2016 Resolutions

I didn't accomplish all of my resolutions this year, but I accomplished many of them!  I'm so proud of everything that I did, and tried to do this year.  Like most resolutions, I didn't keep all of them.  I had roadblocks tossed in my way.  You know what?  That's okay.   Life happens, things don't go the way we plan, and we adapt!  It's what happens in life!

Here's the list of goals that I set for myself this year:

1) Remodel the Hallway Bathroom
This is the third year this has been on the list.  I honestly thought it would happen this year.  But, this has been a year when we had a lot of unexpected expenses pop up.  The good news is that we had money set aside for the bathroom.  So, instead of remodeling the bathroom, we fixed other things...
It WILL be fixed next year.  Whatever money we have saved at the end of March will be the budget that we will be working with.  Yes, I'm putting this back on my list of resolutions for 2017.  I want to celebrate when this finally gets finished!
 

2) Improve My Health
This was my challenge for the year, and I believe I have done it!  All told, over the 3 years I've been actively working at losing weight, I've lost 40 pounds.  On average, that's a little over 10 pounds a year.  Not a lot all at once, and not as much as I want, but it is progress.

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for the year was to lose a total of three inches.  That took longer than I thought it would! Eight months to lose three inches.  I'm happy to see those inches come off!  For now, I am content.  Those were 3 very hard inches to lose! 


b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
At least one.  The hard work of the last year has paid off!  I bought pants in the regular section of the store!!!!  Even better?  No elastic waist on these babies! I want to lose more.  My waist is still not under the "circumference" guidelines that suggest that women should have a waist measurement less than 35 inches.  Trust me, I'm working on getting that measurement down there!


3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
Due to a very wet spring and a hideous ant problem, no vegetable garden got up and going this year.  I don't know what I'm going to do this next year.  The herb garden is going strong!

4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one will be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.

5) Daughter's Quilt
I have pieced it together!  It's sewn! It's pinned!  I want to get it finished before she finishes up at the Community College and transfers on to a 4 year school.

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

Even more fun, my husband made this wonderful tool corral last back in October!  It's so nice to have everything organized and no longer piled up on the floor, next to the house. It was a dangerous tripping hazard that had snared us all at least once.

Bonus - there's enough space in that protected area in front of the tool caddy to put in the buckets full of rock salt for the winter!






7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.  I get to visibly see my progress every time I work out.  It's an excellent motivator!

8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May.


As of now, and the last Goodwill run, I have gotten rid of 2,000 things from this house.  Lots and lots of crap. The house is so much cleaner now than it was before.  I have more usable space in the basement.


9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life blog.  And I am so glad I did.  The challenge wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be, but I'm so glad that I did it!  It saved our butts when things broke.  I was attempting to pad the savings account to make a really nice working budget to remodel the bathroom.  That savings was busted as things broke and continued to break all year.  Can I say how glad I was that we had savings to fall back on?  It was a blessing to be able to pay cash to repair things and not to add it all onto a credit card at 19% interest (compounded daily, I believe).

So, what did that budget go for?

Daughter's teeth were fixed.  She had an abscessed tooth early in the year.  This required a root canal and a crown.  NOT a cheap fix, by any means.  Our insurance covered a little - very little - of the cost.  We paid the rest out of pocket.

The van is still running.  Not my favorite car, by any means.  It broke, twice.  I think the next time it breaks we won't fix it.  We'd like to have it last through most of 2017, if possible.  We'd like to have middle child out of school before we think about replacing it.  Ideally, we'd like to have both the younger kids out of college, but I honestly don't think that van is going to last two and a half more years...

The kitchen sink - and the counter underneath had to be replaced.  I'd like to thank Habitat for Humanity for giving us the skills to be able to pull out the sink and slide a new cabinet in place under the old counter top without breaking it.  Granted, we had to call in a plumber to work on the pipes, but he was worth every single penny that we paid....

The upstairs/hallway bathroom - we've got a leaking toilet.  The plumber installed a temporary fix, but the toilet is going to have to be replaced.  Long story there, very long story there.  BUT- we had the cash to pay him for the fix, and we have the cash to replace & install the toilet.  But, I don't want to do it until we can replace the floor, which means we replace the tub and deal with the yellow tile walls.....  I swear, it's like the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".

Dishwasher - died just before Thanksgiving.  New dishwasher installed earlier this month, paid for with cash. 

