Thank you for stopping by my blog today! I hope you enjoy reading about my week here in Reno, NV. :)
Sunday was a special day for our church family. We were wrapping up our marriage series - "The One". We have a couple in our church that because he was deployed to Iraq - they were married at the courthouse. They didn't get to have a wedding ceremony. So we tried to surprise them and gave them a wedding ceremony during our morning service. What fun!
I was going here and there - passing out bulletins, handing out fundraiser cards to the teens, registering couples for our couples retreat, working the nursery, helping with the wedding and singing for Praise and Worship. LOL! I didn't get to hear the sermon today since I went back to the nursery and we only had one service. I hate to miss it - I will be glad to be back to two services next week. :)
Thank you to my secret sister who gave me this - yummy! I'm snacking while I blog this. :)
Thank you to my secret sister who gave me this - yummy! I'm snacking while I blog this. :)
Lunch, I grilled hamburgers topped with swiss cheese and avocado - yum - along with ranch pasta salad. It was cold outside but at least we had some nice sunshine.
I did some laundry, we did the dishes, I cleaned the grill and then worked on a few church things for the week.
Back to church for the evening service. I played the piano and then got to sit with the hubby for the evening service.
Then off to my Sunday evening shift.
Monday, off at 8am. I stopped at Wal-Mart for spinach, light bulbs and creamer. Home for shower and then do school with the girls.
Then off to do a few errands -
Drop off bank statements to my FIL.
Post Office to mail grades and check the church mail and buy stamps.
ATM - to make a deposit for the church.
Tax office - should we even go to that subject? UGH. I needed to make an amendment to my tax return that we just filed. The lady says, "I forgot how to do that." (You are a tax professional and you"forgot" how to make an amendment to a return????) It took her over AN HOUR to do it and to tell me I owed over half in taxes of the amount I just submitted as income. Adulting is giving me a headache today. LOL!
Made a couple calls - to the dentist and to the County Recorder Office.
Got home - made beef enchiladas for dinner and got them in the oven.
2 lbs. of ground beef (cooked and drained)
one can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
one can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (drained)
red enchilada sauce.
Roll up that filling into flour tortillas. Put in greased baking pans - top with the remaining enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so - bake covered.
Work on Awana with the girls and enjoy some of the sunshine this afternoon coming in the windows. :)
Dinner and then off to the gym for spin class.
Tanning session at the salon.
Then Monday night shift. :)
Tuesday, off at 8am. Shower and get ready for the day.
School with the girls.
Off to the tax office just to find they don't open until 11am. Ugh. This dumb office.
Take the girls to Pizza Hut to get their free personal pan pizzas for the home school program.
Library to get books - yay!
Back to the tax office to finish up the amendment.
Drop off the girls and off to Chipotle for lunch with a friend.
Back home, take Max for a walk and then to staff meeting at 4pm at the church.
Rustic Italian tortellini soup for dinner.
Back for my Tuesday night shift.
Wednesday, the caregiver was sick so it was almost 9am when I got off work. Traded vehicles with my husband.
Gas for my van.
ATM stop for cash.
Dollar Tree for a gift.
Drop off breakfast and lunch at the church for the hubby.
Home to shower and get ready for the day.
School - 34 days left!
Glad for the warm sunshine and blue skies again today. :)
Piano lessons for the girls 1-2:30pm.
Hubby saved me a trip and mailed my tax amendment at the Post Office.
Got a call from work if I could come in to work early. So I started right away on dinner - Beef Alfredo Pasta.
The hubby was sweet and picked up for youth group so I wasn't as rushed. No gym workout tonight. :(
Back to work from 6pm - 8am!
Thursday morning...hooray! It felt so good for 8am to come after 14 hours at my client's home. :)
Home to shower and chat with the hubby before he left for work.
Off for some errands while the girls finished up their school videos and papers.
Chiropractor visit - amen!
I had a few coupons that I was excited to use - one was for a free bagel and schmear at Einstein's Bagels. I had never been there but I do love a good bagel! I picked a garlic bagel with garden veggie cream cheese. Super good!
