The Ferguson Family

Week 44

2011-11-12T07:02:00.001-08:00

We're getting ready for an eight day vacation in Orange County over Thanksgiving week, and to get ready for that, this is about all I've been doing!

I'm also running a 10K on Thanksgiving Day in Dana Point, so I'm trying to squeeze in a run a few times a week in between shuttling kids to cheer, games, acting class, gymnastics, and of course, school!

Week 43

2011-11-12T06:54:00.000-08:00

cutest nephew in the world!!!

I don't have Halloween pictures of my kids yet! It's been so wild around here that I can't manage dealing with photo uploading, but I am going to share some fun photos others have taken and shared with me lately!

Week 42

2011-10-24T19:59:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, you just need to curl up on Sunday with your homemade blanket and favorite team jersey and watch a couple games!

Week 41 - News & Updates

2011-10-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's a long overdue update on the family, the project, and my new year's goals...

Alli & Brennah both made the cheer team at Rivera, so they're busy with practices 6 times a week and upcoming games
Corbin finished up his little water polo season - loved it and can't wait for next summer

The project - so over it. It's been 10 months. We've paid off a lot of debt, but not as much as we would have liked. It seemed like every time we set aside a few thousand bucks, something (the dentist, old tires, busted washing machine) would come up and eat up a bunch of it. We're still on track and working away at it, but I'm no longer willing or mentally able to pinch pennies. I work too hard running my business to be frugal, and I truthfully just don't have time to cut coupons!

My Goals for 2011 - they started out as 11 goals, and 2 were done, so here's an update on the 9!

Read one book a week: I'm right at half of what I need for the year, 26. I've got a lot to do to try and make my goal of 52, but even if I don't make it, reading 30 or so books in a year is nothing to sneer at. I'm sure it's the most I've ever done!
Read the whole bible in a year: I'm in 2 Chronicles, plugging away very slowly through the New Testament, and feeling good about getting this one done and crossed off the list!
Be 90% vegetarian: I've been doing a lot of low-carb lately, so I've increased my chicken intake probably, but low-carb seems to work at dropping weight more quickly and cleanly, so I'm doing well on cutting out cow and pig, but leaving the chickens alone for now.
Be debt-free: We're definitely getting closer, and the end is in sight. It won't happen completely in 2011, but the financial stability and peace we've created this year is so worth the pain.
Lose those darn 15 pounds....guess what? 3 to go!
Be a better friend: I'm definitely trying to get one on one time, and to stay caught up with friends via e-mail and facebook.
Morning person: I'm actually, truly getting better at this. The way I eat and exercise has such a huge impact on this. When I'm cutting out junk and carbs and working out, I sleep better and wake up better!
Family nights/time: Our schedule is so nuts right now, that we haven't been as good about this as we were in the summer, but this is a good reminder to get back on it!

2011, 11 weeks to go!

Week 40 - Oh Lordy!

2011-10-24T19:42:00.001-07:00

We are almost done with this nutty year - I can't believe it! Here's some more updates on the excitement of October.
We've been planning for years to give our kids a trip anywhere they wanted to go for their 13th birthday. Alli chose Disneyland, so Alli, Brennah, my mom and I all just spent 4 fabulous days down in Anaheim with Mickey Mouse - so fun!

Alli @ tumbling & gymnastics class...

Week 41's post will be full of updates and news...stay tuned!

Week 39

2011-10-24T19:31:00.001-07:00

Hellllloooooo!!!!! I'm a little behind, but I'm going to catch y'all up tonight! Back in late August, we had a back to school photo session with my friend, Donavan, who is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I've been a big fan for a while, so I was so excited when she put together these adorable back to school sessions. We never, ever order the pictures taken at school, and usually try to get some ourselves, so I'm thrilled to share our 2011 School Pictures! Check out more of Donavan's work here
Corbin Daniel Walker Ferguson - 4th Grade, 2011-2012
Chenoweth Elementary School - Merced

Allissa BriannaLynn Ferguson - 8th Grade, 2011-2012
Rivera Middle School - Merced

Brennah Elizabeth-Claire Ferguson - 6th Grade, 2011-2012
Rivera Middle School - Merced

Macy Reagan Lee Ferguson - 2nd Grade 2011, 2012
Chenoweth Elementary School

And this is just one of my favorite photos of all time...

Thanks Donavan - we love them!

Week 38 - Ain't Life Great?

2011-09-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

I got an early birthday present this week and got to go to my first NFL game. It was a Raider's game, which is a whole blog post in itself, but the fun part was that they were playing my New York Jets! So I got to watch Mark, Ladanian, Santonio, Antonio, Plaxico, Dustin, D'Brickashaw, and all my other guys play in real life! I listed those names just because most of them are too darn hilarious. My favorite is D'Brickashaw Ferguson - do you think we might be related?

Week 37 - time's a flying!

2011-09-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Life if getting so busy right now that I'm struggling to work on my goals for 2011. I haven't picked up a book in what feels like ages, I'm only in 2 Kings in my bible reading, still struggling with those 10 pounds, and going through each day in a blur.
I did take a moment out of my crazy life to get this:Kelli's got a tattoo, baby! I designed and drew this all by myself and just had them trace the design for my tattoo so it would be completely mine. The four dots on the top right are for my four kids, the small heart inside the heart is for my hubby, and the verse along the edge is the verse that has been near and dear to me my whole life, and gains meaning as the years go by:

"Trust in the Lord with all your hear, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your paths". Proverbs 3:5-6

I promise I'll do a better update one of these days!

Week 36 - New York Day

2011-09-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Today is New York Day. I wish I could have known New York City before September 11, 2001. I met the city for the first time almost two years ago, and it was love at first sight. There is no more amazing place in the world, I'm convinced. It's busy, and fast-moving, and historic, and breathtaking, and I seriously love New York. So today is New York day for a couple of reasons that I'll share with y'all.

Everyone knows exactly where they were and what they were doing on that Tuesday morning in September, so I won't bore anyone with the details of my day. I just want to share that I had found out just days before that I was pregnant with Corbin, and that when Corbin was born, we gave him the middle name Walker for an important reason and as an important tribute to someone who meant a lot to our country and our family that year. I still thank God on a regular basis for putting our president in that job at that time in history, and I think of this verse when I think of George W. Bush:
Esther 4:14 "...And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Today is also New York day because it is the kickoff of the 2011 football season for the New York Jets, and I just happen to be a Jets fan. Here's the deal with me & football: I LOVE FOOTBALL! This has not always been the case. Football used to be a source of contention in my marriage because I wanted to get things done on Sunday afternoon and my husband wanted to watch football. I didn't hate the sport, but I sure didn't get what the stinking big deal was. But, like a good wife, I cheered for the teams he cheered for, and decided to try and pay attention to a football game to see what was so great about it. Oh. my. goodness. Football is the most exciting sport to watch, but only if you have a stake in the game, meaning you're rooting for one team or the other. Otherwise, still totally boring.

So a couple years ago, I would cheer really hard for one team or quarterback, and then they'd lose a few times and I'd move on to the next team or quarterback. Eventually, my husband got sick of me and told me to pick a team and stick with them. So, I thought about it for a while and came to a fabulous conclusion - the New York Jets! I had just been to New York for the first time and was head over heels for the place, and then I learned that the Jets' quarterback was not just a California boy, he was from Mission Viejo, where I dream everyday of living. He went to Mission Viejo high and USC, so I consider him a future hometown boy of mine. Then I checked him out, and WOW - he is so stinkin' adorable! So Mark Sanchez is totally my boyfriend, and the Jets are totally my team. I'm so excited to watch them play this season, that my hubby got me a t-shirt, and I made myself a Jets blanket, and we got NFL Sunday Ticket for DirecTV. PLUS, I'm going to watch them play the Raiders in Oakland in 2 weeks. When Brian said to pick a team, I took him VERY seriously. So today is New York day, and I will not be taking calls or texts from 5 - 8 pm tonight!!!

Week 35 and We're Alive!

2011-09-11T14:47:00.001-07:00

I'm sharing this photo of Macy with her Great-Papa Gill back in April. She was visiting him in the convalescent hospital after all her teeth got pulled to show him that she was toothless like him. This Labor Day, Papa went on to heaven after a long decline in his health. He was surrounded by his three daughters, wife of 65 years, and Macy when he passed away.

My kids were really amazing through this. We've lost my grandparents, but were not around on a daily basis at the end of their lives to see the whole process. This time, my kids were visiting him in the hospital, and when he was brought home and hospice was called in, my kids were there nearly every day to sit at his bedside, never afraid even though it's kind of a scary thing for kids. Alli & Brennah sang hymns to him two nights before he passed, and the next day Macy held his hand and sang Jesus Loves Me to him. She was in the house the morning he passed away, and all of my kids where there when they funeral home came to take him away. They handled it amazingly well and I'm so proud of them. What a blessing to raise your kids knowing about heaven and having faith that dying is not a horrible scary goodbye when you've dedicated your life to God and know you will be with your faithful loved ones for eternity someday.

RIP Papa!

Week 34...ugh, how many more?

2011-09-11T14:41:00.001-07:00

Totally behind on the blog. But I'm going to make up for it! Week 34 actually ended August 28th, but I'm determined to have a post for each week of this year, so let me rack my tired brain to remember back that far!

Still getting settled into the routine of school around here, and after a break from most extra-curricular activities, we decided to ease up on the Project enough for the kids to get involved in the things they're wanting to do. We're all for the kids trying any sport, performing arts, club, or activity and encouraging them in the ones the love and have a little knack for. So, here's what we've got on our plates for Fall 2011:

Alli - cheer & tumbling, acting in Junior Company @ Playhouse Merced, and school choir
Brennah - acting in "Act Like Kids" Playhouse Merced
Corbin - school student council, saxophone in school band, water polo, and "Act Like Kids" @ Playhouse
Macy - gymnastics

It's crazy, but fun, and I hope someday one of them gets a scholarship for one of these things so it will feel even more worthwhile!

K

Week 33

2011-08-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, it's so darn hot! I'm too sad about the triple digit days, so just a quick update for the week. We had Macy's birthday party on Saturday, only 5 weeks after her actual birthday! Finished the first week of school (photos to come) and are back in the swing of things!

Week 32 and Back to School!

2011-08-14T18:56:00.001-07:00

School starts tomorrow - praise the Lord! So, so ready for a routine for these kiddos (and me) and looking forward to getting all these people out of my house during the day - they were cramping my style!

Project's going good, and will definitely be getting better now that summer vacation is over. We spent SO much more money than I had planned this summer, between new tires, a washing machine, summer camp, birthdays, and back-to-school shopping. Now I've got to get the kids signed up for their activities - can't put it off any longer. We've got gymnastics, water polo, acting, chorus, and more on the agenda for this year. Yikes! I guess I never paid attention to how much I'd spent in the past, but now I know how to budget for next year.

In an effort to be better about 2 of my resolutions (1-getting out of debt and 2-learning to love cooking), I even planned out my menu for the week. Granted, it's super easy stuff, but should save time and piles of money. I'll let you know how that goes!

Brian and I joined a "Biggest Loser" challenge with some family members. We have to lose 10% of our body weight by December 3rd or pay $100! I'm so doing this thing. Already 6 pounds down, and 2 weeks into a Couch to 10K training schedule, so more progress on my weight loss goal. I actually gained 10 POUNDS THIS SUMMER! So pathetic, and now I need to lose 25 pounds total (19 now!)

Best wishes for a great back to school season!

Week 31 was fun!

2011-08-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

31 weeks into this year - can you believe it? I'm a little behind on my blogging, so all I'll say about week 31 was that I became a mother to a teenager this week!

Time sure flies...and what an adventure this girl has been to raise - whew!

Week 30 was DIRTY!

2011-08-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

Hee hee! Did I get your attention with the title of my post? It's not even a lie, either. Week 30 was dirty because week 30 was Merced Bible Camp! My husband and children spent a whole week with dirt, bugs, cabins, and Christians up in Oakhurst while I hung out down here and took care of business. Somehow, I have given birth to four little people who absolutely adore nature-y stuff like that. I can assure you this trait was not inherited from their mama...

Easy project week what with the whole family being gone and fed up at camp. I ate cereal for dinner, worked a lot, and spent time with our new preacher and his family, who stayed at our house for most of the week while they waited to move into their new house. It was fabulous!

Week 29 and life is fine...

