A Little Saving Cents

Or sense...

Not too long ago I had written a previous blog and mentioned turning off our cable. When I had told some friends they instantly gave me the "eye", as though I were crazy (which I probably am, but that's beside the point). I even had a girl ask if I was turning into "one of those all natural freaks." The answer is no. We did it to save money... and in turn, our brains also.

Jonathan and I were never really good with money. I mean, sure, we knew how to spend it, but we were never good at saving it. We lived well beyond our means and put ourselves into a huge well of debt. We have been fortunate enough to have a great support system that was willing to help us rid ourselves of the ridiculous mess we had gotten in and they have given great advice for future financing struggles or plans. Of course, we've always known that you should have AT LEAST a six months salary in savings, and a rainy day jar, and we knew the importance of those things, we just never initiated them.

Even with the debt that we still have, we can save. Even a penny a day, if that's what we can fudge. Jonathan and I have talked many a time about taking so much from our checks and putting into savings. Nixing this, that, and the other, but we have learned that a savings account just doesn't work for us... We see it sitting in the account just waiting to be spent on the newest, fastest computer or the things I just HAD to get for the kids that were sure to be broken in less than a weeks time. We've learned through many trial and error situations that a cash savings has always worked for us.

Jonathan started a new job on September 1st. He will be paid October 1st. We are making initiative to REALLY start a savings. Basically our motto is "Don't need it, don't buy it." We are also going to start taking any extra money from our pay checks and save it since Jonathan will be making almost a dollar an hour more than he was at ANI. If we could live off of what he made then, we still can. Plus the money we'll save not paying for cable anymore. I do believe in the occasional splurge on a new t-shirt or something that will make you smile. But that's occasional and less than $20 a month! (I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!)

We still have fall/winter clothes to buy for the girls and the chilly weather is coming quickly. It was 60° this morning! The kids and I all ran back inside to see if our hoodies still fit from last year... And... They don't, but they work for the time being. I think know that we're going to do well this time. We have a lot more self control and we have our lives completely almost in full order.

Wish us luck and keep us in your thoughts along the way.

Lots of love and penny saving

          -Jaclyn-

Remember Those Days?!

The ones that were included in the thirty day challenge I was trying to complete?! Yeah... So obviously that didn't work out as planned. Lol

You didn't miss too much anyway. But I will go ahead and blog for day 29, which is Your Hopes and Dreams for the future...

Hopes and dreams... These are things I think about almost daily. It's like my mini bucket list. ☺

I will be graduating cosmetology school December of 2011 and it cannot come any faster. I'm so ready... I've been ready! I'm learning all the things that I didn't know about cosmetology that I wanted to know and I'm enhancing the skills of the things that I did do well. I've met great people and made new friends and am finally happy with the life I am leading.

I hope to have my own salon before I am 30. I am 23 now, so I've got seven years to get there. I've already got a name, the set up, all the plans and all the details are coming together. I WILL have this!

Jonathan and I have talked about having another child. (I'll have another blog about this soonish. There are some things and people I would like to address)

I want to take our family to Disney World! I've never been and Jonathan has not been since he was a child. Besides... We promised the kids we'd take them somewhere in an airplane ☺. I want it to be amazing.  Something they'll never, ever forget.

I want to completely rid ourselves of debt. Not only money, but debts by the kindness people have shown us and the help that those have given to us.

I want to be the best role model I can for our children. I want them to excel above and beyond in anything they set their mind to. Whether it be a sport, or finishing their first chapter book. (I swear Joseph has been reading the first Harry Potter for months now. :Þ) I am and will continue to be their personal cheer leader, cheering them on every step of the way. I will talk more than I will scream or yell... unless absolutely necessary (ie., A CAR! GET OUT OF THE ROAD!; PUT THAT DOWN, THAT'S DANGEROUS!!; BRING ME THE COOKIES... Lol... no... really, that's a serious situation now!) I will be the woman they are proud to call Mommy!

