2018 Resolutions August Update

July has been a very busy month.   I haven't had a chance to post much, but I've gotten a lot accomplished this month outside of the blog!  I've spent time with kids, with friends, and cleaning out the house.  Much progress has been made in reclaiming our basement!  FINALLY.  13 years after we moved in, I think we might finally be able to call the basement our own by the end of the year!  (Well okay, most of the basement.  Let's not be hasty here.)

My goals this year were lofty.  It's time to check in on them and see how I'm doing!

1) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Did this!  No spending in February and March.  We're back in minimal spending mode now, tyring to build the savings back up again.

2) 40 Bags in 40 Days.
17 boxes at the end of June.

This month, I've done my best to get stuff - lots of stuff - out of the house.

Boxes to Good Will - 4
Bags O' Trash - 3
Miscellaneous Furniture -
1 Freezer circa 1972
1 Dehumidifier circa 1975
3 (2 drawer) file cabinets
1 desk top to fit over 2 of the file cabinets
3 dressers  (yes, you read that right, I had 3 empty dressers in my basement)
2 twin beds
1 old mini van

Total Items for July - 19

Total to Date: 36

Just 4 more boxes and bags!  I can do this!

3) Get Away With my Husband - TWICE
      1) Australia
      2) I've got a rough plan.  Need to start making some reservations!

4) Get One Big Debt Paid Off this Year
Working on getting the Civic paid off by the end of the year.

5) Finish Daughter's and Husband's quilts.
I'm sitting here as I type this, looking at the quilt.  And the hoop.  Every time I put the quilt in the hoop, Hobbes likes to pounce into the hoop.... it's making it impossible to finish the quilt!

6) Get Out to See Middle Child This Year
Hooray!  We got to see him over Memorial Day Weekend!  Now, we've got to find a way to get out to see him sometime over the holidays.  Maybe we can get him out here for Thanksgiving?  I'm trying to figure this out...

7) Replace the Roof on the House
I don't think it's going to happen this fall.  I want to make certain we've got the cash on hand to pay daughter's tuition this winter.  We're so close!  She graduates next spring.  As of this semester, we have run through the last of the Pre-Paid College Trust.  We'll be on our own for the Spring Semester Tuition.  I want to make certain we have it set aside well ahead of time.  So, the roof will have to wait until next spring.

8) Exercise Most Days During the Week
Done and doing this!

9) Make some of my Christmas Gifts this year.
Working on this.

10) Cut my Grocery Budget to $250/month
 Well, I've stopped keeping track. I'm giving up on this one.
I honestly don't have the time to keep track of everything I spend at the grocery store.

11) Turn my yarn and fabric stash into something more... but what?
Graduation present for daughter's boyfriend.
Baby Blanket for a Co-Worker
Turned a spool of tulle and blingy sparkles into a Fascinator for the Royal Wedding.


I'm currently working on a shrug for myself with yarn that I purchased for that purpose 4 years ago.  It's a beautiful, sea green and blue yarn.  I've found a wonderful lacy vest pattern that I purchased online.  Too bad that I just can't make that lace work!  The shrug will still be beautiful, but it won't be a lacework pattern.

12) Take One Item Off my Bucket List
 I did it!  And it was a big one!  I went to Australia with my husband!

13) Have One Media Free Day per Week
Not been a problem.

14) Visit 12 Libraries I Have Never Been to Before

Laurel Public Library

Lawrence Public Library Truman Library and Museum
New South Wales Library
Central Rappahannock Regional Library Porter Branch
Laurel Public Library
Elkridge Public Library

Catonsville Public Library

I have a couple of professional goals I want to meet, too.  I'm not going to list them here, but they're always in the back of my mind!


Professional Goals

1) PG #1

I had an article published! 

2) PG #2

2018 Resolutions - July Update

I love keeping track of my resolutions on my blog!  It ensures that I actually keep my resolutions!
Who knew that keeping my resolutions would be as easy as announcing them publicly?

I've been working at it.  I don't know that I'll meet all of my resolutions, but it sure is fun to try!

1) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
No Spenduary helped to pay for the unexpected trip to Australia.  I'm not currently in a "no spend" mode - but I am actively saving money to pay to replace the roof on the house this fall.

2) 40 bags in 40 days
Well, this didn't work out during Lent.  I'm still working on getting boxes and bags out of the house.  Husband has been on a mission trip the last week in June, so I've actually gotten a lot of stuff out of the house this month! 

10 bags/boxes at the end of May
  7   bags/boxes in June

 17    Total Boxes/Bags at the end of June.  Just 23 more to go!  I hope I get this done by the end of the year!

3) Get Away With my Husband - TWICE
        1) Australia
        2) Where next?

4) Get One Big Debt Paid Off This Year
Working on paying off the Civic

5) Finish Daughter's and Husband's Quilts
Once again, no progress on this.  I hope to pull out the sewing machine, suck it up, and finish husbands quilt this month.  No excuses.  Just do it!

6) Get Out to Visit Middle Child this Year
HOORAY!!!!  We spent a long weekend with him over Memorial Day!  The entire family! 
HOORAY!!!!  I'd like to think I'll get out to see him one more time this year.  Maybe we'll make it for Thanksgiving?  I'm not sure - daughter is still in college, and her school tends to run classes through Wednesday.  We've got time on this one.

