Curtains

For my birthday, I received some money. I've been holding onto it, just in case we needed it for foster care, but after we had the home inspection, I felt like it was safe to use the money.

So, I purchased new curtains. I'm super excited about it. We've had the same front room curtains since we moved into the house, and I've never really liked them.

 Since this picture was taken, they actually were in much worse shape. There were much worse gaps at the top, and it was pretty nasty.

So, I ordered new curtains. When I ordered them, I wanted them to match the one I put on the back door. My mom had bought that one for me last year on my birthday. However, when the curtains arrived, I quickly pulled down the old one and Grig and I put up the new ones.

I was dismayed to quickly find out that they were too narrow. I had measured before purchasing, but evidently I hadn't counted for the ruffles in the curtains.

They were also a lot smaller than the one my mother had purchased for me the year before. Gaps showed on both sides of the curtains. It was pretty distressing to me. I had already thrown out the old curtain, and I couldn't return the new ones without it being a lot of effort and having a complete lack of privacy in our living room. I also didn't want to put more money into buying two new curtains, but I didn't know what to do. I just knew I couldn't handle having them look like this.

 I called my mother, and asked her to send me the link to the curtain she had purchased for me the year before. As she looked for it, we talked about possible solutions, and she suggested that I measure the back door. The back door turned out to be much smaller than the front window, and my mother suggested that I switch the front two curtains with the back curtain. Then, she suggested that I buy one more curtain the same size as the back one, and use the older curtain and the new curtain to cover the front window.

I felt good about that plan. It would make it so we wouldn't have to return the two new curtains and we'd only have to buy one more. She sent me the link, and I quickly purchased a final curtain.

Two days later it arrived. I was so excited when I put them up. They look awesome!

 I switched the front two to the back door and was pleased to find that they fit there as well. Now, we have blackout curtains on our front and back windows that match. There are no more gaps, and the curtains look nice.

I'm pretty excited about my birthday presents. It's nice to have total privacy.

Also, for those of you who have been wondering about foster care, we still haven't heard anything yet. I'll keep you posted.

Another Miracle and Time with Friends

This week, we took our new vehicle into the shop.

It was making some strange sounds when we'd first start it up, and so we decided to have it checked out. Grig dropped the car off in the morning on Monday (it's awesome that he works right behind it, so he can take it in during break), and then we waited to find out what was going on.

I felt pretty peaceful about it, so I wasn't worried. I figured something was just loose or something.

However, when Grig called me that night, he informed me that we were looking at $800+ in repairs. He told me that the sound was caused by our timing belt, and that it was pretty expensive to replace. I was pretty surprised.

That night, I prayed pretty hard. Due to our recent expensive purchase, we no longer had $800+ extra in our account. In a couple of months we will, but at the moment, we do not.

The dealership we bought the car from agreed to pay around $250, even though we didn't have a warranty with them, but that still left us with around $600.

It was hard not to second guess ourselves. We couldn't help but doubt and wonder if we had bought the wrong car after all, or if we should have put less money down for the down-payment?

However, on Tuesday, Grig called again after work to inform me that it was going to be far less than predicted. It turned out, though the timing belt did have a small slice in it, the biggest problem was that someone that didn't know what they were doing had tried to install it and it was loose. They tightened it, and told us that it should last for at least a couple of years. They also found a valve that had some problems, but again we were told that it wasn't any immediate danger, and we could bring it back in a couple of months.

That was the biggest miracle for me! I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father. It was a nice reaffirmation that we had been following His council and he was going to take care of us.

It's also been super hot lately. As in, over 90 degrees every day.

I went to mow the lawn yesterday, and after about 30 minutes, the lawnmower quit on me. It died completely and wouldn't start at all. I started to panic. Money is tight right now, and we couldn't afford a new lawn mower or repairs. To de-stress, I called my mother. She's really good at listening and letting me vent, and then helping me to have more faith and hope. She told me that the lawn mower may just have overheated. She told me that sometimes their lawnmower does that in really hot weather.

