I know for sure there was an important tax assessment document in it, because that’s what I was going to look for to talk with him about when I noticed their was no paper/documents/mail in the basket anymore. I know there were probably some bills – definitely our student loans and mortgage bill were, but I’m not worried about those as I already paid the student loans and the mortgage is the same every month. I’m also pretty sure our garbage bill was in there which is always $38.75 a quarter.

Anyway I’m writing this post for advice. What should I do? I need to recover that tax assessment document – I suppose I could call the assessment office? And I guess I have to go onto online bill pay and see where I’m at with my timing? I depend soooo much on my paper bills as my reminders, its just my old-fashioned system mixed with new-fangled Quicken and Online bill pay.

Any advice???? aaaaaaaah…..

(Oh, and don’t mention it to brian if you see him, he feels bad enough as it is. The point of this isn’t to complain about my husband, but just to get advice on a procedure to find out what i’ve lost… if it’s possible.)

Totally Rad Photoshop Actions

Last night I realized I was late on paying my 2nd quarter estimated taxes for my business and Brian’s social security. I don’t know where my life is going, but 2008 is FLYING BY ME and I can’t seem to keep up with anything! Even when I think I’m doing better, I realized last night I wasn’t. I had missed a bunch of transactions, gotten business expenses confused, forgotten to include them, had two checks I marked cleared in Quicken back in March that never in fact went through…

Brian is back in full-force for our financial partnership. For the last year, I’ve really been doing it alone. In some ways I preferred it because it made me feel more in control and I felt like I could fudge categories and move money around to make things work with our budget. But once we realized how bad we’ve been doing with our Dave Ramsey plan that we’ve been on for almost 3 years now, he insisted to become more involved. My control-freakness resisted, but I know it’s better. Our finances are so complicated, it’s hard for one person to do it all alone, and I have been struggling without his support (evidenced by last nights “this-will-only-take-five-minutes-to-pay-this-estimated-tax-bill-but-crap-it-actually-took-two-freaking-hours-cuz-I-messed-up-stuff” episode). So the last two times we’ve done our banking, Quicken transaction downloading, he’s been there.

As frustrating as it is (we usually get in at least one tiff while doing our finances – although we’ve definitely improved from the past) I know it is VITAL that we are together on everything. We always have been in spirit, but I find for us it’s not enough. It has to be physical awareness of transactions going in and out and where we are spending and how we are managing. He is even amazing at helping me manage my business account. He just gets things more quickly and helps me sort through the confusion. So, despite that it’s irritating and I’ve had to give up some control, I pray that this renewed togetherness for our financial situation is only beneficial in the long-run.

I did a gazelle budget yesterday, and realized if we put a certain amount on our loans, which is possible if we cut way back on clothing, home stuff (my weakness), entertainment and dining out, we could have our student loans paid off ONE YEAR from this month. In other words, July 09 = freedom. The problem? This budget includes no money for anyone else except our compassion child and our monthly tithe. Only a small budget for a few gifts here and there, and no extra budget for Christmas unless I start including a potential $40/mo from now till December which could throw us back a bit. And of course anything could go wrong. A car could break down, we could have another accident (which is likely with our luck), someone could get very sick, the furnace could break… things happen. We have our emergency fund and have for years, and it is truly a God-send to have it there – but when you draw out of it, you have to replenish it the next month, so you still see that decrease.

It all feels so selfish sometimes, this getting out of debt thing. But the goal is that when this happens, we can then BE generous and BE helpful and give abundantly!! I want more than anything to be that person that is able to give to others and help on a whim. Right now we are still the recipients of that generosity from others sometimes and are soooo thankful for it.

We can’t take the Financial Peace course in the fall because it falls on a Sunday morning 9:15 and with worship team, and Brian’s job, we are doomed to never be able to do any Sunday school classes. It’s ok though because we know the principles and the new buzz going around the church for everyone can help us stay on track as well. I need to whip out my book and finish it – I never got to the ending sections. I’ll keep listening to my Dave Ramsey podcasts too for inspiration

Thanks for reading the money post.