7) Replace the Roof on the House this Fall
 Working on this one!  The dream is to have enough cash to not only replace the roof, but also the gutters, and maybe add a front porch.  That's do-able, right? 

8) Exercise Most Days During the Week.
I've done it!  I'm at 4 days a week now!  PLUS -  I am getting over there at 5:45 am now.  Holy cow! What a great start to my day!  (It's a really early start, but it's a start!)

9) Make some of my Christmas Gifts this Year
I need to get moving on this one.  What do I get kids who are grown and living on their own?  The boys are going to be a problem...  Maybe a sweater?  It's a lofty sounding goal....

10) Cut my Grocery Budget to $250/month
 Well, I've stopped keeping track. I'm giving up on this one.
I honestly don't have the time to keep track of everything I spend at the grocery store.  

11) Turn my yarn and fabric stash into something more... but what?
Graduation present for daughter's boyfriend.
Baby Blanket for a Co-Worker
Turned a spool of tulle and blingy sparkles into a Fascinator for the Royal Wedding.


I'm currently working on a shrug for myself with yarn that I purchased for that purpose 4 years ago.  It's a beautiful, sea green and blue yarn.  I've found a wonderful lacy vest pattern that I purchased online.


12) Take One Item Off my Bucket List
 I did it!  And it was a big one!  I went to Australia with my husband!

13) Have One Media Free Day per Week
Not been a problem.
 
14) Visit 12 Libraries I Have Never Been to Before

Laurel Public Library

Lawrence Public Library Truman Library and Museum
New South Wales Library
Central Rappahannock Regional Library Porter Branch

Laurel Public Library
Elkridge Public Library

I have a couple of professional goals I want to meet, too.  I'm not going to list them here, but they're in the back of my mind!


Professional Goals

1) PG #1

I had an article published! 

2) PG #2

2018 Resolutions - June Update

1) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
We saved in February.  We're holding back on spending this month and next month, too.

2) 40 Bags in 40 Days
So, we were out of town for a good chunk of Lent, so I didn't get 40 bags of crap out of the house.  I'm still trying to get the 40 bags of junk out of the house.

The end of May count is 10 bags and boxes.  Just 30 more to go!


3) Get Away With My Husband - Twice
Australia was the big one!
I've got one more to go for this fall.  I am thinking we're going to head off to the place I thought we were going to go last year before my plans got turned upside down when I got that unexpected promotion.

4) Get 1 Big Debt Paid off this Year
The goal is to get the Civic paid off - or mostly paid off - this year.  I'm a good chunk of the way there now.  Less than $5,000 left now...

5) Finish Daughter's and Husband's Quilts
I've gotten daughter's quilt back out.  Hobbes really likes to play with the thread when I'm trying to quilt.  I'm not certain how I'm going to get around this.  It's not like I can haul my quilting frame and all the assorted supplies out to Starbucks and work on it...

6) Get Out to Visit Middle Child this Year
HOORAY!!!!  We spent a long weekend with him over Memorial Day!  The entire family! 
HOORAY!!!!  I'd like to think I'll get out to see him one more time this year.  Maybe we'll make it for Thanksgiving?  I'm not sure - daughter is still in college, and her school tends to run classes through Wednesday.  We've got time on this one.

7) Replace the Roof on the House this Fall
All of the money we put aside from the NoSpenduary Challenge is being set aside to replace the roof on the house.  If we can set enough money aside, I want to add a porch onto the front of the house.  We'll see how things work out!

8) Exercise Most Days During the Week.
I've done it!  I'm at 4 days a week now!  PLUS -  I am getting over there at 5:45 am now.  Holy cow! What a great start to my day!  (It's a really early start, but it's a start!)

9) Make some of my Christmas gifts this year.
Watching my daughter and her boyfriend exchange home made gifts has inspired me to think outside the box. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but I will do something.

Starting with fun and funky socks for the girl.
I really enjoy making socks!

10) Cut my grocery budget to $250/month.
Well this has gone down the drain.  I haven't kept track of groceries at all while we were gone.  I need to get back on the wagon and keep track of these numbers..  June is a new month, with all new goals to meet.  We have been eating out of the freezer a lot this month, so I have only been "doing" one big shop a month in addition to the $25 produce bundles from my favorite farm.

11) Turn my yarn and fabric stash into something more... but what?
Graduation present for daughter's boyfriend.
Baby Blanket for a Co-Worker
Turned a spool of tulle and blingy sparkles into a Fascinator for the Royal Wedding.
What's next? 


12) Take One Item Off my Bucket List
 I did it!  And it was a big one!  I went to Australia with my husband!

13) Have One Media Free Day per Week
Not been a problem.
 
14) Visit 12 Libraries I Have Never Been to Before
Lawrence Public Library
Truman Library and Museum
New South Wales Library
Central Rappahannock Regional Library Porter Branch

I have a couple of professional goals I want to meet, too.  I'm not going to list them here, but they're in the back of my mind!

1) PG #1

I had an article published! 

