Well On Our Way

Steve and I would make Dave Ramsey proud... I sold some PTO... earning us an extra 850 dollars and just got notification of my salary increase... since we have another 22 paychecks left for the year... a grand total of 1232 dollars! I cannot thank God enough for my job! Total money saved/earned so far... 2,706.06... Only 9,293.94 left! We're chipping our way through those student loans - slowly but surely. I have a love/hate relationship with Dave Ramsey, but I know in the long run we'll be much better off.

Lace Up Against Breast Cancer

Today two of my co-workers and I braved the frigid weather to support Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Research and participated in the Lace Up Against Breast Cancer in memory of Michelle. There was a half marathon, a 5K run, and a 2 mile walk with staggered start times. Guess which one we opted for? The 2 mile walk. Several of Michelle's friends and family participated as well and it was wonderful to share memories and comfort each other.

It was about 11 degrees out with a little wind, but the sunshine and exercise warmed us up. If I continue to participate in any more charity walks this winter, I may need to invest in a fleece mask to keep my face warm!

As we finished the walk, we encouraged the remainder of the 5K runners - most finished before us. We were very surprised when a half marathon runner finished in an impressive 1 hour and 17 minutes! A little under a 6 minute mile!

We had the opportunity to walk beside both cancer survivors and families who had lost grandmas, mothers, aunts, sisters, and daughters. Their stories remind me that each day is precious - each day is a gift from God - each day should lived by to the fullest.

Amaya's 4th Birthday - Part 1

Friday, January 20th - the Birthday Girl turns 4 years old!! First things first... she wants to open presents right away!

Amaya LOVES clothes and since she's growing in leaps and bounds, she really needed new clothes. Here she is in her new outfit!

Opening a few more presents.

Amaya's really been wanting to learn how to read. She'll ask what different letters sound like, try to spell and sound words out on her own, and "pretends" to read. So, we bought her the Tag Leap Frog Learning to Read system. (I would highly recommend using this - she loves it!)

Then, Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa invited us over to their house for Amaya to open their birthday present since they were going to be unable to come to her party.

Great-Grandma made her this clown doll.

After leaving their house, we picked up her favorite lunch - McDonald's!

Steve had to work later that afternoon and into the evening, so Amaya and I planned to attend the Kingdom Kids Preschool - Beach Blast with Grandma and Grandpa Gustafson!

We enjoyed a meal provided by Bob's Smoke Stack Ribs, and had free popcorn, and free sno-cones.


Each room had a different activity planned... in the Gym there were two bouncy houses set up. What kid doesn't like to bounce around? This was Amaya's favorite activity of the evening.

Bob the Beachcomber was in the sanctuary and sang some oldies music. My mom enjoyed it... Amaya thought it was okay once he got warmed up ... not sure if it was my Dad's cup of tea... and I was just embarrassed for the poor guy... (I hope that the Beachcomber thing isn't his day job!)

After the show... we stopped by each room to do a different activity... Here, Amaya is collecting as many "Coconuts" as she can.

We also learned how to hula. Amaya was a little shy to go up front to learn by the instructor (a middle-schooler volunteering her time as a service project), so I went up front with her. There are NO pictures of the hula lessons. I wouldn't want to scare anyone! :-)

Here, Amaya is fishing... more middle schoolers behind the back drop putting fish on her line!

One of my favorite stations... dressing up! Isn't she a Hawaiian beauty?!?

It was a wonderful evening - especially with Grandma and Grandpa there. Amaya thought the whole Beach Blast party was for her birthday - how sweet... I continue to be impressed with the loving staff at Kingdom Kids Preschool. What a special way to celebrate her birthday. Part 2 coming soon with pictures from her big party!

Great-Grandma's 93rd Birthday

Tonight we're celebrating Great-Grandma's 93rd birthday! We are invited over to their house along with Steve's parents, Aunt Janet, Uncle Ron and Dianne, and maybe some of Steve's cousins (we hope!) We always have such a good time together and I love a house full of family! We're are incredibly blessed to have Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa in our lives. How many people make it into their NINETIES? When we first started dating, we hoped and prayed that they would both still be living to see us get married. Then, when we were expecting Amaya, we hoped and prayed some more that they would be able to meet her. Now we hope and pray that we cherish each and every day we have with them and for Amaya to remember her special relationship with them.

