So yesterday I turned another year older. Although I don't feel older (I say this every year to my husband and he gets so frustrated.), I'm not liking the sounds of the numbers I'm into. I actually feel pretty young, which I guess you could say is a good thing. Last night I looked back on my life thus far and am surprised by many things. I never thought I would get married when I was younger and now I am. I even made a pack with a best guy friend that if we both were not married by the age of 28we then would marry each other. I believe I got married first. (I think we got it from My Best Friends Wedding.) I didn't think I could have kids, but I think that is a female thing. I have had the opportunity to travel so much when I was younger with my parents. I really can't complain about things too much growing up. Looking back at my high school years, freshman to senior year I had changed so much. Some of the changes being good, some I hope my kids don't do, but then again you have to experience life. I have some great friends. College was one of the best times of my life. It was great to have so many people around to hang out with. There was never a dull moment. I would have to say I loved the many guys there were to look at! Looking back at the bad luck I ran into or struggles I had faced it has always turned out for the better. I was laid off twice before I was even 26 years old. Each job I got after was a even bigger jump in my career. I have a great husband and daughter who make me laugh daily. These are some of the thoughts that had gone through my head yesterday and I'm very Thankful for it all. Every bump, every good thing, everything bad.
Life: It just makes us who we are today.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Congratulations!!
I am so happy to hear that a great friend of mine is expecting a baby. I can't put her name here because she has not spread the word yet. She told be late last week. I'm so happy to share my stories and listens to hers while going through our pregnancies together.
Congratulations to a great couple!
Just a note... she had had some issues before getting pregnant. At one point was told she may not be able to have children or have a slimmer chance than the average female. So this is very very good news. I'll post more about the issues when it's official announced.
Congratulations to a great couple!
Just a note... she had had some issues before getting pregnant. At one point was told she may not be able to have children or have a slimmer chance than the average female. So this is very very good news. I'll post more about the issues when it's official announced.
How's that E Fund coming along...?
A while back I talked about starting an E Fund. Well with hard work and automatic transfers we are almost there.
An E Fund is an Emergency Fund that you put money in to save for the future. It can go towards a unexpected expense that may come up. If you or a significant other is laid off from work this account could be used to live from. You can set your own goals and what you would use the fund for. Our goal was 3 months worth of living expenses. It's a great feeling to know that if somethings comes up you have the cash to pay for it. No worrying about where the money will be coming from and stressing about it. It's always a great idea to save. You never know what may come up in your life.
Here is how we got to this point:
1. Rentals - The rental property we bought a few years ago have been one of the best investments we have started.
2. Cable - This past summer we cut out the cable bill. We went with out for 6 months. All this money went into our e fund.
3. CC - We had one credit card balance that is now paid off. It was used for small things that added up when we bought our house. Most of that money is now going to savings and our e fund.
4. Pay with CC - We have been paying almost everything with our credit card. The balanced is paid off fully every 2 weeks or sooner. This has allowed us to see what we are spending all of our money on and we have earned free gas, gift cards, and a book light (a gift for Isaac).
5. Automatic Payments - Over the past year I read the Automatic Millionaire and realized we needed more automatic savings. Since these have been set up we have increased them several times. The money is gone from our account before we know we have it. I love Automatic!
6. Bargains - I rarely pay full price for something. Everything will go on sale at one point or another. If it's not on sale I will use a promotion code or coupon to get the price lower. This really ads to savings.
7. Determination
An E Fund is an Emergency Fund that you put money in to save for the future. It can go towards a unexpected expense that may come up. If you or a significant other is laid off from work this account could be used to live from. You can set your own goals and what you would use the fund for. Our goal was 3 months worth of living expenses. It's a great feeling to know that if somethings comes up you have the cash to pay for it. No worrying about where the money will be coming from and stressing about it. It's always a great idea to save. You never know what may come up in your life.
Here is how we got to this point:
1. Rentals - The rental property we bought a few years ago have been one of the best investments we have started.
2. Cable - This past summer we cut out the cable bill. We went with out for 6 months. All this money went into our e fund.
3. CC - We had one credit card balance that is now paid off. It was used for small things that added up when we bought our house. Most of that money is now going to savings and our e fund.
