Holman in double digits!

I love my oldest son, he is such an amazing little man. He is kind, smart and respectful when not at home :) at home he is a nut! He is so funny and very unpredictable. He is constantly thinking and evaluating things. He likes to test his older sisters and likes to protect and play with his younger siblings. He is our middle child that is not forgotten, because we are all laughing too much at what he has said or done.

We went to the park in the evening, played tag and then went out for ice cream. It was a nice easy going night to celebrate our easy going kid. Holman is a great athlete and student. he wakes up at 5:30 most mornings to do his homework. He would much rather wake-up early than to do it at night. For whatever reason his morning ritual really works for him and he is proved he can balance his school work and time nicely. He has taken up running and is running on his school cross-country team (just like he mom, so proud!).  He loves his science class, music, mandarin and humanities classes, not too thrilled about engineering but he still does well.

I love you Happy Jack! A hug from you does so much to make me smile. The fact that at 10 you still hold my hand makes me so happy( remember you promised you would always hold my hand!).

Adrianna my Thanksiving miracle!

My baby girl turned 5 on November 27th Thanksgiving day! Oh I love my little side kick. She is funny and smart and loving. She loves being the youngest and having 4 adoring siblings. She is in both my preschool classes and tolerates learning the same thing every other day. She goes to kindergarten next year so this is her last year chilling at home 24 hours a day. I have been teaching preschool since she was less than a year old so I hope she can learn to love her new teacher, she loves her primary teachers at church so that is a good sign.

The other day I was listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio he was talking about giving to others and how God wants us to have giving hearts and that why we are asked to tithe. Anna said, "Mom is Dave Mormon?" I said, "No, but he believes in God and Jesus Christ, like we do." She said, "Oh so his not a democrat then." So funny, my little republican daughter :)

Anna you are my survivor my angel here on earth, we love you so much and are so glad you are the caboose in our family, it wouldn't be complete without you!

Going radical 11th month

November arrived with no pressing debt looming over us! We have the 401K loan, thank goodness we could borrow form our own savings and not have to involve a bank. If we wanted to just take out the money we could but then we would have to pay a large tax amount because the money you save for retirement plans are not taxed, so once you use it then the government can tax you. So we opted to use the money and pay ourselves back with interest into our own account, which we pay automatically every two weeks from Benjamin's paycheck. We plan to pay aggressively on it once we have saved six months worth of expenses.

We cheated slightly this month. Once our last loan debt was achieved the thought of waiting to buy a second car until after the first of the year was going to break me. I know once January comes we get a boost from preschool tuition. So we cheated and used a credit card that is tied into our checking account to float the needed funds to get the car. Not radical but I figure we could have two months of car independence and a car paid in full in January or we could have two more months of mooching rides and a car paid in full in January. We went with the first option. I don't think Dave would approve, but we did it anyway. I think mostly because its a slippery slope. Once you start allowing exceptions your right back to where you never wanted to return. Normally I am the hard core radicalist in our relationship but this time I was the one wanting to make an exception. Let me tell you now, we are almost two months into car independence I couldn't be more happy about it!

The hardest part of this month was knowing when it is ok to buy things. For 10 months of very little splurging it has been hard to let go a little and be ok with buying things .


Lesson learned in November:
1.Keeping a budget is an every day experience. Keeping out of debt is an everyday experience.

Going radical 10th month!

Sweet October especially the 30th day, I have been waiting ever so patiently for your arrival. It felt like years till I would see that date. Bam! Before I knew it the month had ended and our goal had finally arrived! The 30th arrived with Benjamin's paycheck and on Halloween day Benjamin and I walked into the bank singing "We Are The Champions" and laid our money down, gave them the Mormon bird ( turkey in sign language) and walked out of there like we had dreamed we would.

I don't know how many times I would make a payment to that bank, look at our balance and have tears in my eyes wondering when would this loan be done. Thinking it was impossible. I can't express the joy I felt seeing the balance at $0. Oh the joy! In the last ten months we have put over 40% of our income on this debt, 40%!! That my friends is radical.

Lessons learned in October:

1." Don't you quit, you keep walking! You keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come till heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come! It will be alright in the end, trust God and believe in good things to come."

This quote is taken from one of my favorite apostles Elder Holland, he tells a story from his real life.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911029449001&cid=HPFR103114546

Going radical 9th month!

Sweet September wrap-up, its our anniversary month, the month where summer and fall meet, I love this time of year! No big anniversary trip planned or carried out, you don't do that on  the year of the radical. We went to the Mesa temple, "renewed our vows"  went to dinner and came home to an empty house, it was great!