I then had a coupon for $3 off a Jamba Juice drink. It is right next to the bagel shop so that worked perfect! I got a peanut butter and banana protein drink with honey. It was perfect! I love anything with PB but the one with chocolate is a little too rich for me - this one was just right. :) A perfect breakfast/lunch.
Then off to get my van washed and vacuumed - it sure needed it after all this snow and rain this winter. It was so nice outside - blue skies, temps in the 50's and sunshine.
Then off to the ATM, drop off a pair of pants at the cleaners and then get groceries at Winco. Had my list all made up from my Build A Menu account. :) I do enjoy that!
Another awesome thing for Thursday...we made the last payment on our car! Back in July, our car stopped working - the tie rods and some other things. It just died while my husband was driving it. We had it towed to a mechanic and it was going to be over $4,000 to repair it. Well, considering the miles we had on it and the fact that we only paid $1,500 cash for it, we decided not to pay the money to repair it and to purchase a newer vehicle with less miles. We ended up getting a car for $9,000 plus taxes and registration. We did not want to be straddled with car payments for 3-5 years - we knew the mistake in that. Since we were not prepared to buy right out, we purchased the car on a credit card. I then transferred the balance to a 0% interest card. In doing this, we were able to pay off the entire amount of the car and balance transfer ($10,500) in exactly 7 months! We wanted to snowball that debt and get rid of it as soon as possible and praise the Lord, we did! No more debt!
Our next step is to do what we should have done before - saved up an emergency fund. We follow the Dave Ramsey plan which is...
Baby Step #1 - $1,000 emergency fund.
Baby Step #2 - Pay off all debt (minus mortgage).
Baby Step #3 - Save 3-6 months of expenses into savings.
Baby Step #4 - Invest 15% of your income to retirement.
Baby Step #5 - College savings for your kids.
Baby Step #6 - Pay off your mortgage.
Baby Step #7 - Build wealth and give.
We have #1 and 2 done. We have been doing #4 and 5 as well faithfully. But we skipped over #3 and that is what put us back into #2. So from our experience, take my word for it! Follow the plan - it WILL work for you if you are diligent!!
So, my next financial goal for the rest of this year is
Baby Step 3.
What goals did you make for this year? I had two financial goals that I made in January. The first was to do a class with Dave Ramsey's team on retirement. My husband is the one who handles our retirement accounts but I wanted to understand it and learn more about it. I believe it is our responsibility to learn more on things that we don't know about - to push ourselves to grow! So I read the book and did the online study and finished it. :)
The second goal I had was to pay off our car and we did that as well! Such a wonderful feeling! It is fun to buy things - but nowhere near the feeling of paying off that debt - it is the best feeling ever! I am so looking forward to making this next goal of 3-6 months savings and then onto Baby Step # 6!
We are hosting another Financial Peace University class at our church - I am the coordinator. If you are interested in changing your mindset on finances, please enroll in this class! It will be the best thing you do to invest in the rest of your life.
When I got home, we took Max on a walk to get some exercise and sunshine.
Took a little nap and then made dinner - White Chicken Chili and homemade potato wedges. Who can resist that? :)
Then we were off to the church for practice. Josh's grandma passed away and they are out of town for the funeral. So Pastor Joe will be leading the worship and Addie will be playing the piano. It is exciting to me to see them both jump into the role and do a wonderful job! I am so grateful for the people that God leads to our ministry here in Reno.
Friday, concentrate on school and grading.
Laundry and housework.
Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and gravy and sweet corn for dinner - comfort food!
My husband was at the office until 6:30pm so we didn't get to go on our normal Friday gym workout. We played a game as a family and watched a show together. A slow night at home before softball season comes into full swing.
Saturday, we woke up to a blustery March day. Very windy!!
Omelets for breakfast! Ham and cheese for the hubby - mine was fresh spinach, tomato and cheese.
We spent two hours at O'Brien School for softball skills assessments. I was glad to be done and get back inside my warm and non-windy home! :)
Leftovers for lunch and then some down time together.
For dinner, we tried three new recipes.
These were very kid-friendly and very yummy!
Pizza cupcakes!
Super easy for kids to make. I only have one cupcake pan so I made a set of round ones (hence the cupcake name :) and then did the rest in my mini loaf pan.
