Relationship Rescue

Marriage. Oh lovely marriage.

It can be so rewarding at times.

And other times you're like fdaslfyeufankfjdafh.

I'm definitely not an expert at marriage (did you know that?)
But I do know what has helped in my marriage.

Maybe it could help you too.

Dr. Phil's Relationship Rescue

I would highly recommend this to anybody in a 

long term relationship, whether there are troubles or not.

 We've been married for almost 7 years and no counselor, article, 

book, pamphlet, workshop, relative or friend has helped our marriage

the way this book has.

For a sample of what you get with this book,

you can take the Relationship Health Profile Test HERE

You will ask yourself questions you never thought to ask.

You will learn more about yourself than you even want to know.

You'll get mad at yourself, you'll have epiphanies, you'll

even feel sorry for your partner at times. 

But then things will start clicking 

and all of a sudden you'll realize exactly how a 

marriage is supposed to be and how to make it that way.

At least that's what happened to us.

The way I feel about it is we all go into marriage completely

in the dark. No one tells us how to be married or how to spend the

rest of your life coexisting with another human being 

in almost every aspect of your life. 

Things get off course, you don't know what to do, you don't

know what went wrong or how to fix it. Next thing you know

you're getting a divorce.

After this book, I truly feel like I know how to be married.

We read the book together and then each had our own 

workbook. We agreed we would only share our answers 

if we wanted to. That way we could be completely open

and honest with ourselves during this process.

Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Our Homeschooling Space

Today is our first day back at "school" after winter break.

For those that don't know, I homeschool our 5 year old.

I figured I would give it a try during her Kindergarten year

and if it didn't work out, I would enroll her for 1st grade.

Well we are LOVING it!

I absolutely love working with her every morning,

seeing her progress, witnessing her passion for learning.

I made up my own curriculum for this year

which has been really fun. I think I will post it

another day for anyone else who might want to use it.

We don't have much space in our little four bedroom

base house, but we utilize a small corner for our homeschooling.

 

I got the awesome calendar off of Amazon. The file holder as well.

  We have one file for each day of the week. I try to get our weeks

worth of lessons put into the files on Sunday nights. This system has

worked pretty well for us and its nice that it doesn't take up any room.

I snagged this desk off of a local yard sale site for $20. 

Its the PERFECT size for Kayden. To the left is a box where

I keep all of her completed work. The drawers on right hold my

mommy folder with all my lesson plans, construction paper, and

any other miscellaneous items we use such as math counters and flash cards.

It's not much, but we don't need much. I do have fantasies of a 

gorgeous colorful homeschooling room some day. But with only one

school-aged kid, this is good for now :)

PS. Don't forget to start the 200 Sit Ups Challenge!

I would do the initial test today, and start Day 1 on Wednesday.

200 Sit Up Challenge

www.twohundredsitups.com

 

I've been trying to complete this program for years.

I've never been successful but I've gotten pretty close.

The claim is that anyone, no matter what shape you're in,

will successfully be able to do 200 sit ups by the end of six weeks.

You start by taking an initial test to see how many consecutive

sit ups you can already do. This determines your place in the program.

Then you follow the directions on the site to figure out which

plan fits your abilities. You can also log your workouts 

and track your progress.

It is pretty simple to figure out and its even easier with 

their phone app, which includes a reminder so you don't forget!

(my downfall)

If you really need some accountability, you can use the site

to post your progress on Facebook for the whole world to see.

I have a goal to officially complete this challenge.

Starting Monday...lol

Who's with me?

Chicken Croissants {recipe}

This used to be one of my favorite dishes my mom

would make when I was a kid. 

She has it in some old cookbook and I don't remember

the exact recipe, but this is how I make it.

Simple and yummy!

Makes 8

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cubed and cooked

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tbs of butter, softened

1/4 cup of onion or green onion
Salt and pepper

2 packages of refrigerated crescent rolls 

(the ones in a tube that explode when you're opening them)
Another tbs of butter and some seasoned bread crumbs for topping.

