January Vacation 2021 | Day 2

 Day 2 of vacation we had a delicious buffet breakfast at Great Wolf Lodge, loaded up into the car and headed back over the river to Kentucky. It was a little over an hours drive to the Ark Encounter.

Our family had never been to the Ark, but we have all always wanted to go. It was so worth the wait! It was so amazing. Half way through the exhibits I was hit with the urge to consume the Bible at a more rapid pace. We all learned so much while we were there. Dustin is very interested in wood working and he stood for a very long time at Noah's wood shop, just taking it all in. I think I enjoyed the exhibit with the families living quarter the most. I love learning history about how other people went about their daily lives.

 

Everyone enjoyed the Ark, Addison did well with reading all of the signage and even Anna was a real trooper. There is a lot of reading and things to see, but a younger childs' patience can grow thin at this type of a museum, that being said Anna did wonderfully. Although we did stop for a snack and she accidentally dumped more than half of a bottle of water all over my lap and the floor. Oops!

At the end of the Ark tour we visited the gift shop and headed back to our car to head towards Tennessee!

We rented a cabin near Gatlinburg, so we spent another four hours in the car after leaving the Ark. It was a pleasant drive and we enjoyed the scenery. We stopped once along the way for lunch at Skyline. 

Once we arrived at our cabin we unloaded and then headed out for diner at Cracker Barrel. I can not ever remember eating at a Cracker Barrel and had been wanting to try it. Turns out, it's not my new favorite place. Go figure. 

 Also, real life moment, at the end of our meal I certain five year old who had been struggling with constipation informed me she 'had to go'. We were in that bathroom forever, she literally said she figured we would just have to stay there until she found a way to go. Seriously people, this is my first child to struggle with this and it certainly has been a learning curve. I was finally able to convince her to get up and leave the bathroom after about half an hour of not being able to go. 

 We went to the grocery store next to get some snacks and drinks to keep at the cabin. 

After getting back to the cabin we settled in and tried out the cabin...

January Vacation 2021 | Day 1

We left Ohio around 9am, and headed to Kentucky to visit the Newport Aquarium. We haven't been there since Anna turned one, and she is five now. Everyone was old enough to remember it, yay! 

Everyone crossed the shark bridge, it was a big deal! It's really nice having kids who aren't tiny anymore. No more strollers, no more naps, no more diaper bags, etc. We are enjoying it. 

After the aquarium, we walked by the waterfront, it was snowing slightly and very chilly. Then we meandered into a candy store for some fudge to snack on as a bedtime snack. 

    

Crossing the shark bridge.

We got back into the car, crossed back over the river to Ohio, had a late lunch at Outback and had an early check in to Great Wolfe Lodge. 

This was our first time staying at Great Wolfe, and we loved it! It has something for all the age groups, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that Anna could ride some of the bigger tube slides. That means we don't have to split up most of the time to accommodate all of the ages. It helps that the younger two are thrill seekers, who are always up for a crazy rude, slide or adventure. Teenagers are a blast to hang out with, it's even better when the whole family can participate. 

After we swam, we changed clothes and went to the arcade. I'm impressed with the arcade. Actually I'm impressed with most of Great Wolf. After the arcade we ordered in some pizza and wings (Salad for me), took showers, ate fudge and got ready for day two of our adventure vacation. We are hitting a lot of different places, and most of them are new for us. 

Onto the next adventure.....

Time for an Adventure! | January Vacation 2021

We decided at 3pm on Monday(1/4/2021) to load up the car for a spontaneous family road trip/vacation. It's the first time we have ever just up and decided to take off. We've always talked about it, but never just jumped all in. 

It's a little nerve wracking, but also kind of exciting! We only told a few people we were going and only one person has our itinerary. 

It's now Tuesday and we are in the car on our way to Kentucky!

We will be state hopping for a few days and will eventually settle in somewhere for about a week. 