This month we took out a loan from our 401 K plan and put it on the nasty 2nd mortgage loan, this brought the balance down to just a couple of thousand that we will pay off in October. We are getting so close! We took out the 401 K loan a month before scheduled mostly because we have been watching the market and we were thinking that there might be a crash looming and didn't want to be stuck not being able to take out the needed funds to close the 2nd mortgage loan. This unfortunately made the payments start for the 401 K loan. Every paycheck, money will be automatically taken out. Its a brutal beast, debt is.

Debt maybe an evil slave master but we believe in the one and only Master. Heavenly Father is so good. Before the first draw on our paycheck for the 401 K loan, Benjamin was called into his bosses office and was told that he would be getting a raise, one he didn't ask for and  that was on their off-cycle raises, totally unexpected! So when the first 401 K draw was taken we simultaneously received the raise bump. The difference between was so minimal, it was astounding.

Lessons learned in September:

1) When Benjamin's boss called him into to tell him the awesome news, Benjamin thanked him and told him that this increase will help greatly in his family goal of getting out of debt. The boss said I know I thought the same thing for you guys!  A worthy goal that others can respect makes them want to help in any way they can! (It doesn't hurt that Benjamin is awesome at what he does, he works really hard and gets along with everyone, his people skills are as great as his computer skills! He is an A rated employee.)

2) We have gone without a second car for over two months. We will never get a car loan again (knock on wood). A second car is a luxury that we hope to get soon but we understand there are other modes of transportation we will take advantage of; the bus, the bike, The Clark's thanks Joshua, and even co-workers. I think just like Benjamin's boss there will be many people cheering when we get the needed raise in number of cars we own.

Going radical 8th month!!

August is school starting month. This will be my 5th year teaching preschool and it continues to be a huge blessing. 1) I love it! I love the families that come to my school. They are all such good parents who just want the best for their children. I love the kiddos. This age brings me such great joy, they are so loving, enthusiastic, forgiving, curious and teachable. 2) It provides a huge financial benefit for our family. When we returned home after our failed homesteading adventure, I walked into our Arizona room and said I will open a preschool, a couple of months later it was up and running. My preschool has provided such a learning opportunity as well as given me the ability to watch my own little ones, Parkin and Anna grow. This year I have 32 sweet spirits that I have the privilege to nurture, what an awesome job!

Lessons learned in August:

1) When trying to get out of debt exhaust all opportunities for additional work, it will provide the needed leverage to make a real dent.

Going radical 7th month!

This month was a real struggle. It was rather painful for me to read the lessons I learned from last month, particularly, lesson Number 1: not to be angry over this affliction.

A day before we left for our family reunion in Utah to celebrate my grandfather's 94th birthday, I got a call from BMO Harris bank. They said that we would be getting a letter in the mail soon telling us that our Home Equity Line Loan (HELL loan) would now have a maturity date of November 17th 2014.  Our loan would now be due in full in 4 months! I told them that I had called over a year ago asking when the loan was due and they had told me over the phone in the year 2017.  It was now going to be due 3 years early! They told us not to worry we could re-apply for a loan with them, with interest rates double what we are currently paying.

I got off the phone and bawled. All this scrimping and going with out for what?! What of our miracles, our hope, our righteous desire of getting out of debt? I took a full day literally crying over what we were going to do and feeling like the bank was really shoving us up against a wall.

After my full day hissy fit, I had the most excited feeling of knowing that Heavenly Father is a God of miracles and knowing he delivers His children from their afflictions if they put their trust and efforts in HIM. I was excited to see how He was going to do it this time when all the doors seemed to be closing in on us.

As we were driving to Utah the thought occurred to my husband that we might have enough money in his 401k retirement plan to pull out and cover the difference of what we owe. We could cut out the need for the bank and use our own funds! The interest rate we would pay ourselves back was lower than our current rate and far lower than what they would offer us in a new loan.

The only way this new loan is possible is because of that generous  gift we received in May. Without that money we would be short and unable to pay the bank in full.  It is only because of that gift that we are going to be able to close the loan. Without that gift we would not have enough, that gift was the exact amount. I am so grateful that we put the entire amount on the loan not even a penny on something we wanted otherwise we would be short.

When we got back from Utah we had both cars in the shop, our AC had died, our microwave stopped working and we needed to replace carpet in my classroom. The repairs on Benjamin's car were going to cost more than the value of the car, so we sold it. We are now a one car family. Since we don't live close to our kids' schools or Benjamin's work it is going to be a challenge. It is a 9 mile commute to Benjamin's work and in the heat on a bike, it is lots of fun. But come November Benjamin's miracle request of lets be done with our equity loan in 2014 will be true, hallelujah!

Lesson learned in July:

1) Wait on the Lord, he will deliver in unusual ways.

2) He puts things into motion months (sometimes) years before you even know you need it. I can't imagine what kind of true panic we would be in if we hadn't have declared this the year of the miracle. We would have made very little headway on all of our loans. And when that dreaded call came of "you have 4 months to pay this off or incur crazy high rates," it would have been financially devastating. But because we decided in January to invoke heaven's help we are down to just one loan in a matter of months!

