50/30/20

Do you know what this is??  This is how your money SHOULD be budgeted.  I know ours isn't that way and so I am going to rework our budget and try to get it to this formula this year and I encourage you to do the same.  This is researched to be a healthy mix of where your monthly income should be going.  50% to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings.  If you're spending more than 50% on your needs then maybe you're trying to keep up with the Jones' too much and need to cut back a little.  If you are spending more than 30% on wants then maybe you and your family need to indulge a "little" more.  If you are saving LESS than 20% then unfortunatel you are like many other American's and need to bump that up a bit.  Start with a little at a time and don't change everything all at once.  That's a sure fire way to fail at the new budget.

Personally, we were WAY low on the wants and we had money left over according to the nifty calculator that I found online.  Maybe I wasn't as truthful as I thought I was.  It's easy to forget the little things that you spend money on that you don't even realize.  The cappucino I used to get every morning, the tobacco that my hubby chews, the packs of gum that my daughter wants every time we go to the store.  I am sure that you can name a few of those too.

Personally I need to REALLY see where our money is going in order to make this work right.  If you don't know where it's going how can you put it in the right catergory.  A little work here will make  ahuge difference in what your budget "should" look like and what it "actually" looks like. 

I encourage you to spend the next month and track where your expenses are going and see if you are in the 50/30/20 ratio.  Take small steps and maybe make it a goal to be at the 50/30/20 budget by the end of the year.  That's what I am going to do.  Don't seta deadline that you can't meet.  It's better to set one that is reachable than one that is completely out of reach.  It's better to see yourself losing 10 pounds rather than 100.  Our budget should be looked at the same way.

Where does your money go?  Will you take the journey with me this year?  I look forward to hearing what you think :)

The Best Biscuits EVER!!

I have been in search of a biscuit recipe for several months now.  I personally know that Pillsbury Grands fits all my criteria but m y dear hubby was wanting me to make some homemade ones.  His dream is to one day open a cafe so he wanted a biscuit recipe that was the most delicious ever.

I tried about six different recipes and they never turned out quite the way I wanted.  They were either too hard, tasted like flour too much, or simply wasn't the consistency I was going for.  Every recipe spins off of a pretty basic recipe but some call for buttermilk, some do not, some call for self rising flour, some do not.  I wanted something that was SIMPLE. 

I got this recipe from my mother in laws sister and I have to say that these "Ange Biscuits" are simply divine.  They are fluffy and YUMMY!!!  The recipe does call for buttermilk which I didn't have.  If you don't have buttermilk you can take 2 cups of whole milk and add 2 T of vinegar.  Make sure this is at room temperature.  This makes it work best for some reason.  I put the milk in the microwave for about 40 seconds and then added the vinegar.  This will take the chill out of it in order to be close to room temperature.

ANGEL BISCUITS

1 envelope yeast
2 T. lukewarm water
5 c. flour
1 t. soda
3 t. baking powder
3 T. honey
1 t. salt
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk

Dissolve yeast in water. Sift dry ingredients. Cut shortening into dry ingredients. Add buttermilk and honey, then yeast. Stir until flour is dampened. Knead on floured board 1/2 minute. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Bake at 400 for 12 to 15 minutes. No rising is necessary. Dough can be refrigerated and used as needed for a week.
 
Good Luck!!  I hope you enjoy!!

Lego Creations

James' creation from his Christmas gifts. This is one boy toy that I can get into. I love helping him build these things. He is far better at playing with them though; I don't have near the imagination that he does.

Music Calms the Savage Beast

My Parker cries everytime we go anywhere in the car.  Wait, let me rephrase that, he SCREAMS.  Why have both of my boys done this?  We have found a solution for Parker though.  Brian downloaded a song that he found and we played it in the car one day and it calmed Parker.  TADA!!!  Everytime we drive somewhere and he starts crying we play this song and it truly calms the savage beast.  It's amazing and I don't know what it is about this song, but IT WORKS!!!  Now I just have the glory of listening to this ALL of the time!!  Whatever it takes, as long as it works, I say!

Snow Beauty!

The snow here in the Midwest seems to keep coming.  People from all over the country are facing frigid temperatures that are at record lows.  Please stay warm!  I have the priviledge of staying home to raise my wonderful children and so I can look at it from my window and take in all it's glory and not have to venture out into the crazyness.

It is so neat to me to be able to look out and see peace.  Waking up after a night's snowfall and seeing the roads and walkways untouched reminds me that God can erase all the ugliness and sin from our world.  We have the opportunity to start our day and make a new path in that snow. 