10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Niagara Falls!  We spent time on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Falls.  I loved Niagara State Park.  If you ever have time to go, make a point of heading to the state park and walking the perimeter trail around the island.  It is absolutely gorgeous!

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
Done and Done!  It's been years since I've been this caught up!


13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

Does the Rideau Canal in Ontario count?  I don't think it's an official Rail Trail, but it is alongside a canal, and at one time, there were rail tracks nearby.  It's officially a World Heritage site, so I'm going to add it.  We hiked a good 10 miles of it while we were in Ottawa!  Such a beautiful place!



This month, I hit up several trails the last couple of weeks of the month, going on my days off in the middle of the week.  Some of the days were a little chilly, but it was a lot of fun!

1) NCR Rail Trail
2) Rideau Canal 
3) Custis Trail
4) C & O Canal
5) Baltimore and Annapolis Trail
6) Savage Mill Trail


14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back! 

The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated.  My goal was to have this paid off by December of this year, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I post direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!  Call your mother sometime.  She'd really like to hear from you!)

So, how did you do with your goals this year?

2016 Resolutions

It's hard to believe we're at the end of the year, isn't it?  It seems like only yesterday that I was sitting down, working through the list of things I hoped to accomplish this year.  Some things, I have done very well, and I feel good about the accomplishments I made this year.  Others, well, let's see what I can finish up before the end of the year!  Who knows?  They were goals I wanted to accomplish, not things I HAD to do....

Having said that, here's the list.

1) Remodel the Hallway Bathroom

It didn't happen this year.  Third year on the hit parade, and even at number one, but it still didn't happen.  Will it happen by the end of the year?  I doubt it.  Our savings account was hit pretty hard when we found that leaky, moldy, disgusting mess under the kitchen sink.   A word of advice here:  It's always a good idea to hire a certified plumber when installing new plumbing.  The previous owner of this house installed the sink himself, and the vent was well below where it should have been.  The result was years worth of water damage.  LESSON LEARNED.

2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for the year was to lose a total of three inches.  That took longer than I thought it would! Eight months to lose three inches.  I'm happy to see those inches come off!  For now, I am content.  Those were 3 very hard inches to lose! 


b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
At least one.  The hard work of the last year has paid off!  I bought pants in the regular section of the store!!!!  Even better?  No elastic waist on these babies! I want to lose more.  My waist is still not under the "circumference" guidelines that suggest that women should have a waist measurement less than 35 inches.  Trust me, I'm working on getting that measurement down there!


3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
Due to a very wet spring and a hideous ant problem, no vegetable garden got up and going this year.  I really need to spend some serious time thinking about this for next year.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do.


4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one will be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.

5) Daughter's Quilt
I have pieced it together!  It's sewn!  I'll be pinning the layers together next week.  I want to get it finished before she finishes up at the Community College and transfers on to a 4 year school.


 6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

Even more fun, my husband made this wonderful tool corral last back in October!  It's so nice to have everything organized and no longer piled up on the floor, next to the house. It was a dangerous tripping hazard that had snared us all at least once.

Bonus - there's enough space in that protected area in front of the tool caddy to put in the buckets full of rock salt for the winter!



7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.  I get to visibly see my progress every time I work out.  It's an excellent motivator!


9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink, a major leak in the basement from the upstairs bathroom,  (You know, that bathroom that I have on my list to remodel?), and NOW a broken dishwasher.  This is honestly beginning to sound like the "12 Days of Christmas".



10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Niagara Falls!  We spent time on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Falls.  I loved Niagara State Park.  If you ever have time to go, make a point of heading to the state park and walking the perimeter trail around the island.  It is absolutely gorgeous!  This picture is from Niagara Falls State Park (U.S. side) - at the tip of the island away from the falls.  What a gorgeous river!

 

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
There's nothing like the feeling of being caught up!  I'd like to say I won't fall behind again, but realistically, we all fall behind with things.  It's going to happen again.  It's good to know that it's possible to catch back up, though!

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

Does the Rideau Canal in Ontario count?  I don't think it's an official Rail Trail, but it is alongside a canal, and at one time, there were rail tracks nearby.  It's officially a World Heritage site, so I'm going to add it.  We hiked a good 10 miles of it while we were in Ottawa!  Such a beautiful place!

1) NCR Rail Trail
2) Rideau Canal

How am I going to get those other 4 trails in before the end of the year?   


14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
 
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back! 

