My Projects - June Update

In my sidebar I have listed my current projects.... Here is an update on how they are all going:


Selling My House - We've had several people come by and look. An open house on Sunday the 29th. So far, no bids. Keeping the house in 'showing' condition has been hard but we've gotten so many things done that only have to be done once... now it's just maintaining... hopefully it will get easier as we go, and hopefully we will sell this house before Logan is born. (fingers crossed)

Buying a Bigger House - We haven't even started looking yet (except online for fun). We need to wait and see how much we might get for this house first before we know what our actual price range will be for the next house. But I am going to assume that buying will be easier than selling...

Creating Human Life - 8 months pregnant... wow only 2 months to go! Logan is a completely different pregnancy than Nola was. I'm carrying him so much more forward than I did with her. It hurts. My stomach is constantly poking out in uncomfortable positions. But I haven't gain nearly the weight I did the first time and haven't had the swelling so far either. I really just don't think I'm going to go all the way with him... I'm thinking early August instead of late August.... we shall see!

Crocheting a Blanket for Molly - (Molly is my soon to be, in September, niece) I'm about half way finished. I think the blanket looks so pretty! I can't wait to be finished, even though it's fun to do. And for those of you who know your crocheting, I'm tucking all my tails as I go so when I'm finished I will really be finished... and will all the darn stripes, that's a lot of tails! Here is a 'so far' picture:





Finishing Nola's Baby Book - This is a project I have been procrastinating on for about a year! But I REALLY want to finish before the new baby comes so I can start to procrastinate on his baby book! I have been pretty good about keeping up with her photo album (about 4 pics a month, all in sepia tones, all in one album). I also have an album waiting for Logan too....

Learning About my Camera - Well, this will be a long term thing really. But I'm mainly talking about learning what all the photography term mean and how to use them. Perfecting my skills will take a lifetime, as all learning processes should. Right now, thanks to Lucy, I am going through a 12 week, online photography lesson. I have read a few so far and already learned a lot. I will be posting my lesson projects in my Photo Blog.

365 Photo Project - This is also being posted in my Photo Blog, but I am about 2 weeks into a 52 week project. This is helping me a ton in that it makes me get out my camera and try and be creative every day or so. It's a great hobby that (in my wildest dreams) could someday turn into a money making hobby.

Starting Roses from Clippings - I'm about 2 months into this project. I always thought I didn't like roses, for my own gardens, but now that I have a rose bush of my very own and see it get bigger each year... I love it! And now that we're moving, I really want to take a piece of it with me. I guess it's sentimental... I did lots of research online in trying to decide how to grow a clone of my wonderful rose bush from clippings. After a few days of reading so many different processes, I came across an article that basically said, Cut a clipping with a rose on it. Stick it in a vase of water and enjoy the rose until it dies. Then clip off the rose bud and keep the leaves and stem in the vase until it roots. It may take months, but this is what our Grandmothers and their Mothers did. It's just the easiest way. So that's what I'm doing. Here is a picture of how slimy and strange the cut ends look:

Being 'Greener' - This one is baby step by baby step. I have started using mostly Green Works cleaning products and plan on making my own once I have used up all the misc cleaners under my sink. I have started buying certain things only Organic. I have started a few vegetable plants in the backyard. I switched our bread and pasta to whole grain, mostly. I've switched all our light bulbs to the curly kind and have been super diligent about turning them off when not in use. We installed ceiling fans in all the bedrooms and the dining room to cut down on cooling costs and we waited and suffered through the early heat so as not to turn on the air too early. (I think this will be easier next year when I'm not pregnant). Next I would like to really get into recycling and growing more vegetables. Possibly collecting rain water for the yards/gardens. And composting. Also, sealing up the windows in winter to save on heating costs. It's slow, but steady, and it feels good to do it all, so no harm done!

Growing Vegetables - mentioned above obviously.... I have about 6 green bean plants, 2 pepper plants and around 10 tomato plants all grown from seed. Oh wait, the peppers I bought. But they are all doing good. We had two harvests of beans (about 8 beans each time) and had them all as a side dish at my sisters house, combined with her beans from the plants I gave her. I have 2 peppers growing, one of each kind, jalapeno and red bell. The tomatoes are still small... nothing yet! It's fun that Nola helps me water them and wonderful that she can participate in how the process works of seeds in our window to food on our plates! That's a great lesson for a kid!




Paying Off Debt - Well, I have a 3 year plan to get out of all of our non-mortgage debt. That includes credit cards, cars and student loans. I spent about 3 hours (an entire nap time) working out the details in an Excel spreadsheet. This will bring us to $0 a month in non-mortgage debt in 3 (THREE) years! If we can do it, we're awesome! This is assuming we will incur no more debt along they way, but since we have built our savings up, we just have to only purchase what we can afford. There will surely be emergencies down the road that will change the plan... and who knows how much the birth of this baby will throw off my plan... but it's a start.


If you're wondering what exactly I did... here is step one: Write down all your bills that are monthly loan payments. Then find your contact information for each one and keep it in the same place. Go through each one and find out and write down all of the following information: Company Name, Phone Number, Website Address, Your Account #, User Name and Password (for online or phone), Current Balance, Interest Rate, Monthly Payment (if fixed). This way you can find out your total debt at any time! It's the best reminder of why to stay on track with your plan.