2011-07-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

29 weeks have come and gone in 2011. I've been a little discouraged that we're not paying things off as fast as I'd hoped. Part of this is because I just haven't been able to pull the trigger on living really, R-E-A-L-L-Y tight. I work so hard at my job and come home to this teeny tiny house, and sometimes I feel tired and a little deserving of dinner at a restaurant or a new pair of flip flops. So sue me! To cheer myself up, I decided to calculate how much debt we have paid off in those 29 weeks and I have a number for you. Are you ready? Drum roll please......

Debt paid off in 2011 to-date: $14,305!!!!

That's a combination of paying off 3 different bills in full, making regular and extra payments on the other debts, and paying down the car (which is almost paid off!)

In addition, we have forked over $4,000 for medical and dental bills, $1,300 for tires, repairs, and maintenance on cars, $250 on a new washing machine, $370 for summer camp, and were able to take a little vacation last week.

This week, our big adventure was throwing our dog, Maddyn, a 2nd birthday party. We invited some dog friends (and their humans) to the dog park, and they even brought gifts! Check out the pics...

the birf-day girl...

Corbin, Molly, Maddyn & Aidan

yes, of course we had goody bags and party favors, fool!

Week 28 = Super Great!

2011-07-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Who loves vacation? ME!!!!!!!

Hooray for Hollywood!

View of downtown Los Angeles from the Griffith Park Observatory - Hollywood Hills

Oceanside-Del Mar Beach

Laguna Beach

Ocean breeze, warm sand, hot starbucks - happy mama!!!

I don't even want to talk about the rest because I'm coming down off a vacation high....catch ya next week!

Week 27 - Almost Heaven

2011-07-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 7 in week 27! Not much to update yet....lots of book-reading and not so much exercising, but what can I say? It's summer time....

Week 26 - HALFWAY THERE!

2011-07-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Totally halfway through this year - oh yeah!!! I'm spending the summer working extra hard and saving up as much money as I can for new tires and debt payoffs. We have a mini-vacation planned next week to head south, visit lots of family, and play on the beach, so I'll share my low-cost vacation tips then (I've got a couple good ones!)...

Update on my goals for 2011:

1. Read at least one book a week, and alternate between fiction and non-fiction (I sense a few "book swaps" coming up this year)

We're in week 26, and I've knocked out about 17 books - I finished 3 this week and an working on the fourth, trying to catch up over the summer - feelin' good about this!

2. Read the entire bible in a year again with my One Year Bible (love this thing!)

I've decided to go for reading the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs instead, so consider this goal modified. I've read through the whole Old Testament before, and it is long and quite often tedious, so that's a no-go for this year. I'm through January & February in my one-year bible and trying to get caught up on that in the summer time too!

3. Be 90% vegetarian by the end of the year (cutting pork first, then beef, then chicken)

Doing good. When I sit and think about what I've eaten over the past few days, I'd say I'm at about 80% vegetarian. I didn't eat any meat at all today!

4. Be debt free!

Plugging away, chugging along...haven't paid anything off in the last couple months, but have put extra towards things and I'm saving up this month so I can pay off the next one in full on July 31st!

5. Lose those 15 pounds I gained last year and then some...

Don't. Want. To. Talk. About. It. I was just telling Brian I have literally lost and gained the same 7-10 pounds every month of this year. I HAVE GOT TO DO THIS THING - so frustrated.

6. Expand DWELLING to include a supply shop and maybe an employee or two!

DONE

7. Be a better friend! Send one card and have one coffee date every week with the super-special friends in my life...

Decent on coffee dates and friend time. No bueno on cards - thinking of transitioning to e-mails!

8. Try to learn to love cooking - any ideas on how this can be accomplished? I'd even settle for learning to not hate cooking!

It's summer. Hubby's off work. I'm not cooking. But I've been THINKING about thinking about wanting to cook!

9. Try to become a morning person and get better sleep!

I've moved my alarm clock across the room and gotten in the habit of getting 8 hours a night. Definitely improving...

10. Reinstate Ferguson Family night on Saturday nights

Doing great - we're having lots of family time since it's summer. We even made one of those summer to-do lists and we're working on crossing things off. I'll have to share a photo of that soon.

11. This one's kinda silly, but here goes: get all that dreaded dental work done for me and Macy, including biting the bullet and having those wisdom teeth out! Yes, I'm 34 with wisdom teeth stuck up inside my head causing me pain...

DONE!!!

Week 25 - I'm Revived!

2011-06-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

Clearly, last week I was a bit down, as you can see from reading last week's post. It just felt like one step forward, two steps back on this darn project! And while our little tiny house is quite charming, I still feel like I'm living in really nice camping facilities. The oven doesn't really work, we currently have no washing machine, and we have no garage, meaning when one wants to ride their bike, said bike & rider have to come through the living room! I was just feeling a little down in the dumps.

So, what does one do when feeling that way, when temperatures are 107 degrees and summer has no end in sight? ONE HEADS TO THE BEACH!

My family has a serious case of OCD. In our house, that stands for Orange County Dreams. I've always, always loved visiting down there and dreamed of living there one day. I love the beaches, the weather, the shopping, the sight of endless lanes of freeways going in every direction with cars and people and places to go, and I love going any chance I get. On Thursday, I booked a room in Laguna Hills and Friday morning, I threw Alli & Brennah in the car and we had a getaway!

Serious dreamer - Alli @ DHHS, home of South Orange County School of the Arts, home of the Dana Hills Dolphins, and perched overlooking the Pacific Ocean...

Just had to share a glimpse of the field where my boyfriend made magic happen in high school. Mission Viejo Diablos football field, former home of NY Jets QB Mark Sanchez!!!

dinner on lake M.V. - where else?

We had a fun, low budget, one night escape, and I feel much, much better. I've gotten my motivation back and I'm ready to go, because in a few days, this year will be half way over! We are not going to be out of debt by the end of the year because of the unexpected road bumps that have come our way, but we are going to have made a ton of progress and be just a short while away from being debt free, and I can handle that. Business is still growing and blessing us, and we've proven that we can make good changes and be better stewards with the financial blessings God's given us, and that's enough for me.

Week 24 is no more...

2011-06-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

Almost halfway there (kinda, sorta)...I think I've hit a wall this week. After I spent $300 on the Expedition, we got a call from the Pediatric Dentist that took us to the cleaners back in April, saying we needed to pay another $750 for the dental work they did. HUH? Apparently, they did more and different things once Macy was under the anesthesia and now they're billing us for it. The surgery center where she had the work done sent us a bill for $550 because they estimated our up-front payment wrong. So, when this is all said and done, we'll be out of pocket just about $5,000 for this alone. We also make chunky payments to the orthodontist every single month, and spend $20 every month on prescription meds for Alli. I'm thinking the next medical expense is going to be for my voluntary trip to the looney bin!

Sorry for the venting, but I'm just not feeling it this week. I don't want to do the Project right now. I don't want all three daughters sharing one room, I don't want to share a bathroom with two boys, I don't want to do laundry at my mom's house every other weekend, and I just want to sit here and feel sorry for myself.

I'm sure next week I'll feel better, and I probably shouldn't whine on my blog, but this is reality. I'll get over myself soon and move on, and someday maybe, just maybe, this will be over!!!

Week 23 - Yippee!!

2011-06-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

So, we are officially headed into the dog days of summer. It finally started getting hot this week, and my kids got their first swim in at Gummi's AND already complained about being bored, so it's most definitely summer around here.

In "project" and 2011 goals news:
-ready to catch up on reading - book swap tomorrow!
-getting ready to sign myself up for a 10K race - that should help with those stubborn pounds that keep coming and going!
-on the whole learning to love cooking thing? Get this: my husband is the one learning to love cooking! He has become obsessed with trying healthy new recipes, has purchased all these spices and seasonings, made his own chipotle and some caesar dressing, and is totally wanting to cook all the time. I've got to find a chore of his to take over so I can give him full control of dinner time!

Right now, we're saving up our extra money to cover expenses later this summer. Our Expedition is in the shop getting lots of work done, and when that's complete it needs new tires. Then we'll hopefully replace our washing machine, although I can't complain about having a mom and a mom-in-law that help us with laundry - I'm spoiled!

The premise of getting out of debt on the Project is the 'debt snowball'. You put extra towards your debt, paying off the smallest one first. When that's paid off, you take the amount you were putting toward that one and roll into the payment of the next smallest debt, and so on. As you go, you create a snowball effect of things getting paid off faster and faster, and that's what we're doing. We started out with 8 ugly bills and the car, and now we're down to 4 ugly bills and the car. Bill #5 will be gone soon after the car/tires/washer/summer thing, and then we'll roll that extra money into bill #6.

There's a great website with a simple calculator to help you figure out your snowball. There's actually a lot of them out there, but this one is super easy. You can adjust the amount of extra money to see how long it will take you to get out of debt with different amounts.

Check it out! Here's a LINK!

Hope everyone is having a fab summer - stay tuned!

Dwelling Update

2011-06-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Don't forget about Dwelling! If it weren't for the success of Dwelling, we wouldn't be able to see the progress we've seen on the project. God truly gets the glory for the blessing this business has become in my life, in so many ways, and for the way it's improving my family's well-being and future. I could never have even thought of praying for something this wonderful, and yet the Lord knew what would work for me, gave me the initiative to get started by putting some designs on Etsy and saying "let's just see what happens"! I'm so, so very thankful and even though it's hard work, long days, and my shop is only closed when my eyes are closed at night, I can't think of a job in the whole wide world I'd rather have!

Stop by sometime - I'm trying to update my website more often, and my Etsy shop is available 24/7!

Dwelling Website

Dwelling Online's Etsy Shop

Thanks for your support!

Week 22 - Woo Hoo!!!

2011-06-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

SCHOOLS...Out.For.Summer!!! Even though my kids claimed boredom by noon on Saturday, I am so thrilled to be out of the ridiculous routine of school nights, school mornings, lunch-packing, homework-doing, and exhausting day-to-day rush of the school year. By the time mid-May hits around here, we are just about done. So far, we don't have any concrete plans for summer, besides VBS, Bible Camp, and a day trip here and there. Brian will be working through the end of June, and I, of course, will be working just as much as any time of the year, so we'll be adjusting to being a working mom and juggling four kids not in school. Anyone want the Ferguson kids over for a play date?

The project is actually getting tighter this summer, for lots of reasons. I'm trying to cut back on expenses with Dwelling and stash as much money as possible. Our washer is broken and needs to be replaced, our SUV has had the Service Engine light on for almost a month and needs new tires, and I'm sure something else will come up! We're good though. Just hanging out at home, swimming at my mom's, barbecuing outside, bike riding, and reading lots of books - all free!!!

My money saving tip this week has to do with vacations. We all want them, we all need them, and I have a sure-fire secret to cut your vacation expense drastically. I cut mine by 5/6!!!! Know the secret? Leave your husband and children at home!!!

Last weekend, I had a great "project" treat - a girls' weekend in Carmel! My mom has a friend with a little house there that we were able to rent at a great rate, and we split it five ways so it was a steal of a deal. We hung out, watched movies, made s'mores in the fire place, and hiked for TWO HOURS at Point Lobos. It was fabulous girl-bonding time.

Me and "The Bieber" - love him!

Beautiful mommies - we have 16 kids between us!

Hiking in Point Lobos

I'm ready to kick my pathetic attempt at dropping some pounds into high gear now that school's out. I signed up for Weight Watchers online in order to help me keep track of what I'm eating and hopefully we'll get this done once and for all!

Hope everyone has a great week 23!!!

Week 21 was super fun!

2011-05-30T19:24:00.001-07:00

We are officially knocking on the door of June! 3 1/2 more days of school for the kids, and just a few weeks until Brian gets his month off. The weather is crazy cool for this time of year, and for the first time EVER, it could rain on graduation day here. I'm SO no complaining, because I'm sure those triple-digit days are just around the corner.

The project is still....well, the project. Not much exciting and new to share there. I'm getting ready for my annual book swap next week and excited about getting a new summer reading stack to dig into.

I just got back from a girls' weekend in Carmel - pics to come soon.

Hope all is well!

Week 20 - WOW!!!

2011-05-21T22:39:00.001-07:00

We are 20 weeks into this year, 2 weeks from school being out, and wiped out! We had a week that just absolutely flew by - but I'm not complaining because it's almost summer vacation!!!

Project News Update:

Spent $50 on $100 worth of groceries (love my Raley's!) without one darn coupon!

Started & finished "Heaven is for Real", finished "Crazy Love", and almost finished "One Fifth" - boo ya!

Made that darn scale budge a tiny bit

still working on:

time with friends (stay tuned though...)
the whole morning person thing (how on earth?)

