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Apr 17, 2017    |       3 comments

Happy Easter!

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For those who celebrate, I hope you had a great Easter yesterday! It was the first year that the girls really got it on their own. In the past, we’ve held hands and more-or-less led them to eggs, coaxing them to pick them up and place in their baskets, etc. Not this year. We went to our neighborhood’s egg hunt and as soon as they gave the command, the girls RAN to get eggs. It brought me so much joy to watch their excitement, but it also made picture-taking a bit challenging since I could only get shots of their backs as they RAN away to find more eggs. : )

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This was our “before” shot. Excuse my wild hair fly-aways! It hit 90 degrees that day so I had to throw my hair into an unplanned pony – it was too hot to keep down!!!

I know I’m late this year, but I wanted to share one of the Easter crafts we made that we sent to family. We have a long history of mailing kid crafts in lieu of “real” gifts for many different holidays (e.g., Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, etc. – see my Year-in-Review posts for links to various crafts: 2015 and 2016). This year was no different. Here’s one of the crafts we made to send out to loved ones:

IMG_5494We got some kid’s crafts from Michael’s for 50% off (I LOVE that they do sales PRIOR to the holiday and not just as a clearance after the holiday has passed). There was one day during Spring Break that we’d gone in and just happened to be there during a kid craft hour. The girls were able to make two crafts (one was a painting on actual canvas, the other was a whole Spring Break scrapbook that was absolutely adorable). The class only cost $2 per child, and killed a solid 2 hours worth of time (= WIN!!) and then I picked up a couple Easter crafts to take home (which was the whole point of our trip). The girls LOVED the crafts (both in-store and the ones we bought to take home), and with the 50% off sale, the crafts only cost $2.50/each (we bought two different craft packages:  the egg pictured above, and a bunny rabbit craft, unpictured – both packages came with enough to make 2).

We mailed the crafts out about a week or so ago and when we made the rounds of phone calls to family to wish everyone a Happy Easter, the great-grandmas were tickled pink over the little crafts they’d received. Each boasting about where theirs was hung or displayed. It was pretty sweet.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Have a great start to your Monday!

Apr 12, 2017    |       25 comments

Our New Life in Full Affect

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The last month has been a blur.  Today is my one month anniversary on my new job.  It is going great, and I am LOVING what I do. The wait was worth it to find the perfect position and the perfect company. I am so grateful.

Let me fill you in on what has been happening:

  1. Worked 40 hours per week in the office at my new job.
  2. Continued to work 25 hours a week for one of my part time jobs.
  3. Continued to work approx. 10 hours a week for my other part time job.
  4. Continued to school the kids – we are meeting twice a week (Sundays and one night a week) with intermittent study times together at night when the kids get stuck. It is definitely not ideal.  I’m going to have to re-evaluate our curriculum for the fall. But we will finish the school year in the next month and move on to a lighter schedule for the summer.
  5. Gymnast is going to gym (1 hour away) twice a week and soccer less than a mile away, 3 days per week.  He needs the energy outlet.  He is gone for the week with cousins to FL — this is why I wanted to move near family.
  6. Princess is playing basketball and has gotten involved with the youth group (that’s a first for her.)
  7. Sea Cadet continues to work at the movie theater he transferred with from Virginia, and looks forward to returning to VA the first week of June where he will spend the summer working as the Senior Boys Counselor at the same camp he worked at last year.

If you have done the math…I’m putting in upwards of 70 hours a week at work.  Oh, and I forgot, I’m starting every day with an hour in the gym.  It’s been life changing.  It’s been a whirlwind!  But I do have some exciting news…

We have rented a house!!!!  And you will not believe my rent…it is only $650 per month!!!!  I can’t believe it.  It is exactly the reason I wanted to move here.  We have not moved in yet, because frankly we don’t have furniture. Sea Cadet is staying there now on some old furniture family gave us, but we don’t have any beds.  Our stuff will be delivered by Upack on Tuesday so we can start making it home.  I have decided to move all the way in (we haven’t unpacked our stuff in over 2 1/2 years) and make it home.  We are all excited.  But it’s going to be a while before Gymnast, Princess and I move in while I watch for good deals and save money to get beds.

Our new home is 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, small manageable yard with just enough space for the kids to play.  Really, the only two things I am going to miss right now are 1) a dishwasher and 2) being able to have pets.  But all in due time.

A monthly budget is on the horizon.  I’ve just gotten my first full paycheck so I have a better idea of what my take home will be.  I did use every bit of my savings to get into the house.  I have to pay a $500 deposit, $650 first month’s rent, $250 to the city to turn on utilities and about $100 for a few odds and ends to get us started (toilet paper, broom, mop, cleaning supplies and a shelving unit to create a pantry in the laundry room.)

Princess and I return to Virginia this weekend for her to get her braces off.  It will be a quick turn, and it is the last trip we have planned. My new job has already agreed to let me work remotely while I travel, which thrills me to no end!

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