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Archive for October, 2015

Update

October 26th, 2015 at 06:34 pm

I decided to move the $2K that I had in my Vacation Fund over to my Car Fund along with the refund that I received from the Travel Agency for the China trip that they had to cancel.

I've given some thought to the mission trips and the single parents cruise and we are not going.

I'm going to have to channel my love for searching for great travel deals into something else to keep me occupied.

Imagine what I could do with no house payment. That sure would be nice!

I will not be meeting my goal this year for paying down the house mainly due to child support. I have received it twice this year.

It is not a matter of not having the money either.

Thank goodness for the Dave Ramsey plan!

Mission Trips 2016

October 14th, 2015 at 07:52 pm

The church announced the mission trips for 2016.

There are three that have caught my eye (listed below).

These are all during the summer. I also found out that the Single Parent's Cruise is also in the summer and at the same time as the Honduras trip but I'm not sure how much that would cost.

I'm not sure on what I would be able to afford just yet. If I go on a mission trip my job will not count that time off and I still get paid. We are allowed one trip a year. The others I would have to use some of my PTO. I think this would be a great way to travel and help others. Check out the descriptions below and let me know which one interests you.

Honduras
This women’s trip will serve teenage girls who have been victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse, exploitation, and trafficking, but are now living at the Casa de Ester shelter. The team will provide assistance with academic, spiritual and life skills as well as eternal truths from God’s Word to prepare them to live independently.

Alaska
This trip is in partnership with Alaska Missions and Retreats to serve food to those who are fishing during the Salmon Frenzy- a time of year when all the residents come together and fish for salmon to stock up for the year before it gets too cold. The team will also do arts and crafts and games with the families to build a relationship and create an opportunity to share the story of Christ's life, death and resurrection.

Mexico
The purpose of this family friendly trip is to serve the 120 orphans of Casa Hogar Allegre in Tuxtla Gutierrez. This team will host VBS for the children, organize special events and provide light maintenance and repair of the orphanage.

Great Flights on SWA

October 13th, 2015 at 03:34 pm

Southwest Airlines has a pretty good sale going on right now.

Flight dates are 12/2-12/16 and 1/5-2/10. The only school holiday during that time is 1/18 MLK Day and that is not a company holiday. No Fri or Sat available for the fares.

Here's what I found leaving from Houston (one way).

$49-Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa
$94-Denver
$99-New Jersey, Birmingham, Charleston, Ft. Lauderdale, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Washington
$119-Pittsburgh
$129-New York

I haven't booked anything but I think visiting the Amish that live around Lancaster would be neat. Ofcourse, ice skating in Central Park and seeing a play on Broadway in NYC is wonderful. Washington would also be nice. Tennessee is super cool and during the winter...escape to Florida! lol

CFA Score and Dr appt

October 12th, 2015 at 06:24 pm

I went to Chick Fil A during lunch to pick up a salad and I got back the survey receipt for a free sandwich and when the employee saw that I was happy he gave me another! YAY!

I now have three (I got one last week).

The sandwiches are 11pts on Weight Watchers and the grilled market salad with berry vinaigrette dressing is 8pts.

I love coupons for free stuff!

Yesterday, DD1 and I went to the movies and saw The Maze #2. I wanted to see Martian. Maybe next time.

DD2 has been with my parents. They took her to Fredericksburg for the Columbus holiday since she was out of school. I sent her with a gallon size Ziploc of meds and tons of food.

They were going to climb Enchanted Rock and DD2 took her walking stick. I'm sure when I get her this evening she is going to tell me about all of the fun she has had.

I'm leaving early today for a well women exam. It's in the medical center here close to downtown and I will have to pay for parking. Around $4 not bad since I just go once a year.

Now that I am 36 I have interesting questions. When will I start menopause? What are the symptoms?

My mother has had hot flashes and an attitude for 20yrs!! LOL

CFA Score!

October 12th, 2015 at 06:23 pm

I went to Chick Fil A during lunch to pick up a salad and I got back the survey receipt for a free sandwich and when the employee saw that I was happy he gave me another! YAY!

I now have three (I got one last week).

The sandwiches are 11pts on Weight Watchers and the grilled market salad with berry vinaigrette dressing is 8pts.

I love coupons for free stuff!

Yesterday, DD1 and I went to the movies and saw The Maze #2. I wanted to see Martian. Maybe next time.

DD2 has been with my parents. They took her to Fredericksburg for the Columbus holiday since she was out of school. I sent her with a gallon size Ziploc of meds and tons of food.

They were going to climb Enchanted Rock and DD2 took her walking stick. I'm sure when I get her this evening she is going to tell me about all of the fun she has had.

I'm leaving early today for a well women exam. It's in the medical center here close to downtown and I will have to pay for parking. Around $4 not bad since I just go once a year.