So, a few hours later, I tried it again, and it started back up. I feel like that was another major answer to prayers.

Kevin had some friends over to play in a boat pool that we were given by some other neighbors. They had a fantastic time, and our dogs enjoyed playing together. With their mother's permission, I'm going to share a few photos.

 There was a lot of jumping and splashing involved from everyone. Sometimes the kids couldn't jump in the pool because the dogs were in it, but everyone was having a great time.

 In this picture, you can see Arkhon and Siff playing with their dog. He only has three legs due to a preexisting injury that occurred before they got him. That doesn't stop him though! He plays as hard as the other two. They don't care that he only has three legs. They love it when he comes over! He's a sweet dog too.

Kevin is so funny! He loves being cold,and he was wet all the way to his neck, though it wasn't on purpose at first.

At one point, Kevin jumped in and slipped, landing on his bum and chest deep in the water. He stood up and said, "Cold, cold, cold!" and then, two seconds later, jumped in and deliberately did it again.

His friends weren't quite so sure about sitting in the cold water, but they weren't afraid to get wet either.There was a lot of splashing and fishing, but eventually, everyone started getting hungry and tired, so we had to end the pool party.

It's so fun to have friends!

Directionless

The last few days, I've been kind of in a weird funk. I was having a hard time figuring out what was going on with me.

I love this face!

Finally, yesterday, it hit me...

I feel like I have nothing to really look forward to or stress about.

That might sound like kind of a weird thing, but for a while, we've had a lot going on.

For the last year and a half, it's been a series of big things. Starting in the fall of 2014, we began to try and purchase a house. For months, my every thought and prayer revolved around looking for and buying the right home. Then, after we purchased or home in February of 2015, we had to do a bunch of repairs and had Grig's sister come and live with us.

A few month later, we found out that Grig was going to lose his job, and so we were praying and searching for a new job.

A couple months after that, Grig's two brothers came to live with us too. Only a month after that, Grig's sister's health took a turn for the worse and she ended up having to fly back to Virginia.

The job search didn't end until November 2015, when the same week that Grig lost his job, he found a new one. Then, there was Christmas, and then a new puppy.

The puppy dilemma felt like it lasted forever, with us hovering on the brink of never knowing if we were going to get our little girl or not. Then, finally in February of 2016, Grig was told (officially) that he was hired full-time and we felt prompted to get our puppy.

And we're so glad!

Then, early this month, we took our vacation and traveled to Virginia. It took a few days to finish recovering from that, and now...

Yeah.

I'm not sure where I'm going now.

For months, I've had something to focus on, something to stress about and pray about. I still have a lot to work on personally, but it's strange to not have something big coming up.

I'm very grateful for our home, my son, my two brother-in-laws who live with us, our two dogs, and Grig's job. This post isn't about ingratitude.

I'm just kind of...confused and maybe feeling a bit directionless. We have things coming up in a few months, but they're not really things that involve making major life changes. We've been doing a lot of yard work and puppy training, but it just feels like there's a big vacancy in my head.

Kevin took this picture. He's getting to be a better photographer. 

There are some major purchases that we need to make. Our car is hovering on the brink of death (it feels like that sometimes, anyway. It keeps stopping randomly and it having a lot of issues, but every time we take it to the mechanic, it works perfectly). However, currently, we're not sure how much money we're actually making, so we don't know if we can afford to make car payments or not.

We began insurance in March, but we back-payed to the beginning of February. So, for the last two months, we've been paying for insurance, plus back-paying for an extra month of insurance. We've had just enough money for the bills and the things that we needed and not much extra. This coming in paycheck next week will be our first paycheck that actually shows us how much extra we're making now that we're not back-paying anymore.

We also have made some fairly expensive purchases recently, and so I'm a bit stressed about money. We received a coupon for an air-duct cleaning for a really good deal, and so we called and scheduled an appointment with them. When they came, they also check our our furnace, and vacuumed out our dryer vent.