I'll be sure to update as we go, but you won't be reading this until we are already safely back at home. :)

Here's to an adventure! 

~Lyndsay

Thoughts about my personal Bible time | Mom Life Journal

I try to read my Bible everyday, but I do struggle with getting it done sometimes. I try to go it first thing in the morning, although life happens sometimes and it's 9pm before I know it. 

I have found I will read a chapter or two in the morning, but if I find time to read in the evening I read quite a bit more than that. I've slowly been cutting back on tv the better part of the last year. I used to always have it on for noise, and spent way too many hours watching just to watch. Now I spend more time reading, and could spend even more time reading the Bible. I need to work on that. 

When do you prefer to read your Bible? 

A Small Utility Room Update

We finally have the laundry back up and running! Thank goodness, because the laundry situation was getting a little sketchy there at the end. Mainly the towels. The new washer is so amazing, it is fast and the clothes come out almost dry from the spin cycle. 

The ceiling, one wall and part of the floor is complete. Dustin had meetings on Monday, and I had a kiddo with an appointment, and not much got done yesterday. We decided to have a little fun in the evening and we took the kids out to dinner at the new Mexican restaurant in town. I think Dustin might be getting a little tired after all the work he's been doing. Maybe he will take a few days off before we finish things up. 

~Lyndsay

Hiding in my bedroom | Mom Life Journal

 Ok. I'm not really hiding in my bedroom, but I am hanging out in here for a bit. I'm watching a movie on Pureflix, trying out some new oils from Hopewell, and filling all of you in on life in our little part of the world today. 

 Addison is cleaning her room, Alex is unloading shiplap from the truck for the remodel, Emma and Anna are working on a craft project and Dustin is in the utility room with everything tarped off spraying insulation into the walls and ceiling in a few of the places that it needs to be a little thicker.

  Dustin finished the duct work last night and the electric today. I actually got to turn on the lights with a light switch today. That may sound like no big deal , but it is for me with this room. It has been a long time coming. We have spent the last seven years turning a heat lamp(with a regular bulb) on and off in there for light. It was never very bright and didn't always work correctly. Although, it did get the job done, so it was fine. :) Being able to walk into the utility room and flick on the light has been something I have all but dreamed about for a while now. 

 It really hit home for me today that after this room is finished the entire house will be completed. It has been seven years this month since we started, and it will be completed. Every single room. It is a dream come true. Our 100% debt free home. It is really truly finally hitting me that we will have completely finished this project. Our labor of love. Our reset button for a better life. It wasn't always easy, but it was always worth it. 

 Emma and I ran to Sam's club for a few items, and I am proud to say I almost completely stuck to my list. The few items I did pick up were items we actually did need, but I forgot to write it down. No impulse or unnecessary items. No spend month is off to a good start. Yay! After Sam's we stopped at the car wash, yes it was in the budget, and came home to make lunch.  I grilled some hotdogs and cheeseburgers for lunch. We are planning to have prime rib, grilled chicken, salad, mashed potatoes and rolls for dinner tonight. I also have cream cheese set out to make a  cherry cheesecake for dessert. 

 Tomorrow is Sunday and we are going back to church. It has been a few weeks since we went, and we are all more than ready to worship. 

 I will need to start painting the utility room tomorrow afternoon. The original plan was to get the prefinished shiplap to avoid endless hours of painting. They don't have enough of the prefinished in stock, so we went with primed shiplap instead. Primed is better than unfinished in my opinion. I need to paint the ceiling tomorrow and then one wall before we can move the washer in. It has been a few days without washing clothes, and laundry adds up fast in a large family. We have been conservative with our clothes wearing, and towels, but the towels still add up fast...when you cook and clean daily. 

 Well, I have probably held up in my room long enough, and that cheesecake isn't going to make itself. I'm going to pause my movie and get some things done around here. 

Have a blessed day!

~Lyndsay

January 2021 Budget | No Spend Month

Happy January! 

