5 Things Friday

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  1. This is the first week in the entire school year that I feel like I am finally able to balance work and life.  Work is still super busy and next week is going to be wrong and even today I have more to do than i am able but I feel like I can handle it or rather God is going to provide peace and security for me.
  2. The Central Davidson varsity football team are the conference champions, first time since 1946.  Zach has started on JV most of the season. And he was pulled up to varsity for the play offs. There is a slim chance that he will actually get to play but we are all going to the game just in case it happens. Kendall is likely going to watch another player but so is life.
  3. My snow village and the new “Disney” village have both been completed this week. I am planning to make a full blog post on them for next week
  4. We are headed to Florida for Thanksgiving!  I am not responsible for any cooking! On black Friday, we are all headed to Disney. David and Haley and the kids are coming up with us. Lily and Braxton are flying in as well!  The kids and I will miss an extra week of school. I am super excited!
  5. I am going to assume that probably 2 of the 4 new chickens we purchased at the end of the summer have started laying. We went the entire month of October without a single egg. I actually purchased 6 dozen eggs from a coworker. This past week we started getting 1 and 2 large brown eggs!   Even more exciting is the fact that we also got 1 green egg this week which means at least one of the older chickens probably the white one is laying as well.

Monday Menu Planning

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The weather is making a dramatic change it is going to cold for a couple of days this week. For us that means that we need some soup!

Breakfast- Saturday- Grits or oatmeal . Sunday-  Left-overs, Tuesday- Bakery treats for Veteran’s Day  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk, sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)

Lunch- Saturday- Leftovers Sunday-Christos  .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well.

Dinner- Saturday-Hamburgers on Sour Dough Buns with chili and slaw   Sunday- Left-overs  Monday-Chili cheese and corn chips Tuesday- Broccoli Cheese soup and fresh bread.  Wednesday-Eggroll in a bowl  Thursday- KFC bowls  Friday- not sure yet. Might be a eat out night?

Building Update

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A short recap…. while on vacation, after discovering we have a new fence right on our property line, one of the things we talked about doing was replacing this building.

Initially we were thinking that we would need to move it to allow for clearance to the back of the yard. Luckily that was not the case.  We started the process on August 31st.  You can see the first section of progress here

This ended up being a longer and more expensive project than was expected! But I am super excited to say that we have officially completed the project and it turned out amazing!

We have lots of organized storage place that is both dry and mostly weather proof. We have lights and even a window (see above).

The front is probably my favorite! Made from all wood that was free to us!

The sides have been painted a gray color.

 

Even the back looks nice!

Yay for checking another project off the list FINALLY!

 

 

October In Review

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October has been a struggle to say the least.  I developed another eye infection but there is some evidence to say that they are actually shingles… I am just hoping I can keep from getting again.  I don’t think things are slowing down but I am hopeful that I am becoming more adaptable and that we can get in a rhythm soon.  On a positive note, we have almost finished the new building in the driveway. Painting and new lights are all that is left. This should make things easier but we shall see.

Emergency Fund- Goal is $1000- $250. I am very doubtful that we meet this goal this year. However stay tuned for some big financial update that will happen this month.

Groceries- Goal $820 per month.  Goal  met with $678. We are working on continuing to work through our pantries, fridges and freezers. I would like to stay under for the remainder of the year. As a side note, we are also helping to support a family with our food resources as well.

Gas- Goal is $500.  October total is $343. We will be driving to Florida in November/ December and that should increase this amount.

Blogging- For 2025- the goal will be 10 posts per month. This is actually post number 6 for the month. I have been struggling but am hoping to get myself back in a better routine.

Debit- Goal is 200000 total debit for the end of the year! Huge update and changes coming soon.

Health/Exercise- I am continuing to slowly lose weight. This morning showed 179.  For a total of 46 pounds of weight loss. Ideally I would like to hit 50 but we shall see. We did alot of walking for the Halloween party so that should count as exercise.

Reading through the Bible this year-Still on track! I am going to finish the year strong!

Monday Menu Plan

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I am all about celebrating the small wins right now. So for me to actually get this posted on a Monday is a HUGE small win.  I have multiple meetings after school this week. Zach and Kendall start swim practice 3 or more times a week. So life is definitely not getting any slower.  Another positive is that we are still using up some quick “convenience” meals from the freezer.  I am only shopping for items we need which means we are completely out of.  I am hopeful to continue this until at least December. I will likely have to restock some meals or at least start some different things in the crock pot to keep up with the busy schedule.

Breakfast- Saturday- Sausage balls and pancakes. Sunday-  Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday Friday– find it (oatmeal, omelets, cereal and milk,sausage, pop-tarts, and eggs)I would like to make at least one more hot breakfast this week but no guarantees.

Lunch- Saturday- Sandwiches (I did make bread for these) Sunday- LongHorn Steak .  Left-overs are always great for lunches and I have a stash of crackers and other snack items as well.

Dinner- Saturday-Matt and I ate out and the kids had chicken from Costco  Sunday- Chicken Gnocchi  Soup, Monday-Baked Ziti Tuesday- Chicken Enchiladas  Wednesday-Rice A Roni and Chicken Sausage Thursday- Probably left -overs  Friday-  Taco Pasta

2 blogs in a week!  Another success!

Missing In Action

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I just checked and the last blog was dated October 4.  That is over three full weeks ago.  I did not realize it had been so long. Work has been hard and busy so far this year. I feel like I am just doing the minimum and that is all. I can’t seem to find my groove.  I took a quick trip to Disney on October 9th with Andrea and Nancy. We flew out on Thursday evening.  Attended the Halloween party on Friday and then flew home on Sunday.
Haley flew in for Braxton’s birthday party on the 17th.  I am going to try and put in some pictures from his party on Wednesday.
On the 19th, I went to Urgent care with a stye starting on my eye. I was given an antibiotic. That did not seem to help this time so on Tuesday, I was back at the doctor’s.  They think it may actually be shingles.  I was given an antiviral medication which started to make improvements within 24 hours.   They did not do a blood test to confirm shingles as medication needed to be started within 72 hours and I was pushing the limit as it was.
All the sudden we are in the last week of October, the weather is cold and rainy. The only good news/thing I can share right this moment is that we have finally finished redoing the building to the point where I can start moving things into it in preparation for Christmas decorating!
Lots of things are changing during the next two weeks and my goal is to get my self back on track and get ready for fun!