A little more sophisticated side dish but my kids liked them too.
Balsamic roasted tomatoes.
The recipe called for grated Parmesan cheese but I used a Mediterranean feta cheese. The only thing that would have made these better would have been home-grown tomatoes straight from the garden. :) Tomatoes in the store right now just aren't very tasty. But this is still a delish side dish - highly recommend!
To finish out our Saturday, we made apple pie enchiladas. Again, easy, fun and tasty!
We added a side of vanilla bean ice cream - almost as good as a slice of apple pie a'la mode!
That was my week! I hope you had a good week as well. God bless!
Then off to my Sunday evening shift.
Monday, off at 8am. I stopped at Wal-Mart for spinach, light bulbs and creamer. Home for shower and then do school with the girls.
Then off to do a few errands -
Drop off bank statements to my FIL.
Post Office to mail grades and check the church mail and buy stamps.
ATM - to make a deposit for the church.
Tax office - should we even go to that subject? UGH. I needed to make an amendment to my tax return that we just filed. The lady says, "I forgot how to do that." (You are a tax professional and you"forgot" how to make an amendment to a return????) It took her over AN HOUR to do it and to tell me I owed over half in taxes of the amount I just submitted as income. Adulting is giving me a headache today. LOL!
Made a couple calls - to the dentist and to the County Recorder Office.
Got home - made beef enchiladas for dinner and got them in the oven.
2 lbs. of ground beef (cooked and drained)
one can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
one can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (drained)
red enchilada sauce.
Roll up that filling into flour tortillas. Put in greased baking pans - top with the remaining enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so - bake covered.
Work on Awana with the girls and enjoy some of the sunshine this afternoon coming in the windows. :)
Dinner and then off to the gym for spin class.
Tanning session at the salon.
Then Monday night shift. :)
Tuesday, off at 8am. Shower and get ready for the day.
School with the girls.
Off to the tax office just to find they don't open until 11am. Ugh. This dumb office.
Take the girls to Pizza Hut to get their free personal pan pizzas for the home school program.
Library to get books - yay!
Back to the tax office to finish up the amendment.
Drop off the girls and off to Chipotle for lunch with a friend.
Back home, take Max for a walk and then to staff meeting at 4pm at the church.
Rustic Italian tortellini soup for dinner.
Back for my Tuesday night shift.
Wednesday, the caregiver was sick so it was almost 9am when I got off work. Traded vehicles with my husband.
Gas for my van.
ATM stop for cash.
Dollar Tree for a gift.
Drop off breakfast and lunch at the church for the hubby.
Home to shower and get ready for the day.
School - 34 days left!
Glad for the warm sunshine and blue skies again today. :)
Piano lessons for the girls 1-2:30pm.
Hubby saved me a trip and mailed my tax amendment at the Post Office.
Got a call from work if I could come in to work early. So I started right away on dinner - Beef Alfredo Pasta.
The hubby was sweet and picked up for youth group so I wasn't as rushed. No gym workout tonight. :(
Back to work from 6pm - 8am!
Thursday morning...hooray! It felt so good for 8am to come after 14 hours at my client's home. :)
Home to shower and chat with the hubby before he left for work.
Off for some errands while the girls finished up their school videos and papers.
Chiropractor visit - amen!
I had a few coupons that I was excited to use - one was for a free bagel and schmear at Einstein's Bagels. I had never been there but I do love a good bagel! I picked a garlic bagel with garden veggie cream cheese. Super good!
I then had a coupon for $3 off a Jamba Juice drink. It is right next to the bagel shop so that worked perfect! I got a peanut butter and banana protein drink with honey. It was perfect! I love anything with PB but the one with chocolate is a little too rich for me - this one was just right. :) A perfect breakfast/lunch.
Then off to get my van washed and vacuumed - it sure needed it after all this snow and rain this winter. It was so nice outside - blue skies, temps in the 50's and sunshine.
Then off to the ATM, drop off a pair of pants at the cleaners and then get groceries at Winco. Had my list all made up from my Build A Menu account. :) I do enjoy that!
