Category Archives: Goals

Summer Goal Update

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Today is Monday and I attempt to post a menu plan most Mondays. However this week we have VBS at church and are provided dinner every evening. A whole week of not having to decide what is for dinner is so heavenly! The focus for lunches this week will be to clean out the refrigerator. With the traveling I will be doing in the next couple of weeks, I like to not come home to science experiments.  I decided this would be a good time to update on my Summer goals.

1. Make and order 8 photo books. 2 have been printed and have arrived!  I have a third that I am working on. This is a long process. 
2.  Read a total of 8 books. I have read 1 book this summer but I have the other 7 in the camper for our beach trip.  
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s. Completed 7/9/2026
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies. This may actually not happen this summer due to we only have 1 jar of spaghetti sauce left after I made the baked zitis.  I am hopefully that we will have a giant tomato harvest if not I will start purchasing canner boxes of tomato and make both spaghetti and salsa after returning to work. 
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas. Goal met 6/19/2026.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks. I am struggling with this goal as my knee is really bothering me. I have walked at least 6 times this summer but not anywhere near my goal. 
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas. goal met 6/19/2026
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles. goal met 6/19/2026
9. Changing this to make it fit the overall purpose.  Have 100 ready to heat meals in the freezer.   We currently have 75 prepared dinner meals with additional breakfasts already in the freezer so I am hopeful to complete this before September.

June In Review

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June was a month, probably one of the busiest months this year if not ever.  June included 2 weekend trips to Disney, one just Matt and I.  We have had 3 cars for repair work.  Three full swim meets and lots of swim practices. Lily is working an internship at Egger with Matt, Kendall and Zach both are working at the pool and coaching swim team.  I have been trying to catch up with my life and to get things organized. Things are busy but we are going to enjoy as much summer as possible!

Groceries- Goal $800 per month.  We spent $1095.93 for the month of June.  I will “justify” this with I purchased multiple items on sale from Amazon to be used for several months.

Gas- Goal is $400.  Total spent was $479.30 for gas  this month. This included to trips back and forth to Disney World this month. I am actually amazed it stayed so low.  As i mentioned above cars have been a major issue this month. Fortunately, our car repairs have been covered under warrantees or recalls.

Blogging-The goal will be 15 posts per month.  This is post 11 for me. But with all of our happenings and trips this is a win!

Debit-   The goal for 2026 will be to pay off the Home Depot Credit card without interest. The first large payment has been made!   I also have made a debt snowball list that I want to start tackling after the Home Depot payment is made in September. We also are spending significant time on trips this summer as well as we need to install a new electric line to run the camper on.

No Spend Days- Goal for 10 no spend days a month. Not even going to suggest that I have a clue about this. I will try very hard to keep up with this! Did not happen at all this month. I did however do an entire trip on cash so that is a plus

Health/Exercise-I am no hanging out between 171 and 175.  This is unchanged but we will see at the end of the summer. I do have an appointment for getting a shot in my knee.

Foster Care- Matt and I completed everything needed for our application on March 31, the actual application was not submitted until May 5 or 6th as of last Wednesday May 27th, we have been approved as licensed foster parents in the state of North Carolina. Unfortunately we did not receive our June stipend nor have we received a  portion of the May stipend.  Foster care is honestly the hardest thing I have ever done.  I knew what E would need but I had not a clue about the other half of my life that involves paperwork and phone calls and the constant questions are we doing the best things and why does this have to be so hard.

I am going to include my weekly update of Summer Goals here as well. It just makes sense.

1. Make and order 8 photo books. I have placed the order for 2 of the books today. I am going to plan to work again on these this week. It is a long and delicate process. 

2.  Read a total of 8 books. I have finished one book!  slow but progress is progress
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas. Goal met 6/19/2026.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks. Walking at Disney is always considered exercise! 
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas.   goal met 6/19/2026
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles. 6/19/2026
9. Make at least 50 meatballs and freeze.  I have not made any progress this week with making food ahead. I did pull out Canadian bacon to make and freeze some egg cups this week. 

Summer Goal Update

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In order to stay accountable, I need to make a weekly update on what I have been able to do!

This week is likely one of the slowest of the summer, keeping this in mind, I have been focused on making specific progress toward the goals.

One big thing that we accomplished this week that was not on the list was cleaning out the master closet. Matt and I reduced our closet by HALF!

This week I was able to pick about half a gallon of blueberries from the garden. Matt make blueberry muffins last night and the rest were frozen for future use.

1. Make and order 8 photo books. I have made one complete book on Shutterfly from our cruise. I am waiting for a good sale before ordering.  
2.  Read a total of 8 books. No progress this week. 
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas. I actually purchased 4 chickens at Costco to make this easier and the cheapest as well!  We now have 6 in the freezer and one for dinner next week!  Goal met 6/19/2026.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks. No progress on this week. I have not been outside much at all this week with lots of kitchen progress. 
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas.  I was able to make 6 taco pasta and we ended up freezing 5 of these. I am going to count this as goal met 6/19/2026
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles. I was able to make 6 chicken broccoli casseroles. and we ended up freezing 5 of these. I am going to count this as goal met 6/19/2026
9. Make at least 50 meatballs and freeze.  This one is a little tricky but I wanted a place to record this. I made and froze 6 meals of Salisbury steaks this week. When I made the list I did not realize we were out of Salisbury steaks so that is the reason it was not included. 