I want to be the best wife I know how to be. I will be his best friend. Daily I will let him know I love him more than words could ever express. I will celebrate his successes and help him see the beauty of his failures. I will encourage him to better himself. I will encourage him to excel. I want to always make him smile and proud to tell the world that I am his wife.

What do you hope or dream for yourself and your family?

          -Jaclyn-

Days 13,14,15, AND 16... Maybe

I really did make it all weekend long without logging onto facebook, blogger, or any internet period! I was kinda bored. Lol Monday, I did all of my "catching up", reading everything, commenting and messaging people back. A few people had sent me messages asking why I hadn't responded to their messages. Lol

We had a good weekend. Pretty laid back and slow going. We're always in a hurry to get somewhere or always have a plan to do this or do that. This weekend we let ourselves stay in our pajamas and watch movies and eat chocolate. The kids were loving it! We decided to turn our cable off (I'll write a seperate separate blog about that after I learn how to spell separate without spell check :Þ).

During our nightly story time this weekend we read a book titled, Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. Kind of cute, kind of not, but the kids loved it. The first page says,  

Dinosaurs were all wiped out,
A long way back in history.
No one knows quite how or why,
Now this book solves the mystery...  

Then there is this picture 

 

 Amaya declares, "They are machine dinosaurs!"

Joseph and her argue for a minute about whether they're skeletons or machine dino's and we carry on with our story.

Obviously I'm skipping days 13-16, mostly because I don't find them interesting and I had to google fanfic (day 15) just to find out I have nothing to blog for that... Lol. Day 16 being a song that makes me cry (or nearly) and I don't have any of those either... It used to be Stay by Sugarland, but I have moved on... ... on to songs that make me shake my ass, make me sing, make me smile, or make me bang my head a couple times. I like things better that way!

Yesterday I had to make a complaint about a very disturbing neighbor. This man is usually outside his apartment, in his boxers, with his hand in them grabbing his crotch while the other is holding a cigarette in the mornings when I walk the girls to the bus stop. Then Sunday while unloading the groceries, he comes outside, pulls his shorts to his knees and grabs his crotch bringing it over his shorts (He still had his boxers on, but nonetheless it was inappropriate) and looks at me with a grin... Disgust! They addressed the problem immediately and I have seen him with his clothes on since yesterday and he was not outside the apartment this morning. What is it with some people?! I just don't get it.

 

Until tomorrow...

          -Jaclyn-

 

P.S.

Does anyone know of a good free dvd burner?

Day Twelve: Tickled Fancy= Clean freak?

Another whatever tickles your fancy post...

I have still been as lazy as ever since the kids have all started school... It wasn't an instant lazy, it was more gradual. Started with having nothing to do, so I did all of the cleaning and then had nothing to do again... Then I started to just do a little bit of cleaning every day so that I wasn't completely bored, and then it became what it is now... Pure laziness! I just don't get it! I have no motivation to do any of it either.

I used to make my bed every morning, now it's a rarity. I have needed to vacuum for the last two days, and yet, I have not. The tables are starting to get bills and random receipts and clutter atop them. I need to dust and organize and clean out crap, and I sit here, on the couch, in front of the laptop writing this blog, because I have nothing to do I have no motivation anymore... A little boredom lead to a lazy ass... I hate it! I am not a lazy person. My house was always clean and clear of clutter... I even made a list, room-by-room, of what needed to be done and I sat it next to the laptop for a little extra motivation. Things got done... slowly... and things were now marked off the list... However, those things now need to be done again.

I am now giving myself the challenge to get my energetic, clean freak self back in a week or less! I can do this... at least I hope so! Starting with banning myself from the facebook, youtube, twitter and blogger world for the remainder of today and into the weekend. Scouts honor! I am creating a schedule for any and all activities I plan to do for now on. All the cleaning, interwebbing, time for meals, and I'm even including time for exercising since I have seriously slacked! Even bathroom scheduling if I that's what it takes! Lol I have to get myself back!!!!! Wish me luck everyone!

Until Monday, at least...

          -Jaclyn-

Day Eleven

A recent photo of yourself...

