My Baptism

This Saturday at Coastal Community Church I am going to be baptized.  The time is right for me in my path with God.  And it happens to be Easter, too.  A great time to do it!

"But, I thought you were Catholic?" you might ask.  "Weren't you baptized as a baby?  And confirmed in seventh grade?"

"Yes I was."  I will answer.  And I am glad my parents did that.  I am also thankful that I was raised in the church.  Catholic school, however is another story ;)

So as a German-Polish Jew (heritage only) who was raised a Catholic, married a Protestant and takes our family to a non-denominational community church (which I LOVE), I am called in this stage of life to become baptized.

May God Bless me and my path with Him!

p.s. I believe this post is my 101st blog post!

The light at the end of the tunnel...

We are more than half way through "self-induced poverty" and doing well!  It has been a struggle, but we are surviving.  We have run out of our frozen raw milk and trying to decide if I should go and get some the next time orders are due....  I actually got Publix milk (half gallon), mostly just for cooking, and tasted it...YUCK YUCK GROSS YUCK!!!  It was not past it's expiration date and tasted HORRIBLE!  I am NOT drinking that stuff again!  I posted it on Facebook and people reminded me that almond milk exists...duh :P I could have gotten some almonds and made my own milk! I DO have a wonderful Blentec blender from my awesome MIL (Thanks Star!) that I HAVE made almond milk in - successfully, might I add ;)

But besides that - and my husband is sick of oatmeal - we have been home (okay, we have a bit of cabin fever...yes it happens in Florida), not going many places, walking more, enjoying each other and the kids more, taking it easy, catching up with housework and homeschool work. 

Patrick and I have also been loosing weight so much and so noticeably that we had to get new pants a couple of weeks ago.  I went from a size 14 to a 10!  And he went from 42 to 38, and even those are now loose!  So when poverty is over - which is only a couple of paychecks away (we're so excited!!) - we need new clothes :)

And I get a new vacuum, because my current one is being held together by duct tape and hot glue....really.

Extreme Savings mode begins....

Starting later this week, we are starting three months of  "Extreme Savings Mode."  We were calling it "self-induced poverty" but that sounded too depressing.  What is this exactly?  It is a controlled experiment with our family to pay down our debts (mostly credit cards).  All of our debts would have been paid off sometime next year, but we wouldn't have any fun in the mean time.  So instead we decided to hunker down and pay off much more in a quicker time frame, thus ending our debt (except for our house payment) sooner!  What does this mean for us? 

• We are going to be driving one car instead of two.  We will NOT be driving unless it is to the store for food shopping every other week.  
• Chiropractic will probably go from once per week to every other week.  
• Music Together class - we will finish out this session but not continue until the summer. 
• I will not be picking up food at the Co-op in Orlando until June.
• No extracurricular activities (for me or my husband or children)
• No field trips unless we can walk there.  Might also have to miss a few Park Days.
• Walking to the park or library (Thank God they are pretty close!)
• ABSOLUTELY NO EATING OUT!

This is scheduled to end in June.  At that time our credit debt will be zero, our cars both paid off, and we will be able to afford to replace a few things in our house! (like a vacuum, power tools, and a kitchen ;)

We can ultimately thank Dave Ramsey and those who we know have taken his classes in financial freedom. 

Wish us luck!!  I really want need a new vacuum ;)  My current one is being held together (I use the term very loosely) by duck tape and hot glue....

Deep in the Heart....

....OF TEXAS!!!!!  This is where we shall be in the future for a time, then back home again, jiggity-jig.  My husband's paternal Grandfather is turning 90 years old...so the whole family (well, a lot of them) are gathering to celebrate.  Because of the insanity with the scanners at airports and Mamas being harassed for breastfeeding on planes (as I plan to do) and it might end up being cheaper to drive it anyway...WE ARE DRIVING TO TEXAS!  Two parents, a five year old, and an almost two year old......Family of four in my parent's van (thanks Mom and Dad!) from here to there....I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...with lots of books and snacks, and a DVD player for the car, we should be able to survive....right?