Jan 5, 2011
Jarrod's Surprise
It's no shock that last night's game was a big deal around here. Here we are, Buckeye fans living in Hog Country. So, needless to say, there's been a lot of trash talk amongst Jarrod and his coworkers over the past couple of weeks. Yesterday, Jarrod was off-site in the morning and when he arrived to his office, this is what he found.
His desk and cubicle area were all decked out in Razorback gear. They even went as far as posting the ultrasound pictures from our appointment on Monday with "Future Razorback Fan" written above it. I thought it was too funny not to share. :)
Jan 4, 2011
Goals for 2011
Recently, I was promoted to Sr. Consultant with Tastefully Simple and as a gift, I received CEO Jill Blashack-Strahan's book, Simply Shine, in the mail and couldn't put it down. It was basically a compilations of stories that tell about Jill's life and all the things that happened to her that ultimately led to her owning a multi-million dollar company. It was so inspiring to read, and pushed me to dream a little more. One of her big points throughout the book was that you have to set goals and WRITE THEM DOWN in order for them to happen. And according to Jill, "if a goal doesn't come to fruition, then it wasn't for your ultimate good."
So, I'm not really making 'resolutions' this year, but goals. I'm writing them down, getting it out there, and I'm going to make it happen!
I LOVE staying at home with Gavin (and future Baby Hamm) but it's not always easy for us financially. There have been many times where I've contemplated going back to work just to help us in that matter, but then the thought of day care costs and being away from the kids kind of gets in the way. So, I have to make what we have available work for us. A lot of my goals this year revolve around that...I do not want to go back to work full time, but I also don't want to feel stressed about money anymore.
So, my first goal is to get back into my couponing and really cut down our spending at Walmart. I was doing so well over the summer, and then the weather changed, the holidays were among us, I found out I was pregnant, and I slacked. I didn't take the time to check the coupon blogs and make my lists, etc. For this year, I'm getting back in the game and I'm going to cut down our spending. I got started off right by buying two papers on Sunday...there were 4 inserts in each paper!
Second, I want to make use of the money that will be coming our way in the spring to really pay off the debt we've accumulated and haven't been able to pay off. On top of our tax return, we'll also get Jarrod bonus plus his annual raise, our health insurance cost went down so we'll see a difference in his checks from that, and our rent drops in April. I dream about the day when I don't have any credit card payments to make! I mean, like...you know how people dream about living on an island or winning the lottery...I literally dream about not having bills to pay (aside from the daily bills that come along with just living...I'm talking credit card bills and car payments.)
Next, my goal has to do with Tastefully Simple. I already make good money from the parties I do with TS, but my goal is to make more income this year. I'm planning to do that by holding more parties, but by also promoting to Team Leader and growing my team. Last quarter, I welcomed two team members to Simply Ambitious, so this year my goal is to add three more each quarter, or 12 for the whole year. If I continue to have a consistent party schedule and welcome new team members, I know I can earn the Cancun trip for Jarrod and me. I never thought Tastefully Simple would become such a huge part of my life, but I'm so thankful I decided to give it a try.
Lastly, my goal is to remember how lucky I am, even when I'm feeling stressed or like we'll never get where we want to be. I know that's not true, and I know that as bad as I think we have it, there are other people that are worse off than we are. We're so lucky to have each other and such an amazing little boy to love. We live in a great home in a great location and have families that love us. Despite the distance between us, I have friends that I love and cherish. I'm going to be more grateful for all we do have this year.
Happy New Year, everyone! What are your goals this year?
So, I'm not really making 'resolutions' this year, but goals. I'm writing them down, getting it out there, and I'm going to make it happen!
I LOVE staying at home with Gavin (and future Baby Hamm) but it's not always easy for us financially. There have been many times where I've contemplated going back to work just to help us in that matter, but then the thought of day care costs and being away from the kids kind of gets in the way. So, I have to make what we have available work for us. A lot of my goals this year revolve around that...I do not want to go back to work full time, but I also don't want to feel stressed about money anymore.
So, my first goal is to get back into my couponing and really cut down our spending at Walmart. I was doing so well over the summer, and then the weather changed, the holidays were among us, I found out I was pregnant, and I slacked. I didn't take the time to check the coupon blogs and make my lists, etc. For this year, I'm getting back in the game and I'm going to cut down our spending. I got started off right by buying two papers on Sunday...there were 4 inserts in each paper!
