September's Organization Challenge - Better Late Than Never

Well, it might be a little further into the calendar than September 30, but I finally finished my September Organization Challenge. In case you forgot - and I wouldn't blame you - my challenge was to gather all my recipes, type them out in a format I liked, print them, and organize them in a binder. And, here it is!

It might not be very pretty - a nice, pretty cover page is in its future, though - but it has already made my monthly meal planning and nightly meal preparation so much easier! It doesn't hold all the recipes I've ever cooked - just the ones I use on a regular basis. So, for instance, very few of my dessert recipes are in here because, well let's face it, this momma is doing good to get dinner on the table and dessert isn't a priority!

If you're interested in perusing through my recipes, I've linked to the document HERE. Now if I can just stay committed to regularly adding any new recipes I come across...

A Place for Everything...Including Bibs

I usually use the same bib for Little Girl several meals in a row. So, I always have this awkward problem of what to do with it after she's worn it once but it's still good to use for the next meal. I hate to leave it laying on her highchair or on the buffet - it looks untidy to me.

But, thanks to something I remembered seeing on Pinterest a while back and our little Sunday afternoon trip to Walmart, I found a solution to my problem. And all it took was a few dollars and 2 minutes of my time!

Mini Organization Challenge: The Medicine Cabinet

This past year has probably been the sickest year we've ever had. Probably due to the lack of sleep that a new baby brings, Hubby and I have had several cases of colds, strep throat, stomach bugs, and sinus infections. And, in that whirlwind of tiredness, headaches, and runny noses, our medicine cabinet has completely overflowed and turned into a sticky, expired mess.

So, after a little inspiration from Pinterest and a big energy kick that can only come from purchasing your very own label maker, I dove into our mess and got our medicine cabinet in tip-top shape.

I went to Walmart and got three containers that were tall enough to allow for the taller medicine bottles, such as NyQuil, and one container with three drawers. Then, I pulled everything out of our cabinet, threw away anything that was expired, and divided what as left into five categories. I typed my category names into my label maker, and, presto, my cabinet looked like this, after only 30 minutes of work!

I Found Happiness at Walmart for $17.98

There are many kinds of happiness - long-lasting, fleeting, eternal, heart-warming, giddy - and just to be clear, the happiness I found at Walmart for $17.98 is the earth-bound, non-eternal kind. But, nonetheless, it filled me with giddiness and renewed my zest for life. What is the source of this happiness, you ask?

A label maker! My very own, personal, hand-held label maker! I know - I'm weird, and strange, and probably slightly crazy - but that's okay because my label maker says I'm wonderful. Really....it printed a sticker with w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l on it and I stuck it to my shirt. 

I've been working on getting more organized, but this purchase pushed me over the edge and I'm now in full-fledged organization mode. Sadly, I only had time to get to one project this afternoon, which I'll post about tomorrow, but I have great plans for the coming weeks!

So, watch out world! I've got a label maker, and I'm not afraid to use it!

My Own Organization Challenge

I love organization - files, folders, baskets, and containers make me giddy, and there's no thrill like diving into a junky closet knowing in a few hours it will be all neat and tidy! Unfortunately, since I work and have a very busy almost-one-year-old, I can't seem to find the time to get my house all organized like I want. It makes me sad to scan through Pinterest, seeing all those great "organize your life in 30 days" posts, knowing that it's just not realistic for me to accomplish them.

My Very Own
So, I've decided to create my own challenge - this time, giving myself a month to complete a task! Each month I'll pick an organization project and work to complete it before the end of the month. If I'm able to complete other mini-projects too, then that will just be the icing on the cake!

September's Organization Project
For this month, my goal is to compile a meal planner binder. I want to create a master list of all the dinners I can fix, type out each recipe, along with recommended side items and an easy-to-read ingredients-to-buy list, and place them in the binder. I'll also probably divide it up by poultry, beef, pork, and seafood. Then, down the road, as I find new recipes, I'll put them into the same format and add them to the binder.

Lofty - I know - but it would be so handy once it was done. So, that's the first task of Ashlie's Slowly-But-Surely Organization Challenge! And, once it's done, I'll make sure and share with you.

If Will Power Is a Muscle, Then Mine Is Pretty Flabby

You know, when I was younger - aka in high school and college - I had amazing will power. I worked out at least twice a week. I gave up Coke. I gave up sugar. I had a set schedule that I stuck to religiously.

Fast forward a few years, and I now have next to no will power. Maybe it got packed away with my diploma and wedding dress - I don't know - but it's no where to be found! And, right now, I need it even more than I did ten years ago.