2) PG #2

2018 Resolutions - March Update

This month has been consumed by the No-Spenduary Challenge!  I've been *mostly* good about not spending extra.  I've taken my lunch every single day, we've cooked from scratch, eaten leftovers, and done just about everything else we can to cut corners and build up that savings cushion!

1) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
Done!  And I think ALL of our electronics need to be replaced.  I'm going to have to replace them slowly, or I'll end up undoing all of the good effects of the NoSpenduary Challenge in one week!

2) 40 Bags in 40 Days
4 bags and 2 boxes to date.

Keep in mind, I'm writing this on a borrowed laptop, and I'm writing it a little far out.  I'll have a more accurate count next month!

3) Get Away with my husband - TWICE.
Plans are in the works.

4) Pay off 1 Big Debt
Yes, get the Civic paid off this year, if I can.

5) Finish Daughter's and Husband's quilts.
See this post about the kitten and the quilt.

6) Get Out to Visit Middle Child this year.
I've set a date.  He knows he's traveling somewhere on business that month, so we're waiting for him to get the final word on whether or not he'll be in town that weekend.

7) Replace the Roof on the House
This needs to be done before this fall.  The money we save during NoSpenduary is going towards the roof replacement.  My dream is to be able to add a porch onto the front of the house when we replace to roof.

8) Exercise most days during a week.
It's better this month.  Not a solid 4 days every week, but it's averaging out to 4 days a week.

Interesting Steeple!  Independence, MO

My nifty little spreadsheet is on the laptop - you know, the one that's not working?

9) Make some of my Christmas gifts this year.
Watching my daughter and her boyfriend exchange home made gifts has inspired me to think outside the box. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but I will do something. 

10) Cut my grocery budget to $250/month.
We've been eating fairly low on the food chain this month, and eating through what we have in the freezer and the cupboards.  The Instant Pot has been heavily used!

Total spent this month: $150
Total spent year to date: $600
 
(over)under budget for the year: ($100)

11) Turn my yarn and fabric stash into something more... but what?
I took the grey yarn I had in the stash, bought some more, and made it into a very large blanket to give to daughter's boyfriend when he graduates later this spring.

12) Take one item off my bucket list.
Reservations have been made.

13) Have on media free day per week.
Not been a problem.

14) Visit 12 libraries I have never been to before 
Lawrence Public Library
Truman Library and Museum

2018 Resolutions - February Update

A little late this month!  So sorry, this week has been crazy beyond words.  I'm sitting here on this lovely chill morning, having been to the gym and now attempting to recover before heading on about my day and tackling the massive to do list.  Anybody watching the Super Bowl tomorrow?  

I started keeping track of me resolutions online a few years ago.  It keeps me focused when I check back in on them once a month.  I make more progress when I do it this way.  If I make a list and put it in a drawer, I tend to forget about it by the end of January. So, here's my list for this year!



1) Participate in the No-Spenduary Challenge
That begins this month!  We're already spending less since we have fewer kids living at home right now.  It's going to be fun to cut back!  All of our spare time will be spent getting those 40 bags of trash out of our house!

2) 40 Bags in 40 Days
Lent starts on Valentine's Day, and that's the official starting gun for the challenge!  Ready, set, clean the house!

3) Get Away With My Husband Twice
What did I read in the back of Debbie MacCombers last book?  They've begun their "Adventure before Dementia".  It's time for us to do the same.  Time to start knocking some places off of our bucket list!  We've made a plan for this year. 

4) Pay off 1 Big Debt 
Working on that right now...


5) Finish Daughter's and Husband's Quilt
Trying to finish off daughter's quilt before I pull out the sewing machine again.

6) Get out to visit Middle Child this year
Kansas is a ways away.  When are we going to get out there?

7) Replace the Roof on the House
We're missing shingles.  This is a high priority for this year.

8) Exercise MOST days during the week.    
I'm stuck at 3 days per week.  I need to get that up at 4 days per week.  I made a spreadsheet to track my progress on meeting this goal this month.  Not as good as I'd like.  Look at that - 13 Days out of 30.  Not even half of the days in the month.  I really need to fix that.

Sun.	Mon.	Tues.	Weds.	Thurs.	Fri.	Sat.
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
82	29	30	31

9) Make SOME of my Christmas gifts this year.
In years past, I've hand made Christmas gifts for family members only to find that they threw out what I made.  From hand knit blankets and ponchos, to tote bags made with extra long handles and interior pockets, to quilts.... If you're going to give it away or throw it out, I'm not going to make it for you any more.  I've got to start thinking now about what I'm going to make for those who appreciate a hand made treasure.
 
10) Cut my grocery budget to $250/month.  
That will be a total of $3000 on groceries this year.

I didn't update this week.  I spent $25 on a produce box at the Farmer's Market on Saturday.  We ate mostly out of that box for this week.

So, for this month, this brings my total up to: $450
(over)/under budget for the year: (200)

11) Turn my yarn and fabric stash into something more... (but what?)
I took the dark red yarn and made it into a baby blanket for one of my co-workers!  I didn't have to buy any yarn, and I really like the pattern!  Even better, the yarn is one of those synthetic blends that can be thrown in the washing machine.  Always a plus when you've got something you're using around a brand new baby!

