Just An All American Girl

Where Did I Go?

2010-04-03T15:35:00.000-04:00

Hey all, just a quick post today.

I know I've been AOL for a week and then some - so what is up with that?

Well, partly I've been healing from an injured foot (yea I know, that doesn't keep me from typing but it does make me uncomfortable.) I've also been busy seeing an acupuncturist for my stomach ulcer. Between the acupuncture treatments, changes in my diet and the Shakeology drinks it has been getting better - thank goodness.

But that isn't the biggest reason for my vacant seat in the blogging world.

My Internet Fitness Coaching business is just growing and growing, keeping me busy - in a fantastic way. I've even set up a new website for it at Jamie's Fit N Fab. I'm having a blast with it.

So between my career and wanting to spend more time with my son I won't be blogging as much as I used to. It will probably only be a few times a month.

I hope ya'll understand.

I do tweet a lot though, so you can keep up with me there. My tweet name is jamiemori.

Of course I'll still be keeping up with all of you and your blogs.

Monday I'm off on vacation with my son and dog. Thirteen hours in a car...wish me luck.

Hope you all have a beautiful Easter with your families!

All my love...Jamie

New Blog Launched Today!

2010-03-26T00:33:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited to share with you all the newest extention of Just An All American Girl.

With all sort of exciting ideas spinning around in my head, I needed an outlet to bring them to fruition.

Yet, deciding I didn't want to muddy the waters of this blog with things that some readers didn't sign up to hear about when they became a follower, it seemed only right to separate the two entities.

So without any further delay, I would like to introduce you to my newest blog

365 Days To Transform My Body and Bank Account

I hope you will take a moment from your busy day to check it out. What I'm especially proud of is that not only is it a blog documenting my journey, but readers have the opportunity to come along with me and have their successes recognized and recorded as well.

Have an amazing day - Jamie

Please Disregard This Post

2010-03-25T00:42:00.001-04:00

Get Out of Debt - Part 9

2010-03-24T08:51:00.001-04:00

If this is your first time reading the "Get Out Debt" Series and would like to catch all the drama from the beginning click here and start reading from the bottom up.

Welcome back to my weekly post where I air and even at times exploit my dirty-debt laundry.

This week in doing my part to help all of you become debt-free, I thought I would pass along a few helpful tidbits ala Dave Ramsey .

First, this is something I want to get out right away because I don't know how long it will last. Dave is giving away some FREE "Financial Peace University" training the week of April 5-12 in cities across the country. This is something almost unheard of. Again, not sure how long it will last so if you at all think you would like to take advantage of this amazing opportunity or want to pass it along to someone who would, follow this link for details and to sign up.

Next, I thought it would be fun to share with you all a couple of real-life success stories from Dave. I know it helps me to read them when I think about the task ahead of us yet.

This first is about a single mom who paid off $30,274 in debt while making less than 40K a year. Read about her triumphant story here.

This next one is an Indiana couple who paid off almost $800,000 in debt in seven years. Read about their inspiring story here.

I want to finish you off with a story from Cindy who went from $45,000 in credit card debt, unemployed for four months and way behind on most bills with only $12.00 to her name to not only out of debt (except for mortgage), but in six more years will be 100% debt -free, including mortage, and have a net worth of over One Million Dollars. You'e got to read how she did it.

I hope you enjoyed todays "Get Out Of Debt" post. It was meant to inspire and encourage you. I hope I have accomplished both.

Have an amazing day - Jamie

FREE Membership and Access to Online Fitness & Weight Loss Coaches!

2010-03-23T13:10:00.003-04:00

Are you ready for swimsuit season?

Okay, so you don't do swimsuits. What about just shorts and arm bearing shirts?

Todays is your lucky day. Feel free to grab a buddy or your spouse and get started to reach for your fitness goals for FREE!

Yes, it is FREE - I Promise!

It's not enough to just start a fitness program. To get the best results, you need support, accountability, and a commitment to exercise and a healthy diet. That's where a FREE membership to Team Beachbody® comes in.

With a unique combination of community support, motivation, and helpful tools, Team Beachbody completes your total fitness package.

So why join Team Beachbody even if it is free? Here's why...

You get access to your own personal internet fitness coach for FREE to link you to all the support, tools and motivation to reach your goals.
You can use WOWY Supergym to plan your workouts and stay accountable
A chance to win $1000 everyday just for working out
Nutritional tips and delicious healthy recipes
Helpful fitness tools to get the most out of every workout
Message boards for advice and community support

And all that is free at Team Beachbody. And no - you do not have to purchase a darn thing to keep this free membership active.

When you sign up they will also give you the option to upgrade for $2.99/week. You absolutely do not have to do this. However, if you would like to know what this will get you over the Free membership here is a list:

10% discount on all purchases
Personalized meal Plans
VIP Chatrooms for live discussions with other members and trainers
Access to Celebrity trainers and Beachbody experts.

So, what are Team Beachbody Coaches anyway and why should I care?

Coaches help the members of Team Beachbody take control of their health and fitness and achieve amazing body transformations. By providing direction, support, and accountability, your Coach will help you get results and stay consistent with your workout program.

Coaches are Beachbody product experts. Whether you're a fitness beginner or a seasoned athlete, your Coach can help you choose the best workout programs, gear, and supplements for your individual needs. And the support doesn't end there—when you've finished your current program your Coach will help you decide how to take your results to the next level.

Coaches connect people with the entire Team Beachbody community. Your Coach can help you find all the motivation, peer support, advice, and tools to help you reach your goals faster. It's a well-known fact that people who have strong support systems are the most successful—and your Team Beachbody Coach is your link to the most supportive community on the Web.

I hope you take a moment to check out Team Beachbody and pass it along to anyone you care about who you think would benefit from this free program
Have an amazing day, Jamie

To hear this video, first press pause on the music to the right.

Great Webcam Sites for Your Kids (and you.)

2010-03-22T16:05:00.000-04:00

Today I wanted to pass along some great webcam sites that are educational and just plain darn fun to watch. Hope you enjoy!

This one my son (and my husband and I) has been obssessed with. It is a live feed of a wild barn owl named Molly. The owl box is located 15 feet off the ground. She has five eggs which are expected to hatch any day. The male - McGee shows up sometimes at night with food. We have been watching this one for days - very fascinating.

http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Owl_Nest_Box_Cam.html

Here is a live Bald Eagles nest cam located on Two Harbors Bald Eagles Nest on Santa Catalina, California. Two eggs in nest.

http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Bald_Eagle_Nest_Cam_P0SF.html

This is a Red Tailed Hawk in Philadelphia, PA located at the Franklin Institute Building.

http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Red_Tailed_Hawk_Nest_Cam.html

Fit and Fabulous Friday!

2010-03-19T14:52:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I'm still not the smartest when it comes to technology and therefore still working out bugs. So, to see todays Fit and Fabulous Friday Click Here.

Thanks, Jamie

Doesn't My Son Look Good In a Bonnet?

2010-03-18T09:00:00.248-04:00

Cute huh?

Okay, I'm kidding.

But how in the heck did we ever get to this point?

Well, we did a homeschool day in Old Salem, North Carolina, which is about an hour and a half drive from our home here in Raleigh.

Old Salem is a unique community of original museum buildings from the late 1700's.

Salem was founded in 1766 by the Movarians, a Protestant faith founded in Czech Republic.

The Movarian Church and community kept meticulous records. These records provided a detailed diary of the lives of those living and working in Salem. Many of the building are original structures.

Salem was also know as a trades town. When you visit you will see costumed men and women recreating the trades people of the past such as bakers, crafters, silversmiths, gunsmith and others.

In 1950 a group of volunteers established Old Salem, Inc. as a way of preserving and restoring the town of Old Salem.

Today the historic site operates with more than 200 employees, four museums, 11 gardens, retail shops and book publishing. It can even rent out part of Old Salem for Weddings. Way Cool.

We first arrived and went to the visitors center where you purchase your tickets for the day.

While tickets are not required to roam Historic Old Salem, they are required to get in many building and for any museum or tours.

Inside the visitor center is this original Movarian organ, the Tannenberg Organ, restored, I believe to the tune of a glorious $600K. Originally housed in the Home Movarian Church, it is America's largest eighteenth century organ. It truely was beautiful to see, ufortunately this was as close as they would let us get.

After exiting the tourist center we crossed this reproduction bridge into the town of Old Salem.

Ethan made a few runs while waiting for us old folks.

Once across the bridge the first museum was the Old Salem Toy Museum and The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA).

The Toy Museum was amazing! They wouldn't let me take pictures however, bummer. Here are a couple of photos from the website to give you an idea of what it was like.

The Old Salem Toy Museum presents an amazing display of toys that span over seventeen hundred years. From 225 A.D. to 1925, with more than 1200 American and European toys.

I personally really enjoyed this.

Next we headed into the Historic part of Old Salem.

The first building we went into was the Timothy Vogler Gunsmith Shop.

It was established in 1831.

Skilled tradesmen practices the trades of gunsmithing and blacksmithing in this shop.

Then we went into the back of his shop were he melted the metals to make certain pieces for the guns.

Hungry, we decided we better skip on over to the Salem Tavern for a meal before it closed at 2:00.

Established in 1816...

...The Salem Tavern Restaurant offers authentic Movarian food...

...open for lunch and dinner most days. I had the chicken pie. Very, very delicious!

Afterward we went next door to the 1784 original Tavern in Old Salem were travelers used to stay when passing through or in town for business.

Before going in we had to first explore the barns, of course.

This is where the guest of the Salem Tavern would have parked their horses while in town.

Cool huh.

Then we took a guided tour of the Old Salem Tavern.

Established in 1784...

...it was first built on the outskirts of town to minimize the influence of "outsiders" into the community.

Whether they liked the strangers coming into town and staying in the Tavern or not really didn't matter. It was critical to Old Salem's business interests in particular to the craftsmen and merchants.

Think of the Old Salem Tavern like a modern day Bed and Breakfast although not so quaint.

Instead of paying by room you paid for "bed space." So yes, the more they could cram in the better. Prices also went up or down depending on how busy they were. Men would bunk together but there were separate quarters for women and children.

This is a letter from their most famous visitor, PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON. The larger parchment is a photocopy of the original letter sent to the Inn from President Washington.

There was something way cool, eerie and even oddly patriotic to know I was walking on the same wood floors, down the same corridors that President George Washington walked on. Call me a sap but I got goose bumps.

Here is what the letter said, don't worry if you can't read it, scroll down for a close-up...

FYI - the Movarians used to refer to themselves and the area as Wachovia.

And that's what president George Washington had to say about it!

This is where the travelers would have dined while staying at the Tavern.

While they know for sure George Washington stayed here, they do not know which room he slept in.

While all the other beds are originals, this bed is a reproduction and therefore they allow visitors to lie down on it. Just think, Ethan could be laying down in the same room George Washington slept in. Can I say cool again?

This was the only private room that could be rented out. We've sure come along way haven't we.

Next we were guided down into the cellar...

...this was the Salting (for food only I hope) room...

...and what every good Tavern needs, lots and lots of vino.

The last leg of the Old Salem Tavern tour brought us to the kitchen. This lady was so nice and informative. I sure was digging the big fireplace, er stove, but then I think living in the dessert is living the high life.

Check out that broom. It's bad enough I even have to use one but you mean I have to make it first.

And ladies, welcome to your kitchen sink. Could you imagine! I am not ashamed to say here that this made me very thankful for modern conviences - except for that fireplace. I want that fireplace!

Okay, enough hanging out at the tavern, time to move on to the Vogler House...

...established in 1819 it was the home to John and Christina Vogler and their children. (The lady not in costume is my husbands Grandmother, Jeanette. She was visitng from Iowa.)

The house is where John Vogler had his silversmith shop here in the front room.

The house was restored to what it would have looked like in 1840.

This home is an example of some significant changes that were going on during the mid 1800's.

In such a safety conscious society as ours today, it is hard to imagine a wood stove right out there in the open in a child's room.

Not sure but guessing this is a nursery...

...and the Master Bedroom.

Next we were off to the Single Brothers House. Here they explained just how they ran their Movarian society in Old Salem. Wait till you hear this.

This very large house served as a home as well as a spirtiual center and workplace for the unmarried men of Salem. As we go through this home together you will see a variety of trades the Single Brothers of Salem would have learned.

Boy was this an interesting explanation. I'll try to make this short and sweet. See this lady dressed in traditional Movarian costume? On her head is a type of bonnet. It is tied with a white ribbon which meant she was widowed and therefore had to go live in the Single Women's Home.

You see, no one owned their homes here. Guess who did own the homes? That's right, the church, and everyone would rent their home from the church. So if your husband died and he didn't set aside the money and make it know in writing that he wanted his wife to continue living in the home, then out she went off to live in the home with all the other widows and single women.

There were other colored ribbons as well. One was for single, eligable women who had to live together as already explained above.

One was for young girls around fourteen and under and the other was for married women.

How's that for control of the population?

Many of the buildings had a tile heater like this one or something similar to it. They were installed on site by the local artisian. Isn't it beautiful. The little built-in shelves would be used to put tea kettles or the such on.

This was one of the word working rooms where the Single Brothers would learn this craft...

...and here is where they learned pottery. Ethan really enjoyed this one.

The brothers made their own shoes while learning the art of being a cobbler. This is the room for that trade. Notice a black tile furnace similar to the green one I showed you earlier.

Here is where they learned to tailor clothing. Notice the pattern laid out on the table.

This is the other side of the room above. Here you find the various dyed and spun yarns and threads.

And now we have where the Single Brothers learned the trade of silversmith. This gentlemen showed how they made things out of tin like cookie cutters, food graters, etc.

Here is where he melted the metals for casting such things as silverware.

Which brings us to how my son ended up in a bonnet. There are several shops throughout that offer an array of souvenirs as well as many authentic Movarian items handcrafted on site.

We only touched on a small portion of the buildings available to visit. I think one could easily spend two full days here to see everything.

But for now our visit to Old Salem was up...

...we'll leave the rest to see for another day.

Things to know before you go:

You're going to walk a lot so make sure you wear comfy shoes.

Tickets are purchased at the Old Salem Visitor Center upon arrival.

They are closed on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, December 24 & 25 and on Mondays.

For more information on ticket discounts and special programming visit their website at www.oldsalem.org.

There was so much more to see than we were able to in the one day, things like:

An 1823 Log Church

The Graveyard

An 1861 Brick Church

Blum House - Home and shop to a Salem Printer

Shultz Shoe Shop

Market-fire Engine House

Any of the 11 gardens

Also, though not on the Old Salem tour, the Salem Academy and College represents the thirteenth oldest college in the U.S. The house of the former Single Sisters' House (1786), it is currently part of a four-year liberal arts college for women.

