Why I blog

Because I like too! Really. Ok, the real reason why I started a blog, just over four years ago now, was because I had all these ideas that I wanted to get out there. Yes, I could have just created a file on my computer, but I wanted it on the internet because, as they say, once its on the web its there for good! I've had one too many computers crash on me taking all my files with it. I haven't tried that hard to grow this blog because I have it more as a diary than a source of income. Full disclosure: I have not made a penny off this blog, ever!

I was looking at the first year of posts from 2008 and 2009 and I am surprised at how much my life has changed. The biggest changes have to be my decision to become a full time college student. I've never been to college before, and other than becoming a mom, becoming a student was the biggest adjustment I've ever made in my life! Another big change was my family's eating habits. I looked at the pictures of all my food deals and thought to myself "Wow, we used to eat crap!" Starting in 2009 we started switching our diet to food with less additives and preservatives. Then we added more organic foods. Next I cut out all red meat and pork.

Since I'm in school to become a registered dietitian, I like this journal to see how things have changed in my diet and life. It doesn't matter to me that I've never been featured in a magazine, or have thousands of followers, it matters that I can look back and see all the progress I've made in my life.

Schools out for summer!

Well, for me it is, my kids still have another month! I took my last finale of my freshmen year on Tuesday, my grades have posted and my GPA is 3.8!!!!! I never EVER thought I would be able to achieve what I have. I thought, because I'm a mom, I wouldn't be able to do anything else. School and kids at the same time just wasn't a possibility. Now I know better :) I am happy to be done until September though. My house is a disaster, my stockpile is low, and I've missed doing fun stuff with my kids (weekends have been mainly dedicated to writing papers!) I'm super excited for the summer. I've become obsessed with Pinterest, pinning summer fun things like crazy. Seriously, whoever invented Pinterest is a genius! Well, I need to go organize something. Happy weekend :)

This is my life right now!

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via on Pinterest

Goodbye 2011!

2011 was a year that went like I never imagined it would. At the end of Dec 2010, I was a SAHM. I set a bunch of goals I wanted to achieve in 2011 and thought I'd have plenty of time to do them. I have always wanted to go to college, but have never really had the chance. Not sure what made me become so gun-ho about attending, but I talked it over with DH and he had no problem with me going, so by the end of January 2011, I became a part time college student!

Since school was a very last minute decision, I missed the deadline for financial aid and needed a little extra cash to help with expenses (I took the cost of tuition and books out of our savings and want to replace it) By the end of February I was working about 20 hours a week in a bakery.

I ended up quiting my job in July for reasons I won't get into (lets just say there is only so much one can take for minimum wage!) In September my part time student statues changed to full time. Man did I study my butt off to get good grades and it did pay off, I currently have a GPA of 3.75!

Needless to say the goals I set for 2011 got pushed aside, but since my life went down an unexpected (but better!) path, I'm not the least bit disappointed. So what if I only read 16 out of the 25 books I planned to read, or I never got around to painting the coat closet, I'm achieving a life goal to have a college degree!!!

I've missed blogging

I really have! I'm not the best juggler. I'm not the type of person that is able to do four different things at once and still have everything run smoothly. In January I went back to school. First time back to school  since high school. We'll just say it's been way more than five years since I graduated high school ;) By the end of February I started a small part time job working about 20hrs a week. On top of still trying to run my home, spend quality time with my children, and still find great sales/deals, I couldn't find the time to blog. I'm on summer break from school and I quit my job. Just to much, had to let some things go and work wasn't the greatest. Hopefully, for at least the summer, I can get back on the blogging wagon!

Really?

Really Mother Nature?

This is the 5ft. tall snowbank in my driveway. We've been hit with close to 60 inches of snow in the last six weeks. Add the arctic chill and that equals alot of snow! All across New England is buried with no place to put this white stuff.

I really wonder when my children will be able to play on their slide again. May? Possibly June? I'm very jealous right now of all the people in the USA that live in places where it can't snow. The big joke, we could be getting another store at the end of next week! Even if that storm passes us by, there's still two more months of winter! HA!

SNOW!

Most of the eastern half of the country is dealing with a massive snow storm. Even the south! I've lived in New England all my life, so crazy weather is nothing new to me. I totally understand how the southern states are having a hard time dealing with snow for, in some places, the first time in 20 years. Yet at the same time I just have to LOL!

My local news channel has been showing clips of the south being crippled by 6 inches of snow! Six inches is a dusting around here. The after Christmas blizzard that also hit the eastern half of the country, dumped 18 inches of snow here. That's right a foot and a half of snow. Now this storm, which will start tonight is going to dump another 16+ inches of snow. And we have had flurries of an inch or two here and there between these two storms. So in the last three weeks, we've gotten over 3 FEET of snow. Can you see why 6 inches makes me laugh?

Anyway, pretty sure tomorrow will be a snow day. The heaviest of snow will be during the morning commute. But things will be back to normal on Thursday (except for the 7ft. snow banks at the end of everyone's driveway). Hope everyone has fun building snowmen and making snow angels.