Day 10 Meals

Breakfast: Eggwhite, broccoli and feta omelet

Snack: Celery and Peanut Butter

Lunch: Turkey Burger with… um. no bun, and veggies

Snack: Plain yogurt with kiwi and flaxseeds

Dinner: Broiled chicken with onion, swiss and tomato sauce on whole wheat pita (chicken parm pita?)

Results to come next post.

Not much else to say today except

1. Download this if you like photoshop and use it ever, mainly for web design (although i’m sure i’d be helpful for anyone)
2. I’m eating way too much chocolate chip banana bread! I also now have a huge box of cookies from a party last night and box of cheez it party mix. (which is amazing by the way) I’m taking that all today to work hoping my colleagues will help me diminish it.
3. Financial/vacation/family segment: We got a generous offer from my in-laws last night about a trip to Myrtle Beach this summer. We’ve been trying to say no to basically any vacation plans for this year, as money is very tight and we wanted to save that potential money for this crucial year on our student loan pay-off. But they called and said that if budget is what is keeping us from going to Myrtle Beach with them, we can drive down to Maryland (which we were going to do anyway), then they will take us the rest of the way and pay for our expenses. We are so overwhelmed by their generosity… and of course we had to accept and will try to set aside some expense money for ourselves – so that will be the first week of July, and I am so excited. One thing that’s hard about being on a strict budget and letting your family know about it, is that people offer to do a lot for you sometimes, which can be so amazing and I am so grateful, but also makes us feel very guilty – because that is not our intention (to be mooches). Family and friends reactions to debt/money decisions are the toughest sometimes to gauge, especially when people are in different places in their lives with how they spend money, etc., priorities they put on travel and vacations and the like. We are just trying to say no and make some sacrifices, but somehow people keep coming through so we don’t have to make quite so many. Dave Ramsey would probably not be happy with us.
4. Still most excite about Niagara on Sunday… EEEEEeeeeee!!!!

Hey everyone!

• I roller bladed at the Peninsula for 6 miles with Angie yesterday! It was really fun. I almost fell over at the end but managed to make it
• I’m really not sure who will be the final two for American Idol… it’s a tough choice. I disagreed that David Cook took the night last night though, I thought last night was not his strongest at all.
• I made banana chocolate chip bread. It was well received upon asking. Never mind, lol.
• Today I need to do some promotion for an organization I am involved with and an event coming up. Click here and go to “Celebrity Dress Up Event” to read all about it. Thanks for your support, let me know if you are interested in buying tickets as I have some that I am responsible for selling

Interesting and Flashy? Not really.

Necessary? Very.

Brian is using his plus some to add a bunch of cool pedals to his new birthday present, a VOX AC30 Amp, purchased by my family and a friend for him in a SCREAMING good deal. Don’t worry, we’d never ever be able to spend the full retail price on this. When I say screaming deal, I mean 1/4 price. This amp is a beautiful, prized thing for guitarists of his style/genre, and I am so thrilled for him to have his first amp ever! Here are some pictures from when we surprised him with it!

So, where is your economic stimulus check going?

Tune in next week, I plan on doing a color week – one new spring picture of a different color everyday.

march 16 was kristin

march 26 (today) is danielle, biz, and sue ( a woman i work with). Happy Birthday Ladies!!

march 27 (tomorrow) is my beautiful sister

march 28 (friday) is my father-in-law

april 2 is me!

So happy birthday to all… I am so thankful you are in my life!

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warning: girly, shallow content following:

So for my birthday, basically I just told Brian to sort of let me spend some money on something. At first I thought I would want to do it on flowers/plants, but that is still probably a month or so in the future due to how cold it still is. Then I thought maybe a beautiful new ring or piece of jewelry? But I have to really want something and it’s probably going to be too pricey anyway. So at the mall yesterday, I happened into New York & Company, and basically went insane. I ended up gathering over $300 worth of merchandise, putting some things back, and then saving $170.53 with coupons, account opening and a special “birthday discount” the girls gave me when I told them why I was splurging. The truth is, I could have probably spent way more and there were some items I put back, but I was in desperate need of new pants (as you’ll see) for both work and being active, so it was a due-time trip. What’s happened is I have my “very skinny” set of clothes that right now, being about 10-15 lbs heavier then I was at the skinny point, aren’t fitting me great. So I’ve been wearing my medium set of clothes, which I purged a lot of when I lost all the weight, so the pickings are slim. Finally I decided it was time to just accept this size and keep working, but if I need to take in some of these pants a bit in the future, that is ok.

