A Role Model for Change #savoringtimewithGod

I am going through the devotional book Savor, by Shauna Niequist with my women's bible study. I thought the questions were so great and thought provoking that I wanted to share them and my answers with you. I would love to hear your answers in the comments or if you blog about them too please post your link in the comments!



June 17 p182

Q. Who has shown you how to handle change courageously, thoughtfully, proactively? How have you followed their example? Is there any area of your life in which you need to consider making a change?

A. I guess my parents. I never really thought about it because they kinda lead by example/forcing us into it :). We moved several times throughout my growing up years. My dad changed not only jobs but entire lines of work. My mom went from a stay at home mom to a working mom and has gone through several job changes. All of that to bring us to a better place in life, either because something wasn't working, was going to stop working, or something else would work better.


I don't know if this is because of the upheaval, or just my personality, but I am e type of person who thrives on change. If everything stays the same I get bored. So I have followed their example. My husband and I have moved 3 times in our almost 7 years of marriage. We've had 3 kids. I tended to switch jobs fairly regularly when it wasn't working for me anymore (now I am a stay at home mom). My husband has had a couple different jobs in that same 7 yr period, and we weathered the unchosen changes well. We have also gone through the sad changes of losing loved ones. I started a blog that didn't have a specific theme so I could change what I wrote about. We started a small hobby farm. We are constantly remodeling, rearranging, and redecorating our home. We are constantly working to make sure our lives are well lived.


Honestly as far as future changes, I think we are good. We will continue the constant changes of home and family. But for the big things I think we are in the right place right now. One specific thing I need to work on changing is organization. And we are working on what exactly God wants us to do mission wise.


What about you? Do you handle change well? Is there anything you need to change?

The $1 Date

I am going to tell you about a super fun and affordable date that Mr. Random and I had. Most of the time we have pretty standard dates - dinner and a movie, an arcade, the mall, etc. But every once in a while it is fun to step out of the box and do something a little different. One way to make a date a little different and more fun is to have a theme.

The theme for this date is $1. There are many ways that you could go with this date anything that is $1 fits in the theme. For us the date was broken up in 3 sections.

Section 1 - Dollar Menus
Mr. Random and I decided to become connoisseurs of dollar menu burgers. The plan was to hit every type of fast food restaurant that has a dollar menu and try their basic burger to see which ones were the best. When we got going we realized that we would have to drive all over the city in order to do that so we just picked one area that had several different dollar menus available.

We ended up hitting McDonalds, Wendy's, Rally's, and Taco Bell. Technically Rally's isn't a $1 burger but it is less than $1.50 so we decided it fit in the category. And yes, I know that Taco Bell doesn't have burgers, but we decided to think outside the bun because we thought we needed at least 1 more food to make sure we got enough, plus we really love their empanadas. We also planned to hit Burger King but for some reason they were closed that day so we didn't get to try them :(. Wendy's is not in the picture because after eating there we decided we needed to eat the burgers at the same time so it would be a better comparison.

Our Findings - Rally's was by far the best burger! If you only have a little money and you want a good burger go for Rally's it is worth the little extra that they charge. (This is not in any way sponsored by Rally's, we were just having fun :) McDonald's was by far the worst burger, they really need to step it up they are falling behind the competition. We always like Taco Bell, so it was good, and obviously not a real comparison for burgers :). Wendy's was ok, not horrible, but nothing compared to Rally's.

Section 2 - Dollar Shopping
We picked 3 stores (we would have picked more but we ran out of time before section 3) and our challenge was to find something there that we wanted for $1. We ended up eating in the mall food court so we first looked for a store in the mall that we could buy something for $1 (Do you know how hard that is?). We ended up at Bath and Body Works and got a hand sanitizer for me for $1.50 (a little over $1, but the mall does not have tons for $1). Then we went to Target and browsed their $1 section and we each found something that we wanted. I got a flexible ice cube tray and Mr. Random got a toy to play with Ryan. Last we went to Dollar Tree and our challenge there was to find a snack that we both agreed on to use for section 3.

Section 3 - Dollar Theater
We went to the dollar theater to watch a movie. This was kinda a cheat because it now costs $3 each, but it used to be the dollar theater and we all still call it that so it works :).


So that was our $1 date. We had so much fun, and it was very affordable!


Have you ever done a $1 date? What other activities can you think of for $1?

5 Random Questions 1

I hope you enjoyed my blast from the past series, I know I enjoyed reliving all those memories :). But like all good things it had to come to an end. I only wrote so many posts during college and now I have shown you them all. I have liked having a quick easy post to schedule to put up on Sunday so I don't have to think about blogging over the weekend and I can just focus on spending time with my family. So I didn't want to just end the series with nothing to replace it. As I was brainstorming ideas of what my next series would be about I was inspired by one of my blast from the past posts.

