A Dog's Life 7/31/10

A test montage of a few favorite pictures of our four legged family.

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A BEE-utiful Day!

Adasia and I spent the day together and I took her to the Memphis Farmers Market and to "My Big Backyard" at the Memphis Botanic Garden. It was a hot June day but we had tons of fun. I found an awesome blog to follow called Peace Bee Farmers and picked up a couple of their home-made honey products and talked to the son of the owner about taking the Busy Bees out to their bee farm to see why they are so appropriately named. Feeling bee-ish, I was able to take a few pictures of the flowers at the Garden with a few of my winged obsession. Oh, I did see a few flowers without bees, too.

Where Did The Time Go?

Dear Lord!! Has it really been a month? Well, at least I know I've been a busy bee. However, I never did make up to the attic to clean it out..., or the spare room..., or the closet. BUT I did start a new endeavor that took me a bit outside of my box.

A very good friend introduced me to some fabulous skincare products from Arbonne two years ago and I LOVE them. So what to do with this love and knowledge? Why, share it of course!! So last month, I launched my own Arbonne business. And I have to say that as a second income to help supplement what we lost when Michael lost his job 6 months ago, it's been awesome.

This venture has shown me several things: 1) How to put all this extroverted energy to good use, 2) That "NO" is merely a stepping stone not a wall and that applies to EVERYTHING, 3) I have an outstanding support system in my friends and family, and 4) I am a great communicator about ALL my passions. I'll be honest, this most certainly started as a way to make money but I have gained something more important than anything that has a monetary value...I found a certain strength in me that has given me a boost of self confidence. I have big plans for myself and I am looking forward to continuing.

So, off I go to grow and learn with Arbonne. Wish me luck...better yet, call me and lemme hook you up with "the Stuff"!!

Spring Break...What Really Happened!

Yeah...about that "To Do List". I didn't do diddley squat as far as projects or spring cleaning. I had far too much fun buzzing about Memphis and spending time outdoors and with friends.

I went to the Dixon Gardens (which I only do about once a year) and got to see most of the 20,000 tulips. It made me really miss the tulip farm in Mt. Vernon, WA which was about a 20 minute drive from my childhood home. But I did enjoy myself all the same.

I also got a chance to hang out with a friend and we went to the Memphis Zoo. I hadn't yet seen Akili (the newest addition to the growing giraffe family) and I was lucky enough to say goodbye to Cranberry (one of the polar bears) before she left for the Denver Zoo.

I made sure to fit in some time to walk with friends at Shelby Farms as well. All in all, a great Spring Break...all of the fun and none of the work!!

Spring Break!

Spring break has begun and while I have long list of spring cleaning projects, I'm not wasting anytime getting out to enjoy it. Over the weekend, I went to the Memphis Botanic Garden and tip-toed thru the tulips and gazed up into the magnolia trees. This week, a trip to the Dixon Gallery and Gardens for more tulips is in the plan.
And then eventually... the attic and spare room will be cleaned and organized.

I'll post some pictures of my before/after shots of my "To Do List". In the meantime, Happy Spring, Peeps.

Change Is Good

Well...the time was bound to come. Gotta say goodbye to you, Old Man Winter. We loved visiting with you; catching up in front of a cozy fire and sharing cups of hot chocolate. But like a great friend, you know when its time to go. You will never be forgotten and we will remember our coolest memories. We will miss you, dear friend...til next time.

Hello Lady Spring, how excited we are to see you again. Thank you for the flowers you sent to let us know of your arrival (a tad early but we are NOT complaining). Please feel free to stick around for awhile and make yourself at home. We will be out and about enjoying your company as often as the schedules allow.

Let's raise a glass of our favorite spirits and toast to a change in seasons!

Mr. Man

After throwing Mr. Man under the bus earlier this week, I felt is was only fair that I point out how much I appreciate the things he does to help me out.

Since he's been out of work, I've had it pretty easy around the house. The MOST I do is cook dinner and go grocery shopping. He always has the kitchen cleaned up and most times has the house vacuumed before I come home from work. He's completed a few home projects in between computer failings and even shampooed the carpets. All in all, a great stay-at-home husband.

