Dave Ramsey and FPU

My husband and I have been talking for a while about saving money and budgeting our income so that we don't blow so much of it. We make a fairly decent income for our family and don't really pay much attention to how much of our income we are blowing rather than putting it towards paying off our home mortgage or our car loans. I've wanted to do the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Budget for a while but I have been putting it off (honestly because I don't want to limit my spending, I rather enjoy eating out when I want to). However, being as it is a new year now, I have decided to do it!

However, 10 minutes into creating our budget, Dave Ramsey has hacked me off.

This is going to be fun....

.............not..................

And now it's over...

Christmas was grand, the food was amazing and the company was immaculate. Now it's over and I'm back to work. Bummer.

Little Brothers...

Nothing makes me happier than receiving phone calls from my little brother (stationed in Ft. Riley) but sometimes that kid is annoying. This morning my cell phone, which is sitting on my desk in my office, rings and I know it's my brother because the song "American Soldier" is serenading me. I of course am not in my office, I am chatting with a co-worker in her office. I make a mad dash for my phone and stub my toe on the corner of the desk. Instant pain. But I collect myself and answer the phone to this... "You better answer your phone on the first ring next time I call you!" EXCUSE ME! I of course proceeded to inform him that he will not speak to me in that way or I will beat him to a bloody pulp (I'm afraid he's not scared anymore now that he's 6'2 and 200 lbs of muscle, while I am 5'7 and 130). However he laughs at me and says "I ain't scared." My worst fear now confirmed! Now I need a new threat to keep him in check. Any ideas? My toe still hurts. I fear it needs amputated. That should make him feel good! =D

Christmas, Snow and a Marine

I can't wait til Christmas! Christmas at mom's with my husband, my brother and his wife. Some of my favorite people in the world all under one roof! I wish it were Christmas every day! The only thing that would make it better would be.... SNOW! That's right... SNOW! I LOVE SNOW! I want to go sledding. YAY for SNOW!

To make the holiday season even more amazing, I received a letter in the mail this morning from a Marine who I sent a package and Christmas card to earlier in the month. A friend of ours from church has a nephew who is deployed with a Marine unit in Iraq and it's amazing to hear his stories and read his words of thanks! It warms me inside to know that something as small as a card and a package of goodies delighted him to such an incredible extent.

Snow, Ice and Surgery

About a month ago my husband's Dr. informed us that Doug had a torn meniscus in his left knee which would require surgery to repair. He went under the knife Tuesday at 11:00 AM at the VA hospital in Columbia. Although it took him forever to wake up from the anesthesia (4 hours to be exact, and he wasn't very coherent then!) and he was throwing up all afternoon and night, everything went great! He's up and walking a bit now without his crutches and hopefully will be off them completely in about 2 weeks.

On the way back from Columbia in the midst of falling snow and ice we witnessed two wrecks! We heard a big "bang" behind us and turned around in time to see a big Ford truck hit the guard rail and end up in the left side ditch. Thank God, he didn't flip the truck and everything was fine. About 10 miles down the road, the truck in front of us lost control and slid into the ditch as well. Again, everything was fine and he drove on out of it! I was never so happy to get home in my entire life!

On the positive side of life finals are finished and I am on break until January 20! Thank you GOD! I have 2 semeseters left in undergrad and I must confess that I am extremely burnt out. I'm praying that the graduate program will be a breath of fresh air and I won't feel as though I'm drowning in a sea of homework. It's difficult keeping all my "duties" straight! Thankfully I have a very understanding husband who doesn't worry when I get my wires crossed and forget something. There are some husbands out there who demand that their wives be a wife first, a homemaker second and everything else comes afterwards if there is time (although coming from a full time employee, a full time + student, a wife and a homemaker I can tell you there is definitely not enough time). I am grateful that my husband is not one of those men. He's very understanding and more than willing to do the dishes or the laundry and cook dinner when I have a final to study for!!! What would I do without him?!

This Christmas..

Time passes so quickly! It seems like it was just yesterday I was picking my soldier up from his 13 month deployment! He's been home almost 2 years now but I cannot get the lonely Christmas he spent away from home out of my mind. It's this time of year that most American's start worrying themselves over finding the right gift at the right price for that special someone. We tend to forget that the world is not always a beautiful place and that there are people out there suffering and dying for a cause that we take for granted. Few stop to think about or pray for the soldiers away from home, or the wives, children, mother's, fathers, siblings or friends at home missing them. I too have been one of those people. It wasn't until my soldier was gone that I realized how extremely lucky I am! Freedom bears a huge cost and it is my prayer this Christmas that we never forget that, nor will we ever forget the soldiers who paid the price for us.

My Dilemma

It's not even 8:00 AM when I log into my online Law and Society class to get my new assignment. Immediately I was annoyed. Great way to start the day huh?! My assignment is to write a 2 page paper on my thoughts on capital punishment! Sounds easy right? Wrong. My dilemma is this: do I write the paper that I know my professor is wanting and risk my grade (she is very much against capital punishment) or do I write the paper on my thoughts on the subject (which if you haven't figured it out yet do not correspond with the prof's)!? I started doing some research and read about 100 articles both for and against before I said forget it. I'm writing a paper on what I think and I'll back it up with statistics and research. Let's all pray for an A! I mean if she didn't want my opinion she shouldn't have asked for it!

Who am I?

I am finally entering the world of blogging! I am amazed myself to be honest, I've never really bought into the whole blogging experience, yet here I am. So anyway.. Who am I? Well that's a good question! I'm glad you asked! I am a 24 year old wife to an amazing man whom I do not deserve as he loves me in a way that one could only imagine (and trust me, I can be hard to love!!). My husband is my hero as well a United States soldier. I confess that I do not like the time he spends away from home on deployments, however, as an Army wife, I accept my duty and realize that this is the price I must pay for the freedom of American people. You will never hear me complain that my husband is away from home. I married a soldier, what did I expect? I am a student who is fed up with college and ready to toss it all out the window. I mean seriously, I am pretty much just buying my degree as I am learning next to nothing. I am a friend to few, however those friends I do have are priceless and I could not imagine my life without them in it. The thing that most defines me is that I am a Princess. Yes, it's true. Okay.. not the type of princess you are picturing, yet I am the daughter of a King. I value my identity in Christ more than anything else in the world and can truly say that my God has saved me from a pit of destruction that would have led me straight to the flames of hell had he not rescued me from myself.