10 things not to skimp on, no matter your tax bracket

1 – A Bed. Normally a person sleeps 8 hours a day. That is 1/3  of your day, every day of your life. That means you spend 1/3 of your life in bed! Your back will thank you. And you will be a happier person too. How many times have you thought about getting a new bed and just put it off because you think it’s too much and yours works well enough. I buy the best I can with the pocket book I have (which mind you, isn’t top of the line – YET, someday we will get that expensive bed that lasts for years and sleeps like a cloud!)

2 – A Car. No I am not saying buy the most expensive car right off the lot. I am saying do your research! Find the car that fits your needs. (Mine is fitting grocery’s and my family) And then look up safety ratings, read reviews about how long it lasts and gas mileage and know how much your insurance will cost you. Then go buy a good used one. Cars lose most of their value in the first 2 years. So buy a car that has the highest safety ratings, last the longest, check to make sure it hasn’t been in any accidents and that it isn’t newer then 2 years. Or at least the safest one you can afford. (Cause for us right now ….. 10 year old cars are expensive!) But this is the most dangerous item in your lives; don’t you want the safest thing to drive around in?

3 – Car parts and repair.  In my family we fix cars, not upgrade every few years to avoid working on them. So when you change your oil …. Don’t add the cheap stuff! We buy the synthetic oil, last longer and can handle more stress. It cost more up front but saves you in the long run. So we had all good stuff on my minivan, and people laughed at us because they are only used to putting good parts in there “expensive cars”. (Fluids, filters, brakes (who would ever skimp on breaks?!?!) and replacement parts)

4 – Gas for your car. I found a car gas that has a cleaning additive in it. I buy there cheap stuff and my car runs MUCH better. But read what your car’s engine was designed to run on – because it will run best on what it’s made for! Better running car … saves you money!

5 – Hair Care products. (This one is a favorite of mine). I had a haircut and they put salon/expensive shampoo and conditioner on my hair and tried to sell it to me. Of course I said no it was too expensive. But my hair stayed cleaner longer and nice and light and fluffy. So I went back later and bought some. It was great! I used about half of what I used in my grocery store bought stuff. So get a good shampoo and conditioner (shop around for the best price) and you may find it lasts longer and cost less than what you were paying for the cheap stuff un the long run!

6 – Underwear. Should be enough said .. but I will explain. What is the one thing you wear every day, all day (or most of it – I hope!) Underwear. Now I am not saying you need $20 pairs of undies. What I am saying is replace it! OFTEN! Having had a private discussion with someone who wears the same undies for years long past its first whole or rip. I got to thinking … why? So I regularly replace my undies (TMI?) But I am WORTH fresh, clean, un-ripped, no whole having undies! So when they start to get dingy and worn out. It’s time they too through them out.

7 – Socks …. Read above!

8 – Shoes –And my feet, legs and back thanks me for it! I used to wear payless shoes all the time. But boy did they hurt. I still buy them when I need a special pair of shoes for an outfit and can’t afford anything else. But I buy it knowing it’s NOT my everyday all day shoes. But the shoes I wear all the time cost a bit more. (On sale of course!)

9 – Education – Yours or your children’s or whomever you are paying for! They are worth. Am I talking Ivy League for everyone? No!  Just don’t settle for less. If there is a better program, do it! Some nursing schools are better than others. Some schools Do MBA’s. Trade schools for those who want to work on cars. But don’t settle. Do what you love. You will have a better life doing what you want to do. You will have a better career going to the best school for what you want to do. People hire out of the best, you will have a better chance at a job after school. So give it all you have!

10 - Daycare (possibly the most important of all) - This is people in charge of your children. There are too many people who don’t care and shouldn’t be in the business of caring for other people children. (I am not saying everyone) but do your research and pay for the best you can afford, scrimp and save if necessary. And in all honestly that is why I am a stay at home mom. No one can raise my kids like me.

This put the YUMMM in HUMMUS!

