Visiting MK and AK during your dental procedure sounds like a lovely way to spend the time!
I'm glad the pain has been manageable and that you're able to eat more regular foods now. A HUGE congratulations on being able to cash flow the repairs to Josh's vehicle! That is wonderful! Honestly, you are my inspiration in this area, too -- eating, exercise, and now finances. I may need you to come do a life makeover on me...
So is it safe to assume that the dog isn't eating the carpet anymore?
My little Sadie (a tweener dachshund) has been leaving poop presents for us in the house this week. That is VERY unlike her unless (1) she wasn't let out long enough in the morning before everyone left for the day or at night before bedtime, or (2) she's mad at us about something. I'm not sure which one it is in this case, but this week has been so crazy with last minute wedding stuff and Brie's very heavy lacrosse schedule that both are probably contributing. Some friends will be keeping the dogs for us while we're in Utah for the wedding and I am really hoping she doesn't have accidents at their house. I would feel terrible about that!
I had such fun watching your bag auction -- such gorgeous work! Someday I will have one of your beautiful, amazing bags.
Have a wonderful day!
Yah - my little whirlwind trip was wonderful! I don't think I could have asked for better crowds or weather?
Thank you - it's been almost a game now to see how much of life we can cash flow... It's amazing how easy it is to do once you get the hang of it.
Well... Let's just say - the living room is still a supervised area for the dogs - they are still gated out of there unless we are sitting in there... The rest of the house - the carpet isn't nearly as new, so I am not as picky about it - that being said, I have not found any new bare spots anywhere... I am sure - if left to his own devices, he would still eat the living room carpet, so I am not taking any chances in there.
Hopefully Sadie is doing well while you are gone? I saw the wedding pictures on FB yesterday, and they were stunning! I need to go back today though and look some more - as yesterday was kind of a whirlwind day for me, and I didn't get much time on FB.
Enjoy Utah and all of the fun wedding festivities... And enjoy your "sigh of relief" once it's over - you've earned it Momma!!!
What a great idea to visit MK and AK during your dental procedure. I'm so sorry to hear that you had pain afterwards. I'm glad it is going better now.
$4000 in repair on the truck and Jeep is a lot of money. How great that you could manage the expense with your emergency fund.
How great that your project pay off debt is going so well.
How great that Jeep training is going so well.
Looks like the dogs are enjoying getting access to more of the house.
I'm also so glad we are facebook friends. It's so great feeling that we are still quite connected there
During last week and this week there has been a lot of snow avalanche around Tromsø. Luckily it wasn't this last weekend I was going to the meeting 2 hours drive from Tromsø. It would have been difficult to get there and home again because the main road was closed because of a snow avalanche. Luckily no one got killed. 4 cars was taken by the avalanche, but everyone got out of it a live.
The last few days it has rained a lot. 12 inches of snow has melted away. But it's now a lot of ice outside. We can still get snow, so winter isn't over yet. It's possible that we won't get spring. We just go straight from winter to summer.
Yes - my teeth are feeling much better now... I still need to be a little cautious, as it's not quite healed, but I am able to eat most things at the moment. The hardest part right now, is that I still need to do the crown on my right side, and the tooth that was removed is on my left... because I need to be cautious with the buildup that was done on the right to prepare for my crown ($600) - I have to chew all hard and tough foods on my left side - where the tooth was just removed - so I need to chew very carefully, because jabbing that area with hard foods isn't pleasant.
Each day it gets better though.
Yes - it was a lot of $$ - thankfully it wasn't all exactly at the same time, so we could cash flow it all.
Happy to have all of our vehicles running reliably (knock on wood...)
Allison is now quite the "pro" at driving the Jeep... She has taken it into work several times - which is located in the metro area... This has worked out well for us - as there have been a few days recently where I needed to use my car and I couldn't take the Jeep... So, I am glad that she was confident enough to drive it.
I am happy that we are FB friends too!
Yikes!!! Hopefully the weather gives you a little bit of spring to enjoy - it's one of my favorite seasons - well, they all are. LOL
Enjoy your weekend Lillian.
Sorry about your tooth breaking and then having to get it removed. Good idea going to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom during the procedure.
I'm glad the jeep training is going well. I'll be driving my daughter's jeep when she goes to Disney at the end of the month. My car is going to Disney without me again.
$4000 in car repairs is just crazy even if it's not all the same car. Glad you could pay it with going further into debt.
