I'm pretty frustrated because the HORRIBLE bed and breakfast job that I worked over Christmas STILL has not paid me. She said she mailed the paycheck on Jan 18th, but how long can a letter take to get here from Weatherford? If it has not arrived on Monday, I will bring it up with her again and have her mail me a new one. This is absolutely ridiculous. Granted, she's not the best person with money (I took a payment to Macy's for her the day before Christmas - she was paying $40 on a $500 balance), but I still should have been paid by now. It doesn't help that we need the money right now. Several of our bills were high this month for some reason, combined with me not being able to tutor half the month because school was out. Just frustrating. Our budget has officially begun, but it feels like we're more in the hole than when we started because of this situation.
In other news, Jordan and I went and heard Grant play at a coffee house yesterday, and it was actually a lot of fun. We brought a board game, because my husband loves board games and I knew saying we'd bring it would convince him to go. Ultimately, it was a good thing because we both needed to get out of the house and he ended up having a lot more fun than he thought he would. The job situation is rough on him, and he deserves better. I haven't been much help lately because I've had a severe lack of patience for various reasons, the chief of which being that I need to get back into a house-cleaning and Bible-reading swing of things. Christmas "break" really threw us off. Anyway, the coffee shop was a lot of fun. And then tonight we went and heard the Fort Worth Symphonic Orchestra play a free community concert at church. The nice thing about these concerts (one of which I went to in December) is that we sit extremely close because its a small-ish auditorium. At least, small compared to Bass Hall. But we were probably about 10 feet away from the conductor. It was great. Apparently they had a contest for musicians in high school (or below) and the winner came to play with them. The winner was a Senior high school student who played a violin concerto (extremely long - totally memorized) with them. He looked nervous as all get out, and he messed up every now and then. But he sounded really good, and I bet it was a thrill to be the soloist playing with a professional orchestra. Man, the orchestra sounded amazing as always. The second piece they played was a symphony written by a bohemian composer, and it was beautiful. It featured the lone flute player, and she was remarkable. The lone clarinetist was also amazing. Its funny that the orchestra will have only one (two for the low brass instruments) player on each instrument, and then a whole herd of violins and violas and cellos and upright basses. The wind instruments can still be clearly heard. I keep saying this, but MAN they sounded good.
I've been making handbags recently, and I finally made one for myself (granted, I was testing a new style to see if it worked - and I like it a lot!). I've been using it and loving it the past day, and have a couple modifications that I will put into place when I start making them to sell. Kristen thought it was cute anyway. And I really really like it a lot. I enjoy making handbags, much more than anything else I've made.
Well, life goes on. The library is awesome for free entertainment. We checked out a copy of HBO's "John Adams" series and have been watching that. Its great, and you should see if it you get the chance. The first episode is a little rough because, as my husband put it, "I just didn't care about any of the characters". But by the second episode you've been drawn into the story and it really is well done. We've been enjoying it.
We've also resurrected Lego Star Wars since we never completely beat it. We're now working on the last 15% and we'll have beaten the whole game. Its a fun game and we enjoy playing it together. Anyway, back to my book. I'm currently reading "Julie and Julia", yes the one they made the movie of. I enjoyed the movie, and - as usual - the book is far superior to the movie. Well, kind of. Its much much better at telling Julie Powell's story, but doesn't tell Julia Child's story at all. The movie did a better job at that. Good night inter-world.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Every Once in a While
Grrr. Sewing machine pedal decided to stop working. I called a shop around here that carries my brand of machine, and they told me to bring it in and they'd diagnose it for free. But over the phone, they thought I would need the circuit board in the foot replaced, which would cost $75. But if I have to replace the entire foot, the part will cost $250. LAME!!! Especially since the starter on the camry decided to die as well, and we have to get THAT replaced. Estimate was at $340 with the part and labor, but Jordan did it himself and saved us $150. Still, meant we couldn't afford to fix the sewing machine.
