloading it, we found more stuff that we didn’t need! For several weeks after we arrived, we were filling our dumpster each week, plus adding some to my parents! So much stuff that we paid to move and then just threw away! We also had enough stuff for a yard sale and then donated the leftover stuff to a local church for their rummage sale.

One of the things we don’t have right now is cable or satellite tv (we get the local networks via antenna). I honestly don’t miss it. My hubby and kids do, but they’ve found other ways to watch (Netflix, free shows on TV websites, DVDs). One thing I noticed is that I’m a lot more content when I can’t watch a lot of HGTV and DIY. I used to love watching Bathroom Crashers and Kitchen Crashers and any other show where they remodeled. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it made me very discontent with what I had. When I looked at my kitchen, all I saw were cabinets that were at the very least in need of painting (preferably replacing), the floor was old linoleum and never looked quite clean, the layout was all wrong…. You get the picture. What I should’ve seen was a huge kitchen with tons of storage that was perfect for a family with little kids that are going to spill things. Don’t get me wrong – the kitchen was dated, but updating it wasn’t a need. It was something I wanted to do (very badly!), but it wasn’t in our budget and that bothered me more than I should admit.

When we moved (to a house that I had only seen pictures of), the kitchen was smaller and even more dated (hello yellow countertops & backsplash), but you know what? I didn’t care! Why? Because I chose to be content – we were moving to Florida, close to family, & near the beach. We were simplifying life – hubby was leaving a job that had become too stressful with too many hours. He got a job teaching – something he’s always wanted to do. We left behind a big house with a huge fenced yard that we rarely used because of a neighbor we didn’t get along with. Our new house has a much smaller yard, but both neighbors enjoy seeing our kids out playing and have never complained about the noise. We try to get to the beach often (it doesn’t always happen though).

We are choosing to be content and it makes a world of difference!

Discover your own secret of the Good Life in Ruth Soukupâ€™s new book, Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life. Through personal stories and practical action plans, she will inspire you to make real and lasting changes to your personal goals, homes, and finance. It is real, honest, and speaks to the heart of the matterâ€”how can you live the life youâ€™ve always wanted? It releases tomorrow Dec. 30, but if you pre-order today, you can get some great pre-order bonuses!

Boys Christmas T’s

I love making my daughter’s Christmas dress each year. There are so many fun things you can do with girls dresses and my daughter usually has a few ideas of her own. Boys, however, are harder! My boys are NOT into suits and ties. They’re happiest in shorts and t-shirts. On Sundays, they will grudgingly put on a polo shirt and some “dressy” shorts (aka not knit gym shorts). So, a couple years ago, I made them Christmas shirts with ties attached.

I used a turtle neck for my youngest.

I used a long sleeve T for my middle child.

Last year, I cut the sleeves off the long sleeve T to make a shirt for my youngest and I’m not sure my middle child had a Christmas shirt…bad mom. *blush* This year, I decided to do the same thing, except I made T-shirts too.

I made a simple tie pattern and then made sure it wasn’t too long/short for the shirt.

Make sure you really pin the tie to the shirt. There’s nothing more frustrating than a crocked tie!!

I sewed them on using a decorative stitch on my machine, but a zigzag would work too. I personally like the slightly frayed look around the edges.

Comfy enough to play outside in, but still nice enough to get compliments.
Boys in t-shirts with ties – does it get any cuter or easier?

Fostering A Dog

I’ve mentioned before that we foster animals for the humane society – mostly kittens. The other day, my daughter commented that we haven’t had any in a while. She was wondering if I had gotten any e-mails recently. I told her no, I haven’t even had any for dogs. Ever say something like that? The next day, guess what? I got an e-mail from them saying that they had two dogs that needed to be fostered. One required a three month commitment. Since we’ve never had a dog (at least not since DH and I were kids), that one was out. The other one was only a two week foster.

After checking with DH, I e-mailed them back to see if she was still available. The next thing I know, my phone is ringing and it’s the humane society saying that Lulu is still available. They said she’s a shepherd mix and super sweet – loves everyone and everything so she’d be fine with out kids and cats.

Notice they said shepherd mix? It never occurred to me that shepherd could include german shepherd. It didn’t occur to me while we were at the humane society meeting her. It didn’t occur to me until my brother mentioned that she looked like the dog my neighbors had when I was a kid. By then though I’d already decided that she was OK. As a kid, I was afraid of my neighbor’s german shepherd and he knew it! My husband had a german shepherd as a kid and he loved it. I said no way, if we ever get a dog, it will not be a german shepherd. Except that this one is so loving and I’ve changed my tune a bit.

She’s a foster because she’s on medicine for a UTI. The first few days we had her, she was so laid back and didn’t bother the cats at all! We were impressed! A walk around the block in the morning and a couple trips outside during the day and she was good to go. Then, yesterday, we noticed that she was getting a bit more frisky – more like an 11-month old pup. I couldn’t figure out why. We were still making sure she got outside to run around and she had a couple toys and a bone for in the house.

Then, DH realized that she must be feeling better! She wants to chase the cats. Although I really think she just wants to play with them, the cats are not having it. They puff up and hiss and growl. Lulu lays down, puts her head down and makes this cute little noise. She also jumps on the furniture more and she is definitely too big for our furniture! The kids aren’t sure what to think of the “new” Lulu. She wants to play even when they don’t. More trips outside are definitely on the agenda as well as trips to the local dog park (which happens to be very nice!).

I feel bad that I’m counting the days until she’s ready to go back and find her forever home, but this experience has proved two things to me – we won’t be fostering a dog again and we’re probably not ready to have one of our own either! What about you? Are you a dog person or a cat person? Any advice for us to get us through this week?

Saying Goodbye To A Pet

Last week we had one of our cats put to sleep. Spindle had been sick for over a year. We had hoped it was IBS, but in reality the vet thinks it was lymphoma. We tried a lot of different treatments (steroids, special food, vitamin B shots), but in the end nothing helped. She was loosing weight and fur, her tail was matted with feces, and we were pretty sure she was in some pain. It was so hard to make that final decision and even though I knew it needed to be done, I couldn’t make the call – my wonderful hubby called the vet to make the appointment and then went with me.

Spindle (facing camera) and her littermate Bobbin. We got them at a 2-fur-1 sale at our then local humane society.

When I was looking for pictures to show the kids, I was amazed at just how bad she had gotten. I knew her fur wasn’t nearly as sleek as it once was and that she had lost quite a bit of weight (she weighed 3.9 lbs at her final vet visit – she used to weight around 7 lbs).

She was the first pet we had to put to sleep…the first pet my kids lost. I thought I would be fine – I knew it was for the best. Even so, I cried as they gave her the sedatives and I watched her relax for the first time in probably weeks! All three kids were sad, but my middle child, who is eight, was most affected. Spindle was his buddy. She tended to be scared of her own shadow, but at night she would curl up next to him and no matter how much he moved around, she didn’t run. He understood that it was time and we talked about it a lot (every time I took her to the vet, I warned them that it could be her final trip). My youngest is only five and I don’t think he understands as much. My oldest is ten and while she is sad, she also knew that it was time. She’s also hoping that she can finally get a kitten (I’m not sure I’m ready for that!).

Have you ever lost a pet? Was it easier or harder than you expected? How did your kids handle it?

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