12) Take one item off of my Bucket List
A plan has begun to form in my head.  And it involves getting away with the husband.


13) Have one Media Free Day per week 
As I find myself having more and more problems with my laptop, this is getting easier and easier to do!  I'm going to have to replace the laptop soon, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying the laptop when it works, and taking advantage of the excuse to do other things when it doesn't work!

14) Visit 12 libraries I have never been to before 
Lawrence Public Library
Truman Library and Museum

I have a couple of professional goals I want to meet, too.  I'm not going to list them here, but they're in the back of my mind!

1) PG #1

2) PG #2

New Year's Resolutions - December Update

It's time for a look back at this past year.  What kind of progress did I make towards my resolutions for the year?  I have a list of things I hope to accomplish every year. While I don't always finish everything, I do manage to finish a significant portion of them!


1) Complete 12 Home Improvement Projects
This was a year of a LOT of home improvement.  Expensive home improvement!  I'm hoping that this next year holds no major plumbing repairs!  This month, we installed the shades in the kitchen windows.  Yes, we've been living here 10 years and never had shades in the kitchen windows.  Finally done!   The last improvement involved the work that the contractor never came back to finish up - despite my repeated calls to them.  Thankfully hubby is handy, so he was able to finish things up.  He installed the kick plates under the cabinets, and the laminate on the end of the cabinets.  He then installed a hardwood back to the empty space under the cabinet that covers the yellow tile and matches the laminate.  It looks very professional, if I do say so myself!  Actually, I'm really glad that I kept track of this one - sometimes it feels like we do nothing around here - it's nice to have an actual list of what we really do accomplish.


The list:
1) Recover the kitchen chairs.
2) Add the knobs to the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
3) Fix the sewer line out of the house, through the basement wall.
4) Replace the baseboard heater in the hall bathroom.
5) Replace the lighting in the hall bathroom.
6) Re-enamel the hallway bathroom tile.
7) Replace the light at the bottom of the basement stairwell.
8) Paint the cinder block wall in the basement where we replaced the pipe.
9) Fix the running toilet in the Master Bathroom.
10) Fix the leaking pipes under the toilets down in the basement.  (Copper Pipes)
11) Install shades in the kitchen
12) Finish out the portion under the cabinets in the bathroom that the contractor never finished.

2) Lose a few more inches around my waist.
Honestly, I wanted to lose 2-3 inches.  How hard can that be?
Difficult.  Very difficult.
It really does get harder as you get older.

I've lost 1 inch.  ONE INCH.  It's progress, and I'll take it.  But I really wish I'd lost more.

3) Get away with my husband - TWICE - this year.
Done!
The first trip was a long weekend to visit our oldest child at school.  (OK, that's a maybe..)

Second was the long weekend we spent in Princeton - he was up there for business, and I went up there for a long weekend at our own expense at the end of his official business.

We did get in a third trip - out to Denver for a Memorial Service.  We enjoyed ourselves, and had a great time catching up with family from all over the country.

4) Lenten Cleaning Challenge
 Done!  40 bags in 40 days!  I'm looking forward to doing this one again next year!




5) Post at least 12 book reviews on my Books for Teens Blog
I've been reading a lot of YA fiction this month!  Almost everything I've read has been a hit. 
You can see my blog here:
https://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/



6) Finish the Hallway Bathroom

9 years after the long nightmare began, we now have 2 working bathrooms in our house!  While the contractor wasn't everything I expected, we have working bathrooms!
  

7) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
The moratorium is over!  We still don't wantonly spend money, but our savings account is back up where it should be, tuition has been paid, and we're plotting our big home improvement project for next year.  Hopefully, that one doesn't cascade into a larger project like this year's project did.

Who am I kidding?  It's a home improvement project on a 48 year old house.  OF COURSE it's going to be more involved than we want it to be.  We need to add an emergency cushion onto the funding for that project when we start planning it out.

8) Learn another language.
This one was a great thought, but it never has gone anywhere.
 
9) 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do
I've done a few!  Maryland is a beautiful state!  I might not have done as many as I wanted, but it's nice to have seen a few of the items on the list.

10) Daughter's Quilt
Progress!  I am making big progress!  It won't be finished before the end of 2017, but it will be finished before the end of the school year!

Luna REALLY likes the quilt.

11) Clean Out Closet and Dresser Drawers

Done!  And the stuff I no longer need has been sent to Goodwill. 

12) Clean Out the Little Room in the Basement and Make it Usable
A little progress has been made.  I moved the wooden shelves out and into another room.  I put oldest child's stuff on those shelves.  These are the boxes of stuff that he wants to keep long term but just doesn't have the space for in his current apartment.


13) Work on Landscaping the Front Yard
Well, since our next big project is going to be replacing the roof and adding a front porch to the house, I'm not going to do anything with the landscaping until after the porch is finished.  This one will be a no go for this year.

14) Take at Least One Class through the ALA 
I finished the class!  !  Hooray! Now to get the other 2.8 CEU's I need to renew my certificate before June of 2019.

2018 Resolutions

I have big plans, big things I want to accomplish this year!  How much will I actually manage to get done?  There's a lot of change coming in the next year, and so many things I want to do.  Hopefully I can get them all done.  I've found that by keeping track of my resolutions on the blog, I actually manage to make most of my dreams happen!