I'm glad your dad's birthday party went well.
Nothing much is going on here. I'm probably going to be working all days soon. The person that have that shift now is going to the backroom as a stocker and they offered it to me. It'd be nice to have a set schedule.
Have a good day
Liz
That was one of my best trips so far... The crowds were non-existent and the weather was fabulous! LOL
It's going very well - Allison has pretty much mastered it! She has taken it to work a few times this last week, and she works more in the metro area - to be able to drive a manual transmission there is a feat to be sure - so it's awesome that she was willing to give it a try.
Bummer that your car is going to Disney without you again... One of these times - I really think you need to tag along.
Yes - it was sure a shocker to see that number once I added everything up... It's so nice to know that we could cash flow it though. It makes a huge difference... Especially now that the Jeep is paid off... The Edge will be paid off next month... and the truck will be paid off by the end of the year. We will have 3 paid for vehicles, and that will be such a nice feeling!
That will be SOOO nice to have a set schedule - so rare in retail - but once you get to that point in life and in that field - having that set schedule is worth it's weight in gold and really keeps you wanting to work for the same company - as starting all over with a crazy schedule isn't worth the hassle... One major reason why I've stayed at Target for so long. Even though my schedule isn't "set" - there are only 2 days a week that they use me, and I am only available for one shift... Getting down to one shift per week was really hard and took me many years of gradual backing off - I'd never find that flexibility in another retail location - so I stay.
Even though it isn't my favorite place to be. LOL
It was good catching up with you Liz - I hope you are doing well!
Glad your tooth wasn't too bad. Sometimes I feel like I would rather just have them pulled than pay for crowns. My last crown I had redone cost me $800. Normally my insurance pays half, but they didn't cover the buildup after taking out the cavity that was under the crown. I did have a wisdom tooth pulled a few years ago and he was able to just pull it out and I ended up paying $25.
Wow that is a lot of money for car repairs! We had to pay $1200 for my husband's car but that included tires too. I'm just happy he got it done before he starts driving to the lake. Now he's thinking about a new car again but for a good reason. My grandson is going to Anoka Ramsey college while he's a senior and needs a car in the fall. So we're thinking his car would be good for him and reliable. I think he really just wants a new one and this is a good excuse, lol.
The Twins game Monday was a little cool, but a great game. My husband is going again today. My son took the whole week off work for his birthday and today is his actual birthday so they're going again. The Twins had two great games so I'm hoping they win again. At least it's supposed to be sunny so that makes it a little warmer where they sit. I decided to stay home and start staining my wood samples to see if they match. I bought 2 small cans of stain so I'm going to see which one is better.
The weekend sounds like it's going to be great. I'm planning to do some yard work. Hope you have a great weekend too.
Yikes!!! I am not sure I could pull the tooth that needs the crown - it's a molar, but not the furthest one back - so I'd have a huge gap there.
Although - when it was causing me nerve pain - I would have done anything to get it out of my mouth - and it's likely gonna happen some day.
That would sure be nice if you could help out your grandson in that way! I sure hope you are able to! And to get a new car to boot - sounds like a win/win!
I hope you all enjoyed all of the games! We are hoping to get to a few of them this summer - we'll see though, with our budget - we may forego all fun stuff and lay low?
Thanks! We had a great weekend last weekend - this weekend promises to be a slow one... I may work a little bit? Read a book? Be lazy? LOL
It was good catching up with you - I hope you are doing well!
Hi Dorine!
Wow, it's been a long time since I've been on the DIS. I am so happy to be back. School has been very busy but I am almost done with my second year of college. I will be home for summer in under 5 weeks!
Since it had been so long since I've read your TR, I started over for V's graduation trip. I read through the whole thing today and absolutely loved it! It's always so much fun to read about your Disney adventured, as well as your everyday life updates!
I hope you are doing well and I am very happy to be back here! Life/college can be stressful, but coming on the DIS makes life much more relaxing!
-Alison
Well - hello there! It's good to see you back!
Now - it's me who's MIA, LOL... I've backed off of the Dis a little bit, as I don't have any trips planned at the moment... Hopefully soon, I will be able to resume my updates here. Life is pretty boring anyways - so not much of interest to write about. LOL
WOW!!! Already??? That has gone so FAST!!!! Exciting though! And I am so proud of you! Any big summer plans???
