Goals!

So this time, I will talk about my goals!

1. Travel to 1 new place
2. Read 52 New books this year!
3. Blog each week
4. Watch Downton Abbey
5. Eight different projects at my house
6. Work on my lists

#1, I am skipping right now, since that one is in the planning process!

#2 has been a fun one.  I make no apologies for my love of reading.  I also love to re-read books, especially ones that I love.  The hardest part of this goal for me is finding new books to read.  This is week 4 of the new year, and so far I have read 7 books.  4 have been fiction, and lesbehonest--two of them were a little much!  They were by authors I had read before, but I didn't know that either one of those books were that way.  I have read 3 non-fiction, which I enjoyed much more! No Easy Day and The Lone Survivor were both stories of Navy Seals.  No Easy Day was from one of the guys who was in the raid that killed Bin Laden. The Lone Survivor was about a Navy Seal who was involved in a deadly attack in Afghanistan, where all his team was killed but him, and the rescue team was killed as well.  Both were excellent books!  I love our Armed Forces, and appreciate everything they do to keep our country safe.  The training they go through, the dangerous missions, all of this to protect our freedom.  The other non-fiction book I read was Manhunt, and was about the journey to catch Bin Laden from the CIA/espionage view.  I went and saw Zero Dark Thirty, and wanted to read more about this.  I love anything about the CIA!  Those people are brilliant, and I cannot think of anything more exciting to be than to work for them.

#3, I am doing right now!  So, yay, Me!

#4, I have not started! I really just need to sign up for Netflix!

#5, Eight of these projects around my house, are 25% done. They mostly involve just finishing decorating, like hanging curtains or pictures.  The only major one is to finish our bathroom, but that involves money and time.  But I WILL do this! :)

#6, Ah, my lists!  I love lists!  I was talking to my friend, Rachel, at work one day.  She said after her grandfather died, they found a bunch of journals, that he had written in.  He had a bunch of lists of trips he had taken, where and when.  So, I really want to keep lists of my important dates, all the places I have visited personally, as a family, and couple.  Or keep a list of the states, countries and continents I have been to.  This should be a fun project, and it will be fun to re-live all these events in my mind! 


A quick story -- I told one of my other friends at work about my plan for this year and my journal.  A couple days later, she told me I had inspired her to do the same thing! It made me happy that I helped influence someone else to improve their life or to plan.  I think it is in our human D.N.A. to want to help, to inspire and to be inspired.  I know this whole little process, has helped me get through the post-Holiday slump.  I absolutely hate this time of year, when Christmas is over, and football is over!  I have to have something to look forward to and to plan ahead for the future.  This has helped me so much!!!
 

A New Year Part 2

I'm doing good, another blog post in less than 24 hours!

So, how am I going for it? Well, there is a possibility that I may do the Disney Princess Half Marathon with some girls from work. I have not ran, ever, much less run a half marathon. When I first heard about it, I said there is no way. Then I thought, why not try! I have a whole year! Go for it! I am trying everything to motivate myself. I bought new running shoes, some workout clothes, a good sports bra. I downloaded two apps to help. One is Run Keeper, and the other is Charity Miles. The Charity Miles app tracks your run, then a corporate sponsor, gives a donation for each mile you run. I am running for Wounded Warrior project. I have been reading books about Navy Seals, and want to help the veterans.

I decided to "Be Bold", and I was invited at work to be part of the group to evaluate our core values and their implantation. I am the quietest in the group, but I have been able to speak up during our meetings. I feel like it has been an excellent opportunity for me to be more involved. But it wasn't until I said to myself, I wanted to do more bold that I received the request.

I am still working on the cheerleader thing. I had a meeting the other day, that do not go as well as I would have liked, but I did encourage myself and my boss, of the positive things we could take from it. It was still a big step for me!

I also have one more BIG thing to do this year! But it is still in the secret stage. I hope it happens!

Ok, besides my mission statement, I wrote down some other goals:
1. Travel to 1 new place
2. Read 52 New books this year!
3. Blog each week
4. Watch Downton Abbey
5. Eight different projects at my house
6. Work on my lists

My next blog will be about the goals!

Next time, I will let you know about

A New Year

It's a New Year!!! Well, actually, 24 days into a New Year. 

A friend from work gave me a Moleskine Journal.  As this New Year started, I decided I wanted to keep a journal with my goals, mission statement, and various lists.  I have the Note App on my I-Phone, but there is just something about writing something.  It also is good to look back at the journal frequently as a reminder. 