My recommendation is to visit Old Salem if you ever have the opportunity. It truely is not only a part of North Carolina's history but early American History as well.

Fit and Fabulous Friday!

2010-03-17T18:15:00.350-04:00

Okay, here is the first REAL installment of

Fit and Fabulous Friday

I listened to your recommendations and threw in a few of my own ideas.

So what's up for this week's post?

Article: How Much is a Healthy Body Fat Measurement?
Brazil Butt Lift Product Review
Recipe: Protein Shake
Article: Working Out At Home vs. Working Out At a Gym
Contest: A Chance to Win a $1000 Every Week
Recipe: Broiled Orange and Chicken Skewers

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Article: How much is a Healthy Body Fat Meaurement?

Human bodies require a certain amount of body fat called "essential fat." Women wanting to reproduce need a specific amount of fat for hormone production. Our bodies need fat to help regulate body temperature, store energy and cushion our organs.

Yet, it goes without saying that there is a greater epidemic in this country of people with too much body fat as opposed to not enough.

What are we referring to anyway when we talk about body fat? Body fat is the percentage of your overall weight that is fat. So for example, if you weight 150 pounds and you have 25% body fat then over 37 pounds of your body is fat.

Body fat can be measured using a variety of techniques from as simple as a caliber to a bathroom scale that measure weight and body fat to submerging in water. What ever technique you employ it is important to note that there will be varing degrees of accuracy. I personally don't think this is something that should be of concern. Pick a method to meaure you body fat and use that as your stepping off point. This does not have to be an exact science for it to be beneficial. I use a bathroom scale that measures weight and body fat.

So what is a good, healthy body fat measurement?

I referred to several resources to get this answer. Based on my research here is what I have found.

WOMEN 39 years of age and under -

Minimum = 10 - 12%
Athletic = 14 - 20%
Fit = 21 - 24%
Acceptable Range = 25 - 32%
Obese = 33% +

Women 40 years of age or older - add about 2% to each number.

MEN 39 years of age or under -

Minimum = 2 - 4%
Athletic = 6 - 12%
Fit = 13% - 17%
Acceptable Range = 18 - 24%
Obese = 25% +

MEN 40 years of age or older - add about 3%.

If you read last weeks Fit and Fabulous Friday, you'll know that while I have a little more weight to lose, I have a lot more body fat to get rid of.

Hope this was helpful - Jamie

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Brazil Butt Lift Product Review:

Last week I told you how I was going to order in the Brazil Butt Lift by Leandro Carvalho. I was so excited when I received it in the mail. Visions of a cute tight butt danced in my hand. Then reality set in. I realized to get this butt I was probably going to have to work really hard. Oh well, I decided it would be worth it.

So, here is what you get when you order it in.

First you get a set of 3 DVD's. 1) Basic Bum Bum, 2) High and Tight Sculpt and 3) Cardio Axe/Tummy Tuck. Okay, so far so good.

Next I opened the Brazil Butt Lift Booty makeover Guide. I was pleasantly surprised with the info it contained and how it was organized.

First up it helps you to determine what your butt currently looks like now so you can customize the booty plan to you. Your choices are Too Flat or Square, Pear Shape, Too Big or a Combo. After reading the info I determined I was a Pear Shape (although Combo probably would have worked as well.)

Next, I love this part, it has you do a pencil test and they even give you the pencil.

What's a pencil test? Well, it is a test designed to see if you have enough "lift" in your tush. You are to take the pencil and place it in the crease where your buttocks meet the back of your thigh. If the pencil stays put, your butt lacks the lift that it needs to reduce that crease. They have you record it when you start, after 2 days, after 6 days and then after 30 days to see when your butt has lift and the pencil falls on the floor.

Of course I had to try this right away. So what happened when I tried the "Pencil Test?"

It fell!!! Yeah, so I have a somewhat lifted butt! Aren't you all happy to hear that?

Once you've determined what type of booty you have and done the pencil test it is time to check in the manual for your Customized Booty Makeover Calender to see which workouts to do each day over the next 30 days. I must say, I really like how simple they made all of this to follow. It tells you which DVD to do on which days, etc.

The last thing I needed to do to get started was to use the Measurement Tracker Card to record my before and after measurements. I really like this as well. Weight loss is not only about weight. And for me, if you read my story last week, it is more about losing body fat and toning. They even include the tape measure to make recording easy.

Okay, that done, the only thing left to do was pop the DVD in my player and do Day One Workout.

And...

...it kicked my butt, no pun intended!

I defintely had to take it at a milder pace and just walked in place a few times while I caught my breath. It just goes to show no matter how in shape you think you are, when you change up your routine it is like starting all over again.

I definitely think this is going to help shape my tush. I'll let you know next week how the first seven days went.

The workout packet also includes a booklet on Fat-Burning Foods and their nutritional value. In my opinion a very well written and helpful tool.

Another bonus item I really liked that they included was a set of illustrated workout cards. On one side showing how to do the exercise in detail and on the other side telling you what areas it targets.

While they do have a Bum Bum Basic on the video that shows you how to do the exercise movements (and I recommend you do this) I like the card because you can either brush up on moves or use the cards individually for some quick exercises.

Oveall, I'm glad I ordered this is in and definitely think with everything they include I got my moneys worth. You can order the Brazil Butt Lift Set Here.

Now I'm off to fill in todays workout at Team BeachBody.

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Recipe: Protein Shake

These are so delicious. Great to replace a meal or drink after a workout. Hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake

1 1/2 scoops of Chocolate Shakeology Powder
1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter
1 Banana
1 Cup Ice
12 oz. Water

Blend or shake. Approximately 350 calories.

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Article: Working Out At Home Vs. Working out At The Gym

To work out at home or to work out at the gym, that is the question.

Before it can be answered, lets take a look at the pros and cons of each first.

Working Out at Home.

The advantages of working out at home cover a wide range of topics, yet there are several that come to mind immediately. First and probably the most obvious is working out at home is just plain convenient. You can do it anytime and most often anywhere. If you are a mom with kids this is particularly appealing.

Another great advantage is the cost. While you may have to put out an initial cost for a program, it is nothing compaired to a monthly gym bill, even the best of them can't compete. Once you own the equipment including DVD programs you can use them over and over for years. You can also split the cost by purchasing the equipment with a spouse or friend, thereby reducing your cost. This is something that is unheard of in a gym. While you can get family packages it still doesn't come close dollar for dollar.

An advantage some people find important is not having to work out infront of other people. I understand how intimidating it can be to walk into a gym full of fit people. Working out at home avoids this issue.

Okay, those are the big Pro issues. Now let's address the Cons.

The only agrument I ever really hear for why people would rather work out at the gym is they need that gym atmosphere to motivate them. My husband claims to be one of those people. I think if he would try working out at home he would like it. I worked out in gyms for years then made the switch and I prefer the convience of home hands down.

Now for the Pros of Working Out at a Gym:

There is definitely going to be more equipment than the average person would have in their home, enabling them to try different moves and exercises.

Some gyms also provide a level of luxury, of course you pay for that. Saunas, whirlpools, etc are fun, I love them too.

Some gyms have a coach whose services you can use for free on a limited basis. This can be helpful when learning new equipment.

Now the Cons of Working Out at a Gym:

Well, we've already talked about the cost. And not only that, have you tried getting out of one of those contracts. They make it almost impossible.

You have to drag yourself there which is the hardest part for most people.

It takes more time because you have to figure in drive time to and from.

Not all are open 24 hours so you have to work with their schedule.

If the gym is crowded it can take forever waiting to use equipment.

It can be a bit intimidating for some individuals working out in front of buff and fit gym rats.

Conclusion:

As someone whom, as I stated earlier, worked out for many, many years in a gym, then switched to the convenience of working out at home once I had my son, for me, it was the best solution. Another plus, I can travel with my workout. When I go I can just pop the DVD in my laptop and workout virtually anywere. Yes, many hotels have a gym, but they don't allow children in them and I'm not going to leave my son in the hotel room alone.

In the end, it depends on you, and what is going to keep you working out, which afterall is the most important thing to keep in mind.

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Want a chance to win a $1000 every week?

By logging in and filling out a profile at Team BeachBody you have a chance to win $300 or other items like iPods, Digital Cameras or DVD players everyday, $1000 per week or $5000 per month. Make sure you read all directions and how to enter.

Also, way cool, you can win more than once. As a matter of fact there is no limit to the number of times you can win.

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Recipe: Broiled Orange and Chicken Skewers

Todays healthy recipes is simple and delicious. Perfect for Spring. If you're adventurous you can also try this on the grill.

3 Navel Oranges
4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Cut two oranges in quarters, keeping rind on. Then slice each quarter into six pieces for a total of 24 pieces per orange. Set aside in refrigerator.

Take chicken and cut each breast into 6 cubes.

One to four hours before cooking your going to marinate the chicken. In a large ziplock bag combine the following: zest of one orange and juice of one orange (use the third orange for both of these), olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and chicken. Seal bag and coat evenly. Put in refrigerator until ready to cook.

Preheat oven broiler to high and arrange a rack 4-6 inches from heating elements.

Coat a baking sheet and skewers with cooking spray.

Drain chicken and discard marinade. Thread chicken and oranges onto skewers then set on prepared baking sheet.

Broil until cooked through, 2-4 minutes per side.

And for those of you wanting to slim down quick, they've also included a "6-Day Supermodel Slimdown Plan" for faster results. It includes a menu and workout plan. I'm going to skip this I think I'll just stick with the 30 day plan but nice to know it is there if I need it.

Get Out of Debt - Part 8

2010-03-17T00:34:00.069-04:00

If this is your first time reading the "Get Out Debt" Series and would like to catch all the drama from the beginning click here and start reading from the bottom up.

Welcome back to my weekly post where I air and even at times exploit my dirty-debt laundry. So let's get right to the update on our debt reduction...

By our sixth month we had reduced our debt by an amazing....21%!!!

Yes, in 6 months we were 1/5 of the way out of debt and it felt great. We could smell our financial freedom in the air and it only fueled us to be more agressive.

Now, back to you...

Okay, you're out of debt, now what?

Dave Ramsey's Baby Step Three - Finish The Emergency Fund.

What emergency fund you ask? Well, remember the $1000 you put away in Baby Step One? Yeah, that emergency fund. Well now it's time to finish it.

Here you are going to incorporate the same skills you used to pay off your debt to put away six months of living expenses.

How do you know how much six months of living expenses is? Well, figure out what it would take for you to live with no income for one month then multiply it by six. This would include things like mortgage, utilities, food, gas for your car, etc.

Take the $1000 you put away and just as aggressively as you attacked your debt I want you to sock that money away for this emergency fund.

What do you do with it as you are getting it together?

Put it in an easily accessible place like a savings or money market account. This is not, I repeat is not for investment. Your objective is not to make money off this account but to have money put away for a rainy day that you can get to in an emergency.

"Money magazine says that 78% of us will have a major unexpected event in our lives within the next ten years."

Without this emergency fund in place, all the hard work you put into getting out of debt is in jeopardy. Without that money it is very likely you will reach for a credit card to save you. And who could blame you. Don't let that happen. Get that emergency savings fully funded.

So what does an emergency look like which warrants tapping into this money?

Things like medical emergencies, the loss of a job, a blown engine in your car, etc.

What it isn't is that dining room set you've had your eye on that just went on sale at 50% off.

According to Dave's research, "a poll in Parenting magazine said that 49% of Americans could cover less than one month's expenses if they lost their income."

How many months could you cover?

Okay, that is the gist of Baby Step Three, but of course, like always, please refer to Dave Ramsey's website and books for more specific details.

Next week, Baby Step Four!

Look What I Got In the Mail!

2010-03-15T16:48:00.000-04:00

I love getting fun surprises in the mail!

It makes me feel like a kid when I actually enjoyed getting any mail at all.

Well Friday I got all this in the mail! Yeah for me.

I participated in a Spring Swap that Bethany from Maryland Pink and Green and Shopaholic in Alabama graciously but together for us. Thanks Ladies!

My swap partner was Kristen from Grove Gals. If you haven't checked out any of these ladies blogs I strongly encourage you to, they are great.

So like I said, Friday I received my package from Kristen in the mail and looky looky what I got.

Sweet Buttercream Frosting Lip Gloss and this fun preppy key chain. You can't see it very well but the box is even so cute and yummy looking I'm trying to find an excuse to repurpose it.

These way too fun Caspari napkins...

...two Happeez clips ...

...and probably my favorite of all, "Household Court" slips to correct our son on such matters as "excessive complaining", "attitude problem" and "toilet seat left up." Boy am I going to have fun with these.

And it all came in the cute black with pink trim makeup bag.

Thanks Kristen, Love It!

Get Out Of Debt - Part 7

2010-03-10T08:44:00.000-05:00

If this is your first time reading the "Get Out Debt" Series and would like to catch all the drama from the beginning click here and start reading from the bottom up.

Welcome back to my weekly post where I air and even at times exploit my dirty-debt laundry. So let's get right to the update on our debt reduction...

By our fourth month we had reduced our debt by an amazing....18%!!! For us that equated to a small car.

Next week I'll go over Dave Ramsey's Baby Step Three. But for this week I'm going to keep it short and sweet with just a few comments.

Comment #1: It is my belief that most people won't even try this because they think freedoms are going to be taken away, perhaps much like they were by their parents years ago. I promise, you will only gain more and more freedom, not loose it.

Yes, your budget and fun may be cut, but you will hit a point where you are no longer a slave to your job. Once out of debt you will open up a whole new frontier of possiblities you couldn't even begin to entertain when you were in debt.

Like what you ask? Like you can move to another state. You can quit a job you don't like. You can start a new career. You can never work again. You can be a stay-at-home mom or dad. You can travel more. You can build that dream house. Fill in the blank with what you can do once you are free from debt.

If you think these things happen without any planning or forethought you need a reality check. My friend Kelly over at The PursuitofMommyness posted a great article about tips on how to be able to afford to be a stay-at-home-mom(dad). If you haven't read it yet you need to check it out.

Comment #2: I think a lot of people would like to do this but don't think it is possible because they do not make enough money or they are too old. All I have to say to you is SO FALSE. Just try it, you'll see I'm right. Any amount of debt relief is good.

Comment #3: Some people thing they are out of debt but really aren't. If you tell me you are out of debt EXCEPT for a student loan or a car loan you are not out of debt. Time to be honest with yourself.