I am glad you binge read and enjoyed this TR - it was a fun one for sure... it's hard to believe that we've been home now for 5 months. This is the longest I have gone without a trip to plan in several years - it's been hard, but looking forward to the day we can go back too - it will be bigger and better than ever!
Thanks for stopping by Alison - it was great to see you here! Take care, my friend, and good luck in the final weeks of school - I know you will be successful!
It's taken me a while but I had to comment on how you handle your dental work. It made me LOL. I have a real dental phobia. A number of years ago I started visualizing that I was somewhere else, doing something fun. In my mind I walk up and down Main St. USA, look in the shops etc. 
It really helps! Hope you're doing well!
Hahaha! I totally agree - I HATE going to the dentist... Partially because I always walk out of there owing a bucket of $$, and partly because I DETEST the sound of the drills!
And the smell... Yah - just all of it. I think that my impromptu trip to MK and AK was wonderful - it's one of the best trips I've been on.
And likely - I'll be going back during my next dental procedure too.
Hopefully it's not too soon though.
I am doing much better now... Things are healing nicely and for the most part, I am able to eat almost everything - as long as I am careful.
Thank you!
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I had no intention of going so long between replies and updates... Again, life just got away from me, and every day that I tried to do an update here - I was either having internet issues or the Dis was down for maintenance when I had the opportunity. Sigh.
I was so happy to see that all of you had posted though, as I miss you all very much!
Life has not been too incredibly interesting...
Last week, we paid off 2 credit cards and half of a 3rd one - so that was really exciting!
I don't even know how long I carried a balance on my Kohl's card - but I was super happy to knock that one out of the park in one fell swoop!
Next week - we pay off that 3rd CC and we start chucking massive payments to my Edge - so my car will be paid off by the end of May... Which makes 2 of our 3 vehicles paid for. That will be a NICE feeling!
Josh and I (and the dogs) also snuck off to the lake last weekend... It was nice to just get away. Josh worked on a lot of brushing of the woods, and I sat by the fire and read a book all weekend. It was really nice. I remember the days - when the girls were little - where we'd go to the lake for the weekend and we'd be dragging along pack n' plays, high chairs, swings, toys - our entire house pretty much... LOL... Even though I miss those days terribly - I have to say it's really NICE to be able to throw a few items in my Disney VB backpack, stop at the grocery store on the way and grab a few items to live on while we are there, and just GO. Not to mention - the boys love it!
Our week was pretty boring... I worked a lot - as I am prone to do these days.
I am working on another side project - something that inspired me - and something I definitely wasn't planning to do... So, we will see how that goes?
Big news for Allison... So proud of this girl - truly. She has been working so hard, lots of hours... Her budget is TIGHT due to paying back her cosmetology school, and she is crushing it! All the while - living on a super STRICT budget - which allows her some fun stuff, though not a lot - and SAVING every extra penny towards a car. We assumed - last month - when we gave Josh's Dad's car back to him (which he was kind enough to loan us for almost a year) - that it would be well into summer before Allison was able to afford to purchase a car... She has been anxious to look - and last week, Josh told her to come talk to him again when she had saved $1500 - thinking it would be months yet. LOL Well - her tax refund came back and it was just enough to bump her over the $1500 mark. So, now we were car hunting - we figured, her budget would be $1000 for a car - that way, she would still have $500 in savings, and it wouldn't wipe her out completely... Lord knows, buying a $1000 car - there WILL be problems. We figured we would have to look at about 20 cars before we found a decent one within her budget...
So, Thursday night - she found a potential car listed on FB... Rolling my eyes and dreading the whole car buying experience ahead... She showed me the listing and contacted the owner - made arrangements to look at the car Friday (yesterday)... I met her after work and we drove to a local church - the person selling it was a Pastor... All the while - I am thinking to myself "too good to be true". We looked at the car - and it was in great condition - considering that it was 18 years old and had 205k miles on it! We asked if we could take the car to our mechanic to have it looked at - which was a 30 min drive away - and the owner was more than willing. After taking the car on a test drive, and putting it on the lift - our mechanic told us "You'd be fools if you let this car get away - it's immaculate - considering it's age and miles"... There are a few minor issues with it... but overall - it's in great condition. And the fact that these cars - if taken care of - have a history of easily lasting to 400k miles - so there's still a lot of life left in it. On top of that - the owner had a full history of maintenance that had been performed on the vehicle over the years - and many of the items you'd think would need to be replaced by this point have all been done within the last 2 years... So that's a relief.