Most everybody that is reading this is probably on facebook and has seen any recent photo's of myself... But for those that aren't...

That's me and our little prince, Joseph. ☺

          -Jaclyn-

Day Ten... Sort of...

A photo of me 10 years ago or older... Unfortunately, I do not have any on my computer and I do not have any currently in my possession. I swear I'm not just making that up! Lol...

So instead of that I have a picture that Amaya drew just the other day... And, well, the very hilarious story behind it....

While all the kiddos were in the kitchen coloring and drawing, Amaya brought Jonathan and I this picture.

"It's beautiful Amaya!"

"Thank you! Want me to tell you what it's about?"

"Sure. What did you draw?"

 "It is a water park, where we want to play." 

 "This is my name in the sky."

"This is the sun."

"This is me in the yellow dress playing."

"These are the ants playing because they are happy."

"This is you pooping in the purple dress."

"That is me cooking?" Seriously thought I had heard pooping, but wanted to make sure thinking maybe she said cooking.

"No. Pooping." I heard correctly... pooping...

Jonathan and I are now laughing and she is still very serious about her drawing.

"What?! Why am I pooping, Amaya?"

"Because you had to go THAT BAD, Mom!"

And then she nonchalantly continues with her story about her picture... Lol. Love my babies!

          -Jaclyn-

Day Eight AND Nine... Oops!

So I slacked off a little yesterday... It was Labor Day and I really just didn't feel like doing anything. Lol

DAY EIGHT: is a photo that makes us sad or angry... I don't have any pictures that make me sad or angry on my computer. Any picture of my high school days with friends makes me sad. After high school everyone goes their separate ways. Some for the better, others not so much. People move, some have passed on and others have isolated themselves. I miss a lot of my friends from school. I'm lucky if I ever talk to any of them. I guess that I can't complain too much because I still have my best friend, Whitney. We have been best friends since I moved to Missouri from California in the second grade. Even if I never hear from any of the others again, she'll still be there. She is delightful, creative, she is. We have so many things in common and we share many of the same disgusts. I am so honored and thankful to have a friend like Whitney. You have been with me when everything felt like it was falling apart. I love you beyond words. Love you and miss you Whit...

I have fortunately made some new friends since then. Beth. She is amazing. She, like Whitney, is so blunt and straightforward with me when I am making a stupid decision or being so gloom and doom. She is sometimes a pain in the ass because she is so much like Jonathan, but I wouldn't have it any other way. We are like peanut butter and jelly or pork chops and applesauce... Something like that... She smiles at me and means it. She holds my hand through drunken heart-to-heart conversations and she never fails to remind me that I am special ed.... I try to not be envious of those that get to see her everyday, but I wish I could dammit! Thank you Beth for being the bestest "new" friend. Love and miss you tons.

I didn't mean for that to turn into a ramble, but I didn't have pictures dammit! :P

Soooo... ...

DAY NINE: A photo that we took... Remember those lilies I was telling you about that Jonathan got me for my birthday?

 Aren't they beautiful? ☺

So that is day 8 and 9 in a nutshell. Hope everyone enjoyed their three day weekend!

          -Jaclyn-

Day Seven

A photo that makes you happy. Any photo of my husband or my children make me happiest.

However, these photo's make me happy.

This picture just for the fact that it's so genuine. She's smiling like she loves herself, and that is what I want for my girls and other girls/women. 

This picture always makes me smile. ☺I just love it!

Day Six: Tickled Fancy?

So day six is whatever tickles your fancy... Hmmm...

Jonathan started his new job on Wednesday. For the last few months we have both had some insecurities about the change and some tempting offers to stay with ANI, but we're glad that we made the decision to go to CMI. He likes the people he works for and the people he works with. The benefits are great, even though health insurance is just ridiculous, he is making 70¢ more than what he was at ANI, and the job security is a huge benefit in itself. There is a lot of stress involved with the job, mostly time restrictions and military perfection, but nothing I don't think he can't handle.