I'm ready to talk about it now. Scarlet is gone. Last week, I parted with my favorite car ever in exchange for an itty bitty teeny weenie Ford. Both of our cars have surpassed that 100,000 mile mark and we will have a driving teenager in three years, so we realized we needed to purchase 3 cars within three years. Since we're on the project, we clearly could not replace our Expedition with a newer suv (mucho dinero), so we decided to replace my car with something that would work for the kids in a few years and wouldn't break the bank, and then once the project is over, we plan on saving up to replace the family car and add a third car to the mix. Ouch!
I cried over selling my car, and cried as I drove away from her for the last time. My new car has 120-horsepower and Scarlet had 280. Scarlet had leather seats, a moonroof, premium bose sound system, and power! I will miss her...

**photo above is not my actual car**

So I was feeling a bit glum but yet enjoying having a new reliable car. I love that my new car, named JET, has a five-speed manual transmission, hooks up to my phone, and has Sirius radio. But what really convinced me we'd made the right decision was when I realized I got 43 mpg on the highway and 30 in town. I literally just cut my gas bill in half!

That's the big development of the week around here. Alli & Brennah think they're so cool because they have their future car already. It's funny, because I got my "first car" when I was 14, and it sat in the driveway and waited for me to get my license. And I'm sure it's not hard to believe that I thought I was pretty cool too...

Hope y'all had a great week 20...

Week 19

2011-05-15T16:19:00.001-07:00

Happy Week 19 - can you believe it!? This week started with Mother's Day. Brian & the kids decided to take me to Monterey for the day, so we headed out early and just had a low-budget, relaxing day. I got Chipotle for lunch, which is as good as any fancy schmancy dinner if you ask me, we got to play on two beaches, cruise the outdoor mall, and take advantage of Frappucino happy hour at Starbucks with half price drinks! Here's a few pics...

don't you love the moments when your kiddos get along?

Lovers' Point - Monterey/Pacific Grove

The project is still just coming along...we have good days and bad days! On a good note, we will be paying off another debt in full on June 1st - four down, four to go! We're on track to be done in the year we had planned, plus one month that we lost thanks to that dental work I've mentioned a time or two!

Trying to catch up on reading...I just picked up "Heaven is for Real" today and am pretty sure I'll tear through that thing in an evening. Almost finished with "Crazy Love" and "One Fifth Ave", so my goal is to finish all three this week.

Lost another pound and a half, although I've yo-yo'd a bit this year, so I have about 9 to go, and it's going slow, but that's okay.

Working my patootie off @ Dwelling

Family night rocked this Saturday. We watched the Justin Bieber movie, and as crazy as this may sound, it is literally one of my favorite movies of all time. It is inspiring, touching, moving, tearjerking...I'm not kidding. Watch it.

And I have to share this. On the 17-day diet, my hubby lost SEVENTEEN POUNDS IN SEVENTEEN DAYS!!!!

Have a great week, y'all - I think we will too!

Week 18

2011-05-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

We're officially in the hazy, crazy days of May at the Ferguson house! Since our lives are lived in school years, not calendar years, May is the out-of-control chaotic end of the year time filled with state testing, field trips, programs, recitals, graduation, and on and on. Brian works a LOT in May as he wraps up the school year so we've pretty much just learned to survive the best we can until that blessed last day of school!

Busy is good though, since I don't have time to spend any money! Not much new to report this week on the "PROJECT". I'm toying with the idea of a newer, gas-efficient vehicle, but I can't seem to pull the trigger on parting with my beloved Scarlet, so no decisions yet. I'm also starting to 'chicken out' on the whole summer school thing at UC Riverside. It's just SO much money and SO much commitment that I just can't decide. I've got another month to mull it over, so we'll see!

And now for my picture of the week...

Week 17

2011-05-01T19:17:00.001-07:00

Happy May Day everyone! The Fergusons are still plugging along and SO excited to start a fresh new month with a fresh new paycheck and no dental bills looming over our heads....aaahhhhhhh...

First, I just want to say that I'm not a "couponer" and I won't ever be one, but I LOVE when Raley's has those $20 off $125 coupons, and I totally used that one this week along with timing some sales and specials, so a week's worth of groceries for all six of us came to just under $100!

Now, a check-in with my 10 goals for 2011 (remember, there was 11, but one is totally crossed off!)

1. Read at least one book a week, and alternate between fiction and non-fiction (I sense a few "book swaps" coming up this year)

As of tonight, I'm at 11 books completely read, six non fiction and five fiction, and I'm in the middle of one of each: Crazy Love by Francis Chan for my non fiction, and One Fifth Ave by Candace Bushnell for my fiction. 12 books, 17 weeks....I'm a bit behind!

2. Read the entire bible in a year again with my One Year Bible (love this thing!)

So, so far behind on this. Reading the Crazy Love book has started to get me really fired up to get into some bible study this year, so I'm looking forward to getting going and hopefully getting caught up on this!

3. Be 90% vegetarian by the end of the year (cutting pork first, then beef, then chicken)

Definitely think I'm on my way. I eat meat once a day at the most, and haven't had anything but chicken for over a week.

4. Be debt free!

We're still plugging along! I'm going back and forth with the idea of sharing our progress, where we started, and how far we have to go in actual dollar amounts, but every time I start typing those numbers, I have a mini panic attack, so...

5. Lose those 15 pounds I gained last year and then some...

I actually lost 7 pounds this week - yay! Brian and I started the 17 day diet last Monday, and while I realized by Friday that a uber-picky eater such as myself can't survive on such a limited list of foods, I have managed to keep sugar and white carbs out completely, hit the gym, and get some actual fruits and vegetables into my system...

6. Expand DWELLING to include a supply shop and maybe an employee or two!

Dwelling is at 3 employees, and I am So super thankful for those employees. I once again am able to hear myself think and be a somewhat-decent mother again, so I'm thrilled to have their help. Still working on expanding as far as supplies go, but in the meantime I've decided to expand my product line and that's going great. I think I'm ready to take this goal off the list and say mission:accomplished here!

7. Be a better friend! Send one card and have one coffee date every week with the super-special friends in my life...

Uh, yeah, bad, bad friend am I. I had a movie date with Sarah over spring break, and I get bunco bonding time with the girls I love once a month, but my coffee dates, no bueno. Who wants to meet me for coffee this week????

8. Try to learn to love cooking - any ideas on how this can be accomplished? I'd even settle for learning to not hate cooking!

Here's the thing: the simpler, the better. As you learn to let go of this idea that dinner means a meat, two vegetables, a bread, and a bunch of smiling faces around the table, you can enjoy the notion a bit more. Dinner might mean sandwiches, cereal and fruit, a smorgasbord of leftovers, or meat and ONE vegetable. As long as someone else does the clean up, I'll do the simple.

9. Try to become a morning person and get better sleep!

I have figured out that if I set my alarm for 30 minutes before I need to get up, but instead of pushing the snooze on my phone alarm, I play solitaire on my phone until I get my brain going, I'll make it up before the desired time. Weird, I know, but when did I promise I'd be normal?

10. Reinstate Ferguson Family night on Saturday nights

We're doing pretty good on this - not being as structured as we could be, but I feel like we're getting adequate family time. Corbin got to go on a birthday outing today, so the girls, Brian, and I all cuddled up and watched a movie together.

Check! I do have wisdom teeth trying to wedge their way into my mouth, but I'm just going to be in denial and avoid the issue until I have to confront it. Maybe that can be on the 2012 list. That makes two things coming off the list - and then there were 9...

ALSO at the Ferguson house this week...

this guy turned 9!

Week 16

2011-04-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

So, about that vacation....

I, uh, cancelled it. We were so sick and tired of the kids' constant bickering that I threatened to cancel our trip if they didn't cut it out, so when they didn't cut it out, I had to follow through and cancel our reservations. They could hardly believe I was actually serious! Monday morning, they got up and said "but we're actually still going right?" and I had to show them that I had, in fact, given up our reservation and half of our hotel charges because of their fighting.

So, the first half of spring break consisted of yard work, house work, and down time, because they were all grounded for the three days we WOULD have been on vacation. The second half has been a little better, but I personally am ready for school to start again on Tuesday!

I've got a GREAT feeling about May and the project, so the next few weeks' posts will hopefully have lots of details and good news...stay tuned!

Week 15

2011-04-16T22:44:00.001-07:00

So, now for life in week 15...
One of those 11 goals for 2011 was completed this week with two dentist appointments for me and one massively huge dentist appointment for Macy. I'm still reeling from the financial pain of this ordeal, but fortunately Macy is doing fabulous and that's the most important thing. Check out the before and afters:

at the surgery center, prepped and ready to go with all those precious baby teeth!

10 teeth pulled and a whole bunch of other junk done. She's so darn cute with this jack-o-lantern mouth, and I wish y'all could hear her try to talk!

I'm planning on catching up on some reading on our 3-day get away to Cambria, California this week during Spring Break. Here's how we're taking a vacation during the "project":

In February, we got a refund check from the Macy's account I overpaid (long story, but Macy's and I broke up last December and will not be reconciling) and I used the money to prepay two nights at the Cambria Pines Lodge at half price
Our hotel has a bedroom, living room, mini-kitchen, patio/deck, and fireplaces, so we are taking breakfast, snacks, drinks, puzzles, games, redbox movies, laptops, and books and plan on hanging out quite a bit
Our other plans include hiking, visiting friends who live in the area, shell-seeking at the beach, and general exploring
We have been saving our change since February and deposited some of it in the Coinstar machine tonight in exchange for a Starbuck's gift card of nearly $60 that will cover the daily necessity of coffee, snacks and drinks for the road, and breakfast on our last day and then some! Any vacation where I can have unlimited Starbucks is a dream vacation!
Brian set aside some reimbursement checks for small things here and there and I deposited them today for spending money for the kids on our trip
We're staying two nights and three long days, traveling only 3 hours from home, and making the most of our time!!!

When I'm planning a trip, I always, always find a deal at expedia.com or travelzoo.com and try to plan our trip around the best deal.

The fact that gas is like $4.20 a gallon and we have an Expedition is not very project-friendly, but we plan on staying close to our hotel down there and definitely won't need the air conditioning since the high temps are going to be 60 degrees!

Believe it or not, this well-traveled girl has actually NOT been to Cambria, CA before. I've been north of it and south of it, but can't wait to see it for the first time!

AND NEXT SATURDAY....

1st Annual Handmade Spring Craft Fair

Time	Saturday, April 23 · 1:00pm - 3:00pm

Location	1430 East South Bear Creek, Merced, CA



More Info	The 1st Annual Handmade Spring Craft Fair Hosted by Three Fat Birdies (Stephanie Temple) and Dwelling (Kelli Ferguson) with special guests TBA Looking to spruce up your house after a serious spring cleaning session? Need some last minute items for Easter baskets? Just looking for some crafty inspiration? Then come check out our wide variety of handmade items and enjoy some girl chat time. We'll have ice cold lemonade and cookies t...oo! Please feel free to share this message with friends and family. We really hope to see you there! Saturday, April 23rd from 1-3pm Held at the home of Janet Westfall 1430 E. S. Bear Creek Drive (between Glen Ave. and McKee Rd) Merced, CA 95340 Questions? Contact Stephanie at 3fatbirdies@gmail.com Check out the links below to view some of our products: Three Fat Birdies Specializing in baby blankets, crocheted hats, silhouette art prints, and stuffed toys Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThreeFatBirdies Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/threefatbirdies Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Three-Fat-Birdies/139444036125101 Dwelling Specializing in wooden letters and more for nursery decor, kids, baby and bridal showers, weddings and parties, gifts, holiday & home decor Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dwellingonline Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dwelling/285474553503 Email: dwellingonline@yahoo.com Baby Cakes Merced Custom Cake Pops for any occasion Addicted 2 Bows Custom hair accessories and just because we all need a little something yummy and sweet in the springtime, I thought I'd share my "boyfriend" with you. I am planning a post about me and football sometime soon so stay tuned...

Week 14

2011-04-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

Wow - 14 weeks! We have been so amazed to hear about how many different people are checking in on our "Project", and it's helping to keep us motivated. April is turning out to be a very expensive month with a lot of out-of-pocked dental and medical expenses. Plus, I found out on Thursday that my supplier is backordered on some of the wooden letters I use until the end of May! I spent the weekend in Southern California visiting nearly a dozen Joann's stores buying all the letters they have, and I'm now praying that those will last me until the end of May...

