Looking for that pot of gold

Six months ago we went on the Dave Ramsey diet...financial diet.  At least that's how I look at it. When we started I was hopeful, yet somewhat pessimistic about the whole process.  I wanted it to work, but it didn't seem like something that was realistic for us.  If we were 10 years younger with about 75% less debt then we would have been perfect candidates for the Dave Ramsey plan...or at least that's how it felt.  

One of the first tasks we were given was to get $1000 into savings, and Dave seemed to think we could do this in a month's time.  I believe he even said something to the effect that we probably already had $1000 laying around, we just needed to move some money around or have a yard sale.  What world does he live in that a yard sale brings in that kind of cash? Not in my world, that's for sure.  

I remember standing in the parking lot after that particular class and laughing at Dave because he thought I could come up with $1000.  We currently had $27 in our savings account, and we were honestly proud of ourselves for having something (anything!) in there.  We knew it wasn't much, but if we had $1000 in there we wouldn't be taking the class.  If we had $1000 we would be financially responsible people who didn't need to take a class about how to manage our money.  (feel free to laugh at us for that statement.  Sorry, laugh WITH us.)

I may have been making jokes about the the millionaire in the video who thought I could come up with that kind of money (so much money), but inside I was terrified.  I was worried that this first step was going to be the end of us.  I was scared to death that this program wouldn't work for us and we would be back into our old routine before we knew it.

It took us around 5 months to get that $1000.  Every time we got close enough to see the finish line something happened and we were forced to spend some of that money.  We were torn between being amazed that we had enough money to pay for whatever needed fixed and feeling that we were never going to  finish what was supposed to be accomplished so easily according to Dave.  The amazed feeling won out and we kept pushing ahead. 

Lesson learned: it feels good, really good to have money to pay for something in case of emergency.  $1000 now feels like it's not enough.  It's hard to believe that just 6 months ago having $1000 in savings felt about as likely has finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  

You've got mail

I spotted these cute little mailboxes for just 30¢ each on clearance at Target recently.  They were too cute (and too cheap) to pass up!  Currently they reside in our living room, but I imagine they will move around the house as time passes.  

I added a bowl of markers, note cards, and little slips of paper next to the mailboxes.  The goal is to leave notes for each other inside the mailboxes (we each have our own) and raise the flag to let the other person know.  

Troy's love language is "words of affirmation" and because of that he is a natural at saying sweet things to me.  I need help speaking his love language, so the cute mailboxes, markers, and fun striped cards are for me.  I hope he will use them as well, but this bright bowl and those adorable mailboxes sitting in our living room are a constant reminder for me to speak my husbands love language.  

Don't forget to do random acts of kindness for the people you live with!  

RAK Week

Watching a video of kids doing RAK's.  

Today is the first day of Random Acts of Kindness week.  You know I couldn't let that one go by without shouting it from the rooftops.  Random acts of kindness are kind of my thing.  

We kicked the week off a day early with our Sunday school class yesterday.  We talked about RAK's, watched a video of other kids their age performing RAK's, and thought of ways Jesus started the whole RAK movement himself.  And then it was time for them to do their first RAK of the week - pass out candy to the whole congregation!  As I watched those kids pounce on the adult class as soon as that door was opened, search the bathrooms to make sure everyone in there got a piece of candy, and welcome every single person to church that morning with the message "God loves you" I knew this was the beginning of a good week.

Bringing a smile to someone's face is contagious.  Those kids were smiling the whole time they passed out candy.  This week I'm going to create some smiles for myself - for my own face - by giving others a reason to smile.

I have a few things planned for this week - a few not-so-random acts of kindness.  I'm also going to be on the lookout for some truly RANDOM acts I can do.   Will you join me in spreading a little kindness around?

Side note: Troy pointed out every (unintentional) random act of kindness the kids did in class yesterday.  What a great way to start the movement - thank others for being kind to you.  They may not even realize what they've done, but your thank you will stick with them and encourage them to do it again.  