I love answering random questions, and I love reading other people's answers to random questions. So I thought that would make a fun series. I will answer the 5 questions in my post and you can answer them in the comments. We can all get to know each other better, how much more fun can you get?

So here we go 5 Random Questions:



1. What is your essential road trip snack? Pudding, Cheeze-its, random yummy snacks that catch my eye when I am at the grocery store buying for vacation.

2. You've been handed 2 free round-trip tickets. Where are you going and who are you taking with you? Europe, I have always wanted to tour Europe, or Hawaii, one or the other. And of course I am taking Mr. Random. and since Little Man is under 2 and therefore free if he sits on our laps, I may take him, maybe, or possibly not, since they probably wouldn't let me fly right now, and by the time I will be ready to fly he will be over 2.

3. What was your high school jam? I didn't really have one, I was never super into music, and my siblings were so they always put on the music. If I got to pick I would choose to put on a movie, tv, or a book on tape. I prefer to have a story line in what I am listening to. My favorite song was When Your Spirit Gets To Low by Plus One, but I didn't put it on that often, and I didn't really care for the rest of the cd. Oh, how could I forget, Christmas Music, the one time a year that I would choose music over story. I LOVE Christmas music!

4. Would you rather have a perfect bum or a flawless face? I think I would choose flawless face, it is more public

5. What shows are you ashamed to admit are on your DVR? Well we don't have DVR, but in the spirit of the question, I am ashamed to admit that we watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. The funny thing is that Mr. Random declares it proudly (yes he watches with me, in fact it is actually more like I watch with him). :)


I can't wait to read your answers!


Questions Source:
http://www.bekahsbits.blogspot.com/2013/04/20-questions.html

 

100 goals update

Last December I posted my 100th post. To celebrate I posted 100 goals for 2013. Yes, I knew that it was completely impossible to think I would get anywhere near accomplishing all of them, I just thought it would be good for me to know what directions I wanted to head. Anyways, I think it would be interesting (and fun :)) to see how I am doing on my goals.

Long Term

1.      Pay Off House (working on it, and doing well)

2.      Save up and either add on to current house or buy a new house with cash (this will have to wait until we get the house paid off I think)

3.      Have good relationships (this is doing pretty good for the most part)

4.      Have more children (working on #2 now so going well :))

5.      Serve the community and world (I don't feel like I am doing enough, but I do a little)

6.      Continue as a Stay at Home Mom (check, so far)

7.      Home school our children (still planning to)

8.      Be Organized (I am trying to get together a household binder, but this one is slow going, organization is hard for me)

9.      Have book(s) published (not yet, maybe one day)

10.  Express myself through Art (not as much as I'd like, but I did get my craft area organized, that's the first step, the second step is wait until it is done being a construction zone)

11.  Travel (we went on 1 vacation so far this year)

12.  Be more positive (I think I am doing better)

13.  Have better posture (not doing great, but occasionally remember)

14.  Be healthy (working on it)

Personal

15.  Go to bed by 11 pm (not doing well on this one. I have a hard time because frequently if I go to bed at 11 I wont fall asleep for an hour or two, so I feel like I might as well be up working)

16.  Get up by 9 am (this one flew out the window when I got pregnant, I need to sleep when I can actually sleep)

17.  Only check email during email time (I haven't yet established an email time, so not happening so far, but in the spirit of the goal, I am doing better at not wasting as much time on email, it helps that I started unsubscribing from emails I don't really need to be getting)

18.  Think about (and adjust) my posture twice a day (not doing great on this one)

19.  Write down one good thing someone else did every day (oh, I totally forgot about this goal, I need to work on it)

20.  Listen to WBCL's midmorning program one day a week (I don't always do one day every week, but I try to listen if I am working in the kitchen or around the house, and then I listen to several that day)

21.  Enter at least 20 sweepstakes per week (I stopped doing this because I don't have time now, maybe I will start again later if I get organized)

22.  Make a To Do List (I do sometimes when I remember, it always helps me stay focused)

23.  Make my own laundry detergent (still hasn't happened yet, but I have all the ingredients)

24.  Try at least 1 pin per month (I haven't kept track of this, but I do try new recipes fairly regularly)

25.  Make schedule cards or personal binder (working on it, slow going)

26.  Find out how to publish a children's book (haven't had time to work on this yet)

27.  Attempt to get the Children's books I have written published (same)

28.  Write 1 more Children's book (not yet)

29.  Learn how to publish ebook (I have read a little, but not enough)

30.  Write 1 ebook (thought of ideas, but nothing written yet)

31.  Read 2 books on parenting toddlers (umm, I don't remember if I have read toddler books, I have read several on random child/teen issues/ parenting)