Since people are ACTUALLY reading this blog and interested in the project, I thought I'd just ramble on a little bit about it after being this far in, share what's working for us, and what we need help working on.

LA CASITA (the little house) - Downsizing our house has been a huge deal. Our rent is really, really low, our utility bills are lower because we're heating/cooling only 1,200 square feet, and we chose a very central location which saves on gas and time. Don't underestimate the power of location, location, location when it comes to the reality of your life. The reality of my life is running to Chenoweth, church, downtown Merced, and my office, and we are in the middle of those things now.
E.T. NO PHONE HOME - or no home phone. We've lived without a home phone for two years now. We have internet, but save $30 a month not having that phone line. Cell phones are plenty for us...
CUT THE CRAP (cards) - We got rid of, shredded, cut, burned, buried, and obliterated our credit cards about 2 1/2 years ago. We haven't charged anything to a credit card since. If that's ALL you do, you will eventually be out of debt. We're so in the habit of not charging that it doesn't even cross my mind to borrow money, even when we face $3,000 dental or tuition bills.
EMBRACE THE DOLLAR MENU - While eating fast food more than once a week is highly unrecommended, I am amazed by the convenience of the dollar menu at pretty much every fast food restaurant. When we go, we let each person in the family choose any two things they want from the dollar menu, so our family eats for $12. You can't COOK for that price! Our kids have it all figured out now, so they strategize about who will get a coke and who will get fries with their cheeseburgers and how they'll share them. For a family on the run, the dollar menu is an invaluable tool.
DON'T GIVE UP EVERYTHING - In January, I was motivated and on a roll and excited about the project. In February, I was making threats of harm to Dave Ramsey and to my husband. Then I sat down with my budget and remembered that our goal was to live off 1/3 of our income. The harder I work, the more I make, and the more 1/3 of our income is. Also, at the end of the day, I don't want my children to look back on this year and say it was the worst year of their lives! I want them to say "Wow - back in 2011 mom and dad changed the whole course of our lives, and now I get to go to college!" (hee hee) Therefore, mini-vacations, occasional trips to the matinee, Redbox on Friday night, and Friday night pizza are in, and going insane is OUT.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE AREN'T THINGS - luckily, it doesn't take a lot of money to have fun. Guess what I LOVE right now? Hot bubble baths, walks around Bear Creek with my kids, curling up with a good book or the remote to my very full DVR, laughing with friends, painting all the girly toenails in my house, working on my Etsy shop, sleeping in on Saturday, and eating breakfast for dinner.

I also LOVE all the input and feedback we are getting from friends, family, and future friends from our family blog - you guys rock! April is a bit of a lost month as far as the project goes, but I'm SO fired up for May right now you can't even believe it! Here's what we're struggling with if anyone wants to share tips right back at us...

NOT eating at home enough. Lack of time. Lack of energy. Lack of desire.
Gas...ouch. Can't wait to get rid of this Ford Expedition, and needing a somewhat fuel efficient SUV that seats 7+ in the next 18 months....anyone have one they like?
Kids cost too darn much! I don't plan well enough for all the kids' activities, birthday parties, fundraisers, outings with friends, church activities, etc. and feel like I'm always writing a check or hanging over cash that I didn't budget for. Do y'all just have a category in your budget for this junk? How much per kid?

Week 13

2011-04-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Here we are, 13 weeks in, still trying to stay on track with "the project". The beginning of a new month is always a great time to look at the budget, get your new envelopes money, and try to do better than the month before.

Resolutions are going well - dental work is done, at least! I've got a beautiful stack of books to read and am itching to get at them. Next up is "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan for my nonfiction. We're doing a group study of this one with some friends on Friday nights, so that will be fun. Here's a little info on it - I can't wait to tackle this one!

God is love. Crazy, relentless, all-powerful love. Have you ever wondered if we're missing it? It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe—the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor—loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrifi cing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. Whether you've verbalized it yet or not.we all know something's wrong. Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts-it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same. Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything. Learn more about Crazy Love at www.crazylovebook.com Check out Francis Chan's video blog at francischanblog.blogspot.com.

There are some things that are too important to give up, even for the project. One of those things is being able to take a break and get away for a while. I have not had one single, solitary day off for 13 months now. I love my business and my work and even when I get the chance to take a break, I find myself wanting to work. As my 1,000th sale on Etsy was approaching, Brian and I decided that when I got to that milestone, I was going to take a day or two off and go somewhere to rest and relax.

So, this weekend, we're off to Malibu and Westlake Village to rest. We'll be here...
and we'll be staying here

THE FOUR SEASONS! Can you believe it? There's nothing more thrilling to me when on vacation than a five-star hotel. I've never stayed at a Four Seasons before so I can barely contain myself...(we got an amazing deal on this, Dave Ramsey. Yes, it was expensive, but it was, like, half as expensive as normal. And, Dave Ramsey, you're not the boss of me.)

I may or may not take my camera and get pictures this weekend. I'm going to do whatever I want. And try not to work. But I can't guarantee that I'll be able to ignore my laptop and iphone. However, if I work on the computer, I'll sit by the beach or the pool and sip something yummy while I work!

And, a couple scriptures tying into what's going on with me right now:

Galatians 6:9 - "And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 - "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?"

Week Twelve

2011-03-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

Twelve weeks in - almost a trimester! The "project" is going well. What I seriously need to work on? Meals when we're in a hurry (which is every day). When we're all on the run, with practices, working late, stuff going on at church, I tend to call for pizza, grab takeout, etc. My goal for grocery shopping this week is to plan and purchase easier dinner foods. Looking in the freezer at frozen chicken and meat doesn't really motivate me to cook when I think about defrosting, coming up with a recipe, hoping I have all the ingredients, and then cooking and cleaning up. I'm thinking frozen tortellini, the yummy whole wheat pasta lasagna dinners from Target, healthy sandwich supplies, etc.

So, for my blog readers out there: what are your quick, go-to, easy as calling the pizza man dinners? Let's share, please!

In other news around here...I did what is currently my favorite letter design EVER, so I had to share. Also, in possibly big news...because of the budget we're living on, the way we're saving, conserving, and paying off debt (not as quickly as we'd like, but it's happening), there are big plans in the works for this summer.

Last year, before things took off with Dwelling, I was committed to going to grad school and trying to figure out where, when, and how to pay for it. I found a summer grad program at UC Riverside that I was going to do, but couldn't come up with tuition money in time. So, Brian and I have been talking about it a lot, and I think I'm going to go for it this summer! I'm really excited, and it will help me in my business and in whatever happens next for me in my career. 16 graduate units in a summer sounds exhaustingly fabulous to me too.

So in order to pull this off, I have to migrate south for the summer, and I'm taking the family with me. It looks like we'll be "summering" in SoCal this July/August, so I'm looking for a sublet or temporary housing and hopefully I can get everything coordinated to make this happen. I'll keep you posted! The project will still be on, so it will be an interesting sort of summer vacation. Good thing the beach is free!

Week Eleven was almost Heaven...

2011-03-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

Eleven weeks in - wow! I shared our money-saving tip of having the stomach flu last week, and this week I've got another funny one for you. When I discovered what led me to think about this tip, I actually cried all the way home in the car, but looking back, it's totally funny.

If you want to:

save lots of money on gas
save lots of money on restaurants
save lots of money on entertainment
easily resist the urge to spend money on common temptations like clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and home decor, and
save serious wear and tear on your car

then you should be like us and live in a small (not really small, but feels like it) town! Sure, we all complain about how Merced can't keep restaurants in business and how we lost 2 of our 4 departments stores during the recession (although we did get Kohl's in place of Mervyn's and that's a plus), but think of the money we save!

I've lived in Merced more than any other place in my life, but I have also lived just outside Los Angeles, just outside Seattle, and just outside Nashville, so I've had the perks of small-town and big-town living. I remember being 15 minutes from any shop, restaurant, etc you can imagine, and I blew through gas and spending money like it was nothing because everything was right there at my fingertips.

Now, we're on a tight gas budget, and the closest shopping opportunities are an hour away, so not only do I not shop or want to go out to eat all the time, I really don't want to take the time, energy and money to do it. Between Pizza Villa, La Nita's, Thai II and Strings, I've got just enough of every cuisine to enjoy, but so little that I have to dine out sparingly at the risk of getting sick of my favorite places.

Clothes? Sorry, besides the occasional sweatshirt or workout clothes at Target, no temptation for me here.

Home Decor? Really? Have you met me? It's kinda sorta the most important and my most favorite way to spend my shopping money. Pier One catches my fancy about once a year (love my seven foot tall iron headboard), and I'm glad it's here, but it's usually not my style.

So, instead of complaining about all my town does not currently have, I've turned it around into a easy way to resist blowing the project!

AND ON TO MY 11 RESOLUTIONS for 2011 (an overdue update):

Read one book per week: I'M AT 8 SO FAR - NOT BAD FOR 11 WEEKS..I'LL CATCH UP SOON!
One Year Bible: WAY BEHIND, BUT I'VE GOT FAITH (no pun intended)
Dental Work: KELLI:DONE! MACY: DONE AS OF APRIL 13TH!
90% Vegetarian: HAPPENING WITHOUT EVEN TRYING...
Debt Free: 3 of 8 PAID, 5 to go, emergency fund is funded!
Losing 15 pounds: STILL 10 TO GO, BUT FINALLY FEELING MOTIVATED...
Expanding business: 3 EMPLOYEES, NEW OFFICE SPACE, ADDED TO PRODUCT LINE!
Be a better friend: FAIL! but it's never too late, right?
Learn to love cooking: FAIL FAIL! I need more time to explore this goal...
Morning person: SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT...I'M AWAKE, BUT I AIN'T HAPPY!
Family Night Saturdays: TOTAL SUCCESS...even the kids love it!

Week Ten was WHEN?

2011-03-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm late getting our weekly blog post on here. I should just be happy that I've managed to post weekly (almost) ten times now, and that we're ten wonderful weeks into this year!

My money saving "project" tip this week is going to knock your socks off. It's amazing. It's stupendous. You will be in awe of the way we saved money this week. You may consider attempting to do what we did, but you may not be man enough to do it. Don't feel bad. I'm not man enough either. But somehow....it happened. Here's the financial mini-successes we had this week using the tip I will share at the end of this post. Don't peek - just read.

We:
-saved over $20 on gas, even during pathetically high gas prices
-saved over $50 on food, even with a yummer dinner @ Thai Cuisine II on Friday
-saved entertainment money by watching Netflix and our DVR'd shows
-saved electricity by not doing laundry or taking showers daily
-spent TONS of time together as a family and with each of our precious children
-California also blessed us with mild, no a/c, no heater weather....

and, get this, WE LOST WEIGHT!

What's your magic tip of the week, you might ask? Find out after you check out my almost 13-year-old actress of a daughter playing the part of Tinkerbell at a birthday party...
Okay, here's what week ten was all about for the Fergusons:

THE

DREADED

HORRENDOUS

VIOLENT (yes, violent)

STOMACH

FLU!

(it's a real money saver when you can't move from the couch!)

Kids Eat Free...and not just at home

2011-03-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

So, as you all know, I'm not a big cook. I've been making a big effort to cook more and have the family eat at home more, and it really saves a lot of money. However, our lives are crazy and it's just not possible for us not to go out for dinner sometimes. SO, we try to go where kids can at least eat free.

Our favorite "cheap" dinner deal is Applebee's on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Kids' meals are 99 cents each and come with a soda, which is a huge treat for my kids who NEVER get soda at a restaurant. They also have that 2 for $20 deal that Brian and I get, so we're in and out of a real restaurant for under $30. That may seem like a lot, but there are SIX of us. Regular dinners out can easily pass the $50 mark for our family.

I know a lot of the Kids Eat Free Deals in Merced, like Strings on Saturdays and Sundays after 4 p.m., but I thought I'd see if I could find out more. I found this site:
http://www.kidsmealdeals.com/

where you can put in your zip code and find a list of restaurants in your area that offer Kids Eat Free deals. I think I knew all the ones on our list for Merced, but I thought it might be helpful for all my friends and fam in Tennessee, Washington, New Jersey, Arizona, Texas, and all those other fabulous places!

Week Nine was Just Fine...

2011-03-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

Another week of craziness. I can't believe we're already nine weeks into this thing! The day after I paid off another yucky bill (3 down, 5 to go) I took Macy to the dentist. I had been avoiding taking her to the dentist for a year after an arrogant, annoying female pediatric dentist tried to teach me how to read nutritional labels on food after discovering my daughter had some cavities. I was so irritatingly offended I refused to go back there and it took me a while to find a new dentist.