When they checked our furnace and input vents, they were pretty horrified by the sight. I was a bit disgusted too. We're pretty sure the vents and furnace have never been cleaned. They explained to me that furnace efficiency goes down every year due to sediment in the furnace, and it raises the cost to heat the house.

After talking about it to Grig, we decided to pay a much bigger sum of money to have them deep clean the furnace and vents. They also installed a filter that would never need to be replaced, just washed and vacuumed. They also tried to sell us a couple of other things, but they were way out of our price range, and we weren't really interested in them anyway.

After they finished, there was a noticeable difference in the house. Both Allopex and I noticed a "lightening" and the air was much better. We felt like we have made a good decision. It will also lower our heating costs next year, and so it might end up paying for itself.

Kevin loves to ride his bike!

The sad thing was, we ended up having to use the money that we'd been saving to build a fence, and now we don't have any money to build it. We can save it up again, but it is a bit of a sad set-back.

Also, now that we have dental insurance, we decided it was time to see the dentist. I ended up having a cavity and a couple of other places they wanted to work on, and while I got those fixed yesterday, Grig had his appointment and found out he had several cavities, and their recommending a crown. They showed us an estimate of how much we're going to have to pay, and it was very sad. I'm so grateful we have dental insurance though. It's going to save us over $1000. As it is, it's still going to cost over $500 when all is said and done.

They're going to break up the different work so it's not as bad to pay, but still. Ouch.

So, I guess I'm a bit disappointed because I was really looking forward to building our fence this year, and now I'm not sure that it's going to happen. I'm also feeling a bit doubtful about our having a baby anytime soon, but I'm trying to hope. It's just been a long time, and every month is like a gauntlet.

Anyway, a lot of neat things have happened lately, and I'm grateful that we've had the money to take care of them and ourselves. The Lord has blessed us a lot, and I'm trying to stay hopeful and faithful. Our lives are pretty wonderful, and I'm trying to focus on my blessings. I know that things will work out. I know that some awesome things are coming, if I can maintain my faith.

Sorry for the long random post. I just needed to collect my thoughts, I guess.

Kevin, playing on his uncle's computer.

So, I guess it comes down to the fact that the things that I was looking forward to, I'm not sure if we can afford, and so now I'm not sure what to look forward to. For now, I'll try and just look forward to spending every moment with my amazing son, husband, and two dogs.

This photo shows a good size comparison. 

They're pretty awesome, after all.

Wanting It All

When I was younger, I received a gift card for Barnes and Nobles.

I was super excited. I have always loved books, and so it was thrilling for me to be able to purchase more of them, especially when I didn't have to use my own money.

My dad took me to Barnes and Nobles and I began to browse the books. I found three books that I really wanted, but together, they added up to more than I had on the gift card.

I could see my dad's eyes light up. I could practically see him thinking, Ah-hah! An excellent teaching moment!

He turned to me and said, "Now you have a decision to make. Which book are you going to put back?"

I looked at the three books. It was a really tough decision. I didn't want to choose only two; I wanted all of the books. Then, suddenly I remembered something.

"I have some cash in my wallet!" I exclaimed. "I can buy all of them!"

Books are awesome. Period.

My dad's face fell. I could tell that he was disappointed. That hadn't been the lesson that he had wanted me to learn. However, I was just thrilled that I didn't have to choose and that I could have everything.

I've been thinking about that experience a lot lately.

Recently, we've had to face a similar decision. There are four fairly expensive things coming up. We have felt drawn to purchase all of them, but if we buy some of them, we probably won't be able to buy others. All of them are good things.

We have felt drawn to look at some Norwegian elkhound puppies, and we've felt that if Grig gets his appointment and raise at work that we will be able to buy one. However, we've also recently found out that some of Grig's extended family is coming soon to visit his parents' in Virginia, and we want to travel there and visit them.