1) Participate in the No-Spenduary Challenge
I've done this several years now, and every year I find that it has been well worth my time and effort.  Money is saved, debts are paid, and home improvement projects are done with the money that is saved.  Traditionally done for the month of January, you can find more information here: http://www.frugaldebtfreelife.com/main/2015/1/1/starting-the-new-year-with-a-no-spenduary-challenge.html?rq=nospenduary

2) 40 Bags in 40 Days
The idea is to clean out 1 bag of "stuff" out of the house every day during Lent.  It's a great way to get junk out of the house!  I'm looking forward to doing this one again!  You can find the challenge here:  White House Black Shutters.

3) Get Away With My Husband Twice
What did I read in the back of Debbie MacCombers last book?  They've begun their "Adventure before Dementia".  It's time for us to do the same.  Time to start knocking some places off of our bucket list.

4) Pay off 1 Big Debt
Gotta get it done!

5) Finish Daughter's and Husband's Quilt
I need to close the edges of husband's quilt.  I've repaired the quilt top made by my Mother in Law before he went to college. I put a new back and new lining in, and I retied all the layers together.  Now,  I just have to sew the edges together now.  Daughter's quilt needs to be finished - it's over half quilted now.  I need to finish quilting it and then sew it together.

6) Get out to visit Middle Child this year
Since he now lives halfway across the country, I want to get out to see him at least once this year. 

7) Replace the Roof on the House
We're missing shingles now.  Husband got up on the roof and did a temporary repair - but it needs to be professionally fixed.  I'd like to get a front porch added when we replace the roof. 

9) Exercise MOST days during the week.
This has been more of a challenge than I'd like to admit since I've gone back to work full time.  I'm going to define MOST of the week as 4 days.

10) Make my Christmas gifts this year.
This one is tough.  I've made Christmas gifts for my extended family in the past, but I quit when I found out that my relatives gave away the hats, scarves, etc. that I made for them.   Kind of disheartening when you realize that the $40 worth of yarn I spent weeks making into a felted hat was thrown out.  For them, I go with gift cards.  I'm thinking more about my very close friends and co-workers.

11) Cut my grocery budget to $250/month.
So, now that we're down to just me, my husband, and the youngest child.. . I need to cut down our expenses.  I've been a little out of control over the last six months of the year with middle child home and having gone back to work full time.  So, I'm going to keep a closer eye on our spending this year on keeping this under control.  With only  of us living at home, we can easily keep our expenses down if I really put an effort into it.

12) Turn my yarn and fabric stash into something more... (but what?)
I've got a lot of yarn, and a lot of fabric.  What am I going to do with it all?  This will be the challenge of the year!

13) Take one item off of my Bucket List
Which one?  Where to begin?  What to do?

14) Have one Media Free Day per week
There is so much noise going on in our world... and so many distractions.  And my job demands constant media exposure and knowledge.  One day a week, I'm going to shut them all out and spend the day in peace with just myself.  Who knows what great things I'll accomplish on my day off from the media?


15) Visit 12 libraries I have never been to before
I know, I work in a library.  But, I absolutely love visiting libraries!  I want to go to 12 libraries I haven't been to before and then post pictures.  How about you?  Would you be willing to share your library photos with me?


16) Get Away With My Husband - Just the two of us - Twice
After last year, I'd like to add the caveat that it not be for a funeral.  I'd like to just get away and spend time away from home being just us.

I have a couple of professional goals I want to meet, too.  I'm not going to list them here, but they're in the back of my mind!

1) PG #1

2) PG #2

It's a long list!  I didn't knock them all out last year. Can I do it this year?  

What about you?

Resolutions

As many of you know, I began keeping a list of my resolutions on my blog a few years back.  It helps to keep me on track.  I make these promises to myself that I'm going to do these "things"  every year, and then I was forgetting them come the middle of March.  I started keeping a list online, and "wham" I am keeping all of my promises to myself  - ok, I'm keeping MOST of my promises, not all.  It's been a great thing!  This has been a crazy month.  Husband has been out of town for the better part of a month, and keeping an eye on spending for both of us has been something of a challenge.  I'm glad he's back home now!  I really missed the guy!

1) Complete 12 Home Improvement Projects in 12 months

After.

Bathroom tile before.

Recover the kitchen chairs.
Add the knobs to the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
Fix the sewer line out of the house, through the basement wall.
Replace the baseboard heater in the hall bathroom.
Replace the lighting in the hall bathroom.
Re-enamel the hallway bathroom tile.
Add knobs to the new cabinets in the bathroom.



2) Lose a few more inches around my waist
1/2 an inch is good.  I've worked hard for that half inch!  I'd like to lose another inch, but any progress I make at all is good progress!

3) Get away with my husband twice.
One was a visit up to visit oldest child for a weekend.
Two was a trip to go pick him up from New Jersey.  We stayed a couple of extra nights after he was finished before we came home. Fortunately, we weren't near a state beach and weren't impacted by the state shut down.

4) Lenten Cleaning Challenge
What a blast!  I got lots and lots of stuff out of the house!  This is the page from my journal where I kept track of my progress.  

