Can I just restart or reboot?

So, as a family, we are a little frustrated with some things going on and we are thinking about changing things and starting over somewhere else.  I'm a little stressed about this, to say the least. Part of me is a bit excited about starting over, living simply, and trying something new.  But part of me likes consistency, dependability, and stability that I have worked so hard over the years to achieve.  To leave that behind scares me.

If we decide to make this change, I am excited about the chance to get out of education.  But I'm scared because that is our main source of income, insurance, and retirement.  I am excited about the possibility of having a massive yard sale and getting rid of most of our possessions so we don't have to "take them with us" when we move to this new location.  I'm excited about living a more simplified lifestyle, mainly because I want to be a starving artist and try to promote my art and books.  Given this opportunity, I really want to promote myself full-time.  Obviously part-time promotion over the years has not worked as well as I have wanted it to.  But that scares me because I don't want us to, well, starve.

So my thoughts are, we can do this if we really buckle down now and save every penny we can - in the midst of baseball season, end of school expenses, final payments for my trip to Spain, and regular bills.  I have been praying about this since last week, when we first began the discussions.  The kids are on board and pretty excited, which eases my mind a little.

It's hard.  Life is hard.  I'm going to continue to pray for guidance and clarity.  The good Lord has guided me this far and I know he will keep whispering to me and showing me what his plan is for us.

Frustrated, aggravated, and disappointed

Not a fun title is it?  But that's how I feel right now.  I should be feeling happy and joyful since I've got my Daylight Saving Time back and I can now frolic in some sunshine after school and actually stay warm at a baseball game for a little while longer.  Maybe my body is still just a little upset over losing an hour of much needed sleep.  At any rate, I am just feeling....blah.

Ever have those days?  I feel I could burst into tears at any moment.  I'm just overwhelmed with things, my mind is racing with projects and ideas that I don't have time to produce, and I'm stressed out.  I tend to sit and think too much and that leads to trouble.  Actually, it's not good for my health.  I have so much to be thankful for, and I am thankful, but it's just been one of those days where it's hard to get out of the funk, even when you count all your blessings.

I desperately want to write and be a writer.  I feel it deep in my soul and in my bones.  I want to illustrate and create cute note cards and inspirational art that will lift people's spirits when they feel down (like the way I feel right now).  Earlier tonight, as I sat at my daughter's acting class, I doodled and created some note cards for a friend, and I realize now that I was not as "blah" feeling as I am at the moment. 

So, I'm disappointed because I don't have time (or I say I don't) to focus on my mutiny project.  I'm frustrated with the educational system right now and the fact that I am not getting a raise plus I get to lose $81 a month because my insurance is going up.  I'm aggravated that some people in authoritative/educational positions don't seem to communicate to others what they want or expect from children and parents.

But, it's almost bedtime and I have to find something positive so that maybe I can turn off the wheels that keep rotating in my brain, churning out one idea after another.  I wake up exhausted because I lie in bed for hours thinking, praying, creating in my mind.  I do feel a little better having typed this little blog.  Even if no one reads it.  I feel better for myself.  My mind is a little less cluttered, my chest a little lighter, my shoulders less knotted.   I have had this one setback but tomorrow I'm going to rock!  I've got lots of positive things going on and God has a way of making things happen in His time.  I know there are brighter days ahead.   Game on!

Getting started

Well, I did get started on staging my mutiny against all our stuff.  Sort of.  I typed up my initial plans and what exactly we have too much of.  Everything, really...except money.  But we have enough and that's okay.

So, I have decided to start with possessions in the month of March.  I hope to find some time in between school and baseball games to get in my creepy, cold basement and start purging things in my collection of fabric, art supplies, and everyday items that I tend to hoard because I think they will make a cool art project.  (I've got to stop that!)

Now, I'm not gonna lie.  I have a motive for purging all of our stuff that has nothing to do with the fact we are overrun by it.  I am taking a group of 4 students to Spain in June and I don't want to put unnecessary financial strain on my family so I need to make a few extra bucks (well, a few hundred bucks) so that my family doesn't suffer financially while I'm gone for 11 days.  The emotional stress will have them suffering enough, along with the fact that they will actually have to do things for themselves.  Hey, I only take these trips every 2-3 years so I'm going to enjoy every second of it and have my kids learn some good life lessons about how to survive without mom!