Thankful Thursday 02-14-13

 

• Valentine's week - when it's ok to doodle hearts on everything.  
• Our amazing Sunday school kids telling me to put on my "sassy pants" before talking to the whole congregation.  
• How well the kids themselves did during our portion of the service.  
• New jewelry every day this week thanks to my Paparazzi Accessories party.
• Reaching a goal that we've been working towards for months.
• Sleeping until the alarm goes off.  
• I love when my boss allows me to make the decision on what needs to be ordered (and from where).  It feels good to know that she trusts me and my opinions.  
• I'm not big on celebrating Valentine's day, but I sure do love all the hearts, pink, red, and lovey-dovey stuff all over the place.  It's all so girly and happy!
• Early mornings.  I love being out and about while everyone else is still asleep.  I love driving by houses with just one light on and imagining a parent quietly getting ready for work without waking the kids.  I love walking into work with all the lights still off - work is different place first thing in the morning.  I love the quiet, the stillness, and even the smell of early mornings.  

Happy Valentine's Day!  

Homemade valentines

I had a group of awesome ladies over to my house on Sunday and they were kind enough to make these Valentine's cards for a good cause.  The cards will be delivered to the kiddo's at Children's Mercy Hospital.  I love that my life is full of people that are willing to take the time to do such a kind act.  

Here are some sweet ideas to brighten the day of a kiddo in your life:

• Heart shaped breakfast .... toast (french or regular), pancakes, eggs in a heart shaped basket
• Help your daughter paint her fingernails pink/red.  Bonus points if there's glitter in the nail polish!
• Write them a love letter: the top 10 things I love about you
• Strawberry milk with a crazy straw
• Help them make homemade valentines to give to someone who they think may be lonely.  
• Give them a coloring book and crayons with a card that says "you COLOR my world"
• A new toy car with a note that says "have a WHEELIE good Valentine's day"
• A single flower in a vase to put on their nightstand.  
• Heart shaped pizza for dinner
• Put a "love jar" somewhere in your house and have everyone write down things they love about the other people in the family during the day, and add them to the jar.  Take turns reading them out loud at dinner.
• Play a game, perhaps Candy Land?

Mini fruit pizza bar

This makes me happy.

Make your own mini fruit pizza.  

Sugar cookies, assorted fruit, cream cheese frosting, raspberry m&m's.  We had assorted berries, mandarin oranges, and pineapple for our fruit offerings.  I just used a store bought mix for the sugar cookies.  I did not add the water it called for on the recipe because I wanted the dough to be a little stiff so it would hold the shape better.  I coated my hands with powdered sugar and then rolled the dough into balls, and flattened them out on the cookie sheet.  This worked great since I needed large flat cookies to make the pizza's.  

Put everything into pretty bowls and sit back and watch the creative ways people assemble their personal sized fruit pizza.  

I had these for a party at my house yesterday and they were a big hit.   

Extra cupcake????

When we did the RACK challenge a few years ago one of the random acts of kindness I did was to give all of my filled stamp/punch cards away...to people I don't know.  You know those cards you get stamped each time you visit the coffee house (restaurant, etc), then once it's full you get something for free?  I have continued giving these away every since.  It's a simple way to make someone else's day, and it doesn't cost me anything.  

On this particular day I was purchasing cupcakes and I really wanted to complete the card.   With this particular company I have always handed my completed card back to the employee and asked them to pay it forward to a random customer later in the day.  Surprise someone with a free cupcake!  I even purchased an extra cupcake so that I would spend enough to fill out that stamp card.  Nothing wrong with an extra cupcake right?  

Due to a misunderstanding on my part I did not get enough stamps to fill out my card and pay it forward that day.  I was bummed.  Super bummed.  

One the way home that evening I was telling Troy about how I tried to do a good deed and failed.  I went on and on about how depressing it was to not be able to pass over that filled stamp card for a free cupcake.  And on top of that I had spent extra money on a cupcake - money I didn't need to spend.  I'm pretty sure all he heard was "extra cupcake".  Where was that extra cupcake I bought because he was hungry and a jumbo sugar rush sounded perfect to him.

Extra cupcake?  I had given it away.  Someone at work was having a bad day and I invited them to a "cupcake break".  Let's eat a lot of sugar and forget about work for a few minutes.  

And then my brilliant husband says, "so you spent the whole day upset that you didn't get to give away a FREE cupcake, but you had no trouble giving away the one you paid for?  Do you really not see what happened there?"

I was so busy throwing myself a pity party that I didn't even realize what had happened.  Because I had misunderstood the stamp policy I had purchased an extra cupcake...one that I didn't need.  Because I had a cupcake I didn't need (not that I ever NEED a cupcake) I was able to turn someones day around.  

Perhaps God knew my random act of kindness needed to not be quite so random that day.