2012 Goals update - April

1) Finish my house so it can be rented out - We are so close to this. I think with just a few more weeks, we could have the house finished!

2) Pay off Lowe's credit card - Paying off has been a slow process but we are certainly paying extra each month :)

3) See family in Pennsylvania - Saw them in March! It was a blast. Maybe I should right a post about that....

4) Pay off Jimmy's student loans - Still trucking a way at this. Money has been super tight lately.

5) Clean out the down stairs - I have been progressing with this as well! I gave away a lot of baby items to a friend in need. Donated a bunch of dishes to my mom's church who help people in need. And have been giving to Goodwill.

6) Save $2,000 emergency fund - We have officially got $1,000 in our emergency fund.

7) Develop 12 new habits - Um... well... about this....

8) Read 1 book each month - I haven't found my kindle as easy to access as I originally thought. Book from the library are slim picking. And that was going to be my main source of reading material.

9) Exercise increasingly - So up until now, exercise has been pretty on and off. However, I just joined my mom's gym and I am hoping to make the most of it! Today I did 2 miles!

10) Freezer meals once a month - Freezer meals? Not quite. But we did get a ton of carrots at the food truck and I shred those up and put them in the freezer.

11) Make cleaning the house more of a priority - I have been trying this. The living room has stayed pretty clean for the most part and I have been working on folding laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer.

12) Date night 1 time per month - We went to Chicago in April for a 30 hour date night! We had a great time and a much needed get away from reality. 

13) Record meal and times daily - Well My food lady will be here sometime soon. Although still not daily, I have been keeping up with this pretty well.

14) Plant and maintain garden during summer - Still waiting for it to warm up.

15) Devote 1 night to family game night - We strayed off track with this one. Glad to be looking at my goals today as a refresher for what needs to be done.

16) Get together with friends 1 time per month - While we were in Chicago, we were able to see an old friend!

17) Write down birthdays and send cards - Wow. What a complete fail this has been!

18) Blog increasingly more - Although this was originally one of my goals for this year, I have found this to be put on the back burner these last few months and I have been spending more family time. I think that was a wise trade off.

19) Read with kids at least 3 times per week - We read almost daily in the car before school!

20) Make and keep budget - Jimmy and I just talked about this again last night. We really need to get this going!

21) Learn to knit and FINISH a project - I made a dish cloth!

22) Lose some weight - I forgot to check my weight today. But I don't think I have lost any yet.

That's where I am for the month of April. How have you been doing on your 2012 goals so far? I would love to hear!

MSM's 4 weeks to a more organized home - Day 2

Money Saving Mom has put up an April Challenge to get a more organized home. Although quite pokey, I am getting some stuff done! Day 2 (AKA April 19th lol) Was cleaning out the fridge.

I took this picture 2 days and decided that we had better eat some of that before I even attempt to clean it out! I sure am glad we did waited :) After using most of it and tossing a few things, here is what our fridge looks like today.

Also got rid of another 7 items :)

MSM's 4 weeks to a more organized home - Day 1

Money Saving Mom has put up an April Challenge to get a more organized home. I have taken the bait, although a little late, and yesterday I cleaned out my purse. 

Yep, all this came out of my purse. It was a mess. This morning my husband was looking for my keys, which are always some where at the bottom of my purse, and he found them almost instantly! He even commented on how much cleaner my purse is!! Ok, it is a great day when your husband can comment about the cleanliness of your purse.

And above are the seven items that I got rid of. 

Life At Home

So life has been a little busy around here lately. Just going to post a quick re-cap of the last few weeks.

Caleb was sick.
Jimmy was sick.
I was sick.
Then Joel got sick and went into the hospital.
Joel got out and felt good enough to go on Vaca.
Got ready for vacation to PA to see family (on of my 2012 goals!!).
Went to PA :).
Totally forgot the charger for Joel's pump while visiting PA.
Found out PA hospitals are useless and decided to never move there.
Had an amazing time in PA and Joel took a bottle well enough to keep him at weight.
Had "make up" Dr's appointments when we got home.
11 Dr's appointments in 6 days.
Spring break.
Joel won't even look at a bottle.
And now here we are. :)

We have also been working on the house TONS. And by "we", I really mean Jimmy. With our kids and the child care kids, it's been hard finding a time where I can go help out and be kid free. But I do have to say that Jimmy has been doing an amazing job! I am super impressed with the house each time I get a chance to go over there! The upstairs is almost completely finished. Just a few more things to do. And all that's left on the main level is the dining room/kitchen. I am blessed to have a driven husband. If it were up to me, it would probably never get done.

Today I did get a chance to go over there. I got the upstairs picked up and vacuumed and then got a call from my sister-in-law who was stuck at the air port. So although my time was short, I did get Something done! I also got a few drawers from a file cabinet.

I quit my job at McDonald's. They were getting ridiculous. And that's all I'll say about that otherwise I might just got into a rant. lol

I have donated plasma 3 times. This is NOT a fun experience! But... it does pay the bills so to speak. Just from going those 3 times, I have gotten $80. No to bad if I say so myself. The first time, I got pretty sick all of a sudden. Then they gave me some water stuff and I felt much better. The second time, I lost about 70 ml of blood because they couldn't get it back into me. I ended up not being able to go back for a full week because my arm hurt. And to top it off, I had a pretty large bruise for about 10 days. Then when I went back the next time, they were only able to take like 100 ml from me before my body wouldn't give them any more. They were able to give me back my blood that time though. So, this week I am going to attempt at it again. Maybe with the other arm. Did I ever mention my immense fear of needles?

That's all for now. Hope to update a little sooner next time!