It's February!

Hello and Happy February! Everyone always talks about how long January seems... but I'm not really feeling that at all. I guess it's because I feel like my life is spent running around like a crazy person. Ha!

Debt Paid off as of 2.2.19: $702.91

Total Debt with the House: $128,277.45
Total Debt without House: $76,632.09

I truly wish we could have done better than that. However, some unforeseen things came up and we had to roll with what life handed us. I sent out a stack of bills the other day. Eight total.... FIVE of those were medical bills for Carson. One was a medical bill for me. The other two were living expenses. So, 6 of the 8 were medical. I am totally fine letting the consumer debt wait to take care of the medical bills. That is one thing I will not let sit. Why? I don't know. I know there isn't any interest on them unless you let them go for a LONG time but I don't want to do that. With the amount of medical bills that will continue to come in for Carson, it would be stupid for me to just let them pile up.

Also, my hours were cut at Hy Vee at the beginning of the year which hurt us pretty badly on the debt snowball. That situation has been remedied though and all will continue as normal. Yay!

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Other Life Things:

Meh. My foot is still problematic, however, surgery is scheduled for this Thursday 2.7.19 at 11:30am! I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am that this is finally happening. Since I'm working on year two of this ridiculous pain; I am ready for it to be fixed. I will be in a boot for 4 weeks after surgery. I will be able to walk, but will need to take it easy. I'll have two incisions, one in my foot and one in my calf. Then hopefully the weather will start getting nicer, my foot will be better, and I can finally take the boys outside for walks again! Man do I miss getting out and moving around without hurting or needing to take a break.

The boys are doing fine. Carson did get diagnosed with strep last week but the antibiotics kicked in quick. That and the fact that my son never acts sick means he really wasn't "down" for long. Dean is still doing great with the tubes and his therapy is going swimmingly!

Other than that, we're just trucking along. I haven't been taking many pictures (shame on me) so sorry the past couple of posts have been a bit blah. Thanks for sticking with me though!

Mid Month Update

Hello all! Where is this month going? Between all of the appointments, working, and craziness at home I'm not sure where the time goes anymore.

I don't have much to update on the debt free journey as the last set of paychecks went to living expenses. Mortgage, heat, power, water, etc. We will both get paid again this month and after paying the rest of the bills (insurance, a few medical bills), and filling the envelope with our cash, I will pay another big chunk to the debt. Woo!

I had mentioned before that I was using EveryDollar to do my budgeting, but I am an Excel junkie and made my own fantabulous spreadsheet that I am now using. It's one less thing to log in to and one less password for me to remember. I still love Every Dollar and recommend it to people just getting started with budgeting (since it's free!) but for me... I like to customize everything to my liking and my aesthetic tastes........ plus I'm addicted to Excel spreadsheets.

Dean had his check up for his tubes and there was some blood in his left ear so we are putting some drops in them to try and clear that up. He is doing amazing, though, and we have noticed such a HUGE change in his demeanor and even his personality. He's so much happier and is talking so much more!

I had my meeting with Carson's therapists at The Autism Clinic and his scores have improved dramatically in the 6 months that he has been there. Everyone at the clinic adores Carson and he is definitely a favorite. He's such a sweet and lovable boy. I'm so proud of him. When he first had his assessment he was at an 18 month level and now he's gone up to being at a 2-3 year old level. He's improving!

I have finally gotten in to see a new podiatrist about my plantar fasciitis and had an MRI done on Tuesday so that the doctor could take a look at all my tendons and muscles and recommend which type of surgery he thinks will be best! *insert happy dance gif here*
This doctor can do one of two surgeries. He can either cut the fascia completely so it can no longer pull and get tight OR he can make an incision, poke holes in the fascia and cauterize them and then make an incision in my calf and cut that muscle to loosen it up. The first surgery would require me to be in a cast for 2 weeks and I wouldn't be able to put ANY weight/pressure on my foot. The second surgery would put me in a boot for 4 weeks but I would be able to walk on it right away.... carefully. I am all for the second method of surgery since I have children and being off my foot for 3 weeks?! That'd be kind of difficult....... especially since I don't like to sit still.

My current struggles (because I said I'd be completely honest) are:

• Food. Still. I am a binge eater. A food addict. I haven't lost any weight since November.... but I also haven't gained any weight since November. I'm at a stand still. I need to focus and get my butt in gear.
• Sleep. Carson is still waking up most nights from 2am-5am. It's making both Andrew and I zombies and some days I just want to scream and cry. 
• Work. It's frustrating me right now because I'm not as happy as I once was at Hy Vee. Sometimes working in Customer Service makes you angry. Most days all I hear is "bitch bitch bitch. Me me me. Complain complain complain." and although we have some AWESOME customers, it's hard to block out all the negativity. 
• Work. In the sense that I'm not making a ton and I wish I could contribute more to our family finances. However, I am needed at home. Every week is full of appointments. There isn't a day that I don't have something to do. Except Sundays. Sundays are my saving grace. 
• Autism. Autism is hard. Autism is expensive. Carson is an amazing little person but he's not easy. Some days I lose my cool and snap at everyone around me. Imagine having a 4 year old with the developmental mentality of a 2 year old. It's. Hard. 
• Spending. I still have trouble with buying things I don't need. Am I going over my budgeted amounts? No. But I could be using the money more wisely. 