On top of those two things, we've also felt recently that we need to start looking at purchasing a new vehicle, one that has more room. As it is, all the people that live in our house can't really travel with us anywhere. We don't have enough room in our car.

Finally, we've been feeling that maybe the time for the next baby is going to happen soon, which is another huge expense.

A lot more than this, anyway. 

The hard thing is, I want all of these things. I'm really hoping that somehow, things are going to work out so that we can afford to pay for each of these wonderful blessings. I'm afraid though, that we're going to have to pick, and that's going to be really hard to do.

We've been praying a lot, and we are waiting to see what happens, especially with Grig's job. We've been trying to save and be frugal, but even so, currently we can barely afford any of these things.

I'm sure things will work out, I just don't know how yet. I trust in my Heavenly Father, and I know that if something is supposed to happen, that He will help it to happen. For now, we're just hoping and praying that we'll make the right decision when the time comes.

MM: Lessons from my Grandparents

Yesterday at church, we had one of the funnest lessons that I have had in a while. I don't know if I've ever laughed that hard during a lesson.

The lesson was about the elderly and how valuable they are. The older sisters in the ward I was in were a hoot. They teased the sister in charge and in general were quite witty.

The teacher, who is a friend of mine, asked me to share something I had learned from my grandparents. I missed the cue, so I didn't end up sharing my thoughts.

I wanted to share my thoughts here, because I felt they were worth saying.

Each of my grandparents have taught me valuable lessons.

My paternal grandmother has taught me to be respectful and kind to everyone. I have very seldom seen her get upset with someone. She is really great at making all of her grandchildren think they are her favorite. She listens carefully and really cares about what we think and what we are going through. She is a great listener, and I want to be more like that.

My paternal grandfather has helped teach me how to work. Though he is nearly 80, he knows more about computers than I do, and he still is running his own business. Since I was 11, he has given me the opportunity to work at his apartments every summer. He has taught me to be a good worker and how to maintain and repair my own home. I have learned a lot from him.

Kevin and his paternal grandparents

My maternal grandmother has taught me the value of service and homemaking. She has been teaching me how to do my own canning. She takes time our of her busy schedule to help me whenever I need it. She is constantly looking for ways to help other people, and whenever anyone comes into town, she is always ready to feed and let them stay at her home. I want to be more like that.

My paternal grandfather has taught me the importance of saving and managing money. Though he has never been rich, he has saved up his whole life and now is able to go on trips with his wife to different parts of the world. He has also served three missions with his wife. I have also learned how to fish from my grandfather. It is something that I enjoy doing with him and with my husband.

This picture was taken at their 50th wedding anniversary. The cupcakes each represent one of their posterity.

Possibly the most important thing I have learned from my grandparents is how important family is. Everything they do is because they loves their children and grandchildren. They helped me stay debt-free throughout college, and I can never repay them for that. They sacrifice to have a family reunion frequently so we can stay in touch with our family. It's not always easy (because they have so many grandchildren and great-grandchildren), but they keep doing it.

I have also learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of my grandparents have shared their testimonies to me about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Often, they haven't done it in words, but through their actions. I love and respect each of them.

As they get older, I am grateful for the time I get to spend with them. They know so many things that I have yet to learn. I hope they continue to stay around for a long time.

I am blessed to live in a church where God has called older men to lead it. The elderly have vast reserves of experience and examples to draw upon, as well as strong testimonies that have endured many trials. We can learn something from everyone, and I hope to continue to learn from those that are older than me.

Trials and Blessings

The last couple of months have been kind of stressful for me; mostly because of money.

We thought we were doing great, and then we had a few car problems and lost most of our savings. Add to that some unexpected weeks off of work, and we were getting pretty concerned about how we were going to pay the bills at the end of the month.

It's never been hardier, or easier to pay tithing for me. It was harder because, just for an instant, I thought, "Maybe we can just loan our tithing from Heavenly Father and pay him back later." However, almost instantly I thought, "No, if we pay first, we will have enough money, because He has promised to bless us."