Now that I am 36 I have interesting questions. When will I start menopause? What are the symptoms?

My mother has had hot flashes and an attitude for 20yrs!! LOL

China Trip Cancelled

October 12th, 2015 at 05:14 pm

Over the weekend I got an email from the travel agency I used to book the China trip that said the trip 'will not materialize'.

I was given three options.
1-Rebook for the Feb trip which is more money.
2-Apply funds towards another trip.
3-Have a refund issued.

I went with option #3. I will be getting back $2,198 and I've set aside an additional $2,000 for the visa's, excursions, spending money, etc.

I'm debating on what to do with the money. I might hold off and see what Cyper Monday deals are available. It would be neat if I could get two international trips out of it. Maybe Iceland and Ireland. I would like to see more of Italy. Or, I could wipe out the money and put it all towards my mortgage.

Yesterday at church they announced that there will be a Single Parents cruise and details would follow soon. I'm assuming it will be Carnival and out of Galveston going to Mexico.

If so, I've done that cruise before but the girls haven't. That's also something to think about.

China Trip Cancelled

October 12th, 2015 at 05:07 pm

Over the weekend I got an email from the travel agency I used to book the China trip that said the trip will not materialize.

I was given three options.
1-Rebook for the Feb trip which is more money.
2-Apply funds towards another trip.
3-Have a refund issued.

I went with option #3. I will be getting back $2,198 and I've set aside an additional $2,000 in a vacation fund for the visa's, excursions, spending money, etc.

I'm debating on what to do with the funds. I could just leave the $2,000 in the vacation fund and apply the $2,198 towards the mortgage or just use all of the money $4,198 towards the mortgage. Or hand tight and see what deals will be available for Cyber Monday.

Witch

October 9th, 2015 at 04:58 pm

There is a lady in my neighborhood who dresses up as a witch and walks around in the evenings. The other day I spotted her sitting outside on her driveway in a rocking chair.

She dresses up big time even adding these long nails and she has this walking stick too.

There has been a lot of neighborhood Facebook comments about her and photos posted. Some people think its just creepy to do that everyday.

She posted on there yesterday. She just really loves Halloween and used to do children's theatre. She said if anyone wants to bring there kids by for an after dinner story time she's be delighted.

HAHA! I thought this was neat to share.

Back to Weight Watchers Week 1

October 6th, 2015 at 08:44 pm

Weight Watchers has a promo going on. No joining fee and if you lose 10 pounds in two months you get two months free (something like that).

Anyway, I'm back. It's going to cost me about $45/mth. If I can lose enough weight to be Lifetime then I won't have to pay anything.

Oh the struggle with eating healthy and exercising!

I am actually down 3.2 lbs from the last time I was there. Not bad!!

What got me going was ..at the neighborhood garage sale this weekend one of my neighbors asked my daughter if I was pregnant. How embarrassing!

This week I will be treating myself to long walks. Which is akward for me since I have an ex who moved into my neighborhood with his gf and I see them but hey, I lived there first.

Goal for October 173
Week 1
Weight 179.8

Update

October 5th, 2015 at 09:35 pm

Last week I missed a day of work because I had a dead battery. I tried to jump it 4 separate times with DD1's car and it wouldn't hold a charge. I didn't have the tools to pull the batter out. DD2 had work and a exam so I couldn't take her car. I waited all day and my stepdad came to the rescue at 5pm. I am so thankful to have him in my life. He is a busy guy and I sure do appreciate him.

When the car wasn't working I started thinking, I need a new car! I've got 150K miles on my 07 Dodge Nitro. Then I snapped back to reality real quick! Cost of the battery $142.88!

While at home I spent more money on the internet. This was the same day at that the other lady posted about her capsule wardrobe and I was doing the same thing. I spent 4 hours on Pinterest just browsing. It's crazy how much time you can waste on the internet. I went to Everyday Savvy on Pinterest and bought the Fall Target Capsule Wardrobe for 2015. I didn't buy the shoes, dress, or jeans because I have those things that I can substitute and I don't like dresses that have a drawstring around the waist. I used a credit I had and spent about $130.

My neighborhood had a garage sale this weekend and my neighbor had some cute stuff that would fit DD2 including a Halloween costume! Total was $33 but I was short $5 and she took what I had and threw in a free shirt. Woo hoo! DD2 wore her costume all day Saturday and Sunday. Today was picture day at school and instead of wearing a dress she wore her new Monster motocross shirt that is black, neon green, pink and purple. Garage sale $28.

I was sick over the weekend and spent most of my time resting. I took DD2 to a fun night at church on Friday while I window shopped at Target and TJ Maxx. That's about all the excitement we had.

Countdown is on 100 more days until China!