I cry out in sadness, because my life has been flipped upside down. I used to have days when I would literally have dreams about the burgers at Carl's Junior. McDonald's was a weekly stomping ground with their tantalizing 2 cheeseburger meal and big mac with the scintillating secrete sauce. There was never a question that I would always like seconds when it came to hot dogs. And I was always a fan of bologna, even after knowing what all it was made of.
I would scoff and pity the people who loved desserts. Those people seemed foreign in the way they would drool over a cookie or feel tempted by a candy bar. Getting a dessert after a meal seemed like just a waste of money. Sugar and chocolate held no appeal to me... until two weeks ago.
Dang pregnancy has caused my walls to crumble around me. The sweet lure of chocolate and sugar tugs at my taste buds. I sneak around like a secrete ninja just to raid a twix bar from my co-workers candy jar. I actually join Kevin on his search for a dessert after dinner, instead of mocking his dependence on sweets. I spend my preciously saved nickles and dimes to splurge on a sweet mug root beer in the afternoon. Even this morning, I did the unthinkable and broke into our Halloween candy early to eat skittles at 10 in the morning. Ahhh!! What have I become?
I can only hope and pray that this is just a pregnancy craving phase, and not that my meat loving taste buds have left me for good. Oh meat, I do still love you, but you just aren't the number one food group on my mind! Is this adultery of the heart?
Tell me, what is the food item that weakens your knees and leaves you helpless to do nothing else but eat it?
October 30, 2008
October 8, 2008
Pinching Pennies
Kevin makes the money, and Mary tells it where to go
This statement is how Kevin and I have always dealt with our finances. And now with the economy looking scary, we take our jobs even more seriously.
In the very beginning I took over paying the bills and managing the budget, because someone had a bad bachelor habit of not always opening his mail... I won't name names, but that lead to me being in charge of watching our money. Truthfully, I love the job. I have never been very good at bringing in a lot of money, but I love to manage it. I love working through our budget and determining where our money is spent. Looking at a finished budget every month is like looking at a newly reorganized and cleaned room. You just can't help but be proud of it, even when there are still imperfections showing.
In a little over two months, Kevin and I are going to make a big switch from a two income household to a one income household. To say it will not be a big deal is a lie, but we have been trying to prepare for this since we first joined lives (or checking accounts!). We always tried to budget and live off of his paycheck alone, and used mine as a way to eliminate our debt and get a nest egg. We try to live cheaply and money wise; shopping at Wal-mart, buying a house in our lower price range, never owning a credit card, buying only used cars, and splurging on extra trips to McDonald's instead of extra trips to Hawaii.
I sometimes think about how different the life of our future family could be if I would not be a stay at home mom. Not that we would be rich, but at least have a little more luxuries in life. Cable, flat screen t.v., private school, eating out more than once a week. But Father John reminded me this weekend on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi that we are called to "live simply and distinguish our needs from our wants".
I need to fulfill God's call in my life to be a stay at home mom.
I want to be able live in a plush 2 story house with a neighborhood pool.
I need to ensure that our family is using our money in the best way possible.
I want to eat out every meal over the weekend and not cook.
I need to see the beauty is living simply.
I want to get wrapped up in the material world.
It's time to focus on the real needs of our lives, and learn to get over our wants. I am definitely going to need some divine assistance with this one!
This statement is how Kevin and I have always dealt with our finances. And now with the economy looking scary, we take our jobs even more seriously.
In the very beginning I took over paying the bills and managing the budget, because someone had a bad bachelor habit of not always opening his mail... I won't name names, but that lead to me being in charge of watching our money. Truthfully, I love the job. I have never been very good at bringing in a lot of money, but I love to manage it. I love working through our budget and determining where our money is spent. Looking at a finished budget every month is like looking at a newly reorganized and cleaned room. You just can't help but be proud of it, even when there are still imperfections showing.
In a little over two months, Kevin and I are going to make a big switch from a two income household to a one income household. To say it will not be a big deal is a lie, but we have been trying to prepare for this since we first joined lives (or checking accounts!). We always tried to budget and live off of his paycheck alone, and used mine as a way to eliminate our debt and get a nest egg. We try to live cheaply and money wise; shopping at Wal-mart, buying a house in our lower price range, never owning a credit card, buying only used cars, and splurging on extra trips to McDonald's instead of extra trips to Hawaii.
I sometimes think about how different the life of our future family could be if I would not be a stay at home mom. Not that we would be rich, but at least have a little more luxuries in life. Cable, flat screen t.v., private school, eating out more than once a week. But Father John reminded me this weekend on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi that we are called to "live simply and distinguish our needs from our wants".
I need to fulfill God's call in my life to be a stay at home mom.
I want to be able live in a plush 2 story house with a neighborhood pool.
I need to ensure that our family is using our money in the best way possible.
I want to eat out every meal over the weekend and not cook.
I need to see the beauty is living simply.
I want to get wrapped up in the material world.
It's time to focus on the real needs of our lives, and learn to get over our wants. I am definitely going to need some divine assistance with this one!
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