Roller Coaster Weekend

On Thursday evening, my co-worker passed away after fighting a 12 year battle against cancer. Her health had deteriorated over the past few months and she knew after Christmas that she didn't have much time left. Taking the advice of her oncologist, she started hospice care at home on Monday. That was the last time most of my co-workers and I saw her... Words cannot begin to express how much she meant to me... She was one of my preceptors when I started in the allergy department and one of the first things she said to me was, "I have cancer, but please don't treat me like I have cancer." She was a fighter... she was stubborn... and she wasn't going to give up. Her will and her determination are to be desired...

On Saturday, our family participated in the Frozen Goose 5K run/walk supporting Mayo Clinic research for childhood cancer and Brighter Tomorrows. We celebrated our nephew, Ben's victory against leukemia. I wish every cancer story had a happy ending. Mike and Arwen are very involved with Brighter Tomorrows and it was fun to support them and celebrate Ben's healing, especially in light of the previous events.

Later that evening, we celebrated Cooper's 4th birthday! I still have a hard time imagining that 4 years ago, we graduated from prenatal classes together and entered parenthood. In the midst of temper tantrums, time-outs, and disobedience... I'll take each and every day with a heart of gratitude and thankfulness to our Lord and Savior for blessing us with Amaya. And I'm so thankful to God for planting Steve and Jen in our life and for the friendship we share.

Over the past several days, I've been fervently praying for a member of our church, who is also battling with cancer. I have had the privilege of being in a few Bible Studies with her and she is a living testimony of God's faithfulness. She has been instrumental in the development of my faith and has been a constant prayer warrior, supporter, and encourager especially while Steve was sick. This week has been a very difficult week for her physicially and emotionally as they have switched gears and are now looking at hospice care at home.

Today was my co-worker's visitation... the funeral is tomorrow... My heart grieves for those that don't know Jesus... Where is the hope? This weekend, my emotions have been all over the place and I can only relate it as to being on a roller coaster. Lots of ups... lots of downs.... While I don't always understand God's purpose and I really don't understand cancer.... I'm just along for the ride and trusting that God is good and that He has a bigger plan.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Resolution Update

We're nearly half-way through the month of January, and by now I've typically lost steam with my resolutions - not so this year! The daily Bible reading is going great and right on target. What I'm most excited about is our challenge to find/save/earn 12,000!!

Here's the breakdown...

I really don't like lunch... I've never been a fan of sandwiches... I never really know quite what to bring to work for lunch, so I got into the habit of going to Bruegger's because I LOVE bagels and I LOVE soup! Unfortunately, each time I ate out... it cost me $7.81! Now granted... I only work 2-3 days a week, but it adds up! So... since the beginning of January, I worked 3 days (have I mentioned that I love being part-time?!?) and have brought my lunch each day... so a savings of $23.43!!! (I eat a lot of yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola bars.... I still haven't found a lunch that I "love" bringing to work.)

Steve is part of a research study for Crohn's disease and a few days ago he received a check in the mail for $10 for filling out a simple survey! I'm looking at some research studies for me to participate in because we get a little extra cash and also help medical research!

I made a very difficult decision to cancel my gym membership at the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center (DAHLC). I loved going... all the equipment... meeting with a wellness coach... getting a massage every now and then... using the pool... daycare that Amaya loved... just talking about it makes me want to change my mind!!! Unfortunately, I wasn't getting there consistently enough to make it worth it and I wasn't making it a priority in my schedule. We have a treadmill that is completely paid for just begging to be used, so I'm on it 4-5 days a week now! Total savings: $351 (for the entire year). (And a bonus... a few pounds gone too!)

We've had a Kwik Trip card for over a year now and we absolutely love it! We generally buy all of our gas there since it's conveniently located to our house. We found an extra bonus in that their bread, eggs, butter, onions, bananas, potatoes, and milk are cheaper than at Wal-Mart. So, with our card, we get 3 cents back on every gallon of gas we buy and 10% off our grocery purchases. Once a quarter, we get a gift certificate combining the 3 cents back and 10% off groceries. This week we got a check for $19.63 to use towards the purchase of anything at Kwik Trip. It's not a huge savings... but it all adds up!