The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated.  My goal was to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.  And now, we've got a bathroom that MUST be remodeled in April.  Hmmm.... it might be December before all is said and done.  We'll see.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I post direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!  Call your mother sometime.  She'd really like to hear from you!)

How are you doing on your goals this year?  

2016 Resolutions

Fall has finally arrived in the Mid-Atlantic!  It's gorgeous!  I love walking on a trail with the leaves crunching underfoot and the beautiful colors overhead!  It's been so warm this month, I was beginning to think fall might not ever actually come!

2016 Resolutions

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Silly girl.  Third year in a row this has been on my list.  I'm still not certain this is going to happen this year.  Our kitchen became a priority this year, and now that we've started it, we need to finish the final touches so that it's not coming back to haunt me in a couple of years!

Middle child has informed us that he's hoping to move back in with us when he graduates in May, and to stay with us until he builds up a decent down payment for a house.  So, fixing up this bathroom now has a target date:  APRIL 2017. We'll have to work within the confines of the budget of whatever we have saved up to that point in time come March.  

2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for the year was to lose a total of three inches.  That took longer than I thought it would! Eight months to lose three inches.  I'm happy to see those inches come off!  For now, I am content.  Those were 3 very hard inches to lose! 


b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
At least one.  The hard work of the last year has paid off!  I bought pants in the regular section of the store!!!!  Even better?  No elastic waist on these babies! I want to lose more.  My waist is still not under the "circumference" guidelines that suggest that women should have a waist measurement less than 35 inches.  Trust me, I'm working on getting that measurement down there!

3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
Due to a very wet spring and a hideous ant problem, no vegetable garden got up and going this year.  I really need to spend some serious time thinking about this for next year.


4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one will be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.

5) Daughter's Quilt
I have pieced it together!  It's sewn!  I'll be pinning the layers together next week.  I want to get it finished before she finishes up at the Community College and transfers on to a 4 year school.

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

Even more fun, my husband made this wonderful tool corral last month!  It's so nice to have everything organized and no longer piled up on the floor, next to the house. It was a dangerous tripping hazard that had snared us all at least once.

Bonus - there's enough space in that protected area in front of the tool caddy to put in the buckets full of rock salt for the winter!




7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.  I get to visibly see my progress every time I work out.  It's an excellent motivator!

8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May.

I didn't get rid of anything extra this month.  But, the White Elephant sale is coming up at church later this month.  I'm putting together boxes of stuff to donate now!  It's a wild feeling to walk down to the basement and be able to see across a room without looking at boxes of "stuff" every which where.

 9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink, and NOW a major leak in the basement from the upstairs bathroom.  You know, that bathroom that I have on my list to remodel?   This is honestly beginning to sound like the "12 Days of Christmas".


10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Niagara Falls!  We spent time on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Falls.  I loved Niagara State Park.  If you ever have time to go, make a point of heading to the state park and walking the perimeter trail around the island.  It is absolutely gorgeous!

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
There's nothing like the feeling of being caught up!  I'd like to say I won't fall behind again, but realistically, we all fall behind with things.  It's going to happen again.  It's good to know that it's possible to catch back up, though!

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

Does the Rideau Canal in Ontario count?  I don't think it's an official Rail Trail, but it is alongside a canal, and at one time, there were rail tracks nearby.  It's officially a World Heritage site, so I'm going to add it.  We hiked a good 10 miles of it while we were in Ottawa!  Such a beautiful place!

1) NCR Rail Trail
2) Rideau Canal 

How am I going to get those other 4 trails in before the end of the year?  

14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back! 

The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated.  My goal was to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.


15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I post direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!  Call your mother sometime.  She'd really like to hear from you!)

How are you doing on your goals this year? 

2016 Resolutions

September was a wild and crazy ride, and I enjoyed every single moment of it!  I have settled into my new job, and I really enjoy the people I work with, as well as the work that I do.  There are wild and woolly moments, but I come home from work tired, exhausted, and fulfilled.  I feel like I'm where I belong! I even got to spend a day in the New Staff Orientation.  Unfortunately, I got caught in one of those inexplicable traffic messes that happens around here on a regular basis, and what was supposed to be a 45 minute rush hour commute took me an hour and a half.  (The final destination was located 20 miles from my house.  I really need to find the back roads on that side of town!)

Husband and I got away for a long weekend in Ottawa recently.  We had a blast exploring this gorgeous little town.  I'll be sharing some of the pictures that I took with you later this month.  What a beautiful, walkable city Ottawa is!