Thursday Plans

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::Matt and I choice Jeremiah 29:11 as our verse at wedding… For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”

My plans for this summer has significantly changed and are total different than what I thought they would be even five months ago. I am excited to see all the things that happen and all the memories made this summer.  Today I thought I would give you an update on just about everything!

Today is my last day before Summer Break!  Kindergarten promotion is tomorrow. And due to our childcare situation, I am using parental leave for next week of workdays and the first three workdays in August!
 Lily is really enjoying her legal internship with Egger. She was informed right before starting that the attorney was leaving the company. This made for a very stressful weekend. However, she is two weeks in with more experience that she had even hoped for. She also has several opportunities to consider!  I also think this has confirmed that she really does want to be in the law field.
 Kendall is looking forward to Catawba College in the fall. She will be entering as a junior with two years planned to finish her degree.  She has received enough scholarships to cover her tuition and  books until she completes her degree.
.Zach is super excited for football and is already attempting to gain weight!  He has decided to attend classes for welding along with high school.
 Haley will finish her nursing degree in August and we plan to join her to celebrate!
I am looking for a busy and fun filled adventure this summer!

May In Review

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May has been a super busy and exciting month! I am exhausted! Kendall graduated on Friday night!  Zach is officially a junior and I have four days left of this school year!  I will include a copy of my summer goals at the end of this blog post simply because it will make it easier for me to stay accountable.

Groceries- Goal $800 per month.  We spent $653.50  for the month of May.  This is a huge accomplishment!  I am hoping to stay at or below budget for all three months this summer as this will allow me to restock without spending a fortunate.

Gas- Goal is $400.  Total spent was $492.54 for gas  this month. Gas prices are currently the highest they have EVER been. We have seen the price drop below $4. a gallon in the last four days. I hope this is a trend that will continue.

Blogging-The goal will be 15 posts per month.  I am really proud of this number and feel like I have finally found a new routine that works for me.

Debit-   The goal for 2026 will be to pay off the Home Depot Credit card without interest.  We have several months with large credit card payments now thur September. I am working on paying this off and not adding to our overall debit.  I will be sharing how things are going at the end of the summer. I will be making the first huge payment on this card the first week in June.  I am even more optimistic at this point that we can do this!

No Spend Days- Goal for 10 no spend days a month. Not even going to suggest that I have a clue about this. I will try very hard to keep up with this!

Health/Exercise-I am no hanging out between 171 and 175.  Still here, still the same. I have a doctors appointment and am going to ask about increasing my dosage as well as stopping a prescription medicine.  I have not needed a shot in my knee in over a year! This is a huge accomplishment!

Foster Care- Matt and I completed everything needed for our application on March 31, the actual application was not submitted until May 5 or 6th as of last Wednesday May 27th, we have been approved as licensed foster parents in the state of North Carolina.

Summer Goals

1. Make and order 8 photo books.
2.  Read a total of 8 books.
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles.
9. Make at least 50 meatballs and freeze

Summer Goals

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It occurred to me that I need to start planning or at least thinking about the summer and what goals I want to work toward.  I counted up, I will have 10 weeks this summer.  I know that for at least 2 of those weeks we are on vacations so I am going to set goals based on 8 weeks.
1. Make and order 8 photo books.
2.  Read a total of 8 books.
3. Make and freeze 12 baked ziti’s
4. Make and freeze 6 million dollar spaghetti pies
5. Make and freeze 6 pans of chicken enchiladas.
6. Either walk or exercise 3 times a week for at least 8 weeks
7. Make and freeze 6 taco pastas
8. Make and freeze 6 chicken, broccoli rice casseroles.
9. Make at least 50 meatballs and freeze
The one sad thing about this list is it is going to be expensive to purchase the ingredients but I know how the convivence makes it so nice. Now that this is written out  I am accountable.

Weekend in Review – Playing Catch

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This was a rare weekend.  We had absolutely nothing on the agenda for Saturday until Zach’s truck started acting up and then the car stopped at Tractor Supply on Tuesday.  Matt and Zach prioritized get one or both vehicles back to running.  I decided this would be a good time to tackle a couple of projects that I have literally been putting off for months.

First up the camper! We arrived home from Disney in December and unloaded the luggage and everything we needed out of it. Haley and David spent several nights in it at the end of December as well. It was not nasty but needed to have all the sheets/bedding washed and a good vacuum never hurt anything. I ended up have eight total loads of laundry including E’s bed and various blankets that were hung on the line. This was a huge cost savings as we are looking at probably 10 hours of drying time!  I did get the blankets put away and E’s bed made but the camper beds still need to be made up.

