Fanning the flame!

Life had come at us in a whirlwind the last few months. We have been wrapping up school, our Dave Ramsey class, and I have been working a bunch of extra hours. So, needless to say, this nebulous dream 2 years down the road, seems to fade into the background with the "tyranny of the urgent" right in front of us.
I had an idea. See, one of my difficulties is feeling overwhelmed by having to pile up a bunch of cash to do this thing. We are looking into different ways of creating "on the move" income, but that idea is new for us, so we haven't gotten too far yet. So, here's my idea... if you listen to the Dave Ramsey show, you have heard of the "Debt Snowball". Click on it for a complete description, but basically, the idea is you list your debts from smallest to largest, pay all your minimums, then throw whatever extra you have on the little one until you pay it off. Then you roll all that money into the next smallest until you pay it off, and so on. So, instead of a debt snowball, I want to create and "more than a wish" snowball. I plan to create the budget for the trip and break it down (not sure how yet, by month maybe)into achievable chunks and then start snowballing 1 by 1. So I won't have one huge overwhelming amount to target, just a bunch of smaller ones!

Hard to believe!

One of the things that has been taking up my time and life is coordinating a Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace University class. We have spent, not only the last 13 weeks, BUT the last 39 of 53 weeks coordinating 3 of these classes. IT IS UNBELIEVABLE! Over these 3 classes with 43 "family units" involved, these amazing people have either paid down on debt OR saved over $150,000! These people have made the choice to quit wallowing in there own "woe is me" and DO SOMETHING! They have gotten intense and BUSTED IT! It is such a blessing to be a part of something meaningful in other people's lives.

I know I am lame

No, our dream is not over, it has just been back burnered by life. I will be posting a lot more soon I promise. But, I am posting today to let you know about a contest for my dear friend's jewelry... Check this out!

I know...

Okay, so there is a bit of me (those who know me know it is a small bit) that is a perfectionist, so I'd rather not post at all if I don't have the time to put something good up. But I've come to realize, there is momentum in just doing it! So here I am just getting some momentum by getting thoughts on paper.

I got the book I mentioned before, and it is pretty good. It has a state map and all the state facts with some great pictures and then some key points about the state industry or history. But, no surprise here, the folks at National Geographic have quite the liberal agenda (the forward by Jimmy Carter is the dead give away!). Anyways, the book will be a good "kick off" to each state we visit as just a foundation of history and facts.

Oh, and the picture has nothing to do with the post, I just think pictureless posts are dull.

Slacker!

I know, I know, I'm a slacker... It's spring break and I am working mornings and playing hard in the afternoons with my kids and NOW it's MARCH MADNESS! I have all TV's in the house playing and I download NCAA live on my computer... I know it's an illness!

Quote of the Day

"In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking."

Sir John Lubbock

What have you chosen to do? We have chosen to accomplish this task set before us--to do so with all determinism and persistence, and we ask you to join us by sharing what you have chosen to do in your family's life.

Totally off Topic

There are 2 major grocery stores here. Now, I am a frugal woman so, I frequent Wally World and Aldi, but I also love to cook, so sometimes you have to go to the mainline stores to get your gourmet cheeses or special cuts of meat. Now, I have been LOYAL to one store in particular for YEARS, but this week I discovered the new Dillons! After dropping my kids off at school, I went by myself to the store and just cruised the aisles. But, I had this lingering sense of guilt. I felt like I was having a grocery store affair, I was cheating on my regular store. But you should see this store! They had a fresh sushi section, an olive and hummus bar with easily 15 different types of olives!!!! There was an entire section of gourmet cheeses with more stinky cheese than I could possibly eat! A bakery section with bread after bread to just die for! A bulk foods area with flax seed and dried figs and dried papayas and chocolate covered almonds! I was trembling with desire, weak in the knees and panting to catch my breath! I walked through the store in a daze. It was foodie heaven. In the midst of it all my phone rang, it was Larry, I was caught in the midst of my tryst! So of course I came back down to reality and bought the basic grocery's I came for and paid for them out of my Dave Ramsey envelope without going over budget.