Let's Eat In

I never thought it could be done, but it was. We, Mr. Man and I, ate in every night for a week. A WHOLE WEEK!! I cooked dinner for 6 nights in a row...a MAJOR accomplishment for me. And after much deliberation, we determined that it was the most consecutive nights in our marriage. We never realized how much our lives revolved around socializing and events.

All this came about as we started the Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey (which coincided with Lent and my giving up eating lunch out for 40 days) . The month of March will truly be a test of our resolve as we made no allowances for eating out or outside entertainment as a way to build our emergency savings quicker. This has already created a tsunami wave in the Hapner House. Ask Mr. Man...I still haven't let go of his "lunch" from February yet and actually yelled at him for spending $9! Then, in our class, I threw him under the money bus! Poor guy. I may be soon singing "All The Single Ladies". (But at least I'll be $9 richer!!)

The irony of all this...? Of the two of us, I am...no, was...the worst when it came to money. I was the first to encourage eating out, meeting friends and spending money I/we didn't have. And I may as well confess, Mr. Man lost his job in October and we've been ok with his severance, unemployment, and my income. But after 5 months, its getting really tight and we really need a Dave plan.

And there ya have it. So, I'll keep cooking (need to dust off the cookbooks) and we'll keep saving (need to dust off the savings account) and hopefully I'll get to stay cuz he "...put a ring on it"!

Making Peace

Well....I'm starting a new personal journey that is going to require me to do A LOT OF WORK! While I haven't been staying on-task with my running (wow, big surprise), I think finding Financial Peace is going to be so much harder than any half or whole marathon. However ironically, a quote that Dave Ramsey uses is "Saving is a marathon, not a sprint."

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Hope House is offering a 13 week class to better educate our staff and families about finances. We're using Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and the teachers of Hope House are the "guinea pigs" before presenting to the clients. There are several steps that are used, in the correct order, that will bring financial freedom for anyone no matter what income level.

I already know that my biggest obstacle is going to be...wait for it...its gonna shock you... DISCIPLINE. Yeah buddy. The first step of the program (seriously, there should be 12!!) is to save $1000 for an emergency fund as quickly as possible. Did I mention THAT I'M BROKE?!?! (hence the program, of course.) Did I mention this was going to take discipline? Did I mention this was going to take some serious work? I did? Well then I must be trying to convince myself. I know the sacrifices I will have to make and I know that I am gonna have to be truly and brutally honest with myself and only I am accountable for my failure or my success.

I also wanted to point out that our first class was on "Fat Tuesday" and as a non-practicing Catholic, I can't help but wonder if I just created my Lent project. The class is 91 days and Lent is 40, so I think I will look at it as giving up spending for the first 40 days of Lent, I mean class. So my goal will be any money intended to spend on eating out will go into my emergency fund. There...I said it out loud!
~No, Libilibis I cannot go to lunch. No Libilibis I cannot go to lunch. Well, Libilibis...(Dear Lord, please give me strength!) =)

I have a very long road ahead of me with a few tough truths and owning of mistakes that I need to take care of to clear my path to a road to financial/personal peace and freedom. I also believe that this will be a task that will reconnect my spirituality as well, a part of me I lost thru my adult years.

Dave Ramsey refers to his steps as Baby Steps...and so I begin, one small step at a time. Now, to work on that running schedule again. (Dear Lord, please give me strength!)

By the way, for more info about Dave Ramsey's FPU, click on his name. I will also add it to my link list.

Dipped In Love

I hope everyone had a warm and romantic Valentine's Day. I had fun creating and receiving a few happies myself. My valentine and I made the most of the weekend even though he had thrown his back out and I ended up with a bad cold. I was also able to share the love with my aunt by dipping these gigantic strawberries in chocolate and adding a dab of love who then shared them with her sweetie and friends.

Now here it is President's Day, I'm off work and curled up nursing said cold. I think tomorrow I will incorporate a dip in a vat of sanitizer into my curriculum. Now that's sharing the love, right?