We had a new Wegman's open up not far from us.  We even got brave enough to try some new produce.  While I'm not a fan of the little melon that tasted like a sweet little cucumber, it wasn't a horrible experience!

This month has been busy beyond words!

But, on to the momentous task at hand - checking in on my 2016 resolutions!  I started making my resolutions public a couple of years ago.  I find that by making them public, and coming back and checking in on them once a month, I actually do a better job of holding myself accountable!

2016 Resolutions:

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Silly girl.  Third year in a row this has been on my list.  I'm still not certain this is going to happen this year.  Our kitchen became a priority this year, and now that we've started it, we need to finish the final touches so that it's not coming back to haunt me in a couple of years!

Middle child has informed us that he's hoping to move back in with us when he graduates in May, and to stay with us until he builds up a decent down payment for a house.  So, fixing up this bathroom now has a target date:  APRIL 2017. We'll have to work within the confines of the budget of whatever we have saved up to that point in time come March.

2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for the year was to lose a total of three inches.  That took longer than I thought it would! Eight months to lose three inches.  I'm happy to see those inches come off!  For now, I am content.  Those were 3 very hard inches to lose! 


b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
At least one.  At least two.  I had to go buy pants earlier this month.  I haven't worn my jeans or work pants since last spring.  They literally fell off when I put my cell phone in my pocket.  The hard work of the last year has paid off!  I bought pants in the regular section of the store!!!!  Even better?  No elastic waist on these babies!  Now, the nice to have problem - building up a professional wardrobe.  Nice problem to have!

3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
Due to a very wet spring and a hideous ant problem, no vegetable garden got up and going this year.  I really need to spend some serious time thinking about this for next year.


4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one will be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.

5) Daughter's Quilt
This is not going as planned AT ALL.  I had the bandanas cut out, I had the sashing cut out, and I was laying out the blocks when daughter walked through and saw the layout.  She nixed several of the squares, and then went out and bought other fabric and cut it down to size for me to use.  OK, she kept everything in the spirit of what I was going to do - the pink John Deere fabric, the Cow print square, the cartoony cat square.... It's just not the original plan that I had.  It does still represent the things she was passionate about when she was growing up, though.  So, for now, the squares are in a pile, and she is playing with the layout of the squares.  I sincerely hope to have the top sewn together by the end of the month.

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.
I get to visibly see my progress every time I work out.  It's an excellent motivator! 

 
8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May.

I did get rid of a lot of stuff in the basement this month.  We had a water leak (Surprise!  Another issue in this house of horrors.)  I threw out two big black plastic garbage bags full of wet stuff, and I sorted through boxes of toys that the kids had when they were little.  The Lincoln Logs have all been tracked down, taken outside and hosed off, and are now residing in a big plastic bin.  I'm currently working on tracking down all of the Playmobil toys.

 9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), AND 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink. 



10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Niagara Falls!  We spent time on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Falls.  I loved Niagara State Park.  If you ever have time to go, make a point of heading to the state park and walking the perimeter trail around the island.  It is absolutely gorgeous!

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
As of now, all I need to do is work on the album from our trip to Niagara Falls.  It's been years since I've been this caught up!

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

Does the Rideau Canal in Ontario count?  I don't think it's an official Rail Trail, but it is alongside a canal, and at one time, there were rail tracks nearby.  It's officially a World Heritage site, so I'm going to add it.  We hiked a good 10 miles of it while we were in Ottawa!  Such a beautiful place!

A Lime Kiln on the NCR Trail.

1) NCR Rail Trail
2) Rideau Canal 

14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back! 

The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated.  My goal is to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.


15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I post direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!  Call your mother sometime.  She'd really like to hear from you!)

How are you doing on your goals this year?

2016 Resolutions

This was the month that I knocked one of the big items off of my Bucket List.  We went to Niagara Falls!  The falls are amazing - absolutely stunning.  They are just so much MORE than I thought they would be.  Words can't describe the experience of standing by the falls and watching the might and majesty of the river.

The best part of this trip was that all 3 kids were able to go with us!  We had a great car trip, spent a lot of time telling stories and laughing, and we explored new places together.  With the kids growing up, graduating from college, and getting jobs, I just don't know how many more big vacations like this we're going to get.  They are something to treasure!

