Perfect Princess

 I made this dress for Nathalie's birthday...but it didn't get done by her birthday. At least it got done!

In which I suck

Matt just barely got me a used iTouch. He bought it for me as a Mother's Day gift and I've had it literally less than two weeks. He bought it for me because he noticed I wouldn't bring my scriptures to church since I simply can't carry Charlotte, my diaper bag, the Sunday bag AND my scriptures.

So, thoughtfully, he found one more me and surprised me with it.

Today Emily was playing on it as we were getting in the van. She wasn't listening, so I made her give me the iTouch. I put it on top of the van. I then buckled Charlotte and helped Nathalie. I hopped in the van and drove off.

Surprisingly the iTouch stayed on top of the van for almost 5 miles. Then it flew off. And when I realized what had happened I turned around to look for it, hoping and praying that it would make it. I found it 30 minutes later.

Crushed. Demolished.

I feel so terrible.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. We used to have an iTouch last year. Matt accidentally put a crack in it and then Emily washed it. A few months later we bought a netbook because our laptop is slowly dying (and we dedicated the netbook to Matt's homework). The morning after we got the netbook, I dropped it on the ground and it broke. (Don't worry-- we bought the warranty too and got a new netbook). I ordered an iPod last year after our original iTouch got washed and sent it to our old address where I believe our former neighbors stole it and lied to me about it. So I lost that one too. I sent Matt's phone through the wash last week and even though we tried several other free phones, none of them worked and we ended up buying him a new one. Luckily we have $15 phones.

I feel so terrible.

I feel like it's a bit unfair too. How is it that Matt and I, who work so hard to use our money wisely, are stupid enough to ruin our very few electronic posessions? Why doesn't it even out for the people who buy theirs on their credit card? We have basic phones, no texting, no tablets, no TV, no sweet computers, no awesome cameras-- and yet we can't even keep a 2nd generation 8gb iTouch!!! I pretty much just hate myself right now and want to rip out my brain so I can insert a more competent model.

And I feel so terrible. He's going to be sad when he finds out and that's the worst emotion for me to see. How do I make it up to him? I was thinking about selling some of my things and paying him back. I don't want another one-- it'll probably end up ruined like all the others. I have successfully proven that I cannot take of portable electronics.

I really suck today.

Could you pay off $100k of loans in under a year?

A friend of mine shared this article on Facebook. For those of you who don't want to read it, here's the summary: A Harvard MBA student graduated, got a job making between $95k and $100k a year. For awhile he went on a excessive living spree until one day he looked at his student loan paperwork and realized that despite paying his monthly bill, he still owed over $95k in debt...and would pay back an EXTRA $42,000 if he only paid the minimum payments.

So overnight he changed his game. He lived frugally, put all he had into debt repayment and found ways to make extra income. He kept a daily blog here and his goal was to pay off that debt in 10 months.

He paid it off in seven months.

Isn't that incredible? Paying off that much debt in 7 months?!! Holy cow!

My favorite quote from the article is this, ' "His conclusion is obvious, yet filled with truth. "A lot of people in this country -- regardless of socioeconomic status -- have an unhealthy obsession with things and experiences and statuses. We shop brands; we drop names. We try to keep up with the Joneses. We comfortably tolerate an unhealthy level of debt." '

Matt and I admire him as we are trying to pay off our debt quickly and live within our means and we're amazed at the amount of debt he paid off. And, like him, we're finding a lot more joy in simplicity than we ever found in having everything everyone has.

While my back was turned....

The hooligans!

This is the upstairs

 I'm super creative with my blog posts, I know. Anyway, I thought I'd show you some glimpses of our upstairs. This is our toy room. It usually looks like this. Although we refinished the wood floors upstairs, they were too warped to work. We put carpet in upstairs in January and it is wonderful! Soft, quiet, warm. It's great and the upstairs looks SO much better.

 This is our bedroom. On the opposite wall of our bed (I'm standing with the door shut behind me) is our dresser and a pack n play where Charlotte sometimes sleeps. I would like to paint this room slate blue. It'll be pretty and also darker for when Matt sleeps.

 This is one half of the girls' room. Matt and I are currently disagreeing a bit about the color to paint it-- I would like a purple, but he doesn't want anything that is too gender specific. So who knows!

 The other half of the girls' room. We will be painting all the trim dark brown.

 I'll put up a whole picture of the bathroom but I wanted to show the work we have for us in the bathroom. The bathroom is a bit of an eyesore. Doink Smith (who lived here before us) had no carpentry skills. It seems as though he took scrap pieces of moulding, nailed them to the ceiling and called it good. Matching corners? What's that? Flush with the ceiling? Who cares?

 So we'll be replacing all the moulding. The bathroom has a nice big closet which has a beat up wood floor. I think we'll be taking our extra carpet to carpet the closet. Adding some nice shelves and baskets, plus some robe hooks. The tiling is circa 1950s, little 1-in hexagonal tiles. We will be leaving those (I've ripped up tiny tile before and absolutely refuse to do it again), but we'll be regrouting.

The vanity is horrendous. Here's a picture of the "marbled" sink. The vanity itself is white and the design on the doors might be nice if the visible wood underneath wasn't particle board. Sooooooo that's gotta go. We're going to put in a slightly smaller black vanity with some open space, to help open up the bathroom a little. The bathroom is the bland pale yellow that our entire house was. We will be painting it light blue, so the white tiles and black vanity should be okay.

Will post a picture of the rest of the bathroom in a few days.

When it's hot...

Am I the only one?

Whose children color with marker on their sheets and comforters?

...spill a drink at every single meal?

...always pick the fastest rabbit to hold, which inevitably jumps out of their arms?

...turn on the hose every time I turn around?

...favorite phrase is "I can't!" and accompanied by whining?

...wake up every night just as I'm drifting off to sleep?

...steal popsicles when I'm not looking?

...take out the toy with the smallest pieces and throw it around the toy room?

...drop silverware into the milk jugs?

...draw with marker on the kitchen table?

...stain their clothing beyond repair after only one wear?

...break DVDs because they play with them?

...don't listen, no matter how many times I ask?

...break someone's toy within the first 5 minutes of being at the house?

...run like a wild fool as soon as we're out in public?

...sing loudly during the sacrament?

...cries about going to nursery?

...who embody the word "drama"?

...who won't let me brush their hair?

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one!