You can add almost anything you want to your hummus, this is just the basics. My bro taught me the recipe he learned from his friends mom. They were Israeli and this was a staple in there household. Her mom's hummus was the best I ever tasted!

2 Cans Chick Peas

3 cloves garlic

½ C tahini

½ C lemon juice

Every time you make hummus it comes out slightly different, which is one of the fun things about it. Basically you drain the chick peas and add them to a food processor. Then, throw in the garlic cloves, tahini and 1/4C lemon juice, along with a generous dose of salt. Blend the mixture, adding water to get the consistency that you are looking for. Taste for lemon and tahini levels, add if necessary, blend again adding water to regain consistency. Allow it to sit for a day to get happy and then try it. Remember that garlic gets stronger with sitting, so don’t make the initial blend garlicy or it will kill you in a day or so…

This time I used lime juice instead of lemon. it was a nice change. (and quite possibly 6 garlic - heehee shhh don tell hubby!)

The bread is the "Peace Bomb, sprouted wheat Baguette" SO SO SO yummy! check the link below to find a store that carries it near you. WORTH THE EFFORT! 

http://www.daveskillerbread.com/

We are Fish Rescuer's!

These are my Facebook posts to my family and friends, they were fun to write and fun to read, so I will post them here for the world to enjoy as well. These cover about a week and a half .....

Fish story part 1

The people we bought the house from had put 2 gold fish in the water feature (not made for fish) and turned off the filter. It got all cloudy and full of algae. Then their 2 fishes had babies. But they had moved out a month before we actually moved in and I hadn’t seen the fishes since we moved in, so I assumed that the fish had all died. (hoped really) Yesterday we were draining the water (if we leave water in it over the winter it will freeze and break all the pipes and such and never work again) well after half the water was out, the big daddy fish pokes its head out of the water. My daughter see’s it, so we go on a rescue mission for that fish.

Now remember that we just BOUGHT a (used – love Craigs list!) 10 gal fish tank last WEEK! And yesterday morning it was all cleaned up and we moved the 3 fish we had from the old 2 gal tank (that was leaking) to the new 10 gal tank. We were looking forward to buying a few new fishes for that tank.

So the guy we bought the 10 gal tank from had included a fish bowl (that I had every intention of giving to a thrift store) and a complete 1 gal tank (that we want to get a beta for it) I took the fish bowl outside scooped up some ewwy water and caught daddy fish. THEN I saw a baby fish swimming around. 

Now ... I can’t stand to see an animal die because of lack of action on my part. So I said a prayer. I asked if He wanted me to help these fish, let them swim to the top so I can see them and catch them. POOF! A ton of fish swim to the top (ok about 10 fish). So now (in a funny way) I am on an errand of mercy to save fish direct from God! (He has a sense of humor I tell you!) So I go in the house and get a large bowl, scoop up water into it, look at the water and I had caught the first baby fish! I sit by the water for an hour and caught 16 babies!

So as my cereal bowl got full of babies fishes ... I said another pray that He help me find a cheap bigger tank, cause I wasn't sure that these fish would be good tank mates for our other fish who are getting along fine. (plus I think the big daddy fish was too big for our 20 gal tank already)

I checked out Craigs List ... someone had just posted a 55 gal glass tank that included filter, heater, lights, bubble-er, bottom rocks, and 5 fish tank accessories (my favorite being the underwater roman columns) and a tank thermometer ... for $75!!!!! This tank was on CL less the 6 hours before I went and picked it up. Then I brought it home cleaned it up, filled it up, got the water temps close and at 12:15am the fish were in their new home. I worked for HOURS saving these fishes.

The big daddy fish is orange and about 4/5 inches long. I said at one point it sort of looked like a coy fish. So my daughter named the fish "McCoi" like the Dr in Star Trek! LOL .... so Daddy fish has a name. This morning there were 2 half eaten baby fishes ... and I can only see 10 fish after taking their bodies out. So 4 other fish didn’t make it through the night. And I think daddy ate them. : (

Later today I will work on the rest of the "pond" and see how many other fish we save.

Fish Rescue - Part 2!

