I just received an email from our neighborhood association stating that The US Army Corp. of Engineers has stated that our subdivision could possibly flood in heavy rain. The bayou running alongside the community is part of a watershed leading into George Bush Park. George Bush Park is part of the Barker/Addicks Reservoir system that was created to reduce flood damage by preventing downstream flooding of the Buffalo Bayou into downtown Houston.

Given Canyon Gate's location between the bayou and levee, it is recommended that homeowners have flood insurance.

I have checked before and was told that I wasn't in a flood zone. Given recent events. I will be getting flood insurance. I wonder how much it costs.

Ft. Bend County Appraisal District miscalculated 145,000 dues and new statements were sent out. I was one of those. This year, I've hired a company to protest my property taxes. There fee is 50% of what is saved. If the findings show that they couldn't save me anything then I don't pay them a fee.

I've mentioned before that when booking travel at work I go through Ebates and use Hotels.com. When you book 10 rooms using Hotels.com you earn a free night that is worth the average of those 10 night stays. This year I have earned 3 nights and I'm close to earning a fourth!

I used one of those nights for a solo trip to Dallas for a Dave Ramsey event on retirement. Nothing exciting but having time to myself was nice.

Another night I used for a nights stay in Galveston, TX. It's an island here close by. We stayed the Saturday night before Easter. Upon arrival DD2 was given a small Easter basket. The hotel had face painting, balloon animals, indoor and outdoor petting zoo, Easter egg hunt, scavenger hunt, moon walk, sack hop racing, hula hoops, smores by the fire pit outside by the pool and much more. I paid $23 out of pocket because the average amount I had wasn't enough but it was SO WORTH IT! We had such a wonderful time and will be back.

I booked a buy one night get one night free for a place at Canyon Lake, TX. I had been before with my parents had such a great time so this time I wanted to invite them to come along with us. We went on walks, fishing and sat outside on the porch and hand fed deer.

The Italy trip was our big trip for the year! We were in the Tuscany region. Cooking class, tour and wine tasting at a castle. Horseback riding tour. Visiting an organic farm, dinners, etc. It was just amazing!

Over the summer my mom wants to go to Fredericksburg, TX with my sister and I along with our kiddos. Right now, I don't want to go anywhere!

That is what the YMCA is charging if you hold a membership with them. Which I do!

My mom is going to watch DD2 and my nephew. There are four weeks out of the summer that she can not watch her and I will need to put her in the YMCA.

There is a $30 registration fee and I can pay weekly. DD2 will be outside majority of the time. I will need to bring two snacks, lunch and a water bottle. They have one field trip a week and go swimming once a week. Good thing is that the camp is right by my house in a wooded area. My daughter loves it there! They have archery, rock climbing walls and go on nature walks.

While DD2 is at my moms she is going to take the kiddos to swim lessons. That is $65 every two weeks for Mon-Thurs. My Y membership runs $80/mth. I do not qualify for a discount with my income. Not sure how much my mom will charge but I will need to bring food.

This month I celebrate my five year anniversary. It's not really a celebration but I'm happy that I have stuck around through the good times and the hard ones.

There are several oil and gas companies here in Houston, Texas that are having layoffs. I am very thankful to have my job!

I have great benefits. If I need to take off for any reason I can without feeling pressured or having guilt. The thing that I like most is that I work half day Fridays and on that day I am able to wait at the bus stop for DD2. It makes the daily long commute worth it.

I made another wire transfer today toward the mortgage! It's not a lot but its something. I will have another wire transfer at the end of the month when I get paid and do a sweep of my checking account.

$50 of the money was from a return that I made at Michaels. I bought a nice wood piece with a black chalkboard map of the United States on it but couldn't find anywhere in my house to hang it.
$133 was a nice check from Ebates.

Balance $94,602.03
Paid -$448.28
New Total $94,153.75

I hope to break the $90K mark soon!

I made a wire transfer today toward the mortgage!
Woo hoo!

Balance $98,405.64
Paid -$3803.61
New Total $94,602.03

This was hard for me because I wanted to buy 'things' like a new stove, dishwasher, dining room chairs and clothes but all of that can wait.

I don't know what my deal is. Maybe I have too much going on but its costing me and its really getting my attention now.

I had my back brakes serviced a few weeks ago. Well they are still squeaking. I looked at my car maintenance file and go figure just 8 months ago I replaced the back brakes. What a waste of money. I must have gotten confused and failed to ask for the front brakes to be replaced. That will cost me an additional $167.

With the heat here in Texas I am trying to some of my windows with curtains. I bought 2 curtain rods at Target and used a $100 gift card. After it was used I had the guy trash it. When I was walking out, I noticed that there was a crack on the end piece. I returned it and then bought another paying with cash. When I woke up this morning I realized I was in too much of a hurry that I didn't look at the receipt and sure enough it was put back on the $100 gift card that was thrown away. That cost me $27.