Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving

As you all may or may not know Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Like tomorrow infact!
So I was thinking of ALL the great things I have to be thankful for:)

Like:
My super hot hard working hubby,
my crazy fun always loud boys,
my quiet soft spoken girl,
my furry smelly never wants to pee outside in the winter dog,
my bigger than I deserve house,
my nicer than I deserve vehicles,
my fun rewarding sometimes crazy job,
my full cupboards fridge and freezer,
my new Total Money Makeover audio CD's that were on sale for 10$!!!!!!!!!
my warm cozy blankets and bed,
my great great super de duper friends,
my really cool Bible with fancy tabs,
my sweeter than I deserve in-laws,
my family,
my money that God blesses me with to pay my bills,
my dirty laundry(cuz that means we have clothes!),
my Compassion Intl sponsored children's artwork and pictures they sent:),
and above ALL ELSE...........

MY TOTALLY AMAZING FORGIVING SOVEREIGN LOVING JUST FAITHFUL GIVING FRIENDLY ALWAYS THERE FOR ME EVEN THOUGH I DON'T DESERVE HIM TO BE........
GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Friday, November 21, 2008

My Inner Esthetician

This one is for you Jenni C. my esthetician friend!!!! I am getting intouch with my inner esthetician:) Modeling the Arbonne exfoliating masque with thermal fusion. It's HOT!! Literally!




Yes, SCARY I know! Eli kept running away from me!!! Jaden kept asking if that was my halloween mask! I can only imagine what Ken would have said if he had been home!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Money Makeover Update!!

I have not updated since starting this Total Money Makeover journey we are on. So far things are going smoothly, for the most part. Thankfully I have always had some what of a budget and tend to be type A with my checkbook and stuff. That really helps when crunching numbers every month! I have started using the envelope system that Dave Ramsey suggests in his book, and I actually really enjoy it. It is true that when you are using cash, you tend to watch much more closely what you are spending it on.

I am excited to start attacking my debt, but I have been hard on myself through the process. I really want to be extreme and start selling stuff and knocking out debt left and right. Ramsey suggests that most people can attack the debt snowball and be done in about 2 years. That just isn't going to happen unless I sell a kid or a kidney on the black market! I would love to be debt free in 2 years, but the only way to make it happen is for me to work full time and then some, and for ken to work full time and then some. While I hate having all this debt, I hate even more the thought of making my kids go through the busyness ALL over again. They already have been through so much with me being in nursing school for 2 years. I just can't bring myself to do that to them again.

So, we wait. We persevere. We endure. We trust that God is seeing us through this. And we have faith that He will bless us unimaginably while we strive to serve Him with our finances.

So we are still going strong, taking one day at a time. I am excited to be on the other side of this and scream, "We are debt freeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!"

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Dave Ramsey For President!!!!!!!

Dave Ramsey on Bailout, Personal Responsibility & Socialism





Dave Ramsey Talks About Socialism In America

Some food for thought on Socialism.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Not Me! Monday


Horray for Not Me! Monday again:) Check MckMama out and join in the fun.

I was not addicted to MckMama's blog this week. I did not check it at least 12 times a day waiting for new updated photos of little S. Oh I can't get enough of him!!!

I did not start deciding on Christmas pictures already. While deciding what one to go with, I did not contemplate croping myself out of the picture and just having the hubby and children in the "family" photo. I could lie and say I took the picture:) I did not realize how much weight I still need to loose from my last pregnancy, almost 3 years ago!!! Seriously, Not Me!

I did not eat out 2-3 times this weekend, again. Nope not with my tight Total Money Makeover budget. I have no extra money for eating out. Only rice and beans at this house!

I am not typing this with my sunglasses on because I just returned from the eye doctor and can't see or read anything. You know the eye doctor that I ALWAYS see on a yearly basis. Well, seriously though it was my first time to the eye doctor and I am 25!! Bad me, bad!

I did not get fired up about politics this week, nope not I. I did not react like a baby to Obama winning and basically rant and rave for a couple of days about how the world is coming to an end. Nope I am WAY more mature than that.

And I really did not make my husband watch Orgasmic Birth with me one night this week. Weird, why would I make him watch such a silly movie? Not Me! (Oh and he did not enjoy it!)

Overall I did not have a lazy week. Nope, I did lots of things around the house, like keeping the bed warm by laying in it, and keeping the couch warm by laying on it, and keeping myself warm with a blanket. Nope I was NOT lazy at all!


