There are times in everyone’s life when you will get buried. Whether it is under a pile of manure like sickness or accidents, or under a pile of joy like birthdays, vacations, or having a baby, the results on your finances can be similar. Just getting back to a level place in your finances can seem like it requires a monumental effort. Bills, statements, and even unopened mail can seemingly grow into mountains of paperwork overnight. Piles of receipts from your trip, or from your recent round of doctor’s visits and eating out, can haunt you and feel like a …
Loving Life Again
I didn’t mean to disappear this week. I honestly thought I would be writing all week. I thought I would get a lot of other things accomplished as well. However, all week I have been struggling with headaches that have made it really hard to look at my computer screen. I very rarely have headaches, and so for me this migraine-like headache has been so dibilitating and unexpected. It started with a “crick” in my shoulder that has plagued me since last week and just gradually got worse and worse. It was one of those weeks that takes you by …
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
Tonight at dinner my little girl, Ava, asked to say the prayer. We all held hands and bowed our heads and this is what she prayed, “Jesus, thank you that you are wonderful and lovely, and thank you are always giving us surprises, like Christmas, and Birthdays, and the Tooth Fairy, and that you bless our presents. Amen” It was so unexpected and sincere that I started laughing and crying at the same time. It was like a beautiful little song from her heart over dinner. I love that my 4 year old daughter knows her God as that good. …
The Isolation of Wealth
I heard the strangest comment I have ever heard today. It might not sound as strange to you, but I am still processing it, so I thought I might blog and share it with you. Matt and I were sitting with a friend who was telling me of another friend who has cancer. I hadn’t known about the cancer before today, and I was so shocked and saddened. “What can I do?” I asked. “If there is anything? Maybe I could organize meals for her family?” She has three kids, and I just kept thinking about them as their Mom …
The Week Off
I certainly didn’t intend to take the week off from blogging, but it is already Friday and that is exactly what I have done. It has been a very full week for me. I have had something on every evening which is usually when I have a moment to write. I even had several blogs in my heart and head that I intended to write, so I might just have to sneak them in over the weekend. I hope it has been a wonderful week for all of you. Thank you so much for all of the kind birthday wishes. …
A Groundhog’s Birthday
On this beautiful day, many years ago, I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. My amazing Mom had labored for about 48 hours. She was already two weeks past her delivery date because I just didn’t want to leave my warm cozy home in her tummy. After a horrible delivery, I finally arrived in the world. So on this day, I want to once again honor and thank my Mom for what she went through to bring me into the world. She is the most amazing Mom I could ever ask for, and she gave me the greatest gift in …
Surviving the Ice
I don’t know about you, but making it to the end of January without going over budget has been challenging. When you are paid bi-monthly, the months with 31 days can seem especially long. However, I was talking to a friend yesterday who is paid every two weeks, and I think that can be hard as well. We both sat talking about our budgets and to tell you the truth, we were whining a little bit. Now in our defense, it has been a difficult week for stay-at-home Moms this week. The ice and snow have meant long, long days …
Ten Trillion Dollars and Counting…
“Prosperity is when people buy things they can’t afford; recession is when they stop doing it.” ~H.E. Martz, The Wall Street Journal, 1963. It is a funny thought to me that due to what is happening in the economy, people have started doing what they should have been doing all along. They are saving their money, starting to budget, watching prices, cutting back on their credit spending. All of this horrifies the economists. “Spending more money is the answer to the economy”, is the government’s brilliant strategy to combat the fact that people are coming to a place of reality …
The Sound of Maintenance
Last week as I was leaving my house on an errand, I happened to roll down my window as I reversed out of my driveway. It was then that I heard that familiar high pitched squeal: the squeal of money flying from your wallet, carried away by the cost of new brakes for your car. I inwardly groaned at the thought, knowing that we faced birthday party expenses that weekend. I also wondered how long my brakes had been singing to me since I could not hear them at all with the window rolled up. I continued on my errand, …
Luke’s Birthday Party
~Luke riding his sister’s bike yesterday. He actually gets going quite fast on that little bike and loves every minute of it. There is no place Luke would rather be than outside. What a lovely birthday my little son had, and a wonderful birthday party today. Luke had a fantastic time playing with all of the kids. Matt and I had a wonderul time with our family and friends and because the food was so easy. It was a bitterly cold day outside, but so lovely in our home filled with the squeals of children, the smell of coffee and …