Exciting News

I can hardly believe it. School is out for the summer, so James has a big load off his chest: first year of teaching, done! He starts working concrete with a guy in the ward tomorrow, but we've been enjoying the past few days off.

Friday we went to look at a few more houses. I think that brought us up to 8. We loved one that was in Maeser, but our agent said it already had an offer on it and was in counteroffer. On the way to see one last house, we said a quick prayer if making an offer was the right thing to do, because that house seemed perfect. We felt good about it, so we made an offer, not really thinking it would go through. It did! We actually found out on Saturday. It's a huge step to buy a house, but it's not as hard as I thought it would be. A quick description of the house: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, located 5 miles out of town. We can probably move in at the end of June, and we couldn't be more excited. I will write more about it later when I can show some pictures. :)

Saturday I was feeling really tired, so we lazed around and didn't do much (aside from buying groceries). It was a good day. Yesterday we cooked foil dinners in a nice spot we found about 30 minutes from here. It was gorgeous, and the dinners were delicious. We shot the BB gun a little while we were waiting. I forgot how much I love foil dinners! We also had some roasted corn on the cob. The boys got filthy from playing in the dirt, but they had a great time.

James and I took a little breakfast date this morning. It was 10:00, so I was famished. He still ended up finishing my plate. We then went to the ultrasound where we found out that we're having a GIRL! We have a couple of names floating around but aren't totally sure yet. That means it's yard sale time for me. I'm going every single week until I have everything I need for baby girl, because so far I have no clothes for her. Girl clothes are really easy to find, though, and I can't wait to start stocking up this weekend. :)

My garden is growing! There are little green sprouts in 3 of 5 buckets. I don't remember what they are, but I think the tomatoes probably haven't sprouted yet but the cucumbers, squash, and peas have. I guess I'll have to wait and see. Thankfully, the neighbor boy has left them alone. That punk.

playing in the "spaceship"

fun in the dirt

throwing rocks in the water

Look at those grimy feet!

To Everyone

If you are reading this, then thank you.

My greatest fears come to light again and again while I'm pregnant and emotional. (Those two go hand in hand sometimes.) Though I do not struggle with depression, I hit lows about once a week that make me question everything about my purpose in life. Why does anyone need me? Why do my kids have me when they could have a much better mom? Etc.

I worry that my life has too small of an impact to really matter. I do lead a quiet life. We are a one-car family. I stay at home with my children, doing my best every day to raise them right and not lose my head. I'm not perfect at it. No one is, but I forget that and beat myself up for my failures.

This little blog (and my other two) are a great outlet for me, my way of connecting to the world. I'm grateful to make a difference, even a small one. I've read blogs of others (even people I don't know) that have touched my life when I most desperately needed it.

To everyone who reads my blog(s), thank you. If you make comments, thank you again! Those words of encouragement have often come in times of need.

To everyone who keeps a blog, thank you. I love reading them. I'm glad that we get to stay connected, even though we don't live anywhere near each other.

Modern technology is amazing. I don't know how I could possibly have lived in any other era. My life at times feels like my container garden right now. It's been tipped over, but I fixed it the best I could. I've planted the seeds, put them in a sunny place in good dirt, and water them every day. I know they will grow, but I'm still waiting. I don't mean to say that my life isn't happening yet, but certain aspects of it (like things I blog about) are still in "seed" stage, and that's okay.

Thank you again for helping me along the way. Blogging is more rewarding than I ever thought it would be, so I definitely plan to continue it until the Internet goes out of style. (If that ever happens, though, I think I will die!)

All Tired Out

Yup, that's me this week. James hasn't been home at all due to a school play, elders quorum meeting, and helping the youth with baptisms at the temple. Today I have a doctor's appointment, which means I get to schedule my ultrasound for the week after next! The anticipation is killing me right now.

We've finally had some beautiful weather. I no longer freeze without socks on in the house. We went shooting as a family last Saturday, and it was nice to have the range to ourselves. 

I recently gave my boys haircuts (Kenny's very first) and finally got pictures uploaded.

