Disney Vacation

Filed Under Disney Vacation, Future, Input Needed, Travel | 2 Comments

I am so excited! We have decided to take the kids to Disney World for the first time next fall. My parents are actually going to come with us, so we will have help with the kids and also other adults to hang out with. We are planning to go for at least ten days probably two weeks so that we have time to do “everything” (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, maybe Hollywood Studios-Jonathon and I aren’t crazy about HS but I know my dad will want to see it again, Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, Downtown Disney, and probably a day trip to Sea World and I want to go to the alligator place!) Also I want it to be relaxed and not having to go from sunup to sundown with two small children. We will either stay at a value or moderate resort (definitely on property) at this point I am thinking either Pop Century- I have heard horrible things about bus rides from ALL Stars- or Caribbean Beach. We stayed at CB once a long time ago and liked it. We are starting to save now so that we don’t have to put anything on a credit card. Although I am thinking maybe we should get the Disney visa or whatever it is to start earning points for our trip!

If you have any input on doing Disney with little kids, please comment and share with me. I have been reading Disboards and All Ears as well. That helped me a lot with our last trip but it was two years ago.

Online Degrees Like Crazy

Filed Under Future, Thoughts | 1 Comment

I didn’t realize how many people actually forgo the traditional college experience and get an online degree! It seems like I keep meeting more people who have done this or are working on it right now. Several people in my Avon downline have gotten degrees online from different schools like Western Governors University.

I know it is a lot less expensive and offers more flexibility so it is appealing to the “non-traditional” type students and those with children or full-time jobs. I just always wonder if employers look at that kind of degree with the same respect as one earned at a traditional university. Or do they just see that the job candidate has a degree in a related field and not research where it’s from? Or are the online degree programs more well respected than I realize? I have to admit the idea is kind of appealing to me.

I’m not sure if I will ever go back to school (my degree is in public relations and marketing) but time constraints/family time would be one of the main reasons that I wouldn’t go back. So this seems like a good alternative for those situations. Jonathon’s degree is in MIS (management info systems) but he has also met some people who have gotten an online IT degree.

Getting Back in Shape

Filed Under Future, Input Needed, Pregnancy, Second Pregnancy, Weight | 3 Comments

One thing that I really struggle with is my body since becoming pregnant with Bailey, and now with this current pregnancy. The problem is that I never lost the weight I gained with her. I was on pro.zac for a while and I breastfed for a full year. Everyone kept saying that once I quit nursing the weight would come off, but it never did. I had a weight watchers membership for a year (online) after that and I lost a few pounds. In fact I just remembered to cancel that membership the other day after Jonathon griped at me for paying for something every month that I don’t use. Once I have this next baby and get back into a normal/new routine I would love to seriously do something about my weight. I want to be look better for myself but I also want to be healthy and have more energy for my children and spouse.

My plan is to either get some type of exercise equipment like a treadmill, or to join a gym. There are a few nearby that I have heard mixed things on but if anyone has any specific recommendations I would love to hear them. One thing is that I LOVE to swim and would prefer a gym where I can swim laps if I go the gym route. Also price is a big consideration. Thanks for any input.

Thursday Thirteen, because it’s been a while

Filed Under Future, Thursday Thirteen | 4 Comments

I haven’t done this meme in a long time. And after my negative post last night (which I am glad I password protected) I think I need to write something positive. Here are some things I am looking forward to:

1. Meeting my friend Cara for lunch at this great Mexican restaurant

2. Delivering my Avon orders and getting some cash!

3. Seeing my friend Faith tomorrow- shopping and eating at Chevy’s

4. Going out to breakfast with Jonathon tomorrow (he’s off work) and then maybe going to Grant’s Farm or the Magic House or something with both him and Bailey.

5. Picking up my stuff that I left for custom picture framing and hopefully having our bedroom more “decorated” looking.

6. Nothing at all planned for Sunday- relaxing, hopefully!

7. Getting our carpet cleaned next Tuesday. It really needs it. I had it scheduled for this week, but someone (ahem, Jonathon) didn’t get the downstairs cleaned.

8. In two weeks, I am taking my mom to a Stampin Up card making class for her birthday.

9. In September, we are going to Disney World!!! I have been reading these boards obsessively lately.

10. I also turn 28 in September. Not that I am excited about getting another year older, but I love celebrating my birthday. I hope I still love celebrating it when I am even older.

11. For lack of anything else in the reasonably near future… I am looking forward to Halloween! We already have Bailey’s costume, but I’m not going to tell you what she’s dressing up as. It’s cute, and surprisingly, it’s not super-girly. Just for fun, here’s a pic from last year when she was Tinkerbell.

12. I am signing Bailey up for a few Parents as Teachers classes this fall. One of them is an eight week motor skills type class. We are also doing some singing and another gym class. (If you aren’t enrolled in PAT and you have a child under three, call your school district. It’s a great program. If you are in Missouri, I guarantee they have it because they get state funding and it’s a mandatory program. We have parent educator visits at our house every three months, but they also have lots of free one-time classes and fairly inexpensive multi-week classes.

13. Cooler weather? It’s been in the 90s here and I have been avoiding outside. Yuck.

North Carolina and Other Places

Filed Under Friends, Future | Leave a Comment

I have a good friend from college who lives in North Carolina right now. She originally got a job and lived in Southport, I think, and she might still work for a radio station there. I came across a Coldwell Banker site advertising Wilmington real estate and it made me think of her. Which made me think of an old roommate I have, who works for a tv station in Wichita, producing the 10 o’clock news… okay so that was the first link I could find for her but anyway… Which made me think of another roommate I had who is here in STL and has a successful public relations career. Which made me think of another friend I have who lives in Virginia now and works for a non-profit organization, and loves her job (most of the time). I wonder what career I will end up with. I have a feeling that going back to school for a different degree might be in my future, once my kids are in school. I’m not jealous of the success, I just wonder when I will find what I want to do.