Saturday, November 8, 2008

Sneak Peek!

Here is a sneak peek at this years Christmas cards:)
Coming soon to a mailbox near you:)
*Oh and yes it appears as though Latte is being suffocated, but I assure you she made it through Eli's death grip:)


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Dave Ramsey

This is an article that describes some of my feeling about the obvious move towards socialism our country is taking. I respect Dave Ramsey and I have recently started his Total Money Makeover. He is very knowledgable and passionate about finances and leading people into financial freedom.


Butt Scratching and Bass Fishing
by Dave Ramsey


A couple of weeks ago, I worked late like I sometimes need to do to run my business. It was a nice Tennessee summer evening, and I was enjoying the drive home. About 7:30, as I pulled to a stop light a few blocks from my office, I noticed a light on in the corner office of a friend’s office building. Through the twilight I could make out my friend’s silhouette as he bent over his desk. Being a fellow entrepreneur, I knew what he was doing.

He was pouring over some receivables. Some turkey hadn’t paid him, and he was trying to make his accounts balance so he would have the cash to make it another day. In that instant, I had a flashback to some of the ridiculous statements I’ve been hearing on the talking-head news channels and from some individuals during this political year. And I’ll be honest—I instantly felt the heat of anger flow through my body.

Let me tell you why. You see, my friend who I saw working late—we’ll call him Henry—is a great guy. He’s what you want your son to grow up to be. He loves God, his country, his wife, and his kids. He didn’t have the academic advantage of attending a big-name university. Instead, he started installing heating and air systems as a grunt laborer after he graduated from high school. He was and is a very hard and diligent worker, and before long, the boss taught him the trade. But when he was 24, after 6 years of service, the company he was working for got into financial trouble and laid him off.

Henry still had his tools, so he bought an old pickup to haul around his materials and tools, and suddenly he was in business. He knew about heating and air-conditioning, but not about business, so he made a lot of mistakes.

He persisted. He took accounting and management at the community college to learn about business. He started reading books on business, HVAC, marriage, kids, God, and anything else someone he respected recommended. Today he is one of the best-read men I know. Soon, because of his fabulous service and fair prices, he developed a great reputation, and his little business began to grow.

Henry started 15 years ago, and now he has 17 employees whose families are fed because he does a great job. He is in church on Sunday and seldom misses his kids’ Little League games. Sometimes he has to miss a game because some poor soul has their AC go out in the 96-degree Tennessee summer heat, but Henry makes sure they are served. He is, by all standards, a good man. He is, by all standards, what makes America great.

Henry and I are friends, and so he asked me some financial questions last year. I learned in the process that his personal taxable income last year was $328,000. I smiled with pride for this 70-hour a week guy because he is living the dream.

At the stop light that evening, I also thought of another guy I know—and that is where the anger flash came from. We will call him John. While John does not have the same drive Henry has, I can say that he, too, is a good man.

John also graduated from high school and did not attend a big-name university. He went to work at a local factory 15 years ago. When 5:00pm comes around, John has probably already made it to his car in the parking lot. He comes in 5 minutes late, takes frequent breaks, and leaves 5 minutes early. However, to his credit, he is steady and works hard.

Over the years, due to his steadiness and seniority, he has worked his way up to about $75,000 per year in that same factory. He seldom misses his kid’s ballgames, but most nights you will find him in front of the TV where he has become an expert on “American Idol,” “The Biggest Loser,” and who got thrown off the island. When he is not in front of the TV, he spends a LOT of time and money bass fishing on our local lake. He never works over 40 hours a week and hasn’t read a non-fiction book since high school.

This is America, and there is nothing wrong with either set of choices. Nothing wrong, that is, until the politicians and socialists get involved.

I have seen several elitist people on the talking-head channels make the statement lately that people making over $250,000 per year have a “moral imperative” to pay more in taxes to take care of the country’s problems. This is not only infuriating—it is economically, spiritually, and morally crazy!

Where in the world do these twits get off saying that Henry should be punished for his diligence? If you are John, where do you get off trying to take Henry’s hard-earned money away from him in the name of your misguided “fairness”? If you want to sit on the lake, drink beer, scratch your butt, and bass fish, that is perfectly fine with me. I am not against any of those activities and have engaged in some of them myself at one time or another. But you HAVE NO RIGHT to talk about “moral imperatives” about what other people have earned due to their diligence. That money is not yours! You want some money? Go earn some! Get up, leave the cave, kill something, and drag it home.