I also want to have a swap party where you invite your friends/family to bring a few items they don't want and you get together and swap it.  I've actually tried to plan one of these things before (I even found my notes in a folder I was cleaning out) but I never followed through with it.  I think I will plan that during Spring Break since the kids will be out of school, I'll be out of school, and we could stay up all night without having any major responsibilities, like work, the next day!

I hope that by ridding ourselves of all these useless things, that we can spend more time as a family, purchase what we really need instead of what we want, and bless others in the process.  I do plan to just give some of our things away to those who need it more than we do.  And, of course, if it comes down to make a buck or bless someone who can't pay, the latter will happen every time.  We have been blessed when we were at our lowest and I truly believe in spreading the love and blessings to everyone.

Month One - Possessions will begin on March 1st and will last the entire month.  I hope to get my children involved and explain to them why we need to do this.  I'm not sure what the second month will be but I will plan that as month one progresses.  I'm excited about this adventure.

Stay Positive!
Jen

Planning my own mutiny

I've been reading a book the past week and a half.  What?  How have I had time to read?  Snow days.  We've had lots of snow days.  And I absolutely love this book.  I will probably read it again when I'm finished and highlight the really good stuff.

I had heard about this on the wonderful web and thought I'd give it a try.  I'm always thinking we have way too much stuff - physically, emotionally, etc.  I tried to find it for free at my local library but that was a fail.  Not really wanting to purchase the download from Amazon, I kept holding out thinking I could find someone who already had it and just borrow it or convince my library to purchase it.  Nope.  None of the above.  I took my daughter on a rare visit to the movies and we stopped at a major bookstore - just to browse.  Nope.  That didn't happen either.  Now, if you don't really know my daughter and me, we don't just browse through books.  We love them.  Cherish them.  Use them.  It was her first time in said bookstore and she was in heaven.  She had a hard time deciding how much of her saved Christmas money she was willing to spend in this "best store ever".  But, I digress.

I found the book and purchased it, along with a couple of ACT prep books for my teenager.  He has yet to take a practice test while I am almost finished with my purchased treasure.

To summarize, the author (also a Jen like me) is tired of all the stuff taking over her family and disrupting her relationship building with God.  I like this.  I've been thinking this too.  So she came up with 7 areas of excess and spent 30 days on each area.  Some of her areas were food, clothing, media, possessions, and spending.  I'm with ya!

So, I have been secretly planning my own mutiny, to begin shortly after I finish reading the book.  I still need a lot of prayer and motivation.  I will brainstorm and identify our specific areas of excess and how I want to tackle them.  I'm not sure if I can do it exactly the way she did but I'm not sure I want to.  This is personal and I need to make it work for me so that I can grow from it.

These past few snow days has made me focus more on this than I probably would have if I had been casually reading a little at night after a long day of work and running kids to practices.  But I think God wanted it that way.  He has been speaking to me more lately and I've been listening more.  Or maybe He's always been speaking to me this much, I just didn't listen.  Either way, I'm listening now and I'm inspired.  Inspired to be a better daughter of my King, a better wife, a better mother, and a better teacher.  But that's all to come when I figure out the details of this little mutiny.

Until then, stay positive and count your blessings!
Jen

Trying this freezer meal cooking plan

Happy New Year! On this first day of 2014, I am feeling so accomplished!  I tried the whole freezer meals thing.  And I did it all with food and stock from my pantry and fridge.  I didn't spend any money!  Warning:  if you want to keep reading, just know that this is kind of a long post.

So, here's the deal.  I get chicken from my dad.  Lots of it.  Anyway, I started with a bag of about 8 huge chicken breasts.  Not your typical ones from the grocery but actually turkey sized chicken breasts, probably about 12 pounds worth.  I put it all in a pot to boil.  While that was boiling, I was surfing the internet, playing Candy Crush saga, and just being lazy.  The kids had done the dishes so that was a big help before the big 5 hour mess got started!

I cooked and chopped and boiled and jarred so much food!  I actually can't believe what I accomplished.  Here's the only photo I took of my cooking adventure and I was about halfway into it.

