Baby Step #2: Debt Snowball

Well since it's the last day of the month (which means we did our budget), it seems appropriate to do another Sunday Savings post.

So Baby Step 2 of Dave Ramsey's "Get out of debt" plan is to list your debts, smallest to largest, except for your mortgage.  And then you attack the smallest debt to pay it off.  Then you attack the next one.  And the next one.  And the next one...until they are GONE!  People call all the time and argue that you should pay off the debt with the highest interest rate but the idea is that you feel accomplishment when you pay off one debt and it makes you want to keep going and going and going... it's about behavior, not math. Which the school psychologist in me loves.

When we started the program, we had 7 student loans (yup, one for each year I was in school) and 2 car loans.  We were able to knock out that first car loan really quickly because we were only 2 payments away from paying it off in the first place.  Now 2 years later, we have 5 student loans left.  In a month, it will be FOUR!  And trust me, it does feel really good to pay one off, even if it's just a little one and it's got friends four time the size behind it.

I think just listing out our debts was the biggest eye opener.  I knew I had student loans but we were making the monthly payments and it was all good...until I realized we'd be making those monthly payments for the next 10 years... and then I got the paperwork on how much I paid in interest for a year.  Those things together really made me want to kick that debt out of my life forever... and I'm on my way.

So just take one small baby step to this baby step and think about your debts..write them down.. and go from there :)

WIAW- Mexican Chicken Crockpot Meal Showdown

Breakfast was the typical giant bowl of cereal. What was new is my coffee creamer- Girl Scouts Thin Mints flavored.

I'm not a huge fan of the cookie anymore so not sure why I decided to go with the creamer but it isn't bad. Probably not one I would go with again (a little too minty for my palette) but enjoyable.

Somewhere between breakfast and lunch I had a blueberry Chobani Oats.

After my previous post about Go Picnics, I had to have one for lunch. The Sun Butter one tops my Top 3 list.

My afternoon snack was some almonds, cheese and a handful of Cupcake Goldfish. And a regular Coke. Yum!

Supper was Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken 

It was good but we had just made Crockpot Chicken Verde a few days ago and that recipe was a lot better. If I made this recipe again, I would cook it on low all day instead of on high for a shorter amount of time. I had to cut to with a knife instead of shred it with a fork because it wasn't tender enough.

Just realized I never had dessert after supper... There might be some chocolate frozen yogurt in my future.... 

Target Tuesday

So inevitably when I sit down to write a Things I Tries post, 90% of my products come from Target. So I went to Pinterest to find some funnies about Target and had to stop at 3... Search "Target e cards" if you are in search of more. They are all true about me! 

I made a stop yesterday for baby stuff and only got baby stuff- but only because I had someone I didn't know very well with me and didn't want them to judge me!

So those of you who work with me know I am a big fan of Go Picnic lunches. Mostly healthy, organic, and easy to pack (but they are expensive). I did a small squeal when I found a breakfast edition.  

But sadly it was a disappointment. I had to heat up the croissant because it was hard and I didn't care for the almond butter. So recommendation- stick to the lunches! 

Another find that I got excited about was:

Every once in awhile when I am feeling like I have money, I pick up Applegate organic lunch meat. So I thought I would pick up this "half time" box. Now I thought it would be a snack box but when I saw the calorie count, it became lunch! It's basically an organic Lunchable. Which I don't mind because the 5 year old in me loves me a good Lunchable but it didn't meet my expectations of being a snack. 

Last but not least my review of some more Chobani Oats yogurt. I have now tried the apple cinnamon, banana maple, cranberry and blueberry. I thought the banana maple would be my favorite (I even bought two, I was that confident!) but it turns out I don't like it at all. The cranberry was the winner, followed by apple cinnamon. Who knew? 

That's all I've got. 

Hopefully there will start to be some changes to make this blog more user friendly over the next couple weeks. I am trying to learn how to use different features and organize. But turns out that at 28, I am no longer technologically savvy. Just bury me when I hit 30! 

