This is My Life

  Furlough is in full swing. While we’re off an extra day of the week, we have a 20% paycut that comes along with it. We’re okay; we’ve saved enough to not have any issues, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t still sting a little. The loss in productivity at work is also something that stings...and that actually stings a bit more. A few weeks ago I was in a training session for work and numerous class discussions revolved around the furlough. So many people were concerned about how it would affect their workload and productivity. Our instructor told us that while it no doubt was going to be painful, he encouraged us to use it as an opportunity to take a close look at how we might be able to work smarter and also determine what tasks could, in fact, take the back burner without causing the sky to come tumbling down. In other words, find the silver lining. We all knew that furlough was coming so we might as well try to use it to better ourselves. This spoke volumes to me. ...

Can I please share my heart? (Be prepared for a lot of whining.) I’m tired. I’m emotionally tired, spiritually tired, financially tired, and physically tired. I’m just tired. Ryan and I are facing the upcoming furlough. We’ll have a significant pay cut to deal with for approximately six months. Thankfully, we have been blessed enough to be able to save up for such an event (that and I know how to choke a dollar) so we’ll be okay, but we have numerous coworkers and friends, good friends , that are really going to be feeling this 20% reduction. I’m worried for them. I’m waking up in the middle of the night praying that they’ll be okay. Ryan and I have been discussing ways to save money, cut bills, as well as gather some projects to work on while we have an extra day off.  I've  come to terms with the pay reduction and not having any ‘frills’ for the next six months.  I've  researched free and inexpensive activities, and  I've  even started looking f...

I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've posted anything. Last year was anything but calm and it seemed that I just never had time...certainly had the desire but no time. Hopefully this year will be different...hopefully. So, it's a new year. Last year I made a goal, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was (if it was finding my inner sexy, then check, 'cause you know...we had another kid and all...). Seriously, though. I have no clue. Ryan, however, totally met his goal, and since I cook for him, I think it only fair to claim some of his victory myself. Sounds good, yes? Last year he wantet to lose 60 pounds and HE DID IT. Yeah, like, my husband lost a Sam's-Club-sized-bag of dog food worth of weight. How cool is that? This year we're making more goals. Our 'joint' goal is to clear out unneeded items from our house each week. Since we moved to a new house in 2012 (remember that lack of calm ment...

My freezer/pantry challenge is going quite well. Last Sunday I backslid a little and bought a few things from Walmart. Mainly it was things for an easy lunch, but I also bought a couple of items that I was craving. No harm in that, right? This morning I cheated a little and started cleaning out the pantry and kitchen freezer. I found things that I knew we weren't going to eat (a HUGE bag of oatmeal not even opened as well as other things that we just don't eat anymore). Tomorrow they'll be on their way to a local hangout for ladies . After church I worked on the freezer. I found some stuff that was pretty freezer burnt so I went ahead and tossed it. One was a bag of peas. I honestly stood there and tried to remember when I bought them...I finally remembered and realized that I'd had them for almost two and a half years! I guess it's time to go. Anyway, although I cheated a bit, I'm still on track. All we've bought lately has been milk, cheese, fruits, a...

The past two weekends have been fairly brutal on our ears. Lane has been ridiculously cranky. With crankiness comes his high pitched squeal/scream. So many of our friends were able to witness his adorable happy-squeal when he was a younger baby. His day care teacher even had something to say about it... 'Lane keeps squealing. Loud squealing. He's taught the other kids to do it, too. I tell him to stop and then realize it's another kid making the noise.' As loud as it is, his angry squeal is even worse. When he was younger, we kept a pair of our gun range ear muffs on the changing table. Every time we're in Sam's Ryan tries to talk me into getting a free hearing test (did you know they're free? 'cause they are. in case you didn't know.), blaming the need on Lane's screaming. I guess what I'm trying to say is that when Lane's unhappy, our ears suffer. And this weekend has certainly done some damage to Mama's ears. (I'm not even...

We had a bit of a rough start to our day...to say the least. Remember how I was going to make the cookies for church last night? Ended up not making them because I was so worn out from Lane fussing about his teeth. He tried to be happy throughout the day, but molars are brutal and at 7:10 he finally wanted to go to bed...an hour early. After a nighttime diaper, pajamas, and a few minutes in the rocking chair, he was done. Because I was so tired and exhausted (read: tired of hearing a certain boy cry all afternoon), I mixed myself a 'drink' and planted my butt on the couch...instead of making peanut butter cookies. At 10:00 pm I realized that my offering for tomorrow was missing cookies and I freaked out. Ryan, being the sensible one (read: being the non-drink-y one) suggested that we leave a little early, grab some cookies from Wal-Mart, and call it a win. I agreed that it was a fabulous idea (mostly because my arms felt a little heavy and I really just wanted to go to bed...

A couple years ago I challenged myself to stop stocking up on food and eat only what was already in my freezer and/or pantry. I allowed myself to only buy milk, bread, eggs, and fresh produce...stuff like that. If I needed one small item to complete a recipe, I could purchase that...but no more. I was pretty strict and it worked out quite well. I mean, I called it a win since I didn't end up on Hoarders. Ryan finally called the challenge to a halt when we only had a few packs of fish and breast milk left in our 15 cubic foot freezer. It's a new year and I've decided to do it again (for a few reasons I'll explain later). While I don't have the same types of foods in my freezer(s) and pantry now that we've cleaned up our eating, I do have it stockpiled fairly well. Annnnddd....last year I sort of developed cooking as another hobby (imagine that!). Ryan gave me a set of ceramic knives for Christmas and ( somehow) they have re-inspired me to start cooking again...