Emily's Profile

Emily created this "profile" in school. I HAD to save this. This is Emily's Favorites age 10! She loves Japan.. hence the Japanese flag! It's a pokemon thing.. lol. Also LOVE the favorite books.. Science books.. & Make Movies is a new years resolution.. Lol.. she's such a unique girl. luv her!

more GOOD Changes

You know there are soooo many things i wish I would have learned sooner. I guess I'm grateful to be learning them at all. I'm really proud of the steps me & my husband & our family have been taking, thinking about how we use things, do we need things, looking at the BIG picture and what impact it has not just on us, but on our world. Just being more aware.. it's something we've been doing for a while in small ways but lately especially really feel like we've been stepping up our responsibilities, not just for our own sake BUT cause in doing these things and reducing what we are using is helping our world. Since, at this time, it doesn't seem like we can do much to help the world financially, cause we are struggling a little this month especially. (Brian's company went from bi-monthly pay checks to monthly ones.. so we have a 1/2 month salary (his last) on April 1st to make it thru til the end of the month-- ugh!) That's hard to do when you are living paycheck to paycheck and i just quit my job. I didn't make much, but it would have helped anyway.. sometimes you need to take a stand. I'm not upset about that.. I'm upset that I feel like I'm not contributing as much to our family.. So I've been trying really hard to figure out ways we can use less, for it to cost less and so we can save more. It's my goal & its making me feel better. We already have implemented alot of changes in the way we live and I'm hoping that we don't stop when things get better financially. For instance, we are being conscience of stuff...like shutting things off, buying less, ie: bottled water(using the Brita) and wanting to save for really important things instead of foolish spending.. getting rid of some of the "STUFF" in our lifes and concentrating on THE important things. We are also BIG on coupons right now... we are saving ALOT this way. Making a decision we are only going to buy something when it's on sale or with a coupon or BOTH! YAY! That's the best! hehe. Also just being really diligent in using all the things in the refridgerator, freezer & pantry... trying to spend less and use what we have. i really do feel proud about the changes :) THE other key is using up things... I can't tell you how many times I threw away things that were expired. Knowing they are in there and USING THEM ALL UP, it's a huge thing. We've even been using bar soap (Brian gets them from the hotels-- when he travels, so instead of buying soft soap.. we've been using them up.) How many years did people only use bar soap.. so I just decided to use up all the tiny bars of soap before buying more.. why not right??? These are small steps but all togehter can really make an impact. I think it's a really good example to show EMily too. Another thing we just did was move our money to a new bank.. we found a bank that didn't have a minimum required amount. So if we went below a certain amt, we won't get hit with a fee.. that's so frustrating when that happens.. it's like throwing money away. We just had enough with that.. i hope the bank we chose is good to us. We did some investigating and they have a good record & we got a signing bonus of $100.00 for opening it (after 60day) and $15 gift card also. YAY! Anyway.. just thought I would share this.. perhaps it can inspire you to make some changes to. We know & aren't claiming to be experts on this.. infact, I am realizing that the internet & twitter are actually great ways to get inspired & to learn. ... Follow some Green sites, they have great articles & advice. :) Anyway.. have a great day. Reduce, reuse, recycle... and it makes u feel good too! :)

Much to share

Hi Everyone.. okay.. first off.. My daughter Emily GOT STRAIGHT A's on her report card!! So proud of her! We really weren't sure what her grades would be because we lost our password for the "parent" portal so hadn't been able to check out her grades. We knew she was doing well but really didn't know it would be ALL A's. WOW! I'm so proud of her, the work is getting harder and for her to continue to do so well is just really really FANTASTIC! Also.. let's see I've been on kind of a high all day. This morning I was tweeting.. yes I'm totally addicted to twitter of late. Been having fun following people & posting. Anyway this morning I @ Henry Winkler something, You know the FONZ.. and he actually responded!!! I'm like OMG.. the fonz!!! He answered MY Tweet! I told him that Emily enjoyed his book "i got a D in Salami" & that I kept saying wow the fonz wrote it. Anyway.... he responded to me! I know I'm such a dork but it made me feel special..it's not every day that the fonz Henry Winkler responds to something u say. It was great! Anyway.. what else??? Let's see.. I'm kinding freaking out alittle about the idea of finding a job.. ugh.. who wants to do that. I know I need to, but it's just putting yourself out there & looking which is such a hard thing to do.. especially when you have some insecurities like I do.. Not easy. I'll get thru it and do it, cause well we could really use the money but it's just not fun! I know I should be more positive! This morning.. i opened up a futune cookie which made me feel a little bit better, it said, "Don't be hasty, prosperity will knock on your door soon. :)" How cool is that? right? I guess I should go.. feeling a little tired but didn't wanna forget to share these. Goodnight peeps! Sleep well...