We returned to the church - and letting Allison handle the entire transaction - she asked the owner if he'd take $900... Since her budget was $1000, if he took $900, that would cover the money she had just shelled out to have it inspected, plus the cost of the title transfer. Surprisingly - the owner took the $900 - and almost seemed like he was happy to get that amount. LOL One thing we did have to order for it, right away last night, was new headlight covers - the ones on the car are quite foggy and even though that doesn't seem like a very significant repair - when you live out in the boonies like we do - and driving to work in the wee hours of the morning like Allison does - she needs good lights on her car. So, that was $68... Over all - after everything was said and done, she is about $50 over her budget... But she has a GOOD reliable car - within her price range - and with any luck, this car will not only get her through the next year of working, but through college too. And she still has $$ in savings - so if she does happen to have a repair on the car, she will be able to take care of it.
I am just SUPER proud of this girl!!! Financially - she is making some really smart decisions - and this will help her greatly in life... As Dave Ramsey says - your greatest wealth building tool is your income. And as her budget sits right now - she will be able to pay off cosmetology school by February - and save cash like crazy - she will be able to cash flow her first 2 years of college by the fall of 2018!
It's a 1999 Honda Civic with 205k miles on it. I do think that the good Lord was smiling down on her for this, as we were so lucky to find such a well taken care of car within her price range!
My apologies - our entire lives are about finances these days... One last thing to talk about.
Josh and I have decided that we want to take Financial Peace University classes (FPU) - there is one in our area starting soon. Well, the kit to purchase this program on Dave Ramsey's website is $109 - this is a one time purchase - once you purchase, you can take the class as many times as you'd like. Well, the church was offering the kit for $89, we were planning to purchase it through church on the first night of class - so I budgeted for it and had the $$ set aside. On Thursday - Dave Ramsey offered the kit, for 3 hours only, on his website for $39 - and I was lucky enough to catch it within 15 minutes of it ending!
After paying shipping - I saved approx half. I was pretty happy about this - had I not had the $$ in the budget already - I would have had to pass up this deal. Part of the excess went to gift Allison a portion of her headlight covers and the rest goes towards our debt snowball. Through out this process of paying off debt - I am learning more and more that "every little bit adds up" - so even this extra $20 that I am able to put towards this debt adds up to a significant amount.
Victoria is doing excellent! She is doing wonderful in school, and really looking forward to graduating soon! She is still very much enjoying the freedom of her drivers license - and we are very much enjoying not having to drive her everywhere! LOL She is now able to pick up many more hours at work and she is saving like CRAZY for Europe this summer. It is her goal - before she leaves - to have enough in savings to cover her portion of the trip + have enough to purchase a car when she comes home... Let's just hope we can find another pastor selling his car in the fall. LOL
I am still working out and eating well - or as well as I can - considering that April is the month of our Pantry/Freezer challenge - where we try to save grocery $$ by eating what we already have. Growing up in a poor family - this is really hard for me to do - as I tend to stockpile food... but we are managing. It is our hope - by the end of the month, we will have a significant amount to put towards filling our freezer with meat.... It's been a long while since we have ordered ground beef - and we used to order half hogs frequently... We are hoping to have a large chunk to go towards both.
Oh - back to working out... LOL Sometimes I tend to go off. LOL I took a week off of my heavy lifting, after my tooth... It was actually more like 10 days... Yesterday was my first day back to dead lifting, and I can tell you all that I am quite sore this morning. LOL I've also been dabbling in some intermittent fasting - which I used to do several years ago - it worked well for me then, and it seems to be working well for me now too... Essentially - you intake your same required daily calories during an 8-10 hour eating window... For me - that tends to be between the hours of noon and 8pm. The only days I don't do this, are the days that I lift, as it's very important to refeed your muscles after an intense work out - or your intent to build muscle will be thwarted, as your body will use your muscles to replenish energy. Leangains.com has a lot more info than I could ever begin to explain properly - if you are interested.
And that's about all for news for me.... Life is pretty boring. I am definitely enjoying the challenge of not spending $$ in an effort to live like no one else later... The reward for this sacrifice will be amazing - I am sure of it!
I miss you all terribly! :
: Prayers and Pixie Dust to all of you!
D~
