Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Jason's Baptism
Jason was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on August 6! We had a fun time celebrating with family and friends who could make it for the special occasion.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Summary of Summer
Don't ask me where the Summer went... We didn't really go on any vacations. In fact, we didn't really even get out much. We hung out, mainly; just playing at home, going on short day hikes, taking trips to the library every other week, and hitting a couple of splash pads occasionally. A nice, lazy summer. We should do that more often!
Here are some other things that we did:
In June, we basically hung around the house. We got a small backyard wading pool and the kids had a blast splashing each other. We also had a small get-together on Father's Day - JJ's parents and his maternal grandparents came for a big Sunday dinner.
July was a busier month for us. On the first, I delivered my first "real" wedding cake to the reception of one of my neighbors. Afterwards, I headed home for a 4th of July Miller Family Weekend Gathering. JJ's sister, Amy and her family came all of the way down to St. George from Mountain Home, Idaho. We had many laughs with them as well as with JJ's parents and grandparents.
On the 15th, we celebrated Jason's 8th birthday. I can't believe that he is that old already! He is getting big so fast! The next day, I delivered another wedding cake to an open house, and stuck around to snap some pictures of the Bride and Groom and their guests. (IF you want to see more info on the wedding cakes, you can visit my other blog, www.marcismagicalmorsels.blogspot.com
August is actually only half-way done, but school is already in session. The kids started school yesterday. Yikes! On august 6th, we celebrated Jason's Baptism as the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in our family, followed by a family meal at our house. We were very fortunate to have many family members come and celebrate with us!
So... There is our Summer 2011 in a few paragraphs. Pictures and details of the most exciting parts of our summer will be added as I get to them! :)
Here are some other things that we did:
In June, we basically hung around the house. We got a small backyard wading pool and the kids had a blast splashing each other. We also had a small get-together on Father's Day - JJ's parents and his maternal grandparents came for a big Sunday dinner.
July was a busier month for us. On the first, I delivered my first "real" wedding cake to the reception of one of my neighbors. Afterwards, I headed home for a 4th of July Miller Family Weekend Gathering. JJ's sister, Amy and her family came all of the way down to St. George from Mountain Home, Idaho. We had many laughs with them as well as with JJ's parents and grandparents.
On the 15th, we celebrated Jason's 8th birthday. I can't believe that he is that old already! He is getting big so fast! The next day, I delivered another wedding cake to an open house, and stuck around to snap some pictures of the Bride and Groom and their guests. (IF you want to see more info on the wedding cakes, you can visit my other blog, www.marcismagicalmorsels.blogspot.com
August is actually only half-way done, but school is already in session. The kids started school yesterday. Yikes! On august 6th, we celebrated Jason's Baptism as the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in our family, followed by a family meal at our house. We were very fortunate to have many family members come and celebrate with us!
So... There is our Summer 2011 in a few paragraphs. Pictures and details of the most exciting parts of our summer will be added as I get to them! :)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
The past couple of weeks have been really busy in our house. I have been in "college student" mode: Finishing up projects, papers, and studying for finals. As you can imagine, our house looks like it has a had a break-in. The laundry and dishes are piling up, there are shoes, backpacks, toys, you name it, all over the house. I am pretty sure that in our house there is an unspoken rule: If Mom doesn't have time to force you to do it, it doesn't get done!
Granted, JJ has been pretty good about it all. He made dinner last night and has been in charge of the kids from after dinner until bedtime. He has been very helpful in encouraging me and reading over my papers and projects before I submit them, in my final weeks of school.
I have realized that I do the chores in the house. Period. I knew that I never made JJ do housework when he got home from work, but I hadn't realized how little the kids were actually doing. I have a chore chart on the refridgerator, but we apparently aren't sticking with it. Now that I have one final left to take, I will need to do some major research on how to organize and delegate chores. We'll have to see how it goes...
Granted, JJ has been pretty good about it all. He made dinner last night and has been in charge of the kids from after dinner until bedtime. He has been very helpful in encouraging me and reading over my papers and projects before I submit them, in my final weeks of school.
I have realized that I do the chores in the house. Period. I knew that I never made JJ do housework when he got home from work, but I hadn't realized how little the kids were actually doing. I have a chore chart on the refridgerator, but we apparently aren't sticking with it. Now that I have one final left to take, I will need to do some major research on how to organize and delegate chores. We'll have to see how it goes...