Along with the snow brings us back to being able to be a child again, or at least for a couple hours.  As I was making dinner tonight I glanced out my kitchen window and saw a young man with a dog on a leash.  The crazy part about this is that they just weren't on your typical owner/dog walk.  The young man was on skis and he flew by my window!!  He was skiing down the middle of my street.  Now while that might be a little extreme for you, and for me, he was able to make the best out of the situation.  I can guarantee you that his dog enjoyed that "walk" better than any he had gotten before and I bet I can venture to say that the young man probably enjoyed it just as much.  Just seeing him ski, in the middle of my neighborhood made me laugh and brought joy to my heart.  It was definitely funny but it also brought me a sense of peace.

Our area is expected to get ANOTHER 4-8" tomorrow.  While I could agree with most that we probably have had enough snow for the year, I will also take joy in the beauty that it brings and I hope that you do too.  What do you see when you wake up to freshly fallen snow that hasn't been touched by man?

New Year, New Focus!

What is 2010 going to look like for you? What do resolutions mean if they can’t be kept? What is ingrained in us that makes us have such a desire to do something different and rarely follow through with it? We have such a desire to do what society thinks we should do and we lose focus on what God wants us to do. Do you have a clear picture of how your next year should be spent AND is in line with what God wants for you? Granted we don’t know what the path we will follow will be BUT we can choose to make the path a scenic one along the way.


During this year, I resolve to document SOMETHING about every day that passes. It could be a silly comment from my children that I don’t want to forget, a new recipe I’ve tried that will become a family favorite, a song heard that inspired me, waking up to a beautiful sunrise, or watching snow fall peacefully to cover our earthly treasures.

This year I will slow down, even if just for a moment, and try to see things with a different perspective. Trying not to get through my day and try to get everything done only to know that I will wake up the next day and accomplish the same tasks over and over again. The life of a stay at home mom can seem bleak at times but I have the power to make it a new experience everyday.

None of us know the path that God will lead us on but one thing I know for sure is that we can make the path a scenic one. Those scenes may not always be pretty and inspiring, but we can choose to make the path a one of learning who we are and who God wants us to be.

Will you make sure that the path you are traveling is a scenic one where you can stop and see something in everyday or do you want to go through another year and not really know where the year went? It’s easy to remember the monumental things that happen in our lives such as births, weddings, and summer vacations but how awesome would it be to be able to look back on your year and read how you have documented it with words or photos and realize that you have truly been blessed all year and learned more about yourself through the process. Doing this for a year will surely make it a habit.

Take the journey with me, will you?!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Parker,

Happy Birthday to you!!

My little man turns one year old today!  I thank the Lord for the blessing he has been and the joy that he has brought to our family.  WE LOVE YOU!!!

Favorite Holiday Pics of the Kids

We didn't get an annual Christmas card done with our picture

so here is my favorite one for each of the kids.

This was Alysia making her usual face to the camera.  It's difficult get a real smile out of her!



I think James is adorable with that little mole over lip! Him and his sister were playing their new Uno Spin.



And who could forget precious little Parker! The look on his face is PRICELESS!! That warms my heart :)

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and everyone here in Kansas was able to dig out of the snow to spend time with family and friends.

Welcome the Newest Addition to our Family

This Christmas James adopted a German Shorthair Lab.

Here is a lovely pic of our gentle-mannered, Dixie!!

This is going to be one BIG dog!  I have never owned a big dog so this is going to be an adventure.  Now "I" will start the potty training...

The Best Gift Ever!

This Christmas I received a gift that literally brought tears to me eyes!  It was the most amazing and thoughtful gift ever.  To this I owe a HUGE thanks toErick, Tressa, Chelsea and Ericka!!

If you had read this blog any at all you will know that earlier this year I lost all of my data on my computer when my hard drive crashed which caused me to lose about 3000 pictures.  I was completely devastated at all of the special memories that I had recorded that I could no longer get back but the most important was the birth of my son Parker.  He will be 1 years old in four days and I didn't have any pics of his arrival to complete our family.  My brother-in-law took lots of pics on that day and so I have been trying to get them from him.  He brought his camera over to my house one day so that I could download them but for some reason his camera takes a funky SD card and for some reason I couldn't get it to work.  He was then going to bring me the cord to his camera so that we could do it that way.

Almost five months later and I still didn't have any pics.  On Christmas Day I opened a photobook that had been speciall created for me by my brother-in-laws family that consisted of all the wonderful pics from that special day!!  I literally cried when I opened it.  I was so shocked that someone took the time to realize the importance that those pictures were to me.  It was something that could have been lost forever but thanks to my extended family they made sure that didn't happen.  Please forgive me; the pics didn't turn out well.  They even left room for me to journal so that I could personalize it the way that I want. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH ERICK, TRESSA, CHELSEA, and ERICKA!!  There couldn't have been a better gift.