So this morning before church I spent at least 30 mins (maybe an hour) fishing again. I stuck my hands in that nasty, just above freezing water to remove stones and leaves so I could see the remaining fish later in the day and catch them in the hopes of saving their lives. I did manage to catch 3 baby fish this morning! WOOHOO they sat in a bowl on the counter all day and just went in the tank about 30 mins ago.

After church we went next door and invited the 8 year old girl came over to help me and my daughter with our fish rescue! We all had SO MUCH fun!

We found 2 bigger (about 2 inch long) fishes. And I think 6 smaller baby fishes. At the end of our fishing time I STILL hadn’t caught the mama fish. We were so sad. My dad has sworn he had seen it earlier today, but this pond was almost empty. WHERE could this mama fish be hiding?  I figured we were doing this on prayer, so we said another prayer to find the mama fish. Then I did a blind scoop across the bottom of the icky pond ague ewwww-E stuff. I brought it up and it looked like just dirt. Then I noticed a tail fin twitching!!!! We had caught the mama fish! So I put her in the special BIG bowl I had waiting for her. (she is orange white and black and a good 4 maybe 5 inches long!)

Then all 3 of us (me, my daughter and her friend) gave high 5’s all-around  The girls were VERY excited to be fish rescuers. LOL Then I figured we did this on a prayer we said a thank you pray too!

Today’s fishing totals … 1 big mama and 2 med teenagers and 9 babies!

Say a prayer more make it through the night!

Will check the “pond” again tomorrow see if I can find any last fishes!

Part 3

Today I went outside and sat by the pond for about 30 mins. Caught 2 fish, but I saw one other fish and then it disappeared. I couldn’t get it! I was so sad I didn’t want it to die. So my daughter and I said another prayer … and I took the net and scrapped it along all the ew at the bottom of this “pond” I got 2 fish in that scoop! So I just kept scooping the freezing water and sifting through he goop in the net (also freezing) saving baby fish! And at one point my cel phone fell in the pond! EWWWWWW it seems to still be working ….. 

Anyways …. we scooped out 12 baby fish from the pond today. Since I got so many, I will check again tomorrow.

 

THEN my neighbors wanted someone to catch the fish they had in there pond and they were going to release them into the wild. There was only 3 fish about 3 inches long, so I figured what the hey! My husband and I went over and caught there fish and they are sitting on our counter warming up to go into our tank with the other 2 big fish.

(the 2 fish on the top left and the one on the bottom right are from the neighbors pond.)

Early today we took the babies out of the 55 gal tank, too many had been eaten. SO now I have 20 babies in a 1 gal tank. I really need to find another 20 gal tank CHEEP! LOL But we had fun rescuing the fishes and our neighbors daughter is real into the fish rescue as well.

Part 4

Well sad news on the babies that were in the 1 gal tank overnight. I lost about half. It was too crowded and there was no filter or bubbler to oxygenate the water. I was so sad to scoop out so many dead babies. That morning we went to Wal-Mart and bought a brand new 10 gal set up, and I am very proud to say that I haven’t lost a fish since. : ) So a big thank you to my parents who bought that last tank so the babies could live free!

BUT the search for a bigger tank continues …. I have 13 1 inch baby fish in a 10 gal tank. Fish should be 1 inch of fish per 1 gal of water. So the baby tank is over full! LOL … but they are fine for now. When they grow they will need a bigger place to live.

Both the 55 gal tank and the baby tank have murky water. We are adjusting it to bring it to a good eco system. It’s a lot of work and a lot of learning, But rewarding. I love looking at all the baby fish’s.  Today we went on got rocks for the bottom of the tank, I have learned that rocks in help promote healthy bacteria, so now our tanks now look a bit more finished!

