I love this beautiful girl! How is it possible that she’s not a baby or toddler anymore?
Money
by amyNathan and I are starting week 4 of Financial Peace University (FPU). It’s been a really great experience for us. It’s one thing to read the books on your own, but it’s a completely different thing to do it in a class and to spend time talking with Nathan about our finances.
I’m proud of the progress that we made last year on our own and I’m very happy that since the class started a few weeks ago we’ve paid off 20% of our remaining debt.
We have done several things to help put ourselves in better footing financially, but if I were to pick just a couple of things that we have done without that some people might think would be strange I would say it’s probably that we don’t have cable or satellite for TV and we don’t have a cell phone plan.
I want to hear from any of the rest of you who’ve ever gone on a more restricted budget for a while! What did you do without that others might consider a necessity?
Stuff (Fritzes) Like
by amyOne month ago today, Nathan started his new job at The Lampo Group . He is loving his work. Every day he gets to do what he loves. Not everyone gets to do that and we’re not taking it for granted.
Reading Jon Acuff’s blog and book (Quitter) was really a catalyst that made us think really seriously about starting this adventure. If you don’t know who Jon Acuff is, you’re missing out! He has an awesome blog were he talks about serious stuff as well as humorous things. I don’t want to overwhelm you with links, but here is an example of post from last year that is really funny.
This week, while Nathan was walking back to his desk (from lunch? devotions?), he actually got the chance to say, “Hello” and to tell Jon just briefly how God used him to direct us here. I think it went something like this. “My wife is a crazy fan. She reads your blog and read Quitter, and then I read it and here I am….” Nathan will have to confirm that for you though. I might have missed something.
Being the crazed fan that I am, of course I was happy to see that he posted a funny YouTube video about Downton Abbey and I can’t resist sharing it with you.
Church Shopping Is Exhausting
by amySince our first week here we’ve visited The People’s Church, Rolling Hills Community Church, Fellowship (Franklin campus) and we visited Franklin Christian Church today. 4 different churches.
I was hoping it wouldn’t take long to find a place that we would feel comfortable. We’re going back to Fellowship next week. So, I guess that is progress. I was disappointed today, though, because I was hoping that Franklin Christian would be awesome since I’ve met a couple of people there from my Moving On Bible study. But Nathan didn’t feel completely comfortable there and it’s on the other side of town. *sigh*
I think I’m just longing for some friends and a way for all of us to connect. I have felt so grateful for the women that I’ve met through Lampo. It just takes time to develop close friendships.
I took a two hour nap this afternoon and that helped.
Parenting has been really hard lately. Toddler boys are very difficult. I just re-read that last sentence. It was a gross understatement. I’ll say it this way- Parenting toddler boys is exhausting, humbling, infuriating, and enough to take me to my knees literally.
We finished out our day with Isaac opening the front door and Max running out. Ack! Nathan ran after him. Max is fast. Catching him without him wanting to be caught is impossible. Thankfully, as Nathan was running after Max, a man who lives in this development saw what was happening and came out of his house to help. He has a puggle himself and told Nathan the trick to getting Max back. He told Nathan to get Max’s attention (trying to be as close to Max as he could without Max running) and then to turn and run the opposite direction and fell to the ground and that the dog would come to check to see if he was ok. He said the it works with their puggle every time. Nathan did it and it worked! Yeah.
The neighbor introduced himself and did a little small talk with Nathan. He works at Lampo. Crazy small world. So thankful for Daniel’s help!!!
My Favorite Things (Recently)
by amy1.
I’m am loving watching this. The first season starts in 1912 right after the sinking of the Titanic. It follows the stories of the family and servants of Downton Abbey. It’s on PBS, but I watched the first season on Netflix and now the second I’m watching on the PBS site online.
2. Hostess (with the mostess)web site for cool party ideas
3. James, Mercy Triumphs Bible Study
I’m less than two weeks into this study and I’ve already learned a ton and I know it’s going to continue to challenge me. It’s an awesome study!
4. Homemade chocolate chip cookies (my Grandma Henning’s recipe!)
Busy Day
by amyEarly morning trip to Wal-Mart for lunch bags for the kids.
Moving On After Moving In – Bible study was this morning. Free childcare. They had lunch there. That’s why we needed the lunch bags (This is going to be great for all of us!)
School for Ethan.
Figured out health insurance.
Prepped supper for Nathan to finish later.
Took the kids to Lampo so I could leave for Bible Study on time.
Bible study- James, Mercy Triumphs. (Awesome study).
And now I’m very tired.
The Night the Lights Went Out in Franklin
by amyFor two hours tonight 9100 homes in Franklin TN were without power.
We were sitting at the table having our budget meeting (why yes, my husband does work for Dave Ramsey, why do you ask?) because a new month starts tomorrow!!! And then everything went dark! There is no sunlight at 7:00pm on January 31st in Tennessee. They kids were scared!
We found one head lamp light, one child’s wind up flashlight (thank you to whomever gave us that) and we lit a few candles. The kids really wanted to play with the flashlights, so we decided to get out of the dark house and head to Wal Mart for a few food items we needed and extra flashlights. We had no idea how far reaching the outage was until we started driving. It was so dark.
We saw several cars pulled off the road assessing damage because they had been involved in accidents. Dark intersections with no street lights or stop lights are dangerous. Some of the intersections are dark enough that it would be very easy to blow right through a 4 way intersection without really realizing it.
We made it to our destination and back safely. The lights are back on and that makes me happy. I was wondering how we would get ready in the morning with no electricity!
A Whole New World
by amyDo you know what I never thought about when gearing myself up for the changes involved in moving?
Checking in the kids at church.
It never even crossed my mind. If you have attended a big church, you’ll probably think this is funny. Each week for the last three Sundays, we have attended a different church. Since we’ve been “new” each time, we check in at a place with real live people (this detail will be important later) and they fill out cards with information on our kids and put them in “the system”. Then they give us name tags for the kids AND a little tag to prove that I’m their mommy and can pick them up. Very cool.
Tonight we had a new experience. We started Financial Peace University classes last week. It’s on Sunday nights and tonight was our second time to meet. That meant that tonight was the first time we would be checking our kids in to a place we had already visited. Do you know how that works at all of the bigger churches in this area? I took Audrey and Isaac over to a computer kiosk, typed in the last name and checked them in using the touch screen. Then I pushed a button and labels printed right there! It took me a little extra time since this was the first time I had done it. So, I felt kind of bad for the people who were behind me in line. It was so strange that I was doing this at a computer screen and not with a person! I slapped the labels on the kids and walked them to their rooms.
It’s not like this is a change that is hard to adjust to. It’s just different and it’s kind of interesting all the positions that I’ve been in lately where I realize that I have another new “system” to learn. We’re adapting quickly I am happy to report that I don’t need to use my Garmin every single time I drive somewhere now! Baby steps!