Comment #4: Have you ever figured how much you need to retire on or were you just planing on working forever? Sit down and figure it out than calculate out how much you would need to put away every month to make that happen. How are you doing?

Comment #5: Get a second or third job if you need more money to make this happen. A little short term pain will go a long way on being debt free. I started a home based business as a Beach Body Coach and the money I'm making and able to put towards our debt relief is amazing. As Dave says, whether it is a job outside the home or something you are doing from home, it needs to bring in an extra $1000/month to make it worth your time.

Okay, that's it for this week. Good luck with your debt relief. Next week - Dave Ramsey's Baby Step Three (a.k.a - what to do once you are out of debt.)

I'm Going To Tahiti!

2010-03-09T09:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, maybe it's only a pictorial vacation - but I'm going on it anyway. Want to come along?

I decided that everyone; you, me, everybody across this nation has had enough of cold weather and I'm here to whisper in the ears of Mother Nature to please hurry spring along.

In doing my part I thought we would go on a tropical vacation together.

So grab your swimsuit, some sunscreen and your passport and let's go.

Tahiti was magnificient, wasn't it? But I hear there is a heck of a party going on in Mexico, where the sun is warm and the drinks are cold. Shall we check it out?

We'll relax on the beach and do a little people watching. Man this is the life. I am loving Mexico!

When you're ready to head somewhere else let me know, I've got something really special planned next.

How about the Greek Islands where the water is turquois, the men are Adonise like and the food is divine.

We'll dance and sing our days away like Meryl Streep in"Mama Mia" and explore the island ala "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants".

And when we've had our fill of Greece (if that is at all possible), let's jetset on over to...

...Hawaii!

Are you ready for the white sandy beaches of Waikiki? Aloha Baby!

Remember, it's always "five o'clock somewhere."

I've launched a New Program!

2010-03-06T16:16:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited about what I'm getting ready to share with you I'm dancing around like a three year old that needs to go potty.

But before I unveil, I want to make a quick (I promise it will be brief) comment.

One of the decisions I made about my blog was that I wouldn't have ads running all over it. I wanted people to enjoy the blog for it's content without all the commercialism. This was a personal decision, so please know my fellow bloggers I don't mind that you do nor am I questioning your decision to have ads on your own blog. This was simply no more than just one of the questions I had to answer for myself while trying to figure out my own little blogging world.

Having said that, I am after all a Stay-At-Home/Homeschooling mom and making a living is something I need to be doing, especially since ya'll all know about our whole getting out of debt thing.

I'm getting to the point soon - I promise.

So, keeping all that in mind I have decided in lieu of ads and since I still need to make a living I will share with you the business I run and then after todays post have links to it on my sidebar.

I hope no one finds offense to this, afterall, we all need to make a living don't we?

So, without further suspense, I would like to introduce you to my business world...

I'm a Beach Body Coach!

Okay, now before you get ready to click off from here at the words Beach and Body strung together, let me just tell you it is not exactly what you think.

First, most of you may not know that I have a doctorate degree in Chiropractic medicine, and was a personal trainer pre-mommyhood.

But more importantly, this is about how I make a living while staying at home with my little guy. (You have to remember I was a college professor and that is not an easy income to replace from home.)

Since I always try to keep things real with you this is going to be no different. I'll tell you straight up that this is a network marketing company. No - don't click away on this either - just hear me out for a moment.

My opinion of Network Marketing companies: I have been involved with different ones over the years, some of which I did very well in. However, my biggest complaint which is probably what most peoples don't like about them either is that their upline tend to be pushy and make you badger family and friends and suck all the fun right out of making some money. I agree completely and left several companies that I had much success in for that exact reason. Therefore, I decided when I became a Beach Body Coach that I would not, absolutely not run it that way. A business, in order to be successful should be fun or it will wither and die quickly on the vine. Having said that, I think Network Marketing companies are brilliant and love that I can make money 24/7 no matter where I'm at or what I'm doing. Enough said.

So here's the bottom line. If you want to know more about what I do and how I do it, click here and then click on the the green word "COACH" midway down the page. (Hint: you do not have to be like Bo Derek in"10", a "1" will do just fine, to be involved with this company.)

If you don't care about making any money but are interested in getting in shape then you can click here and peruse the page. I've been using the "Slim in 6" video for a couple of years, even before I became a coach and LOVE it.

Or, if neither of those scenarios fit you I appreciate you stopping by to read today and hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Jamie

A Note To The Twenty-Three Year Old Me

2010-03-03T16:17:00.381-05:00

I ran across some old pictures of myself from right around the time of my wedding twenty years ago. How interesting it is to look at that person I used to be, still want to be on some days but mostly would love to have been able to sit down with and have a good one-to-one chat?

If you could, what would you say to yourself?

Here is what I would say to the twenty-three year old, soon to be newlywed - me:

I look like such a kid here.

Girlfriend,

Relax! Just let it roll off your back and relax. That's the first thing you need to know if you ever want to make it through this life with a shred of sanity left. Oh, they'll be people who certainly deserve a good piece of your mind and whom you could justifiably give it to and no one would argue with that. But resist. Resist not because you need to spare them a lesson or two, don't worry, karma is alive and working just fine in this universe. Resist the urge to school every wrong doer who has the audacity to offend or insult you for your sake, not theirs. Girl, stress will wear you out and eat you up alive like a man-eating tiger. And you want to know the real kicker in that whole thing? It won't change their opinion one bit. So save your breath, calm down and just let it go. You deserve better.

And while we're on the topic let me just say that you don't want to get a stomach ulcer, I promise you, you don't. Those dang things hurt - a lot. It will keep you up at night, you'll feel like you've lost ten years off your life with each attach and it will make you wish you could go back and tell yourself to relax about most, if not everything, in life.

So please, for our sake, RELAX.

By the way, congrats on the marriage. You know, after twenty years of marriage I'm still working to figure it all out but let me see if I can give you a heads up on a few things.

Wedding rehearsal with dad. (Sorry about bad photos - their old, ya' know, like me.)

First, you've got yourself a good guy there, no make that a great guy. He's one of them that every women wants and girl you knocked this one out of the ballpark, so don't screw it up.

I know it is all turtledoves and roses right now and that's good because if it weren't I'd say not to get married, but reality will, as sure as you'll side swipe your husbands car on a post or get perms for another ten years, it will set in. That is where a marriage really starts. So let's see if I can give you some pointers on to Dos' and Don'ts when it comes to matrimony.

Major Don't number one. Do not make your husband responsible for your happiness in life. Now, I know you're pretty independent so you don't tend to lean towards anyone for your happiness, but the years will roll on, there will be disappointments, lost dreams, wrinkles and God forbid even a pound or two. It isn't his problem how you feel anymore than it is your problem how he feels. Get this in your head right now and you'll have most of this marriage think licked. The only one responsible for your happiness is you!

Do however, remember to appreciate him, even when what you really want to say is "big deal, I can do that too." A little appreciation goes a long way in a marriage. I know you've got a good heart and deep down in there you do appreciate him, but you've got to let him know. Men are like dogs, they need their egos stroked everyday, so I'd start practicing now if I were you.

Another Don't. Don't get upset when he crosses over into your domestic territory and starts cleaning the house. I promise you this will be your biggest challenge FOREVER! It is your nemesis, your Achilles heel. You tend to be a bit of a control and neat freak, now be honest, you know you are. And he's a guy, right? So inevidably he will not, I repeat he will not fold the laundry, wash the dishes, make the bed or load the dishwasher like you do. It won't even come close no matter how many times you show him. But I can promise you he will try to do those things for you because he loves you and wants to help. Now I'm telling you, this one will cause you daily angst if you don't get control of it immediately and realize it just isn't that darn important which slots the forks go into in the dishwasher, he's gonna think your nuts and you'll be in too much dang pain from your ulcer to care. Good luck on this one, your'e gonna need it.

Wedding Day with Mom & Dad - 12/89

Moving on to more positive things...stick to pink, blue, orange, fushia and chocolate browns they still are your very best colors to wear.

Keep working out and taking care of yourself, you'll be glad you did in your forties.

Mom was right, pamper your skin. It will feel good when people think you are years younger than you actually are.

Your teeth, ugh your teeth. All I know to tell you here is either have good dental insurance or save up lots of money. I'm sorry, I don't know how to get you around this.

Speaking of money - you might want to sit down for this one. First the good new. You and hubby's hard work and drive will award you with an abundant income. Within a few short years you will be able to afford many of lifes little luxuries.

Now the bad news. Oh were to begin, where to begin. Okay, I hate to sound like Nanny No Fun, but let me just lay it out straight for you. If you don't screw up your finances, you and hubby could be millionairs within a little more than a decade. How's that for a kicker. And now for the climatic BUT...

But there will be things tempting to derail you on this path. First, take that credit card you got in college, yes I know it has a very low balance, but take it anyway and tear it up. Right now. I'll wait. And if you ever, I mean ever get another one I want you to immediately slice and dice it up with a pair of scissors like it's the main ingredient in a chef salad.  Those little plastic buggers will cost you years of your financial freedom.

Next, when it comes to buying cars and boats and any other little toy you two can dream up, don't take out a loan to purchase them.  Instead save up your money and pay with cash..

What do you mean that is not possible, sure it is. I know for a fact it is so hush up and just do as I say so we can live in the lap of luxury in years to come.

You need to heed my warning on this one or your going to have a rude awakening one day and it won't be pretty  Do you want to find yourself forty-three years old, in debt and with very little put into retirement? No, I didn't think so. Now please, I'm begging you, avoid debt like it was Satan come a knocking on your door. Tell it to go away and leave you alone because this is a house of God fearin'- financial freein' people.

Now, for a bit of useless wisdom...

Mr. & Mrs.

Keep wearing those bikinis honey for as long as you like.

Your baby will throw up on you a lot and after that your husband will never want to eat, smell, see or even hear about blue, goat or feta cheese again, so enjoy as much of it as you can until then.

Remember to actually put tuna in a tuna casserole.

A new show will come out in a little over a decade called American Idol. Watch it , you're gonna love it.

Your feet will permanently go up a half a size after you have a baby so the sooner you stop trying to squeeze into your old shoes the sooner your feet will stop hurting.

No matter how many ways you make meatloaf your hubby will not like it. So stop trying and just order it in a restaurant.

When you cut a live extenstion cord with a pair of scissors it will create a heck of a spark.

Don't drink alcohol on an empty stomach, you'll throw up every time.

Something else I feel compelled to pass along to you is to not wear your heart on your sleeve. I know you won't listen to me on this one but try to anyway. There are a lot of bloody idiots out there who get their jollies by hurting other peoples feelings. Try as best as you can not to let it get to you and even more importantly, try not to let it create enough fear to keep your from living the life you want.

Stick to writing my dear. It was your first love and will bring you lots of joy over the years. When you were a little girl you knew it and you should have listened to yourself more. It will bring you much, much comfort in life - I promise you this.

By the way, what the keck happened to that girl who loved to fly in airplanes. I mean, you're in the Air Force for God's sakes. All I know to tell you on this one is when that day comes where you all the sudden decide you are afraid to fly (and I think it has something to do with becoming a mother) stop those irrational thoughts right there in their tracks. I do not want to spend the rest of our life dreading impending flights for weeks before they actually happen mixed with a love to travel. It is just too dang difficult a situation to figure out. So get it together women and never give up your love for flying. You better listen to me on this one because I am not dedicating the rest of my traveling years to just seeing the country in an RV.

When you become a mom many years from now, your going to be a great one. That little boy will be your world and there won't be anything you wouldn't do for him. So relax. You aren't going to be perfect at it, your going to have difficult days with him, he will push you to your emotional limits if you let him because he is just like you. There are only a couple of things you've got to know to be a good parent and I think you already do, you're just going to need to remind yourself from time to time.

First, love him for who he is. He will bring into this world a mix of you, your husband and somethings you have no idea where they came from. But he will be uniquely who he is. Give him space to grow, teach him how to make good decisions and love him right were he is on his journey.

When you can look at him with love in all he does (note to self, that doesn't mean you have to like everything he does) he will honor you later in life by becoming the best version of himself, because you got out of his way and allowed it.

I've saved the most important for last. Don't be afraid to live life to it's fullest. You are only going around once or at least only one time you'll remember, so do it all. You have a unique way of looking at life that has always been a blessing, but life will try to wear you down at times, don't let it do that. Stand your ground and be the person you know deep down you are. You have so much to offer the world, don't hide it away for years out of fear of criticism or the "not good enoughs", life is so, so short.

On Honeymoon in Hawaii.

Remember to dance every dance. Laugh even if you are the only one laughing. Reach for the good feeling thoughts in all that you do and the universe will yield to you the life you've been dreaming of.

It's a good life. A really, really good life your going to get the pleasure to live. All you have to do is relax and enjoy!

From me to You, Jamie

Get Out of Debt - Part 6

2010-03-03T11:38:00.141-05:00

If this is your first time reading the "Get Out Debt" Series and would like to catch all the drama from the beginning click here and start reading from the bottom up.

Welcome back to my weekly post where I air and even at times exploit my dirty-debt laundry. So let's get right to it shall we...

By our third month we had reduced our debt by a whopping...drum roll please....12%!!!

Now before you snicker at what some might see as a paltry amount let me first ask you this - what percentage did you reduce your debt by in the past three months? Hmmm?

All kidding aside, 12% is huge. Hopefully by now you have added up all your debt like discussed in a previous post. Take 12% of that. It's a chunk isn't it? For us 12% translated into thousands of dollars.

Can I get a big Whoo-hoo here?

So what were we doing to find all this extra money to pay off debt where we hadn't been able to before? I've discussed a few things in the past that went bye-bye like pedi's and mani's (insert sad face here), dining out now got defined as maybe dinner at Taco Bell on Sunday night if we were lucky but for the most part restaurants were now categorized as a luxury we simply couldn't afford and thereby got mostly eliminated.

When I found out that the dryer was the most expensive appliance to run in a home I removed it as an optional tool to do laundry. We live in a townhouse, so the idea of hanging clothes on a line outside is not possible (you know HOA's and such). So instead, I hang my clothes to dry on the shower rail in my son's bathroom (right off the laundry room). It works quite well especially during this time of year when the house is dry. The clothes are done surprisingly quickly and it adds some much needed humidity to the air.

Speaking of laundry I switched to washing all my clothes in cold water. Who knew, they still get clean.

I also make all my cleaning supplies. Previously I had been purchasing chemical free cleaning products from the health food store. With a big bag of baking soda and a gallon of white vinegar I can clean all kinds of things. Google how to make your own cleaners - books and answers are everywhere.