3) The longer you try to keep a budget the more you realize you have fewer needs and old needs are reevaluated to be wants.

Utah trip!

So my awesome twin was visiting my grandmother's grave for memorial day while she was there she met someone who was visiting her husbands grave who knew my grandfather. She said that when my grandfather was a young men's leader he gave her husband a silver dollar coin for his mission with the blessing that he would never grow hungry. This ladies husband kept this coin in his pocket his entire mission his sons did the same thing and now grandchildren are carrying this coin. My grandfather unbeknownst to him was apart of another families legacy. My twin asked if they would come speak to our family about this traveling coin at my grandfathers 94th birthday party. We were so excited to see and hear this story in person. It was awesome to see my grandfather to be so touched by an act of love that he did many years before it was awesome.

Thanks Lou for the pictures! http://lindseyslemonade.blogspot.com/2014/07/harold-merrell-standers-94th-birthday.html

 

Swim Wrap-Up

Oh what do we do in the summertime? Swim!! This year we mixed it up and changed teams so that we could swim in our neighborhood swim team. It was awesome being so close and swim lessons for the little's was free! We like to joke that when the Howe family joins your team you will win championships well this year was no exception :) Everyone did great broke some personal records despite everyone being the youngest in their age group, next year they will be the oldest so it is all good.

Bella did great even with 3 weeks off from swimming, she traveled to Alabama to visit cousins and go to girls camp. She was vital in her teams relays and made the finals in all of her strokes. I love the fly picture of Bella great shoulders!

Olivia was awesome she placed in all the finals and placed in both the backstroke, butterfly and freestyle races! Look how far she can get out of the water on her fly, that takes some killer abs! 

Holman did great too, he wasn't too excited about switching teams but by the end of  the season he had a "Holman fan club" which consisted of girls that were "crushing" on him. He almost broke a smile hearing this. This year he did awesome in fly and free and killed it in the back. All the other boys were doing back flip turns for their backstoke, Holman said doing it slowed  him down. He was right he did a touch turn and because of it he won the race. He placed as one of the top swimmers in his age group.

This was Parkin's first swim year he did awesome!! He was worried about it but by the end of the season he was rocking it! He now crosses the pool with minimal breaths and stream lines like a champ!

Anna looking thrilled to be at meets luckily she had to go to very few. This year she too has made great strides in the pool. Swimming without floaties and mastering putting her head in the water.

 One of the best quotes from summer time was when I asked Holman after he wins an Olympic medal would he kiss his mom in front of everyone. He said sure, but I think they will think you are my girlfriend. Yes son they will!

Going radical 6th month! Independence Day!

I always tell my kids to visualize success. On this great day of celebration of the United States of America's independence from England, I can't help but to visualize my own success of getting out of bondage from my debt.  It can be quite consuming but just as our country's forefathers they saw the need and fought like lions and achieved their goal. Miracles can happen.

June 21 through June 28th. I was so excited to go to girls camp for a week, the car was loaded and I was ready to go. I got in the car to start it up... nothing. Benjamin came out to give the car a jump... nothing. We were going to switch cars and I was going to take Benjamin's van but it was chock full of bags we were going to donate to the DI thrift store and it is just not that reliable of a car. So I said we need to petition the Lord for this car to work. People were counting on us and I needed to drive a bunch of girls up the mountain. Benjamin said a prayer. We had gratitude for our cars and for the opportunity that I had to serve for a week at girls camp. He then said we needed the car to work. He said amen and we went outside to try again. It worked! The 1st miracle of the week. Up at camp I was so excited to go on a 3 day  2 night backpacking hike. There was a girl in my group that was struggling really bad so I offered to carry her pack. I carried that pack for 9 miles and it felt like nothing, the Lord lightened my load, 2nd Miracle. This young woman on the third day of our hike carried her pack all the way back to camp, a 3 mile hike that I think testified to her that she was indeed strong enough, 3rd Miracle.When I was packing to go to camp I happened to pass by the pile of clothes to donate, on a whim I grabbed a pair of jeans I was going to donate and put them in my pack. At camp I was talking to a Young woman who only has one pair of jeans she didn't want to break the rules and wear shorts but her jeans were filthy from the 3 day hike. I said hey I got an extra pair, she is the same size as me, same weight, I gave her my extra pair and told her to keep them because I was going to donate them anyway. I was so happy I grabbed that pair of jeans, the Lord knew her need and I got to be His hands! 4th Miracle.