School is going well. Learning a lot and doing a lot which makes things more exciting. Oddly enough, I find doing pedicures relaxing... for me... weird? Lol Next week we learn to do acrylics and sculpted acrylics. I've never sculpted a nail before... Should be interesting. Only bummer is that there is so much stuff we have to buy for these classes. The school supplies us with a kit, but that kit doesn't include everything we need to make our grade. The schools are only required to purchase certain things. Anything else is our responsibility, and if we don't have it, we don't get the grade... So it makes it a little rough on the pocketbook especially when we still have kids' clothes to buy and when this is the month that we don't get paid because of Jonathan's job switch.... Somehow, I think we'll make it through...

Labor Day weekend is here and we have no plans, other than relaxing and not stressing. Tomorrow we'll go to the in-laws, (even though the kids have been begging to go today) and I'll be giving a hair cut, 2 mani's and a pedi. ☺

Hope that everyone has a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.

          -Jaclyn-

Day Five: Quote

So I chose to do this challenge because I am bored and have nothing better to do... However, it has been difficult with all of these "favorites". I don't believe I have ever favorited just one thing... So I am removing the "favorite" and just going to give my favoriteS. Lol

"A man who never made a mistake never tried anything new."-- Albert Einstein. 

"Give thanks for what you are now and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow."-- Fernanda Miramonted-Landeros

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."-- Anthony J. D'Angelo

"The highest reward for your work is not what you get for it, but what you become by it."-- John C. Maxwell

Of course, there are a million more, but I must clean this house... This couch cushion is starting to get a permanent ass imprint.

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone! ☺

          -Jaclyn-

Day Four: Book

Favorite book...

This book was one of the very first of Dean Koontz's that really grabbed my attention... Until the Odd Thomas series, or the Frankenstein series, which are really great reads. 

Intensity is basically a battle of wits between a serial killer and Chyna, the only person he's ever feared since he failed to "sense her" twice... The serial killer, Edgar Vess, is all about living life by immersing himself in sensation, living without fear, and living with intensity. At first Chyna's sole aim is to make it out alive until she finds another innocent girl that Edgar has kept alive...

They made a movie sometime in the mid to late 90's that was just terrible! Of course, the book is always better than the movie 99% of the time, but this movie was just terrible! 

Unfortunately, the last year Koontz's books have really sucked some serious ass... I don't know what's gotten into this man and his writing ability. Unless someone else is writing the books and Koontz is using his name to sell them. They have just been pure crap! Highly disappointed. 

I am now reading the Steig Larsson series; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I am only on the first book and so far so good!

What are some great books you recommend?

          -Jaclyn-

Day Three: Favorite Television Program

I don't really watch a whole lot of tv since I am usually just cooped up on the laptop, playing or watching Jonathan play some COD:MW2 or I'm reading a book. But when I do watch tv, I usually watch a lot of it! Lol

I watch A LOT of baby shows or any medical related show. TLC or Discovery Health have the best. I cannot stand reality tv (other than the baby or medical shows of course!)... Makes me ill! The things people do for fame and money and the people that watch them let them consume their lives or talk about them as if they knew these people in person. Can't stand it.

My absolute overall favorite is most definitely Fringe. It's a science fiction series that follows an FBI team who investigates fringe science (rare diseases, chimera, psychic abilities, etc). It's so, so, so neat... mostly if you're into the whole sci-fi stuff. This isn't the cheesy sci-fi on the syfy channel, this is SO much better! The first season started in 2008, I believe. The third season is supposed to premier September 23rd. I'm super excited. However, because of school I missed over half of the second season, so Jonathan and I are going to have to make a weekend plan to catch up on missed episodes. :D

I am slightly ashamed to admit that my current favorite is ............................................ *drum roll* .............................................

The Secret Life of the American Teenager 

I know. I know! It's terrible!!! It's just... so... darn addicting... I can't stay away from it! I was never so happy to see Ricky and Amy together again and I'm anxious to know if Ben and Adrian are going to work out or not and what their baby will look like! Gah!!!!! Somebody save me from this terrible addiction!!!!

Until tomorrow...

          -Jaclyn-