However, Beth has decided that it is time for her to get a new sewing machine, and she is sending her old one down with Bill who is driving to Oklahoma to pick up the new youth minister on Monday and help them move. So we're going to drive tonight and spend the night at Jordan's grandma's house, and then see Bill and some of the other church guys on Monday. I'm excited to see family, as it sure does get lonely down here in Fort Worth. Its rough because I spent my first 1.5 years out of college (teaching) getting used to being lonely and not being able to hang out with friends. But Jordan is just now going through that, and there isn't a whole lot I can do to help him. Its hard because I'm home alone most of the time and look forward to when he gets home, but when he gets home he's a little down because all of our friends have other plans and can't hang out like they used to in college - which I guess is just part of growing up. Plus he hates his job and is just generally dissatisfied with life right now. Again, I think that must be part of growing up as I've got a lot of those feelings going on too. Oh well, life goes on.
We're officially starting our Dave Ramsey budget this friday with Jordan's paycheck, but its going to be hard because our emergency fund was so depleted by the car starter. Its good, because I have the feeling we would have run into a MAJOR crisis soon which we would have been unprepared for financially. We were talking last night about how if either of us were to get sick or in an accident, we wouldn't have any way to pay for it. But now that I think about it, Jordan is actually insured already for his health. It would just be the $500 copay, which we could come up with. Its me who we can't afford to get sick or injured. Just a rough spot to be in, when we're living below our means but just not making enough money and generally feeling like we're spinning our wheels. At least we don't have kids.
What a whiny blog post. Honestly, we have a pretty good life. We've got food on the table, two funny (and frustrating sometimes) dogs, each other, and an unlimited pass to the local library. I'm pretty convinced that the only thing more money would bring is more bills. And so I'm going to work on changing my attitude today.
However, Beth has decided that it is time for her to get a new sewing machine, and she is sending her old one down with Bill who is driving to Oklahoma to pick up the new youth minister on Monday and help them move. So we're going to drive tonight and spend the night at Jordan's grandma's house, and then see Bill and some of the other church guys on Monday. I'm excited to see family, as it sure does get lonely down here in Fort Worth. Its rough because I spent my first 1.5 years out of college (teaching) getting used to being lonely and not being able to hang out with friends. But Jordan is just now going through that, and there isn't a whole lot I can do to help him. Its hard because I'm home alone most of the time and look forward to when he gets home, but when he gets home he's a little down because all of our friends have other plans and can't hang out like they used to in college - which I guess is just part of growing up. Plus he hates his job and is just generally dissatisfied with life right now. Again, I think that must be part of growing up as I've got a lot of those feelings going on too. Oh well, life goes on.
We're officially starting our Dave Ramsey budget this friday with Jordan's paycheck, but its going to be hard because our emergency fund was so depleted by the car starter. Its good, because I have the feeling we would have run into a MAJOR crisis soon which we would have been unprepared for financially. We were talking last night about how if either of us were to get sick or in an accident, we wouldn't have any way to pay for it. But now that I think about it, Jordan is actually insured already for his health. It would just be the $500 copay, which we could come up with. Its me who we can't afford to get sick or injured. Just a rough spot to be in, when we're living below our means but just not making enough money and generally feeling like we're spinning our wheels. At least we don't have kids.
What a whiny blog post. Honestly, we have a pretty good life. We've got food on the table, two funny (and frustrating sometimes) dogs, each other, and an unlimited pass to the local library. I'm pretty convinced that the only thing more money would bring is more bills. And so I'm going to work on changing my attitude today.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
A weekend of new jobs
I took the test for the census job on Monday, which was kinda a shame because Bill was in town and I really would have like to see him. The census test was a joke, and anyone who graduated high school should have been able to get 100% on it, as long as they actually tried. If you try to do it too fast, you will miss questions as they trick you. But it took me about 15 minutes out of the 30 we were allowed. There were some people who didn't even finish, and some people who didn't pass (passing is 10 out of the 28 questions). I was the youngest person in my testing group. Everyone else was in their 30's or above with one or two exceptions. Since I got a perfect score, theoretically I should be at the top of the list when they come to fill positions. We will see though.