We are in a dangerous place in our country today. A segment of our population has decided that it is the government’s job to provide all of their protection, provision, and prosperity. This segment has figured out that government doesn’t have the money to give them everything they want, so somebody else has to pay for it. That is how the “politics of envy” was born. “Tax the rich” has become the mantra of the left, and this political season it has been falsely dubbed a “moral imperative.”

Ninety percent of America’s millionaires are first-generation rich. They are Henry. To tax them because you think it is a “moral imperative” is legalizing governmental theft from our brightest, most charitable, and most productive citizens.

If I can get a law passed that says you must surrender all your cars to the government because it is the “moral imperative” of anyone who owns cars to support the latest governmental program, that would be a violation of private property rights and simply morally wrong. This new “moral imperative” to redistribute wealth is no different from that. It’s the SAME THING!

Please, America, re-think the politics of envy! You are sowing the seeds of our destruction when you punish the Henrys of our culture.

If you think taxing the populace to support government programs is the best way—and I don’t—then at least tax every single person the same! There are very few Henrys out here who would squawk much about paying a set percentage of their income—if everyone else did, too. But this idea of some buttscratching bass fisherman saying government should tax his neighbor and not him—just because his neighbor has succeeded—must stop.

So the next time an elitist media talking-head starts telling you it is the moral imperative of our culture to tax my friend Henry, change the channel.

The next time you see someone wealthy who feels guilty and is preaching the politics of envy, change the channel.

The next time you see some celebrity who feels guilt over their income preaching socialism, change the channel.

And the next time you run into a misguided, butt-scratching bass fisherman who says the evil rich people in our culture should have their private property confiscated because that is fair… well just shake your head walk away—and make sure to vote against his candidate. If he and his type win, God help America.
© The Lampo Group, Inc. all rights reserved.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Response

I do agree with you Kate, I do need to spend some more time really looking into Obama's plan. Hopefully I will really have time to do some intense research with all of Obamas future plans.

I myself come from a low-middle class home. My dad worked hard to provide for our family of 5. And he was very wise with the money he made but as far as I know we were still just getting by. And I was not trying to imply that low class people are not hard workers, many of them are. I have also had the opportunity to meet many who were not. They enjoyed handouts and felt as long as they were getting that, they had no need to rise above that, to better themselves by using the help as a stepping stone onto something more instead of using it as just simple a handout to keep them where they were at.

As far as low income class being encouraged to help themselves, I myself was able to benefit from the system to help myself and my family. There are times when a person or family needs some help to get back on their feet, I have been one of those families. I firmly believe that the Church should be primarily responsible for this type of help but unfortunately over the past how many years the Church has been failing in this area of ministry.

Anyways, when I was 20 I found myself single, without a place of my own, and a mother of an infant out of wedlock. I was blessed by a church family that assisted me into getting into low income housing. I worked for a local home health agency taking care of people in their homes. I also was going to school, pursuing a degree in nursing. During the first few months of being on my own I received help from the county. It was very appreciated and helpful at the time. After meeting with a few different people from the county they informed me that I would not qualify for any daycare assistance so I could go to school. They felt that it was not important for me to get a degree and have a good paying career in the future. They felt that I should just get a full time job making 7.25 an hour and then I would qualify for daycare assistance. If I would have done what they suggested, chances are I would still be there maybe making 8 dollars an hour now. How is that helping people better themselves? That just keeps people in low class and keeps them receiving assistance for who knows how many years.

Well needless to say I told them they were crazy and that I was not giving up school. So I worked and went to school part time forever it seemed. I had to use student loans to help pay for daycare and living expenses, but I never lost sight on bettering my sons future and my future. I knew I did not want to become one of those people that gets stuck in the well fare system because they wouldn't help you out.

Now here I am 5 years later and thank God everyday that I didn't follow their advice. In the last 5 years I got married, graduated college, became and RN, had another baby, and bought a house. Unfortunately I have a decent amount of student loans that didn't actually pay for school, but that's nothing compared to how things could have ended up for me.

I can only say this for my situation, but, I felt very much like the system wanted to keep me in the system instead of help me to help myself by furthering my education and getting a career that paid more than minimum wage. The system needs help. It should be a short term things to help and encourage people to NOT need it anymore.

The system seemed to make it so easy to just stay there, to never look up, to never reach out to better yourself or your family. And to me that is not at all what it is supposed to do.