 I can't believe it is January again. I feel like we were just here. 

Dustin is still off work and working on the utility room. However, it iced this morning and has switched over to pouring rain for most of the day. He needs to haul the shiplap home from the hardware store and can't until the rain lets up. He is basically stuck cleaning and working on a few small things while we wait for the rain to head out. 

  I am working on our January budget, and decided last week to make it a no spend month. Despite the obvious purchases for the remodel, it will be a month of only purchasing what we absolutely need. Although I might do a grocery stock up toward the end of the month, like I mentioned in other posts. 

  I am so thankful for how our debt free journey has changed our lives. We never imagined our lives would be how they are now. However, sometimes I worry that the lack of struggling will affect us in some negative ways eventually. I don't Dustin and I or the kids to never forget what it is like to struggle or to grow complacent over time or even become spoiled or expectant of things that they 'deserve'. I'm not saying we have become that way completely, but I will admit that I occasionally struggle with the thought popping into my head that I 'deserve' something. That kind of self talk can be unhealthy. I want to make sure we strive to make responsible financial choices, and that we are modeling it for our children.

  In the last year, our budget got a little out of balance. It was mainly because grocery prices fluctuated uncontrollable and it was just a matter of paying what you had to pay. Some of it was unexpected purchases, and some of it was me just not being as conscious of what I was spending at times. It was a crazy year, and that's not a good enough excuse...but it is the truth. I let it happen. 

 

  Did it get completely our of hand? No

  Did we go into debt? No

  Did we spend more than we made? No

But...

  We did eat out more than we should have.

  We spent more on impulse than we should have.

  I did not keep track of things as closely as I should have.

  We did buy way more Starbucks than we needed to for our budget and our health.

  I did shop at some stores out of convenience and not at some stores to save money when I could have.

We/I could have done so much better on the financial department last year. My plan is to bring it back into line this year, starting with this month. 

This 'No Spend Month' is not a challenge to see how little we can live on. It is a practice to get back in the habit of watching what we spend more closely, and curbing the small impulse buys that sneak in. 

I will also admit that I am trying to cut back on the amount of food we are keeping on hand. I am all for being prepared and always have been. Although in the past few months I have kept more in the house than needed out of fear of not having enough. That is not a healthy way to live. We still live in the land of plenty, and have never gone without. At least never in the true sense of the word. I am praying about this and working to decide how much is truly enough to keep on hand. This is something to find a balance of between me and the Lord. I will always be someone who likes to be prepared and who will combine and condense trips to the store for groceries, but I never want to become someone who hoards excess food out of fear. Given the past year, I can see how I started to fall into this way of feeling and thinking. I have spoken to a few friends who have dealt with the same thing. It was a strange year. It shocked the balance of life for most people in our country and all across the world. I plan to write more about this later, but for now, I'm working to make sure that we have enough, but not too much. 

 I use a paper and a budgeting app each month. I am old school with my budget and can comprehend it better with a paper budget. I do like the Every Dollar app for on the go, and to keep long term track of our budget. Plus I usually lose the paper budget halfway through the month. Yep. I just admitted that. Ha!

 Depending on how I feel about this post later, I might continue to share my budget each month. I also might come back and update how the 'No Spend Month' goes. Although I already had to stop myself from buying something this morning. Can we say impulse buy? Ouch. Wish me luck! 

Have you made your budget for January?

~Lyndsay

Happy New Year! Here Comes 2021! | Mom Life Journal

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 We made it through 2020. What a year that was. I hold no illusions that this year is going to magically be better than last year. In all honesty, while 2020 was a rough year, our family, business and general life was ok. 

  Yes, we took a financial hit, like most businesses, but not nearly as bad as some. 

  Yes, we had to change a lot of our plans and didn't get to do a lot of what we normally would, but we have four healthy and generally happy growing children. 

  Yes, school was crazy and hard to focus on during all of the chaos of the ever changing life of last year, but we were already homeschooling for years before this all happened, we did not have to learn how to homeschool during a pandemic. 