4. Pay with CC - We have been paying almost everything with our credit card. The balanced is paid off fully every 2 weeks or sooner. This has allowed us to see what we are spending all of our money on and we have earned free gas, gift cards, and a book light (a gift for Isaac).
5. Automatic Payments - Over the past year I read the Automatic Millionaire and realized we needed more automatic savings. Since these have been set up we have increased them several times. The money is gone from our account before we know we have it. I love Automatic!
6. Bargains - I rarely pay full price for something. Everything will go on sale at one point or another. If it's not on sale I will use a promotion code or coupon to get the price lower. This really ads to savings.
7. Determination
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Organic Clothing.... Is it worth it?
While on a shopping trip last weekend to get a few in-between clothing items (pre-pregnancy clothing till maternity clothing) I found that Kohl's now carries organic baby clothing. The items were pricey, but I have not found organic clothing that is not. They were adorable though. So the question comes up… Is Organic clothing worth the price?
The cotton is as pure as cotton can get. It’s is also said that organic cotton is softer, which tends to be more comfortable next to your skin. Standards are said to be set higher in the work place. No child labor is accepted.
I will most likely purchase organic baby clothing or organic clothing in the future. Some questions I wonder and will most likely have to experience on my own are…
Do organic clothing last longer?
Are they as soft after they are washed?
I’m hoping these will become more of a standard in the future so they lower in price. For the time being I plan to purchase a few items and slowly add to our clothing collections. Balancing quality within our financial means.
So you will have to answer the questions for yourself. Is it worth it?
The cotton is as pure as cotton can get. It’s is also said that organic cotton is softer, which tends to be more comfortable next to your skin. Standards are said to be set higher in the work place. No child labor is accepted.
I will most likely purchase organic baby clothing or organic clothing in the future. Some questions I wonder and will most likely have to experience on my own are…
Do organic clothing last longer?
Are they as soft after they are washed?
I’m hoping these will become more of a standard in the future so they lower in price. For the time being I plan to purchase a few items and slowly add to our clothing collections. Balancing quality within our financial means.
So you will have to answer the questions for yourself. Is it worth it?
Juggling
We constantly are juggling through out life.
We are constantly jugging our family, friends, children, a career, a significant other, and so many more. What is often forgotten is OurSelves.
I tend to do this. I worry about others first, I come second. In most cases it is fine with me, but there are those days or times when we need some balance. I have found this in yoga. I don’t know what I would do without it. There is something that connects your mind, body, and soul. I inherited from my father the ability to not take the time to relax. I feel like I need to do 101 things in a day. Yoga has really helped with being able to relax and get centered with myself. I recently had to give up my current yoga classes because they are not prenatal. There are some positions while being pregnant that you should not do. For example, a reverse boat pose. These put pressure on you stomach. Hopefully I will be able to find a new class that works with our families schedule, but it not I have found a few back up plans. Recently while at Target (One of my weekly visits, yes I feel I have an addiction.)… I stumbled upon a yoga series. The ones that most interested me were the Prenatal Yoga along with Mommy and Baby Yoga. My daughter does not know exactly what yoga is, but she has a mean downward dog. One day I came home from work very stressed from a long work day. In the living room I decided to do a few poses to relax. One of the poses was a downward facing dog. My daughter first laughed, and then joined in. She thought it was so funny she laughed while in the pose. She continues to surprise us while we change her diaper. Yes I said it. She has a dresser in her room that we put a changing table pad on top of. While trying to put the new diaper on she will squirm away and say, “goga” then bare butt in the air a perfect downward dog, what a way to forget about stress in a day.
What do you do to relieve your stress, relax, and enjoy yourself?
If you are not familiar with Yoga here are a few of the poses I mentioned earlier.
What an adorable picture!!
We are constantly jugging our family, friends, children, a career, a significant other, and so many more. What is often forgotten is OurSelves.