Jordan went to see his dad in dallas while I was testing, and Mrs. Gayla was there. She and her husband live here now, which is weird to me because several of us from MABC ended up here in Dallas/Fort Worth (Harris, Watson, Kristen, Jordan and I..). She works for the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas and told Jordan about a couple openings they have, which would be great for me because I would like to have health benefits. Hopefully I'll be able to do the work from them (hopefully in the missions department like Gayla) and still keep my tutoring job, which will help us follow our Money Makeover plan that much faster.
We had to get the cars' registration renewed yesterday. Good bye $100. AND in the state of Texas you have to have your car inspected every year, so we still have to do that. Already thinning our emergency fund as the two people who were supposed to pay me on the 15th (the tutoring company and that terrible bed and breakfast) STILL have not gotten my pay checks in the mail. Which is a huge part of the reason we're doing the money makeover plan - so that when people fail we won't be left in a pinch. Also, the started on the Camry has started to fail, so now we have to replace that. The mechanic down the road (who always quotes us high) said $340 to replace it. Jordan is looking at other options. Just frustrating.
We've spent the last 5 days pretty much consistently hanging out with the Watsons and the Michalkes. Its fun to have other married couple friends. On Sunday, after we went to church, we went back to the Watson's house and talked for a while. Everybody ended up telling their beginning of relationship through engagement stories, which was interesting to hear. The Michalkes were high school sweethearts, the Watsons randomly met and got engaged shortly after, and then Jordan and I. Of course we had to tell the whole Jodi's-college-mistake story, even though we were trying to gloss over. But they wanted to know, so we told them. Its great to hang out with people in our same situation of being newly married, broke, and trying to find where we fit. I've really enjoyed it.
The dogs are driving me nuts. Abbey has decided that after a month with no accidents, she is now no longer potty trained. So we're back to the kennel/outside time until she gets it through her head that she has no other choice. Hopefully this time it will stick. She's also been a whiny brat at night, which leads to less sleep for Jordan and I, which leads to raised nerves at night. Jojo is just very vocal, as always. Their new game is to sit on top of the couch and bark at the neighborhood stray cats.
Goals for the day? Do a little cleaning around the house, as they dogs have decided to unstuff another previously-stuffed animal all over the living room. I've got to replant some cabbage seeds that have sprouted and will need a bigger pot before they go outside in the garden. And I'm going to list an item or two online - at least make them so I can list them throughout the week, as well as finish mom's birthday present and figure out what dad is getting so that I can get that box in the mail and not worry about it.
Jordan went to see his dad in dallas while I was testing, and Mrs. Gayla was there. She and her husband live here now, which is weird to me because several of us from MABC ended up here in Dallas/Fort Worth (Harris, Watson, Kristen, Jordan and I..). She works for the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas and told Jordan about a couple openings they have, which would be great for me because I would like to have health benefits. Hopefully I'll be able to do the work from them (hopefully in the missions department like Gayla) and still keep my tutoring job, which will help us follow our Money Makeover plan that much faster.
We had to get the cars' registration renewed yesterday. Good bye $100. AND in the state of Texas you have to have your car inspected every year, so we still have to do that. Already thinning our emergency fund as the two people who were supposed to pay me on the 15th (the tutoring company and that terrible bed and breakfast) STILL have not gotten my pay checks in the mail. Which is a huge part of the reason we're doing the money makeover plan - so that when people fail we won't be left in a pinch. Also, the started on the Camry has started to fail, so now we have to replace that. The mechanic down the road (who always quotes us high) said $340 to replace it. Jordan is looking at other options. Just frustrating.
We've spent the last 5 days pretty much consistently hanging out with the Watsons and the Michalkes. Its fun to have other married couple friends. On Sunday, after we went to church, we went back to the Watson's house and talked for a while. Everybody ended up telling their beginning of relationship through engagement stories, which was interesting to hear. The Michalkes were high school sweethearts, the Watsons randomly met and got engaged shortly after, and then Jordan and I. Of course we had to tell the whole Jodi's-college-mistake story, even though we were trying to gloss over. But they wanted to know, so we told them. Its great to hang out with people in our same situation of being newly married, broke, and trying to find where we fit. I've really enjoyed it.