  Yes, the stores were empty for a while, some items were hard to find, curriculums were out of stock, and everything screeched to a halt, but our family never went without, we never went hungry, we were always able to work around anything that was thrown at us. 

  Yes, many crazy things happened last year, but so many good things happen last year as well. Some were things we never expected to happen, and some were long awaited things...I finally got a diagnosis for my illness and started a treatment plan that is working! We upgraded the family vehicle, to my dream SUV, with cash. We built the kids their ultimate playset in the yard. We may not have been able to travel or visit the park, so we built a park in our own yard. :) We used the money we would have spent on vacation for it. It was quite epic. All of us had our own small and big challenges, as well as small and big victories. 

  Some unexpected things were revealed to us at our past church, and the Lord guided us to a new church. Which is exactly where we were meant to be. 

  We are 99% sure that we had COVID in February/March. It was not pleasant in the least, but we made it through and are healthy. 

  We grew closer to our neighbors, family and friends than ever before.  

  We had some very hard conversations with our kids, and it ultimately helped all of us to grow. It is hard enough to comprehend the world around you spiraling out of control as an adult, let alone as a child or teen. Our kids struggled like most children would, but seem to have found their footing and come out the other side stronger and with a deeper faith in the Lord. 

  We are thankful for the last year and God's ultimate hand in guiding us through. He has to complete and total control over all things in our lives and world. We have to learn to trust him more. 

Blessings,

~Lyndsay

  I did not plan to sit down here and write about the last year. I sat down to share my January budget with you. I guess that will have to wait for the next post.

Fried Rice Recipe | Money Saving Meals

 I'm about to share with you a super simple, healthy and unbelievably cheap meal idea, Fried Rice!

 

 The secret to this fried rice recipe is simple, you use leftovers! Yep, that's right. This meal us perfect to have the night before a grocery shopping trip. It uses up little bits of leftover vegetables and meat(Steak, pork, chicken, a combination of them all, they all work perfectly. You could even skip the protein and go vegetarian with it.), and any of those sad looking vegetables that have been hanging around in the crisper drawer. You probably wouldn't want to put it in a salad, but it still have enough life to be chopped up and tossed into a fried rice meal. If you don't have enough vegetables in your fridge, frozen vegetables work just as well. I've been known to use a combination of fresh and frozen.

Rice and eggs are the second and third main component to this dish. They are cheap and pretty much everyone keeps these items on hand on the regular.

The remaining ingredients are easy to keep on hand as well, soy sauce (Or equivalent), oil and garlic and seasonings (Pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder). Also basic ingredients that people tend to keep on hand. 

The amounts of each item can vary, but I am going to give you a general idea of how much of each item I used in this recipe to feed my family of six for lunch today. The items and amounts vary each time I make this dish. That's the beauty of it, it's super flexible. 

 

FRIED RICE RECIPE

*Click title above for printable version.*

1 Cup of protein (Can be chicken, pork, steak, any protein source you find acceptable. We used leftover pork chops today.)

2 Cups vegetables (Broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers, mushrooms and peas are great add ins. Today we used onion, carrots, a sad looking bell pepper from the fridge and some frozen peas.)  

Garlic (Fresh, in the jar, in powder form. It really doesn't matter. I prefer to use fresh of jarred for this dish. Today I used jarred and powdered.)

2-5 TBSP oil (I used olive oil, but you can use your oil of preference.)

Soy Sauce (The amount varies)

Water (To thin the sauce)

Eggs (I use 1 egg to every 1.5-2 cups of rice)

Rice, prepared (I used 6 prepared cups of Uncle Ben's rice. You can use any variety or combination of rices. I love to make this dish when we have leftover rice to use up. The dish actually tastes better if you use cooked and cooled/cold rice.)

Spices, to taste  (Pepper, salt, onion powder and garlic powder.)

