Stuff

I am excited today!! As of yesterday I am down 10 pounds!! Part of me wants to say...oh ...well ...its no big deal cause I started off at 186.4. If I want down to my ULTIMATE goal weight of 135 that is like 51 pounds to lose...which means I still have 41 to go BUT let me tell you ....the first 10 pounds is hard for me. Mostly because of the mental aspect of it. Changing habits is mental! Now...I am actually EXCITED about eating my salads and yogurt!! Summer is right around the corner and I've been at this weight now for so long....Its time for a change. I started back my running again yesterday. 1st time in like 3 weeks. When I began training for a 5k I was doing this program on my ipod that starts me running 3 days a week. I run 1 minute and walk briskly for 2. You do that for 33 minutes. Well, week 2 has you running for TWO minutes then walking for 1 and really...with me not running for 3 weeks since I had the flu and bronchitis...I should have started over...but NOOOO....not me. I jumped right in to the week 2 routine and ran 2 minutes and walked 1. It was hard...but I did it. June 9th this is a city race that is a 5k. I meant to run it last year but didn't. I really want to do this. The first and only race was done when I was 40 years old (4 years ago) and I ran a 5k in 39:33. Not quite what I wanted but at least I finished and I still have the t-shirts to show for it LOL. I love LOVE to run. What a great feeling it is!! Nothing like it in the world.

Things to look forward to...

Mike and I have been doing alot of talking about the future. We have alot to look forward to if we get our debts paid off! We want to sell/rent our house that we have now and build our dream home and before now...our dream home was just that...a DREAM! Whats funny is when he asks me what kind of home I want I realized ...somehow in the past 15 years or so...I have forgotten how to "DREAM"!! How can that happen??? So I've had some thinking to do...I've become so complacent with things in my life...I had forgotten what it was like to dream ....

Log home?

Old house in the country?

Anything is possible.

It really is exciting to think about. But it will take baby steps to get there. We already have started our baby steps by getting Mike his Sam's Club card last night. Also since he works in Pittsburgh we realized that he drives past the Army Commissary quite often so he can shop for us there!! Just writing about this makes me excited...and even scared a little.

Do we have what it takes to follow thru on this and make our dreams a reality??

I pray we do! We tend to start alot of "projects" only to never finish. Our lives and those lives' around us could change dramatically if we can pull this off. To have more time with my family is a change we haven't had in probably 20 years. For me to focus more on my kids ...and our friends...to plan outings...trips...more opportunities for hospitality....so many things to look forward to if we could just pull this off! Please do me a favor...as you read this...if you could please add my family to your prayers daily. I want God to get the glory for when we succeed!! God doesn't want this debt. Its like having these huge boulders around our feet.

God doesn't want us bound...He wants us FREE!!

Pray that we keep moving forward!

God Bless You All

Nikki

New Mission;

I am tired of the debt that we live in. Of course I know everyone has debt of some kind. Its either a mortgage or car payment, student loans etc but we made alot of mistakes in our past with regards to money and its time to change that. I want to be able to spend more time with my family and not have to work 7 days a week from 7am till 10:30 pm. So I am on a mission.

According to Dave Ramsey's way of becoming debt free....it takes some kind of a beginning so this is mine. Going to get a good money program to keep track of my money better. The biggest way to save money for our household is on food so I am in search of a chest freezer!! Brand new they cost around $170. Hoping to find one cheaper than that but its a tax deduction for next years taxes anyway! I already have a Sam's Club membership. Next thing for me is learning to cook cheaply and in bulk to save money. I think this is all very possible. I also want to try to sell my lip balms and soaps . Each one I sell goes into our change jar that once its filled, we count it and mail it to the bill of our choice that we are working to pay off. I have an attic and basement FULL of stuff we are not using so I also plan to try to sell everything there also. It will ALSO go into the jar. Hoping that in about a year...we will be free from creditors (except the mortgage) and I can be pickier on my daycare times and days I work. If any of my readers have any ideas on how to increase my income...or cut costs in ANY ways..please feel free to post. I need all the help we can get. Also, each one of my readers must bathe LOL...so each one of my organic homemade soaps are only $5 per bar and last FOREVER!! :) WIsh me luck and I hope to be able to post often!