The dogs are driving me nuts. Abbey has decided that after a month with no accidents, she is now no longer potty trained. So we're back to the kennel/outside time until she gets it through her head that she has no other choice. Hopefully this time it will stick. She's also been a whiny brat at night, which leads to less sleep for Jordan and I, which leads to raised nerves at night. Jojo is just very vocal, as always. Their new game is to sit on top of the couch and bark at the neighborhood stray cats.
Goals for the day? Do a little cleaning around the house, as they dogs have decided to unstuff another previously-stuffed animal all over the living room. I've got to replant some cabbage seeds that have sprouted and will need a bigger pot before they go outside in the garden. And I'm going to list an item or two online - at least make them so I can list them throughout the week, as well as finish mom's birthday present and figure out what dad is getting so that I can get that box in the mail and not worry about it.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The Financial Guru
So, I checked out The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey a couple days ago, and have started reading it. It sounds great. I mean, it sounds hard and it will be hard. But it'll be good for us. I'm hoping we can get into great financial shape and not have to hit rock bottom like most of the people in the book, with tons of debt and medical bills and job losses all piling up at once. We have been squandering our money, mostly on entertainment and going out to eat. But that has started to change since we've been focusing on meal planning and eating at home, and hopefully the envelope system and the "spending your money on paper before you get it" plan will help us trim up and start putting away some savings.
My etsy store will have to go on the backburner for a little bit, because I don't want to be investing so much money in it when we should be paying off the debt. I'm not going to stop working on it. I'm just not going to be buying new material. It'll be a while before it starts earning me money, so I need to stop investing so heavily and buying so much fabric when I haven't even been able to have the time to list items every day like I should be. I'm still going to try to have 20 items listed by the end of January (hopefully I'll have about 30-40 items by the end of february, as that is when people say they start seeing steady sales if you've been doing the promotions right), and I certainly have the fabric stash to do it.
I've got a job test tomorrow for a census job, paying 11-16 dollars an hour. Even if I just work that part time, it will help us pay off our debt all the much faster.
But, my 15 minute break from house cleaning is up. Hope everybody has a good day!
My etsy store will have to go on the backburner for a little bit, because I don't want to be investing so much money in it when we should be paying off the debt. I'm not going to stop working on it. I'm just not going to be buying new material. It'll be a while before it starts earning me money, so I need to stop investing so heavily and buying so much fabric when I haven't even been able to have the time to list items every day like I should be. I'm still going to try to have 20 items listed by the end of January (hopefully I'll have about 30-40 items by the end of february, as that is when people say they start seeing steady sales if you've been doing the promotions right), and I certainly have the fabric stash to do it.
I've got a job test tomorrow for a census job, paying 11-16 dollars an hour. Even if I just work that part time, it will help us pay off our debt all the much faster.
But, my 15 minute break from house cleaning is up. Hope everybody has a good day!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Enchiladas and Twitter
I've been staying pretty busy making new items so I have something new to list everyday on etsy. Once I have more of an inventory, I think I will take out an add on facebook so I can get some exposure that way. I've got a fanpage on facebook as well as a Twitter account now. Just trying to promote myself and get people into the store. Hopefully eventually it'll lead to my first sale.
Cooked enchiladas last night for Jordan and Grant. Easy meal, and Jordan just loves it. They're pretty good too. And the best part was I doubled the ground beef while I was browning it, and then some of it aside for the taco soup today. So supper today will be easy peasy and I don't have to worry about it too much.
Started work on mom's birthday present today too. Bought the fabric for it yesterday and I'm in the process of designing it now - just taking a break to order some business cards and do a little marketing. I really am enjoying this etsy stuff. Keeps me busy and gives me a sense of purpose during the day.
Cooked enchiladas last night for Jordan and Grant. Easy meal, and Jordan just loves it. They're pretty good too. And the best part was I doubled the ground beef while I was browning it, and then some of it aside for the taco soup today. So supper today will be easy peasy and I don't have to worry about it too much.