My 2016 Resolutions:

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Silly girl.  Third year in a row this has been on my list.  I'm still not certain this is going to happen this year.  Our kitchen became a priority this year, and now that we've started it, we need to finish the final touches so that it's not coming back to haunt me in a couple of years!

You can follow the tale of kitchen woes here:
Kitchen Woes
We Have Running Water in the Kitchen
 Progress
Progeress of One Kind and Another
It Only Looks Like We're Not Making Progress
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back







2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for the year was to lose a total of three inches.  That took longer than I thought it would! Eight months to lose three inches.  I'm happy to see those inches come off!  For now, I am content.  Those were 3 very hard inches to lose! 

b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
Not just one size, I'm down 2 sizes now!  Funny story here - I did not buy new shorts at the beginning of the summer.  I figured I was safe, since most of them are elastic waist pants, I didn't worry.  Elastic stretches both ways, right?  A week or so ago, I put my cell phone in my pocket.  The weight of my phone was enough to cause a wardrobe malfunction.  Good thing I was still at home, right?  Did you know - those drawstrings in pants don't actually go all the way around?  They're just decorative.  I'm now wearing capris all of the time.  I have two pairs that are only one size too big on me.  It's a great feeling!


3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
This spring has been so wet, everything that I put into the ground was drowned.  For now, this is just not going to happen.  My herb pot is a success, though!   We went from too wet to super hot with no transition in between.  This is going to be an epic fail.

4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one will be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.


5) Daughter's Quilt

I finally have decided upon a format for daughter's quilt!  I kept putting it off because I never could make myself happy with the fabric I had chosen.  While we were cleaning out her room, we found all of her old bandanas from Girl Scouts.  Guess what I'm going to do?  Make a quilt from the bandanas!  I've picked up some extra bandanas that match her history (the cow print bandana, and the John Deere bandana are part of her history).  So, I've got the fabric, and I've got the time!  I'm going to get all of this sewn together this week!  This is going to be one very bright and unusual looking quilt! She has a t-shirt that was her favorite - with cat facts written on it.  I'm going to embroider the cat facts on one of the bandanas, maybe two of them.  We'll see what happens!  I'm looking forward to having the best time planning this quilt out!  Putting this quilt together is going to be a lot of fun!  I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like


6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.
I get to visibly see my progress every time I work out.  It's an excellent motivator!

8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May. 






I really didn't do that much this month.  Starting a new job, going on vacation, moving kids into dorm rooms and apartments - yeah - that took up a good chunk of the month.  I did get two small bags of stuff to the Thrift Shop this month.  I dropped the bags, containing 46 things off yesterday.

I sent 46 things to the thrift shop.

Total number of items out of the house this month: 46
Items out so far this year:  1764.

 9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), AND 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink.


10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Niagara Falls!  We spent time on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Falls.  I loved Niagara State Park.  If you ever have time to go, make a point of heading to the state park and walking the perimeter trail around the island.  It is absolutely gorgeous!

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
I'm chugging along on this!  I've been using Shutterfly, which has a powerful tool for digital scrapbooking.  I've then been holding onto the albums until they offer a deal on pricing, and then I order the books.  I love Shutterfly!  (In the interest of Full Disclosure, they are one of my Affiliate Links, but I was using them LONG before I even began blogging.)

I'm glad I have the opportunity to catch up on my scrapbooking.  When we went to a digital camera, and then I began compiling the kids' albums for graduation and their elementary and middle school memory albums, and my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary album, I fell well behind on the family albums.  As I'm working on 2009 now, I'm discovering why that's such a bad idea.  I don't necessarily remember who all of the people in the pictures were, and I don't always remember what we were doing at the time.

Lesson Learned: Finish albums within 6 months of the event - whether it be an anniversary, vacation, or family year. 


13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

A Lime Kiln on the NCR Trail.

My excuse for not doing this now is that it has been wicked hot, and those trails are not shaded.  I know, I know, I need to stop making excuses.  But it is really hot....

1) NCR Rail Trail


14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back! 

The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated.  My goal is to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I post direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!  Call your mother sometime.  She'd really like to hear from you!)

How are you doing on your goals this year?

2016 Resolutions - August Update

I've been keeping track of my resolutions online for a couple of years now.  I find it keeps me honest.  Every year, I set lofty goals of what I hope to accomplish at the beginning of every year.  I used to find myself forgetting about them, and then at some point in the fall, I'd run across the list and shake my head at the lost opportunities and lost motivations.  So, by keeping track of them online and making myself revisit them every month, I do find that I've done a better job of keeping my resolutions.  Maybe not as good of a job as I'd like, but a better job.