With that thought, we paid our tithing. 

That was Sunday. That night, I went visiting teaching (which is where we go visit a few sisters in the ward each month), and I shared another story with her, where my prayers were answered. We were talking, and I told her we were hurting for money right now. 

She then told me an incredible story from when she was younger. She had come home from her mission, and her father died. Her mother was trying to pay off all the doctor bills, and things weren't looking good for their family. Her mother showed her some money, and said, "See this. This is our tithing money. Do you think the Lord would mind if we borrowed it?"

Her daughter, who was a newly returned missionary said, "No, Mama. The Lord first, and then the blessings will come."

I was a little surprised because of how similar the wording was to what I had been thinking early that day.

The mother replied, "You're right, of course. I'm just stupid from worry."

Anyway, they paid their tithing and a few hours later, a friend showed up at the door and gave them a bunch of money. It was enough to get them back on their feet, and buy provision for their restaurant which has provided for them ever since. 

I really needed to hear that. I was stressed, but I had faith in tithing as well. 

Anyway, today my mother called with a job opportunity for us in the lean week. I feel like this was an answer to our prayers and a direct blessing of tithing. With this temporary job, we should be able to make up for the bit that we were going to be lacking.

I am so grateful for family and friends. We have so many blessings right now, and I feel like I should have no reason to complain, and sometimes I still do. The Lord will take care of us, as we do what is right. He cannot lie, and if he promises a blessing, it will be fulfilled. He answers prayers according to our faith.

Ain't no mountain high enough...

Mormon Monday: Asparagus and Faith

A month or so ago, we planted our garden.

When I was a kid in primary (church classes for children), we sang a song about faith. We talked about how "faith is like a little seed, if planted it will grow. (Faith)" At the time, I though, "Duh, you plant seeds and they grow. Where is the faith in that?"

Faith is so simple when you're a child.

We decided to plant asparagus. I think I mentioned this in a different blog post. (Yes, I did. Here is the link: http://atomicottercinema.blogspot.com/2015/04/gardening.html) I have been praying really hard that those asparagus would come up, and for a while, it looked like we were going to have to try again next year.

Arkhon got into the asparagus, and we kept finding the roots above the soil, half-eaten. We fenced off the asparagus, but we were afraid it was too late. A few weeks passed and there was no sign of life from our asparagus patch.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Grig came in the house and said, "We have some asparagus!" Surprised, I followed him out, and he showed me where a nearly full-grown plant seemed to have appeared overnight.

Only a few days later, we found another plant that had survived. I was super grateful. I didn't think we were going to have any asparagus, and now we had two. Then, a couple of days later, we found a third plant that had lived.

All three asparagus plants are doing well.

This actually is not our asparagus plant, but it looks pretty similar to it. I found the picture here.  It's too dark to take a picture of ours. I'll post it later.

This is a great analogy for faith. We had faith that the 20 asparagus plants that we planted would grow. We toiled and worked hard to help them, but adversity (Arkhon) appeared and tried to destroy our faith. It caused doubts and made us wonder if any good would come of our efforts.  Even so, we replanted and watered and prayed.

Weeks after we had nearly given up hope, the plants appeared, far larger that we had expected.

Just recently, we had some adversity appear in our lives.

Our car has been having problems again. The alternator broke and we had to get that replaced, delving deeply into our pockets. Then, just last Thursday, we thought we were in really trouble. As I was parked at a store, I returned to find liquid underneath the car. It didn't seem like very much, but it concerned me. As I started the car, the low coolant light came on.

That wasn't a good thing. We quickly bought some antifreeze and poured it into the car. Everything seemed fine, and nothing seemed to be leaking, so we drove away and headed home.

Half-way home, the light came back on.

When I checked the radiator at home, it seemed to be far emptier. I poured some water in, and in moments I heard the sound of water falling to the pavement beneath the car.