So without further ado, here is the fun I had yesterday.

I bought my first complete suit:

And two more pairs of pants in the wear-to-work “City” line, which are really great. Keep in mind, I have not had a pair of khakis that fit me for about a year:

Two pairs of workout “yoga” pants – so comfy and flattering:

Some cute cardigan sweater/toppers – the basics:

And this shirt which I am totally in love with and wearing today. It is purple and brown with a really pretty print. It looks perfect with the brown city slacks and I am wearing my pearls from Danielle’s wedding, plus the cream cardigan shown above. They also had this shirt in other colors, including a gorgeous coral, but it was just a little too pricey to get more than one.

Anyway – thanks for checking out my clothing purchases. This was a big one for me (cost and necessity wise) but it was also fun to find things that fit me well.

I also stopped into bath & body works to get danielle a little something and found myself a few cute goodies along the way as well:

for danielle– this lucious yummy smoothie-smelling candle, and a lip tint

For me, another lip tint and the lip buffer and a face powder bronzer. Have any of you tried these lip tints? They are by far my favorite. They add a little hint of color and wonderful tasting mint, and they don’t get sticky or gross.

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That concludes my girly and shallow post. Thanks for reading!

If you’ll allow me to be a bit girly today…. can I talk about my watch for a second? My Valentine’s gift to myself this year was to finally get my watch fixed. I was thrilled that it came in today… they replaced the battery, the chain, and some crystals/stones that had fallen out of the channel setting. They also polished and cleaned it – so basically what I got was a brand new watch…. for $11.50.  It is one of my favorite things Brian ever bought me, so I am so glad to have it home.

I originally took a picture of it on me, but my wrist looked so fat and red and blotchy from the winter time I decided this was better for everyone.

sigh….. now I can know what time it is again at a glance!

Have a FABULOUS weekend everyone

Anyway… so I am in full kitten searching mode. And I am really trying to stick to the humane societies, because you care, and other spca and animal rescue organizations. I wish I could adopt them all… my heart goes out to them. Anyway…I don’t want to jinx it but there are a few at the humane society right now that I have my eyes on and I am going to go check it out at lunch!! I am so excited… if my application goes through then I am good to go and could have a new kitten in the next few days.

This is Kayla… there are a few other kittens, but this is the only one with a picture. Doesn’t she look like a sweetie?

I will admit, I’m a little nervous about how Zelda will take to a second cat, because she is spoiled and attention loving and very cuddly and friendly now because she is alone. But from what I’ve read all over, most cats have no problem adjusting if you do the introduction correctly and she will adapt, and in a few weeks it will be great because they will be friends!!! If there are major problems the new cat would go first, because Zelda is my first love – but I pray that it won’t be the case. I don’t think God made me an animal lover for nothing.

I also spent my Christmas money on some upgrades, accessories for my 3.5 year old camera… including a new speed flash, a big new bag (mine was always too small), a UV lens, a lens cleaning set (used yesterday and it is so nice and sparkly now), a flash diffuser. I figured it was about time because I was asked to photograph a small wedding ceremony in a few weeks and I was nervous about doing int without the proper equipment (really the flash was the biggest thing). I got some great deals on Amazon… I’m pretty excited about it.

Also, my dad and Danielle in combo bought me this series of books, and I love them… they are just so intriguing and addictive. They are really romance novels/life/girly novels more than anything… but still I like them.

I also re-ordered my basic Turbo Jam DVD set for a mere $20 because I was just really wanting them and between lending them out I seem to have misplaced it. It was no biggie… they had some delays from overuse anyway so i was fine with just getting a new set.

I also ordered these books:

Which I’m excited about. I had Logo Lounge 1 and it really helps to inspire me… and I thought this cheap mini-edition would really hep as well.

There are other pretty and great things… but I’ll spare you.. overall I’m quite happy with this Christmas…. I just feel like I’ve been able to do a lot personally and a lot for my business which will really help me in the future!!