SO 2 weeks ago we had 1 fish in a leaky 2 gal tank. (Gnomeo)

Then 2 more fish the kids won at the Halloween carnival (no names yet)

Then Craig’s list for a new to us tank that fit our new fish family. (10 gal tank)

Then final count on the pond fish’s … 2 five inch parents from our pond (McCoi and Miss Kitty). 1 five inch fish from the neighbors pond (leviathan). 2 three inch fish from the neighbor’s pond (Trixy and Bixy). 3 two inch fish that we call teenagers from our pond (tiger, Seal and Cubby). And 13 baby’s have survived! (babies don’t have names yet) 

That’s 21 fish!

AND … when we went to the pet store the other day we got 3 thirteen cent fishes I picked out one (Boyington -the gold one with the Black outlining, only fish I ever picked out) Jake picked out one (Andre, white with gold spots) and Tori picked out one (Princess - one of the orange ones ..)

1 fish 1 tank to 27 fish and 3 tanks in 7 days! LOL

2 weeks later .....

As of Today ... I have done A LOT of research on how to keep the fish healthy and what is best to do for them. I am planning ahead now for some bigger tanks to fit all the fish when they are all grown up. Its been a fun journey and rewarding.

I am thankful for my rescued fish, and the kids love them too. Hubby is slowly getting into the groove ..... 

The link to the good Goldfish Care site ....

Goldfish Care

Miscarriage – Breaking the silence, this is our story.

I recently had a miscarriage. I am not sure how or what to feel or say to anyone.  Reading up on it a bit I learned that 1 out of every 4 pregnancy’s ends in a miscarriage. Odds are is that you know people (both mother and father) who have gone through a miscarriage. So if it happens so often, why don’t we talk about it more? Why when I opened up and told people that I just had a miscarriage is when they say, “oh yes I had one _____”?  How many others of my friends have suffered this loss in silence? 

I am breaking my silence! I wanted another baby so bad. Many things factored into why it took so long. But when I took the test – I was ALL smiles! I was so happy. My husband was worried about money and providing for another mouth, but he was happy too.  I knew I was PG before I missed my period. With my last PG I had gestational diabetes real bad. I recognized the symptoms of the gestational diabetes and decided to test for being PG 1 day before my missed period. YIPPIE! I was PG. I jumped into action changed into eating my last gestational diabetes diet, VERY strict, and then I got the Dr’s appointment’s rolling. By the time I was 7 weeks along I was on insulin again. By the time I was 8 weeks and at my first ultra sound appointment I had 8 baby related Dr’s visits! We saw the heartbeat on Tuesday, we were so happy! But I had already started spotting (that had never had with any of my other PG’s) and asked about it, they looked close at the ultra sound and said it looked like implantation bleeding making its way out. 

I was very worried about a miscarriage because my PG’s are so bad that I SUFFER through each and every day, in the short time I had been PG it already seemed like a VERY long time. It isn’t easy, eating certain foods, certain amount’s at certain times a day, every day. Shots every night for months on end. It is HARD to do, but worth it in the end.  I wanted to do everything I could to keep this baby. I was told that this early on the PG will either stick or it won’t, there is nothing to be done this early.  So I went home and prayed for more strength to be able to endure and for the health of me and the new baby.

Friday my husband had gone to the next town over, when I began to miscarry.  I was at home, with my 2 year old for about 1 ½  hours waiting for hubby to get home, with my 2 year old sitting on my lap as I sat on the toilet. (1 month later when my 2 yr old sees a feminine pad he still say’s “mama boo-boo?”)  I called the Dr and they wanted me to wait until the next day to see what happens. (I argued and got in before the end of the day)  I knew it was no longer implantation bleeding. I knew it was a miscarriage. But I didn’t want to believe it. My husband got home, and I called my neighbor to watch my kids.  She is the MOST wonderful lady in the word, she was just coming home from the ER where she had dropped off her husband, and had to take care of her small kids and get a baby sitter for them so she could go back to the ER to be with her husband, I didn’t find this out until later, she is WONDERFUL and I am so thankful for a friend like that – I love you Ali!

My husband and I got to the Dr’s office and I have to wait in there restroom for my  turn to be scene. They did another ultra sound – no heartbeat. They took my husband out of the room and did the DNC.  To be short and save you all from that story – It hurt, it took too long and then our baby was gone.