At camp during personal scripture study, I made the connection that; afflictions + consecration = deliverance. When I carried that girls pack I kept thinking this was a huge affliction for the girl, I will consecrate my ability to carry her pack and we will both be delivered, and we were! She consecrated her best efforts and on the final day she did it, huge victory. This week I have made 3 columns in my scripture journal and have noted when people have gone through afflictions and what they have consecrated and what they are asked to consecrate and I especially have noted passages on their deliverance. Our family scripture that we all memorized this month (even Parkin!) was "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance. We are chosen when we choose to follow the Savior and consecrate our hearts and actions to help others.

I can't wait for my independence day, it will come maybe sooner than I expect! 

Lessons learned in June:

1) This month I am trying to not be angry about my situation/ circumstances. I am focusing on how I can consecrate my efforts to be worthy of deliverance. 2 Nephi 4:29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. 

2) Always return people's things. If you brake it, fix it. If you borrow it, return it. If someone leaves something behind, hunt them down and give it back. Because I am on a strict budget everything I own has a great value, I don't want to replace what I already have so I must treat other's property with that same respect.I will  assume they are on their last dime and that their things are very precious to them no matter how small.

Loved camp, love this lady! What a blast we had. I have such confidence in the future women of the church our young women are amazing!

Going radical 5th Month! Who does this happen to?!!!

Getting rid of debt is an emergency not just something you work on (thanks for the new mantra Mr. Money Mustache, this is my husbands new favorite line).  Last month was a miracle what could top last month?! Oh wait May did!  Debt is an emergency but it is not the #1 thing.  What is truly important? It is becoming who God wants us to become. Prayer+ Do = Be. When we pray with full purpose and do all we can to serve others and to help our our situation, then we become what Heavenly Father wants us to become. Happiness is created when we prioritize and put the Savior first . When we do this miracles happen, they really do!!

Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Say Saints, believes in paying tithing, we tithe 10% of what we make and give it to the church to distribute to the needs of operating the church. This pays for maintaining buildings, church grounds, purchasing church materials, basically everything from toilet paper to pews everything but paying the clergy. I know this first hand, my husband is our congregations preacher known as Bishop. He does not get "paid" for his service, but we sure get blessed! There is also another thing that church members do and that is pay "fast offerings." Once a month we fast from food for two meals and donate the money we would have spent on the meals to help those families that are in need of food, rent money, utilities bills etc. The Bishop then distributes the money collected to those in need and seeking assistance.

On Saturday May 17th we sold a large item that we were in possession of. Normally any extra money we get, goes to our debt, but this time it didn't feel right about using it for our own good. Benjamin asked me where he should put the money. I told him donate it to Fast Offering. He put all the money in an envelope and we felt good about where it was going to.

Sunday May 18th (will be forever a Benjamin and Lesley Miracle Day) we had someone come to the door with tears in their eyes and hand me an envelop with instructions to read whats in the envelop with my husband when he got home from church. I thanked them and said "now I have something to look forward to."  After a long day at church Benjamin finally got home. Dinner had already started but I pulled him away from the table and told him about the envelope. I asked him if he wanted to wait to read it or read it now. Too curious to wait we left the table and went into the bedroom to read the letter. Ahhh the letter. It was beautiful. I wept as I read such beautiful words. They expressed gratitude for our Savior, for us for reaching out to others and admiration for working so hard to get out of debt. The letter was amazing and the letter alone would have felt like a miracle that someone would be so kind to take time to write. We were stunned that in the envelope was cash! Cash! Who does that?! It was so unexpected, so out of left field. We cried uncontrollably as we counted the bills. I kept saying why us? Benjamin then turned to me and said its the fast offering money, Lesley!  You gave to the Lord and he magnified our offering. Speechless it was over 30 times what we had offered!

This debt has felt like a burden, a huge burden. Recently an apostle of the Lord named Elder David A Bednar spoke in a church conference. He spoke about a friend who traveled up to a mountain to get fire wood. His truck got stuck and rather than sit there wondering how he was going to get out of the snow bank he decided to load his truck with fire wood . Benjamin and I have decided rather than let the debt consume us we would open up a preschool, accept the calling of Bishop and Do something.

Elder Bednar said:"Sometimes we mistakenly may believe that happiness is the absence of a load. But bearing a load is a necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness. Because our individual load needs to generate spiritual traction, we should be careful to not haul around in our lives so many nice but unnecessary things that we are distracted and diverted from the things that truly matter most...Consider the Lord’s uniquely individual invitation to “take my yoke upon you.” Making and keeping sacred covenants yokes us to and with the Lord Jesus Christ. In essence, the Savior is beckoning us to rely upon and pull together with Him, even though our best efforts are not equal to and cannot be compared with His. As we trust in and pull our load with Him during the journey of mortality, truly His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/bear-up-their-burdens-with-ease?lang=eng


Lessons Learned in May :

1) Give to others, it blesses them and it blesses you. I know the couple that blessed us has something amazing around the corner for them!!

