9 posts tagged “life”

How do you feel about your birthday?  Do you look forward to it and remind all your friends, or do you dread it and try to keep it a secret?

I always look forward to my birthday, but I'm not one to go remind people of it.  I love birthdays.

What do you do with the cards and letters you receive?  Do you keep them all, just keep the photos, throw them away? 
Inspired by jacolily.

I keep them all.  I have moved each year the last two years, so I have the ones from the last two years packed away.  I usually use the cards later for name tags on presents.  I cut out the front of the card and put the to and from on the back and throw the back away.  My mom did that.  I save the pictures.

Who is ringing in the New Year with you?  Who do you wish could be with you, but isn't there?

Ringing in the New Year with Jeremy and he is all that matters.  The kids should be in bed by then.  A few more years and Amie will be old enough to stay up all night at a church youth lock-in.  Yikes!

What's on your holiday wishlist?

My brother-in-laws (Jeremy's brothers) have heard from me...

I want the hope of a sister-in-law in the somewhat near future and nieces and nephews to follow.  From my sister, I want to find out she's having another one.

Yeah, I want babies, but not through my own body or that I'll have 24/7 around.  I could handle another if I had to, but I have no desire for another and it would be a miracle if I got pregnant since Jeremy took care of that over 3 years ago.

Also, I would love to have those sister-in-laws to talk with at holidays.  Some good girl talk.

What is your daily commute like?  What is the weirdest thing you've seen on that commute? 
Submitted by E. 

I have such a long commute.  From my bedroom to my living room with a detour to my kitchen to get hot chocolate and oatmeal.

Weirdest thing... once it was really quiet.  All my kids were still asleep.

What are some ways you save money? 
Submitted by Pixiemom.  

Hey, look!  It's me!  I guess I ought to answer my own question, right?

One way was listed in the previous post.  My husband builds or updates our desktop computer with computers that are being thrown out.  Some are only a year or two old, so some of the working hardware is still good and not too outdated.

Another way is that I'm a price checker.  I use my mental computer to figure out just which brand really saves you money and if the bigger box is any better of a buy or will it go bad before we are done with it. (Not normal in my big family, but some things aren't used that quickly.)  I check the ads I get in the mail and compare prices.  I'm not a coupon person because we don't get the big paper with all the coupons in it and I don't know how to get other coupons except for a few online like for Borders, Petco, or Family Christian Bookstore since I'm part of their card clubs.  I print those out and use them.  We buy a lot of books from Borders and FCB for school or leisure, so I enjoy being able to save 20% on a book or even an entire purchase sometimes.  Our family sees books as extremely important.  I use the Petco ones because my cats have sensitive systems and need special food which isn't available at Walmart.

We don't go out to eat as often as many people do.  Sunday afternoons are kind of my day off, so we usually get something out then, though at times it is only a sandwich or nuggets for each person from a fast food place with a drink of juice at home.  If we are low on funds then we eat at home.
     
We don't have cable or satellite for TV.  We do have cable internet.  That is because Jeremy needs a good connection for his job.  Hard to work in the internet programming business if you don't have good internet.  He does some of his regular job from home and he has a home business as well, so both use the internet.

We get lots of hand-me-down clothes for the kids.  If we need something, I may buy new if I know it will last and go through more than one kid, but usually I try and find it at a consignment or thrift store.  I sometimes will shop the end of season sales, but I usually don't know what we'll need later, so I'll pass them up most of the time.  This last summer, I don't know where Noelle's clothes got to, but we didn't have hardly anything for her, so I caught the $2 sale at Walmart and spent about $14 on a bunch of interchangable outfits for her.  I bet we find those missing clothes when we get all our stuff moved up here.

Instead of going to the movies a lot, we have a Netflix account.  Since we've gotten it, we've gone to the movies a whole lot less.  Maybe a date for Jeremy and me once every few months or take a kid out for a special day and they might pick a movie.  That is also only once every few months.  The kids really enjoy it.  It's better than a regular video rental place for us too because Jeremy had a hard time getting videos back on time, he would take it in the car and forget to drop it off, so we had to pay late fees often.  Now we don't have to worry about it.  It also makes up a little bit for not having any TV connection.  We get different TV shows that we like to watch.  Yeah, it's a season or two behind but we don't care.

I'm a penny saver.  I have a jar where I put all my pennies.  Last time we cashed them in, we had just over $70.  I also save dimes, nickels, and quarters, but I sometimes use them for paying the kids for extra chores, toll roads, or an emergency juice or bread run.

One last one.  We have only one vehicle for our whole family.  Therefore only pay one vehicle payment.

Ok, there you go.  Some of the many ways our family saves money.

Finish this sentence: "I am glad to say that I have never ___." 
Submitted by chl*.

I am glad to say that I have never smoked.
I am glad to say that I have never tried any drugs.
I am glad to say that I have never cheated on my husband.
I am glad to say that I have never broken a major bone. (I broke a toe)
I am glad to say that I have never been drunk.  (I had a girl lock me in her room until I took a taste of her beer.  I almost threw up.)
I am glad to say that I have never been the driver to cause a car accident.

What experience or moment in your life have you learned the most from? 
Submitted by AngieK. 

Being a parent.  It has taught me OOooooohhhhHH so much.

What's the best thing you ever bought off of Ebay or Craigslist?

We decided to start a puppet ministry as a family a few years ago, so I've bought a bunch of different puppets off of e-bay.  I found two "stores" that I really like who have good quality puppets that I can afford.  Each of the kids, except Noelle, have their own small puppet which look a lot like our bigger adult ones.  I plan on getting one for Noelle this year for her birthday.  Shhhh, don't tell her.

I also bought a bunch of cute ballet leotards with attached skirts off of e-bay.  They had lots of use since Amie, AnnaBeth, and Noelle were all in dance last year and Christine did a half year of dance and most are still in good condition.  I hope to get some more use out of them once I find a dance studio around here.