And honestly I believe 100% that our government was formed and started to PROTECT the American people and their rights, not to take CARE of them. People need to continue to be responsible for themselves and for their choices and to recognize that the government is not our caretaker.

If you are having sex before marriage, be ready to take care of a baby, possibly on your own. Instead of having an abortion to "fix" the problem. If you were raised in a lower income class family, keep your chin up, go to school, get a degree, make a change for yourself. Don't let people tell you that you have to stay low class. Reach for the stars. If you are at the point in your life where you can't afford insurance, don't have kids yet. Wait a few years until things are a little more established for you instead of using Medical Assistance to pay for all of your births. That money could be used much more efficiently.

At any rate, I feel our system is flawed big time. And I am and was only voicing concern and frustration from my perspective. Knowing what I know from my personal experiences. I just don't feel that it is fair to take money from people that make X amount of money and turn around and give it to people that make Z amount of money or less. It sounds way too much like a socialistic government. I have every right to be concerned knowing that in our future I will slowly start making more money, that I have worked my tail off for, and slowly portions of my money that I have no say over will go to a family, that I personally know, that can't afford groceries for their ever expanding family and live in low income housing but drive a 25,000 dollar vehicle. I should be able to take my money and give it to whom I feel are deserving of it, whether it be friends that are having a hard time or a ministry that supports the poor and homeless in my town or to the local pregnancy resource center that is trying to help prevent abortions.

Some of this may not make complete sense as I am writing when I am very tired. I apologize if that is the case. Again, these are just my feelings and believes. Please don't be offended and please comment respectfully as I have tried to respond respectfully.

Seriously

I can't even believe I am writing a post on this subject. Politics. YUCK. I am not a very "political" person, but I have an idea of what I feel politics should or should not do for me and my family as American citizens.

As a disclaimer *this post is in no way meant to offend or hurt anyone reading it. Know that what is said are only feelings, thoughts, and opinions from the blog owner, ME. So if I offend you in any way, my deepest apologies, but it's my blog and I have a few things to say. Feel free to comment in an appropriate manner if so lead. Thanks:)*

Now then where was I. Oh yes politics. Even saying the word makes my salivary glands kick in full throttle. I don't like politics or many politicians for that matter. It's unfortunate. But with that being said, I am totally disappointed with last nights elections.

I honestly try to not label myself with one party, but I tend to lean more towards Republican on a lot of topics. So yes, I voted Republican yesterday.

I am slightly concerned for the whole Share the Wealth idea Obama and his administration will have come this January. I am all for assisting lower income families to better THEMSELVES but I cannot support this whole steal from the rich and give to the needy plan.

If low income people are allowed to receive free money from "rich" people (who by the way have worked VERY hard at being wise with their money to become rich) how does that motivate people to get out of the low income class? If I got free money all the time, I would not have much motivation to work my tail off to get to the point that I didn't need free money anymore. Especially knowing that if I made too much money I would then have to give a cut to someone who doesn't make as much as me.

This is CRAZY to me. What happened to the American people that worked hard to make a living and to move up in the pay scale the good old fashioned way?

Seriously!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Not Me! Monday



What a week it has been. Especially for MckMama!!!!! Go see the good news:)

This week's not me's:

I did not check MckMama's blog like a million times awaiting the news of Stellans birth on Wed. Who has time for that silliness? Not Me!

While not doing these many blog checks I did not eat in bed and accidentally leave crumbs on my hubby's side of the bed. And I especially did not later blame my children for the mess when my hubby found the evidence and got upset. I never use my children like that. Not Me!

I also did not plan on sending MckMama and baby S a little treat while they were in the hospital and then back out thinking that would maybe be a little stalker-ish. After all I am NOT a blogging stalker! Nope Not Me!

While at work this weekend I did not show off MckMama's blog(like we were family or something) and her oh so cute pics of her *MSC and her new babe to some of my fellow nurses. I would not do this because that could also fall into the blogging stalker category. Not Me!

*MSC- Many Small Children

I did not tell everyone and their mother about my Eli saying his first word this week. I would never say unsolicited information about my son to perfect strangers at Wal Mart. That is just weird. Not Me!

And last but not least...I did not use profanity towards the computer while at work this weekend after we went "live" with our electronic medical records system. I would never swear at the computer, especially at work. That is just too unprofessional. I ever so gently tapped the computer while thinking to myself "silly little thing" when it was not doing what it was supposed to do.

How about your not me's??????