So....to make a long story short, Macy needs $4,500 worth of dental work of which our insurance will pay $1500. We've added a month to the project. I hate Dave Ramsey, teeth, and money right now. But you could look at it two ways. The bad news? We have to pay $3,000 cash for dental work. The good news? We have $3,000 cash. Also? dental work was one of the 11 goals for 2011, and Macy and I both went this week and are on our way to being done with it, so 11 goals will soon become 10. Take that!

As for my other goals, I'm trying, I swear! I ate pretty good and got more than zero exercise, just another 10 pounds and I'll have lost the 15. It may take me all darn year, but by golly I will lose those 15 pounds! I'm stacking up the books to read for my book-a-week, and thinking over I'll start being able to get caught up as my work schedule evens out.

Haven't been as good at time with friends as I should, but I've got once-a-month bunco, once-a-month ladies' night at church, and coffee dates every other week with friends so it's definitely an improvement.

Work goals are going great. 3 employees and a new, real live office space as of this week. I'll post photos when I'm all moved in...

I made the "DREAM" letters for my girls this week. Shocking that I actually made letters for my own kids!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Week Eight was Sorta Great...

2011-02-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

We are 8 weeks into "the project" and still hanging on! We had NO SCHOOL this week, so unlike our pre-project school vacations where we would likely take a mini-vacation, we had spells of boredom around here. The weather didn't help either - it was cold and rainy! Brian enjoyed having a break from work, and I even finagled a couple days off (almost completely off - there's always something to do...). We got some organizing done around the house, Brian cooked an awesome BBQ dinner, and we spent time with family and friends.

Monday night was our monthly LADIES' night at church, and Alli and my niece Savanah were in charge of planning and putting the whole evening together. They did an awesome job and both gave devotionals in front of about 30 ladies. I can't imagine doing that at age 12 (I can barely handle it now) but they were both amazing and inspired all of us older ladies! Brennah was the song leader for them and she just got right up there and did it!

I'm officially falling behind on my resolutions and having a hard time catching up. As much as I love to read and would adore reading a book a week, I didn't finish last week's book or start this week's book, but I'm determined to catch up. I WILL HAVE READ 52 BOOKS BY THE END OF THE YEAR!

Week Seven was not quite heaven!

2011-02-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a week! Last Friday, Macy started coughing and running a fever. She spent the whole weekend sick and housebound and missed a whole week of school, and as I sit here late Saturday night the poor girl is still coughing like crazy. Brennah got it Tuesday night and missed three days of school and still has a bit of a fever. Needless to say, working 50 hours this week without really leaving the tiny house was a challenge that seriously tested my mental health! Somehow, it all (almost) got done, partly thanks to the fact that I have three fabulous employees helping me now! So, seven weeks into the project and plugging along! Not a ton accomplished as far as the 11 goals this week, but here's a few highlights:

I've lost 5 of my 15 pounds so far, without a whole lot of gym time, so hopefully some gym time will get those other 10 off quickly (at least by summer, right?)
I chose and started my book of the week, so I'm not too far behind!
Cooking...I LOVED not COOKING THIS WEEK!

I WISH I had my friend and family time this week, but alas, it was not meant to be. I got mass quantities of time with Brennah and Macy though!

I WISH I could share some fabulous low-budget money-saving project tips with you since we are living off 1/3 of our income, but I'm too tired and can't think of any except this big, huge, life-changing tip:
STOP GOING OUT TO EAT EVERY OTHER NIGHT!

Okay, I'm out. Here's a couple more before and afters of the teeny tiny project house - Corbin's room and our room!

Week Six was a mix...

2011-02-12T22:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, week six was a mix....of both chaos and progress! I decided to keep tabs on how many hours I'm working, because I honestly had no idea, and I put in 55 hours this week! I had a TON of orders about two weeks ago, which meant this would be a busy week of finishing orders, but I'm also preparing to move into a real, grown-up office space, working on my own paper designs, and I hired two more people to work with me and help me not put in 55 hours a week anymore. I'm so excited to have help with the letter prepping, and my lovely assistant Kaytlin has been super helpful the last few weeks with photographing, packing and shipping for me. I feel like I'll have time to grow the business now as opposed to just trying to keep up!

So, with all that said...here's the progress on my 11 goals for 2011...
- I walked/ran 6 miles this week (not much, but it's a start!) and lost a couple more pounds
- I didn't hate cooking (cause I didn't really do any cooking! We were literally not home this week)
- I STARTED my fiction book of the week, and it's looking good, so I'll probably devour it over the weekend and start on non-fiction for next week
- Big fat bill #2 will be paid in full by the end of the week
- Macy & I have our dreaded dentist appointments!
- Family time kinda happened tonight - as much as it can happen with two kids in a play and one with the flu...
- morning person - not so much. Staying up working till 1 a.m. will do that to ya.
- DWELLING - we're up to 3 employees, items for the supply shop are on the way, and we're about a month away from moving to a larger space!
- So, so not being good about my daily bible reading. Can that count as my book reading? Is it fiction or non-fiction? (TOTALLY KIDDING!)

Alli & Brennah have their last performance of Aladdin Sunday, so no more daily rehearsals and craziness for a while. After next week, we have a wonderful FULL week off of school (including Brian), so I'm anxiously looking forward to a little down time.

No photos, unless y'all want to see photos of wooden letters. Hope all is well for anyone who's reading this, and I promise when I get a little semblance of a normal life back, I'll be a little more specific about how the project's going, etc.

Week Five...we're still alive!

2011-02-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

Well, we are officially five weeks into our big project year, and even though life has never felt crazier, it's a good thing as far as making the time fly a little bit. The girls' play runs this week and through the weekend, so that will be nuts, but Sunday afternoon it will be all done and we won't be running downtown 10 times a week! Corbin is loving his Upward basketball, taking it very seriously, and Macy and the cheerleading thing? Well, if I were one to stereotype, and you were to call to mind the stereotypical cheerleader? Macy fits the bill. She's actually kind of over it and probably won't do it next year, but I'm all for letting the kids give new things a try.

My resolutions are not going as wonderfully as I would like, but it's truly because of the time I'm putting into my business and not laziness. I think I've found a larger location to move to, and when we get moved I'm going to be hiring another employee, so we're making progress to reclaiming a bit of a normal life. I realized today that I haven't had a full day off since the beginning of last March...not. one. Not even when we were on vacation. I'm constantly replying to customers' messages, processing orders, and putting together designs for people on the computer (or even on my iPhone). I really want a whole day off....no rest for the boss, right?

I'm almost finished with my non-fiction book this week: "Living Simply" by Joanne Heim. I've already read it once, but I needed something simple (no pun intended) that might motivate me to declutter my home, work, and personal life
On the vegetarian/loving cooking front, two major things: I cooked dinner for 11 (plus my kiddos) on bunco night, and I also prepared a whole turkey breast with bones and skin, and a gravy packet inside of it and got it in the oven all by myself, and was so thoroughly repulsed by the sight, smell, and touching of raw dead bird carcass that I didn't eat dinner that night...
Totally behind on bible reading
Totally behind on the gym (my pants said so)
Caught up with wonderful friends at bunco night, and had a fun double-date for the George Strait/Reba McIntyre concert on Friday (btw, we paid for the tickets pre-project, so it wasn't out of our budget!)

I've really had the new town bug lately. When we moved to Merced two years ago, our goal was just to get anywhere on the West Coast that Brian could find a job, and once we got back on our financial feet, we'd head to a permanent location. I LOVE being in my hometown, seeing friends I've known more than half my life, and being around family, but I've seriously got the new town bug. I feel that I was born to be a big city girl. I feel a need to be around millions of people, shopping, restaurants, and fun things to do, even if I don't have the time or money to do all those fun things. So, that's all. Just a bug...just thinking it would be kind of weird if our temporary landing place ended up being the place we live the longest!

No photos of people this week, but I have a before and after of our living room in the itty bitty teenie weenie project house!

Week Four is No More

2011-01-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

Four weeks down, how many to go? My new goal is that we are done with the project in November, rather than December....it's looking good!

I'm so stinkin' busy with Dwelling that I can't even believe I got anything else done this week. I did hire my first employee who started this week and that is going to be very, very helpful. Now I have to find a larger office space to rent and hopefully a "letter prepper" to work with us too.

I read "The Other Queen" by Phillippa Gregory this week - fabulous! No gym, again, but I did get that scale to move a few pounds in the right direction. I have a fun exercise idea for February, cause honestly I'm just kinda tired of Step aerobics and need a break. I'm going to try to walk/run 50 miles in the month of February. We live .1 miles from the greatest walking path ever, so I'm going to take advantage of Bear Creek and see how many miles I can log in.

And, um, other than that, the work schedule is totally interfering with almost all of my other goals. I can't even believe I've been able to blog once a week!
Motivation for the week: view of Lake M.V. from Tortilla Flats on a Sunday afternoon. I could SO get used to that!

Week Three is history

2011-01-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

So, not so great at sticking to my list this week. But in my defense, it's mostly because I'm now working w-e-l-l over forty hours a week with Dwelling. I stayed plenty busy BEFORE I had a paying job, and adding that many hours to my world has kinda rocked my world!

The blessings of the business are so far beyond what I ever could have hoped for that I can't quite comprehend it yet. I believe 100% that God has blessed us with this opportunity, and I can't help but wonder about the timing of our family decision to get smart with money and a new influx of money. And I'm not kidding when I tell Brian that one month soon, I will bring in more money than him....yay!

I hired my first employee last week, and am so thrilled that she's starting tomorrow and I'll be able to cut down a little bit on hours and set aside time to help the business grow even more!

So, progress on my 11 goals for 2011:
-Read my book, and it was non-fiction week, but my brain was too overtaxed for something serious, so I read Bright Lights, Big *** - a little crude but super funny.
-Missed the whole week of the One Year Bible, so I have to catch up this week.
-After hearing about a friend's trip to go elk hunting in Utah, his kill, and his afternoon of disassembling the elk into pieces to eat, the vegetarian thing is coming along real well! There are several days a week where I consume zero...
-Didn't make the gym once, but I have a cool plan to fix that starting next week (I'll share later). I ate super good though!
-Got my wholesale tax exempt license this week so I'm getting the supply shop started (lots of Ebay and other internet time needed for this one)
-No cards sent, so I'm sending two this week. No coffee dates, but I had a big date with my husband, and we consumed coffee and had child free talk. Totally counts!
-I cooked mass quantities of food for Super Wednesday and church and didn't complain at all
-Morning person - going good!

MY HUSBAND WANTS TO GET A JOB HERE... if that's not motivation to be debt-free, what the heck is???

I'll keep y'all posted...thanks for following, whoever you are!

The ABC's of ME

2011-01-18T22:25:00.001-08:00

Haven't done one of these in a long, long time, and they're fun! Saw this on my darling friend Mindy's blog, who could easily be THE nicest person in Tennessee. Thanks for sharing, Mindy! Hope some of my other bloggy friends share their ABC's too...

A - Age: 34
B - Bed Size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Laundry
D - Dogs' names: Maddyn Belle
E - Essential start your day item: Coffee w/flavored cream while watching Today show
F- Favorite color: rusty red-orange
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'8 1/2" (formerly known as 5'9")
I - Instruments you play(ed): piano, flute, saxophone
J - Job title: CEO!
K - Kid(s): Alli, Brennah, Corbin, and Macy
L - Living arrangements: itty bitty teeny tiny rental house with four kids, a hubby, and dog
M - Mom's name: Patti
N - Nicknames: KelBel, KC, Kel
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: None for me, but I stayed w/Corbin once for a week!
P - Pet Peeves: just one? impossible...but most have to do with others' driving nonskills
Q - Quote from a movie: "Wake up - time to shop!"
R - Right or left handed: Both
S - Siblings: 1 younger brother
T - Time you wake up: 7:00, then 7:09, then 7:18, and finally 7:27 (thanks snooze button!)
U- Underwear: Yes (good one Mindy!)
V - Vegetable you dislike: all
W - Ways you run late: when overestimating others' ability to not make me run late
X - X-rays you've had: Teeth, foot for surgery, hand for surgery
Y - Yummy food you make: Replica of Turkey, bacon, apple & bleu cheese sandwich from Bread & Company in Nashville
Z - Zoo favorite: Giraffe

Week Two is Through

2011-01-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

Well, we have made it through another week on the project and another week of sticking to new year's resolutions. Not exactly sticking like glue, to the letter, with perfection, but still...progress.