Yes, we really ARE going

Filed Under Frugal, Future, Travel | 8 Comments

To Disney World. This fall. Without Bailey. I know, I know… who goes to Disney World without their kids? A mom and dad who need a break, that’s who! I love Disney World and haven’t been in years. Jonathon has only been for a day or two while passing through Florida from Haiti. We always do beach vacations but we were having a dilemma of where to go, since the Caribbean area has hurricane issues in the fall and Mexico is so hot that time of year. I know Florida might be rainy but typically in September it rains for about an hour a day, from what I remember from our vacations. Plus that is a less expensive time for Disney, and it’s less crowded because the kids are back in school!

Bailey will stay with my parents, at our house and she will love the time with them. Plus, toting a 17 month old around a theme park is not my idea of fun. We’d have to go back to the room every day for her nap, and she couldn’t do any rides yet. And lines? She’d lose it in line for a ride!

I am not going to disclose the details like our hotel name until we get back- but I will say that we did an “all-inclusive” vacation package. Airfare, transportation to/from airport and also from our resort to all the Disney parks, a six day Magic Kingdom (and Epcot and Universal) pass, and a Disney dining plan where we get two meals (one table service and one quick serve) and a snack each day, for each of us! The meal plan was free with the current special package. And we are in a Disney resort, so even though I have never been to this particular one, I know it will be well done and an enjoyable stay. Also, we got this all for an amazing price. I love finding vacation deals!

House for Sale

Filed Under Future, Home Sweet Home, Money, My Childhood | Leave a Comment

Not ours! My childhood best friend’s old house is now for sale. The one we grew up playing in all the time. So many memories there… This is the house where we went “tanning” on the roof. We played Nintendo for hours until we beat Zelda, sitting on her brother’s top bunk and looking down at the tv. We got locked outside and climbed in through the kitchen window more than once. We jumped off the deck onto the trampoline. It was just the house where we always hung out. She hasn’t lived there since 8th grade when they moved about a half hour away, but when we went to stop by a friend’s house last week we drove past and I saw that it was for sale. I looked at the listing and it looks amazing. And, get this- it’s a SIX BEDROOM house. How cool would that be. We could sell our house now and pretty much trade even, price-wise. It also has all new cabinets, countertops, hardwood, etc. Living room, family room, eat in kitchen, formal dining room, finished lower level with rec room and big storage room…

If I thought we could sell right now we seriously might be interested. I would just be afraid our house wouldn’t sell. We started looking at online mortgage stuff and it looks like we could get even a lower interest rate than what we have now. (Just under 6%). Gah, I know it’s not realistic but it’s fun to dream. I should be content with this house for now. Why is it that we are always wanting the next, bigger, better thing?

Jonathon is my Alexander Graham Bell guy

Filed Under Daddy, Future, Money, Random | 1 Comment

My husband daydreams about being an inventor. He is always having these *big* ideas. Some of them are really good, and others are really weird. (No offense, honey) but like the air-conditioned suit? Now we actually know someone who has made an invention. It’s some type of glue stuff that goes over ink. Jonathon probably knows more about it than I do because he has talked to the guy about “inventions.” Anyway, I like to indulge his fantasy about being an inventor but I also would love to see his dreams become reality. And of course I wouldn’t mind being rich, either.

In order to do any type of invention thing, we’d have to have some extra cash, though, which we don’t have. He told me he wanted to take a year off work but I told him that probably wasn’t a good idea since he is our only income. Am I a horrible wife for crushing his dreams? Anyway, I guess there is always the possibility of getting some type of loan if he does have a good idea that he wants to work on. I don’t know that I would want to do a home equity line of credit, because then I think it restricts how long you have to stay in your house and stuff like that.

I found a website for AmericanOneUnsecured.com and they have unsecured Lines of Credit, which are basically loans that you don’t have to put up collateral for, as far as I understand. I don’t know if there are any other loopholes or gotchas for that kind of loan, but it sounds more like what we would be looking for. This company offers a free consultation, and the approval depends on your credit standing.

I guess this is always something we can talk about in the future. Right now I am looking forward to getting our tax return (we just filed) and hopefully our government $1500 this spring before we do anything else!

Rejoining the work force

Filed Under Being a Mom, Future, Thoughts | 2 Comments

Sometimes I think about it. Daydream about it- you know, like the grass is always greener on the other side. The other day, I was sitting at a table with my friend Jen, and she was talking to someone about masters programs and their jobs/career field. Sometimes I want that. I don’t want to leave my baby, but I feel like I am ONLY a wife and a mom sometimes. That should be enough, and most days it is. It’s just nice to know that sometime in the future, there will be an identity outside of that again. I will most likely go back to work once the kids are all in school. I would like to either finish my masters program (Speech Comm) or get a different degree. One that keeps entering my mind is social work, because that would open a lot more doors to the type of non-profit work I want to do. My current degree is in Public Relations. I’m sure by that point I will have to learn new human resources software and all kinds of other stuff. I might even finally have to start using Raiser’s Edge!

This probably sounds dorky but I have always somewhat enjoyed school/classes and it came fairly easily to me- so I wouldn’t mind going back again. Someday waaaaay down the road