It appeared that our radiator had a serious leak. Adversity had appeared and it seemed to be eating all of our finances.

It was really scary that night, we didn't know what we were going to do. We couldn't really afford more car repairs, and we couldn't afford to buy a new car. We prayed pretty hard.

The next day, Grig took the car in, and to our astonishment, everything checked out fine. They didn't even charge us for bringing the car in. They told us that our sensor was probably not working right, but there was plenty of liquid in the radiator and there didn't appear to be any leaks.

He also informed us that sometimes clogs will occur in the radiator during winter, and when they break free, sometimes liquid can spill out. He told us that was probably what we heard. Either way, everything seems to be working fine now.

It is a miracle, and we are very grateful. Just when all hope seemed lost, the Lord blessed us with blossoms and living miracles.

I am very grateful for faith and trials. Without the trials, how would we come to depend on our Savior?

The rest of our garden is doing well too, and we can't complain. We are a little low on money, but we have sufficient for our needs. The Lord is taking care of us, just like he took care of our tiny asparagus patch.

Mormon Monday: Where Your Treasure Is

Yesterday, in Sunday School, we were reading Luke 12: 34 and for some reason it really hit me. This particular scripture says:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Lately, we've gotten a bunch of car ads that have contests in them. You know, the ones where if you scratch off the number and it matches the number inside of the ad, you win something? Well, both times, we've won something.

We haven't taken turned them in. The first one, we didn't have time, and the second one, it was too far away.

Later, I talked to a friend, and she told me that she won a spin on the wheel and got five dollars. That was probably the same thing we won, and so I decided that I shouldn't worry about it anyway.

That didn't stop my mind from wondering what I'd do if we won $25,000.

Part of me likes to plan, so I thought, "How would I spend that money?"

We'd probably replace our roof (though we actually got it repaired on Friday, so that's not as much of a crisis anymore). We'd build a fence around our yard, and pay off Jacob's school debt. We'd put the rest into savings, except for enough to go on a trip to Virginia to visit family.

However, if you think about money for too long, especially free money that requires no work, you start thinking of other ways that you can earn money.

I applied for a job to be an adjunct teacher at BYU-Idaho. I wasn't accepted, but that extra money would have been really nice. Grig and I are not dying at the moment, but we're also don't have as much in savings as we'd like to. I have been a bit stressed about money lately, and so it's pretty easy to have it in my thoughts a lot.

The rest of the Luke chapter talks about how if we seek the kingdom of God first, everything else will be provided. It also stresses the fact that temporal treasures don't last forever, but the blessings and treasures that the Lord will provide us if we're faithful, will last for all eternity.

It helped put things into perspective for me. We've already been trying to live faithfully, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded that money is really nothing.

It is necessary to live on, right now, but eventually it will become obsolete. When that day comes, where are will my treasures be?

I've been combining our family videos from the day we got married onto dvds.

It has been a joy to watch Kevin change from a small baby into the adorable toddler that he is. It is hard to believe that so much has happened in the last three years. I have so many blessings, and occasionally when stresses for the future come, and forget about all the blessings.

I am going to make more of an effort to worry less about money, and more about helping others and serving my Heavenly Father. I know that as I do my best, and follow the promptings that I am given, that the Lord will guide me and will sustain our family.

Grig works really hard for us everyday, and I need to be more supportive and grateful to him as well. Sometimes when he gets home from work, it is hard not to say, "Take Kevin, I need a break." I need to remember that he needs to feel welcome, loved, and appreciated when he gets home.

It's nice to learn things I need to work on. It keeps things in perspective.

 

Money Miracles

Lately, our money's been a bit tight.

Grig had a week or so off work due to a lack of parts, and that has really affected us. We used up most of our savings on our vacation, so we've barely been able to pay the bills.

However, I have had continual feelings of peace on this matter, and the feeling that things were going to be just fine.