Surviving your case of the Mondays

Is anyone else having a case of the Mondays? Maybe it's because Lucas was crabby yesterday (teething, gassy tummy and tired all at the same time... Time to start drinking again!) or maybe it's because he was awake for almost 2 hours in the middle of the night (so was his father who got kicked out of bed after waking me up for the 100th time sighing because he couldn't get back to sleep... I get it- you're up! I am not!) but I was just not prepared to go to work today. I also wasn't prepared for the work day I had... I don't think I did a single thing for my own job all day.

So I drag my tired body home only to be reminded that my husband has fire meeting at 7 and my mother in law is spending the night... Sigh. Time to make the house look semi- presentable and pray the baby sleeps long enough before getting hungry for me to shower and pump.

So yes, here I am at 8:16 pm still in a mood when I should be happy I get to sleep soon. So I turned to my phone to see if I still had any inspirational and motivating quotes and I found one... Whew!

I'm going to try to turn it around for what's left of my day. If you are having a case of the Mondays (Tuesdays... Wednesdays... All days....), I hope it helps you too!

Lucas-24 Weeks

You can find Lucas' 24 week update here:

http://lovingonlucas.wordpress.com/

Last week at home for our little man.. daycare starts Sepember 2nd!

First Phone Call From Heaven Review

Last October, my phone rang early in the morning and it was my mom.  My family has a general rule that you don't call between 9 p.m.-9 a.m. unless you have bad news.  With the words "Grandma's doctor says everyone should come now because they don't know how much time she has left" my world was turned upside down.  Sure, my grandma was having some health problems but most elderly people in their 80s have a couple.  As a long-time smoker (yes she quit in her 70s but the damage was done), she had what looked like lung cancer but the doctor didn't feel like putting my grandma through the testing was worth it because she was not going to seek the treatment.  As I ran over my garbage can, breaking my taillight, I spent the next hour frantically driving to the hospital 16 weeks pregnant.  Memories flashed through my mind about all the weekends we had spent with my grandma... the shopping trips that always involved a cookie/pop break, picking up the latest Nora Roberts or Danielle Steele book, her picking me up after work for a sleep over. Two days later we moved her to hospice.  I spent almost every night sleeping in her room and after she slipped into a coma, sleeping in her bed.  She picked our baby girl's name but then told me it didn't matter because I was having a boy (and she was right!).  I was there when she woke up after two days of being in what they thought was a coma and spoke to her.  Ten days after that first phone call she passed away... I was ten minutes away.  My heart broke, not only at the loss of a woman who was a second mother to me but at the loss for my unborn child that he would never know his maternal great-grandma.

I don't write about this to make people sad but to give you the back story on why I could not read the book First Phone Call From Heaven for a long time after I downloaded on my Kindle.  Just the title reminded me of my grandma and her passing was too fresh in my memory.  However, about a week ago I was drinking a Pepsi and thought of my grandma (we always had to find a place that served Pepsi for our pop break) and I wasn't so sad anymore. I still missed her terribly but I was able to remember a lot of happy things without being sad.  So when I looked for a book to read on my Kindle later that day, I picked this one.

I have to say I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone.  Without giving too much away, people in a small town began to receive phone calls from their deceased loved ones.  Is it a hoax?  Is it real?  When news of these calls become known, it spreads like wildfire through the media.  Protesters and believers flock into the town, turning it upside down.  In the midst of it is a character named Sully who lost his wife and has a son who carries around a toy plastic phone waiting for a phone call from Mommy (yes, that one broke my heart multiple times).  That's about all I can share but it was a good, easy read with some philosophical thinking behind it, as are most Mitch Albom books.

The biggest thing that hit home to me is that when we lose someone, we always wish we could have that one last conversation with that person.  To say I love you, to say I will miss you, to say all those things that we took for granted we could tell them whenever we wanted.  Sometimes I need a book like this to remind me to say what's on my mind and to always let my family and friends know that I care about them.

Uffdah...that's about as deep as I can get tonight.  One more day of work and then two full days with my baby and husband-looking forward to it!

What I Ate Wednesday- Junk Food Edition

So I am such a mindless eater when I am home all day- as I sat down to write this post I realized all the things I ate that I did not take pictures of... Maybe doing this type of post on a more regular basis will curb my crappy eating... Maybe I should do this on a daily basis.

Breakfast was a bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal (a heaping bowl- end of the box) with almond milk and a banana. Such a good start. 