Started work on mom's birthday present today too. Bought the fabric for it yesterday and I'm in the process of designing it now - just taking a break to order some business cards and do a little marketing. I really am enjoying this etsy stuff. Keeps me busy and gives me a sense of purpose during the day.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Promotion, promotion, promotion
Well, its been an interesting couple of days. Still no sales in my etsy shop, though I did have someone contact me about a custom order for their wedding party. I hope that works out because it would be fun to do. I've just been promoting the shop like crazy, trying to get more people into the store. Even if nobody buys anything yet, at least they've been made aware I exist and hopefully made a mental note for the next time they're looking for a gift. We'll see. Its mildly frustrating, but I'm going to keep at it. I really want it to work out.
I spent a lot of time a couple days ago designing a new wallet for the shop. I haven't found anything else like it on etsy, so hopefully it'll be my key to carving out my niche. I made 3 prototypes before ending up with one that I like. Unfortunately, I didn't stitch entirely straight so I'm keeping that one for myself. I starting to make an actual one to sell, but ending up making a mistake somewhere and it came out too short. I hate doing that. But Jordan has been very encouraging during the whole frustrating process. It doesn't help that the sewing machine was having issues as well.
In other news, I got into the Frugal Living Swap in craftster, and I'm pretty excited about that. First thing I'm making for my partner are some reusable menstrual pads. Frankly, they gross me out. But she really really wants them and there are quite a few people who love them. So whatever. I will make them for her, but I certainly don't have to use them!
We've been doing well eating supper at home, except that there have been a couple supper mishaps where it wasn't cooked fully or burned or something along those lines. So we've still ended up eating fast food. But it'll get better, I trust. At least we're trying!
I spent a lot of time a couple days ago designing a new wallet for the shop. I haven't found anything else like it on etsy, so hopefully it'll be my key to carving out my niche. I made 3 prototypes before ending up with one that I like. Unfortunately, I didn't stitch entirely straight so I'm keeping that one for myself. I starting to make an actual one to sell, but ending up making a mistake somewhere and it came out too short. I hate doing that. But Jordan has been very encouraging during the whole frustrating process. It doesn't help that the sewing machine was having issues as well.
In other news, I got into the Frugal Living Swap in craftster, and I'm pretty excited about that. First thing I'm making for my partner are some reusable menstrual pads. Frankly, they gross me out. But she really really wants them and there are quite a few people who love them. So whatever. I will make them for her, but I certainly don't have to use them!
We've been doing well eating supper at home, except that there have been a couple supper mishaps where it wasn't cooked fully or burned or something along those lines. So we've still ended up eating fast food. But it'll get better, I trust. At least we're trying!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Our First Downfall
Well, despite our hard work we ate fastfood the last two days. I had a beef stew cooking in the crock pot on Monday, but I put in the noodles too soon and they dissolved into the stew and the whole thing just looked disgusting. It was horrible. So we threw it out and went and got Taco Bell.
And then yesterday, I had dinner planned and ready to be cooked, but we ended up going over to Grant's house the play games and stayed there through dinner time. So we had to pick up fast food again. I'm not going to feel too bad about it. Just pick ourselves back up and get back on the cooking-our-food not-so-much-fast-food bandwagon.
I added two new items to my etsy store today, the personalized coffee cozy's and some Breast Cancer Awareness ones. I enjoyed making them and I am hoping that my store will start to get some traffic so that I can get closer to making my first sale. At the moment, I'm just one in a sea of etsy stores and I'm not sure how to get my name out there and get people into my store. But it'll happen with time as long as I keep doing what I am doing. I've got a couple new products in my head that I'd like to make and have up in the next couple of days. Breaking into the market is a little hard, but I'm reading and improving my store every day.
Jordan and I went to the library these past two days, and I've checked out quite a few books about gardening and how to grow your own vegetables without spending tons of money to do it. We're going to use the Square Foot Garden method, since it doesn't require us to dig into any soil (which is good because we don't have a yard) and is instead more like planter boxes but for veggies. I picked up a good variety of seeds from Lowe's today, and may start some of the longer-maturing ones inside on the window seals so that we can start enjoying fresh produce earlier in the spring than we'd be otherwise able to.