Then we had to tell the family and friends who knew about the new baby. Worst of all was telling our 5 year old that the new baby got sick and went to go live with Jesus.   Later that night, our gold fish died too.

I didn’t get to rest or morn. We were in the middle of a move. And it wasn’t an easy move … it was temporary. My parents bought a house with an apartment basement. We are moving into the top of the house and fixing up the basement. When that is done we will move into the basement and my parents will be moving (900 miles) up here and live on top.  I was still doing the inspections and everything that needed to be done to help them buy the house. I was packing what we would need in the next 3 months, and storing everything else, so I just couldn’t let someone come in and pack everything for me since we were not going to unpack everything. Then I still had my regular wife and mother duties. 

And no one talks about this part at all … my husband was/is very sad and depressed about the loss of our baby. Why don’t we ever consider the feeling of the FATHER of these lost babies?  

Yesterday was 4 weeks ago that I miscarried.  Our temporary move is done (but now the work begins on the basement so we can move down there). And now I am just spent. I don’t want to get out of bed. I don’t want to cook for my family. I let the kids watch TV all day and avoid doing anything I don’t have to do to survive. My birthday was a few days ago, and I didn’t feel anything.

From the DAY we realized we were pregnant with another sweet spirit to come and bless our home, we were happy. We were talking names, where would the new baby sleep, what baby items we needed to get (since we had sold much of it when we moved up here a year and half ago) I had already started buying some maternity clothes since it’s so much cheaper to get them on eBay then brand new. I had bought a few items brand new the weekend before the miscarriage. It was SO HARD to return them, I even considered never returning them, but I couldn’t do that to my family, $120 is a lot of money to us, and I knew I needed to suck it up so I could spend that money on the kids that were still with us. That baby had been a part of our family, every day. Our whole lives had changed in 2 short months. Our eating had changed, Dr;s appointments every few days, picking out paint for the new home with the baby in mind.

And now there is a whole in our lives. I should be finishing my 1^st trimester; instead I just had one of the worst periods of my life. I am forcing myself to get out of bed each day and smile for my family members. Cooking food for my family is harder than it has ever been in my life. And I still need to get up and find the energy to fix up our new home so it’s a nice place for my family to live.

For those who have suffered this loss, tell your family and friends, they can help you through it, even if they don’t know what to say or to do for you. For those who have been lucky enough not to suffer this make the effort to tell that person you care.  An “I don’t know what to say or do for you, but I care for you” goes a LONG way for people who are suffering from or through ANYTHING.

Please let’s break this silence!  I saw our baby’s heartbeat; the baby was alive and loved. We never got to hold our child, but its absence is felt every day. And every day I am about 3 seconds from tears.  I believe that one day we will see our baby in heaven, but that doesn’t help today get any easier for me or my husband.

Lemon Greek Chicken Spinach Rice - Diebetic friendly!

YUMMY! Yea, I forgot to take pictures before we dove in and gobbled it up. It was very tasty!

1 c chopped onion
1 package (10 Oz) frizen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 c quick cooking brown rice, uncooked. (I used day old cooked brown rice)
1 c water (only use is using UNcooked brown rice)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
12 onces chicken tenders
2 teaspoons dried greek seasoning (oregano, rosemary and sage misture)
1/2 teaspoon salt free lemon pepper
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 med lemon, cut into wedges. (* I didnt have fresh lemons - so I poored some bottled lemon juice over the top and backed it in .... worked just fine!)

Preheat over to 350 degrees. In a large skillet put some oil in the pan, heat on med heat. add chopped onions and cook stirring frequatly untill translucent.  THen add spinach, rice (water if using it) salt and red pepper. stir untill blended.

Pour mixture into a cassarole dish, add chicken on top in a single layer. drizzle (or poor) lemon juice.  Sprinkle with greek seasons and lemon pepper. Cover with aluminum foilf. Back 25 mins or untill chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Serve with lemon wedges. Makes 4 servings.