In a skillet over medium heat, add the oil and fresh garlic. Cook for a minute or so, then add the vegetables. Saute until vegetables are soft.

 

Add spices and meat. Mix and saute until warm. Add soy sauce and water. You can skip the water but it really helps the soy sauce to go farther in the meal and it helps not to over power the dish with the soy sauce flavor. Heat until hot.

Add the rice, stir until blended. You can add more soy or seasonings as needed. Once the rice mixture is combined and warm, make a hole in the middle to add the eggs. Crack the eggs directly into the hole in the mixture.
Salt and pepper eggs, then mix the eggs into the rice mixture. Continue to stir until the eggs are cooked, approximately 2 minutes.

 

Serve hot.

Enjoy! 

~Lyndsay

It Was A Busy Monday | Mom Life Journal

Is it really only the 28th? 

How is it not already the new year yet?

I thought today was Tuesday half the day and even had to ask someone to try to be sure I had the right day of the week. 

Today Addison and I got our nails done. I keep a full set of acrylics and Addison gets one finger done with acrylic. She has a damaged fingernail from being a sick a few years ago, and we are seeing if the acrylic will help it to hold together and heal correctly. Lots of prayers have been going up for a fingernail that grows correctly. 

After the nail salon, we went to the grocery store for a few items, then we got gas and stopped at mcds for lunch. 

I was home for about an hour and then Alex went with me to take the Macey(our dog) to the vet for her yearly check up. She was due for shots and they won't renew her prescription of thyroid meds without a yearly blood check. 

She cracks us up so much. She barks and barks when people come to visit, but she is truly a big baby at her core. She cried the whole way to the vet's office, because she couldn't be on my lap. We finally park at the vet's office, and she can finally get on my lap. It helped with the crying. Then she would let out a whiny bark when she saw someone and then would hide.

All while wearing her 'I 💜 Cats' sweater. She likes for people to think she is big, brave and ferocious, but she is not.

 After the appointment we stopped at Alex's bosses house to drop off a belated Christmas gift. We had planned to drop it off at on Christmas Eve, but the roads got too slick before we could. 

It was nice spending a little time with Alex. He and I always seem to be busy, moving in opposite directions if each other. I guess that's life with a teenage boy. 

I made pork chops, macaroni and cheese, fried potatoes and three types of vegetable for dinner. I almost went to town to buy dinner, but we did agree to eat at home more. One meal out today was more than enough. 

  Dustin made three trips town today for various things to complete the new hot water heater. Actually I think one trip was to do something at work. He says tomorrow is the day the new hot water heater will be up and running. No more tank! It's supposed to save hundreds of dollars per year. I'm curious to see how much of a difference it makes. 

Well...I'm off to bed. Tomorrow I plan to clean as much of the house as I'm able with all the construction, and I need to start working out again. I took about a week off over Christmas, plus the treadmill was in a strange location because of the construction. I also need to finalize the budget for January tomorrow afternoon.

Today was very busy with a lot of errands. Tomorrow I'm looking forward to being home. 

~Lyndsay

Thoughts About Sunday | Mom Life Journal

  The days with Dustin home are quickly flying by already. Plus we are in the strange time between Christmas and New Years, when every day feels like Saturday. 

  Today I made breakfast, Dustin and I went to Menards to get some items for the remodel, we came home to do church with the kids, I worked on cleaning and organizing while Dustin worked on the utility room, the kids play outside, I made turkey noodle soup for lunch, played games with the girls, Alex set up his punching bag and used it most of the day, I made pizza for dinner and played a round of Scrabble with Dustin.

  We got a new Scrabble set for Christmas. I got it for the kids, but it was truthfully for myself. I love Scrabble! Dustin finally offered to play a round with me this evening. I actually beat him! The final score was 383 to 275. I'm looking forward to playing many more rounds of it with him and the kids. I hope they end up liking it as much as I do, and I also hope they eventually beat me as well. Scrabble is all about learning more for the next round and storing it for later use. 