We're getting ready to go on our vacation soon.  Family vacations with grown children are difficult.  When you add in adult children who hold down real jobs, you make it even more difficult!  We finally found seven days when we will all be together.  More than anything, I'm looking forward to hanging out with my kids.  Getting out and hiking will be great, but I really want to just spend time with them, play some games, and hear their news.

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Silly girl.  Third year in a row this has been on my list.  I'm still not certain this is going to happen this year.  Our kitchen became a priority this year, and now that we've started it, we need to finish the final touches so that it's not coming back to haunt me in a couple of years!

You can follow the tale of kitchen woes here:
Kitchen Woes
We Have Running Water in the Kitchen
 Progress
Progeress of One Kind and Another
It Only Looks Like We're Not Making Progress
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back



2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for this year is 3 inches.  Still not at 3, but I have lost over 2!  HOORAY!  Slowly working towards 3 inches.... very slowly.


I'm up to 100 Bosu Ball crunches now.  Working on adding in those wicked twists with a medicine ball.  How long before I get to that elusive three inches I've been trying to work off?


b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
For me, this is pretty phenomenal!


3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
This spring has been so wet, everything that I put into the ground was drowned.  For now, this is just not going to happen.  My herb pot is a success, though!   We went from too wet to super hot with no transition in between.  This is going to be an epic fail.

4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one will be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.

Bandanas for the quilt.

5) Daughter's Quilt
I finally have decided upon a format for daughter's quilt!  I kept putting it off because I never could make myself happy with the fabric I had chosen.  While we were cleaning out her room, we found all of her old bandanas from Girl Scouts.  Guess what I'm going to do?  Make a quilt from the bandanas!  I've picked up some extra bandanas that match her history (the cow print bandana, and the John Deere bandana are part of her history).  So, I've got the fabric, and I've got the time!  I'm going to get all of this sewn together this week!  This is going to be one very bright and unusual looking quilt! She has a t-shirt that was her favorite - with cat facts written on it.  I'm going to embroider the cat facts on one of the bandanas, maybe two of them.  We'll see what happens!  I'm looking forward to having the best time planning this quilt out!  Putting this quilt together is going to be a lot of fun!  I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like!


6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.  It's an old composition book that daughter had used in school.  She had written in maybe 3 pages?  I confiscated it before it went out to Goodwill.  I keep track of what I've done, how much weight I'm lifting, and how many reps.  My workouts have gotten more effective now that I'm no longer guessing how much weight I lifted the last time I did that particular exercise.  #progress.

8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May.  I spent this month going through the crap on the floor of my closet.  Another 50 odds and ends went to the thrift shop.   I went through my dresser drawers and threw out unmatched socks, old underwear, etc.  I didn't even bother counting how many items I got rid of.  It's just nice to have nicely organized drawers!

I sent 50 things to the thrift shop.

Total number of items out of the house this month: 50
Items out so far this year:  1718.

9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), AND 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink.

I'll be doing another no spend challenge in September.  We have our savings built back up, but I still want to get the smaller debt paid off, finish remodeling the kitchen, and remodel the bathroom.

10) Visit one Place on My Bucket List
Phase One: Completed  (We know where we're going.)
Phase Two: Finished
 (Everyone will be capable of going.  Vacations have been requested and approved by everyone.)
Phase Three: Completed  Reservations are made.
Phase Four: Later this month!

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
I'm chugging along on this!  I've been using Shutterfly, which has a powerful tool for digital scrapbooking.  I've then been holding onto the albums until they offer a deal on pricing, and then I order the books.  I love Shutterfly!  (In the interest of Full Disclosure, they are one of my Affiliate Links, but I was using them LONG before I even began blogging.)

I'm glad I have the opportunity to catch up on my scrapbooking.  When we went to a digital camera, and then I began compiling the kids' albums for graduation and their elementary and middle school memory albums, and my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary album, I fell well behind on the family albums.  As I'm working on 2009 now, I'm discovering why that's such a bad idea.  I don't necessarily remember who all of the people in the pictures were, and I don't always remember what we were doing at the time.

Lesson Learned: Finish albums within 6 months of the event - whether it be an anniversary, vacation, or family year. 


13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

A Lime Kiln on the NCR Trail.

My excuse for not doing this now is that it has been wicked hot, and those trails are not shaded.  I know, I know, I need to stop making excuses.  But it is really hot....

