Lenten Reflections

Lent has officially begun.  If I'm honest, I am not the best Catholic when it comes to following the rules of Lent.  I do my best to not eat meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday, but I'm horrible about fasting between meals.  I've already failed miserably and it's only been one day!  I found myself profusely apologizing to God each time I ate in between meals.

I know we are supposed to give something up for these forty days, but each year I find myself struggling to figure out what that would be and ultimately I end up giving up nothing.  Instead, I try to focus on doing good deeds, sharing God's word with my children, praying more, and being mindful of the way I parent my children.  In my eyes, this will be much more difficult than giving anything up.

It challenges me to be aware.  To be intentional with our mealtime and my quiet time during the day. It requires me to seek out opportunities to serve others and be more patient and loving at home.  As a family we will grow in our faith and, if all goes well, be mindful of treating each other with kindness and respect.

If there is one area I would love to grow in this year, it is teaching my children more about God.  Our kids pray each night and at dinner, we share and record our blessings most days, and we attend church fairly regularly, but we have a lot of room to grow in our faith.

During Lent I want to make sure we are sharing His word with the kids.  Dinnertime seems like the best opportunity, so we read a story from our Children's Bible and it is now prominently placed in the middle of our table as a reminder to be read each evening.  Each morning before school, we also read from our Every Day Blessings Devotional, which we've done since school started in the fall.  I love the idea of starting and ending our day centered around God.

I am hopeful we will all grow spiritually during Lent this year and start some new traditions as a family that will carry on long past this season.

6 Weeks to a Decluttered, Cleaned, and Organized House

Who's up for a challenge?  The season of cold temperatures and snow continues to rage on, so how about a little project to pass the time and get some serious it done?!  Do you look around your house and feel irritated by the clutter, disorganization, and all of the little cleaning projects you put off?  You've come to the right place!

Join me in a 6 week challenge to get the house decluttered, cleaned, and organized.  Each day we will spend between 30 and 60 minutes working on a specific area of the house and move through the entire house in 6 weeks.  The house will be in tip-top shape right in time for the beautiful weather that is bound to come.  Think spring!

Our time is precious and we are going to make the most of this short stretch of time.  Some days it may be hard to focus on a specific task, but by setting a realistic amount of time aside each day to tackle this project, success is guaranteed.  Want to make it a little more fun?  Make some fun playlists that will keep you singing along and flood you with fun memories.  Who says this has to be boring?!

To help you stay on track and some helpful tips, make sure to like The Year to Get it Done Facebook page and join in our 6 Weeks to a Decluttered, Cleaned, and Organized House event.  We will create a supportive group to share our progress and pump each other up when we want to throw in the towel.

The first room we're going to tackle is the kitchen.  As the hub of most houses, we want our kitchens to have a peaceful aura.  We will work through cleaning and decluttering first and then move on to organization.  When we're all done we'll have a fantastically clean kitchen and an awesome mission control system in place to keep our families organized and our countertops clear.

In Blackeyed Peas style, "Let's Get it Started!"

Birthdays Bring a Gentle Reminder

Sunday brought another birthday for my oldest son.  They seem to come so quickly and I don't like it!  Every time one of my kids has a birthday I find myself thinking of the long hours leading up to their birth and it makes me wish I could turn back the time.  Seeing each of my kids for the first time was just so amazing.  There are simply no words that can describe the moment.

Birthdays bring me back to the magical moment I first held my children.  How I instantly fell in love and would do anything to protect and care for them.  It's amazing how those long hours of pain are instantly washed away once that sweet baby is born.  There is no other experience in this life like the birth of your child.

Time will tell if my time is done welcoming a new little one into the world.  Some days I feel like our family is complete and others I'm just not so sure.  The baby stage is hard on me and our marriage.  As much as I love and adore my new babies, the sleepless nights, nursing, and pure exhaustion are hard to manage.

Regardless of what the future holds, I feel so blessed to have my four kiddos.  I wish they'd stop growing so quickly, but I can't slow down time.  I am thankful for the birthdays we celebrate each year and the gentle reminder that comes with each one:  love them for who they are and cherish all of the memories I have of them through the years.  These really are the magical years.  Motherhood is sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde experience.  Some days I feel so satisfied and others I just want to beat my head into a wall.  The seasons ebb and flow, and while they might be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining at times, I need to do better at focusing on the positive moments rather than the negatives.  Some days it's just so hard to remember that.

    

You Guys...The Budget Rocks!

I don't have much time today, as I'm completely obsessing about this new business idea I have and cannot stop making notes and researching.  I'm also putting together a Children's Expo for From Cover to Cover and need to focus on what needs to get done, but I am just so EXCITED!  It may not all work out in the end, but I am happy and having fun.  It's a win in my book!

I just wanted to share a bit about the budget today.  This is our first month and, while it's not perfect, it has been amazing.  It sounds so silly, but each time I get a bill I refer back to my budget page, write in the amount (we estimated beautifully this month), and pay it.  I know the money is there, as we have accounted for it, and it's just, well, done.  The best part?  Most of our bills have come in a bit under what we budgeted, so there should be money leftover to apply to our debt.  Huh, I never knew budgeting could be fun.

So, what improvements can we make?  Figuring in the little things.  For example, Valentine's Day costs.  We don't have that budgeted anywhere.  Though it's not much money, we need to account for it within our regular budget.

We are also learning the ins and outs of the irregular income budget.  This is necessary due to my husband's career in sales.  Commission varies by month, so we must prioritize our spending and list it in order on the budget form.  It has been tremendously helpful and I'm confident we will improve with this component each month.

We're on the right track and it feels great.  It's almost time to have our meeting about next month already.  It's exciting to finally have this plan in place.  We have been so cognizant of our spending these past few months and it has helped us weed out unnecessary purchases.  Our goals are set and we will achieve them by budgeting and having control of our money.