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Mix chicken, cream cheese, butter, onion, salt and pepper

in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

3. Unwrap your crescent rolls but leave them in rectangles

and pinch the diagonal seam together to seal.

4. Scoop the filling into the center and 

fold each corner up and pinch together to secure.

5. Brush some melted butter on top and sprinkle bread crumbs.

 6. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 20 minutes 

until they look toasty and delicious!

The End

Do recipes say "The End"?

Oh well.

Snowball Your Debt

I am, by no means, an expert at money.

I warned you from the start, I'm not an expert in anything.

I just know what works for me and want to share with you!

While hubby is deployed, I have a goal to pay off our credit card debt.

I've seen this snowball method mentioned here and there

and decided I would give it a try.

I really like it. 

Its kind of fun. 

lol

There are two ways you could do it:

Pay off your highest percentage rate first.
{Most effective option for your money}

Pay off your lowest balance first.

{Most rewarding and motivating option}

I chose to go with the highest percentage rate first since I'm

already pretty motivated and I want to do what's best for my money.

I created a chart similar to this one to keep track.

Note: This is not my actual financial information, I just made it as an example!

 

I listed the cards from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate.

This will be the order in which I pay them off.

After you make your chart, HIDE YOUR CARDS!!!

Cut them up.

Burn them.

Put them in a safe.

Put them somewhere where you will NOT have easy access to them.

This will not be effective if you continue using your cards in the process.

 Ok, now that you don't have any cards to use, this is how you pay them off...

Say you have $400/mo to dedicate towards your cards.

Pay ONLY the minimum payment on all the cards except the one you are paying off.

Using the example above:

Pay Capital One: $50

Pay Target: $15
Pay Chase: $40

and you have $295 left to pay Visa.

Continue making payments this way until Visa is paid off.

Then snowball it to the next card:

Pay Target: $15

Pay Chase: $40

and you have $345 left to pay Capital One.

And so on and so forth until you have reached financial freedom. 

Sounds good right?

I love using mint.com to keep track of my expenses. 

I just thought I'd throw that out there.

It feels a little risky at first, putting all your financial info into one website.

But I know this website is highly recommended and secure.

I hope this helps at least one person out there :)

Deployment Countdown

Today marks one month since Daddy deployed!!!

We are ecstatic and are going out for ice cream to celebrate our accomplishment.

I think its so important to do something with your

kids to help countdown a deployment. 

 

This time, I made an ice cream cone with six scoops for the six

months Daddy will be away. For every month we will remove

a scoop and go out for ice cream!

Last year we colored a pizza and had a pizza party every month.

 

I also love the idea of giving the kids a "Kiss From Daddy" every day.

When the jar is gone, Daddy will be home!

This countdown I found at Etsy is adorable!!

For myself, I keep the DoingTime app on my phone.

I like the visual of the pie chart.

Here's to the New Year and many Daddies returning home!

Two Thousand Thirteen

It's a new year.

Whats your resolution?

Eat better? Organize? Save money? Quit a bad habit?

I didn't make a resolution this year but I did make a new blog!

I have a list of projects and goals that I'd like to accomplish

and since I'm such an interesting person, I knew you'd want to follow along!

Mission Number One:

The Laundry Room Makeover

We live in military housing so I didn't get to choose my house. 

I got blessed with a laundry room, but a tiny one.

It quickly became the spot of the house where all our crap ended up.

I'm going to show you pictures.

I'm so embarrassed.

But I have a plan for this room and to motivate myself I am making

this situation public knowledge. You can all hold me accountable.

And when it is completed I will proudly show off my hard work.

Ok are you ready?

Brace yourself....

I find comfort in knowing I'm not the only one with a room like this.

Right?!

My plan of attack consists of:

New shelves where that giant utility shelf stands.

Curtain for the window.

Decorative storage boxes above the washer and freezer.

All the garage crap going back in the garage.

A pretty rug.

If it doesn't have to do with laundry, paper products, or cleaning,

its not allowed in this room!

So who wants to join me?

Pick a room that needs your desperate attention and make a plan for it!

And I want to see before and after pictures!

Happy New Year!