32.  Read at least 1 relationship book (I am pretty sure that I have done this)

33.  Read at least 1 spiritual book (Also pretty sure I have done this, I don't keep track of everything I read because I read tons of books)

34.  Clean up email so I don't spend so much time in it (have been working on this, seems like no matter how many I unsubscribe from there is always more, but it is way better)

Family

35.  Do devotions as a family after supper every day (we kinda fell away from this, we need to get started again)

36.  Go to at least 1 Moms and Munchkins event every month (unfortunately Mom and Munchkins is no longer happening :( )

37.  Go on at least 1 family vacation (we took a weekend away :))

38.  Go away for the weekend at least 4 times (1 down, unlikely to get in all of the others because of trying to stay nearby in case I go into labor :))

39.  Paint the back room in the basement (Mr. Random is working on this now!)

Marriage

40.  Have 2 date nights per month (we haven't had one for a while, time to get back on the horse)

41.  Go on at least one vacation without Little Man (Not sure if this will happen because of the pregnancy/ waiting for delivery/ will be dealing with a newborn, but we'll see)

42.  Go on a marriage retreat (unfortunately not going to happen unless we can find one for free that is close)

43.  Read one book together with Mr. Random (does the bible count? oh wait, we haven't finished that either, well he did show interest in America's Cheapest Family, maybe we can read that)

44.  Do The Husband Project (I keep meaning to do this)

45.  Go to at least 3 ballroom dances (We did a dance at our church talent show, but other than that, no)

Children

46.  Spend 15 minutes a day just playing with Little Man (I do play with him probably more than 15 min a day, but not in one chunk of time like I was wanting to yet)

47.  Read at least 1 book to Little Man every day (many days I read him Hello Baby, his current favorite book)

48.  Have Little Man try 1 new food every week (having him try it, most of the time he doesn't eat it, but I am doing my part)

49.  Have at least one photo day per month (I do not even remember what I meant by this, but I do take pics and videos of him regularly)

50.  Have one Mother/Son date night every other month with Little Man (haven't started this yet because we spend so much time together, I am thinking that it will prolly be more important once Little Man 2 is here)

51.  Let Mr. Random go on one Father/Son date night every other month with Little Man (same)

52.  Write down Little Man’s new schedule (check)

53.  Begin preschool with Little Man (nothing official after I posted this I realized there is not much official that you do with a 1.5 year old)

54.  Find information on home school groups for preschoolers (not yet, but I should)

Extended Family/Friends

55.  Get together with each side of the family at least once a month (most months we do, some months we haven't because of different people being out of town, but do as much as we can)

56.  Get together with aunts to scrapbook once a month (that fell apart because of busy schedules, maybe we can start again soon?)

57.  Have people over 1-2 times a month (umm, we need to do better on this)

58.  Visit my Sister at least twice (not yet, she lives a couple hours away, so we'll see if it happens after the baby is born)

Spiritual

59.  Do my devotions 4 days a week (I did pretty good while in BSF, not doing well this summer)

60.  Go on time to BSF (what is on time, really?, obviously didn't do well on this)

61.  Finish this year's BSF lessons (I got many of them done)

62.  Sign up for BSF for next year (check!)

63.  Continue being involved in family group (check!)

Serving

64.  Write at least 1 note of encouragement every month (I forgot this one, so I haven't done it yet, I will try to remember this month)

65.  Take in a Foster Child (this one stopped being a possibility when we found out we were expecting again. With the first pregnancy I was put on couch rest at the end, and this time I was on semi-couch rest at the beginning. We knew that if I couldn't take care of myself and our child we shouldn't take on someone else's child, we will see if God leads that way again after we get settled with Little Man 2)

66.  Volunteer outside of the home at least once (I haven't had the opportunity to do this yet. I have volunteered for our church community several times, but I was hoping to do something more)

Health

67.  Maintain my weight through the holidays (I don't remember for sure, but I think I did pretty well on this even though I was pregnant :)

68.  Exercise at least 3 times a week (I am really bad at this)

69.  Fill out the Calorie Counter every day (I stopped doing this when I found out how many calories I am supposed to be eating when pregnant. It is depressing to see that many calories when I got used to far less)

70.  Lose 10 pounds in 2 months (umm, this and the next one obviously went the opposite direction since I got pregnant)

71.  Lose 50 pounds in 1 year

Financial

72.  Work on budget 2 days every month (check!)

73.  Calculate how much extra we need to pay on the house to have it paid off in 3 years (I am not sure if three years will happen because the new tax codes hit us hard, but we are on a good track to get it paid off in 6 years or less)