I tend to do this. I worry about others first, I come second. In most cases it is fine with me, but there are those days or times when we need some balance. I have found this in yoga. I don’t know what I would do without it. There is something that connects your mind, body, and soul. I inherited from my father the ability to not take the time to relax. I feel like I need to do 101 things in a day. Yoga has really helped with being able to relax and get centered with myself. I recently had to give up my current yoga classes because they are not prenatal. There are some positions while being pregnant that you should not do. For example, a reverse boat pose. These put pressure on you stomach. Hopefully I will be able to find a new class that works with our families schedule, but it not I have found a few back up plans. Recently while at Target (One of my weekly visits, yes I feel I have an addiction.)… I stumbled upon a yoga series. The ones that most interested me were the Prenatal Yoga along with Mommy and Baby Yoga. My daughter does not know exactly what yoga is, but she has a mean downward dog. One day I came home from work very stressed from a long work day. In the living room I decided to do a few poses to relax. One of the poses was a downward facing dog. My daughter first laughed, and then joined in. She thought it was so funny she laughed while in the pose. She continues to surprise us while we change her diaper. Yes I said it. She has a dresser in her room that we put a changing table pad on top of. While trying to put the new diaper on she will squirm away and say, “goga” then bare butt in the air a perfect downward dog, what a way to forget about stress in a day.
What do you do to relieve your stress, relax, and enjoy yourself?
If you are not familiar with Yoga here are a few of the poses I mentioned earlier.
What an adorable picture!!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Great News!
A little over a month ago my husband and I found out that we are expecting another baby. We could not be happier! This is something that we have been talking about for awhile and are very blessed that we are able to have another child. We always said we wanted to keep our children close in age, so I think this will be the perfect timing.
It's very exciting for us both, but at the same time hard when you think of close friends and family who have been wanting a child for years, but do not get the opportunity. What do you say... what not to say... It's not easy, but at the same time you have to live you life and they have to live theirs. I still can't answer these questions. There probably is not a good answer either way.
One thing that is hard in the beginning of a pregnancy is what is commonly called morning sickness. I personally don't feel this is the best term since I rarely have been sick in the morning with either of my pregnancy. I get sick nightly. Morning sickness effects each individual differently. Some are given medication because the sickness is so bad. Others never feel the effects of morning sickness. This past week I have been sick every night. Going to bed between 6:30-7:30 has been a standard practice. I have to say that I am so lucky to have such a caring and thoughtful husband. The other night he surprised me with Sea Bands, Raspberry ginger ale, and Yogi digestive tea.
I have to say these thing have been great to me. Easing, not stopping, but easing my sickness.
It's very exciting for us both, but at the same time hard when you think of close friends and family who have been wanting a child for years, but do not get the opportunity. What do you say... what not to say... It's not easy, but at the same time you have to live you life and they have to live theirs. I still can't answer these questions. There probably is not a good answer either way.
One thing that is hard in the beginning of a pregnancy is what is commonly called morning sickness. I personally don't feel this is the best term since I rarely have been sick in the morning with either of my pregnancy. I get sick nightly. Morning sickness effects each individual differently. Some are given medication because the sickness is so bad. Others never feel the effects of morning sickness. This past week I have been sick every night. Going to bed between 6:30-7:30 has been a standard practice. I have to say that I am so lucky to have such a caring and thoughtful husband. The other night he surprised me with Sea Bands, Raspberry ginger ale, and Yogi digestive tea.
I have to say these thing have been great to me. Easing, not stopping, but easing my sickness.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sorry Blog.... It's been awhile!!
Sorry it's been awhile since I have blogged. There is just so much going on right now. I know that is NO excuse. Work has been very busy for both my husband and I and summer weekends are always filled. So I finally have sometime to write and something great to write about.
This past weekend my family went to visit my husbands sister. She introduced me to a great site that I will check often. It's a site that is dedicated to cosmetic and personal care product's harmful or safe ingredient's. It's rates each product and list the harmful ingredient's.
Here is the link:
Cosmetic Database
I had discovered that many shampoo's I have used in the past are not very good! Even cancer causing. So let me just say, "I will not be buying those anymore!"
Stated on the website, and so TRUE....
Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the FDA doesn't require companies to test their own products for safety.
This past weekend my family went to visit my husbands sister. She introduced me to a great site that I will check often. It's a site that is dedicated to cosmetic and personal care product's harmful or safe ingredient's. It's rates each product and list the harmful ingredient's.
Here is the link:
Cosmetic Database
I had discovered that many shampoo's I have used in the past are not very good! Even cancer causing. So let me just say, "I will not be buying those anymore!"
Stated on the website, and so TRUE....
Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the FDA doesn't require companies to test their own products for safety.
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