Another awesome thing for Thursday...we made the last payment on our car! Back in July, our car stopped working - the tie rods and some other things. It just died while my husband was driving it. We had it towed to a mechanic and it was going to be over $4,000 to repair it. Well, considering the miles we had on it and the fact that we only paid $1,500 cash for it, we decided not to pay the money to repair it and to purchase a newer vehicle with less miles. We ended up getting a car for $9,000 plus taxes and registration. We did not want to be straddled with car payments for 3-5 years - we knew the mistake in that. Since we were not prepared to buy right out, we purchased the car on a credit card. I then transferred the balance to a 0% interest card. In doing this, we were able to pay off the entire amount of the car and balance transfer ($10,500) in exactly 7 months! We wanted to snowball that debt and get rid of it as soon as possible and praise the Lord, we did! No more debt!
Our next step is to do what we should have done before - saved up an emergency fund. We follow the Dave Ramsey plan which is...
Baby Step #1 - $1,000 emergency fund.
Baby Step #2 - Pay off all debt (minus mortgage).
Baby Step #3 - Save 3-6 months of expenses into savings.
Baby Step #4 - Invest 15% of your income to retirement.
Baby Step #5 - College savings for your kids.
Baby Step #6 - Pay off your mortgage.
Baby Step #7 - Build wealth and give.
We have #1 and 2 done. We have been doing #4 and 5 as well faithfully. But we skipped over #3 and that is what put us back into #2. So from our experience, take my word for it! Follow the plan - it WILL work for you if you are diligent!!
So, my next financial goal for the rest of this year is
Baby Step 3.
What goals did you make for this year? I had two financial goals that I made in January. The first was to do a class with Dave Ramsey's team on retirement. My husband is the one who handles our retirement accounts but I wanted to understand it and learn more about it. I believe it is our responsibility to learn more on things that we don't know about - to push ourselves to grow! So I read the book and did the online study and finished it. :)
The second goal I had was to pay off our car and we did that as well! Such a wonderful feeling! It is fun to buy things - but nowhere near the feeling of paying off that debt - it is the best feeling ever! I am so looking forward to making this next goal of 3-6 months savings and then onto Baby Step # 6!
We are hosting another Financial Peace University class at our church - I am the coordinator. If you are interested in changing your mindset on finances, please enroll in this class! It will be the best thing you do to invest in the rest of your life.
When I got home, we took Max on a walk to get some exercise and sunshine.
Took a little nap and then made dinner - White Chicken Chili and homemade potato wedges. Who can resist that? :)
Then we were off to the church for practice. Josh's grandma passed away and they are out of town for the funeral. So Pastor Joe will be leading the worship and Addie will be playing the piano. It is exciting to me to see them both jump into the role and do a wonderful job! I am so grateful for the people that God leads to our ministry here in Reno.
Friday, concentrate on school and grading.
Laundry and housework.
My husband was at the office until 6:30pm so we didn't get to go on our normal Friday gym workout. We played a game as a family and watched a show together. A slow night at home before softball season comes into full swing.
Saturday, we woke up to a blustery March day. Very windy!!
Omelets for breakfast! Ham and cheese for the hubby - mine was fresh spinach, tomato and cheese.
We spent two hours at O'Brien School for softball skills assessments. I was glad to be done and get back inside my warm and non-windy home! :)
Leftovers for lunch and then some down time together.
For dinner, we tried three new recipes.
These were very kid-friendly and very yummy!
Pizza cupcakes!
Super easy for kids to make. I only have one cupcake pan so I made a set of round ones (hence the cupcake name :) and then did the rest in my mini loaf pan.
A little more sophisticated side dish but my kids liked them too.
Balsamic roasted tomatoes.
The recipe called for grated Parmesan cheese but I used a Mediterranean feta cheese. The only thing that would have made these better would have been home-grown tomatoes straight from the garden. :) Tomatoes in the store right now just aren't very tasty. But this is still a delish side dish - highly recommend!
To finish out our Saturday, we made apple pie enchiladas. Again, easy, fun and tasty!
We added a side of vanilla bean ice cream - almost as good as a slice of apple pie a'la mode!
That was my week! I hope you had a good week as well. God bless!
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