Lunch was leftovers from a couple nights ago- pesto baked chicken. Such a yummy and easy meal! I love the Kraft web site for supper ideas. Now that I am back at work I can't make a crockpot meal every day which is a real downer.

Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/crispy-baked-pesto-chicken-95137.aspx

I also had some Chobani pineapple yogurt and a handful of these with it. 

You know you have found your soulmate when he puts these in your cart at Target, no questions asked. 

Somewhere between those and my afternoon snack below was some Munchies mix and a handful of Twix minis. 

Sliced cheese and almonds- a delicious combination!

Supper was roast with onions, carrots, and baby potatoes. Nothing fancy- threw it all in the crockpot this morning with a cup of water and a package of dry onion soup mix. Followed by a couple Oreos.

I did get out after putting Lucas to bed for a 30 minute run. The temperature was finally decent but the humidity is awful tonight with storms on the horizon. I was dripping wet by the time I got home. Thankfully Mike fed the baby so I could get a shower in before he had to shower for work.

Back to work tomorrow... The nice thing about these first few weeks is I kent work 4 days a week. The hard part is that I had a very smiley baby all day which makes it hard to leave. 

Things I Tried Tuesday- Yogurt edition

So I've been experimenting with different snacks for work that require no prep and one of my favorite go tos is yogurt. Has protein which I always need but ican trick myself into thinking it is a dessert. 

But I am also rather picky about the texture of my yogurt (here's looking at you fruit at the bottom!) and I tend to cycle through which brand I like. So I was pretty pumped when I found three new yogurts to try at Target on Sunday. 

I have been looking for the Chobani with oats for awhile and was even more excited to find it in my favorite flavor- apple cinnamon! The texture took a little but getting used to but overall I loved it and definitely plan to buy more!

I had read about other bloggers searching high and low for this
watermelon flavor so thought I would grab it and try it even though I was leery... The flavor was good but I couldn't get over the watermelon flavor with the yogurt texture. Not one I will be buying again.

The only thing I love about fall is the colors, the leaves changing, and all things pumpkin flavored. So when I spotted this pumpkin flavored yogurt I had to buy it. I had never tried this brand of yogurt but it was delicious! I will be buying Target out next time.

And there it is- not much else for you guys as this post is an hour in the making. Interrupted by Lucas waking up to eat and then proceeding to puke all over me which resulted in a shower.... Good thing I have the day off tomorrow! 

Savings Sunday- Baby Step 1

So for those of you who know me well, you know that our family loosely follows Dave Ramsey's "Get out of debt" philosophy. I say loosely because we could definitely be more intense about the process instead of indulging in some of the finer things in life (I'm looking at you car detailing!).  But regardless, I think the biggest life changer for us was giving structure to our money. For example, the first baby step (there are 7) in his plan is to create a baby emergency fund of $1000 ($500 if you make something like $20,000 or less). This was really easy for us because we had an extra $1000 in the bank but also life changing because it forced us to assign that money to not being touched except in case of emergency. Almost two years later we have not touched that money. Prior to that it just sat in our checking account and we could have easily blown through it thinking "look how much money we have." So even if you think Dave Ramsey is a crock, I encourage you to at least think about your finances and ask yourself what you would do if an emergency happened to you tomorrow...

Tomorrow's Monday.. That's a mental health emergency if nothing else. 

Here's a picture of Lucas to get you through- one of those times where I caught him at the perfect moment making a monster face. 

23 weeks

When I first conceptualized this new blog, I had the following in mind for my daily posts:

Monday Motivation to cover faith

Things I Tried Tuesday just for fun

What I ate Wednesday just for fun

Pinterest idea Thursday for my friends

Fitness Friday

Update on Lucas on Saturdays for family

Savings Sunday cover finance

I spent a lot of time coming up with these ideas but two weeks into having this blog, this is only my 5th post... Sigh.  Oh the woes of trying to do it all and not go crazy.

This is my first weekend as a working mom and I have managed to wash, dry AND fold (everyone knows that is the hardest part) mine and Lucas' laundry.  The house hasn't been cleaned, the fridge and cupboards are bare but I'm going to give myself a C+ so far since it's only Saturday night and I still have Sunday to try to redeem myself.