I've also reduced my grocery bill drastically. I'm so proud of myself. In the month of February I finally hit my goal of a food budget of $400 a month. That's down from the $1000-$1200 monthly grocery shopping I did before we decided to get our heads screwed on straight and get out of debt.

As promised I wanted to address Baby Steps One and Two with you about the program Dave Ramsey outlines that we have been using to get out of debt. So here we go...

The Baby Steps are meant to be followed in their specific order without questions and I promise you when I say they really, really do work.

Baby Step One -
Save $1000 Fast As A Starter Emergency Fund

Okay, before you freak out on me and start complaining about how there is no way you can do this, after all you've got to buy some new spring clothes and the guest bedroom just must be remodeld before your in-laws come to visit, or try to justify to me how you really deserve that new car, let's just stop and take a breath.

Some ground rules need to be set here that will help put some clarity to this picture. Baby Step works on the premise that you have set up a budget as I outlined in earlier posts in this series. Yes you have to have a budget. And if you whine and give every excuse for why you can't then just go away and stop reading this posts because you obviously prefer to be in debt and unable to retire and I don't even want to hear from you ten or twenty years from now on why you can't afford to send your kids to college and how they are going to have to get student loans thereby starting their adult life out in debt. Don't go there with me I promise I won't listen.

As the circus moguel P.T. Barnum once said, "Money is an excellent slave and a horrible master!"

Enough said.

Another prerequisite of Baby Step One is you have to get current with all your creditors. In otherwords, if you are behind on payments to anyone for anything get caught up now! How do you do that? Make a budget and cut out everything you can to find that extra cash. Have a yard sale if you must (which actually is a really good idea), or get a part-time job in the evening. Just get caught up and fast.

I'm not going to tell you this is easy because truth is it isn't. But, I will promise you this, with each creditor you catch up on, with each bill you pay off you will start to feel powerful and in control of your life. More importantly you will feel freedom like you have never known before. You've just got to trust me on this one.

This emergency fund in Baby Step One is just that, an emergency fund. It is not for buying new clothes or going on a vacation. By the way, Christmas and birthdays are NOT an emergency, you've known about their impending date for twelve months, so what's the problem? Budget, budget, budget! Do not cheat on this fund because you are only cheating yourself and your family from a life of financial freedom. We are talking about being prepared for Murphy'sLaw here, you know the one that says, ''Anything that can go wrong will."

Some of you may be wondering why start with this step instead of hitting the debt right away? Because if you start with paying off debt and an emergency happens, Dave has found most people stop paying debt off all together, then put money back on credit cards to get through the emergency causing them to have to start all over again. But if you have some cash put in an emergency fund you just take care of it and get on with the business of the day - becoming debt free!

Once you get the emergency money hide it. Seriously. Ours is hidden and no I'm not going to tell you where. Be creative in where you hide it so it is not easily accessible but make sure both spouses know where it is. Also, keep it in the form of cash. Emergencies are by definition something not planned that need to be dealt with immediately. In an emergency you don't need to be going to an ATM at 2:00 in the morning or trying to cash a check on a Sunday.

We were fortunate enough to already have that money stashed away so we were able to skip right on to Baby Step number Two.

Baby Step Two-

The Debt Snowball
The way Dave Ramsey describes paying off debt is referred to as "The Debt Snowball" and it really does work like a snowball rolling down a hill, constantly gaining speed.

In a previous post I described how to list your debt smallest to largest and recommended you post it somewhere in plain sight like on your refrigerator. The reason to list smallest to largest instead of highest interest percentage as many other debt-relief gurus will tell you is to get "small wins" under your belt. If you can pay off your first little debt quickly it fuels and pumps you up to keep going. In this process you are going to need that encouragement.

After you list all your debts smallest to largest, pay the minimums on all current debts except the smallest. Every extra dollar you squeeze out of your budget, realized from a yard sale or earned in a part-time job needs to go toward paying off this one debt.

After that debt is paid you do the same process with the second smallest debt. Keep paying minimums on everything else and attack just that specific debt. The snowball part is realized because every time you pay off one debt, the minimum you were previously paying on it gets added to what is paid toward the next debt. Each time the amount of money you are able to pay toward that debt increases just like a snowball rolling down a hill. You will be amazed when you start getting to car payments and students loan how much extra you can pay toward them, it could very well be in the thousands.

To make this work you must do three things: 1) have a budget and stick to it, 2) sacrifice the immediate satisfaction for long term financial freedom and 3) focus on your financial goals.

I raise my right hand here and solemnly swear to you that this will not work if you play at it. It has to be your number one priority.

That's Baby Steps One and Two in a nutshell. I strongly encourage you to visit Dave's website. He has all kinds of resources and much more information than I've given you here.

Best of luck and let me know how it is working for you. I love to here about your successes.

Also, if you haven't grabbed the "I Pledge To Be Debt-free" button at the top right of my blog do so now and join the revolution.

Happy Wednesday All, Jamie

My Affair With A Geek

2010-02-28T12:58:00.002-05:00

A love affair of the heart that is.

The guys of Geek Squad (that is not a sexist statement, I'm sure there are ladies of the Geek Squad as well, I just personally didn't encounter any) came to my resue this past week in a big way and I have silently fallen in love with my knights in shining armour riding in on a white horse carrying their pomp black and and orange regal sheilds.

Of course, if I were actually having a true affair with an agent from the Geek Squad, foreplay (can I say that word, afterall this is a family blog) would be a series of dates wherein I would ask the simplest of techi questions and with naught a smirk on his face my brilliant and skillful Geek would masterfully woo me with his words, delicately explaining the answers for even the most intellectually challenged of blonde like myself to understand. Oh my heart swoones at even the thought now as I remember the pleasure of our encounter .

I first rendezvoused with my Geek Squad (yes, I have claimed them as mine now) last week when I made that stressfull 911 call in a desperate plea for someone to revive my sick and ailing baby, my right arm, my appendage, my life line to all that is good and evil in this world, my computer.

They mysteriously appeared donned in their trademark agent uniform. Forget secret service, think Will Smith in Men In Black. They even call themselves agents. I mean, come on ladies, who needs romance novels when I can have the real thing right here, anytime I want.

My Geek agent quickly went to work diagnosing my feeble baby as I impatiently paced about, wondering if there were any hope at all for my seven year old computer to survive this attack. As uncertainty loomed about not sure if I would ever hear the hum of her CPU while I booted up her now slow and aged mind, I recalled how she had faithfully seen me through the long move from Illinois to North Carolina. Wrapped in a big, plain box, bearing the cold February weather for two long days, not a complaint, not even a wimper. Unpacked and hooked up she didn't skip a beat, we were one and in sync and my faithful computer had stood by my side through it all. And now here I found myself, three years later, pacing back and forth, searching the face of my Geek agent for a glimps of some good news.

The prognosis was grim. It had a virus. And not just any virus, one that would require surgery.

Without delay I gently toted my baby's brain to the nearest Best But location and headed immediately to the Geek Squad desk. And there they were, working feverishly to answer questions, calm the fatigued and stressed, remaing tranquil in the storm of emotional families, who like myself had experience some techological loss recently and who had come here, in their moment of need, looking for answers. My knights in shinning armour stood stoicly prepared, in all their black and white glory and it was at that moment I knew it would be okay.

They hooked my baby up to their life support system on the operating table behind them and gently listened as I poured forth my woes. I explained the accident and how much this archaic computer meant to me. I divulged my feelings of ineptness and pleaded for someone, anyone to come to my rescue, all the while my Geek Squad stood there, listening, taking notes and soothing my worries with their gentle but confident voice.

"We'll take care of it."

"You, you mean everything?"

"Sure, no problem."

No problem? I just wanted to jump over the counter and hug him, heck, hug all of them, but I restrained, afterall, to catch a guy you can't show him how crazy you are about him after the first date.

"So you can take the virus off my old computer, rescue years of data, set up my newly purchased laptop with all the files transfered, also download the information on a remote storage device (that you are going to have to help me pick out) then reload the operating system back onto my wounded baby so I can give it to my son and lastly come out to my house and set us up for wireless internet so that we can join the rest of the techi world in a Wi-fi life? You can do all that?"

"Sure, no problem."

I Love you. Forget beer commercials, I love my Geek.

And so, here I am, exactly one week later since meeting my Geeks and life is almost back to normal. I have my new laptop with all my old files restored on it. I have my faithful computer cleared of viruses and operating system reinstalled. I have since relocated her to a slower paced life in our homeschool room where the living is easier and and the shine shines often. Our house is wireless now and all this evolution because of that fateful day when my Geek Squad came to the rescue.

I wanted to give a specific shoutout to the guys at the Raleigh/Brier Creek Geek Squad location in NC. You all Rock!

Get Out of Debt - Part 5

2010-02-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

Before I delve into Dave Ramsey's baby steps one and two as promised last week, I wanted to share a revelation I discovered late last night while my overly taxed brain recovered from four consecutive days of piecing together the broken shards of our computer dependent life.

So why get out of debt?

I mean really?

If life is generally running along perfectly smooth where even a few pumps of debt can't derail it, then why am I putting myself through this slow and tedious self deprivation lifestyle?

Sure there is the obvious point of wanting to maintain the sactity of my marriage and of course my overt disdain for divorce court plays along with that. And one could also argue it is because of the poignantly correct and undeniable reasons Dave Ramsey so boldly points out time and again. But are these the real motives behind my decision to jump aboard this debt-free bandwagon or are they merely the added benefit like a gift with purchase at Macy's makeup counter?

So here was my epiphany.

I have this undisbutable, almost visceral instinctive need to reconnect with the self proclaimed hippie-chick who entered my reality at about the same moment my mother (God bless her anesthetically induced delivery) gave birth to me forty-three years ago this past June.

You know her. Sometimes I've seen her in the faces of little pigtailed girls called Lulu or Zoey, her feet are always bare and her simple cotton dress dusted with dirt, a badge worn proudly from a day lived chasing butterflies and hunting for fairies.

I realized I've chosen this path so I no longer have to worry about Home Owners Associations, restrictive covenants or whether or not my car is pulled too far onto the sidewalk. I'd rather be wandering down a dirt road, my dog by my side, as the heat of the rising sun evaporates away the early morning dew.

Can you smell the crisp freshness in the air?

And I want to see and smell flowers. Lots and lots of flowers all day everyday planted all around me. In the garden, arranged in beds around the house, hanging from the veranda and climbing up trellises. I especially want to see pink flowers of every shade.

I want to hide away for a day in an eclectically built tree house with my son, dining on a picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, while he shares with me all the wonders and enchanting adventures of his perfect little world. We'll laugh a lot and dream a lot and time will stand still.

I want an organic garden again. One overflowing with the bounty of nature's colorful treasures. I want to pluck strawberries right off the plant and taste their succulant sweetness. I want to carry an apron full of garden fresh ingredients back to our house then set about chopping and slicing to prepare a supper for my family. One created by God and served with love. I can almost smell the freshly baked bread and fragrant herbs as they fill the heart of the home.

I want to take a bath with a window wide open so I can feel the warmth of the sun on my wet skin and listen to the birds as they serenade.

I want to curl up on a front porch swing in the late afternoon of an Indian summer, swaying gently as I sip on a refreshing iced tea watching the gentle play between my two most favorite guy in all the whole world. I want listen to their laughter as they do that male bonding thing we woman don't quite get but understand and respect none-the-less.

Yes, I stick to this get out of debt thing not because anyone is making me, for trust me when I say no one has ever or will ever make this hippie-chick do anything she doesn't want to do. And it's not because I can then start to accumulate shiny new things as a temporary fix to prop up a deflated self-esteem.

I do this for the moment in time when I can lounge below a starry sky, snuggled close to the only man who has ever truely known me and still chose to love me, while we watch our son catching fireflies beyond the warm flicker of our campfire. The leaves will whistle a gentle tune in thedarkness as a slow southern breeze passes through to say hello. Lilac flowers will grace us with the benevolence of their delicate scent and a hoot owl will signal his approval. At that very moment in my husbands secure arms and the eyes of my son I will never, ever have to wonder why I sacrificed for such a very small while to have a wealth beyond all of King Solomn's riches.

I sacrifice not. But instead I choose to get out of debt so I can live my dream life instead of just being someone who only got to write about it.

Okay, after that you're going to have to wait for next week to hear about baby steps one and two, for to do otherwise after that post just wouldn't be prudent.

Live a delicous life my dear readers, Jamie

I'm back live and with a new award!

2010-02-23T12:03:00.001-05:00

This has been a crazy couple of days around our house. Our main home computer, the one that I blog on and my husband runs his company off of died on me, well actually it got a virus that Norton contained but could not get rid of.

So what's a girl to do?

I called Geek Squad.

They came out Sunday morning and confirmed what I already new. Since our computer is seven years old and I was getting ready to purchase a laptop anyway, he advised us that my money would be better spent there. However I believe no money spent is money spent well, but such is life at times.

This was after shoveling out lots of money last week on vehicle repairs, a new window and a new GPS system when my husbands work vehicle was broken into. Anyway, I have basically been back and forth with the geek squad guys several times a day since Fridays computer meltdown. They have been wonderful and I'm even thinking of dedicating a post to them.

My husband runs the day to day business of his company off that computer, so the goal of getting him back up and running has been priority number one. I've been working to set his computer up for his business, I been working on trying to figure out Windows 7 and setting my computer back up with downloads and uploading saved files, and once they get done removing the virus from our old computer, configuing it for my son to have.

All this tech stuff and I don't even know what the heck I'm doing.

So please bear with me if I don't respoind to you quickly or if I don't do everything exactly like I should. I hope to be back to normal by the beginning of next week.

On a lighter note I received some great news yesterday, my first Blogging Award! Yeah!!

The Sunshine Award

Jessica from The Improbable Housewife picked me as one of the recipents of the award.

Thanks You Jessica - I am so honored!

As another stay-at-home-mom I can relate to the day to day life she writes about. When I read her posts I always feel like we are sitting down at the kitchen table chit-chatting over a warm cup of coffee and a piece of pie. Whether she is hosting a giveaway or offering some homespun advice I know I will always enjoy reading what she has to offer. I encourage you all to check her out if you haven't yet.

Now, to fully be able to accept this award I must pass it along which is a privilege and an honor.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo in my post or within my blog. Done.

2. Pass the award onto 9 fellow bloggers.

3. Link the nominees within my post.

4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by leaving a comment on their blogs.

5. Share the love and link to the person who gave you the award! Done.

I wish I could have picked more than nine, I truely enjoy so many more of you. I encourage you to visit their blogs. Each brings something unique to the blogging world. So in alphabetical order the Sunshine Award goes to ...