I'm Back!

(any excuse to make a cake!)

Both kids have started school and we're getting into a routine. I miss blogging and can't wait to start sharing deals and tips again. Summer was a blast, but all good things must come to an end. Now to have a fantastic fall!

Taking a blogging break.

My son starts full day kindergarten at the end of this week, then the following week my daughter starts pre-school. This week is filled with orientations, last minute shopping, hair cuts, and even more that I can't think of off the top of my head! 

I'm having a harder time dealing with this than I thought. My son, who is special needs, has never in his life spent an entire day away from me, nor has my daughter ever been to pre-school/daycare. I thought I would be a little calmer than I am. Nope! I'M having major separation anxiety over this, plus I look at it like my babies are growning up. 

I'm thinking back over the last five years with guilt, "I should have spent more time with them now its too late" even though I know this is a crock! I have at least 13 more years! I just realize that the baby years are truely over and part of me is mourning that. I'll be taking at least the next week off from this blog to see my children off to school.

Because my life isn't stressful enough!

Just got back some medical tests today and both me and one of children has a gluten intolerance! It's not Celiac disease (yet) but the doctor said we should be on a gluten free diet to detox all the gluten from our systems.

I'm not going to lie, I LOVE gluten! Bread is one of my favorite foods, along with cake, cookies, cereal, waffles, ect. ect! Although I must say some of the gluten free recipes I've seen don't look that bad.

Not sure how this will effect my money saving goals? I went to the store to find something called xanthan gum (I've seen it as an ingredient in many gluten-free recipes) I found an 8oz bag for $14.99!!!!!!!! This should be interesting.

Summer Bucket list

Now that summer is here, we sat down as a family and came up with a giant list of things we would like to do this summer. Keep in mind a 5 & 3 yr. old had a big part in making this list:

• Go to the beach
• Go see Toy Story 3
• Play outside
• Go to the playground
• Go swimming
• Teach kids how to swim ;)
• See a Komodo Dragon at the zoo (this one is going to be hard as the closest zoo with a komodo dragon is over 450 miles away)
• Visit a zoo
  
• Go strawberry picking
  
• Go blueberry picking
• Make blueberry pie
• Hunt for dinosaur eggs
• Go to the local farm
• Go fishing
• Pick flowers
• Pet puppies (my daughters obsessed)
• Hike in the woods
• Go out for ice cream
• Play baseball
• Go horseback riding
• Play soccer
• Go to the museum
• Watch birds

Part of the reason I'm more excited for this summer than any other summer is because it's the last summer I get to spend with my children before they both start school. Kindergarten and Preschool in the Fall!

Summer is HERE!!!!!

Today is the first day of summer, YEAH! I've been thinking of as many things my family can do this summer that are free or cheap, also as much indoor stuff as possible. I love summer, but the New England humidity is terrible and makes it tough to be outdoors sometimes. So far this is what I got:

1. Free Family Film Festival
2. Playgrounds. We have a ton in our area and we're going to try and visit a different one every week.
3. Kids Bowl Free
4. Concerts in the Park. Hosted by my local library (check your towns Parks & Recs Department to see in there is anything planned in your area)
   
5. The beach
6. Library! Just to play, read books, even has weekly story time! I LOVE the library!
7. McDonald's play-space, its free!
8. Mall play-spaces, also free
9. Nature walks at local parks
10. Factory tours
11. Bookstore story time (Barnes & Nobles and Boarders usually have a weekly story time)
    
12. Micheal's craft time
13. Lowes "Build and Grow"
14. Home Depot kids workshop
15. Bass Pro Shop Family Summer Camp
    

Changes

There have been a lot of changes happening in my home. Most recently, I quit my job. Now the job I was working wasn't anything great. I worked for an upscale fast-food chain that I sure you've heard of (and thats why I'm not going to say which place it was) It was a low paying job that ultimitly wasn't worth the time away from my family nor the engery that went into this job. Plus working with teenagers always goofing off, unhappy customers taking their fustrations out on me, and managers who never gave the reconition that was deserved was just TOO MUCH!

I was working 40hrs a week at this place for the past month. About 25-30hrs a week for nine months prior to that. My family was clearly suffering without me. Laundry was piling up, phone calls weren't being made, my kids weren't getting the full attention they needed. Being without the money is going to be tough (especially since my hubby hasn't been able to find steady work) but I really feel this is the right choice for my family.

The Story of Stuff

I love this video. I think its a real eye opener! Ever since I've had children I've wanted a simpler life. A life that wasn't filled with all kinds of meaningless belongings and a nagging feeling that we should be "keeping up with the Jones".

I think about all the stories my mother (who was born in the 1950s) and my grandmother (born in the 1920s) would tell me about living in a house, that is small by today's standards, and still managing to keep it running smoothly and well organized, while being filled with 9 people!!!! Why could they do this? Because they didn't have a ton of useless stuff hanging around like we do today!

