Lessons Learned

For those of you who may not know, my husband was told last Thursday that he would be losing his job at the end of the school year. The state of California is having some major issues with their budget and are in a major financial deficit. In the district my husband works for, 96 teachers were given notices of losing their jobs. They went entirely off seniority. My husband is in his 2nd year of teaching, even though he is fully credentialed, as compared to other teachers who have taught longer, but are not done with their credentials. As of today, Monday March 9th, things have worked out and it looks like his job will be okay. 

I wanted to write a little bit about some things I learned from this experience. 

When Dan first told me he was losing his job, I was just about to eat lunch. After getting off the phone with him, I suddenly viewed my lunch making resources a lot differently. Should I use less peanut butter than normal? What if our situation got so bad that we couldn't afford peanut butter anymore? What about the jam? We buy a slightly more expensive kind because it tastes SO much better. All of a sudden, the comfort of having a steady income, was slithering away from me. For the last few months, I've heard about thousands of people losing their jobs. I've always felt bad for them, but was comforted knowing that Dan still had his and we didn't have to deal with that. Now, I have experienced a little more what people go through. Our situation was nowhere near what some people go through, but I was starting to understand and feel more for them. I'm now feeling a lot more THANKFUL for what we have and feel so BLESSED that it appears Dan's job will be okay (fingers crossed). 

After hearing the news about Dan's job, we started to assess our situation. We have no debt (other than our mortgage), a good amount of savings and food storage. I've been working really hard on getting our food storage going and now have a good substantial amount. After thinking about it, I wasn't as worried as I first was about Dan losing his job. I knew that we would be okay for a while. Which leads me to my next point.

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." 

Isn't that what we've been hearing for years now? Get out of debt, have money in savings, get your food storage, etc. My testimony of following the prophet has really been strengthened the last few days. When you do what they tell you to, you don't have to worry. I didn't have to worry about how were we going to pay a credit card bill if Dan lost his job. I didn't have to worry about not having enough food. I was a little worried about our mortgage, but I knew our savings would cover us a for a while. We don't live month to month on Dan's paycheck. Heavenly Father knows what's going to happen with the world and wants His children to be prepared. I think we are finally starting to see how quickly the stability we're used to can change so rapidly. 

However, being prepared, has come with a price. What I mean by this is we live pretty frugally, compared to the world's standard of living. I've always been pretty frugal. My family would always make fun of me for this. We don't eat out a lot (maybe once a month). I don't get my hair or nails done (my hair doesn't require a lot of maintenance). If we go to the movies, it's usually to the dollar theater. I make a lot of meals from scratch, so our food bill isn't usually too high. I have always felt that when it came down to it, I would much rather have savings and food storage, more than really nice furniture or expensive clothes, the latest cell phone, an expensive ipod, a new car, etc. Sure those things would be nice, but I don't dare buy them till I'm in a financial state to afford them. And only after I've put priority over the more important things. 

Let's say Dan did lose his job and it took him a long time to find another one. What if we hadn't been prepared for this? I think I would have a lot of regret, having spent my money on less important things. I can't eat a car or my clothes. An ipod won't pay the bills or buy diapers. Furniture I couldn't have afforded to begin with won't pay the mortgage. The world says I NEED these things and I need them NOW. I say they're nice to have, only if you can truly afford them and if you've first prioritized what the prophet has counseled us to do. Because we were prepared, we didn't have to fear. Of course we were worried and concerned, but we knew we had done our part and Heavenly Father would help us. 

I'm so thankful that we've been blessed for Dan to not lose his job. I really feel for those who are not so fortunate. I hope that these difficult economic times will pass and that we can all learn a lesson from them. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

For some reason, I absolutely LOVE to recycle. I don't know where this came from. Maybe because I grew up in Washington state and have always recycled. I think it's a great idea. Why fill up landfills with waste that can be reused? 

