CONGRATULATIONS to Our Rubbermaid Clean & Dry Plunger Winner!
The name has been drawn for the giveaway!
CONGRATULATIONS to
Brynn
for winning a
Rubbermaid Clean & Dry Plunger!
Thanks for making a comment in honor of our Giveaway!
An email has been sent to you with more information*
Enjoy your new Rubbermaid Clean & Dry Plunger!
Don’t forget to enter our next Giveaway (the next giveaway will be announced later this morning)!
*Giveaway must be claimed within 5 business days of the prize being announced. Failure to claim the prize within the allotted time frame means you forfeit the prize.
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
Last week was busy with Vacation Bible School for the girls, work, looking for a new vehicle and a bunch of fun summer activities. The girls have been doing a great job reading everyday and completed a chunk of their goal. It has been fun being able to enjoy some extra time with them and participate it the fun summer activities. I was able to tackle quite a bit of my list for last week!
Last week’s goals:
Family Goals
Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day– I read over 20 library books, a chapter book, and about 20 books from our bookshelves to the girls this past week, they soaking in our reading time together.Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every dayParticipate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the KidsTake the girls to Vacation Bible School – VBS– they had a blast!Get to the 1/4 Goal Mark (500 minutes) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading minutes)– they blew past 500 hours and getting close to our 1/2 markGo to the library with the kidsGo on a Date Night with Jake
Personal Goals
- Exercise – at least 5 days this week
Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey
Home Management Goals
All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one dayWeekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the weekStart My Summer Organizational SchedulePay all upcoming bills
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog postsKeep up with the day to day items that need my attention1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch- Email the updated schedule to our Community Group – been a little more relaxed with this since we haven’t been meeting regularly throughout the summer months
Financial Goals
- Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – went over on this one
- Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses – on hold until we get the money set aside for the vehicle
- Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled – moving forward with it
- Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – on hold until we get the new vehicle
My goals for the upcoming week:
Family Goals
- Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day
- Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
- Participate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the Kids
- Get to the 1/2 Goal Mark (1000 minutes) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading minutes)
- Go to the library with the kids
- Celebrate July 4th with the Family
- Narrow down what type of vehicle we want to get
Personal Goals
- Exercise – at least 5 days this week
Home Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
- Work on My Summer Organizational Schedule
- Pay all upcoming bills
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
- Email the updated schedule to our Community Group
Financial Goals
- Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
- Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses
- Car Fund – save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled
- College Fund – put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results
Make Time to Enjoy….
Book: “More Than Enough” by Dave Ramsey
On a recent trip I read the book More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey. I have read a couple other of Dave’s books and have enjoyed them. This book is geared more towards self improvement and motivation. Dave emphasizes the importance of being content and living an ethical life. While this book does discuss money it’s primary focus is how finances relates to your spouse, children, work and every other area of your life. The book makes us pause and reflect on our character, values, discipline, and how we interact with those around us. Some of the areas discussed:
- Discipline
- Goal Setting
- Values
- Accountability
- Patience
- Generosity (both time & resources)
Even though this book was a little different from Total Money Makeover I believe it contains some key components to having a successful life. Having all the money in the world isn’t much if we are not content or don’t have someone to share it with. As with anything we can find ourselves being too extreme when it comes to finances (too frugal or too loose with money). I like how he ties it all together and builds on the importance of family, goal setting, values, generosity, and finding contentment beyond our finances.
Also, included at the end of each chapter in this book are Thoughts from Sharon which is a paragraph or two from Dave’s wife and her insights regarding the topic that was discussed. In the appendix of the book there are several financial worksheets that you can use to help you get started with your finances.
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
Groceries from Ingles and Save A Lot | RiteAid
Last week we were in Charleston so this week were are back home and in the new summer routine. The girls had a fun week at VBS and I was able to catch up on a few projects I needed to tackle. Our family is juggling one car for awhile now so my grocery shopping may be a little higher one week and lower the next depending on when I get the vehicle. Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.
Ingles Groceries:
- $17.96 at Ingles for 1 bag Mixed Fruit (5 lbs apples and oranges), 1 container of Mushrooms (clearance), 1 bag Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Carrots (clearance), 1 bag Oranges (clearance), 1 container Fresh sliced Pineapple (clearance), 1 container fresh Salsa (clearance), 2 bags Sorrento Mozzarella String Cheese (sale & used coupon), over 3 pounds Ground Beef (clearance), and 2 Sweet Yellow Onions. Everything was marked down, on sale, or on clearance (all produce was $0.99 or less) at Ingles.
