• Life’s Little Hiccups: An Apology Letter

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    An apology letter written by Karlie and Brina

    The other day Jake went into the garage and noticed one of his boards had a letter written on it from the girls.  They also included a diagram and frowny face.  Next to the letter was a broken board.  The letter said:

    Daddy I am very sorry we broke your board.  We were trying to carry two water buckets. 

    Love Karlie and Brina

    The girls were bringing water to the goats.  Instead of carrying one bucket at a time they decided to use one of Jake’s “boards” to carry two buckets together and save time.  They were thinking creatively, however, the board they chose was not strong enough to hold two full water buckets so it broke.  They tried to fix the board by taping it together, but with no luck.  After some discussion they decided to write a letter admitting their mistake and apologize to their Dad for breaking his board.

    We Broke Your Board

    The board they broke.  They tried taping it together with painters tape!

    The good, bad, and ugly:

    Bad – they used a board without permission in the first place

    Ugly – something was broken in the process

    Good – they admitted their mistake and apologized for it

    Even though they did something wrong I was happy to see they confessed to their mistake.  Although, we teach the girls right and wrong you never know what they will do.  Thankful for those moments when they admit when they are wrong and apologize.  It makes a parents heart happy to know the kids are trying.  What they did wasn’t horrible and they were trying to find a more efficient way to take care of their animals, but they still needed to let us know about it.

  • Heart Reflections: Oops I Did It Again!

    Is it just me or do you seem to repeat the same mistakes too?  Sometimes I feel like take two steps forward and one step back in the process (possibly at times is it more like 2 steps forward and 3 steps back). 

    It is hard to be find joy and contentment in every moment of every day, especially when it seems like no matter what there’s always little ripples that happen throughout the days, weeks, months, and years.  How do we find joy in the moments when we want to just go back to bed or go somewhere quiet or escape the stress of life?

    • Find joy in the little things.  Everything may not be going well, but there is always something to be thankful for in your life.  It could be your health, family, friends, a job, home, food on the table, a vehicle to drive, sunshine, or a whole bunch of other things we tend to take for granted.  Taking a few moments to count your blessings can really change your outlook on life.  A thankful heart is a positive heart.
    • Point your focus upward. When we look to Christ for our guidance we tend to see a bigger picture and we realize that it really isn’t that bad after all.  Yes, we make choices that can make life easier or more challenging for us, but we can also put our lives into the hands of the one who created the universe and trust that He really knows what is the best for us.  Just knowing that He holds my life in his hand can take some of the pressure off my tendency to micro-manage all aspects of my life.
    • Spend time helping others. We are by nature selfish people. When we take a few moments to focus our energy on someone else it can also lift our spirit too.  Take time to do something nice for someone else today and don’t expect any reward (or favor returned).  Not only will you help another person in the process your heart isn’t stuck on yourself and your issues.

    If you find yourself repeating the same mistakes over and over again.  Ask God for help, he can help you overcome even the little things that pop up in your life.  Find people that you trust to be an accountability partners for you.  You want people in your life that are not afraid to confront you if they see something in your life that isn’t wholesome for you and your family.  Take time to pray and spend time with people who will encourage you to live a life that reflects goodness instead of  repeating the same mistakes.

    Look for the blessings in your life throughout each day.  Turn your focus upward and outward.  Every one of us has the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives around us.

     

  • Song: “What Faith Can Do” by Kutless

    We were able to see Kutless in concert during our Valentine’s Date at Winter Jam in Greenville, SC.  It was neat to hear their songs that night.  Since then several of their songs have been ringing through my head, this is one of those songs.  We all fall and make mistakes, however, it’s how we pick ourselves up that matters.  Having faith in something so much greater than ourselves gives us the additional strength and hope we need to get through any situation.  We have the privilege of seeing miracles happen when we have faith that God can and will provide exactly what we need.

  • Living on a Budget – Groceries $40 for 4

    SaveALot | RiteAid and Walgreens

    I made it through my second week of doing my new cash budget system – Groceries $40 for 4 and I have to be honest with you, it didn’t go well at ALL.  It was a super busy week and I decided at the beginning of the week to totally revamped my menu for this week.  The good news is the menu included a bunch of new healthy recipes, however, since we have been cutting back on our grocery shopping the last few weeks we had to rebuild our fresh fruit and veggie stockpile.  Although I was able to get a lot of great deals on veggies (Thank You Aldi’s) it still added up quickly.  My grocery store shopping this week was spread out and sandwiched in between appointments which made it even more hurried and less organized.   I am still learning how to operate on the cash grocery system (even though I blew it this week).  Hopefully, we can continue trying to utilize the food we already have in our pantry and freezer along with adding in extra fresh fruits and veggies.  I did learn a lot about the mistakes I made this week (hopefully I can refrain from repeating them).  What I learned this week from some of my grocery shopping mistakes:

    • It is important to make the time to go shopping and not try to squeeze it in between appointments (rushing through doesn’t always work well even with a list).
    • Forgetting some of my coupons made a huge difference ( I didn’t have the time or desire to use extra gas to go back for them)
    • Shopping early morning is much better than in the middle of the day (not as many markdown items)
    • Fresh items are more expensive (it is okay to substitute in some frozen ones too).
    • Completely altering your menu once the week has already started causes unnecessary stress
    • There are certain times of day it is not smart to take the whole crew with you to the store (right after school when they are restless and very HUNGRY)
    • It is very difficult sticking to a $40 grocery budget when I had numerous hiccups in my process

    Pictured above is my Walgreens and SaveALot | Rite Aid trip.  Sorry I was not able to get a picture of my Aldi’s and BiLo trips it took everything in me just to put the stuff away (actually, I still have a few cans sitting on the counter still waiting for me to put them in the pantry).   I didn’t separate out my household and grocery items at Aldi or BiLo either so I don’t have the exact totals but to be completely honest I more than double my grocery budget for this week.  Here is what I spent at the two stores pictured above and what we bought:

    • $5.05 at Walgreens for 2 cans of Cashews
    • $19.23 at SaveALot | RiteAid for Milk, Parmesan Grated Cheese, Yogurt, Carrots, Cheese, Mushrooms, Stew Meat, Hamburger Helper

    Life was spread out and busy this week.  My grocery shopping and house shows the ripple effect of it too. It was our second week of the challenge – Groceries $40 for 4 and we more than doubled our grocery budget of $40.   I was disappointed in myself for making so many silly mistakes (and I knew better too) in my rush to pick up groceries and feed the family.  I did get to use some coupons, bought clearance items, and utilized weekly ad discounts to help save us a little extra on our grocery budget even though the savings wasn’t enough.  I really hope to be more organized and do better next week.  We’ll see how I do!

    I hope 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.  I hope by taking the extra time to watch my grocery spending it will allow us to feed our family, enjoy life, 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.