There was a time when I didn't recycle, but not necessarily due to my own choice. When I lived in Utah, while attending BYU, they didn't offer recycling services where I lived. In fact, Utah doesn't recycle, which I think is retarded. I guess some people can now, because my mother-in-law does, but I believe you have to pay extra. Anyways, I always felt awful for throwing away an empty can of corn or a plastic bottle because it seemed like such a waste.

Fast forward a few years to when we moved to CA. We lived in an apartment and for the first 5 months of living there, I didn't know there was a dumpster specifically for recycling. I was so happy when I finally found out. 

As I have resumed my recycling endeavors, I have been extremely surprised at how many things are recyclable-my floss container, the bag my baby carrots comes in, the produce bags they offer at the store for you to put your produce in, the plastic wrap covering a head of lettuce, small lotion bottles, some lids to milk jugs, the tiny bottle of contact cleanser, plastic grocery bags, most hard plastic type coverings on different products (the kind you have to cut with scissors because it's too difficult to tear by hand), the protective plastic on dry cleaning clothes, plastic bread bags, etc. The list goes on and on! I've also noticed that just about any small ziploc type bag (ones used to hold game pieces, screws, small parts) have the recycle symbol on it now. In addition, I have seen the recycle symbol on a lot of plastic tupperware containers. Many times the recycle symbol is very small and not very obvious. A lot of times I have to search to see if there is one. Most of the time I just put something in the recycle even if there isn't a symbol. I figure, heck, if it's not recyclable, the people at the center will know better than me and can throw it away. If it is recyclable, they'll know that too (most likely). 

Basically, just about anything plastic is now recyclable. There are also the obvious items-water bottles, cardboard boxes, empty cereal boxes, large plastic bottles, even the cardboard from toilet paper rolls and paper towels, etc. Honestly, whenever I see that something is recyclable, it makes me happy. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. I guess I feel like I'm doing my part to not create more waste.

It's easy to not think about it and toss it in the garbage. I encourage everyone reading this to start looking for things that can be recycled and to recycle them. Even if it means keeping a bag around to put it in and when you're out running errands, drop it off at a recycle center (if you don't currently have services to pick it up).  I keep a paper bag next to our garbage for such items. I've also found that since so many things are recyclable, that our garbage doesn't get very full and I go through a lot less garbage bags, thus saving money. :)

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE!!!

Anna Banana

Life has been going well lately. Anna is getting bigger and bigger and advancing in her development. It's so fun to see and observe. Just the last few days she's been starting to balance all by herself for a few seconds here and there. I have a feeling she's going to be an early walker.  Here are some pictures of her doing her little thing. 

Here, she is playing with a bag of carrots. I don't know why, but she LOVES playing with it. She saw the bag on the table and reached for it. I took it and was trying to get a twisty tie on it, so all the carrots didn't fall out. She got so mad. She started crying and was really upset, until I gave it back to her. She doesn't normally do that when I take things away from her, so I guess she really really likes the bag of carrots. Then, for 10 minutes she just sat on the floor playing with it. Silly baby. 

She has discovered the kitchen (not the cupboards yet, thankfully) and loves to crawl around on the floor. Lately, she's discovered how fun it is to crawl under the table. 

Here, she is taking clothes out of a box that I'm going to send to my sister. She had so much fun just pulling  them out. :)

This is one of my favorite pictures. I let her play with an extra phone book that we have. She loves it and is constantly pulling out pages. I probably recycle 5 pages a day. Here she is with her daily destruction of the phone book. 

This picture is funny. One morning Dan was carrying Anna and had the bright idea to fit her into the inside of his bathrobe. It's tied securely around his waist and she just fits inside. An innovative idea for a baby carrier. :) So cute.

Pay it Forward

Okay, so my friend Melanee did this and I'm doing it as well. The first three people to comment on this post, will receive a gift of some type from me (sometime in the next few weeks/months. Give me a little while, depending on where you live). It could be homemade, something edible, a cute craft of some type, etc. The catch is that you have to post this on your blog and keep it going. So, let's just see who'll be getting a free gift sometime soon. :) 

My Awesome Husband!!!

