We did it!
(Pause while Joey does the victory dance.....)
We are finally completely debt free except for our mortgage. The last thing that's been hanging over our head was Jeremy's student loan, and we paid that off just this morning.
See... we got a good chunk of money back from Uncle Sam this year (and yes, I've already done our taxes AND gotten the refund! I'm a geek), and we decided to use that money to pay it off. The remainder of the student loan wasn't a ton of money - $4200 - and we could have paid it off a year ago, but we didn't want to dip into our savings, just in case. And since the loan was in deferment anyway since Jeremy is in school, we just let it sit there. Until today.
So, this morning I checked our bank accounts like I normally do, and lo and behold there was the tax refund. Jeremy told me he wanted to be the one to push the SEND button to pay it off, since it was HIS loan to begin with. So.... he did. And then we hi-fived and kissed and toasted with our coffee cups. And then he left for school (kinda anti-climactic there at the end, but what can we do).
Now we're gonna go out and celebrate and buy a big 'ole flat screen TV!!!! (Just kidding.)
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Please don't judge me by my dreams....
I had a very strange dream the other night. In it, I knew John McCain, and I observed him being both a womanizer AND a pedophile!!!!
How odd is that? I don't know what planet my brain goes to when I fall asleep at night.....
How odd is that? I don't know what planet my brain goes to when I fall asleep at night.....
Monday, February 18, 2008
About that freezer.....
With the largest beef recall in U.S. history in the news today, it seems like an appropriate time to discuss my reasons for getting a chest freezer.
I'm not sure how to make it a neat and tidy little paragraph, because it has been a several-year journey to get to the point of taking action on my convictions (therefore, it will be neither neat nor tidy). But I can probably trace it back to Colorado, where I moved there specifically to adopt a healthier lifestyle and to experience the mountains. I very quickly fell in love and got married to a man who is extremely health conscious - bonus! He also happened to have grown up on a farm, where they raised cattle, chickens, pigs, and rabbits, and grew every vegetable imaginable. He hunted truly for food and not for pleasure (what a concept!), and his stories have captured me.
Fast forward a couple of years.... we're now living in Boulder, and the talk of the town is organic this and home-grown that. I started to listen and become interested, but did not really change one thing about my lifestyle, because some of those Boulderites were just plain weird. I was struck by the thought that I really don't know where the food that I buy comes from, or how it is grown.
Fast forward a couple more years... now we live in Apex, North Carolina. We are homeowners and we decide to make a portion of our backyard a vegetable garden. I am a complete newbie and don't know what I'm doing, but that first year we somehow had a successful crop of tomatoes and zucchini. Each year we've added more vegetables and tried different things. The garden is still very much a work in progress, but it's fun to get my hands dirty, and I swear home-grown veggies taste WAY better than store-bought veggies! And the really cool thing to me is that I now know exactly how these vegetables are grown. Prior to our little garden I could not for the life of me have told you how broccoli, cantaloupe, zucchini, squash, peppers, etc. were grown. I really, really like understanding the process.
I've since supplemented my home-grown vegetables with many trips to the local farmer's markets. There is something about not only supporting the little guy, but buying fresh and local organic foods that is very appealing. The idea of an additional freezer was borne a few years ago out of a conversation discussing how nice it would be to either grow or buy enough vegetables to freeze and store so that I don't have to buy canned goods from the grocery store in the winter. The idea of storing meats in the freezer was also borne several years ago, from a discussion of "how cool would it be to actually buy a cow and store the meat?" (My sister Julie's in-laws raise cattle on a ranch in Oklahoma and generously give Julie and Daron a lot of meat. Their freezer is always stocked - again, very cool to me.)
I couldn't help but also be influenced by Supersize Me, the documentary about the guy who ate McDonald's every day for a month and became overweight and sluggish in no time. It was revealed that the hamburger we buy from McDonald's could come from dozens or even hundreds of cows. And these cows may or may not be fed a healthy diet, and may be abused, etc. (see article at the beginning of this post!). So I'm eating little bits of cow from a whole lot of cows... that just seems gross. Wouldn't it be healthier if you know the meat you ate was from ONE cow that ate a healthy diet? The same goes with chicken, pork, etc. Here's an article on the benefits of grass-fed beef, in case you're interested.
So... in 2008, I have decided to finally get off my butt and take some action on the freezer thing. Now that I have one, I've been researching where I can buy beef, pork, and chicken from local farms.
In some ways, it's also a spiritual thing. I feel very strongly about taking care of my body, and this is one of many ways that I can do that. If I KNOW there's a healthier way to eat, shouldn't I do that? (I have a long way to go, I realize, as not everything I put in my body is healthy, but let me start slow, okay??)
So, there's my attempt at explaining the freezer. It's all cleaned out and ready to go... it's just waiting for some meat and vegetables!
I'm not sure how to make it a neat and tidy little paragraph, because it has been a several-year journey to get to the point of taking action on my convictions (therefore, it will be neither neat nor tidy). But I can probably trace it back to Colorado, where I moved there specifically to adopt a healthier lifestyle and to experience the mountains. I very quickly fell in love and got married to a man who is extremely health conscious - bonus! He also happened to have grown up on a farm, where they raised cattle, chickens, pigs, and rabbits, and grew every vegetable imaginable. He hunted truly for food and not for pleasure (what a concept!), and his stories have captured me.