I've desperately clung onto that feeling as we've avoided buying groceries and used the food that we had on hand. We've prayed for miracles, and we've received miracles.

I've had very generous relatives who have given us things that we've desperately needed. We have tried not to ask anyone for help, but these wonderful people have given it to us anyway.

We also had an air-conditioning miracle. Our home has been really, really hot. We haven't had any air-conditioning, and we had a total of two fans, one of which only half worked.

We've been enduring, hoping that we would be able to afford another fan at some point. However, the other day we went to see our manager and she randomly asked us if we wanted air-conditioning. Evidently, a previous tenant had been trying to sell hers when she moved. It was nearly brand-new. Other than that, she said we could install it now and pay her for it when we were able to.

It has made a huge difference in our home. We keep it up at 75, and it still feels incredibly different in our home. The dog is much happier. I think she was overheating before, and I think that was causing some digestive problems.  

There have been many other small miracles that have occurred, and we've seen the hand of the Lord in our lives.

Grig had his birthday this last week, but we didn't have any money to buy presents. We are holding off on those until we can afford them, but I've felt really bad about it. I gave him some homemade presents, and he received some from family. He's been really patient about it. I really love him.

We had a small party with family a couple of weeks ago. Then, last Sunday we invited a few friends and family members over and had a small party. Mostly we just had cake, brownies, and pudding because that's what we had on hand. It was a fun party, and it was good to see Grig's brothers.

We have enough, and we're grateful. After this week, things should really pick up at work. I'm also going to work for my grandparents on apartments for a month. That means that we're going to be separated for a little while, but the extra money should really come in handy.

More and More Car Problems

Yesterday, Havelock was very kind and got up early with Grig so that he could drive Grig to work and bring the car back for me. I was very grateful, because that way I didn't have to wake up Kevin. I needed to take it to the repair shop so they could figure out what the codes were that were popping up and give us an estimate of how much it was going to be to fix.

My grandparents were kind enough to follow me and Kevin to the shop, and then to drive us back after we dropped off the car. Yesterday, all Kevin wanted to do all day was cuddle. It could have been frustrating I suppose, but actually it was kind of nice. We had a snuggle day. He's been really great at giving hugs lately. At night, after he's eaten a little, he get up and stumble over to his father and collapse on his chest and then give him kisses. Grig really enjoys it. It's pretty tender.

We love Kevin's hugs. The dog doesn't always, but she's pretty patient about it.

Anyway, just after Grig got home (a coworker gave him a ride) the auto shop called, so I let Grig talk to them. It's not that I don't know somethings about cars, but when you start talking at Catalytic Converters and things like that...I just kind of start glazing or feeling frustrated because I don't know what they're talking about. Also, I trust Grig's clear head.

So, our catalytic converter is broken and needs to be replaced. That is going to be about $900. Also, our thermostat is broken and our check engine light was smashed to pieces. Together, those two will be about $200 something. This could have been discouraging news, because we also have to pay for new tires and brakes, but after my last post, I kind of feel benign about it all.

I've already come to terms with the fact that this is going to cost a lot of money, and I'm just grateful that we have the means to deal with it right now. Grig needs to go to college and in order to do that he needs his residency. So, our car needs to pass these inspections. Also, these could potentially be very harmful things to our car, and as much as fixing it can be a pain, it will be cheaper than buying a new car.

I love this car. A friend sold it to us for an incredible price and it has been wonderful. It has had very few problems and pretty great gas mileage. The fact is, we need it. We told them we might wait until tax returns arrived to get a new catalytic converter, but he told us it would be cheaper if we replace the thermostat while they already have the car opened up, so the car stayed overnight at the shop last night.

That meant that Grig walked to work today.

We had a special fast at church this week for more moisture. Last night it began snowing. Is that a coincidence? I think not.

However, as wonderful as the snow is, that meant that Grig had to walk through snow for 1/2 an hour to get to work at 3:30 this morning. He is a pretty awesome, responsible guy. He made it safely, in case you were wondering.