Second, I want to make use of the money that will be coming our way in the spring to really pay off the debt we've accumulated and haven't been able to pay off. On top of our tax return, we'll also get Jarrod bonus plus his annual raise, our health insurance cost went down so we'll see a difference in his checks from that, and our rent drops in April. I dream about the day when I don't have any credit card payments to make! I mean, like...you know how people dream about living on an island or winning the lottery...I literally dream about not having bills to pay (aside from the daily bills that come along with just living...I'm talking credit card bills and car payments.)
Next, my goal has to do with Tastefully Simple. I already make good money from the parties I do with TS, but my goal is to make more income this year. I'm planning to do that by holding more parties, but by also promoting to Team Leader and growing my team. Last quarter, I welcomed two team members to Simply Ambitious, so this year my goal is to add three more each quarter, or 12 for the whole year. If I continue to have a consistent party schedule and welcome new team members, I know I can earn the Cancun trip for Jarrod and me. I never thought Tastefully Simple would become such a huge part of my life, but I'm so thankful I decided to give it a try.
Lastly, my goal is to remember how lucky I am, even when I'm feeling stressed or like we'll never get where we want to be. I know that's not true, and I know that as bad as I think we have it, there are other people that are worse off than we are. We're so lucky to have each other and such an amazing little boy to love. We live in a great home in a great location and have families that love us. Despite the distance between us, I have friends that I love and cherish. I'm going to be more grateful for all we do have this year.
Happy New Year, everyone! What are your goals this year?
Jan 3, 2011
10 Weeks!
Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 10 Weeks
Size of baby: Baby Hamm is the size of a prune.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +5lbs - same as last week.
Maternity Clothes: Still in my clothes, but have been wearing my belly band most days and did break out the maternity pants for our trip to Chipotle last week!
Gender: Unknown....my gut says it's another boy right now though.
Movement: Too early.
Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! Naps are common these days.
What I miss: Not much right now...I got the OK today to take baths again! :)
Cravings: Can't say I crave anything in particular right now, but when I see something or hear about something, I usually want it...like potstickers. Thanks, Meg.
Symptoms: My lovely face is so broken out right now. Gross! I'm still exhausted most of the time and my sense of smell is definitely heightened!
Best Moment this week: Having an ultrasound!
We had my first appointment today. I went in fully ready to beg to try and find the heartbeat with the doppler so I was super excited to hear the nurse practitioner was planning to do an ultrasound! We got to see Baby Hamm and hear his/her heartbeat, which was 184 beats per minute. Gavin was there so he got to see everything, though he didn't quite get where the baby was. I'm 10 weeks, but the baby is measuring about 9 weeks 4 days, which is exactly what I told her based on my last cycle. They're still keeping me at 10 weeks though and gave me an official due date of August 3, 2011!
I let Jarrod take the ultrasound pics to work after our appointment, but I snapped a picture of it with my phone first. And for those of you looking at it like my Dad and has no clue - find the black circle in the middle first, and then find the small 'thing' laying on the bottom of that circle...that's the baby!
Jan 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
Well, another year has come and gone! We always say it, but time goes so fast, especially since Gavin was born. So...time to reflect on the resolutions and make some new ones. Let's see how I did with the goals I made for this year...
Goals for myself:
Goals for myself:
- I need to eat healthier and be more active so that I can finally lose the rest of the baby weight from Gavin. I'm not even thinking about baby #2 until I lose this weight! - I didn't lose all the weight I wanted before getting pregnant, but I did get motivated and lost some!
- Get 'Journal Jars by Jen' up and running by the end of January. - I got it up and running, but have since 'shut it down.' My etsy page just wasn't getting the traffic I wanted and I didn't devote the time I needed to to it. I still make the jars for friends and family though when asked.
- Scrapbook more and finally get caught up on our family scrapbook and finish our wedding scrapbook. - Yeah, this one didn't happen. Instead, I realized that it was time for me to take a break from scrapbooking.
- Learn how to use my dSLR camera and Photoshop so I can take better pictures. - I definitely learned a lot about the camera, but still know nothing about Photoshop!
- Have more 'date nights' with Jarrod, even if it's just a movie or a game after Gavin's in bed. - I feel like we were doing well with this, but it's definitely taken a break since I've been so exhausted with this pregnancy.
- Work on paying off credit cards. - Again, this will be on the agenda for this year!
- Begin to think about potty training this summer. - Did, and done!
- Visit NYC. - Never made it to NYC before leaving NY.
- Have 5 parties a month (just taste-testing parties or combination of taste-testing/online catalog parties). Once things got going here in Arkansas, I've been pretty consistent with my 5 parties.
- Add 3 members to my Simply Ambitious team so I can promote to Team Leader. - I welcomed 2 members to my team this past year, and I'm looking forward to growing even more!
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