Luckily I remembered that I can just link you guys to Lucas' blog and then I don't have to worry about giving you a 23 week update- score on multitasking.  

www.lovingonlucas.wordpress.com

I am going to pass out in bed and try to recover from my second run in 5 weeks.... I tried running on Monday and I made it a mile and a half before running too soon after supper caught up to me and I had an uncomfortable mile and a half walk home with stomach cramps.  Today I set my timer for 15 minutes and did an out and back, no distance goals.  I probably only ended up running 26 minutes between stopping to pick up after Jake and stopping for a water break- I did not realize how HOT it was before I got out there... I would love to toss running to the side for a little bit but I am scheduled to do a 5k with my sister in law in September and I don't want out have to finish behind her again... Although in my defense, I was 16 weeks pregnant at the time.  So even though I would much rather use that time for an episode of the Real Housewives, I will try to persevere a couple nights a week... Try.  

Hope everyone else is having a more exciting weekend! 

I Scream You Scream- Oreos and Ice Cream

Even though my summer is coming to an end, the cravings for my two summer favorite foods are still there... Oreos and ice cream!

A friend recommended I try frozen Greek yogurt as a healthy alternative to ice cream. Now I could have taken a container and put it in the freezer but there is something about an ice cream stick that also screams summer happiness to me. So I tested out these two products. 

This one was a hit- great flavor and satisfied my craving for a lot less calories. Plus I felt a little healthier because of the protein and calcium I was getting. 

This one wasn't such a hit for me. I enjoyed the strawberry flavor but the granola crunch outside was just "meh" to me. Plus it has more calories so give me a honey any day.

Now on to something not so healthy but oh so delicious! 

For some reason I love Oreos in the summer. The rest of the year I can take them or leave them but in the summer mmm... I once was eating an entire package every week not realizing how many calories are packed into such a cute little cookie. 

I thought peanut butter Oreos would be the best creation ever- chocolate cookie plus peanut butter equals 2 of my favorite things. 

Sadly, the flavor just didn't do it for me. I contributed it to the Reeses peanut butter just tasting different than regular peanut butter (although I do live a Reese's peanut butter cup) but I also found just regular peanut butter ones and they didn't do it either. So avoid all things peanut butter and instead find yourself one of these: 

Oh yes- that is a banana split Oreo. My husband picked these out and I thought they would be disgusting but I was oh so wrong. Part golden Oreo part regular with strawberry and banana cream equals pure goodness!

So now that I've made everyone hungry (myself included!), go out and find yourself a sweet treat. It can be healthy or naughty- all things in moderation! 

As a side note, I have also learned that I cannot blow dry my hair and blog at the same time so if you ever see partial posts that is why :)

Impossible=I'm Possible

I apologize for the lack of posts but I went back to work today and I was soaking up as much Lucas time (and sleep) as I could fit in.

Going back to work was tough but the tough parts surprised me.  I was blessed to be able to be home with my baby boy for 5 months-- I went back to work for 8 days over 4 weeks in May/June but that was the only time I was away from him other than a few brief trips to Sioux Falls.  I have seen every first-the first time he rolled both ways, his first smile, the first time he sat unassisted propped up on his hands and I am so sad that there are probably going to be firsts that I don't see from this point on.  I thought I would be a hot mess when I drove to work today but it was actually last night that was the most difficult- I did not want to put him to bed!  I was in tears the entire time.  I think knowing that he was going to wake up and I wouldn't be the one there was killing me.  I'm glad that he doesn't have to go to daycare until September 2nd but at the same time, I think I will enjoy the time we spend together getting him ready to go to daycare before I go to work.  He did wake up briefly for his pacifier so I was at least able to give him a smile and a kiss.  I managed to get through the day by staying busy with a training this morning and catching up with co-workers in the afternoon.  There was one brief rough moment when I turned on my computer and there was his smiling face but I breathed through it and carried on.  And the smile and excitement I got from him when I walked in the door made me forget about the whole day.

Sometimes you have rough days in life but you have to get through them.  Being a working mother seems very difficult right now but so did being a mother the first few weeks.  Eventually it will become my new normal.  And I just keep reminding myself of the below quote.

Happy Monday!