So, if you find any extra laying around, could you pass it on to me? Cause this girl needs to get up at 5:30 a.m. to run, eat healthier, lose 25 more pounds, clean her house, and stop spending money!

Journey to Freedom: It's Hard Right Now

There are a lot of different kinds of freedom - the freedom we find in Christ, the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S., the freedom of going grocery shopping without Little Girl. But Daniel and I are in the middle of another fight for freedom - financial freedom.

Daniel and I came from very different financial backgrounds. Basically, he grew up with money, and I didn't. So, the first four years of our marriage, leading up to now, have been filled with a few discussions, arguments, and disagreements about our finances. But, God has been so good to mold and shape each of our opinions and outlooks on money, thus drawing us closer to God's will for how we use finance. And, that in turn, that has also drawn Daniel and I closer together and united us in our battle for financial freedom.

Our game plan
If you've read or listened to Dave Ramsey, then you'll already know what our game plan is. For those who haven't, here it is in a nut shell:
1 - Save a $1000
2 - Pay off your debt, except your house
3 - Save 3-6 months worth of expenses
4 - Invest 15% of income in retirement
5 - Build college savings funds for your children
6 - Pay off your house early

The hole premise behind this is that we, as Christians, are called to be good stewards of the money God has blessed us with. It's also based on Proverbs 22:7b - "The borrower is slave to the lender", as well as  Jesus' teachings in Matthew 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters." Therefore, as followers of Christ, we want to wisely shape our financial future so that we are not slave to the credit card, car loan, or mortgage, and have the freedom to be able to spend our money in a way that helps us accomplish God's plan for our family.

So, where are we at? We're on Step 2, and it's HARD! I guess no fight for freedom has ever been easy, and this one is no exception! We've stripped our budget as far as we can - eliminating entertainment and eating out, and reducing our home internet plan. I've taken on a freelancing job that I do in the evenings. And, we've committed to NEVER GOING IN DEBT AGAIN! The good news is that everything, but the car, will be paid off by the end of August. And then, any extra dollar that enters our household will get thrown at the car.

The bad news is that now we have to take the time and energy to cook dinner, pack lunches, and fix breakfast every day. We have to be responsible adults that say "no" when coworkers ask us to go out for lunch. The freelancing job is taking its toll as well - I'm tired, Daniel is learning how to be "mommy" a few evenings a week, and my house is not getting cleaned.

Our goals
The only thing that's helping us stay on track, beside the Lord and accountability with each other, is daily reminding ourselves of why we're doing this. If I'm going to stay home and homeschool, then we've got be debt free, have our savings in place, paid down our house, and increased our overall income by 2016. If we want to be able to travel with our children, fund their college education, give to the church and missions, and retire without burdening anyone else, we have to stick with our game plan from here on out.

Finances might seem like a pretty personal topic to blog about, but I'm hoping by writing and expressing our situation and plan it will be another level of accountability. And, maybe, just maybe, someone else out there who's trying to reach their own financial freedom will be encouraged and feel less alone.

Cherry Glazed Porkchops - Easier Than You'd Think

So, lately I've been crazy busy, as you can probably tell from my lack of blogging. Preparing, going, and recovering from vacation, mixed with a big freelancing job on top of my regular job and everything else my normal life contains has pushed me to the max. But, tonight for dinner I didn't want the same-ol', same-ol'... so I did some Google searches and found this new recipe. I loved it, and, even better, my hubby loved it too!

I was able to prepare the whole dinner, eat it, and clean up from it within an hour - so it's not too complicated or time consuming, I promise!

In case you're wondering, that's green beans and mashed cauliflower with it.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8 (6- to 8-ounce) bone-in pork chops (I just used boneless butterflied chops)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 pound cherries, halved and pitted (I just used 1 can of cherries)

Directions
Preheat oven to 200°F. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Lightly season pork chops with salt and pepper, then add to skillet, working in batches if needed, and cook until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to an oven-proof platter or baking sheet and keep warm in oven.

Deglaze skillet with wine, scraping up browned bits, and reduce heat to medium. Stir in mustard, then add cherries. Season with salt and pepper. When sauce begins to bubble, return pork to skillet, spooning sauce over the top, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook about 5 minutes, then rearrange pork so the chops on the bottom are now on the top, and spoon sauce over. Cover and cook an additional 5 minutes or more, until pork is cooked through.