Beverly at Bee Haven Acres

Erin at Homes Where My Heart Is

Ria at Life As A Wife

Renee at Life on CT Farm

Mimi Sue at Mimi Sue's Cottage

Shanilie at Shanilie's Moments

KarenSue at SueBee and Butterflies

Aimee at The Daily Apron

Kelly at The Pursuit of Mommyness

Please visit each and everyone of these Amazing Women on their blog!

I Taught Ethan to Clean Toilets Today - Oh The Drama!

2010-02-19T17:50:00.001-05:00

For those of you who have little boys (and even some grown ones) in your life, you know that having the toilet seat left up is the least of our problems when it comes to the bathrooms in our homes. You know what I'm talking about here.

Now, I promise you I clean my house and that includes my toilets, but no one would ever know it if they came into my home and needed to go potty. I do have proof however. There are three facilities in our home, one downstairs off the kitchen and living room, one upstairs for our son and one in the master bathroom. The one in the master bathroom is always clean. That should prove that I do clean them. But you wouldn't know it by looking at the others.

To spare you the disgusting details I decided not to take "before" photos. You're welcome. I think you can use your imagination. Just picture one eight year old boy whose only concern with being neat when he takes care of his business is in hoping mom or dad won't notice his untidy behavior.

Tired of having to go up to use my bathroom all the time because I couldn't stand the thought of using the downstairs one I took matters into my own hands today.

No more asking Ethan to be neat when he went. No more begging him. No more complaining. Nope. I took a different approach today.

I told him we were going to do a project together. He got all excited when he heard this because he loves doing projects with mom. Little did he know that the project was going to be learning to clean toilets. (Okay, I did feel a little quilty here, I mean I had him all excited about doing something fun with mom and then whammo - I burst that balloon right out of the sky.)

Our pleasure trip started with about five minutes of his trying to escape the bathroom repeating the mantra, "I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to do it." I wish I could have gotten some pictures of that for you but I was too busy blocking the door.

This is Ethan's Bathroom

Once he calmed down and resigned to the fact that he was going to have to clean the toilets the theatrics came out a blazing with double barrels.

"This is disgusting! This is gross!" sniffle, sniffle. Since level one (complaining) wasn't working on me, he decided to move it up to level two - crying.

See the open mouth? Just insert a lot of noise coming out of there.

Okay, before we go any further I promise you I am not a bad mom, really I am not. But if I had caved here and let him off the hook of cleaning the toilets I would forever be forced to go to the neighbors each time natured called. Besides, I'm doing this for his future girlfriends and some day future wife.

So between the crying (okay whaling), occasional escape attempts and pretend vomiting sound effects he managed to do a very good job. I had him clean the toilet in his bathroom and the one downstairs, I cleaned my own myself.

This is the downstairs bathroom

After that I needed a stiff drink...of vitamin water.

Send your good vibes out to me because little does he know, this has become his very own personal new chore around the house.

"Ay Carumba!"

Rosetta Stone For Homeschooling

2010-02-18T11:09:00.000-05:00

Do you use Rosetta Stone in your home?

In your Homeschool?

For yourself or your kids?

We started with Rosetta Stone about a year ago and I really love the program. Why? With Rosetta Stone, while there is an initial cost involved, I can purchase one package of software and every member of our family can use it at their own pace. No need to buy it for each individual person. Love that.

I encourage you to go to their website for more details. To me, what makes it such a great choice is that all different ages can use it, it works on spelling, pronunciation and hearing. For people like me who need all the help we can get, I say it is a win-win situation.

For those of you who homeschool, Rosetta Stone has an e-news letter called Stepping Stones that you can sign up to receive. It always has some good nugget of information to offer. It is also good to note that when you sign up for their newsletter, whether it is the homeschooling one or the one for personal use, they offer discounts on their products from time to time.

Currently Rosetta Stone is organizing a Homeschool Language Learning and Networking Trip where they say you can "put your language curriculum to use in the real world as you explore Spain and France."

The trip is to Paris, Madrid and Barcelona from August 2-11, 2010 and you can get more details here.

If you use Rosetta Stone or have questions about it I would love to hear from you on this topic.

Have an Amazing Day! Jamie

Get Out Of Debt - Part 4

2010-02-17T16:04:00.001-05:00

If you are just reading this series for the first time and want to catch up on all the drama click here then just work your way from the bottom up.

In the last part of this series I talked about how we were spending on average 5% more than we earned. That was fun to discover. Okay, so let's recap what we know at this point into our new committment.

1. We were in huge debt :(

2. We were spending more than we were making

3. Dave Ramsey had a step by step plan for us to follow

4. We were really ready to make a change.

So it was time to make a budget. Dave Ramsey tells you to make a new budget at the beginning of each month, because each month can bring with it different expenses then the previous month. For example, our auto insurances are paid four times throughout the years. So this is not an expense we have every month.

Something to take into consideration when you are planning each months budget is how you want to handle large purchases, like Christmas gifts, that family reunion you plan on attending, the new tires for the car you know it will be needing soon (we are actually planning all those in our current budget.)

At this point I'm not going to get into how much you should be spending on Christmas gifts or even if you should make that family reunion, I'll address that later. For now let's just assume you are doing those things and they are reasonable to do given your current financial situation. So how do you budget for these them? Well it takes long term planning and thinking. Being one step ahead of your families needs makes all the difference. Lets address some of these examples individually.

Budgeting for Chirstmas gifts. I've always been pretty good about making a list and a budget at Christmas, and because of this I know fairly well how much money we are going to need. I also budget in wrapping paper and possibly a new decoration or two (although this year I didn't engage in those extras.) Think of every expense you can that will come up during the holidays. Next you have to think about all the birthday gifts you purchase throughout the year. Take your time and don't leave anyone out. Last think of anything else that might come up during the course of a year that you spend money as gifts. Are you going to be planning a baby or wedding shower? Will you have to buy any graduation gifts this year? What about Valentines Day? Easter? Teachers and birthday party gifts? I think you get my point.

Once you've collected all this information add up the total cost. It also doesn't hurt at this point to keep your data to refer back to when it is time to make a gift purchase. Now, take that total and divide it by twelve months. How much did it come to? This is how much you need to put away in an envelope every months to pay for this category of expenses. Were you shocked by the amount you needed each month? When doing your monthly budget which we will talk further on in a minute, if this amount doesn't allow you to pay off your debt, you need to reconsider how much you are going to be spending on gifts this year.

New tires - or any other major repair /maintenace purchase for your house or automobiles is our next exapmle. Right now we need new tires for our car. I am planning on driving 12 hours to see my parents the first part of April. I would like to have the new tires before we go since I have to drive through the Smokey Mountains. After price shopping several sources, we finally made the decision of where we would purchase them from. The grand total comes to $594 now we just need to budget for them. Once we knew the cost involved we decided to put the money away for them over the course of a three month period. Next month I will have the cash to get new tires on my car.

As I mentioned I'm going to be driving from North Carolina to Missouri to visit my parents soon. Since I've done this before I have a very good idea of my total expenses including gas, dining out, hotel and miscellaneous expenses. We simple budgeted the same way as I just explained previously for the tires. After that trip we will be flying up to Minnesota to visit my husbands family and will do exactly the same to budget for that trip as well.

Since we are working to get out of debt we are not taking any vacations other than to see our respective families one time per year. No fun vacations to the Bahamas or Vegas. This is strictly for family visits only.

Using my examples you can see how your budget will not always be the same each month throughout the year. Also, go easy on yourself in the beginning. It took us a few months of creating a budget before we got good at it. Dave Ramsey also says to sit down with the budget having both spouses agree on it. Very important.

For us, since we were spending 5% over our income on average every month, we needed to find places to cut expenses. I simply went through each category and assessed them.

First thing was the grocery budget. Here is a place I knew I could gain major financial ground. If you remember we were spending on average $1200 a month for three people! Uugh! I knew I could get it down to $600 a month and I did. Then I tried for $500 a month. Did that. Now I'm working at $400 a month and I think I'll make it this month. What did I do? I studied what others were doing. A great source is Coupon Mom. I also started cooking a lot more and from scratch. Now we use a combination of coupon/sales and large discount warehouses such as Sam's Club.

Some things we basically elimated all together. Like what you ask? Like no more dry cleaning, next to no dining out (big one), very little entertainment that wasn't free or close to free. No more housekeeper. No more babysitter and since we don't go out anymore that hasn't been an issue. No more manicures, pedicures or massages. Sigh :(

I also cut some budget categories down to almost nothing. Clothing for example is usually less than $10 a month. I've learned to shop at yard sales and thrift shops. If I do need to purchase some clothing, usually for my son, that I wasn't able to find used, I budget for it that month. Like if I know he is going to need some new shoes or jeans. Before you snub your nose at thrift shop and yard sale finds let me tell you that I am a fashionista in a big way. I swoon for anything Louis Vuitton. I am into designer clothes big time so if I can make this work I know you can. Just yesterday I was in our local thrift shop and saw a Dolce and Gabbana shirt for $3.49. Looked brand new just not my size.

So on went the process of putting together a budget. Once we had it together and printed it out all that was left was to follow it. Now, you can do this one of two ways. You can make an envelope for each category and put the cash in at the beginning of the month. When the cash runs out no more spending. This is what Dave Ramsey advises. Or, you can simple write down your expenses directly on the budget you printed off your computer, subtracting left over spending cash from appropriate categories.

We kind of use a combo of both. We have found that on things like utilites, car payemts, etc, it is easier just to write the expense down and subtract it out. For things like vet bills, groceries, big ticket items that we have to save a few months for the envelope system works best. You will figure this out on your own. Again, it takes a few months to get the hang of it so don't get discouraged.

One other thing Dave advises and I recommend, is to list all your expenses, smallest to largest on a piece of paper. I made this in Word on the computer so I could adjust it each month. Then we taped it onto the refrigerator. Nothing makes you think twice about spending extra money then staring at your debt all day everyday. Also, it is out in the open and we discuss it casually with our son. One of the great bonuses of this process is that we are teaching Ethan how to handle money properly and he is getting too see what NOT to do first hand via mom and dad.

Each month then I update the new balances on the debt and use the yellow highlight button in Word to cross out whatever was paid off. Boy are those days fun. Almost as good as (no it is as good as) purchasing a brand new pair of heels hot off the Must-Haves list for Spring. It is always a big celebration around our house.

So we made our budget and followed it. By the start of our second month we paid off our first credit card! Yeah!! I did this great little happy dance around the house for that one. That debt represented 6% of our overall debt. Just so you understand how enormous that accomplishent was it was the equivalent of several thousand dollars. We had gone from spending 5% over our income each month to paying off 6% of our debt. We felt fantastic and for the first time in a long time in control of our future and finances.

Next week I'll talk about how the next several months went as well as explain Baby Steps One and Two according to Dave. I'll also address replys I hear often from people who think this can't be done or how it is simply too strict or my favorite one, " I want to have a life." Of course I highly recommend you refer to Dave Ramsey for details. He also has some budgeting tools on his website if you need them. Until then...

Have an amazing Day! Jamie

Homeschool Blog Hop - My Family

2010-02-16T09:55:00.000-05:00

Happy Beautiful Tuesday Everyone!

Today I am doing a Homeschool Blog Hop and the theme is FAMILY.

Ken and I just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this past December. We met when we were both stationed in the Air Force at Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado. He asked me out that first day and we never missed a day together after that. That was 22 years ago this coming May. He is my best friend, the love of my life and the only man I know who could put up with me. He saw me through eight years of college to get my doctorate degree and has always supported me on any endeaor I could come up with, and I never failed to come up with them.

Ken has run his own company for the past seventeen years. Dent Dominator is a paintless-dent removal company. He absolutely loves what he does and will probably never completely retire from it. I've always been thankful that he has passtion for his career choice and that he looks forward to doing it everyday. It shows in the quality of his work and how his clients think of him like family.

Ken is an amazing man who puts his family first. I don't know how I did it but I lucked out and got one of the good ones out there. He is a Muscle Car enthusiast, something we as a family can share together.

Twelve years after we were married we had Ethan. Up until that point I was either working or in graduate school and I knew I didn't want to have a child only to put him or her into daycare, so we waited until I was finished. When you've been married with no children for twelve years and then have one, let me tell you, it sure changes the dynamics of your marriage. But we wouldn't have it any other way. Ethan has brought such joy and love to our family.

I have been homeschooling Ethan for a year now and love every miute of it. He is smart (I know, all us moms think our kids are smart and we should) fun, curious and engaging. He also inherited my personality traits and is very, very strong willed. Our mission in life as his parents is to help him turn that into a strength and not strangle him in the process.

Ethan loves his Legos. If you came to our house you would think it was a Lego factory, they are everywhere. He is also a big reader. He's gone through all the Harry Potter books a couple of times, and is on his second round of Percy Jackson books, so weekly trips to the library are a norm for us. He also loves Star Wars.

We used to live in southern Illinois next to St. Louis Missouri, then my husband relocated his company here to Raleigh, North Carolina three years ago last week. We abolutely love it here and consider ourselves southerners already, (although I jokingly say I'm half southern by blood because my mom is from Texas.) We absolutely adore going to the beach in the summer, it is our number one past time.

That is our little family in a nut shell. Of course, I do need to mention our three cats...

...Domino (he is little here much, much bigger today)...

...Cinderella...

...Dino...

...as well as the world's cutest of all dogs, Lego to make our family circle complete.

Hope You Have An Amazing Day - Jamie

Mini Gourmet Cupcakes

2010-02-15T17:21:00.000-05:00

This year for Valentine's, since my All American Guy took me to Bahama Breeze for dinner (ymmy) I decided to whip up the dessert as part of my gifts to the guys in my life. So I came up with these super simple but elegant and yummy looking mini gourmet cupcakes. What do you think?

I decided to use these mini muffin pans from Wilton to cook them in. Don't pans like this just make you want to come up with a use for them?

Using a paper towel and some butter I greased each mold... (sorry about the poor photo - student here,)

...then floured them. Prep work done it was time to make the cake batter.

I hope I don't offend anyones sensabilities, but I went with a Devils Food boxed cake mix here. I always keep some on hand (purchased of course for a fraction of the original price) for when I don't feel like working hard at baking extraordinary things that make me look bloody genius.

According to the package directions I added the eggs...

...oil and water...

...then mixed.

Next, using a one gallon ziplock baggie I spooned the batter into this to make an easy-pour tool. From experience I knew trying to get the batter into those smaller cupcake molds would require a bit of finesse.

I snipped off one corner of my plastic bag creating about a 3/4" opening.