After making such good progress on Saturday, I was inspired today!  I decided to tackle the filing cabinet and three other bins of stuff that I moved out of the office to turn into a bedroom. I had tax papers from 2013 that needed to be shredded and lots of organizing. I ended up spending around 5 hours on this project but I am happy to say that I was able to get everything sorted and organized my desk feels amazing right now! And the cherry on top is the fact that I was able to reduce things down to more manageable and that is my word of the year!

Word of the Year

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Fun fact is that I have never made a “New Year’s Resolution”.  I have in the past and even made a couple of goals for this year.  But I am have been thinking and figured it would be a good time to try something new. I am going to chose a word to focus on this year.

REDUCE

This might seem strange but I need to spend some time and energy reducing things in several areas of my life.

First up is my pantry.  Kendall will graduate from high school this year.  She is already deciding on a college and then in two additional years she will be off on her own adult adventure. Zach at the same time will be graduating high school and staring his adult adventure.  I am guessing that within 3 years we will have an empty nest. That means we will probably need less than 1/4 of the pantry that we currently have. In reality, if we don’t consume and use up most of the “non favorite” items now then they may be here forever.  The pantry challenge is going to help with this idea. I am also planning on not purchasing any meat unless I find a deal I can’t pass up until June. I definitely want to empty out and turn off our chest freezer and move the convivence freezer out of our bedroom. This should definitely help reduce the clutter in my room as well.

Along the same lines, I am currently storing items in our pantry, the laundry room and our shower room. I would like to reduce this to having all the food in the pantry, using the laundry room as a storage area for paper products and then laundry items. This would leave the shower room for self care needs. In reality, I need to sort through all the items in the shower room and decide which ones can be thrown away, sold or simply need to be thrown away. This would also allow me to clean out the bathroom cabinets as well. Overall, I want to reduce the number of items that we keep on hand to a maximum of 6 months with most items reduced to three months. This will translate to a year supply for two people much easier than now.

Next on the reducing list is the number of clothes that I am keeping. I need to have a really good closet purge and reduce the items that I am holding on to. That is definitely something that will be waiting till the summer.

I have already shared plans to reduce our debit and spending this year as well. The overall goal is to be debt free except the mortgage in 5 years and totally debit free in 8 to 10 years.  Neither Matt nor I will be or can really increase our incomes at this point so REDUCE is definitely a must.

REDUCING Clutter and REDUCING my Stress yeap Reduce is a good word for this year.

Friday Financial Update

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So this is the much promised post about the big financial change that we have made.  I have hinted at this post on several occasions but did not want to share until everything was complete and final. The reason for this post is very personal, I want to be able to read this in the future, see my rationale and also determine if it worked or not.

We have refinanced the house and rolled the HELOC into it. First the facts, this is a 15 year mortgage with an interest rate of 6.25%. the anticipated maturity date is December 2040. Our age would be 68.

Next, why we choose to re-finance at this time. There are two main reasons that we looked at refinancing now. The first of which is that we or at least I have started to seriously look at and begin to plan for retirement. My top priority going into retirement is to be debt-free. I do not want to have any payments such as mortgage or car. The auto part is really something that I can’t control as much as the mortgage/HELCO.  I knew going in the HELOC was 30 years and my initial plan was to begin making double payments when we pay off the Tahoe in October 26.  The second reason for considering and seriously looking at a re-fi now is that the HELCO was an adjustable rate.  I don’t recall reading this so maybe I missed it. I realized this (my mistake) because the HELCO was a fixed rate for 12 months and then became adjustable. My realization occurred with the notice that it would increase to over 7%.

The problem…. our mortgage was refinanced during COVID at a rate of 2.75%. This has been the one down side and thing that made the decision to re-fi difficulty for me. But when you compare the fact that the HELCO was already high and had the possibility of going even higher then even math said we should re-fi.

We ended up including some cash out when we decided to re-finance in order to reduce our overall debit load and to make paying everything much easier and quicker.  As I mentioned above the interest rate is 6.25% which is less than any credit card at this point.  We will begin making payments on January 1 2026 and begin to make an extra  principal only payment November 2026 which should reduce our term to 8 years or 2034 and our age to 62.

5 Things Friday

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1. Lily purchased a new car. I was emotional support only!

2. I am trying to start and keep a routine of spending time first thing in the morning, out in the garden. Yesterday, I spent and our harvesting and tying up the tomatoes. This morning I spent another hour, trying to get our volunteer tomato and watermelon bed organized and productive.

3. Our pool is finally open. That means that Kendall and Zach are both working. They both are eager to make money this summer, so they picking up extra shifts. Zach worked every day but Wednesday this week and Kendall worked every day but Thursday. Kendall is also picking up extra shifts at the YMCA as well.

4. My end of school gift to myself was to have the house cleaned on Wednesday. I am so excited and will be trying to keep things clean as we go now.

5. In July we have vacation plans for 2 of the weeks. So I am working to get things prepared ahead for the school year. The garden is also very time consuming at this point as well. I am not going to make official goals for the summer but do plan to try and get meal both frozen and canned every week when we are home.