Now, here's what I cooked or chopped:

About 12 lbs. of boneless chicken breasts
1 onion
1 lb. of carrots
4 boiled eggs
4 potatoes (I will be cutting and cooking the rest of the bag tomorrow.)

Here's what I used from my pantry/fridge:

2 soft tortilla shells
shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 container or sour cream
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1/2 packet club crackers
a few tablespoons of French's fried onions
salt and pepper and garlic salt
flour
baking powder
milk
butter
mayonaise
mustard

Now for the good part - Here's what I made from all of this:

1 chicken casserole
1 chicken pot pie
2 chicken burritos (yes, only 2.  I only had 2 tortilla shells! I wrapped them individually to grab for a quick school lunch.)
chicken salad
carrots, onion and potatoes already chopped to make deer meat stew (which is also already in the freezer)
2 quart sized bags of shredded chicken for tacos, nachos, soup, chicken chili, or whatever
3 jars of chicken broth
1 16 oz. container of cream of chicken soup
4 snack bags of carrots

Now, this also does not include the chicken broth or cream of chicken soup that I made to add to my casseroles since I only had one can in my cabinet.  Mine was so much better than the store bought canned stuff!

I froze most of it so that when baseball season starts in a month or so, I can just pop these things in the oven or crock pot and we have a good dinner in under half an hour.  I still have to cut and cook the potatoes tomorrow but that's okay.  I am so proud to have 8 complete meals ready to go.

Now to organize my freezer space a little better and I think I will do this every two weeks, maybe rotate chicken and beef.  I don't know if I can handle being in the kitchen to do all of it at once!

Jen

I've been crafty!

Well, after some weird allergic reaction that sent me to the doctor then the hospital 2 days later, I've had plenty of time away from school to get into my creative spirit again.  I finally caught up on a little housekeeping and picture hanging (hey, it only took me 3 months to hang those pictures) and some redecorating.

I had purchased these old, crocheted doilies a few months back at my church yard sale.  I knew they would have great futures but I had not found the right shirt just yet.  Until Thursday.  My daughter and I finally had some time to just walk around and window shop at antique and thrift stores since we were out of school for a short fall break.  That's when I found this great oatmeal colored, long sleeve sweater for $1.50.  So, the doilies go on the shoulders like so...

After sewing them on with a zigzag stitch, I decided to cut away the fabric underneath to expose the shoulders.  I really love how it turned out and I got lots of compliments when I wore it to the football game.

So now here's my selfie in my $2 sweater that looks like it came from a boutique, paired with my $1 infinity scarf I made.  I think it looks pretty sweet!

Happy crafting!  Until next time...

It's been a while but here's a new project

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I've posted here!  I've been busy but that's no excuse.

I have completed several projects but here's the one I'm most proud of right now.  I have sewn leather for the very first time!

I got this nice suede skirt on Listia, a website where you can get rid of your stuff for points and then redeem your points for free stuff that other people are giving away.  I really had hoped to wear this skirt as is.

 

Sadly, this caramel number was just too tight.  So, I stuffed it in my closet to think about what I wanted to make out of it or lose enough weight so it would fit.  

Fast forward a few weeks to a weekend beach getaway.  I was shopping some high end outlets for a new purse but just could not bring myself to pay $109 for a designer purse, that's with 60% off.  Then, I remembered my lonely little suede skirt sitting on a shelf in my closet.

So, I get the seam ripper and went to work.  I separated the bottom half of the skirt from the top.

Next, well, there are several steps but basically I sewed the bottom of the skirt together, hemmed it all up nicely, cut a strip from the top half to make the strap for my purse, and used some of the belt loops to add decorative Xs on the sides of the bag.

I did not line my purse but it was my first time using leather to make a purse.  I've made plenty of fabric bags before but this was a bit challenging.  But I liked it!  I can't wait to go browsing thrift stores and yard sales for some leather skirts, jackets, etc.  I will be sure to buy heavy duty needles next time since I broke 3 needles making this.  I also made a cute little tassel for the slouchy flap.  I still have some tweaking to do and I'm looking for just the right vintage button to go on the front for the tassel closure but I really like my new leather bag.

Until the next craft, count your blessings!