Quick, Easy Dinner Idea: Chicken Tacos

So, somewhere in my internet surfing I came across this idea for making really easy chicken tacos and I wanted to share it. I love this recipe because you can make several different Mexican dishes with, you don't have to remember to thaw out the meat, and you can even cook extra chicken to freeze for another day.

All you need is:

• Chicken tenderloins
• A large can of salsa
• A can of chicken broth (only use if you need more liquid to cover the chicken)

You just put the chicken (still frozen!) in your crockpot, pour the salsa over it, add the chicken broth if needed, and turn it on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Then, all you have to decide is if you want soft-shell chicken tacos, hard-shell chicken tacos, chicken enchiladas, or Mexican chicken casserole!

I just love recipes like this!

Fighting a Lie

I'm exhausted, and not just because I have a teething 8-month-old. I'm exhausted because for the last several days I've been fighting a lie. I know it's a lie, which theoretically should make it easier to bust through and move on, but that hasn't made my struggle any easier. 

You see, this one big lie is actually a bunch of little lies that, for a variety of spiritual, mental, and hormonal reasons, are sucking the joy right out of me. I feel like my mind and heart are constantly being bombarded with a millions thoughts:

• You're not blogging enough.
• You should be exercising more.
• You haven't taught Little Girl sign language.
• You aren't cooking enough.
• You should manage the money better.
• You're not a good wife.
• Your boss isn't happy with you.
• Your house is dusty.
• You haven't had your quiet time.
• You need to water your flowers more.
• You haven't lost enough weight.
• And on, and on, and on, and on....

And it call culminates into a single, awful thought  - "I'm a failure."

I know it's not true. I know the Lord has forgiven me and no longer sees my imperfections. I know that my husband, daughter, and family aren't judging me. But, I can't seem to stop judging myself.

I know the typical Christian response and encouragement for this - I've given the same advice to others. I know that hormones are primarily driving these feelings- they'll be easing up soon. And, I know, as my loving husband would say, I'm just being silly.

But more than anything, I'd just like to know that other women do this too. That I'm not a horrible person and horrible Christian for feeling this way. That I'm not the only one who feels like their mask is slipping. 

Why Do We Plan to Homeschool?

I'm slightly strange, so, yes, I've already starting reading homeschooling books, doing research on curriculum, and buying teaching supplies even though we've still got two and half years before preschool starts. And while I've been doing all of this, I've also been thinking about the reasons Daniel and I desire to homeschool. Some could argue that since I was homeschooled, it only makes sense that I would want to homeschool my own children. But, I wanted our decision to be based on more than just my childhood experience. I wanted our family - Daniel, Little Girl, and me - to have our own reasons for making this big, life-changing decision.

So, for the last several days I've been thinking, taking notes, and consulting with Daniel...and we now have our answer to the question I'm sure we'll be hearing quite a bit - "Why do you want to homeschool?"

Here it is:

1. Our Faith - Based on Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he/she should go...", we believe that God has entrusted us to do just that. Many of the influences they would encounter in public school - lack of prayer, no teaching on morals, absence of God, evolution taught as truth, liberal sex ed. - would not be pointing them in the right direction.
2. Academic Excellence - Homeschooling will allow our children to move at their own pace, not at a too fast or too slow pace set by a teacher, school administer, or the slowest child in the class. Since I  will be teaching such a small number of children, 1-3, and will already know their strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes, I will be able to match the curriculum with their individual learning styles, giving them the opportunity to maximize their education. Also, since teaching a few takes much less time than teaching 30, there will be time for them to focus on logic and critical thinking, and not just trying to master basic math and reading. 
3. Real Life Education - Based on what we've seen with children who attend a traditional school for 7+ hours a day, we don't believe they are being prepared for the real world. Where in the grown-up world do only people born within the same year work together? We want our children to be able to communicate and interact with people of all ages, from people their parents' age to much younger children. Plus, we want the opposite of what public schools teach children - we want our little ones to stand out, not fit in. After all, isn't that what Christians are called to do - stand as lights in a sea of darkness and be in the world but not of it? Plus, last I checked, professors and employers are looking for students and employees who are different, who stand out from the crowd, and don't fit the status quo.
4. Best for Our Family - Daniel and I firmly believe that the best teachers for Little Girl and any future children we have are us, the parents. And where else could you find a teacher who has dreamed her whole life of teaching certain children. Being a homeschool mom has been my dream - my calling - since I can remember. My heart's desire is to be the one who teaches my child to read, to be sitting next to my child when they realize they can add, and to watch as Daniel helps them with science labs at the kitchen table in the evenings.