A new Picture of Emily...

Just thought I'd share this new picture of the 10 year old Emily. Realize some of the pics on this blog are a bit old. :) PEACE!

the "too deep" of a thinker Emily...

Last night as I was tucking in Emily... she said out of the blue.. "Mom---what if you died?" Well I was a little took back.. i mean I didn't know what to say, how was I suppose to answer that.... finally.. i said "well that probably won't happen for a loooong time". Emily is a little "obsessed" with the idea of death.. I kinda understand why? I mean Emily grew up around death.. My mom died when Emily was 6 months old. I don't think we realized what an impact that would have on her... We talked about it, were sad about it..obviously, that loss was very hard for me, obviously.. and she lived with us.. so it was talked not ALOT but more than normal probably.. how could it not be, so I get it.. i understand why she asked it but it's hard and I don't want it to be something she thinks about all the time, so I also said, "Emily.. none of us know when we are going to die but MOST people live to be very OLD and so it's not something we should THINK about too much, known of us have Expiration dates, meaning we don't know how long we'll live BUT probably for a long time... ok?" She said okay... & I kissed her goodnight. As a mom, I hope i answered it okay... & luckily when she's ask these types of questions in the past, we atleast have an example of a person who lived a good loooong life too.. her Great Grandma who just passed away in 2009 was 96 years old!!! So I've also said in the past... look at Great... she lived a good LONG life. I've also said.. that i would always love her, and that there would always be people to take care of her, and love her. Cause like I said, we have this talk more than most kids & parents do, but never quite this direct.. it's a tough subject. When I think about it... when I was a kid, i thought about it too, more than I think most kids probably.. i don't know why i did.. perhaps it's just cause I was a worrier, just like Emily... and what's the biggest thing to worry about ... DEATH! BUT, I don't want her to worry about it. Hell I don't want myself to worry about it... so I want very much so to ease her worrying. Anyway.. I hope my answer was okay, and provided her a little comfort. What should one say.. how does one answer that? I'm not sure there is a perfect answer.. so i just hope i did ok.

1st post of 2011.... that's CRAZY!

Well i was looking at this blog today for the first time in a long time and it just got me wanting to post something, i can't believe I haven't written anything in 2011...I really do have some catching up to do. This whole Japan tsunami & earthquake is beyond HEARTBREAKING.. I seriously can't watch the news.. i mean i can't.. it gets me tooo sad. I feel so small. I don't know how to help.. and so i just don't watch for my own good. Anyway, What else.... Brian's been liking his job still.. the new one at SEI. He's still a contracted employee with them but is hoping to become an actual employee.. it would be a wonderful step! So that's good news.. me on the other end. I decided to leave TG. I had some building resentment over a few decisions that were made there, and so for many reasons, decided to give my 2 week notice. The truth of the matter is, I think I'll be much happier now. It wasn't worth it. Anyway, the funny thing is that I did actually enjoy working there, aside from the fact that it wasn't something that I felt like i was properly trained to do, and "Perfection" was expected & I'm sorry but no one is perfect. Atleast that is my take, I'm sure my boss has his own. I'm not trying to bad mouth anyone..it's just this is my blog and I won't be anything but honest on it. The good news is that I know will have the opportunity to babysit Joshy more. Danielle is taking on more hours and so hopefully I'll get him a little more--- so that'll help a little with boredom & such. Eventually I'll probably need to find something else. God knows we could use the money. Brian was really really supportive and that made me feel better about the decision. I love him for that. Like everyone we arque but when it comes to the big picture things we are usually on the same page. WHich is a wonderful thing. Anyway.. Emily is doing pretty good. She had a little bit of a rough batch as far as math was concerned but seems to have gotten back on track. 4th grade is going pretty good. She actually just completed an essay that is due tomorrow so that's good. Anyway.. I'm actually babysitting Joshy tomorrow so i should probably get to bed. I'll write soon.. i hope anyway.. peace!