1) NCR Rail Trail


14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back! 

The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated.  My goal is to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I post direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!  Call your mother sometime.  She'd really like to hear from you!)

So how are you doing on your resolutions for the year?

2016 Resolutions - July Update

June has been a great month in the Mid-Atlantic.  Some hot days, some humid days, some pleasant days.  A couple of days with wicked storms.  It's been a very nice month.  I'm driving up today to pick up oldest son from school for the weekend.  His room-mate will be driving him back, but in the meantime, we get to have him for the entire weekend!  Hooray!  His brother is working the entire weekend, and won't be home, but at least we have 2 of the 3 kids here.

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning has been the theme of the month.  With the kitchen out of commission, I haven't been able to can anything.  So... I've been cleaning and tossing, and sorting and tossing.  We've been in this house for 11 years now.  It's time to purge a few things and get rid of the last traces of crap that my in-laws left behind when they moved out.

For the past couple of years, I've kept a written list of my resolutions, and posted my monthly progress towards meeting my goals here on the blog.  It's kept me honest and on track, and I've accomplished most of my goals every year since I began doing this!

Here's the HIGHLY optimistic look at what I thought I could accomplish this year:

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom.

Yeah, I thought this was going to happen this year, but then the kitchen fell apart.  You can read the progress on the kitchen repairs here:
 One step forward, two steps back.
 It Only Looks Like We're Not Making Progress
Progress of One Kind and Another

2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for this year is 3 inches.  Still not at 3, but I have lost over 2!  HOORAY!  Slowly working towards 3 inches.... very slowly....  so many crunches... so many planks.


(Hey, I can hold a plank for a full minute now.  Who-Hoo!)


b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
For me, this is pretty phenomenal!

3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
This spring has been so wet, everything that I put into the ground was drowned.  For now, this is just not going to happen.  My herb pot is a success, though!   We went from too wet to super hot with no transition in between.  This is going to be an epic fail.

4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one might very well be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.

5) Daughter's Quilt
I've tracked down all of the fabric, the Girl Scout bandanas and the old t-shirts that I'm going to use.  Everything has been run through the wash.  I found the fabric stabilizer at Hobby Lobby for the t-shirts.  Progress, of a sort.

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.  It's an old composition book that daughter had used in school.  She had written in maybe 3 pages?  I confiscated it before it went out to Goodwill.  I keep track of what I've done, how much weight I'm lifting, and how many reps.  My workouts have gotten more effective now that I'm no longer guessing how much weight I lifted the last time I did that particular exercise.  #progress.

8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May.  Good thing the house is cleaner!  It means we had room to shift stuff over to other places when we had to tarp off the kitchen!

I sent  215 things to the thrift shop.
I gave 32 completed scarves to the church for the Christmas Bazaar.
Odds and Ends of crafts to go to the craft group at church: 50
I finished up & donated 10 crocheted blankets to Project Linus.

Little crocheted baby hats to go to the NICU: 40
I donated one completed Prayer Shawl to the church.

Total number of items out of the house this month: 348
Items out so far this year:  1668.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'll hit 5,000 items by the end of the year.


9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), AND 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink. No idea how that much is going to run, but I am really glad that we have construction and rebuilding experience from volunteering with Habitat for Humanity over the years.  That will help cut down on some of our expenses.

10) Visit one Place on My Bucket List
Phase One: Completed  (We know where we're going.)
Phase Two: Finished
 (Everyone will be capable of going.  Vacations have been requested and approved by everyone.)
Phase Three: Reservations are made.

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
I'm chugging along on this!  I've been using Shutterfly, which has a powerful tool for digital scrapbooking.  I've then been holding onto the albums until they offer a deal on pricing, and then I order the books.  I love Shutterfly!  (In the interest of Full Disclosure, they are one of my Affiliate Links, but I was using them LONG before I even began blogging.)

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

A Lime Kiln on the NCR Trail.

The challenge has begun!  The first trail has been explored.
 Note to self: take more water next time - twice the amount you'll think you need, carry one bottle with you, keep extra in the car for when you get back.  Those trails are not as shaded as the woodland trails in the State Parks.  

Now that the rain has stopped, we need to get back to this.  I also need to get away from the onslaught of crap that is going on in our house.

We hiked up on Catoctin Mountain this past month, but that's not a rail trail.  We need to get out and do another trail this month.  We're falling behind!