If you're hesitant about creating a budget, I encourage you to give it a try.  Life becomes so much less stressful when you have a visual plan to follow!

The Brain Never Rests

The cold is pressing down on us again and I must admit, I am feeling restless, impatient, and bored. Winter is always a difficult time for me.  I don't know if it's the cold weather, lack of sunshine, or short days, but I struggle each and every year during these long winter months.  Though I may not feel quite like myself, these feelings tend to get my mind churning and with that comes more big ideas.

I am blessed to be married to a patient man who is very supportive and accepting of me and my ideas. Sure, there are times when he might look at me like I've lost my mind, but for the most part he is happy to listen and entertain whatever my tireless brain has come up with next.  I am my father's daughter and that can't be helped.  I'm pretty proud to take after him.

Part of my restlessness stems from my constant brainstorming about how to help out financially around our house.  Staying at home with my kids is a must, so my goal is to create a business where I primarily work from home.  Over the years I've had several ideas, but none have ever quite panned out.  Sure, it's been discouraging and frustrating, but I'm not going to quit dreaming and working to turn one of my big ideas into a successful business venture.

I was sharing my newest idea with some friends this morning.  I'm pretty sure most people think I'm certifiably crazy some days, but this dreaming and planning and aspiring is what makes me feel alive and tick.  As my dear friend said told me this morning, "If you stop dreaming you become stagnant."
I don't want to become stagnant.  I want to keep chasing those dreams knowing each one is leading me closer to my destination.  Only time will tell when I've made it there.

    

Cutting Costs: The "Luxury" Utility Bills

Over the past few weeks I have been spending time looking through our bills looking for ways to cut our everyday costs after coming across a post on The Happy Housewife entitled The Secret to Lowering Your Monthly Bills.  I must admit, this is an area I hadn't given much thought to, so I read it and felt inspired to give it a try.

Last week I read an article online about Verizon reducing the price of their data plans by $10 per month.  I figured it was the perfect opportunity to contact customer service, so I did.  I was initially told I didn't qualify because I didn't have the right plan, but after asking some questions and probing a bit further, I ended up reducing my bill, which only includes myself, by $20 per month.  A $240 payday!  My plan changed a bit, but suits my needs better.  Why pay for data, minutes, or texts you don't normally use anyway?  Best of all, I didn't even have to pick up the phone.  It was all taken care of through an online chat.

Today I am tackling our home phone, internet, and cable bill.  They are all bundled together through Windstream and their television provider is DISH Network.  I tackled the tv first, as I noticed our bill increased this month.  After getting nowhere in an online chat, I called the company and was able to keep the same package while reducing our monthly bill by $15 per month for six months.  Not quite the deal I was looking for, but I will call when that time period is up to see if we can reduce it yet again.  If not, we will take our services elsewhere.  Ten minutes of my time did yield a $90 savings over the next six months, though.

Next I called Windstream and spoke with an agent regarding our bill.  Unfortunately, our internet wasn't reduced (though I didn't push too much at this point), but we changed our home phone plan to better suit our needs and reduced our bill by $13/month for a total of $156/year.  I'll work on the internet price another day, but am happy with the progress I've made so far.

For less than thirty minutes of my time, I reduced our bills by $486 per year!  I'm hoping a few more phone calls down the road will increase our savings even more.  That's a pretty good hourly wage if you ask me!  Our extra savings will be put to good use paying off our debt and building up our six month emergency fund.  Every dollar counts!

If you're looking to cut some costs, pick up the phone or hop on the customer service online chat for your providers.  With persistence, patience, and a pleasant attitude you might have a nice little payday, too!

A Family Purpose Statement

Success.  At the end of our days, when we look back on our time on this Earth, how will we define success?  Will it be the relationships we have fostered?  The amount of money we have accrued in our bank accounts?   The family we created and the legacy we will leave behind?  The time we devoted to serving others?  The experiences we've had?  The places we've traveled to?  While I'm certainly no expert, I suppose it will be compilation of all of the above and more.

In a success-driven, competitive society, one must be careful not to forget what is most important: fulfilling our purpose as a family and the health and well-being of our family unit.  There certainly is no one-size-fits-all option when it comes to making decisions for yourself and your family.  Each decision should be carefully weighed and fit within your family values.

Last year I read Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider.  Early in the book, she suggests creating a family purpose statement.  Since the day I read this, I have wanted to sit down with my husband and draft our family purpose statement.  For some odd reason, we have yet to do that.  Guess what? We are going to get that done this week.

You see, the point of this family purpose statement is to help guide you in your decision-making process and focus on what is important to YOUR family.  It helps us sort through the noise and distractions we encounter every day from our extended family, friends, neighbors, and society in general.  I love this quote from Tsh's husband found in the post linked above about a series she did on getting back to the basics:

“The first post should be how to manage it all by finding your family’s priorities and ignoring everything else. No one can do it all, so it’s essential to start by finding out what you should do, and which things are okay to ignore.”

Creating this statement will take some time and serious thinking.  It should be done as a couple with everyone in your family in mind.  If your kids are old enough, ask them some questions and thoughtfully consider their responses.  When you're done, type it up, print it off, and keep it where you and your spouse will see it often.  Heck, make it pretty and post it where anyone who visits your home can see it.  I believe when we can clearly see what we value and where our priorities lie, making life choices, whether big or small, will become much easier.

Perhaps at the end of our days, we will define our success by how true we stayed to our own beliefs and values.  We may simply ask ourselves if we fulfilled our purpose as an individual and as a family.  With a clear statement guiding us along the way, it may be easier to stay the course and not be coerced into walking a path not meant for us.