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Dreaded Grocery Store
I had someone ask me a few weeks ago how I can hardly spend anything a month on food for a family of five. (Maybe one day, I will actually share with everyone how much we really do spend on food, but believe me-it's very low.) I told her that the biggest way I save on my food budget is a really old secret that I learned when I was single and in college. DON'T GO.
But, let's face it, we all have to go to the grocery store sometimes, but I, personally, don't want to go that frequently. Really, some people might crave all of the decision making (which brand is best) and the dodge ball game you play as you try to weave your cart in and out of the people crowding in the aisles. Should I even start on the check out lines?
The first decision is always the hardest: which line should I choose? I have the uncanny ability to pick the line that takes the longest to get through, even when there was only one person in front of me to begin with. It's a special gift, I know.
I love the waiting for what seems like an hour to get to the front of the line,
Or how about the people behind you in line glaring at you as you unload your cart.-Like you are really trying to move slower than a snail. Sometimes your kids aren't always as helpful as they want to be at the check out line.
And then they fume when you hand the cashier your stack of coupons. Hey, I need to save every penny I can.
I love the people with overflowing carts who come racing out of nowhere with the carts as soon as a new checker opens up their line,
I've been the hold up my fair share of times, so I do feel bad when something happens beyond the shopper's control. KIDS! Need I say more?
When my son was barely three years old, he was into pushing every button and flipping every switch around. We went to a Smith's store in Provo, Utah (Probably the busiest one I know). We had waited in line for a while and had at least five or six people behind us and finally it was our turn. I was almost finished, just paying for my groceries when I heard a loud gasp. I turned around and my son was at the checkout line next to us with a beaming smile on his face standing next to a horrified checker. He had reached around the checker and flipped the switch that powered her register. She sad a good six or so people standing in her line. After apologizing profusely, we took our adorable preschoolers, and got out of there as fast as we could.
This is why most parents hesitate to go to the store at all let alone with their children. And THIS is one of the ways we save on our grocery bill. :)
But, let's face it, we all have to go to the grocery store sometimes, but I, personally, don't want to go that frequently. Really, some people might crave all of the decision making (which brand is best) and the dodge ball game you play as you try to weave your cart in and out of the people crowding in the aisles. Should I even start on the check out lines?
The first decision is always the hardest: which line should I choose? I have the uncanny ability to pick the line that takes the longest to get through, even when there was only one person in front of me to begin with. It's a special gift, I know.
I love the waiting for what seems like an hour to get to the front of the line,
Or how about the people behind you in line glaring at you as you unload your cart.-Like you are really trying to move slower than a snail. Sometimes your kids aren't always as helpful as they want to be at the check out line.
And then they fume when you hand the cashier your stack of coupons. Hey, I need to save every penny I can.
I love the people with overflowing carts who come racing out of nowhere with the carts as soon as a new checker opens up their line,
I've been the hold up my fair share of times, so I do feel bad when something happens beyond the shopper's control. KIDS! Need I say more?
When my son was barely three years old, he was into pushing every button and flipping every switch around. We went to a Smith's store in Provo, Utah (Probably the busiest one I know). We had waited in line for a while and had at least five or six people behind us and finally it was our turn. I was almost finished, just paying for my groceries when I heard a loud gasp. I turned around and my son was at the checkout line next to us with a beaming smile on his face standing next to a horrified checker. He had reached around the checker and flipped the switch that powered her register. She sad a good six or so people standing in her line. After apologizing profusely, we took our adorable preschoolers, and got out of there as fast as we could.
This is why most parents hesitate to go to the store at all let alone with their children. And THIS is one of the ways we save on our grocery bill. :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
My Soapbox
I am graduating FINALLY from school this semester. I have been working on my senior project/thesis. I know, you all want to know what it is on -- you can't stand the excitement! I have been researching all semester on our new community of St. George and Washington County, Utah and the need for financial and housing education in the area. It may be boring to most of you, but I find this stuff fascinating. Let me spend a few minutes on my soapbox...
Let's be realistic. The entire nation has been cutting back on everything for the last few years. Some people can decrease expenses successfully however, others need the help of a professional to guide them through the daunting task of creating a budget and sticking to it.
Who knows how many thousands of consumers are underwater in their mortgages, meaning they owe more money on their home, than it is worth. Many of those homeowners feel that it is best to just declare bankruptcy or default on their mortgage loan and lose their house to foreclosure when they can no longer make their payments. Most of these consumers do not know what other options that they have. Plus everyone is doing it!