Save A Lot | RiteAid Groceries:
- $22.05 at Save A Lot | RiteAid for 1 gallon Milk, 1 container of Whipped Topping, 1 bag English Muffins, 2 boxes Brownies, 3 cans sliced Pineapples, 3 cans Mandarin Oranges, 1 bag Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, 2 cans sliced Peaches, 1 bag Cheese Balls, 1 bag Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix, 2 cans Fruit Cocktail, and 1 bag Corn Tortilla Chips.
Groceries from Ingles
Ingles Groceries:
- $43.58 at Ingles for 1 container of Mushrooms (clearance), 1 loaf Bread, 20 packs Kool Aid Pink Lemonade, 1 bag Spinach (clearance), 2 Orange Crush two liters (on sale for $0.88), 2 Mountain Dew two liters (on sale for $0.88), 1 can Heavy Whipping Cream, 2 bags Mozarella Cheese Sticks (12 count), 10 bags Kraft Shredded Cheese, 3 blocks Kraft Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 1 bag Bananas (clearance), 1 bag Potatoes (clearance), and 1 container Soy Beans (clearance). Everything was marked down, on sale, or on clearance at Ingles.
This week I spent $83.59 on groceries. I went way over budget this week, it’s embarrassing……! Thankfully with us being in Charleston last week we didn’t spend any on groceries so in some ways this is like grocery shopping for two weeks instead of one (makes me feel a tiny bit better). I was happy to find some cheese deals and some fresh produce on clearance that should last us for quite awhile, although I am not too thrilled about how much I went over this week. We are still juggling around one car in our family so that makes schedules and grocery store shopping a little more challenging. Next week it looks like I won’t have the car most days so it should be a lower week to help make up for this week. Hopefully next week we can come under budget and July will be a better month for us!
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Ring
My cousin makes an awesome Buffalo Chicken dip that our entire family loves so when I saw this recipe on Jayesel it looked similar but wrapped in crescent rolls and I had to try it! I tweaked the recipe a little bit, added shredded cheese, and it turned out really well. The first time I made it I took it to a get together and it was a huge hit. It is a delicious recipe that we have added to our collection. This is a great meal or can be used as an appetizer.
Buffalo Chicken Ring
- 8 oz Cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 packet Ranch Powder Mix
- 2 tablespoon Buffalo Hot Sauce
- 2 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
- 2 packages Crescent Rolls
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet and spread the unrolled crescent rolls out leaving a small circle in the middle. Mix chicken and buffalo sauce to taste. In separate bowl, mix softened cream cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese, and ranch packet together. Mix all ingredients together. Scoop the mixture by the spoonful onto the crescent rolls. Fold the crescent rolls over the mixture to create a ring shape. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese over the top of the ring. Bake for 15 minutes or until the crescent rolls are brown. You can serve with buffalo hot sauce and ranch dressing.
Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Beans, Tomatoes, Peas, Zucchini, and Squash!
Vegetables in our new beach bucket ready to be delivered to friends in Charleston!
Items that were picked this week:
- Purple Beans
- Green Beans
- Snow Peas
- Red Cherry Tomatoes
- Orange Cherry Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Summer Squash
We took some vegetables with us to Charleston last week to share with friends. It was fun being able to bring fresh vegetables with us now that our garden is starting to take off and produce more. What are you eating out of your garden this week?
Travel & Vacation: First McDonald’s in HiTech City, Hyderabad
First McDonald’s to open up in Hi-Tech City, Hyderabad, India
While Jake was in Hyderabad the first McDonald’s opened up in Hi-Tech City! Everyone was so excited to have a McDonald’s nearby. I am sure he was wildly excited to be part of this historical moment in Hyderabad! 🙂
One thing I didn’t realize about McDonald’s (as well as other food chains) in other countries is that although the logo is the same the menu may be very different. Some of the chains Jake visited tasted exactly the same (for example Chili’s), but many of the chains we recognized did not. The unique thing about McDonald’s in the area we were located in Hi-Tech City they did not serve any beef products. Everything on the menu was chicken or vegetarian! So if you are in Hi-Tech City and looking for a Big Mac……..you may be disappointed.
If you wanted a pizza from Pizza Hut it will most likely have corn on it and Pepperoni isn’t a choice. KFC was pretty similar except all the chicken had some curry added to the fried chicken batter. I never did eat at their local McDonalds or really any of the normal chains you see around here but Jake had a chance to experience most of them since he was in Hyderabad for several weeks. It was pretty fascinating looking at the menu options at the various places although I chose to go to more traditional Indian restaurants and experience their food.