This made it a lot easier to pour. I still had to go slow - the batter wanted to flow out quickly.

I filled each mold about 2/3 of the way full. Much harder than it sounds but I think I did alright. I was able to fill two full pans and probably could have filled most of a third. Since I didn't have one I just poured the extra into a regular cupcake pan. I then baked these at 350 degrees for 13 minutes (up to 15 depending on your oven - my runs a bit hot.)

Once they cooled I popped them easily out of the pan. So adorable, they look like little chocolate buttons.

Next (don't crucify me on this one either) I used a store bought can of cream cheese frosting. Yes once again I cheated. But figuring this was my special day too, I find in life it is more important to put your time with the things that matter most. In this case spending time with my family mattered more than homemade frosting.

I put the icing in a piping bag and using a wide decorating tip squeezed a big ol' dollop right on top of each mini cupcake.

Next, I used about a half a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, microwaving them for about 30 seconds, then mixed in a little milk until the chocolate was like a ganache.

I used a spoon and just drizzled it on. This was the lazy moms way. While I liked the whole abstract art thing going on I think next time I'll use a little squeeze bottle so I have more control.

Now came time to decorate. I had collected a few items over the past week to bling out my mini cupcakes.

Aren't these the cutest sprinkles?

And of course candy hearts.

I decided to sprinkle some edible glitter on them. Isn't that cool. Now be honest, haven't you ever looked at sparkly glitter and thought to yourself "That looks good enough to eat"? Well now you can thanks to Wilton. Life doesn't get anymore fun then with edible glitter.

I popped them in these cute mini paper Valentine liners...

...and displayed them on a three-tier desert pedestal I purchased last year at HomeGoods. Shout out to my favs - HomeGoods stores!

What I love best about these besides their adorable bite-size cute factor, is that they could easily be decorated for any occasion or even "just because."

Minerals, Rocks and Stones Oh My!

2010-02-13T15:31:00.001-05:00

We are now studing Geology in our homeschool. While Ethan and I have semi-hobbieshed collected rocks from various places over the last few years, we are now able to delve into the topic with a bit more scientific zest.

I always loved this topic. For a fashion gal I just see it as an extention of beautiful gemstones - as in jewelry. See, just look for the positive, it makes everything easier.

My best and first tool is my trusted Usborne Spotter Cards called "100 Rocks and Minerals to Spot." (ISBN 978-0-7945-2255-1)

These cards are great! They have wonderful visuals plus contain general information about the rocks as well as specifics on Rock Classification, Mineral Content, Colors, Textures and How they are Formed.

Here is Ethan inspecting some of the characteristics of rocks via a magnifying glass.

Love the colors of this stone.

Here is a close up.

We had a good time trying to figure out which stones were which and then numbering them.

These Usborne cards sell for $9.99 and can be used for years within a family whether you homeschool or not and are recommended for ages 6 and up.

After studying the different rock samples for a while I decided to leave them in an open "lab" format for a few days. Yes, I love have things cluttering up my dining room table. (Note sarcasm here.) But in the name of science I shall survive. Since Ethan has the attention span of an eight year old boy, he likes to look at things and read about them in small doses before jumping to another interest.

Therefore, by leaving them out a couple of days allows him the opportunity to pick a card and research it online and/or in books, whichever he chooses. Plus he can share them with his dad or any other victim that may unwittingly step foot in our house. God help them.

I'm going to order in another book from Usborne today on the subjext, it is called Rocks & Fossils (ISBN - 978-0-7945-1526-3 for $6.99.)

They also have the same item as a kit (ISBN - 978-1-60130-024-9) for $15.99.

We also tried an experiment to learn about the softness of some rocks and minerals and how chemicals can change and affect them.

Sorry about the slight blur :(

When you homeschool your kitchen often doubles as a science lab.

We used a piece of blue sidewalk chalk...

Sorry, another blur. I'm still learning.

...then added vinegar.

Nothing happened. So we waited and still nothing happened. After a couple of hours still - nothing!

But that is okay. Part of science is learning why something didn't work just a much as learning why.

So this gave us a great opportunity to explore and discuss why it may not have worked.

Since most of you are sick of seeing winter pictures all over everyones blog, you can check out now, I won't be offended. These next photos are for my family up north so they can make fun of us and my sister-in-law Linda in Florida who (believe it or not) actually misses this stuff.

I went out last night when it started to snow and used it as an opportunity to practice my photographic skills.

Or lack there of. Please do not judge too harshly, I'm

only using a Canon Powershot camera. Someday I'll work up to a "real" camera.

Then this is what we woke up to this morning.

Thank goodness not as bad as the last one. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow.

Here is a birdnest in a tree behind our house.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

My All American Guy

2010-02-12T09:12:00.000-05:00

Since I homeschool our son, when I need to go somewhere and it is probably best he not go (like the hairdressers - little boys hate it there) then Ethan hangs with his daddy while he works.

Such was the case the other day.

After I got all beautiful thanks to my wonderful stylist Jenn (please just agree with me it makes me feel good) then I went to where my husband was working to pick Ethan up.

Ken has a company that does Paintless-Dent-Removal, which means they take door dings and hail damage out of vehicles with out having to paint and do body work on them.

For the past sixteen years I have spend countless hours having conversations with my husband while watching him do exactly this.

I love watching him work (in a proud sort of way, not a lazy one.) He truely is my All American Guy.

And then came the switcheroo with Ethan. You can tell what was important to our son while he left dad to get the rest of his "things to keep busy while dad works". Love those guys.

Also...

Congrats to the winners of my Dave Ramsey Book giveaway.

Kelly from The PursuitofMommyness.com

and

Carla

So ladies send me an email with your shipping address so I can get those books off to you ASAP. Congrats!

Get Out Of Debt - Part 3

2010-02-10T12:46:00.000-05:00

If you are just reading this series for the first time and want to catch up on all the drama Click here then just work your way from the bottom up.

I was thinking the other day why smart otherwise responsible people would get themselve into the financial pickel we had gotten ourselves in. Afterall, according to statistics we are not alone in this department. No my friend, this is a crowded room we sit in.

Finally I boiled it down to two reason.

1. You just don't know how to budget and manage money the correct way. Doesn't mean you can't be extremely successful in all other aspects of your life, it just means someone didn't teach you these skills when you were growing up and or you had a bad example to follow.

2. I think we (and I'll include myself here) are a society that wants the instant gratification. We are told that if we get a job and put a little money away (sound familiar?) then we will be fine. So go ahead and get that new car, purchase that designer handbag with oh so cute matching open toe slingbacks, you deserve it. You work hard, and beside, you can afford it. So we do. Isn't that what all the advertising tells us. Afterall, aren't we going to be wealthy when we retire. We've been following what our financial planner has been telling us, so I can just spend the rest and not have to wait until I'm sixty-five to enjoy the good life. What's wrong with that?

First, I will own up here and say I fell partly into both categories, but probably the first the most. I, nor my husband (sorry mom and dad we love you but...) were taught these principals about money that we are just now learning in our forties. Our grandparents knew it. And their parents certainly knew it. But our parents, the Baby Boom generation, started to forget it. And if you were one of their children then chances are you didn't learn it either. No blaming here, it just is.

Which category do you fall into the most?

Enough said. So...

...how did your assignment go?

I hope you got a chance to do it.

Okay, well no lecturing here I promise you, believe me, if you've been following along with this story line you know I have no room to talk.

Instead, on with the story...

We left off with me giving you the gruesome details of airing my dirty-debt laundry out for all the world to see, but more importantly for my husband to see. Suffice to say we moved on and are fine - even better as I mentioned previously.

Now what to do? This was new territory for us so please understand we were like a child just learning to walk for the first time. There were a lot of "What Next" moments.

We knew just how financially broke we were thanks to the previous episode of honestly sharing our debt, so again I say - now what?

To actually start Dave Ramsey's financial plan you need to find money to pay off the debt. Here is were I started to get really nervous and we only had begun the process.

Where were we going to find "extra" money to pay off the debt? As far as I could figure we were mostly living paycheck to paycheck with just a tad left over, and some months none. How were a few dollars going to make any difference in the masssive amount of debt we (okay I) had aquired?

My All American Guy and I decided that the first thing we needed to do was actually have an idea of how much money we were spending every month.

Well that was easy - EVERYTHING!

Okay, but where was it going?

So I got out a piece of paper and we stared to list every category we could think of that we were spending money in: homeschooling, car payment, clothing, dining out, dry cleaning, gifts, satellite TV, fuel for the car, etc., etc.

Next we put a dollar amount to it as to what we thought we were actually spending. Oh this is a fun exercise you should try it. You put all these numbers in all these categories then add them up. Oops, that can't be right, it adds up to more money then we spend. Let's rework those numbers until they fit more into the amount of money we have each month. So I reworked and reworked until I thought it replicated where our expenses went on average per month. Ha, ha, ha.(I'm laughing here and when you read on you will see why.)

I have to mention that at this very first point, since we had vowed to follow Dave Ramsey's plan, we took out all credit cards and seeing how my husband still had a trust issue at this point, he stood and watched while I put one after the other in the shredder. Have you ever had to flush a family gold fish down the toilet? That is kind of what it reminded me of. Not too painful but just a small tear welling up in the corner of my eye. I had to say goodbye to an old friend.

Now back to figuring out how much we spend a month. I highly recommend this step, it will astound you I promise.

So we made a list of the expenses and what we spent in each category per month. Then reality hit once more (have you noticed that happening a lot throughout this series?) In most cases, what we thought we were spending and what we actually were spending were two very, very different things.

For example, we figured we were spending about $600 per month on groceries. Yeah, right. Try $1200 a month. Yes, I did say $1200 a month just on groceries for three people. Worst yet, we saw this kind of egregious miscalculation on category after category. Is it any wonder we were in the financial mess we were in.

From here on out we wrote down every single penny we each spent all day every day for a couple of months. Every single penny. It was important to get a true snapshot of where we were. Immediately we realized there weren't near enough categories on our list. Yeah, we forgot we have four pets with health issues that do need food.

Anyway, after diligently logging our spending habits here is how it all came out:

Starting Household Expenses

Mortgage - 27%

Car Payment - 8%

Personal Loan - 8%

Car Insurance - 6%

Groceries - 6%

Pets - 5%

Hairdresser - 4%

Homeschooling 4%

Clothing - 4%

Dining Out - 3%

Gas Utility - 3%

Tutoring - 3%

Gifts - 2%

Car Maintenance - 2%

Satelite TV - 2%

Telephone/Cell Phone - 2%

Fuel for car - 2%

Home Owners Association - 2%

Personal Care - 1%

Dry Cleaning - 1%

Electric - 1%

Entertainment - 1%

Ethan's allowance - 1%

Gymnastic Lessons - 1%

Hobbies - 1%

Home Repair - 1%

Furniture - 1%

Grand total - 105% of our total household income was being spent each month on these expenses. Notice anything funny here?

Yep. Every month on average we were spending approximately 5% more than we actually were earning. Do that month after month and we could certainly see why we were in the financial situation we were in.

Now came the big sigh - and a big deep breath. Okay, that was all the wallowing in self pity we allowed ourselves, it was time to clean up this mess and get on with the life we both wanted.

Next week I'll get into the budget we set up and some drastic changes we had to make. Although, I don't think I probably should refer them drastic, because while at the time they felt huge, now after eight months they feel normal.

Now it's your turn. Start recording every dime you are spending and if you have a spouse he or she as well. Don't fib on this one. If you don't truely assess where you are you will never get to the road paved with gold.

Good Luck! Jamie

Are You Ready To Take The Challenge?

2010-02-09T16:18:00.001-05:00

"Are you ready for a challenge?

"Do you run and hide at the very mention of a challenge?

"Or are you an A-type personality like myself whose ears perk up like a hyena on the Serengeti?

"Whichever category you fall into, this might just be a challenge you want to get in on."

"How many winners?" you ask.

"Everyone can win," I respond.

"Okay then, what do we win?" you question.

"You win Money!"

"Money?"

"Yes, Money!" I say more loudly this time.

"How much money?" you push.

"It depends," I reply.

"It depends on what," you ask as you start to get annoyed with my coyness.

"It depends," I continue "on you."

You sigh. Not really the answer you were hoping for, but the thought of winning money still has your interest peaked. So you inquire further. "On me? Well if it depends on me then I think twenty, no make that thirty million will do just fine please."

(Here is where I Laugh Out Loud!)

"I can't promise you twenty or thirty million, " I begin, "but I can't rule it out either now that I think about it."

Now I've got your interest. So I continue...

..."because it really truly is up to you."

"Huh?" (That's you.)

"Okay, let me explain. Grab a cup of coffee or a cold beer and that last piece of chocolate cake, have a seat in your comfortable chair next to the fireplace and I will explain my challenge to you and how you can have more money because of it."

(This is were I give you time to go do the aformentioned.)

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yes quite," you reply.

"Good, then let me begin. So you've heard me talking about all this get out of debt business and how Ken and I committed ourselves to this journey last June. Since I began these talks I've been encouraged and believe me when I say even a bit surprised at the amount of attention and more importantly the national nerve it has hit. I received quite a few emails on the topic to say the least."

"Okay," you encourage between bites of cake, "I'm with you so far."

"Good. Well anyway, with all the thoughts and information rolling around in my head orbiting my brain like the earth around the sun, I came up with an idea. What if, I pondered while I was soaking in a warm tub of water a few nights ago, what if I gave everyone the opportunity to become debt-free along with me. What if as a nation we took control of our own financial responsibilities and showed the White House how to do it?"

That has me thinking again.

"Hmm, do you really think I can get someone in D.C. to follow along?"

You shake your head no.

"I suppose you're right. Well at least we Americans can take back our country and rescue it from the depths of poverty and rise to the Challenge!"

And so a Challenge was born.

"Yes, but what is the Challenge and more importantly, how much money am I going to get?" you probe.

"The challenge is to Pledge to be Debt-Free."

"Sounds good," you answer, "but how am I supposed to do that?"

""First, read about the Challenge that I've explained on the sidebar of my blog. Then copy and paste the code for the pledge button to put on your blog. Next you need only to follow along with my Wednesday (and sometimes additional days as well) posts as I explain what we have done, what we are doing and how it is all working to get Ken and I out of debt."

"Well," you begin, "I suppose I can do that. I'm mean, I really do need to get out of debt but don't know where to start."

"Then you can start right here. You can start wherever you are along the path of being debt-free and having financial freedom."

"I'm convinced I need to take the challenge and make the pledge but what about the money?"