74.  Go through the Dave Ramsey course again (Mr. Random doesn't think we need to this year so we'll prolly wait)

75.  Pray and talk to other leaders about teaching a Dave Ramsey course (haven't started this process yet)

76.  Get the house on a mortgage from the bank (check!)

77.  Give generously as God prompts

78.  Continue to tithe 10% of gross income

79.  Continue to put at least 5% of income in God only knows fund

80.  Build up to 15% of our income going into our retirement funds (we are holding steady at this point)

81.  Continue to pay extra on the house

82.  Save up and pay cash for a new air conditioner when it goes out (working on saving up)

83.  Save up and go on a big vacation next year or the year after (not happening this year, we'll see about next year)

Blogging

84.  Write 2-3 posts per week (I think I am averaging 1-2)

85.  Apply at least 1 of the Six Sister’s ways to grow my blog every week (haven't started this)

86.  Write posts at least 1 week in advance (every once in a while)

87.  Plan out posts at least 1 weeks in advance (not happening yet)

88.  Host a biweekly linky party (I decided to cancel it because it was not getting enough trafic to be worth my time)

89.  Contact 1 company a month about sponsoring my blog (hasn't happened yet, but I have had a couple sponsor s and sponsored posts come in, yay!)

90.  Post 1 Let's Talk post a month (I have posted a few)

91.  Post at least 1 recipe per month (haven't done well on this)

92.  Post 1 Swagbucks post a month (haven't done well on this either)

93.  Post at least 1 product review per month (I have posted one)

94.  Write 1 guest post every other month (this is not happening right now)

95.  Post a giveaway at least every other month (I have had a couple :))

96.  Host a big linky/giveaway party for my 1 year blogiversary (I did, and it was great! although a lot of work :))

97.  Make a Blog Binder (still working on it)

98.  Read the Six Sister's 10 ways to grow your blog book (not finished)

99.  Find some sponsors for/Save up and go to a blog conference this year or next (Not going to be going this year, maybe next)

100.                      Grow my blog to at least 200 pageviews per day (way over, yay!)


Well there you have it, obviously I got nowhere near doing them all, but it was good to review. And exciting to see the things that I could check off :)

Have you made any goals this year? How are you doing with them?

Blast from the Past 41 - Wedding Plans

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From June 2008


Ok, for all of you who haven't heard or are totally out of the loop :) The official announcement. [Mr. Random] and I are getting married in August. August 9 to be exact. As you can imagine things have been a little busy around here, what with all the planning to be done. But those of you who know me well probably know that I thrive on change and I love weddings, so this is actually a pretty fun time for me :) But anyways, just thought I would let you all know, so there you go :)

Blast from the Past 40 - I am engaged to the most wonderful guy in the world!

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From February 2008

It is now official. [Mr. Random] and I are engaged! The day started when [Mr. Random] came to my house at 8:30 this morning. My parents let him in quietly and then my mom came and woke me up and told me to come out and look at something. So I stumbled half awake down the hall after her. As I'm rounding a corner after her I hear [Mr. Random] behind me say my name. I seriously jumped and then turned around and there was [Mr. Random] holding a dozen roses and saying good morning. We talked for a little while then he had to go to work and school and I went back to sleep. After class I came home and got ready for our date. All I knew at that point was that [Mr. Random] was planning a romantic surprise date for Valentine’s day, and that it was going to be special because he wanted to make my first Valentine’s day with a boyfriend special. His mom picked me up at 6:40 to meet him at Indiana Tech right after his class. We drove over near the ice rink and I thought that we were going ice skating, but actually [Mr. Random] had arranged for a horse and carriage to meet us there. We got a scenic tour around downtown [big city near us], and soon after we got started [Mr. Random] handed me his Valentine’s Day card. In it were two tickets to the bridal show this Saturday at the Grand Wayne Center. When I looked up [Mr. Random] was down on one knee in front of me with a ring box open. He asked me if I would marry him and of course I said yes! After that we finished the carriage ride, it was really romantic! Then we sat in the back of his van and exchanged gifts (yes he did get me something besides the ring :). Then we went to Takaoka for supper, the food was amazing and the chef was fun to watch. After that we went to Taco Bell to get a caramel apple empanada for desert (which is a joke between us because I am totally addicted to those things :) Then it was time to go home and tell my parents. My parents were thrilled and we talked late into the night. I also called my sister to let her know. I am soo excited! I am going to marry the man of my dreams! I love you [Mr. Random]! Oh and pictures to come, sometime :)