Mostly, I am tired because I haven't been sleeping as well. I fall asleep all right, but I wake up a couple of times during the night and have a little trouble going back to sleep. Making sure I get in MORE exercise during the afternoon helps, but I feel so lazy! I just want to sit on the couch! :)

For Mother's Day, I got some chocolates and some buckets and dirt for starting my container garden. It's time to get planting soon, but I don't have plants/seeds yet. Hopefully today!

My main project aside from extra blogging is transcribing some recorded tapes of my Grandma Phenix. It's great to listen to her voice. If I spend an hour of naptime (which is usually at least 2 hours), I can get through an hour of talking in 4 days. No, I am not the world's fastest typist, but I'm enjoying hearing her voice. 2 tapes down, 3 to go!

Now for pictures.

little man's first haircut

Joseph and Daddy shooting

Kenny throwing rocks onto the ground, the perfect way to keep him occupied!

A Rent Rant

I've mentioned before that I don't like this apartment very much. I think I should clarify why I'm so pessimistic about this place.

First, it's the most expensive place we've ever lived in. It costs us $805 a month, but don't be fooled. That's a very low rent for a 3-bedroom in Vernal, because most cost $1200-1400. This apartment is old, something we've dealt with before, but it's never been updated, unlike the other old places we've lived in.

The kitchen floor looks about 50 years old. Mopping doesn't improve its appearance.

The carpet smells bad because of recent flooding, despite our keeping a fan running on it. We couldn't open the windows due to rain the last few days, which didn't help.

The windows are moldy. Nothing I do helps keep it away.

The toilet runs.

We don't have screens on any of our windows, and management says they don't provide them.

No dishwasher.

No gas, meaning electricity heating everything.

Most kitchen drawers are broken.

The water heater provides only 10 minutes of hot water at a time.

Ceiling heat (horrible idea!) cost us $200 in January, and we didn't even keep the place warm or heat the office at all.

Our neighbors are very loud and throw cigarette butts and trash in the yard (not really a yard, but a patch of grass outside my window).

Management is hard to get a hold of, and they never fix ANYTHING.

I could go on, but those are the worst things.

I've made the best of this apartment for long enough. I can make no further improvements, and I've done my best to keep it clean and well-maintained, considering I'm only a renter.

I'm done!

We're house hunting, just started the process for getting a loan. I guess even with loans from last year, we don't have a lot of credit, so that means getting lots of documentation. I spent an hour on the phone today, but hey, it's all worth it. :)

Against the Odds: Lessons From Living on One Teacher Salary

James and I have been married now for almost 4 years, and we've been through some pretty low points financially. Through those tough times, I got used to spending as little as possible with the exception of having 2 babies. Yes, having children will not save you any money. :) As of last September, we found ourselves in a financially stable situation: James got his first paycheck as a real teacher! I'd anticipated this day for years, the day that I could finally sit down, make a budget, and stick to it because I'd finally know how much money we'd have.

I drafted a budget based on our spending averages over the past year. I was surprised to see that we wouldn't be saving as much as I'd hoped since we moved to a more expensive small town. I felt guilty at first. Why did we have to go into debt in 2012? Could we have done more to save in the past? Why does this blogger family only spend X a month on Y when I'm spending so much more?

I'm trying not to worry about any of those things anymore. I've pored over money-saving blogs, books, and the like and I think I'm at a comfortable level of sacrifice. Yes, we could always save more. Anybody could, but there is no family on earth who does everything possible to save money. It just isn't possible.

I was recently browsing through The Complete Tightwad Gazette, a book that I feel defines my way of life more than anything except for the scriptures. I don't remember what I was looking for, but I felt a sense of peace that I'm doing all that I can for my family. We live comfortably within our means. True, our savings isn't building up quickly, but we have a modest emergency fund while still eating well, wearing pretty good clothes, and having fun.

I want to talk more about our lifestyle on this blog. I know that not a lot of people read it, but I love sharing/exchanging ideas about things. Sites like Pinterest have been a great blessing just for the number of ideas that I can get from them, even though I don't come close to using all of them. It's inspiration (pinspiration?) that keeps me going some days.

I'm thinking I'll do one post a week on the topic of frugality. I hope to hear your ideas in the comments! :)