I was under the impression that there were not any available businesses to help educate the members of Washington County, Utah with their housing and financial needs. I had not heard of any such places that would help members of our community. Using research, I found that there actually are places available. They are non-profit businesses that do not have much money to spend on advertising, so their expertise is unknown to the general public. Most people I have spoken with in my neighborhood in St. George, had never heard of these businesses or knew of the services that were provided by them. Yikes! How is this happening?
When speaking with one educator, she said she hasn't been offering those kinds of classes because there aren't enough people who enroll in the workshops. She said that the general public is not motivated on its' own. They need some kind of incentive to come learn how to handle their finances. What?!? Are you kidding me? How about that you won't be going further into debt every month because you don't know how to balance your checkbook. Or how to shop for bargains? I can't believe the stupidity! I cannot believe that people think, "Oh, let's just all declare bankruptcy and let the banks forclose on our mortgages. Then we will only lose our homes and our redit will just be tainted for ten years. It will be a fresh start." Talk about not being responsible for your own choices.
Then there are other businesses swamped with customers. They teach monthly first time homebuyer workshops and have one-on-one counseling sessions for people who are interested in buying a home. Most of the members of the community attending these workshops are required to attend to get a housing grant for a down-payment assistance program through HUD. There is that incentive!
You would think that with members of our communities facing all of these financial troubles of the last couple of years, the demand for classes and workshops on these topics would be in such high demand that people would be standing in lines outisde the door to get help with handling their finances better. But what do I know?
I spend unbelievably low amounts of money on groceries, clothes, and household products because I have always needed to. It has been the story of my life. It is NOT something that is "cool". It is something that is neccessary. There are actually some classes called grocery smarts that my sister-in-law teaches. They could help people save a ton of money on stuff they use everyday if they do it right. Basically, there are sources out there everywhere, most of them completely free of charge to members of the community. They are in my community and yours. PLEASE USE THEM!
Let's be realistic. The entire nation has been cutting back on everything for the last few years. Some people can decrease expenses successfully however, others need the help of a professional to guide them through the daunting task of creating a budget and sticking to it.
Who knows how many thousands of consumers are underwater in their mortgages, meaning they owe more money on their home, than it is worth. Many of those homeowners feel that it is best to just declare bankruptcy or default on their mortgage loan and lose their house to foreclosure when they can no longer make their payments. Most of these consumers do not know what other options that they have. Plus everyone is doing it!
I was under the impression that there were not any available businesses to help educate the members of Washington County, Utah with their housing and financial needs. I had not heard of any such places that would help members of our community. Using research, I found that there actually are places available. They are non-profit businesses that do not have much money to spend on advertising, so their expertise is unknown to the general public. Most people I have spoken with in my neighborhood in St. George, had never heard of these businesses or knew of the services that were provided by them. Yikes! How is this happening?
When speaking with one educator, she said she hasn't been offering those kinds of classes because there aren't enough people who enroll in the workshops. She said that the general public is not motivated on its' own. They need some kind of incentive to come learn how to handle their finances. What?!? Are you kidding me? How about that you won't be going further into debt every month because you don't know how to balance your checkbook. Or how to shop for bargains? I can't believe the stupidity! I cannot believe that people think, "Oh, let's just all declare bankruptcy and let the banks forclose on our mortgages. Then we will only lose our homes and our redit will just be tainted for ten years. It will be a fresh start." Talk about not being responsible for your own choices.
Then there are other businesses swamped with customers. They teach monthly first time homebuyer workshops and have one-on-one counseling sessions for people who are interested in buying a home. Most of the members of the community attending these workshops are required to attend to get a housing grant for a down-payment assistance program through HUD. There is that incentive!
You would think that with members of our communities facing all of these financial troubles of the last couple of years, the demand for classes and workshops on these topics would be in such high demand that people would be standing in lines outisde the door to get help with handling their finances better. But what do I know?
I spend unbelievably low amounts of money on groceries, clothes, and household products because I have always needed to. It has been the story of my life. It is NOT something that is "cool". It is something that is neccessary. There are actually some classes called grocery smarts that my sister-in-law teaches. They could help people save a ton of money on stuff they use everyday if they do it right. Basically, there are sources out there everywhere, most of them completely free of charge to members of the community. They are in my community and yours. PLEASE USE THEM!
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