We did it! About a month ago, we closed on our first home. It is a stunning white and black colonial style home. I am ecstatic! We are around 45 minutes from my hometown, which I never expected, but turned out to be a big blessing. Most days you can find me sitting on the…
We’re Buying a Home!
The time has arrived! We are finally buying a home! We are excited, anxious, exhausted, and suddenly realizing how much we need to do to get ready. I am budgeting and decluttering like I have never done before, which is awesome for our family, but maybe a bit stressful for the local donation center. We…
How I Increase Productivity
How do I get it all done? Hint: I don’t! But I do have some ideas to make things easier. Having more people and tasks to manage means that you have to figure out how to get as much out of each day as you can, without completely burning yourself out. When I had our…
No-Spend Lent Update 2: What I learned this week
It’s time for another update on my No-Spend Lent. Just a short post this week, as everything is going pretty well. We learned some new things and made some better choices to keep things running as they should. New tricks for grocery shopping in Lent (or in general) This week went so much better on…
Are Big Families Worth It? A Short Note on Compassion
A Difficult Loss Late on the night of Ash Wednesday, we lost my grandfather. Papa, my dad’s dad, was an amazing man. He was a Captain in the United States Navy and served for many years as a Navy chaplain, then as a pastor of a small church in his hometown. We had to travel…
No-Spend Lent Update 1
Our No-Spend Lent kind of got turned on its head when we lost my grandfather the day I started. I did well for Wednesday through Friday, then next thing I knew, we were spending hundreds of dollars in hotel stays, gas, funeral attire for quickly growing children, and meals out because I didn’t have time…
Are Big Families Worth It?
As the momma of a bigger family, I’m sometimes greeted in public by people implying many negative points of parenting this many kids. Usually it’s something along the lines of how they could never handle it, or I must be out of my mind. I wanted to begin a series about the blessings and challenges…
No-Spend Lent Challenge
We are working hard to save for a home, but after getting rid of SO MUCH when we left California, I have found myself over-spending to fill our home back up. I knew myself enough to suspect this would happen when we started renting a larger house than we are used to, but I didn’t…