Eat your heart out, Dave Ramsey!

Anyone who's been friends with us for long enough knows that we are trying really hard to GET OUT OF DEBT. Thanks to the wisdom of Dave Ramsey and by the grace of God, we are well on our way with a long way to go.

We have been trying to save money in so many ways: we've cut cable, gone to one cell phone, and don't often see the inside of a restaurant--even if it's just for fast food. Well, we just had the brilliant idea to take our frugality a step farther by cutting Dan's hair at home instead of paying for it. And here are two little words that we learned: BAD and IDEA!

Take a look at these:

I am not sure what I was thinking or doing. Thank goodness my wonderful husband has a good sense of humor and that the lady at SportsClips could fix this. We may have taken a lot of things out of the budget, but from now on we'll always leave money for a professional hair cut!

Spring is in Full Swing!

Anybody else loving this weather? Even the rain in the springtime is wonderful, because it makes the grass greener and the flowers fuller. We have certainly been enjoying it!

We've had a noneventful April thus far. Our biggest excitement was going to Edgemoor for a few days to visit with my Dad and family. Other than that, not too much to report.

Here are some great pictures we snapped before we had to come back home last week.

Going to enjoy the calm while it's here. There are busy seasons ahead...

Ta Da!

"Cleanliness is next to godliness." That's somewhere in the Bible, right? Like in 2 Genesis...

I know, it's not. But I have to admit that it does feel really good to have a better-organized house. When one area of my life is chaotic (i.e., my house is a mess), that carries over into every other area of my life.

That being said, here is the finished product of weeks of work.

1. The medicine drawer. Pills, First Aid, and Bandages are all separated out so they're easier to find.


2. The bathroom counter. I threw out almost two bags of old make-up and medicine from our bathroom. Yuck! That makes it so much easier to see what we have and to keep our countertop clutter-free.

3. Gift bags and wrapping. One of my favorite changes. I bought some of the oversized Ziploc bags and separated out Christmas gift bags, other special occasion gift bags, tissue paper, and other wrapping supplies. Now, instead of trying to find the needle in the haystack (or the gift bag in the big pile of bags) I can easily find what I'm looking for.


4. The linen closet. Long was this closet the keep-all for our junk. No longer. Now it holds our toilet paper/paper towels, extra cleaning supplies and toiletries, and of course, the linens. I even made it easier by separating the separate sheet sets into the oversized Ziploc bags and labeling what is in each bag.

5. The laundry/utility room. We used to keep all of Dan's tools and 1,000 other things in here. Since he finished organizing the storage room, though, we can now use the laundry room to hold our laundry stuff and a few other items we need around the house (light bulbs, furniture movers, and child-proofing supplies). I would get a picture of the great job Dan did in the storage room, but it is raining and I am not going out in that mess right now!

6. The pantry. I got rid of old food and organized the shelves. Each shelf holds similar items: the top shelf is for pastas/rice, then the next shelf is for sauces/condiments/cans, then snack and breakfast foods, and then baking supplies. And I also finally organized all of our plastic utensils and party supplies (plates and cups).

I have to make one more run to Goodwill and finish weeding the last 1/3 of the flowerbed (again, the rain has been holding me back) and it will 100%, officially complete.

And my house feels peaceful once again...