5) Post at Least 12 Reviews on my Books for Teens Blog.
Hey!  It's coming along!  Not quite 12 yet, but I'm making progress!

My reviews for June:
My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen
Flame in the Mist

This brings my total for the year up to 6!
I've enjoyed every one of the YA books I've read this year!

6) Finish the Hallway Bathroom
It's funny how life goes.  The bathroom remodel is finished.  Or so we thought.  I got home the other day, and the pocket door between the sinks and the toilet/shower area had fallen off.  We hadn't replaced that in the original reno budget because we thought it was in good shape.  Of course, husband was out of town when it happened, and he hasn't gotten to it yet.  He's got the really long list of things that accumulated while he was gone.  Maintaining a 50 year old house is constant work!

According to the box, it can flush an entire bucket of golf balls.  You know, in case if you ever feel the need to flush golf balls....

7) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
Finished!  We're still saving, as we're building our savings back up again for the next big home repair, but at the moment, this is not the priority.  We have built our emergency savings back up where we like to have it after we dipped into it to replace the plumbing line out of the house.

8) Learn Another Language.
Yeah, this one might be a lost cause.  I'm not even sure I can handle my first language at times!

9) 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do
I really need to knock one of these out this month.  I see a problem, though.  We had a librarian promoted at work, and I've picked up extra hours until the replacement is hired.  So, nice paychecks for me, but minimal time for other fun stuff!

10) Daughter's Quilt
I'm back to working on it again!  I think it's safe to say that I have about 1/3 of it finished.  I really would like to finish this before the end of the year!

What do you mean "I'm in your way? Quilt around me!"

11) Clean out closet and dresser drawers.
I need to get back to this.  I've got one dresser left.

12) Clean Out the Little Room in the Basement and Make it Usable
I've made some progress on cleaning this out over the past month. The room itself is cleaned out.  I've swept, and swept, and swept some more.  We have drywall that is going to need to be replaced.  We had a flood in the basement several years ago, and husband thought he had gotten all of the drywall taken care of.  Nope.  Move that last bookshelf out of the way, and I see more damaged drywall.  (Add this to the massive list of things husband needs to take care of in all of his free time....)

13) Work on Landscaping the Front Yard
Sadly, I got a head start on this when the plumber pulled out one of the big bushes in front of the house.  Now, I have only 4 overgrown bushes to take care of in the front yard.  With the heat of summer upon us, I'm not going to do anything just now.  Once September comes along, and the weather cools off, and we get more rain, I'll put in some new bushes.

There was a bush right there in the middle.

14) Take at Least One Class through the ALA 
I finished the class!  I submitted two of the lessons that I wrote, and they have been approved as library programs for this summer!  Hooray!  It's going to be a great summer!  Even better?  I got a few more CEU's to add to the total number of hours I need to renew my teaching certificate.

How are you doing with your resolutions this year?

2017 Resolutions - April Update

I don't know about you, but March just flew by!  I feel like I didn't accomplish much of anything but reading for an upcoming book camp at work.  Hopefully, as I work on this, I'll see that progress has been made.

1) Complete 12 Home Improvement Projects This Month

While we didn't do anything this month, we DID meet with a contractor who is coming in this week to give us an estimate on the cost of remodeling the hallway bathroom.

2) Lose A Few More Inches Around My Waist

1/2 inch.  It's progress, and I'll take it!

3) Get Away With My Husband - Twice

We did the first one.  I came down with the flu while we were gone, so I'm not sure that it counted as a weekend away, but it is what it is.

4) Lenten Cleaning Challenge

Progress continues with this challenge.
Goodwill bags to date alone!

5) Post At Least 12 Reviews on my Books for Teens Blog

I never actually got this one published last month.  It's been a crazy month!  I'll have to post 2 reviews this month!

6) Finish the Hallway Bathroom

Since The Property Brothers have never answered my repeated pleas on my blog to help us with the multiple issues we have facing us in this house, we have gone ahead and found a contractor to work on our bathroom.  We've got an estimate coming this week!

7) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge

Three months down, three months with no discretionary spending.  We have much more money in our remodeling account than we had hoped to have.  Can't wait to see how this comes down!

8) Learn Another Language

I've let this one slide this month.  I'm not really making the progress I would like on learning another language.

9) 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do.
I'm looking forward to experiencing a few more of these once the weather warms up!

10) Daughter's Quilt
Quilting continues.  Will I finish before the year does?  Only time will tell!

11) Clean out the Closet and Dresser Drawers in the Master Bedroom
I really need to tackle the top of the short dresser.  Ignoring it isn't making the problem go away....

12) Clean Out the Little Room in the Basement and Make it Usable
Almost cleaned out.... almost!  I should have it cleaned out by the end of the month!

13) Work on Landscaping the Front Yard
Warm weather is coming!

14) Take At Least One Class Through the American Library Association
I finished the class!  I submitted two of the lessons that I wrote, and they have been approved as library programs for this summer!  Hooray!  It's going to be a great summer!  Even better?  I got a few more CEU's to add to the total number of hours I need to renew my teaching certificate.


How about you?  What kind of progress are you making on your resolutions for the year?