 

2) Do not put limits on the Lord, miracles happen. They really do. You might have a different load that you are carrying, a different burden.  Put useful things in your truck load, work, service to others, and love and then step on the gas!!

Going Radical Fourth month!

We started this year and named it "the year of going radical" this was the year we were going to reign in our finances and clean up our bad investment debt and student loan debt (thanks Dave Ramsey). April was the month I wanted our student loans to be paid off. We crunched the numbers and this was a far fetched, but if going truly radical, a goal we could achieve. As unexpected things would come up I would worry/complain about not reaching our goal month. I literally would visualize me in a dark tunnel and running to the small light in the distance the closer I would get to the light the harder I would run, leaving the tunnel meant I was debt free. I could smell the fresh air, see the blue skies and look at the beautiful flowers outside the tunnel, I would be free!! Free to spend our hard earned money, free to focus on other financial pursuits.

Well we paid it off, early in the month to boot! I have a our third "You are paid in full" notice hanging on the wall in our bedroom. I wept when Benjamin sent me the email notice that said our balance was zero. I played my motivational song, the song I think about as I leave my tunnel.

This euphoria lasted about 24 hours. I felt on top of the world, like we had run our race and that it was awesome! Sadly after my 24 hour high was up I came out of my tunnel only to see that in order to get to the top of the mountain I had to enter another tunnel! This tunnel (the 2nd mortgage that had the brunt of all the failed homestead plans) was huge, almost 4 X what we had just paid off. I felt so discouraged! How could we sustain this kind of momentum? When looking at the money we had already used I couldn't help but look around and see all the things I would rather spend that money on. My duct tape couch, named that because it has been "repaired" with duct tape. My dinning table that is on stilts because the thrift store chairs we bought for it were too tall, my kids mattresses that are on the floor because I have not gotten them a proper bed frame... all of these "wants" just kept creeping in to my happy accomplishment. Had we done the right thing? Should we have used our money in other more tangible ways? Or should we have put the  money towards the larger mountain? My mother has always said that self doubt is one of Satan's largest tools. I think ingratitude is another one. How could we accomplish so much and I feel so unsatisfied? I was talking to Benjamin about it this morning of why I wasn't more happy with accomplishing this goal,  he quoted to me a line from The Family: A Proclamation "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." (https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation) It doesn't say happiness is most likely to be achieved when paying off debt, or running a wonderful race, it comes when our priorities are in line with what Heavenly Fathers. He wants us to become a follower of his son Jesus Christ, where charity and love trump all goals.

When my twin and I ran our first and only marathon there was a part in the race in the very beginning where we ran through a tunnel, it felt really long because it was dark and all uphill. When we came out of that tunnel there was 24 miles of race still to run! Mostly hills, beautiful desert landscape and nothing but runners solitude to sustain you. Thinking on this financial race that we have signed up for I need to remember the path is long, the path is difficult, but it is my job to not focus on the end so much, but try to enjoy being out of the tunnel, breathing and seeing the the charity and love that others offer as well as what I can offer along the way. 

Lessons learned in April: 

1."Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Parkin's seven year old scavenger hunt! May 3rd!

Our loving little boy turned seven yesterday!  Benjamin and I had so much fun putting this scavenger hunt family party together. We started with giving him some sunglasses "that weren't no dollar store pair" and asked him to go to the place that sold cheap items there. We went to the dollar store where all the kids picked up a pair of flip flops and Parkin got his next clue. That clue took us to the Clark's house where his clue was waiting for him by their bee hive in their backyard. The bees also gave Parkin peanut M&M's thoughtful bees!  We then were lead to McCormick park for our next clue. We played at the park for a bit and were on our way to Collin's house for our next clue. We passed by Ft. Lowell park and had to swing in to show Benjamin the neat oasis the kids and I had found. They had tadpoles there the size of small cuties! After a little hike around that park we were back on the road to the Holman's house. Our next clue lead us to McDonald's for a happy meal lunch. The clue at Mc'd's told us to go to Nana and Papa's pool. We swam and had a blast. Nana made delicious cupcakes and Parkin got some awesome presents including a Pokemon movie which we watched later. Another clue took us to Grandma Bab's and Granpa Ronnie's place for a present, legos!  Lastly we went home for dinner and a movie and to build legos. Geezz that was a lot of driving and a lot of fun! At each stop he got a gift mostly themed around Pokemon stuff. He was very grateful and I think he had a great time, the whole family really loved the adventure.

Parkin we love you! You light up a room just by breathing! You are super smart, one of the classes you have taken this year is Mandarin. You speak it really well and have learned to write it as well. I love it when randomly you can see Mandarin characters at the grocery store or dollar store and know the meaning of it. You like to test military families and returned missionaries who have learned Mandarin to see if they know what you know :) You are crazy loyal and will not allow others to be picked on. You stand up for friends, family and anyone you feel is being picked on. You have courage and compassion a beautiful combination! Son I love you and thank my lucky stars the I get to be your Mom!