One plus to having an art teacher as your husband is, he can make you things, that most people can't. Dan's speciality is ceramics. We've been needing some things for a while and he decided to make them for me. What a nice, sweet, and kind husband. I think they all turned out great and am extremely happy and pleased with them. 

Here is our new kitchen utensil holder. The camera doesn't give it's true color. It's a little darker and not so shiny. I love the swirls, so cute!

Here is a pitcher he made for decoration. I'm going to decorate the kitchen in a Tuscan theme. Again, the color is much darker than here in the picture. I think the handle is very cute.  

This is my favorite. It's our new fruit bowl for the kitchen table. You can't see very well, but there are three feet that are also swirled. Again, this is actually black, but the camera doesn't show it very well. Awesome, huh!

I'm very proud of him for using his talents and making such awesome stuff for me. I love him so much!

Here are some pictures we took on Valentines Day. Our little Anna is getting so big!

I love her smile! Lately, she's been sliding her lower jaw over, so her smile is crooked. I think it's so cute. You can kind of see it here in this picture. Our lil' Sweetheart!

Active Lil' Anna!!!

So our little pride and joy is getting so big! She just turned 7 months last week. She is now closer to being one, than she is to being a new born. Here are some pictures of her doing her little thing. She just loves to explore. I don't know how other babies are, but Anna HAS to be doing something. Whether it's grabbing, reaching, playing, pushing, pulling, chewing, crawling, standing...you name it. She can't just be. Even if I'm holding her and walking around, she's constantly looking for something to do. I'm not complaining, because it's cute and she's exploring the world that she's in.

I usually feed her on the couch. Lately, she decides she done and tries to bounce off me and crawl down the couch. There's a lamp on either side of the couch. She's been trying really hard to reach for the one below and she finally got it! (I was making sure she wasn't going to fall off the couch, even though it doesn't look like it here). :) 

 

This picture was taken another day after she grabbed the lamp. She loves to smile for the camera. I thought this one was just so cute, even if her eyes are closed. 

Anna LOVES magazines. She could seriously spend 10 minutes here just playing with them (and usually does). I finally had to put the magazines that I don't care about in the front, so she wouldn't ruin all the others. She is fascinated with strumming her fingers on them as they fan out.  

Another favorite of Anna's is this swing. She is pulling herself up ALL the time. Anywhere and everywhere. I will leave the room for a second and come back to find her standing somewhere. Sometimes, I'm at the computer and turn around and she's right behind me, standing! Some places make me really nervous. This swing makes me nervous when she pulls herself up at the back of the swing and then pushes on it to go back and forth. She loves it, it makes me worry. Here, she's leaning backwards a little, but a lot of times she's able to stand up right. 

The box. Why pay money for toys when you can get them for free? :) Dan thought it was funny to put Anna in this box. She actually really enjoyed it. For a while when we didn't want her crawling around when we couldn't keep as good of an eye on her, we would put her in her box with some toys. It worked for a while, but I think she's done with that. Now the box is turned upside down and she stands up by it and pounds her fist on it. 

I'm so happy Mommy and Daddy! This is the BEST toy ever!

We love our baby Anna SO much. We thank the Lord for her everyday. She makes us so happy. We're so lucky to have her as our baby. 

Anna + Solid Foods = Funny Pictures

So we started Anna on solid food a few weeks ago. At first she kind of liked it, and then less and less with each day. Now, the only way we can get her to eat it is by surprise attack. When she opens her mouth, we have to be ready to swoop in and get the spoon in her mouth before she closes it. It ain't easy all the time. I'm guessing it will just take a while for her to really get into it and we'll just have to keep trying. 

Her first time in the high chair...she has no idea what's coming. 

Daddy feeding Anna

Mommy feeding Anna

I love the little carrot mustache and goatee here. 

Many times after she gets hit by a surprise food attack, this is the face she makes. I don't think she's a big fan of rice cereal. :)