First of all, the Moleskine journal was inspiring in itself.  They were made originally in Paris, and used by authors and artists, such as Van Gogh, Picasso, and Hemingway! 

The first thing I decided to for this upcoming year is to live my life by 3 statements.  I know they sound corny, but I want to have some focus in my life and change certain aspects.  I realize I have been living my life at not my fullest potential.  I can do more than I am doing.  These statements are my inspiration and my catalyst to being happier:

1. Go For It
2. Be Bold
3. Be a Cheerleader

The "Go For It" comes from my lack of ability to take risks and the way I over- analyze each decision. I can talk myself out of trying new things or opportunities, either because I am afraid of failure or insufficient motivation. I feel like I am missing out on so much of what I could be, because of my fear and effort.

The "Be Bold" is because I stay quiet too many times.  I am an introvert, and I definitely have opinions.  I love to share them on social media, but I rarely verbally speak up. I do think about a lot of things, but I hate to share my opinion because of ridicule or being shot down.  I want to express myself if I feel hurt or taken advantage of, as well.  I could go into greater detail of why I keep things to myself, but with talking with Tim, I realize that this is a deep issue I have to face.

The third item is "Be a Cheerleader"  I need to be more encouraging to those closest around me.  I am a melancholy person, and I'm analytical.  It doesn't take much effort to shoot down plans or ideas, we can all do that.  The true strength comes from finding a way to help others achieve their goals, and encourage them on their path.  I don't want to be so cyncial, that when I hear something Tim wants to do or my kids, that I roll my eyes, and say "We'll See..." I want to be able to see the strengths of their dreams and say, you can do it!

Ok, this is enough for now.  I will share next time the opportunities that have came up, since I decided to have a mission statement for my life.

P.S. I also want to do my blog more this year!  So, be ready for that!!!

My Bucket list

I am glad I was able to grow up & be an adult. When I was 12, 13 or 15, all I wanted to do was grow up. I couldn't wait until I could drive, graduate high school, go to prom(or in my case JR/SR Banquet). I dreamed what it would be like to fall in love, get married, be pregnant, have my own family, buy a house! I wanted to ride in a airplane and travel to another country. There seemed like so many things I wanted to experience!

I'm 35, and thank goodness, and I did grow up! I experienced so many of my dreams. There are still a few things left I want to do:

1. Go to NYC
2. Go to Paris
3. Go to Hawaii
4. Have my grandchildren
5. Live in another state, preferably Florida!
6. Visit two more continents. Already been to 3- N.A., Europe and Asia
7. Go to a home Pittsburgh Steelers game
8. Build my own house
9. Travel across the country by car/camper.
10. Surprise my hubby by taking him away for a week without him knowing, or him doing that for me!

I am sure I could come up with more, but that is what I can think of for right now!!!! What is your bucket list?!

Why I am poor

Clever title, huh?

Yesterday was just a normal day, and this is why I am poor.  This is just a list of day-to-day expenses, and why I never can get ahead with money!

$6.00: Something Boys needed for school

$5.40: My lunch(maybe a little extravagant, but I have to leave the office or I'll go nuts, and a sandwich with chips and a brownie just don't cut it, when you sit for 9 hours a day)

$42.00: Gas(not to be political but when Obama took office gas was 1.85, and I paid 3.59 a gallon yesterday, almost double.  Am I better off now?)

$14.86:  Papa John's Pizza - I bought pizza for the kids and Tim for dinner.  Could I came out cheaper cooking, I'm not so sure - 2lbs of ground beef, spaghetti sauce and pasta for 5 including two teenage boys who just got out of football practice, very, very close!)

$110.00: Insurance for my 2 boys to play football.  (Mind you, I already paid $20/each for physicals.  And from what I understand, this does not actually cover them if they get hurt, this is just to protect the school district, from being held liable)

This adds up to $178.26 in miscellaneous expense.  This does not cover the house payment, power bill, and other household bills that got drafted from my account.  If you split up our household bills, and divide by 30 days, it is about $130 or 26 a day per person in our family.  This includes our house payment, food, gas, and car payments.

Today in our chapel at work, we had our reps from Bangladesh here to share about the work.   According to WHO, the extreme poverty level is $1 a day per person.  One of the outreach projects that our reps oversee is for people with leprosy who have disability and their income is less than 30 cents per person a day.  They can never get ahead, they struggle to have one meal a day, of just rice.  These are the poorest of the poor. 