Mary Did You Know?!

This is by far one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time.  This is an amazing video and I pray that it helps everyone remember what the meaning of this season is all about.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!

Tis the Season!!

I have got to get in the Christmas spirit considering it is the week of Christmas.  Here are some pics to help...

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

To Regift Or Not To Regift - what do you think?

I am meeting so many wonderful people through Blogland that have the same interests and desires as I.  I absolutely love it.  I am beginning to realize that my chaotic, unorganized life is somewhat normal. 

In light of the season I thought it would be fun to start a discussion.  To regift or not to regift.  Have you ever regifted?  Have you ever caught someone regifting something that you gave them?  What have you regifted or WOULD LIKE to regift?  What gifts have you received that you absolutely have no idea why you received it?

This post is simply to encourage comments and discussions.  I don't want anyone feelings hurt in this process so please don't name names.  This is supposed to be a light-hearted discussion and I hope that you enjoy.

I can't wait to read all of your comments!!

Merry Christmas or Bah Humbug!??

It's the most wonderful time of the year...there will be much mistletoeing and hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near......WAIT!!!  Back up just a minute!

Hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near?!?!?  Not in my family!!  This doesn't seem to be the year that this is the scene for our Merry Christmas.  I am sure that by now we have all come to the realization that no one's family is normal.  So how do you, and I in particular, deal with those idiosyncrasies at this time of the year.  I've decided that "Normal" is a relative term.  Do I sit and let this raw emotions control how I will celebrate with my immediate family that means the most to me or am I supposed to be a "big girl" and move on in life.  It's pretty hard to move on in life when you feel as if you've been ambushed and don't know where things went wrong and you have no way of fixing them.  Sometimes people want things to be the way they are no matter what the outcome.

So I am trying to apply the following things and know that this is a constant struggle for me EVERYDAY.  I am not perfect in anyone's eyes and I have never claimed to be.  So this is how I will be TRYING to deal with these issues.

1.  I need to normalize my expectations.  I need to realize that our family is messed up, but so is everyone else's.  Mixed feelings, resentment, and emotional baggage are typical issues of all families.

2.  Accept my lot.  Extended families idiosyncrasies aren't intended to make my life miserable even though it may feel that way.  Even though I may disagree, I need to have compassion.  Acceptance takes friction away, or at least most of it.

3.  Practice proven coping techniques.  I can't pick my relatives and I can't change them either.  The only thing I can control is my reaction to behaviors that drive me crazy.  The more I pick up that rope, the more I fuel a situation.  There are times I want to YANK that rope so hard and prove that someone else is wrong but it doesn't work.  It only makes things harder.

4.  Avoid embarassment.  The less I say the better.  Someone else's actions are not a reflection of me.  

5.  Help myself through humor.  If I wasn't laughing most times I would be crying.  Silent humor is a great tension release that helps me feel adult and powerful rather than trapped and powerless.

There you have it.  What I consider to be CRAP and almost impossible to accomplish.  Even though I know it may be the hardest thing to do, I know that this is best thing for the situation.  I am sure through this process I am going to learn a lot of things about myself and most importantly to stop worrying about what others think or feel.  It is very important to take others' feelings and emotions into consideration but when it comes to the expense of your own you have to pray and do what God tells you.  I just have to know in my heart that the things I am doing are right with me and God.  That is ultimately who I have to answer to and no one else.

Pray for me in this situation and hope that this is a Merry Christmas with or without loved ones.

"There are better things ahead than any we leave behind"

I have a dear friend who writes The Sweet Life and I read whenever she posts.  She has lots of recipes, crafty projects and overall goodness.  After reading her post today I sent her a comment expressing how much I enjoyed reading her posts.  I received an email from her stating her gratitude and at the bottom of her email was this quote by C.S. Lewis.  "There are better things ahead than any we leave behind."

I feel that as I go through like I learn more and more that things happen for a reason.  I beleive that I was meant to see this quote on this particular day.  I have been going through some extended family issues and understanding how to deal with it can be a challenge.

So where do I go from here?  I must continue doing what I feel in my heart is right and not let any outside influences affect me or my actions.  This can be very hard to do when you are deeply invested in a particular situation, and trying to remove your feelings out of it can almost be impossible.

I must have faith that every road that we are on is the one that God intended for us to be on and truly beleive that "there are better things ahead than any we leave behind."

Thanks Alisa for the encouragement I needed today!