"Oh yes that," I feign memory lapse. "Well you see, the money in question comes into play when you are out of debt. Once you get out of debt, all that money you were paying out each month in payments and burning off in interest can now be used to save, invest and build your wealth instead of substituted as an expensive source of fuel to feed the 'I need, I want machine.' Not that I'm saying you've ever spent too much money or anything."

You squirm a bit like my eight year old son Ethan when he is being questioned whilst he is standing in the 'naughty' corner.

"Okay!" you stand and shake my hand as the cake crumbs fall to the floor. "I'm in. I'll take the Challenge and become debt-free."

"Then my friend," I reply, "my work here is done for the day."

Photos from iStock.com (except for the one just above.)

Riddle Me This

2010-02-08T09:11:00.002-05:00

My most brilliant of canines, Lego (named after a brilliant building toy of course,) seen hear helping his daddy, "I can do it, I can do it. Just let me in there, I can do it," has convinced me that today would be a good day for a riddle.

I had planned on posting at least once this past weekend and if I was lucky maybe even twice. But alas, as life sometimes does, it threw some unexpected plans my way that kept me away from you my dear readers.

But here it is Monday and now with many things to catch up on that did not get done over the weekend, and with me wanting to touch base with you all, Lego's idea was starting to sound really good, of course - he is brilliant you know.

This was one I ran across last week during homeschooling and thought it would be fun to post and see if you can come up with the correct answer.

Here it is:

"A man having a fox, a goose, and a pock of corn wants to cross a river. He can take but one at a time. The fox will kill the goose and the goose will eat the corn if they are left together. How can he get them safely across?"

Any guesses my brillant readers out there?

I'll post the answer Thursday in the comment section. In the meantime let me know what you think the answer is.

Also, if you haven't registered for the Dave Ramsey book giveaway yet - make sure you scroll down to the post last week that explains. This ends in two days so hurry!

Have an amazing day! Jamie

Book Giveaway Ends Wednesday so Enter Now!

2010-02-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

Just A Quick Second Post Today:

Don't Forget To enter in the Book Giveaway!

It Ends Wednesday

Two Lucky Winners Will Each WIN a Book!

Scroll down a few posts for details.

Good Luck! Jamie

Frugal Friday - Great Savings At CVS

2010-02-05T12:37:00.000-05:00

Around here finding ways to save a buck in our budget has become a family pastime. It is almost like a national sport, the winner being the competitor who can find the best deal or save the most money.

Recently I have come to the forefront of the tournament when I woke up to the amazing savings at CVS. I say woke up because I have been sleep walking in to pick up a miscellaneous prescription or an obscure item at the last minute for a couple of years now, all the while stupidly missing out on some truely monumental saving opportunities.

It is such a wonderful place to shop at that it waffles between the number one and number two position in my book as the best places to shop and save. (The other contender is Kroger which I'll address another time in another post.)

Side note here before I go any further. I'm sprinkling this post with photos of the rainy day we are having here in Raleigh. Oh my kingdom for a warm sunny day. My heart longs to frolick in the sunlight and bathe in the warmth of the sweet southern air - also I would just like to be able to get my son outdoors!

Okay, back to the topic at hand.

Why do I love CVS so much?

Well like I said, I used to just go in there and naively bypassed all of these amazing opportunities. Then I woke up.

First thing you need to know is that CVS currently has 6,900 stores in 44 states. If you go to CVS.com you can find the nearest store to you. That is the first thing you should do.

Next, you need to stop in there and pick up an Extracare card, this is the name of their customer appreciation card and you most definitely want one, this is the key to all the savings.

Then take that card home and go back to the link I just gave you two paragraphs ago and register your card. You want to do this- trust me. CVS will then send you a welcome email - open it. More than likely they are going to have a substantial coupon in it and possibly others as well.

I'm going to pause here and say a word about coupon use. If you are like I was, you thought one of two things about them:

1. I don't have time to clip and file let alone remember to use coupons.

2. My time is more valuable then the money I would save using coupons.

Do either of those thoughts sound familiar? If you think that let me give you something to chew on. In todays world with the computer and cyber space as they are, coupon use has become more electronic than paper thereby saving much more time. Secondly, how much is your time worth. I just went to a store yesteday and using coupons purchased $52.30 in groceries but only paid, $19.68 (including tax.) I maybe had a half an hour between organizing my shopping list and coordinating coupons to actually going to the grocery store. If I saved $32.62 on groceries in a half hour of work, that means my time was worth $65.24 an hour! Do you earn $65.24 an hour? Better yet, $65.24 an hour in a 40 hour work week would be a annual salary of $135,699. Now that's a salary I would like to have. I know I don't make that except by using coupons in the right way at the right places.

So, back to CVS.

Using the Extracare card from CVS allows the store to track your purchases (no this is not like "Big Brother Watching You") over time they will get to tailor the coupons they give you to your purchases. Neat huh?

Once you get your card and sign up online you now have what CVS refers to as an Extra Bucks reward account. Here you can accumulate savings and earnings two ways.

#1 - When you shop in the CVS store or shop online at CVS.com, if you use your Extracare card you will always earn 2% of your total spending (does not include presciptions - but hang on I'll get to those). This 2% will go into your Extra Buck rewards account. Then at the end of each quarter the next time you shop in CVS at the end of your receipt will be printed your Extra Bucks reward coupons which will be the total amount of the 2% you accumulated over the course of the quarter. Again, this will print at the bottom of your store receipt the first time you go into the store at the beginning of the new quarter. So far example, if over a 3 month period you purchased $50 worth of items, your Extra Buck rewards coupon would equal $1. Now I know that doesn't sound like a lot but hang with me, I'm getting there. Note here that if you use the Extra Bucks reward coupon on a purchase you will not get any change back or get to keep any unused portion of it until your next purchase so make sure the full amount will go toward that purchase. Also note that you only get this if you have registerd your card online so don't loose out on free money.

Now here is where the savings can get even better. Because you have registered your card online, from time to time you will get special offers like Double or Triple Extra Bucks back, so now on the $50 worth of purchases instead of getting $1 back you could get $2 or $3 back as well as coupons to throw on top of the Extra Bucks.

Here is an example of the most recent I received. This one is for the pharmacy but this will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

But wait, it gets better...

#2 - When you use your ExtraBucks reward card for prescriptions you will receive $1 for every two prescriptions filled. Good you say, but not enough savings to convince you? Okay, follow along with me now as I teach you the true tricks of the CVS trade.

Each week in the store circular which you can pick up in store or go to CVS.com to view ( I suggest to do this before actually going to the store to shop so you are more prepared) will specify certain items that qualify for Extra Buck rewards. And here is the best part, you get those back immediately at the bottom of your receipt. Let me give you an example of something I did just this week. I purchased a Doves Men's Bodywash for $5.49. I had a coupon that took $1.25 off of it. Then when I checked out, I got a "rebate" in the form of Extra Bucks rewards coupon printed on the bottom of my reciept for $5.49 that I can use the next time I go to the store. Now if you do the math, $5.49 - $1.25 - $5.49 = + $1.25 which means I not only got the product for free but I EARNED $1.25. How amazing is that? And I do this all the time there.

Here are two I received this week.

A couple of things to note here. First, always, and I mean always check the bottom of your receipt for extra buck rewards, it is as good as cash in the store. Secondly, these Extra Buck rewards expire at the end of one month so make sure to use them on your next visit to the store. I go weekly so that is not a problem. Lastly, read the fine print of each deal in the circular so you understand exactly what it is, what you save and how many you can purchase. If still not sure ask the clerk at the register before you shop.

The CVS Pharmacy will also have Extra Buck rewards on certain items as well. I gave a photograph of one above.

Now, let's save even more than just getting our Extra Bucks rewards. In my example I gave you earlier where I actually earned $1.25 I used coupons. This is the strategy I employ always and only. Let me explain. I get the weekly circular and look for all the extra buck reward deals and sale items. Then I pull out all coupons that correspond with that item. Here is something you might not know about coupons. There are two types: manufacturer coupons which is what most people are familiar with and say "Manufacturer Coupon" across the top or a store coupon which is issued by that store and can only be used in that store. You can combine a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon together to get double savings. So, if an item is on sale and you have a store coupon for it and a manufacturer coupon then you get tripple savings: the two coupon discounts and the sale price. But wait, there's more...

At CVS not only will you get the manufacturer coupon, plus store coupon, plus sale savings, but if you are purchasing only those items that are Extra Bucks specials that week you also get the extra bucks reward coupon at the end! Huge, huge savings in this store.

Okay, I just want to finish this up by mentioning a couple of tidpits I've learned.

First, just because it is on sale, if you don't need it and will never use it don't buy it, you are not saving yourself any money if you end up throwing it away. Secondly, the great thing about many of the products at CVS is that they are nonperishables. While they may have expiration dates they usually last a long time, so stock up when the price is right. Also note that the first time or two you go in there you may not have huge savings, but after a couple of times once you have started accumulating those Extra Buck rewards at the end of your receipts you will notice the difference with the amount of cash you have left in your wallet. Lastly, don't be discouraged if you do not have any Store coupons as explained earlier (as compared to manufacturer coupons,) I often don't have them and still realize significant savings.

Let me know how this works for you all! Jamie

Win One of Two Dave Ramsey Books!

2010-02-04T11:38:00.000-05:00

Win One of Two Dave Ramsey Books!

That is right, two lucky winners will receive a book.

You've heard me blogging about how we are using Dave Ramsey's advice to not only get out of debt but to become mortgage fee as well. Now you can get the same book we are using to become financially wealthy.

Get one entry for each of the following:

1. Sign up to follow Just An All American Girl blog (1 entry) - then send a comment to let me know you did. If you are already a follower just send me a comment to say "HI" and mention the contest.

2. Retweet this post (1 entry) - then send a comment to let me know you did along with your Twitter name.

3. Facebook this post (1 entry) - then send a comment to let me know you did along with your Facebook name.

4. Post this on your blog (1 entry) - then send a comment letting me know you did with you blog url.

***NOTE** - Total of 4 chances to enter. This is IMPORTANT - you must send me a new comment for each of the four entries to get them all counted.

If for some odd reason you are unable to send a comment, you may email me instead at this link. Please try to use the comment form first though.

This contest will end Wednesday, February 10th at 11:59 pm Eastern. So hurry and enter!

Good Luck to You All, Jamie

Get Out Of Debt - Part 2

2010-02-03T10:53:00.001-05:00

If you missed Part One - Scroll down to Wednesday, January 27th

Wow, I never would have anticipated the stir my last post on this topic would have caused. Thank you for all the nice comments and those of you who shared your story with me. It became very obvious to me since last Wednesday that this topic (as I described earlier in a posting elsewhere) is like the proverbial elephant in the room. And here is the irony in that, because we don't talk about it is a large part of how we often get into financial trouble and then we don't want to talk about it because it is embarrasing. Am I right? Ever heard the term "vicious circle" before?

Okay, so last week I left off telling you that since June of last year we have embrassed the teachings of Dave Ramsey and since then have made a drastic turn around in our financial situation.

I can't stress enough to you all how we honestly thought we were well on our way to being able to retire in comfort someday. It was quiet insidious how our financial debacle snuck up on us.

I urge even those of you who feel your finances are fine to follow along in these next few steps to assess where you are. Hopefully, unlike us, you are right on track.

So what did we do next?

The next step was the most painful for me and most hurtful to my husband. I had to own up to every single penny I owed. Every penny! Now mind you, much of it he knew about like a student loan and a credit card, but he didn't really know the full picture. Why? Because I didn't want to tell him. I didn't want to be lectured to or treated like a child, so I suffered through my financial problems silently by myself.

I was making just enough money to pay minimums on everything. But minimums don't get rid of debt, they just build it a home to live in forever.

Once all of my personal debt was drug out, accounted for and added up, my debt, the person who is for the most part a stay-at-home-mom with relatively no income, had aquired almost 67% of our overall debt (not including our mortgage.)

Disclosing it was hard, but seeing the sock-in-the-gut my husband felt was the hardest part of all.

At this point I didn't know if he would forgive me. I just had to hope and pray that he would.

I was ashamed and embarrased and I felt like I had let my husband down in a way I never had before in my life.

Weeks later while he was still mending from the blow, he shared with me it felt like I told him I had an affair. In his mind (and I completely get it) I was going behind his back and cheating on him not with another man but with money, threatening our families very future. Here was a man who since the day we were married worked hard and long hours to provide for his family, and the one person he trusted the most was being extremely irresponsible with it. I was failing as a wife and as a steward of our money.

At this point all I can say is that as a couple we went through something we had never experienced in ninteen years of marriage. It took almost two months for him to start trusting me again and the healing to begin. During that time he was emotionally distant from me and I was walking on eggshells. My best friend didn't like me anymore and it hurt.

Good news is in time we healed it up and now, today, our marriage is even stronger than ever.

So what was next.

Well, once I had aired my dirty-debt laundry it was time for us to figure out down to the very last penny what we owed as a couple.

Out of respect for my husband I am not going to give you exact numbers so instead we will talk in percentages, but let's just say your jaw would drop.

Here is how the bottom line of our debt broke down:

Credt Card Debt (mine) - 38%
Personal Loan (ours) - 9%
Car (ours) - 24%
Student Loan (mine) - 29%

Grand Total (not including our mortgage) - we were in debt by 78% of our annual income

So to put that in perspective, take 78% of what your total family income is and see how much it is.

That's a lot isn't it?

Even though I knew how much I owed, I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined that as a couple we owed that much money. And this isn't including our mortage which for the time being we will keep out of the equation.

We were broke.

Yes, we lived in a nice home, drove a nice car, had money in our pockets and bank accounts, had money invested. But we were broke. Because if you took what we had minus what we owed we should have been living on the streets. This is the nasty part of the debt cycle that we as a nation subscribe to. We think that if we are paying our bills, making our monthly mortgage payments and our car payments that we are "successful." No, we are not. If you owe more than you have you are broke. And we were really, really broke.

Don't believe me? Do this exercise right now. First find one of your larger bills, like a credit card or car payment. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Now, on your last statement look at what you paid and how much of the debt it actually paid off. For example, if your car payment is $400 and it only takes $250 off you total balance, you are throwing away $250 every month. How much are you throwing away on just that one debt? Could you write a check to pay it off now?

Bet you could really use that $250, couldn't you? Just imagine going to an ATM and taking out $250 in cash every month and then driving down the street with your windows open and letting the cash fly away. Now imagine doing that with the money you put toward your credit card, or worse yet your mortgage.

Listen to our real life example.

We pay $1725 every month for our mortgage payment. Guess how much it takes off the principal?

$159!

Can you feel my stomach clinching everytime we make that payment.

Every month I open my car window and let $1566 fly away into oblivion.