Life is good!
And then yesterday, I had dinner planned and ready to be cooked, but we ended up going over to Grant's house the play games and stayed there through dinner time. So we had to pick up fast food again. I'm not going to feel too bad about it. Just pick ourselves back up and get back on the cooking-our-food not-so-much-fast-food bandwagon.
I added two new items to my etsy store today, the personalized coffee cozy's and some Breast Cancer Awareness ones. I enjoyed making them and I am hoping that my store will start to get some traffic so that I can get closer to making my first sale. At the moment, I'm just one in a sea of etsy stores and I'm not sure how to get my name out there and get people into my store. But it'll happen with time as long as I keep doing what I am doing. I've got a couple new products in my head that I'd like to make and have up in the next couple of days. Breaking into the market is a little hard, but I'm reading and improving my store every day.
Jordan and I went to the library these past two days, and I've checked out quite a few books about gardening and how to grow your own vegetables without spending tons of money to do it. We're going to use the Square Foot Garden method, since it doesn't require us to dig into any soil (which is good because we don't have a yard) and is instead more like planter boxes but for veggies. I picked up a good variety of seeds from Lowe's today, and may start some of the longer-maturing ones inside on the window seals so that we can start enjoying fresh produce earlier in the spring than we'd be otherwise able to.
Life is good!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Open for Business!!!
Well, Cozy Designs is officially open for business on etsy. Jordan is going to make a banner and avatar for the shop today, but the coffee cozy's are already up and listed for sale! I also took pictures of the wine glasses I made for our anniversary this weekend, and plan on adding those tomorrow for $25 for a personalized pair. I haven't found anything like them (etched, found plenty of painted) on etsy. They look very classy and elegant, so I hope they sell well.
Jordan and I went to the library today and I checked out a handful of gardening books. I'm hoping to start a container garden of herbs and vegetables that we can use in our kitchen so that we don't have to buy so many. Having things like fresh cilantro and peppers on hand will be helpful in the cooking and will also save us some money hopefully.
Its been a good day to make progress on our goals!
Jordan and I went to the library today and I checked out a handful of gardening books. I'm hoping to start a container garden of herbs and vegetables that we can use in our kitchen so that we don't have to buy so many. Having things like fresh cilantro and peppers on hand will be helpful in the cooking and will also save us some money hopefully.
Its been a good day to make progress on our goals!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Weekend to Remember!
Well, its been 2010 for 3 days now. Jordan and I went to Dallas for our anniversary, and ended up spending more money than we had planned on due to unseen circumstances. So we've got some making up to do. But we had a lot of fun. It was a good anniversary and some good husband-wifey time. My dad was also in town today, so we spent all day with him. It sure is nice to see family after so long without them.
I've added another thing to my to-do's for this year. I'd like to run a half marathon. My family is running one in May, and I think that if I can stick to a training program we'd be able to do one about the same time. I could definitely do with some exercise to lose some of the weight I've gained.
I did a lot on the 1st to get ready for my goals. I took a lot of pictures, and am now waiting on Jordan to make an avatar and banner for my etsy site. I did some crafting and other little things that I need to do in order to be ready for that.
Overall, its been a very busy last couple of days. School is starting back tomorrow, which means I should be going back to tutoring on Tuesdays. The return to a normal schedule will hopefully help rather than hinder our striving to meet our goals.
I've added another thing to my to-do's for this year. I'd like to run a half marathon. My family is running one in May, and I think that if I can stick to a training program we'd be able to do one about the same time. I could definitely do with some exercise to lose some of the weight I've gained.
I did a lot on the 1st to get ready for my goals. I took a lot of pictures, and am now waiting on Jordan to make an avatar and banner for my etsy site. I did some crafting and other little things that I need to do in order to be ready for that.
Overall, its been a very busy last couple of days. School is starting back tomorrow, which means I should be going back to tutoring on Tuesdays. The return to a normal schedule will hopefully help rather than hinder our striving to meet our goals.
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