Bella become a teenager! March 8th!

How did this event not get posted?! Bella has had the privilege of going to several Bar and Bat Mitzvah this year. They are large, fun, expensive and spiritual coming of age parties for Jewish teenagers. I remember as a teenager wanting to go to one of these parties, Bella that lucky/popular girl has gone to 3! Well in honor of us going radical her party would hopefully be one of these attributes, fun! Even as I am typing this my super positive girl said mom it was fun, gotta love her. It started out with Bella going out with Benjamin with donuts with Dad, instead of donuts for breakfast she chose getting a cheeseburger. The ladies went shopping we gave her some money and she used some of her own. But her biggest gift was Bella getting her own room. Dieter moved out and Bella moved in, I think on the same day! We had grand parents over for her favorite dinner cheeseburgers and cheesy noodles. Cheeseburgers all day makes Bella a happy girl. Bella we love you we think you are amazing! You are smart right now in school you are taking English, Spanish, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Algebra II, History, Logic, and PE (my favorite). You are athletic. You are friendly. You are perceptive. You are kind. This last one is a gift that usually takes most people time to develop but even from a young age when kids are naturally egocentric you were not, you have always reached out and you continue to do so. What a great Christ like attribute. Thanks for teaching me everyday, laughing with me everyday being my daughter and friend, I love you Bella! Next year we will have a Mormanitzva, its where Mormons celebrate the coming of age of being allowed to go to church dances! It will be big (multiple stakes can go). It will be fun (sober fun the best kind). It will not be expensive(a ward will provide the refreshments and decorations and venue/ the church building)! It will be a coming of age spiritual party (since you will move into the Mia maid program at church). This party will be epic almost as epic as getting your own room! Love you Bella!

March Madness! Going Radical Third Month

This month was crazy. We had put together a very radical birthday package for Sister Bekah Howe. I say it was really radical because it was not expensive but hopefully fun. We put together a candy card using candy titles to write a letter to our favorite sister missionary. Unfortunately March was very busy and we did not get it out to her in the month of February her birthday month, so finally I remembered to take it to the post office 10 minutes before it was closing, I didn't want another day to pass by. Olivia and I jump in the car and we race off to try to make it. I had just gone through the light on 22nd and Kolb hit the gas and I heard the whirling sound of a police car. Yikes, I knew exactly what I had done, speeding.

So needless to say we did not make it to the post office. I was cited for not having my registration and received a ticket. I was clocked at going 11 miles over. Not ten, but eleven so the price of the ticket goes up by $40. Not very radical. My inexpensive present was climbing in cost. Since I hadn't gotten a ticket in many years I could sign up to take the defensive driving class. I put this off to the very last possible moment. So much so that I wasn't sure I could still take the class. I was suppose to sign up 7 days before the report date on my ticket and unfortunately I was calling the city because it was exactly 7 days if I counted the current date. I didn't want to pay for the class if it was going to be too late so I was on hold to talk to a city worker.

I was on hold for 45 minutes, no joke. It took so long I loaded up the car to go to my Friday  kick boxing class and figured the music would be loud enough that having the phone on speaker wouldn't be distracting. Luckily the phone operator came on the line. I gave him my citation number and asked if it was too late to take the class. He then told me I was cited for not having my vehicle registration and all I had to do was take in a copy of my registration and the fee would be dismissed. I then asked about the speeding ticket, he said there was no speeding ticket. I told him but on my ticket it says that I was eleven over the speed limit. He told me that it does say that but that I wasn't cited for speeding. I asked him why not. He said I had a nice cop. Bless that wonderful cop! It was not in the radical budget. What a merciful cop.

Its a good thing, because my wonderful sisters surprised me with a birthday trip to Colorado!! I was sitting down to dinner on a Wednesday night. Lindsey was on the phone with me at dinner. She asked me if I believed in miracles. I said yes. She said say it out loud, say you believe in miracles. I laughed and said it out loud. She then asked me to check under my seat at the dinner table. I said ok, just to appease her not thinking much about it. To my shock there was something taped under the chair! I pull it off and read that it is a plane ticket for Thursday evening to fly to Colorado. A weekend getaway! It was unexpected and so much fun! We ate out, went to an awesome art exibet and musical presentation, a pine wood derby race, and the Denver temple. I love visiting my sisters I find that when I visit I get to see what awesome mothers they are. Hillary has great kids and she is a fantastic mom. I always leave wanting to copy something. March was a wonderful month!

Lessons learned in March:

1)Every unexpected win-fall goes to the goal! This month Benjamin got a small bonus, it is always fun to get more money, right! Sticking to our goal it did not even cross our mind to spend it on anything but our debt. Don't give in! Remember show your control so he can show you HIS control over everything.