This week, I read "Best Friends Forever" by Jennifer Weiner. I usually love her books, but this one was so-so. I probably would have dropped it and never finished if it weren't for my 2011 goals!

I kept up with my One Year Bible, although I didn't take the time every single day and ended up reading 3 or 4 days' worth at a time.

My goal to becoming 90% vegetarian is coming along, but I did crave me some bacon this week!

The debt-free work is coming along. My goal for the month is to stash $2,700 of my own hard-earned dwelling money to pay off Chase on the 1st, and I think I'm going to do it!

I only worked out twice this week, and gave into the bacon craving, but I confronted the scale and it was better than I thought it would be. That counts as progress, right!

Got my Dwelling supply line going - yeah! Got my wholesale/resale license and business license all squared away, and we're ready to buy direct from the manufacturer. This could be HUGE!

Running out of time on the coffee date and card thing, but I will do that this weekend for sure.

Trying to learn to love cooking...I LOVED cooking Chex Mix for myself to snack on instead of eating breakfast and lunch on Friday! And I LOVED not spending tons of cash eating out.

Got up earlier almost every day, even got me some 10 hours of sleep one night this week, and I seriously think my wrinkles look better, seriously.

Family night - going good. We're going out with friends tonight, so we hung out last night. Brennah even turned down a sleepover invite she wanted to hang with us so badly.

So, so far, so good!

Here's the first three supply listings in my shop:

And here are my Valentine-themed letters for 2011 - loving these!!!

Week One is Done

2011-01-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

Yeah! I made it through week one of the project and my new year's resolutions. Here's how I did:

I cooked way more than usual, drove right past Starbucks several times (that hurt), and even went to Target for just one thing, and came out with just one thing. I hit the gym three times, sent a card to special friends far away, read my One Year Bible every day, finished my first book, and had a fun visit with a dear, old friend from all the way back to kindergarten. We had family night on Saturday, and I got my tired butt up every day at 7 instead of 7:15. I'm going to aim for five minutes earlier each month so that by December I'm getting up at 6.

In other news, Alli started back at public school this week. She's going to 7th grade at Hoover, which happens to be where both of her parents went to middle school, so that's fun! It's only a couple blocks away, so when it's not so bone chilling cold she can walk. I'm so proud of her! She's working really hard to do her part on working through things while we work with our family doctor on finding solutions. It's definitely gotten easier around here!

Alli and Brennah both got cast in the upcoming run of ALADDIN at Playhouse Merced, so they're busy in rehearsals for that. Corbin & Macy are both doing upward (C in basketball, M in cheerleading), so they are loving that. We're just working and playing and cooking and NOT shopping.

Hope y'all are having a great 2011 so far! I'm checking your blogs every day, especially those of you on that 21 day organizing challenge. I'm fascinated by your cupboards and desks!

In Five Years

2011-01-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

Where were YOU five years ago?

Where will YOU be in five years?

Pre-Project VACATION Photos

2011-01-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

So, one of the things we did to prepare for a tightly budgeted year was take a couple of great vacations: one without children and one with children. Brian and I headed to Las Vegas for a long weekend in early December. Then for Christmas, Gummi gave us 3-day Go San Diego passes and we went to Orange County & San Diego for nearly a week!!!! Here's some photos of our fun times...
Legoland was fun but packed. What do you expect when it's Christmas break and a sunny 68 degrees in SoCal?

My favorite thing about Legoland was the miniature versions of fabulous cities done entirely out of legos. Can you guess my favorite city? Duh! They even had a subway system running under the city - so stinkin' cute!

Lego car

Tuesday we hit the wild animal park in Escondido to check out some cool wildlife

and later that same day we headed over to SeaWorld and checked out Shamu

we've been wanting to find this famous donut shop for years, so with Corbin's persistence, we put it on our to-do list and got it done!

I think our most fun day was @ Knott's. We've been there lots of times, but this was great because that day it rained until 2:00, so we headed over right about 1, and walked on every single ride, some of them multiple times

It may not happen again for a whole year, but at least we had a wonderful vacation to remember. Alli was in Arizona on her own vacation, so it was a little weird to not have the whole fam together, but everyone ended up happy!

HELLO 2011 - The Project has Begun...

2011-01-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

I'd like to say something nicer to 2011 than just "hello". I'd love to say "Welcome" or "Happy" or "Yippee" for 2011, but I'm kinda sorta not excited about this year like I normally am at the start of a new year, so...

Today is the start of the "Project" that we've been preparing for for about 4 months. During our time of preparation, we downsized our home and our wordly goods, took a couple fabulous vacations, and had a really nice Christmas. But now it's officially 2011 and it's time to get real!

The “Project”

How we got here is a long story, and not the happiest of stories, so we won’t go there. I’ll just summarize by saying there was a combination of things within our control and things out of our control, a perfect storm of near-financial disaster, and a chance to start all over again, which you can look at as a bad thing or a good thing. Now we’ve got lots of debt and not lots of savings, and we’re sick of it!

We’ve been on track on the road to recovery and success for two years now, but decided we’d rather be on a one-year plan than a four-year plan, so we have decided to get a little crazy. The “Project”: can we live off 1/3 of our income for a full year? If so, we’ll be completely debt free, have a nice fat savings account, and be working towards a down payment on a house. We’ve decided to just go for it, as drastic as it is and as crazy as some people think we are.

So here’s how we’re making it happen:

1) Downsize our budget: we’re cutting rent by over $500/month, stopping our investments (except mandatory STRS), and doing what I dread the most: eating at home all the time…

2) Downsize our home: we went from a string of 3,300 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 bath homes, and a 3-car garage, to 1200 square feet 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and NO GARAGE.

3) Downsize our debt – to zero. In less than a year, we’ll have paid-for vehicles, and no credit-card debt.

4) Downsize our “stuff”: how many dishes, towels, sheets, chairs, books, picture frames, etc. do you really need in life? How simple can a family of six get? We’ll find out!

I’m sharing a bathroom with two guys and have 3 daughters in a bedroom together. Figuring out how to live without a garage when you’ve had one for ten years is definitely interesting. My mind is on cooking and simplifying the grocery shopping process and costs. I’m going to post pictures of where I want to live when this is all over as motivation to get through the year. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to get old and non-exciting really fast. I know that, but it’s too late to turn back now! We’ve already moved into and settled into our “project” house, which has been kind of fun since I’ve got free reign on the decorating and it’s a 1949 bungalow/cottage/cutie.

Meanwhile, my business is booming and growing ALMOST out of control and faster than I can keep up. I’m working more than ever before and figuring things out as I go. But it’s been such a huge financial blessing that if I can keep figuring things out and hanging on, it’s going to make our progress that much greater in a year.

I've also made 11 resolutions/goals for 2011 and tried to be reasonable about them, because we all know how resolutions can be. Thought I'd share them here, in the spirit of accountability that we all need when we have goals!

Kelli's 11 in 2011

1. Read at least one book a week, and alternate between fiction and non-fiction (I sense a few "book swaps" coming up this year)

2. Read the entire bible in a year again with my One Year Bible (love this thing!)

3. Be 90% vegetarian by the end of the year (cutting pork first, then beef, then chicken)

4. Be debt free!

5. Lose those 15 pounds I gained last year and then some...

6. Expand DWELLING to include a supply shop and maybe an employee or two!

7. Be a better friend! Send one card and have one coffee date every week with the super-special friends in my life...

8. Try to learn to love cooking - any ideas on how this can be accomplished? I'd even settle for learning to not hate cooking!

9. Try to become a morning person and get better sleep!

10. Reinstate Ferguson Family night on Saturday nights

SO HERE - WE - GO!!!

My babies...and the latest news

2010-12-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

I seriously can't believe December is already here. And for some reason it seems extra cold and extra rainy this winter in Central California, and our little old house is a little COLD house! More to come on the house in another post (complete with before and after photos!), but I wanted to share some photos I took of the kids a few weeks back on a beautiful fall day. I NEVER purchase school pictures for my kids but try to get some good ones myself each year, and these were really fun!

Alli is halfway through the 7th grade and we're really watching her grow up! I've been homeschooling this year, which has been great for avoiding the drama and hassle of middle school, but homeschooling a child with severe ADD is no picnic. We've been working with our family doctor (who is THE greatest family doctor EVER) on the attention and focus issues and are praying by the first of the year we'll have drastic improvements. I'm so proud of Alli and the way she tries to deal with things. She's becoming a beautiful almost-teenage girl and LOVES the theater and music...

Here's a super-fun tidbit of information about my Brennah. That flute she's holding was my flute in the 4th-8th grade, and her band teacher at school was MY band teacher from 4th-8th grade! AND, I was that band teacher's son's first girlfriend in the 8th grade. Gotta love those old hometown stories! Brennah is almost eleven, in the fifth grade, and can't wait to go to middle school with her daddy next year. She's been taking acting and dance at the Playhouse Conservatory with Alli and they both just finished a fun show, and are getting ready to audition for another this weekend.

This boy, he is SUCH a boy. Always moving, playing ball, climbing trees, collecting sticks and rocks, needing reminders to take a shower and wash his face, but always up and ready for the day and almost always willing to help...Corbin is 8 1/2!

My baby girl is a first grader. And I still call her "the baby". And I still sometimes carry and hold her even though her little feet hang down past my knees when I do. Macy is a fashion diva and loves putting together crazy outfits, which usually end up really cute! She sketches fashion designs in a little notebook and obsesses over clothes. Not sure what this all means at age six, but it can't hurt to let a little girl be creative right?

And in other news:
- the "project" starts in 31 days.
- we are all settled in a 1,300 square foot house (with no garage)
- business is still growing like crazy and I'm grateful every day for this surprise full-time job
- VEGAS VACATION (just me and the hubby) in 8 days.
- L.A., O.C., S.D. vacation starts on Christmas day and lasts a whole week (and ends just in time for the project!)

I promise, I'll start a special blog for the project in a couple of weeks (maybe after Vegas) and be better about keeping it up to date than I've been about this one!

Hope everyone is happy and healthy and staying warm this December!

I'm going someday, and you can't stop me!

2010-10-20T10:59:00.001-07:00

Countdown to "THE PROJECT" has begun. We are going to live off 1/3 of our income for one year, pay off all of our debts, have an emergency savings fund, and a down payment for a house. It's going to be interesting, and I've had lots of moments lately where I DREAD the project. What helps to motivate me is to look at pictures of Orange County, and you just gotta do what works when you're in a bind. So, I'm going someday, and you can't stop me! And if I can survive this project and make it work, I'm going to buy a house there too!

Happy September!

2010-09-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Finally, finally fall is almost here! By the time September rolls around, I am hanging by a thread. I mean, look at me. I'm a freckled redhead girl with Irish, Scottish, and British ancestors, okay? Nature and evolution clearly did not intend for me to live on the face of the sun for 5 months out of the year! I'm totally going to be one of those old people who lives in Seattle 1/2 the year and Phoenix the other 1/2. OR....we could just move to Orange County where it's beautiful year-round and I'll just wear lots of sunblock.

Speaking of which, we just spent the long Labor Day weekend in Orange County. We stayed in Irvine, went to Laguna, Newport, Dana Point, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, and had SO MUCH FUN! Here's a few pictures of our trip...
Irvine Spectrum is a great outdoor mall, and they had these darling little mini-houses that Macy was absolutely obsessed with. She wouldn't stop talking about them, so finally I took her back so she could tour them all. This beach cottage was my favorite, but there were about 10 different ones!

Macy and her new BFF Emily

Ferris Wheel at the Irvine Spectrum

Vista Point in Dana Point

Reunion with the Verhasselts after nearly 8 years!

Fashion Island in Newport - more shopping, of course...

So life is kinda back to the routine. The kids are all settled in school and Alli is being homeschooled this year, which we truly feel was the best decision for the situation, and it's going really well. My business is INSANE, and keeping me busy, but I seriously love it and couldn't be happier about the success.

THE PROJECT. We're going to be starting another blog for this year-long project Brian and I have been discussing for months now. The idea is to pay off all our debt, build up an emergency fund and save a down payment for a new house in one year. To do this, we're going to have to live off 30-40% of our income, so we're making plans to make that work. We just went and looked at a rental house that's about half the size and half the price of what we're in, so we'll keep you posted!

First Day of School...pictures through the years!