Fast forward a couple of years.... we're now living in Boulder, and the talk of the town is organic this and home-grown that. I started to listen and become interested, but did not really change one thing about my lifestyle, because some of those Boulderites were just plain weird. I was struck by the thought that I really don't know where the food that I buy comes from, or how it is grown.
Fast forward a couple more years... now we live in Apex, North Carolina. We are homeowners and we decide to make a portion of our backyard a vegetable garden. I am a complete newbie and don't know what I'm doing, but that first year we somehow had a successful crop of tomatoes and zucchini. Each year we've added more vegetables and tried different things. The garden is still very much a work in progress, but it's fun to get my hands dirty, and I swear home-grown veggies taste WAY better than store-bought veggies! And the really cool thing to me is that I now know exactly how these vegetables are grown. Prior to our little garden I could not for the life of me have told you how broccoli, cantaloupe, zucchini, squash, peppers, etc. were grown. I really, really like understanding the process.
I've since supplemented my home-grown vegetables with many trips to the local farmer's markets. There is something about not only supporting the little guy, but buying fresh and local organic foods that is very appealing. The idea of an additional freezer was borne a few years ago out of a conversation discussing how nice it would be to either grow or buy enough vegetables to freeze and store so that I don't have to buy canned goods from the grocery store in the winter. The idea of storing meats in the freezer was also borne several years ago, from a discussion of "how cool would it be to actually buy a cow and store the meat?" (My sister Julie's in-laws raise cattle on a ranch in Oklahoma and generously give Julie and Daron a lot of meat. Their freezer is always stocked - again, very cool to me.)
I couldn't help but also be influenced by Supersize Me, the documentary about the guy who ate McDonald's every day for a month and became overweight and sluggish in no time. It was revealed that the hamburger we buy from McDonald's could come from dozens or even hundreds of cows. And these cows may or may not be fed a healthy diet, and may be abused, etc. (see article at the beginning of this post!). So I'm eating little bits of cow from a whole lot of cows... that just seems gross. Wouldn't it be healthier if you know the meat you ate was from ONE cow that ate a healthy diet? The same goes with chicken, pork, etc. Here's an article on the benefits of grass-fed beef, in case you're interested.
So... in 2008, I have decided to finally get off my butt and take some action on the freezer thing. Now that I have one, I've been researching where I can buy beef, pork, and chicken from local farms.
In some ways, it's also a spiritual thing. I feel very strongly about taking care of my body, and this is one of many ways that I can do that. If I KNOW there's a healthier way to eat, shouldn't I do that? (I have a long way to go, I realize, as not everything I put in my body is healthy, but let me start slow, okay??)
So, there's my attempt at explaining the freezer. It's all cleaned out and ready to go... it's just waiting for some meat and vegetables!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Post-Valentine's Day thought...
Can I just say that I'm really, really glad this wasn't my Valentine? I'm sure he's a lovely man and all...... and Jesus loves him mightily...... but still, I'm grateful for the sweetheart I have, the precious, no-back-hair bundle of love that he is.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day
I woke up this morning to this......
I love my Valentine!
I snuck some chocolate Hershey's kisses and a note into his lunchbox today and wrote "chocolate kisses for now... and real ones later!"
Monday, February 11, 2008
My recent purchase
I bought a 9 cu. ft. chest freezer! Gotta love Craigslist. What will this bad boy be used for? Hopefully for storing lots of either home-grown or locally-grown vegetables from this coming summer, perhaps some organic grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, pork, etc. My husband says there will be Popsicles too. It fit nicely in our garage. I can see us using this quite a bit, and it's something we've wanted for a couple of years now. The story behind the freezer will be explained in a future post, but for now... I'm just celebrating that we finally bought one. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Congratulations, honey!
My husband is a wonderfully simple man.... and I mean that to be an extreme compliment!
He has recently had a dream come true. He has been pining for this for years, literally. What is "this"? A new steel frame mountain bike, called Gunnar.
In a world where people pay anywhere from $2,000 - $5,000 for a nice mountain bike, my precious husband is just beside himself over his purchase.... and he spent $275!
Apparently this is a smokin' bike if you like steel frames (as opposed to aluminum or carbon fiber). Steel is far less trendy these day, but that is exactly my man... different from the rest, a purist, and a little bit old school. I love him.
So, in honor of his exciting purchase, I give you..... The Gunnar Rockhound!
He has recently had a dream come true. He has been pining for this for years, literally. What is "this"? A new steel frame mountain bike, called Gunnar.
In a world where people pay anywhere from $2,000 - $5,000 for a nice mountain bike, my precious husband is just beside himself over his purchase.... and he spent $275!
Apparently this is a smokin' bike if you like steel frames (as opposed to aluminum or carbon fiber). Steel is far less trendy these day, but that is exactly my man... different from the rest, a purist, and a little bit old school. I love him.
So, in honor of his exciting purchase, I give you..... The Gunnar Rockhound!
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