Hopefully all that makes sense - it is harder than I thought it would be to put it into words. I'm sure as we go along, Daniel and I will refine it, but it does give you a good little glimpse into our hearts and desires for the children God blesses us with.

You don't have to agree with these reasons, however they are what God has led Daniel and me to. If you're unfamiliar with homeschooling, I'd love to attempt to answer any questions you have. And, if you're first thought is "I'd like to homeschool, but I'm worried about socialization," you need to check out this book - The Well-Adjusted Child by Rachel Gathercole.

The #1 Thing I Wish I Had Known About Breastfeeding

Before I had Little Girl, I fully intended to breastfeed her until she was at least one. So I read all the books I could find on breastfeeding, took a class at the hospital, and bought all the supplies. Everywhere I went to it was drilled into me that "breast was best" - and I took it to heart.

But, in all my preparations, there was one thing that no one bothered to mention. The most important thing I needed to hear - no one said. Oh how I wish I knew then what I know now -- it's OKAY if you don't breastfeed.

If someone, anyone - the doctor, the nurse, some baby expert - had told me that up front, I would have saved myself a month of agony and beating myself up for being an awful mother. But, instead, for the first five to six weeks of Little Girl's life, I spent hours trying to nurse a baby that wasn't getting any milk, crying because I was sure I was a selfish, horrible mother, and falling into depression under the weight of unmet, unrealistic expectations. It wasn't for lack of trying, let me make that clear, but my body, due to several conditions I have, just couldn't produce any milk, even with help of drugs. But I didn't know that then.

In the end, I decided that Little Girl would be better off having a sane, rested mother and drinking formula then me killing myself to nurse her. (And, yes, it was actually harming me because I ended up back in the ER with an infection because I completely wore my body out.) It wasn't until after that - after me coming to peace with myself and my decision - when I learned that my body really couldn't produce.

I wanted to say all this, not to dissuade anyone from breastfeeding. Truth be told, I still wish I had been able to. But, I at least wanted to put it out there, into the great expanse of space and information, that there is nothing wrong with NOT breastfeeding. Do not make the decision of how you're going to nourish your baby based on what others think or out of fear! Little Girl is healthy, went through the whole winter without getting sick, has minimal allergies, is growing like a weed, and is incredibly clever - all things, I was told, could only happen if you breastfed.

So, if there's one piece of advice your going to follow, make it this one - do what's best for your baby and you!

A Great Looking PreK Program for Just $10

I discovered Confessions of a Homeschooler a few weeks ago and am so excited about this resource! In particular, Erica's preschool program grabbed my attention. Obviously, I haven't used it yet (Little Girl is only seven and a half months old), but I will definitely be purchasing the download for just $10 in a few years.

Each week is based on a letter of the alphabet, and the list of activities range from Bible verses to memorize and books to read to craft projects and math activities. From her description, it sounds like all you have to do is print the materials off, laminate pieces if you want to, and gather up any additional supplies. How easy is that! You don't even have to make out lesson plans - they come with it too.

Even if you don't plan on homeschooling, this would be a great program to do with your three- or four-year-old. Just imagine how much 30 minutes a day would do toward preparing them for kindergarten. Plus, I think it just sounds fun and would give you some great quality time with your little one.

If anyone tries this program, please let me know what you think!

5 Secrets I'm Willing to Admit

What better way to break in this new blog and win over readers than revealing five secrets about myself I should be ashamed of. Fingers crossed that some other busy moms can relate and contain their judgement.

1. My daughter doesn't get a bath every night.

I like to think of this as me being "green" and saving the earth one less bath at a time. And, how dirty can a 7-month-old get?

2. I haven't cleaned my bathroom in over three weeks.

Before you grimace, I think I'm getting close to my husband being fed up and cleaning it himself! Now who's the clever one?!

3. I've decided that restaurant tables are fine for a teething baby to chew on.

Call me lazy, but I got tired of trying to stop her. But, don't worry, I do sanitize them before I let Little Girl start chewing.

4. I'm scared of cleaning my oven, and haven't done it in two years.

After all, it could turn on while I was scrubbing it - cleaning fumes and 350 degree heat aren't a good combination. Plus, the crumbs in the bottom are the only proof I have that I once baked.

5. Sometimes I wish my baby wasn't so smart.

Not that I want her to be dumb, but smart babies take way more energy than I thought. By 8:30 in the morning I'm already running out of things to occupy her. 

I think I feel better now that my secrets are out in the open...I think. 

Surely you have your own secrets too!