2010-08-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! School's back in session. Macy is a first-grader, Corbin is in 3rd, and Brennah is in the 5th grade! All three are at the same school which is so lovely and convenient. The big change this year is that we have decided to home school Alli, who is starting 7th grade. No more middle school blues - hallelujah! Here's some pictures over the years of the first day of school...
That would be me, circa 1981, age 4, starting at Ada Givens School right here in Merced! Maybe there's something to that global warming cause I'm totally wearing tights and a vest in September!

Macy - first day of Kindergarten - 2009

B, C, & M - first day 2010

Macy - first day of first grade - 2010

my girls - first day - 2009

Corbin - first day of Kindergarten - 2007

Brennah- first grade - 2006

Alli - 3rd grade - 2006

Hope everyone's year started out wonderfully and that we all survive until May (or at least Christmas!)

And you said you weren't a "dog person"...

2010-08-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

So...business is BOOMING!

2010-07-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

I NEVER in a million years would have guessed what was coming when I "crafted" a few wooden letters and threw them up on an Etsy shop 6 months ago! At the very most, I was hoping to bring in a couple dollars here and there doing something that I really enjoyed doing. But God had bigger plans for me than I had for myself (as usual) and six months later, I have my dream job. Seriously, this is the perfect job for me: working solo (that's just how I prefer to roll), working from home, communicating via computer, crafting, taking and editing fun pictures, designing items to coordinate with room decor (aka decorating!), and having a creative outlet. I LOVE THIS!!!! Every month, my business has grown substantially, and sales keep going up. People keep asking what I will do when I can't keep up with the orders, and I can only hope and pray that I get to that point where I have TOO much business and need to hire someone to do all my packing and shipping and shopping (although the hubs has started taking on quite a bit of that).

Anyway, I wanted to share a few of my 150ish custom orders - can't name favorites on my business website, but I can do it here!!!

classic blue & brown is one of the most popular color schemes

I get TONS of business for expectant moms, shower gifts, and nursery decorating, but I wasn't prepared to get so much WEDDING business! Check these out:

This one was for a wedding in Hawaii - they attached their first initial to the back of their chairs and tied them together with this "&" sign...

working on some of these for a wedding in PARIS! Table numbers for the reception. And I'm shipping some special letters to ITALY this week for a wedding.

.
"I DO" - so cute. The hot pink ones were for the cake table!

Anyway, I'm just so excited about this I had to share on the family blog, since this has become a big part of our family now! Stay posted for the store of our next big adventure (yes, I'm always looking for a big adventure - deal with it) that Brian and I are calling "The Project"!

Life's a Beach...

2010-07-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

When it's 100 degrees outside, there's nothing more amazing than being able to drive about 100 miles away and be in 60 degree weather. My parents rented a great beach house last week and all 12 of us Allans had a wonderful getaway at Sand Dollar Beach. We played games, took turns cooking, biked, jogged (aka marathon trained), boogie boarded, flew kites, buried each other in the sand, shopped in Capitola, and had an awesome photo shoot with multiple cameras. I have about 400 more pictures to go through, but here's the ones I've edited and approved for the blog so far!
Maybe you should pretend you didn't see this one - it may arrive in a Christmas card in your mailbox in about 5 months!

The Atlantic is great, the Gulf was neat, but the sun is just supposed to set over the ocean. Any other way feels wrong...

Abby & Macy showing some cousin love

Gummi & Gumps with all 6 of their "grands"

Brennah & Corbin

My 10 year old!

sisters - 11 & 10

Our Baby KK

my brother and his youngest, Kinsley

We've changed the story of this picture from Dan telling Abby "You need to listen to me or else" to "Daddy just loves you so much, Abby!"

Abby & Kinsley

kinda yuck, but kinda cute...

Dan & his girls

more pictures of the Fergs to come!

The Blueberry Patch...

2010-06-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

We took a field trip today with some very sweet friends to the blueberry patch up in in Ripon. The kids had so much fun picking their own blueberries (and jumping in the bounce house) and the weather was perfect! Here's a few of the many pictures I took today.
Don't they look so yummy?

Macy & sweet Jenna - crazy that Macy is 6 and Jenna is 3!

Aidan, my friend Elisa's little guy

She really did pick a lot...they're in there!

Macy's KinderGrad and Brian's Marathon

2010-06-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

Macy's school put on a really cute Kindergarten promotion last week, not one of those obnoxious cap and gown things that bug me because Kindergarten is not really a transition like preschool, or 8th grade, or high school, etc. But I digress. It was super cute and low-key, and I remembered my camera!
She got to wear a church dress to school!

Spotted me in the crowd...

Shook hands with the principal...

Officially a first-grader!

Saturday was the 1/2 marathon we had been training for in Alameda, CA, right by the ocean. I decided about 6 weeks ago to sit this one out because of some heart issues/concerns I've been having. But my doctor gave me the go-ahead to resume training while I see a cardio specialist and hopefully I'll also get the all-clear from the cardiologist. I'm ready to sign up for the Malibu marathon in November!

my friend Elisa finishing up her 13.1 miles...

my running partners/inspirations

Friends and Airplanes

2010-05-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

Another month is gone! Here's some of our pictures of the last couple weeks - it's been crazy like it always is in May for a big family with four kids in school and a principal for a daddy!Open Cockpit day at Castle Air Force Base - lots of fun - check out my little pilots!

I love the military - I'm actually an "Air Force Brat!" AND an "Army Wife"

This is the plane my dad worked on when he was in the air force - it was fun to show the kiddos

Thank you to all our soldiers for be willing to fly like this! I'll never complain about no leg room again!

A fun visit with Hixsons and our Texas Hattons - 11 kids on a couch!

These two sweet girls have literally been friends since birth. Jessica even kicked Brennah when she was still in her mommy's tummy...

The boys

Al and Haley

For all our friends and family out there in the big, big world

2010-05-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

I seriously want you guys to enter the giveaway at Dwelling! Don't hold back because you love me and don't want me to make you some wooden letters for free! I would LOVE for someone I LOVE to win this month-seriously.

Off the A's/Giants baseball game in Oakland - have a fab weekend everyone!

www.dwellinginteriors.com

Brennah the High Jumper

2010-05-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

So Brennah decided a couple months ago to go out for the track team. Brian did track and field all through high school and college so we were excited to let her try something new. Her coach signed her up for high jump, but since they're at an elementary school, there was no high jump to practice on. We figured she'd just give it a try and have some fun, and the day of the track meet we showed her how to jump and had her practice on the couch a little. Guess what? She took first place in our county for high jump!

The next week, she got an invitation to the central valley track meet in Fresno since she was a top finisher in Merced County. Last Saturday, we cruised on down to Clovis and Brennah competed, making a personal record of 3'6". Go Brennah!

May Giveaway

2010-05-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

You can win a $15 gift certificate to DwellingOnline's Etsy store - go to Dwelling's site for details...

Biker Babes

2010-05-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Gotta Love FREE STUFF!

2010-05-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Way #1: Go to THIS BLOG and check out the cool feature on Dwelling she did, and the great photos she took of some wooden letters. You can enter Erin's giveaway - there's actually several ways to enter and win a wooden letter.

Way #2: Go to MY ETSY SHOP and check out the weekend deal. FREE Teacher Appreciation Letter with any $30 Purchase.

OKAY, that's all the Dwelling talk I'll do on the family website, I promise, I'm just excited!

Fun Macy Photo Shoots

2010-05-07T16:27:00.001-07:00

Oh, how I love this girl! Here's some shots I've gotten since I purchased my new camera and got hooked on a new hobby...

It's Crazy Season at the Ferg House...

2010-04-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Since Brian and I went from kids in school to college students to teachers to parents of school-age kids (or some combination of those things at any given time) we have literally lived pretty much every year of our life on a school calendar. I've never thought of January as the beginning or December as the end. For us, it's August to June! So that makes April and May our "CRAZY SEASON". When we lived the high school life, it was prom and graduation season, but even in the middle school life, it's testing, teacher hiring/firing, field trips, sports, celebrations, fundraisers, blah blah blah blah blah. Crazy. So, I haven't busted out the camera to shoot lovely pics of our children, since we're in survival mode for another month and a half!

BUT, I do have pictures of what MY work week looked like!

Yes, these are the custom orders I did JUST THIS WEEK! I've so far done about 150 letters in total and am hoping the biz keeps growing exponentially so this can be my full time job.

Hope all my bloggy friends across America are fine and dandy!

Allan Memorial/Family Reunion

2010-04-13T23:03:00.001-07:00

I don't think I shared photos from our trip to Southern California in January to celebrate and remember the life of my grandma Allan. It was a great weekend to see family we hadn't seen in a while and surround my grandpa with love and just enjoy some time together.

Back in December, when we were in L.A. for Disneyland, I decided it was very important to head over to Pomona and visit my grandma in the hospital, since she wasn't doing very well. It was really rainy that day and I decided to go alone. I pulled onto the freeway in our Expedition and the truck hit one of those weird water puddles and hydroplaned. I stayed calm and grabbed the steering wheel and held on, but the car completely lost control, spun around 1 3/4 times, and died across three lanes of L.A. traffic. It was like this slow motion, screaming, certainty that I was about to die, thankful my children weren't with me kind of feeling. I finally got the car started and pulled to the side of the road and sobbed for a while.

I was five miles from our hotel, and 45 miles from my grandma. I was shaken and freaked out and it was pouring rain, but thank God I made the decision to drive very S-L-O-W-L-Y to Pomona and see her. She didn't know who I was, but we had a great visit anyway. I am SO thankful I didn't chicken out and turn that car around. I got to have one last visit with her. The same kind of thing happened with both of my other grandparents who have passed away. Somehow God knows what we need, and who we need, and I don't have to feel like I missed one last opportunity to spend a moment with my loved ones.

Anyway, here's a few pictures that my talented photographer Uncle Scott took of our reunion time...

How totally cute is my Scottish Grandpa?

I actually like this picture of me...

13 of us Allans

A little over half of the whole Allan clan. Four of Grandma's children (her oldest child has already passed on), 8 of her 14 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren out of I don't even know how many!

Everything I need to know about life....

2010-04-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Lessons Learned from Noah's Ark

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark

One: Don't miss the boat.

Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three: Plan ahead! It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

Six: Build your future on high ground.

Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.

Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

NOW, wasn't that nice?

Easter Weekend 2010

2010-04-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Crazy busy fun Easter weekend!

sweet niece KKA

Scary, hairy easter bunny!

Another sweet and gorgeous KK in our lives...

jumping for joy with Spence

these flowers haven't even been edited!
that's how amazingly gorgeous they are.

Macy & Abby

my middle-schooler...she thinks this is an ugly picture!

5 granddaughters...

The 10-Day Weekend is Here

2010-04-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Spring Break....10 days of the six of us all home together...whee!!!

How old is this kid?

The letter giveaway last weekend was fun - you guys gotta sign up and win some fun stuff next time! This weekend's deal is for discounts in the Etsy store, so if you want to check it out, head on over here...

A Weekend in Carmel....

2010-03-31T06:54:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm officially a Central California girl again. I just got back from my fourth weekend in Carmel/Monterey/PG since we moved home! This time it was for our ladies' retreat and we stayed at Asilomar which was fabulous. We were blessed with perfect weather and a nice drama-free girls' weekend - bliss. Okay, that sounds really braggy. I hate when people blog and facebook braggy things. Sorry! It was a lovely weekend shared with lovely women and I'm very grateful for the timing of it. Personally, I was ready for a spiritual retreat from the world and the craziness of life and some time to reflect and share with other women who have gone through some of the same things I have and who are wonderful listeners and advice-givers and friends. Thanks! View from our room...

Uh.....what does that sign say? Who cares!

The color of the sky and the waves at sunset was awesome...

Our Group Pic

Glorious Sunset in Pacific Grove

Free Letter Giveaway at Dwelling

2010-03-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

please visit www.dwellinginteriors.com for a chance to enter and win a wooden letter!

Crafty Girls

2010-03-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend's open house was so great - we had an amazing turnout and can't wait to do it again. Business was booming for some of the crafty ladies in my life who participated - just want to share some of the "wares" with those of you who couldn't be in Merced on Saturday!

"periwinkle" makes these awesome magnetic picture frames.

They're great because you can just change out pictures or notes on there with the little magnets

and put the pictures at an angle or straight, whatever you'd like!

The details are so cute!

Okay, who is that seriously adorable baby in this picture? Wait, that's me!

Donavan and Lacey made these fab pillowcase dresses. This was the display at the beginning of the day. I think at the end there were maybe two left. See that green and purple one on the corner? That's Macy's easter dress!

Sarah & Sabrina transformed Brennah's "loft" into hair bow heaven. They were selling left and right, and Sarah has a backup of custom orders for her adorable tutus.