We have a great kid with a lot of love and happiness. He loves to share that with everyone he meets, and most days I try to return the favor. I have a new goal along with my other goals. I am now instigating 'no technology time.' This is the time of day after Kevin wakes up from his nap where my computer is shut down and I don't touch it until after Grig gets home. This is so I ensure that Kevin gets my undivided attention. That's not to say I'm on the computer the whole morning either, but I do blog, and then while Kevin is napping I am trying to work on my stories and animations. I've just been feeling like I'm spending too much time electronically with my son, and not enough time playing with him.

So, we're working on it.

Yesterday was supposed to be the first day my goal happened, but he didn't go to sleep until 2:30, and by the time Grig got home, he was still sleeping. Thus the period I was supposed to turn off the computer never happened. That's okay, if that time doesn't work, I'll do it earlier in the morning instead.

Goals are awesome! They keep us going in life and give us direction. Grig is going to become a resident and so we are going to fix our car.

It's going to be okay.

Mormon Monday: Provident Living

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have been told frequently by our leaders to be provident in how we spend our money.

We have been cautioned numerous times not to go into debt except the exceptions of taking out loans for schooling, a car, or a modest house.  We been told to live within our means, and not to spend more than we make.

I firmly believe this advice to be true for everyone, not just members of the church.

Part of our country's problems right now, are that not even our government has followed this counsel.  We are currently TRILLIONS of dollars in debt and that number is climbing every day.

Grig and I have been very careful in how we've spent and saved our money. We found it necessary to take out a loan for school, and we've been trying to pay that off as quickly as possible.  However, even for a necessary loan like that, it has been profoundly miserable.  Money that could have been going into savings for the future is being used to pay for the past.

The more that we've been making, the more money we've been putting into the debt.  It's great, because we've paid off a large portion of it, but it's also sad, because I see how much money is going into it that could be used for other things.

I look forward to being done with it.  It makes me never want to take out any kind of loan again though.  I can see the value of what our leaders have told us, and we do our best to follow their counsel. 

I'm really rather proud of our budget.  I made it myself.  The first half of the budget is Monthly payments.  As I plug in our gross income, tithing (what we pay to the church) is automatically taken out of it.  If you aren't Mormon, you can delete this column, as well as the next one.  FO/MF stands for fast offerings and mission fund.  I'll explain more about those and tithing next week.  Then, the actual amount we get (after taxes) is placed into the next column.  The next column automatically subtracts tithing, fast offerings, and mission fund from the actual amount you receive.

The next section of columns is monthly payments.  Above each column is a place to put the amount you pay each month, and then it is divided by two (the number of monthly payments.) If you only get paid once a month, they you wouldn't divide the amount by two.  As the money is plugged in, I put the amount that is needed for each payment in its consecutive column.  This adds money to those areas.  What ever is left is in the amount remaining column.

After that, we have divided the remaining amount into percentages to suit our needs.  If we get more money, we get to put more in each category.

Once you spend something, you simply put the negative amount in the column and it subtracts it from the amount available.  The only major flaw so far, is when you make a monthly payment, you have to make sure that you delete the remaining amount or it will put that amount in as percentages as well.

This process has worked very well for us.  If you want to try it, I have decided to share it with you. 


If you want to look at our budget, here is a link.
If you want to download it for your own use, click here.  Just go to file: Download as: excel.  It should save it as an excel document to your computer.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them below and I will do my best to answer them.
I have also added a new page where the budget will be permanently available to the public.

This budget was made to be customized to your needs.  That's why it works for us.

Living within our means as the Lord would have us do helps us prepare for the future.

Along with that, we also believe in having food storage so that when disasters occur, we will continue to be able to survive.

I know that as we do our best to save up for the future and spend less money than we make, we will have the Lord's help.  Sometimes we have seen miracles because we've been frugal with our money.  That is a major blessing we have received from the Lord.