Sharing My Jennarocity

I was SOOO excited when I got an invitation to come to my friend April's son's 2nd birthday party. April is my special friend whom I knew for about 2 years in GP our junior and senior year, but then she moved away to the Big Apple and has been there ever since. It's really funny to think we've kept in touch all these years. I've been to visit her twice in NYC, which were some of my most fond memories, and she's only been down here to see me a couple of times. So 14 years later, a handful of visits and lots of phone convos, we are still pretty good friends. We always joke about how our lives mimic each other. She has a stepson who is 11 and has a son who is now 2 (today, actually!) We've been talking about seeing each other this year to get the kids together but just haven't been able to do it. Her parents live outside of Waco, so when I was invited to go to Lucas' birthday party, I just couldn't wait!   Lucas is just a beautiful little boy. And b...

Jason and I are the two worst people about going away and spending money on things we don't deem "mandatory." But we've been so busy, and both been so tired, that we decided we were going to be taking advantage of this long weekend and getting away!         Nothing big or fancy, just a place to go and get away. We might take the kids to the Alamo (it's in San Antonio) and eat lunch at the Riverwalk, but other than that, it's swimming and relaxing!   I am so excited!!!  

At work, we've had three babies born this year, and they are all girls! We decided to have a baby shower for all of them at the same time. Since all of the babies are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in their family, we decided that instead of everyone buying gifts, we would give them books and my love chest to keep memorable items in as the babies get older.   This is a cool gift idea. If you are a mom, you know it's hard to find a cute spot to keep all of the outfits, cards, toys, or other sentimental items as they get older. I need to make one for Avery, for sure!   I made three different color schemes...           Some cupcakes....    It was a great, fun time!

Due to my recent proactivity with my credit and paying off debt, I decided to give the hospital a call where I was admitted about a month ago and ask about my bill. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss it in the mail and I wanted to get an idea of what I'd be paying for my stay. I get on the phone with the billing department and the woman is just as nice as can be, really. She was surprised I'd even called her, considering I didn't even have a bill yet. She told me she'd sent the bill over to my insurance to be approved and paid but they hadn't heard back yet. "Just out of curiosity," I asked, knowing I would be responsible for 20% of the final bill, "how much was it?" What I heard next shocked me.   "$61,000" she said.   I said, "$61,000? I was only in the hospital for a night and only on anti-biotics, you can't be serious! My daughter cost me less than a third of that to give birth to and I was in the hospital two nights!...

This line is in a book that Avery has, and I thought it was appropriate. We've lived in this house for almost a year and never seen these two plants sprout flowers! I just thought it was pretty.            

PAYING OFF THE DEBT   (I am certainly not an expert in this field, nor do I have formal training or education, I am merely sharing my knowledge I've come to know in my personal experience. I would suggest doing more research and talking to a financial professional before figuring out a debt management plan.) One thing you need to know is that once a collection or charge off is on your credit report, the damage is done. Paying it off is not a guarantee that it will be removed from your report, nor will it increase your score very much. Paying or settling it will, however, keep further collection from occurring. Your phone will stop ringing, your mailbox will start looking a little thinner, and you will have peace of mind knowing that you will never have to pay that debt again. While the bad mark of having a collection on your credit might not go away, your debt amount will. The less debt you owe (compared to your income), the higher your score. Besides the peace of mind knowing ...

HOW TO BEGIN THE DISPUTING PROCESS (I am certainly not an expert in this field, nor do I have formal training or education, I am merely sharing my knowledge I've come to know in my personal experience. I would suggest doing more research and talking to a financial professional before figuring out a debt management plan.)   When you get your credit report, you are able to see all of the debt you owe. This includes credit card debt, old collections accounts, cars, everything. I won’t go into to how to read your credit report. The main purpose of this is to figure out what to do for old collections and charged off accounts. Before you do anything, you need to request a validation of the debt in writing. I tried to start doing this myself, which you absolutely can, but found it to be incredibly tedious and costly. You really do have to be very organized, very diligent, and very determined to do this process yourself, especially if you have a lot of collections. If it’s just one or tw...

So, this is something I think about pretty much every day. As I've mentioned before, Jason and I have some work to do on finances, which includes paying off old mistakes and some collection debts. I thought I would put together a list of what I've learned about paying off old debt. I actually talk to alot of people who are scared of dealing with their debt and who just ignore it altogether, so I thought this might be helpful to some people who are looking for some guidance.   (I am certainly not an expert in this field, nor do I have formal training or education, I am merely sharing my knowledge I've come to know in my personal experience. I would suggest doing more research and talking to a financial professional before figuring out a debt management plan.)   FIRST AND FOREMOST....WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW WILL HURT YOU     Don't ignore your debt. In case you haven't noticed, it doesn't just disappear. In fact, in my experience, it could turn really ...

So, I've read several blogs by moms lately who are having trouble being honest on their blogs without feeling like they are not taking things for granted. Like, being honest, while feeling the need to apologize for not feeling grateful and happy 100% of the time. With that said, I say, "complain" if you must, Moms! You deserve it from time to time!!!   If you are going to be upset with me for not apologizing for the things I am about to say, then let's skip over my post for today, shall we? Cause I am pretty sure all moms feel this way from time to time.   First of all, I will say this. God does expect us to show gratitude and be grateful in our situations. But as our pastor said a few weeks ago, that does not mean having to feel grateful and happy for each and every thing life throws at us. "Thank you, God, for giving me this awesome morning sickness, where I feel the urge to throw up every hour. It means my baby is healthy and growing." "Thank you, G...

 

I am really going to try and decorate more seasonally this year, rather than just Christmas. Starting with fall, I am going to show you some ideas I would like to try in my house. I can't believe it's almost September. I am already thinking about Halloween costumes, for crying out loud! For some reason, and I know this has nothing to do with the weather outside, it's starting to feel like fall. I would really say that Fall is my favorite season. I love the clothes people start to wear, the football on TV, pumpkins, the excitement of the best three holidays.... Great fall colors outside Loving the big tray of different color apples...how much do I wish I would have a need for that much firewood this winter? Spray painting gourds - good idea, except how long do they last before the rot? Anyone know? Ugh, I wish I had a mantle. If anyone sees one for cheap somewhere, let me know! Pumpkins... Pumpkins... And more pumpkins! How about some wreaths? ...

This mirror was part of our "marriage mesh" of stuff. I had two boring brown mirrors and this was one of them. It just looked so boring above the couch. I decided to paint it blue to match the desk, but when I put it back above the couch, it just looked out of place. So I found a new place for it... And I moved my crosses over too. Which also means that the corner got an updo. This sewing machine was given to me by my mother in law. I don't really know what I want with it quite yet, but it's very cool, don't you think? I definitely want to learn to sew, but for now, it's pretty just to display. Everything is coming along!

This weekend, we literally were going, going, going all weekend long. This next weekend will be like that as well, I think. Friday night, we took the kids to the Airhogs game. It was pirate night! Avery did NOT want to put her head in that thing.  Everyone got a drink and one thing of "junk food" that they wanted. Avery got to eat everything, because she is just that special. Saturday, Jason and I split up because Jordan had a party at Cosmic Jump. We decided that Avery would have great fun there and that Sophia and I would go do something fun together. I think Avery LOOOVVEEDDD it. Jason had a hard time getting good pictures, though. Sophia and I love to go garage sale shopping together. I really like taking her with me, she is great fun! So we did that in the morning and in the afternoon, it was roller skating at Forum Roller World! I was actually quite impressed at how well it's been kept up over the years. It's not run down on the inside at all, but...