So, am I really poor?  NO, and I get depressed sometimes because we have a hard time paying for all the extra's or the power bill is $305.00 in a month.  But I can feed my kids, and give them a comfortable life, and take them on vacation.  I am rich, and most of the people who live in this country are too, compared how to others in this world live.  I think most of us in the county are the true 1%. 

Think about it.... 

We're getting there!

Sorry, it's been a while.  I have been lazy with my posting, and mainly because I have been lazy at home.  Not truly lazy, I have been busy with other things, like getting kids started in school, working and football.

Here is the progress so far on our house.  The foundation is bricked in the first picture, and the floor has been laid in the second.  I am so excited!  Tim and I are adding a walk-in closet and a bathroom.  We wanted to get a big garden tub for the room.  I really did not want a jacuzzi.  I have heard they are hard to clean, but I just wanted a big tub.  Well, we didn't have the money for it at first(as it's taking all our money just to do the building part), but we really needed to get it bought, before he framed up the addition, since it would be too big to bring in through the house.  Tim and I were not sure what to do.  THEN, this past Sunday the church had a reception for Tim's 10th Anniversary there.  They took up money for him, and Tim and I decided to use it for the bath-tub.  We went Tuesday night to Lowe's and there was absolutely nothing in our price range and time frame.  The one I wanted was close to $700 and would take a month to get in.  Then our contractor told us about a couple plumbing wholesale places here in town.  Tim went after lunch yesterday, and they had the one I wanted - get this - for $375.00.  They told us it could be in by next Friday.  We were so excited!!! So, I placed the order, and then the guy called me back and said they had one at their other location in Greer, we could get it today!  Even better news!  We are going to have to wait until we have enough money to run the plumbing to it, but at least it will be in the house and ready to be ran when the money comes in!

 

Here is a link to our new tub, http://www.maax.com/en/UtilityPages/BuilderSpecHelper.aspx?modelid=%7B62B094BA-1C17-4B5F-B5E1-CF9030635C0F%7D.  If you want to get a sneak peek, at what it's going to be like!

 

 

I still have a couple projects left in the Katy's room and the boy's room.  But I am so proud to say they have a done marvelous job keeping their rooms cleaned.  Tim and I have been so surprised how well they have done.  We said we should have done this a long time ago, if we knew giving them a source of pride would have helped them keep their rooms clean. 

 

Enough for now!!



Sorry

Well, sorry, I haven't posted in a few days.  What a whirlwind of days...

My husband's grandmother passed away Sunday, and it was pretty sudden.  Today is the receiving friends and funeral. 

My sister, mother, and my niece and two nephews have been here since last Thursday from Arkansas, as well. They left to drive back to Arkansas today.  I enjoyed seeing them, and my kids loved it too.  All 3 of Anna's kids thought Katy was the greatest thing ever imagined.  Graham who will be 2 in November, would just come up to her and hold his hands out for a hug or to be held.  Last night was hard to say good-bye.  Graham pitched a fit, and kept wanting to give Katy a hug and kisses.  It was like he knew it was good-bye.  Those kids are precious and I will miss them.  They did like riding in their Aunt Kelly's car, since she has a tv/dvd!   Here's the pic of all 6 of the grandkids

Yesterday was finally my birthday.  I took half a day off and went shopping to the outlets with the family.  Then we went to Portofino's for dinner, and they gave me a free dessert.  I had Cheesecake!  Then my mom made my favorite cake - Coconut! 

Christian told me to tweet celebrities to see if I could get a retweet for my birthday.  I tweeted two: Hines Ward and Donald Trump Jr.  Donald Trump Jr. has tweeted with me a couple times, because I replied once to his, and we had a political discussion.  So last night, I get a tweet from Donald Trump Jr.  I WAS SO HAPPY!  I love the Apprentice, and he's my favorite.  He's really smart and sees through people's craziness, and a he's a savvy business man. Anyways, it made my night!

So, I still have a lot on my plate, with the house.  Tim is having some football coaches over this weekend, and I will be mad-rush cleaning.  But I work best under pressure and deadlines. The challenge is on!

Well, enough for now... it's almost time to leave for the funeral home... I hope everyone is on their best behavior today.  If you know anything about Tim's family, it's going to be a miracle!