Amaya hit another growth spurt and I was hoping I could literally stretch out her clothes a little longer, but she really needs to be bumped up a size. Arwen has been absolutely awesome and sharing her girl's clothes with us as they outgrow them. So, Amaya and I brought out the bin of size 5 clothes to organize and try things on! She had a blast doing a fashion show for me and I was so pleased to not have to rush out to buy new clothes for her. We slashed our clothing budget for the three of us to $20 a month, so I'm grateful for Arwen's generosity! It's hard to put a price on how much we saved, but I figure at least $200.

I've been cutting Steve's hair for nearly 7 years now. We started right after he got laid off from Pemstar to trim our budget. I cut his hair again this week... saving us $20! I wasn't sure I should include this for our challenge this year since we've been doing it for so long, but decided that it was important to recognize what we've already done to be frugal! In those 7 years we've saved $1,680 just on his haircuts alone!!!

We've only just begun and already our total for the year is $624.06! Only $11,375.94 left to go!

Gymnastics Class

For Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa Gustafson gave Amaya money to take 4 weeks of gymnastics lessons through Community Education. Amaya has taken lesssons before and has LOVED it, but it's been a little over a year so we weren't sure if she would remember much or enjoy it as much as before. Well, she remembered it VERY WELL and had a GREAT time!

There are only two other kids in her class, so each one gets a lot of personal attention. (I think there can be 6 in the class, so I'm relieved that it's a smaller class size.) Her teacher's name is Kristina and is very young, full of energy, and great with kids. They warmed up and Amaya remembered how to bear crawl, do pikes, and "make pizza." (one of the names of the stretches). Then, they went in the larger room with the foam pit and gymnastic equipment. She remembered most of the beginning skills - somersaults, balancing on a beam, etc... and she learned how to do a handstand using the wall to crawl her feet up. She loved jumping in the foam pit and it really wasn't jumping... it was more like LAUNCHING herself in the pit! She's got gusto and no fear! Her other favorite parts of the class were going down the slide into the foam pit and jumping on the trampoline. Amaya already asked me this morning if she could go to gymnastics today... I don't think 4 weeks is going to be long enough for her..... Anyway, I hope to take some pictures of her next week at class and get those up on the blog.

Christmas is Over....

We finally got our Christmas tree taken down and the house back to normal. No matter how late we keep our tree up, it's always a downer to take it down. If I had my way, we'd have a Christmas tree up year round! So much hard work of putting on all the lights... placing each ornament "just so"... admiring the tree's beauty... Sigh... I miss our tree. I miss the sparkling lights... the fragance... however, I can say that I DON'T miss the needles. Family returned home... cookies are long gone... activities have restarted... I'm back at work... it's time to move on... Why can't it be Christmas every day? Fortunately, we've got a special little girl's birthday right around the corner - something to look forward to - and I've got to get planning!

Power of Advertising

Amaya hates oranges... doesn't like orange juice... but she LOVES Cutie's - California Clementines! She saw the Cutie commercial on TV... "You know why Cuties are small? 'Cuz kids have small hands. Kids love Cuties, because Cuties are made for kids." The next time we went to Wal-Mart, she saw the Cuties and got so excited, so we bought a bag... after spending $6.88 on a 5 - pound bag, this kiddo better like them! And she does! Today she said, "Kids DO like Cuties!" How's that for the power of advertising?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you see it through to the end? I usually have a few New Year's resolutions, but by February I've either forgotten about them or given up. Last year, I decided to finally read through the Bible in a year. My cousin has read through the Bible every year for the past five years or so and inspired me to do the same. I'd like to say that I read several chapters every single day... but I got behind... several times... I remember riding along the coast of Lake Michigan on vacation reading through the book of Job because I had gotten so far behind. But... I finished the entire Bible... a day early! (I had two chapters left of Revelation to complete on the 31st, but I couldn't really stop with only two chapters left, now could I?)

This year's resolution - read through the Bible again - this time chronologically and with a commentary in hand. I admit, I breezed through some of the more difficult books of the Bible... and as my dad would say, "It's all about the journey." So, I'm not in such a rush this year to read through it.. I'll enjoy this journey more this time around.

My other resolution is to "find - save - earn" 12,000 dollars more this year. Since completing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University... we have a plan/budget... but I need a little bit more motivation to maintain "gazelle intensity" especially when we are at a tortoise pace with student loans. I've looked online and I can't really find any blog for support and encouragement during the hardest Dave Ramsey Baby Step... that may be another blog in my future... but anyway... 12,000 extra dollars in 2012... can we do it?