  I think we all reached our personal limit for junk, sugar and holiday food yesterday. None of us had any interest in it today at all. It's time to steer the healthy eating train back into its tracks again.  We ate a whole head of broccoli and half a head of cauliflower with dinner. 

  It's was also time for us to continue eating the food in the freezer and pantry. I used a soup from the freezer today, revived it with a bit of leftover turkey, mixed vegetables from the freezer, and some noodles from the pantry. The pizza for dinner also came from mostly pantry and freezer items. We had cheese, hawaiian and pepperoni pizza. 

  Dustin has been making jerky the last two days. He picked up 10# of thinly sliced jerky meat and it did 1.5 full dehydrators full. He always makes jerky at Christmas. A tradition he started years ago, I think it was because he got the dehydrator for Christmas. The kids have come to expect it each year and start talking about it at Thanksgiving. One of those odd traditiona that probably doesn't make sense to other people. 

  I read a book today about Cait Flander, she overcame alcoholism, binge eating, learned how to budget and get out of debt and then she spent an entire year not buying unnecessarily things. The year without spending changed her entire life trajectory. It was a good read. It was called 'The Hear of Less'. I found it free on my library app. She also has another book, but it is not free on the app yet. I'm too cheap to buy it new, guess I'll wait for it to be available for free or on eBay. 

  Tomorrow is Monday and Dustin's first official day off work. It's going to be strange having him home all day for the next few weeks. This week is filled with three appointments, normal life, seeing the grandparents and working on the utility room. 

 ~ Lyndsay

Day...not sure I should continue keeping track. It has almost become a habit to write daily now. Maybe I should start to consider putting more guidance behind the content soon? 

Merry Christmas! (2020) | Mom Life Journal

Merry Christmas! 

We had a wonderful Christmas day, spent relaxing, eating, playing in the snow, playing together, napping and enjoying each other's company. 

I can't tell you the last time we got snow on Christmas. It makes for extra special memories for all of us  

The highlights for the day include Anna getting a karaoke machine and everyone singing along, my husband getting a container of 'Tang'(A childhood favorite drink.) And talking about it, and making endless jokes about Tang, Alex and Emma played anew video game (Overcooked) that had all of us rolling with laughter, Addison got her most requested gift an Instax camera, Dustin alsi received a Sling puck game that everyone has enjoyed. The kids gave Dustin and I a massage chair and massage gun. Such useful gifts for all of us! 

The high on Christmas was 19 degrees, and we were basically snowed in. The roads were very icy and the county did not clean them until early the next morning. It was nice to be at snowed in home, with no where to go for Christmas. 

How was your Christmas?

~Lyndsay

Day 11.  I have not been entirely consistent but I'm getting words on a page a lot more often than I was before. It will be easier after Dustin goes back to work and we are back in school. 

Merry Christmas Eve! | Mom Life Journal

Christmas Eve finally arrived! It's my favorite day. I love it even more than Christmas Day  

Today we decorated sugar cookies, exchanged some gifts, played games, had a delicious holiday dinner, and watched movies.

We also had a snowstorm today. There's a lot of snow out there! I can't remember ever having this much snow on Christmas. I can't wait to go out to play with the kids tomorrow. 

I told the kids to remember this Christmas, because Christmas with a lot of snow doesn't happen very often in Ohio. 

Dustin and I set up the stockings and special gifts and are all tucked in to get some rest. Here is hoping we have a quiet night, and our electric stays on. It flickered a few times earlier in the evening. Cars have been going by super slow because of the ice under the snow. 

I'm so thankful we have no where to be for days to come. Dustin is in vacation for over three weeks. He has never been home this many days in our entire marriage. We're excited, but he'll probably be more than ready to go back by the end of his time off. I know the kids and I will probably definitely be ready for him to go back. 

Merry Christmas Eve! 

~Lyndsay

Day 8?