I think it’s smart of the company to adjust their menu slightly to match the taste of the area, unless you are looking for something specific from the fast food or restaurant! While you can’t get a Big Mac at the local McDonald’s in Hyderabad I have to say the food I ate at the local Indian restaurants was simply delicious. There are some dishes I ate while there that I would love to re-create now that I am back in the USA but have no clue what was in them. Have you had similar experiences when traveling abroad?
Travel & Vacation: Training Courses for Women in Hyderabad
I was very pleased to see on the outside of Shilparamam Park a sign saying “Training Courses for Women” everyday from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm. It was neat to see that Hyderabad wanted to invest in training women especially in a culture where some women don’t have the option to receive any. Some of the courses looked fun, others interesting, and several that would be fascinating to learn. Wouldn’t it be neat to learn something like “Interior Decorating” from their culture, I wonder how different it would be from how we were taught?! Honestly some of the things they were teaching I didn’t even know what they were so I would have to do a little more research before signing up for anything.
Here are some of the courses they were teaching in the park:
- Oil Painting
- Water Colours
- Classical Music
- Classical Dance
- Nirmal Painting
- Kalamkari Painging
- Interior Decoration
- Flower Making
- Flower Arrangement
- Pot Painting
- Sand Painting
- Fabric Painting
- Glass Painting
- Warily Painting
- Zari
- Hand Embroidery
- Zardoshi
- Soft Toys
- Solar Wood Craft
- Mahandi Designs
- Garment Making
- Candle Making
- Phenyl
- Liquid Soap
- Agarbetti Making
- Bathik Printing
- Block Printing
- Tye & Dye
- Dyeing Methods
- Musical Instruments
- Veena
- Fluite
- Mrudangam
- And quite a few more
I was pretty impressed at the list of classes they had for women. There are definitely some that would be fun to take! The sign also tells where the classes are held in the park, how long they go (most go for 6 months) and how much they cost (a lot of them were 1000 rs). I didn’t see any “blogging” or “women entrepreneurs” or “business” courses but who knows what they will do in the next few years!
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Shilparamam Park in Hyderabad, India
Entrance to Shilparamam Park. It was pretty close to where Jake was staying in Hyderabad, India.
Water fountain in the park
Hyderabad’s version of the duck boats! Not sure I would want to go splashing around in the water though.
Not sure about the wiring in the park! This was a pretty common sight in the various places we visited. I am sure Jake’s cousin who is an electrician would have something to say about this one, ha!
Jake patiently waiting on the bridge for me to catch up!
Peaceful pond full of duck boats looks so pretty.
Cow with its horns painted blue and all decked up pulling a cart with items they plan to sell at the market place
Huge elephant statue you walk under to get to another part of the park.
This was interesting…..in the park they had a section which was a museum that told some of the history of Hyderabad, India and trades found in the area but they did it using all props.
Sankranthi Festival Display – outside props that were part of the museum portion of the park. I loved the bamboo fence, it was really pretty!
The largest patch of green grass I saw in Hyderabad! It was a field for concerts inside the park. Grass was not something you seen a lot of in the part of town where we were located. I bet the cows, goats, and other livestock I seen on the streets going through trash to find something to eat would have loved a chance to nibble on this grass!
Cool waterfall in the park….the smell reminded me of Reedy River at Falls Parks. Beautiful but not ideal swimming or splashing around in water.
Watching a group of people in the park play a party game. It kind of looked similar to “Duck, Duck, Goose” or “Musical Chairs” They were having a lot of fun!
Elephant fountain in the park. The bottom row of fountains are elephants spraying out water through their noses. We were told that elephants were a symbol of “good luck” so you see them often. Although we have been told various stories as to why they are good luck and what type of luck, not sure which is accurate or if there are just several stories that go along with the elephant symbol.
“Living Rock Gallery” inside the park. The rocks have plaques on them explaining their symbolizism and place of honor. I have heard of rock gardens but never a living rock garden so it was something different that I haven’t seen before.
If you pause for even a split second or happen to look in the general direction of someone’s shop they will rush out to greet you and try to get you to look at the items they have for sale. This guy was trying to get us to buy his fabric. They did not hestitate to sale you anything from rugs, to flowers, pottery, clothes, knick knacks, bangles, spices, and much more! Most people were ok when you said “No, thank you” but there were a few who would literally follow you around asking you to look, touch, and buy their items. You could spend an entire day going from shop to shop and having them sell you their goods if you wanted to, thankfully I am not a big shopper and Jake had already purchased a couple items for the kids before I arrived.
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