I know this wasn't a very exciting update but I promised to take you all on this journey with me so here we are. Happy Hump Day, everyone. 

2019 - Day 4

Good day, blog readers! I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year! It's 2019! Andrew and I have big goals for this year, as you saw from my last blog post, and I'm very excited to continue on this journey. Updates as far as the beginning of the month:

Debt Paid off as of 1.4.19:   $257.65

Total Debt with the House: $128,722.71
Total Debt without House:  $77,077.35

BOOM. One card paid off just like that. So, our snowball amount was bigger than that, so the remainder of the snowball will go to the next smallest debt. Then, that $257.65 will be added in to next month's snowball amount. This is why the debt snowball is SO powerful. To see debt get paid off quickly at the beginning (the smaller amounts) makes the momentum and motivation of the journey seem not as daunting. Now, when we get to my student loan it will be hard. Until that point though, it's going to be EPIC paying off the smaller debts that I was dumb enough to get. Not Andrew. None of this was Andrew's doing. It was all me. I'm thankful to have a husband that is understanding and forgiving. He knows that I am better than I used to be, but still have some bad habits that creep in. He's my motivation and driving force most days. I don't know what I would do without him.
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Other Life Things:

We've been busy the last few days. We started off 2019 with a funeral. She was basically family, but not blood relation to me. She was my cousin's grandmother and I loved her like my own grandmother. We spent MANY days at her house growing up and she treated us like her own. Grandma Nonie was a beautiful, loving, sweet woman that will be truly missed. I adore my family. I hate that I only get to see them at weddings and funerals, but travel isn't exactly in the budget right now. My 5 wonderful cousins happened to all be in Iowa for the funeral and seeing them filled my heart so full.

L to R: Mat, Nate, Me, Danielle, Sarah

L to R: Aaron, Isaac, Dean, Me, Mat, Nate
Front: Sarah, Danielle

L to R: Photobomb by Dean-o, Me, Danielle, Sarah, Carson's head

My mom does a great job getting candid photos. She knows just what to say to make us all laugh or look around. Those are the best photos. I spent a lot of time with my cousins when I was younger. My uncle David and Aunt Mary (my mom's sister), would drive all 5 kids up from Missouri either in the summer or at Christmas and it was mass chaos. I.Loved.Every.Minute.Of.It. Not only that... with Mary's kids and us there were 8 kids. Throw in Kim, Scott, Pam, Richard, and Josh.... there were 13 of us running around. Again.... it was bliss. I love having a big family. Please keep in mind, that this is only on my mom's side. I won't even get into the cousins on my dad's side since he's 1 of 7 kids in a catholic family. I have cousins I haven't even met on his side.

Even though traveling is exhausting, I got to see my family and even got to spend a little time with my friend Valerie! Man do I miss her. Valerie has been a friend of mine since Jr. High School. Every time I'm in the Quad Cities I make it a mission to see her. If my best friend, Sydney, hadn't moved away to Des Moines, I'd make it a mission to see her too. 

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The Boys:

My kids are doing wonderfully. Dean is saying more and more words every day. The tubes are helping!! So is his behavioral and speech therapy, too. I met with Carson's lead clinician yesterday and he's DOUBLED his score from when he first started! The first thing I ever say to people when they ask me what Carson is like is "Smart." He is SO SMART. Stubborn.... but smart. They are going to move him into the next level of ABA which is a school preparedness program and I couldn't be happier. He's completing all of his goals and everything they're teaching is carrying over at home. I am so thankful for Hope, The Autism Clinic, and couldn't imagine where he'd be without them.

Dean is still a turd/human tornado, though. Some nights Andrew and I just sit on the couch and stare at each other like "where did this kid come from?!".

Carson & Dean in the church nursery. They didn't want to be quiet during the service. 

BLIPPI! 

We downsized to our previous TV (much smaller than the one we traded with my brother), and got rid of our surround sound system. Traded that out for a Bose Sound Bar with Christmas money. Best decision EVER. It feels like we have so much more room at the front of the house now. The Bose is AMAZING.

We were watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Andrew got the Blu-Ray box set of the Harry Potter movies and we've been watching them at night. I need to try and sell Andrew's surround sound now. There's nothing wrong with it, it just took up WAY too much space and Dean wouldn't stop stuffing toys in the sub-woofer. Hopefully I'll get a decent amount of money out of that. I'm also doing a Focus on Finance Challenge from Fun, Cheap, or Free and she is having us try to sell a certain amount of things in our house. Challenge Accepted.