2017 Resolutions - March Update

It's that time!  My monthly look at my resolutions!  After several failures at meeting my goals last year, I'm hoping for more success this year. Are you ready?  Here goes:

1) Complete 12 Home Improvement Projects This Year
We finally got the handles on the cabinet doors under the kitchen sink.  Six months after we claimed to be finished with the repair, we finally put the handles on!  We can open the doors without pulling at the top, which should extend the overall life of those cabinet doors.  It's the little things!

Handles!!!

2) Lose a Few More Inches Around My Waist
I've had the flu for most of the last two weeks.  I don't want to talk about this one.

3) Get Away With My Husband - Just the Two of Us - Twice
The first one is done!  We went up to Pennsylvania to visit our oldest son.  We were with him, but we also had some alone time.  Too bad that was the day I came down with the flu.  Ah romance - NOT!  Not quite how I envisioned time alone with him!

4) Lenten Cleaning Challenge
On your mark, get set..... GO!  Today is the beginning of Lent, and today the challenge begins.  I'm hoping to throw out/ get rid of 40 bags of crap in 40 days.  The key thing to remember here is that the bags can be any size bags.  That's going to make a difference!

5) Post at Least 12 Book Reviews on my Books for Teens Blog
2 Down!

This month's title was The Rithmatist
My Review: http://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-rithmatist.html

6) Finish the Hallway Bathroom
This one ties into the one below...
March 31 is the date we will have the amount of money set for our budget, and the chaos begins!

7) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
February is over!  Our taxes have been submitted, and the refund we get will be applied to the bathroom balance.  Keep your fingers crossed that NOTHING BREAKS.


8) Learn Another Language
Our public library has Rosetta Stone available online.  I've begun working my way through the Spanish program.  I'm also watching Sesame Street on VeMe (Spanish Language PBS)  Does watching Jane the Virgin count?  The program is bilingual....

9) 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do
I didn't get out much this month.  That whole not spending thing, you know.


10) Daughter's Quilt
Is being worked on!  Here, you see the adorable Luna "helping" me quilt.

Can I just say, since I'm doing the NoSpenduary Challenge, I'm not going many places.  As a result, I'm making some pretty serious progress on that quilt!


11) Clean Out the Closet and Dresser Drawers in the Master Bedroom

I've cleaned out the drawers in one dresser.  I've cleaned out the closet.  I've been tackling the pile of crap on the floor, but I am losing steam on this.  The pile isn't getting any smaller!  For this month, I'm going to cut that down into smaller chunks and make myself deal with ten items from that pile every day.  Hopefully, that pile will be gone and I'll be on to the other, short dresser when I check back in on this next month!

12) Clean Out the Little Room in the Basement and Make it Usable
I haven't gotten to this yet.  I should make some progress while I'm attempting to get through the 40 bags in 40 days.

13) Work on the Landscaping in the Front Yard
It's not nice enough to be working on this yet.

14) Take At Least One Class Through the American Library Association
I finished the class!  I submitted two of the lessons that I wrote, and they have been approved as library programs for this summer!  Hooray!  It's going to be a great summer!  Even better?  I got a few more CEU's to add to the total number of hours I need to renew my teaching certificate.


How are you doing with your resolutions?

2017 Resolutions

I love keeping track of my resolutions online.  It reminds me, months into the year, of the goals that I had set at the beginning of the year.  As a result, my house is cleaner, I'm more organized, and I've made progress towards remaking my life into the person I want to be.


1) Complete 12 Home Improvement Projects This Year

We recovered the kitchen chairs!  The seats of the chairs have suffered some significant damage at the claws of the cats.  Over the past 8 years, their little claws have dug into the seat as they've jumped on and off, and the seats have been torn.  The seats look so much better now!  I used fabric that I picked up on clearance last year for $3/yard, and replaced the foam cushion with new cushions that I picked up last year on sale before Thanksgiving. How did I recover the chairs?  Easy - I watched a whole bunch of YouTube videos!  Since the repair was only to the seat bottoms, it was a pretty easy DIY project.

Disclosure Notice- My husband refuses to let me use the staple gun anymore, so he was the one who did the actual stapling of the fabric onto the seat bottoms.  He was also the one who made certain that the seats were firmly screwed onto the chair bases so that the wouldn't come loose!

2) Lose a few more inches around my waist.
Working on it.

 3) Get away with my husband - just the two of us - twice.
Already, this is not looking very promising.  Something about my work schedule not coinciding with his and me not having much leave.

4) Lenten Cleaning Challenge


The time is quickly approaching!  Can I get rid of 40 bags of crap in 40 days?  I have already started sorting.  Making the time to get these things out of the house is going to be tricky!

5) Post at Least 12 Book Reviews on my Books for Teens Blog
One down!
Stealing Snow.  My Review:
 http://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/2017/01/stealing-snow.html

6) Finish the Hallway Bathroom
This one ties into the one below...
March 31 is the date we will have the amount of money set for our budget, and the chaos begins!  (or is it ends, considering the work that needs to be done?)

7) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
January has been finished!  Tuition has been paid for two children - the last ever tuition payment for middle child is now - OFFICIALLY - in the books.  Even with tuition, money was still set aside for the bathroom remodel this spring.  The kids paid for their own textbooks.  Middle child only needed one book.  Daughter picked up her books from the library for two classes, and the professors for her other three classes are only using materials available online - either freely available on the web, or through the university subscriptions.  THANK YOU to those professors who took the time to do the research and find FREE to the student relevant materials.  I know it was more work on their part, but their effort shows great compassion to the students and their bottom line.

8) Learn Another Language
Our public library has Rosetta Stone available online.  I've begun working my way through the Spanish program.  I'm also watching Sesmae Street on VeMe (Spanish Language PBS)

9) 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do
I didn't get out much this month.  That whole not spending thing, you know.

10) Finish Daughter's Quilt
It's been pinned, and it's in the quilting hoop.  Quilting has commenced!

11) Clean Out the Closet and Dresser Drawers in the Master Bedroom
I feel like the turtle racing against an unseen hare.  We have two dressers in our room.  I've finished one of the two dressers - I've cleaned out the drawers, reorganized them, sorted and matched funky socks, etc.  I've cleaned off the top of the dresser, hung up necklaces, and I found a nifty wall-mounted earring holder for sale on Etsy.  Unfortunately, I'm one month into my three month moratorium on spending, so....  I'll have to see if I can cobble something together with items I have laying around the house.  Who knows?  If I can recover kitchen chairs, I'd like to think that I can also put together something to hold matching earrings together for next to nothing.

12) Clean out the little room in the basement and make it usable.
I'm still working on the closet in our room.  Good Lord, my house is a mess!

13) Work on the landscaping in the front yard.
It's too cold to start right now!

14) Take at least one class through the American Library Association.
I'm three weeks into an online class!  I am learning so much, and enjoying every bit of it!  I can't wait to see if I can put some of this into action this summer!

How are you doing on your resolutions?

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 - April Update

Can you believe it's April already?  Things are springing up everywhere here - flowers, flowers, and more flowers.  It's beautiful - unless if you suffer from seasonal allergies!  Today is also April Fool's Day.  My father married his second wife on this date in 1988.  Irony?  Who knows?

Onto my resolutions for the year!

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
This is the third year on the hit parade for this one.

2) Improve My Health
I'm no longer looking at just the number on the scale.  I'm looking at the big picture numbers that reflect more of my overall health.

a) Lose inches off of my waist.
My goal was to lose 3 inches this year.
I'm down 2 inches.  ONE MORE TO GO!!!  I would love to hit this marker before June 1. 

b) Get my blood pressure down into the normal-normal range.
Check up coming at the end of the month!  I'm looking forward to seeing my numbers now that I've gotten healthier!

c) Go down at least one clothing size.
This is a pretty phenomenal accomplishment.  I've spent a lot of time working this off!  I'm very proud of myself!
The next goal?  To get OUT of the plus size section and buy clothes in the "normal" section.

3) Re-start my vegetable garden.

4) Learn to pressure can.
I've since discovered that a pressure canner will not work on my glass top stove.  It's back to the drawing board while I try to figure out how to work around this problem. 

5) Daughter's Quilt
The pressure is on with this one!  She's in the Community College now, but will be heading off to a 4 year school in the fall of 2017.  The quilt needs to be finished by then!

6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The weather is getting nicer!  I should have this checked off the list by the end of the month!

7) Exercise Consistently
HOORAY!  I am meeting this goal!  I have lost inches, I have lost a clothing size!
Keep it up!  Keep it up!

8) Clean out 23 Things a Month
Holy cow, I never thought this was going to be as easy and painless as it has been.  I'm feeling freer the cleaner the house gets!  Getting rid of junk is a great thing!  I've tracked down people who can use these items, so not everything has just been dumped somewhere.  This month, I found both a public library friend and a teacher friend, and gave them each a car load full of stuff that they will be able to use.  I took my clothes that are now 2 sizes too big on me - and I donated them to a women's shelter.  (When women run for safety, they usually take the clothes on their backs and their kids.  Nothing else.  Hopefully, somebody will be happy to have something to wear.)

Items out of the house this month: 300
Items so far this year: 1,148
(So close to  my goal for the year, and it's only April!)
Big Black Trash Bags (total): 6


9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
I originally found this on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog.
We continued with the challenge through March.  We have 4 wisdom teeth being extracted in May - so we're keeping up with the challenge until after that's paid for.  It would be really, really nice to pay for that with cash!

10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
Phase One- completed (We know where we're going.)
Phase Two- ongoing, almost finished

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 this month 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 had a rather harsh realization this month.  2012 was the year that my iPhone crashed and died.  I had not done nearly as good of a job with uploading my photos as I should have.  Daughter took over my camera in 2011, and I switched over to using my phone exclusively.  As a result, I lost almost all of 2012 when my phone self-destructed.  Fortunately, I have some pictures that were stored on Facebook.

On the plus side, the 2012 album isn't a very big one...

Lesson learned the hard way - back up your photos frequently.  And back them up to at least 2 online 3rd party servers, in addition to your own hard drive.

13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails
The weather is starting to get nicer!  I can't wait to get out and hit a few trails soon!  I have plans for tomorrow already!

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 have wisdom teeth coming up, too, so building up that emergency savings now is crucial.

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.

So, how are you doing with your resolutions this year?