Think about all the kitchen gadgets we have: stand alone mixers, toaster ovens, coffee makers, food processors, magic bullets, sandwich pressers, microwaves, the list just goes on and on. My grandmother used to make dinner every night for herself, her husband, and their 7 children without the help of any of these new devices. It makes me wonder why I find it so tricky to feed myself, my husband and our TWO children, and I have most of these gadgets!

You MUST watch this video : THE STORY OF STUFF

Trying to stay on top of things!

My hubby loosing his job has been a big blow to our family, but we are making the best of what we have and are trying to see the best in this situation. I'm trying VERY hard not to let this setback keep me or my family from our goals we set this year. I will hopefully find more time to track my weekly spending and post about it. I've also increased my work hours from about 25 hrs a week to around 40 hrs. Somethings I'm not thrilled about, but I like to have the internet and cable and those things cost money! Still keeping my head up and having faith that everything will work out :)

Not sure what will happen next?

Ug! I'm sick of this recession! I'm totally venting with this post, but I've had enough! How is my family ever suppose to get anywhere when we just can't seem to get a break? I'm not talking about not having enough money to take a family vacation to Disney, I'm talking about having enough money to pay our bills! My husband (the bread winner of the family) who is in the trade industry, got a new job in October. A job we saw as a new beginning for us. Well, we were wrong. He was laid of Friday because the company he worked for didn't have enough work for him. Every place he has looked into for a new job wants someone with 7+ years experience and he only has 4 years! I'm just not sure what out next step will be. Everything is still sinking in.

Save $5,000?

I set this goal for my family in 2010, but now I'm questioning exactly what it means. Save $5,000 cash to be put in the family savings account? Or does it mean save $5,000 on sales and clearance items? I'm not sure, so I'm challenging myself and my family to do both! I hope with all the things my family needs we'll be able to buy on sale and save us $5,000 by the end of the year. I also hope our savings account will have $5,000 more by the end of the year.

My Expenses

I've been doing good so far writing down where all our money goes, but I figured when I add everything up at the end of each week, I need to have categories to know where my money needs to go and where I can cut back. So far this is what I've come up with:
Needed Expenses: these are all our bills. Rent, electric, cable(phone & internet-package plan) health & car insurance, and credit cards. Most of these bills aren't possible to cut back. Rent is rent. Everything in our townhouse is on the electric-hot water heaters, all appliances, and heat. Our landlord is the type of guy that doesn't replace anything unless it's broken. So just because the refrigerator in 20 yrs. old and is a major drain on electricity, it still keeps the cold food cold and the frozen food frozen. As far as our cable bill, the cable and phone part is as basic (and cheap) as it can get, and the internet is standard. I also live in an area with only one cable & internet company.
Car expenses: We are a two car family and this category is for gas, oil changes, and other needed repairs.
Food: self explanatory.
Child Expenses: Daughter's dance and son's karate lessons. Also clothing, toys, and any other extras they need.
Target (household needs): I do almost all my shopping at Target for household items, like toilet paper, light bulbs, ect.
Cigarettes, Coffee, Take out: I'm hoping by giving these things it's own category we'll realize how much money we are throwing down the drain.
MISC: This is for anything else I buy that doesn't fit into any of the categories above.

How I did in 2009....

The answer: NOT GOOD:( But I'm not beating myself up for it. The year 2009 started with me being a full-time SAHM, and my husband collecting unemployment. Back in June, he was unable to collect anymore and I got a job working 30-40 hours a week. I found that I didn't have any time to track my spending/savings or even work on my goals. In October, my husband luckily found full time work, but I decided that I liked working and kept my job, but cut my hours down to 20-25 hours a week. The past few months we have been figuring out how to juggle a 3 yr. old, a 5 yr. old, and two working parents. I feel we have now got into a comfortable groove and I can start working on my goals again. Over the next few days I will take time to really think about what I want to achieve in 2010. I feel like I'm in a better state of mind now than I have been in months and can't wait until the new year!

Going organic

Can it be done on a budget? Of course it can!

After reading numerous articles about the health benefits of switching to organic foods, I've decided to make the switch for my family. I've raised my monthly food budget up to $100 a week, just to be on the safe side. I started my organic switch this week and noticed on some produce, the price difference was not that great. Organic apples were only .30 cents more a pound and broccoli only .10 cents.

Lately I've been having s few health problems, nothing major, just inconvenient. Today I found out I have gastritis likely caused by GERD. I'm hoping to improve my health with eating more (by more I mean some, because I don't eat any now) fresh organic and/or locally grow fruits and vegetables.

I also wonder what taking dyes, preservatives, and processed foods out of my children's diets will do. I've heard and read articles about how some children have sensitivities to those types of foods and how it can cause things like hyperactivity.

I will be making the change slowly. I'm not going to throw all the food I have in my cabinets away and I won't pass up a really good sale. Plus some organic foods (like a "breakfast pastry") just do not compare in taste to its processed counterpart (like a Poptart)