The NCR Trail 




14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back!  Before I go to work on the smaller debt, we are desperately working on rebuilding the emergency savings account.  With all of the financial emergencies we've had this year, it feels like we're bleeding money.  Something breaks, We spend, we scrimp and save, something else breaks, we spend, we scrimp and save... repeat.  I'm so glad we've had money in the emergency account.  Maybe not as much as I'd like, but it's been enough.   Seriously people, if you don't have an emergency savings account with at least $1000 put aside, don't wait another day.  Do it NOW.  Just do it.  Don't make excuses.  Doing the NoSpenduary Challenge is a great way to start.  I know it's inconvenient, but it's summer.  Public Libraries are open, with free programming available for children, and there are concerts and free movies in parks and community areas everywhere.  This is a great time to take a break from spending and find out just how creative you can be while keeping your kids entertained.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I posted direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!)


So how are you doing on your resolutions for the year?

2016 Resolutions - June Update

Just look at that Oregano grow!  At least something is thriving!

Holy cow, am I glad last month is over.  So far, I feel like I've been hemorrhaging money.  We've hit up our savings account frequently this year, and every time we get it back up to a certain point, something else breaks.  So very, very glad that we have money set aside "just in case" something goes wrong.  We've had a lot of "something else" this year.

So, way back in January, I set this very optimistic set of goals of things that I wanted to accomplish this month.  Funny, funny girl.  With the way life is happening to us this year, I don't thing we're going to make any forward progress on anything else anytime soon.

Anyway, here is my very optimistic look at what I thought I could accomplish this year:

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom.
Yeah, I thought this was going to happen this year, but then THIS happened this week:  One step forward, two steps back.

2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for this year is 3 inches.  Still not at 3, but I have lost over 2!  HOORAY!

b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
For me, this is pretty phenomenal!

3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
This spring has been so wet, everything that I put into the ground was drowned.  For now, this is just not going to happen.  My herb pot is a success, though!

4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one might very well be a wash.

5) Daughter's Quilt
Oh, yeah, the quilt.  I need to get back to that.

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.

8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May.  Good thing the house is cleaner!  It means we had room to shift stuff over to other places when we had to tarp off the kitchen!

Items out of the House this month: 47
Items out so far this year: 1320

9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), AND 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink. No idea how that much is going to run, but I am really glad that we have construction and rebuilding experience from volunteering with Habitat for Humanity over the years.  That will help cut down on some of our expenses.

10) Visit one Place on My Bucket List
Phase One: Completed  (We know where we're going.)
Phase Two: Finished
 (Everyone will be capable of going.  Vacations have been requested and approved by everyone.)
Phase Three: We were going to make reservations at hotels, but with the way this summer is going, we might very well have to camp....

11) Get at least half of the CEU's I need to keep my teaching  and my library certificate.
 I worked to hard to get those certifications to just let them lapse!  It's never fun to take classes, but it's even LESS fun to have to retake all of the classes for a certificate you let lapse.  (Or worse - to retake a mandatory test.  I'm thinking of the Praxis exams.  I took the NTE's back in the 80's.  I'm not sure how well I'd do on the Praxis exams if I were to have to take them now.  Especially since it's been more years than I want to admit since I've sat in on college classes.)

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

A Lime Kiln on the NCR Trail.

The challenge has begun!  The first trail has been explored.
 Note to self: take more water next time - twice the amount you'll think you need, carry one bottle with you, keep extra in the car for when you get back.  Those trails are not as shaded as the woodland trails in the State Parks.  

Now that the rain has stopped, we need to get back to this.  I also need to get away from the onslaught of crap that is going on in our house. 

The NCR Trail 

 14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back!  Before I go to work on the smaller debt, I desperately need to rebuild the emergency savings account.  If you remember, it was depleted over the course of a dental emergency and a car repair.  We had wisdom teeth removed last week, and it was nice to be able to pay for that and still have money left in the emergency savings account.  Seriously people, if you don't have an emergency savings account with at least $1000 put aside, don't wait another day.  Do it NOW.  Just do it.  Don't make excuses.  Doing the NoSpenduary Challenge is a great way to start.  I know it's inconvenient, but it's summer.  Public Libraries are open, with free programming available for children, and there are concerts and free movies in parks and community areas everywhere.  This is a great time to take a break from spending and find out just how creative you can be while keeping your kids entertained.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I posted direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!)

How are you doing on your resolutions this year?