2) Expect good things to happen! I was convinced the motorcycle cop was a "little devil leprechaun." I didn't think it would all work out. In fact I got very worked up about it, wailing and gnashing my teeth. It actually was quit pathetic how upset I got. "I don't have money for a ticket! This is not right! (Even though speeding is not right!) "Going radical never works out!  I cried and yelled about it. So to hear the news that I didn't have to pay, to hear the news that I had a surprise trip planned, wow good things can happen!!!

Going Radical! Second Month!

The second month proved to be harder. Unexpected expenses popped up which made sticking to the budget extremely difficult. I seriously debated whether I was going to purchase my Costco card again. I know the prices are cheaper there but that initial membership fee always gets me. During Christmas time, I  used the bonus check they give you when you spend a certain amount, so membership fee was due, ugg $100 grocery money gone. It was a hard toss up whether to renew or not.  I could buy yeast packets for $1.50 at Fry's or an entire package of yeast at Costco which contains well over 40 helpings of yeast for $4.99. The same applies to  other baking products, and cleaning products. We faced another unexpected challenge with a $90 registration fine for missing registration for one of our vehicles, we had it but there was a mix-up with the county and it fell on our responsibility. My vacuum needed to be replaced. Benjamin had repaired that thing at least ten times, he brought it back to life on multiple occasions, she gave all she could but this momma needed something reliable for preschool. The carpet must be clean. So money had to go to buying a new one. I remember talking to my sister Lindsey saying I don't have money for this! She said, "Lesley do you really not have money for this? 10 years ago we both did not have two nickels to rub together is it like that or do you just not want to spend the money?"  It was the latter, I didn't want to buy it not because I didn't have the money but because every dollar spent on something besides my debt brings me down. I only bought a cheap $50 vacuum that hopefully will last the year, fingers crossed arms folded. When every penny is labeled it is much harder when unexpected things come up and when you have very little wiggle room every penny is appreciated. Luckily nothing required us to dip into the emergency fund or use a credit card.

 Lesson learned during February:

1) When you spend too much in one pay cycle it does not mean the next pay cycle needs to be over. Don't get into "its another drop in the bucket" mentality! We blew the budget mine as well buy the new couch, no my friend, my duct tape couch will not be replaced until the student loan is paid off!

2) I said previously how important it is for husband and wife to be on the same page, for the children to know your financial goals. Well I am extending the information to friends and extended family. The more people that know the better you will be able to stick to your goal. they will look out for you on good deals and not tempt you with enticing activities. When I ran my first (and last) marathon I told everyone that I knew that I was going to run it, it kept me accountable because I didn't want to be a drop quitter.

3) This month I really felt the Lord magnify our efforts in trying to keep in a budget, the gas for the cars seemed to last a little bit longer. The more you notice His hand in your life the more you will see how He is there guiding you.

Another month down, we can do this, I am praying for a miracle in April, please join me!

Going Radical! First Month!

2014 is the year of the Radical! We are big Dave Ramsey fans, he is a financial adviser that specializes in helping motivate people to get out of debt. He has a 7 step path to financial freedom. The first step is establish an emergency fund of $1,000 dollars. Step two is snowball your debt. Start with the lowest debt no matter the interest rate pay if off then take the amount you were paying to that debt and apply it to the next debt "snowball" that amount until that sucker picks up steam and rolls all the way down hill to knock out you last debt. Going radical means that you are willing to sacrifice wants and sometimes needs (amazing how needs have a way of diminishing) to fulfill your greatest desire to get out of debt!

We have no credit card debt, no car loans, no Christmas or vacation debt. We do have land debt ( when we sold our land in Benson we had to sell it at a loss, we took out a loan from our 401K to pay the difference, ouch!) We have a student loan (Benjamin had been working full time in college but that last year he needed to not be distracted with juggling both full time jobs so we took a loan to pay for our living expenses while he finished up). Lastly the true beast our home equity loan ( this is what we used to pay the permit fees for said land, put in a well, dig trenches for said well, trenches for electrical lines, inspection fees, clearing of land for home site, architect fees, county fees, paying off a car etc) this little loan is the monkey nay the gorilla on our back.

Before 2014 I had been preparing the kids for a change in life style. Not that we have been extravagant in the past, but we did occasionally eat out, we always had big birthday parties and went on family trips a couple of times a year. This would all change.

Going radical means cash flowing everything. Every dollar has a name. I have three envelopes 1) grocery money 2) gas money 3) money left over after paying bills that is not going to be applied to the debt. Once these envelopes are empty, spending ceases till next paycheck.  In the past I have done this but I have often cheated dipping into my checking account with my debit card. This will not happen in the year of the radical!