Yes we have our home on a low interest rate but it is only 3 years old so right now we are paying mostly interest. Can you see why we want our mortgage gone?

So here is your assignment this week. I want you to do three things:

1. Gather up all your debt (all of it). Put it on paper and then own it. Accept it for what it is, no more pretending it is not that bad.

2. Next if you have a spouse I want you to share it with him or her. This is really hard I know. Believe me I know! But you can do it. Things will never get better if you don't. I thought I could handle it on my own and the truth was I couldn't. I needed my husbands financial and emotional support. While I haven't lied to you about how rough it was, I promise you our marriage today is stronger. We have become an amazing team in becoming debt free. My husband has forgiven me and he has accepted some of the reponsibility. He too admited that he suspected I had more debt but did the "don't ask, don't tell" thing. He put blinders on and for that he too owned some fault.

3. Lastly, make a list of every thing you owe as a couple/family. Everything! List it from the smallest debt to the largest, which is usally a mortgage.

I hope you all found this helpful and I look forward to hearing how your assignment went. You can do this, I know you can. Part-Three, next Wednesday.

You deserve a debt frree life! Jamie

Great Book For Kids

2010-02-02T13:24:00.004-05:00

I LOVE Books!

I especially love books that educate and entertain my son.

If you've noticed my note about Usborne Books to the right of my posts then you know about my love affair with these books. I've been purchasing them for my son for years now and you may have been as well and didn't even know it.

Today I wanted to share with you this amazing book that is a staple resource in our homeschool. However, even if my son wasn't homeschooled I would have this book in our house. The information is so valuable for different aged kids on a wide range of topics.

This incredible reference book is crammed with just about every fact that you or your children will ever want to know. Including information about science and technology and much, much more.

All of their books have amazing illustrations...

...just popping from the pages with color.

The Book of Knowledge is Internet-Linked, one of Usborne's trademarks.

They are everywhere in this book on all topics.

This book includes topics on...

Take a look at some pages in this category.

This is another topic in the book.

Then there is this topic.

And...

How about...

You might also find this topic interesting.

This topic has wonderful timelines.

Also...

Or...

...on all kinds of topics.

And of course...

Can you tell I really love this book?

This book retails for only $14.99 (very resonable for all you get) and can be purchased through this link (Usborne Books).

I am an Educational Consultant to schools and libraries for Osborne books. This is how I pay for all those goodies I give away to you all for free and it helps me pay off my debt. But if you want to purchase it you can click on the link and have it shipped to you or somewhere else.

Also, because we all love free stuff, if you want to get some free books you can email me or click on the link to get more information on how to do that as well.

Ya'll have a beautiful day! Jamie

Make a Coconut Cream Pie

2010-02-01T13:10:00.000-05:00

On yesterday's post I showed you a picture of the Coconut Cream pie I made over the icy weekend. I thought today I would show you step by step how I did it.

During the summer months between undergraduate school I used to go back home and would work as a waitress in a little diner in Illinois called Red Bud Cafe. It was the sort of small town diner you see in the movies except this was real life.

Anyway, we used to have a cook there named Selma. At the time she had to be well into here 80's, and yet almost everyday like clock work she was there at sunrise making the pies for the restaurant.

My favorite of all the pies she made was her Cocnut Cream pie. It was perfect.

So whilst I was wallowing in my cold rabbit hole over the weekend I got to thinking about that pie and decided I had to have one - or at least as close to one like hers that I could make.

Here is what I cam up with, hope you enjoy. (Please excuse some of the shadowing in the photos, I'm still learning.)

First I needed to make and bake a 9 inch pie shell.

Normally I would just make one from scratch but I have a few prepackaged frozen ones left over from the holidays that I wanted to use up first.

I put it in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes until it got a nice golden color.

The crack you see is from where I rushed rolling it out when it wasn't thawed enough. And we tell our kids not to be in so much of a hurry - oh well, my bad.

Then I needed to toast up the coconut.

Yumm.

I put that into a 350 degree oven for about 5 - 7 minutes stirring occasionally until it was a golden brown.

Next came the cream part of the pie.

In a saucepan I combined the evaporated milk...

...eggs...

...the sugar...

...the flour and salt.

However as an after thought I think I would mix the dry ingredients first then add the milk and eggs. I made that adjustment on the recipe below.

Time to cook it all on medium to medium high heat until it is thickened and bubbly. Be sure to stir it constantly and be careful not to burn it.

Once it gets to bubbling turn it down to low and continue to cook and stir for two more minutes.

Take it off the burner and pour in vanilla and all but 1/4 cup of the coconut which you should set aside for the topping.

Mix and then pour into the prepared pie shell.

Set in the refrigerator to chill and set up for 3 or 4 hours.

Just before serving I made some fresh whip cream. I don't buy it any more. Once you taste fresh whip cream and you see how easy it is to make you won't either.

Just take the whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form then mix in the powdered sugar.

I finished the pie off by putting the whip cream into a pastry bag with a wide mouth tip and piped the whip topping on. Note that I actually would have piled it even higher but I didn't have as much whipping cream as I needed so this is a lesser version of the whipped topping.

Then I sprinkled the remaining toasted coconut on top and put back in the refrigerator before serving.

It has probably been over twenty years since I have made one of these but I think the results were great.

If you want to try my Coconut Cream Pie here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Coconut Cream Pie

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups evaporated milk

2 eggs

1 cup flaked coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 9 inch baked pie shell

1 1/2 cup whipping cream

2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spread coconut out onto a baking sheet.

3. Bake for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally until a golden brown. Once cooled take 1/4 cup out and set aside.

4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

5. Bake pie shell for 10-12 minutes.

6. In a medium saucepan mix sugar, flour and salt together.

7. Add evaporated milk and eggs.

8. Over medium to medium high heat bring to a gentle boil. You want to be careful not to do this too fast so the eggs don't cook and the milk doesn't scald. Stir constantly.

9. Reduced to low and cook 2 more minutes stirring constantly.

10. Remove from heat.

11. Add vanilla and all but 1/4 cup of the toasted coconut.

12. Beat a few times with a whisk until smooth.

13. Pour into prepared pie shell and refrigerate.

14. To make topping pour whipping cream into a mixing bowl and beat until it forms stiff peaks.

15. Add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and mix.

16. Taste to see if you need the third tablespoon of powedered sugar.

17. You can either pour it on the pie when it is cooled and smooth out with a spatula or put it into a pastry bag and pipe it on.

18. Sprinle ramining 1/4 cup of coconut on top.

Serves 8

The Snow Storm That Hit The Southeast

2010-01-31T14:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, those of you know me understand that I have a servere allergic reactions when it comes to snow and cold weather. Really, I do!

Okay, maybe not really but I might as well. God created me to live in warm climates and that was just the way I popped onto this earth. I can't help it. (Ironically I was stationed in Grand Forks, ND while in the Air Force, hows that for karma?)

Anyway, if you've all been watching the news the last couple of days you are aware we got a snow/ice storm here. We obviously did not move far enough south. Global warming anyone? Where is the global warming I was promised? I demand to see my share of it.

Oh well.

So the snow began and this is what I woke up to yesterday morning.

Ken, being the smart man he is, illegally parked his van at the top of the hill in front of the house instead of leaving it in the garage. Last year he almost didn't make it up the hill. No worries this year, he just played hooky from work. Shhh, don't tell his boss.

I took Lego and for his morning duty...

...and that's me in by pajama bottoms and snow boots I've had for over a decade and probably will have the rest of my life because they see so little action.

It was a dreary overcast day - aaaallll day!

I swear I would go bloody mad as our British friends like to say if I had to live in cold dreary climates for more than one day at a time.

So to occupy my mind and ward of the crazies, I baked.

I baked bread.

Then I made a Coconut Cream Pie - trust me when I say it was delicious!!!

Oh - I also started on an apron I should finish up soon. I'll show you the pics and how-to when I'm done.

Today, thankfully we awoke to a more humane greeting with the sun shining.

So we took a walk...

And this is where we walked to.

As long is there is a Starbucks open I know a hint of civilization still exists in a land of frozen tundra.

Thank God for small miracles. Jamie

Get My Year Of Desserts Booklet FREE!

2010-01-29T10:22:00.002-05:00

According to the weather lady on tv, we have a winter storm headed our way, snow, sleet, ice, all of it. So I thought this would probably be a good weekend to stay in and bake. I'm just okay at cooking but I do love to bake.

Last year I put together a list of some of my personal recipes for desserts. I wanted to create something where I could just go down a list a make and new dessert each time without having to give it much thought. The result was a booklet I called A year Of Dessert which has 52 dessert recipes - one for each week.

I decided since many of you are still deep in the middle of the winter and we are headed into a weekend of it, I would pass along my booklet to you for free. Just a gift from me to you.

Then I thought even further (this is when things get dangerous) what if...

...what if the collective we (you followers and readers and yours truely) tried to see just how many of these I could give away by Monday. How fun wuld that be.

Do you think it would be 25? 50? 100? 200?

Okay, so here is all you need to do to get your copy of A Year of Desserts:

1. Retweet, Facebook or email this post to 2 of your friends, family or co-workers (more is okay).
2. Then send me an email to jmori001@nc.rr.com
3. Within 24 hours I will reply with the booklet attached in a PDF file.

That's it.

So how do I know if you did step 1? Well I'm just going on faith that you did. Plus, I'll get a good idea by the number of requests I get. So, let's make a game out of this and see how many I can give away.

Live a Delicious Life!
Jamie

Studying Our Solar System

2010-01-28T10:40:00.001-05:00

In science class Ethan has been studying our solar system for a few weeks now. Although with all the Science Channel watching he does he schooled me in a few concepts as well. One of the great benefits of homeschooling - we get to learn (or relearn) right along with our kids.

There is this great teachers store in Raleigh that I absolutely love called The Teach me Store. We found this Solar System there.

Using clay that is like Model Magic ( if you've never heard of it it is this foam like clay that dries fast,) he shaped it around foam balls...

...then we strung it all together...

...for our end result.

I taught Ethan this mnemonic to remember the order of the planets:

My - Mercury
Violin - Venus
Eeeks - Earth
Music - Mars
Just - Jupitar
So - Saturn
U - Uranus
No (know) - Neptune

If you didn't know Pluto is no longer a planet it is classified as a "Plutoid" which means tiny planet. (So doesn't that still make it a planet?)

Get Out Of Debt - Part 1

2010-01-27T11:39:00.003-05:00

Would you like to be debt-free?

How about mortgage-free as well?

Many people have been emailing me since I have made some references to the fact that Ken and I are not only on a mission to become debt free but also mortgage free. While this certainly is not a fact I've been hiding, it took me some time to think about if it was a topic I wanted to go into.

So I listened to you all and got the message loud and clear, you want to know the what, where, when and how's of what we are doing.

Therefore I now declare Wednesdays (for as long as I have something to say about it) my "Get Out Of Debt" day.

That means that every Wednesday for a while I will tell you step by step what we are doing and let you know how it is working.

I would love for you all to follow along and get out of debt with me. If you're not in debt first let me say "congratulations." Hopefully I'll still be able to add some ideas that you haven't heard of yet that will help you even further along in you financial mission.

Today let me just begin with a quick synopsis of The Mori's Financial Story.

Ken and I have now been married for twenty years. In that time for the most part he has made a great living and I have made an okay one from time to time when I wasn't being a stay-at-home-homeschooling mom.

Unfortunately we made a big mistake in our finances. Note I said big but not obvious. What was it? We simply weren't paying attention. It happens and it happened to us. What do I mean? Well, we paid our bills just fine, put some money in investments just fine and then had fun with the rest. Fun came in the forms of vacations, cars, boats, clothing ,eating out and just an all around wonderful lifestyle that we all seem to aspire to.

Still we thought we were doing fine planning for our future.

Then along came our beautiful son Ethan.

Again, we thought we were doing right by him and ourselves by immediately setting him up a college fund.

At this point we figured life was great. House, check. Good income, check. College fund, check. Retirement investment, check. Sounds picture-perfect and exactly what we are all told we're supposed to be doing right?

So where did the mistake come in?

Well, like I said we weren't paying attention. We weren't paying attention to where our everyday spending cash was going. We weren't paying attention to what each other was spending (I'll explain later,) we weren't paying attention to what we were spending to run our household. We weren't paying attention to all the money we were thowing away on interest. And the biggest one of all we weren't paying attention to our financial future. We were living in the moment and the moment caught up with us in our early 40's.

Fast forward to when our son was about five. Still good income by my husband. I was earning a good part-time income as an adjunct professor and things were great. Until my husband and his business partner unexpectedly ended their relationship in a nasty and expensive legal battle.

If you've ever had the misfortune of going through one of those I'm sorry.

However, no crying over the proverbial spilled milk as they say. We moved on, literally, and life has actually been even better so no harm done. But what this event did do was it did us a huge favor. It made us reasses where we were in life. When you get the opportunity to "start over" with an older version of yourself as we did, the now hopefully wiser you thinks it through a little bit more. It was time for us to take a long and trust me when I say very, very painful look at our financial situation and the repercussions of the egregious mistake of simply not paying attention. We had to take the shiny new designer blinders off and see the very real ugly ogre of a financial life we had created.

It took us almost two and a half years after our life changing event that we got to this point. I know, I know, it should have happened right away but it didn't and for that there is no excuse. But thankfully it eventually did.

Last May my husband and I had one of those heart to heart talks that can either break or make a marriage. We soulfully realized that while income wise we were right back to where we had left off before the nasty business "divorce" with his partner, we were in our early 40's and no where near ever being able to retire. Now for me, since I don't work outside the home that didn't seem like as big a deal, but for my beloved Ken who works six days a week, every week, ten to twelve hours a day this was an incredibly huge deal. I felt his pain as if it were my own.

What happened to those dreams of retiring early and traveling around the world? I wanted to hang out on the beach while I still looked good in a bikini. We wanted to be able to spend our later years in life with our grown son and future grandchildren. Not working and worrying about surviving.

Trust me when I say it is a sad day when reality slaps you in the face.

So what did we do?

Well, we took the advice of what Dave Ramsey was teaching, embraced it and ran with it whole-heartedly. And the amazing thing is now just eight months later we have made such a monumental turn around in our financial life that we now see the reality of all those dreams that had only recently started to fade away into the mist.

Over the following weeks (on Wednesdays) I'll chronical exactly what he says to do, step-by-step, what we did and how it is working for us.

I hope you come along for the journey, this has made a huge difference not only in our lives but marriage and I hope it will help you even in some small (hopefully large) way as well.

Live a Delicious Life,
Jamie