Wooden Blocks are always fun....

Can't resist black and cream with bright red - love the leopard print.

And this - well, it just makes me smile on a Monday!

More of my town...

2010-03-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the big spring open house this Saturday. If you're in the Merced area, please please please come by! We'll have spring and home decor for sale, and some of my talented friends will have their stuff available too. I will also have information on decorating services and some of my photos. Here's a couple of my Merced pics!

Happy Daylight Savings Monday! (totally faking...)

2010-03-15T10:05:00.001-07:00

What a rough morning we had around the Ferguson house. An oversleeping, yelling, screaming, breakfast in the car, last minute permission slips, "where's my lunchbox?", peeling out of the driveway kind of morning. But on the plus side, all that boiling rage contributed to a fantastic workout this morning! And on the really really plus side, our seven day forecast calls for seven straight days of mid-seventies and crystal clear skies, so my mood has turned around.

But I still don't believe in daylight savings.

Another order - I love boy stuff...

"Springified" the house yesterday - cut the grass for the first time, Brennah and I planted flowers, feels better already.

6 days till the open house!

Get ready for a homework assignment, my lovely blog readers...

2010-03-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I have an upcoming assignment for anyone who wants to participate. I've been kind of keeping it in mind for the next time I have a talk to give or something like that, but I really just want to do it.

We're going to write letters to our younger selves. You can pick the age of your younger self that you'd like to write to. Your letter will serve lots of purposes, but the main two in my opinion are that it will 1)be a way to pass advice on to your own children, and 2)be a chance to reflect back on your life, the things you'd change and the things you wouldn't.

I have a book entitled "Letters to My Younger Self" in which quite a few famous women were asked to write a letter to themselves at an earlier age. It's really interesting, and while we're working on our letters, I'll share a few here and there on my blog.

What REALLY started this was a country song. Of course. Here's the lyrics to the inspiration for this project, "Letter to Me", by Brad Paisley:

"Letter To Me"

If I could write a letter to me
And send it back in time to myself at 17
First I'd prove it's me by saying look under your bed
There's a Skoal can and a Playboy no one else would know you hid
And then I'd say I know its tough
When you break up after seven months
And yeah I know you really liked her and it just don't seem fair
All I can say is pain like that is fast and it's rare

[1st Chorus]
And oh you got so much going for you going right
But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night
She wasn't right for you
And still you feel like there's a knife sticking out of your back
And you're wondering if you'll survive
You'll make it through this and you'll see
You're still around to write this letter to me

At the stop sign at Tomlinson and Eighth
Always stop completely don't just tap your brakes
And when you get a date with Bridgett make sure the tank is full
On second thought forget it that one turns out kinda cool
Each and every time you have a fight
Just assume you're wrong and daddy is right
And you should really thank Mrs. Bringman
She spend so much extra time
It's like she sees the diamond underneath
And she's polishing you 'til you shine

[2nd Chorus]
And oh you got so much going for you going right
But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night
Tonight's the bonfire rally
But you're staying home instead because if you fail Algebra
Mom and dad will kill you dead
Trust me you'll squeak by and get a C
And you're still around to write this letter to me

You've got so much up ahead
You'll make new friends
You should see your kids and wife
And I'd end up saying have no fear
These are nowhere near the best years of your life

I guess I'll see you in the mirror
When you're a grown man
P.S. "go hug Aunt Rita every chance you can"

[3rd Chorus]
And oh you got so much going for you going right
But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night
I wish you'd study Spanish
I wish you'd take a typing class
I wish you wouldn't worry, let it be
I'd say have a little faith and you'll see

If I could write a letter to me
To me

So who's in?

Letters and Launching and Ladies' Retreat - oh my!

2010-03-11T08:27:00.001-08:00

Those are the 3 "L's" on my mind this week - a lovely busy week!

"L" #1: I love making my wooden letters - each is like a little mini-creative project and everyone loves letters. I'm so thrilled because I've had four custom orders so far this week! I just shipped this cute "Sofie" to Australia!

This "K" is getting the most hits at my online store, DwellingOnline, there's just something about black and white!

Love this "J" too...

"L" #2: Dwelling is officially launching at the spring open house next weekend - kind of like a grand opening. I'm turning my house into a store where people can pick up home decor, spring decorating ideas, information on my interior decorating services, and see products by some other wonderful ladies who are participating. It's going to be really fun and I'm thankful for the deadline to get my house and business together, but man have I been working nonstop!

"L" #3: Ladies Retreat is coming up the weekend after the launch, and as many of my lovely Tennessee ladies' must know, when you're planning and putting together the retreat (and giving a talk!), it's not as much of a "retreat" for you as it is for the other ladies! Our retreat this year is at Asilomar in the Carmel/Pacific Grove area, right at the beach, so who could complain about that. We have a "spa" theme, so I'm putting together the outline for my talk today along that theme. There's tons to do, but I know it will be worth it all!

So my thoughts are filled with "L" things today - I'm going to fill some Letter orders, work on my business Launch, and work on Ladies' Retreat - bye!

Ahhh, Kids...

2010-03-09T17:37:00.001-08:00

What is a home without children? Quiet. ~Henny Youngman

There are only two things a child will share willingly - communicable diseases and his mother's age. ~Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, 1945

Anyone who thinks the art of conversation is dead ought to tell a child to go to bed. ~Robert Gallagher

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers. ~Edgar W. Howe

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. ~Walt Streightiff

A few pics from our SoCal weekend...

2010-03-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

What a great weekend! I was worried about the weather, and it was rainy for the first half of Saturday, but Sunday was glorious! Here's our weekend in pictures...just a few of about 200 pictures I took!Rivera Alum Deja with Rivera Principal Brian at the USC/ASU basketball game

We learned that Venice, CA has canals and boats going through it like Venice, Italy!

Venice Beach, CA - a one of a kind place for sure!

Graffiti park

Pepperdine - taken from where one would possibly live if one were employed with Pepperdine (hint hint)

Where one would possibly work if one had a M.Ed., a dozen years of experience, and obtained employment with Pepperdine (hint hint)

More Pepperdine.... I know, it's ugly as can be.

My work study job at school was to be the wedding coordinator at Pepperdine's chapel. It was lots of fun.

Outdoor dining option at P.

For Amy B. - this is in Santa Barbara, and Brian said way off in the distance is UCSB!

Pismo Beach - rays of sun on the ocean.

So you might be wondering why I have pictures from all these different coastal locations. Brian and I decided to drive up the 1 as far as we could yesterday, so we made it from Malibu to SLO. Next time, we'll hit SLO to Big Sur! We've already done from Big Sur up past San Francisco, and our goal is to hit California from top to bottom in sections.

And about all the "hinting" at Pepperdine above, it's just big dreams for now of course. Brian and I have talked about working and living there since before I even went to school there. It's been a big dream of ours and something we really hope to be able to do someday. I mean, seriously, is it that strange of a dream to want fulfilled? I think not.

Hallelujah for the Weekend!

2010-03-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

What a crazy, good week! But I am so ready to hit the road bright and early tomorrow morning, just the hubby and me, and head to Southern California for a kid-free, work-free getaway. We're going to the ASU vs. USC basketball game on Saturday and visiting Pepperdine for church and strolls down memory lane on Sunday, and other than that, we can do whatever we want!

Dwelling's weekend deal is for custom wooden letters, if you want to check it out HERE.

Hope everyone has a fab weekend.....check back for pictures from mine on Monday!

Happy March!

2010-03-02T22:24:00.001-08:00

What a great week this is turning out to be! A little rain, a little sun, a little chilly, a little warm. We've been doing the Financial Peace Dave Ramsey class and I've been really working hard at setting aside money for things like car repairs and trips like I never have done before. This month I added $100 to a car repair fund, and what do you know? Had to take the Expedition into the shop because it was DYING, and guess what the repair bill was? Almost exactly $100. I didn't even have to stress over a car repair - love having at least a little financial peace. I got a custom order for some of my wooden letters from a lady in Australia, so I'm working on that and shipping it out this week. Got to play bunco with some great girlfriends tonight and had a blast. Tomorrow is my organizing day and I'm wearing sweats and staying in! This weekend is our trip to Malibu without children. I had my cholesterol checked for the first time ever and it is so good you'd think I hadn't been a junk-food junkie for 33 years! So good news good news good news.... I'll leave it at that.

How many of you have gone to school here? I'm taking a class right now!

Unbelievably handsome and big....

Beautiful Easter Lilies

Gotta love the millions of eucalyptus trees lining M street

Maddyn is 7 months old!

Next weekend...and not a moment too soon...

2010-02-28T17:34:00.001-08:00

Dwelling's Weekend Deal

2010-02-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

I don't want to keep mixing business and pleasure, so hopefully by now all my friends out there know that my decorating business is up and running and that I have a website with a store as well as an etsy store. I'm doing my first weekend deal this weekend and can't wait to see how it goes, so if you want to find out how to get 10, 20, or 30% off an item created by little old me, click here:

Dwelling

Thanks! Have a wonderful weekend guys and gals!

Spring is just around the corner!

2010-02-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

Even though there's not quite the drastic difference in seasons here that we had in Tennessee, it's still exciting to see a new season coming on (unless it's summer - yuck!) We've been getting little sneak peeks of spring in between storms. I've got to get some pictures of Bear Creek on here - it's high!

Arboleda & Yosemite

Olive Avenue at it's end

"budding" artists...

getting ready for the spring open house @ Dwelling!

a preview of the spring store @ Dwelling...love these birdies!

Domestic Diva Day - who's in?

2010-02-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, blog readers, I've been slacking in the housekeeping department, so check this out to see what I'm gonna do about it.
Domestic Diva Day @ Dwelling

Dwelling's Spring Open House - "Wake up, time to shop!"

2010-02-21T21:09:00.001-08:00

Quick trip into the city...

2010-02-20T16:29:00.001-08:00

The girls and I decided at the last minute on Thursday to run over to San Francisco. I was hoping to get tons of good pictures because the forecast was for 62 and sunny. HOWEVER....the marine layer never burned off on Thursday and we had no sun or blue skies. But, we did get Chevy's and walked around and I got a few fun pics of the girls, so here you go!Thank you, new camera, for taking 13 pictures per second in sport continuous mode - I love this!

Totally what WE would drive if we lived in the city...

11 1/2 year old

10 year old

top of Lombard

parallel parking on the left side for the first time...

yummy!

Long time, no TennesSEE!

2010-02-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it's been well over a year that I've been HERE,

and not HERE....

We had the most amazing lot and view from our house in Tennessee, where we sat on the top of a hill and could see out forever. It was so fun to watch the seasons change. The kids get jealous every time we see on Facebook that there's a snow day in Williamson County. That will NEVER happen here! Although I personally like the mellow weather here, because it's in my blood, the seasons, snow, rain, thunderstorms, humidity, and GREEN were really cool in Tennessee too.

I can't believe none of our Tennessee friends have come to visit and get a tour of California yet (hint hint). Miss you all (at least all of you that read our blog!)

Mas Fotos - I want this to be my new job...

2010-02-16T18:07:00.001-08:00

New Camera, New Stuff, New Passion....

2010-02-13T10:30:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday everyone! I am SO in love with my new camera and my new obsession for photography. Here's some of the pics I've taken since I got the Nikon on Wednesday.

And I've started making some of my creations and designs available for sale directly on my website at www.dwellinginteriors.com at a slightly discounted rate, so please check out that site when you get a chance. Anyone who'd like to link to it is MORE than welcome to! Thanks!

Happy Saturday everyone! I am SO in love with my new camera and my new obsession for photography. Here's some of the pics I've taken since I got the Nikon on Wednesday.

And I've started making some of my creations and designs available for sale directly on my website at www.dwellinginteriors.com at a slightly discounted rate, so please check out that site when you get a chance. Anyone who'd like to link to it is MORE than welcome to! Thanks!

Almost done decorating....some more new house pics

2010-02-11T21:51:00.001-08:00

formal dining

formal living

family room

kitchen - best kitchen ever...

Macy

Alli

Brennah

Brennah & Corbin's bath

master

10 on the 10th of February, 2010

2010-02-09T20:06:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Brennah!

Modern-day Charm School (PLEASE click on the link & let me know what you think)

2010-02-08T13:26:00.001-08:00

http://www.dwellinginteriors.com/2010/02/dwelling-home-life-social-graces.html

Photo Cards, anyone?

2010-02-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

Check 'em out at my etsy store (link to the left!)