Well we have finished our first month and I have learned some valuable lessons, not in a particular order:

1) A couple must be united in this approach, when one is weak the other must be strong! When all you want to do is order pizza but the cash allotted for that is gone, one must say not in the budget lets make pancakes instead.

2) Its a family affair but kids lack the perspective that adults have gained over the years. This can be very challenging when they want something but it is not in the budget. Guilt can be very hard, one must constantly visualize the feeling of being debt free. And pray for strength!

3) Pay your tithing! Dave Ramsey is an Evangelical Christian he also believes in paying 10 percent of ones income. Before he learned sound budgeting he had learned the hard way how to control his budget. He and his wife had to file for bankruptcy even during that time he paid his tithing. Because tithing isn't about the money. God is God he does not need money. Heavenly Father wants to develop in us a willing/grateful heart (among other things) and paying tithing does this. When you allow yourself to be a giver He can than "open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on you."

4) Windows are WIDE open! In order to cash flow my daughters braces I needed a certain amount of preschool tuition to be paid in full (they get a discount by doing so) and it was! We were even able to pay off our land loan in January, five months early!

5) When you show self control, Heavenly Father shows you His control of the entire universe. He truly will bless your righteous desires. In the past  we would have celebrated this big event with a specific cake from Costco, a chocolate bundt cake (http://www.howelesismore.blogspot.com/2009/01/never-say-never.html).  I told the kids we paid off the land on Wednesday January 29 and they instantly said lets go buy a cake. But sticking to our envelops plan I knew the money still in the envelops was designated for something else. They were of course really let down but  I was determined, but sad see #2. Benjamin goes to church with Dieter for a special youth night for the young men. At the end of the evening he comes home and says you are never going to believe what I got at church tonight he then shows me the exact bundt cake from Costco! Dieter said this is a true radical cake, free! Benjamin said the stake young men's president said we had an extra cake and thought your family would like it. Are your kidding me!!! Benjamin said to add to this tender mercy was the fact that the youth activity's theme was Heavenly Father knows each of us individually! Heavenly father knew we had a righteous goal of getting out of debt, he knew what we normally would have celebrated with and he new who had an extra one.  See lesson #4!

Boom baby onto month number 2!

Benjamin turns 37!

Benjamin turned 37! All this man wanted for his birthday was pizza, homemade sugar cookies, and to watch the Cats play. Well, he got a lot more! The girls made him this awesome photo collage of the family, Parkin took a sharpie to a plastic baseball bat and decorated it for him, and Holman carved a key out of soap with his pocket knife. I bought him conversation hearts 3 bags I might add, we went to see the Saratov Approach with friends and we went out afterwards to one of his favorite restaurants, Claim Jumper. Our friends gave him a DQ card, what a lucky guy he is! I was super sad that the Cats lost, they really could have brought home the the perfect birthday for my hubs, he took the loss pretty well though :)

One of Benjamin's best qualities is his excitement for things, he loves his birthday, any celebration really. He does the countdown and gets everybody fired up. It is really endearing :) He knows how to play. I couldn't find him on Friday night I went to the front yard and there he was playing a game of soccer with our kids and some of the neighborhood kids. He is the fun Dad. At the park he helps organize the games that every kid wants to be in on. He is a good provider, he often gets awards for going above and beyond and being a team leader who is recognized for getting along with people who can be difficult. He actively tries his best at being Bishop, I am not gonna lie it can be challenging (at least for me and the kids) but he wouldn't change a thing in being able to see the power of the atonement in peoples lives. And dang he is good-looking, yep I think I will keep him around for another 37!

Ear piercing time!

My baby girl is old enough to put holes in her head, specifically her ears! Olivia turned 11 so by our family tradition that means she can get her ears pierced. We made a day of it, we woke up early went out to breakfast with Bella and Nana. It was a great ladies breakfast complete with hot coco and little goodies. We made our way over to the mall to Claire's Boutique. Olivia chose the largest looking diamonds for her studs. Sounds like Olivia, right. She was apprehensive and even chose to hold the "Claire bear" don't worry she feels no shame. Of course after the first shot the next one was no big deal, way easier than a shot.

Olivia has started Junior High this year. She is a beautiful, talented and a very smart young woman. She is tall and I often forget that she is not older. She is kind, often reaching out to kids who have disabilities. She forgives freely. When someone is unkind to her she says its ok and gives them the benefit of the doubt.she has as close to a photographic memory that I have ever seen, she can read something once and can recall dates and info, thus lending herself to being an excellent student. To add to her maturity this year she got braces this week, now she is an official pre-teen :)

we love you Liv, sou make us laugh with your quick wit! She often has strangers laughing when they catch an unexpected political reference or pop culture comment. Liv you are our family's spice we are forever grateful for your amazing flavor! Love you for forever and a day!