#thedertings

As I am sitting on the couch, looking out onto the beautiful leaves that are changing....I see it just as I did 6 years. This little blog of mine was born exactly 6 years ago tomorrow. It has evolved into a place that I don't get to visit often, but it always has the power to remind to sit back and be grateful.... Grateful because this time 6 years ago.....we (#thedertings) were in pain, pain of a loss, pain of losing a baby that we never got the chance to meet. BUT from that pain came a beautiful, spunky, 5 year old girl also known as #britanrae. I have said it before, September is not my favorite month, probably my least favorite (school is back in full swing, routines have started, but aren't settled, and this week always finds me every year). To that I do have to say, this September, I honestly haven't focused on because it has flown by faster than I could ever imagine.... There is a reason things happen and often that reason is to remind us of our blessings and the...

Hi Friends! Again, its been too long, and by now you know I have some things brewing in my head drawing me to blog about them.....FYI: it might be long..... We, #thedertings, are at it again overcommitted and counting the days till the end of the school year....the 20 min chores aren't done, I have emails (I hate anything in my inbox), my to-do list doesnt have everything highlighted in pink (pink means its DONE), my kids are exhausted, because y'all see it, we run them to death! BUT I am yet, again, seeing these signs and having people remind me daily, that I love this life of mine!!! and I really wouldn't change a thing! Just a recap of our last week (in case you havent seen my million pics on fb) which brings me to another point I will get to in a moment.... It was a normally scheduled crazy week: Brits soccer party, Bryson soccer practice x2 in the rain, Brit dance, one night at the gym and then there was the weekend.....bridal brunch which included an amazing fr...

So this morning I had a little moment of perspective on life....today was headcount day for the EC Dept (this is the day that we have to have every EC teacher verify their caseloads to make sure we have all kids accounted for, for funding)....its kind of like a rat race to run around to each school, have teachers look over sign their sheets and then run back to the finish line...in the past I have always wanted to be 1st, but somehow that changed for me before I even got to work this morning.... I needed to be at the central office to collect the sheets by 7:45 so I was making decent timing (for me being that it was morning and I am not a morning person)....I was putting my bracelets on and looked out my bedroom window and I could see headlights at the top of the road (we live on a dead end road, just us and family), so this was odd....I panicked (bc if you know me I immediately assume something is wrong)....I texted Brooks and he was going back by our house to take Brit to save me s...

It's that time of year again....an anniversary that I am thankful for....today it has been 4 years since #thedertings made the decision to live a debt free (as possible) lifestyle!  You have heard our story (a few times) by now.....I had a secret that cost over $30k and Brooks found it on this day 4 years ago!! If you haven't heard it.....click below  3 years debt free..... I know this can be a personal and very touchy subject for most, but I like to share our experience with others that may be in the same situation or maybe trying to overcome and just need a little encouragement that YOU CAN DO IT........ I can't stress enough how important it is to budget.....we budget every penny.....we have tweaked and adjusted a few things since last year. 1) we save more each month than ever before  2) we pay extra to the mortgage  3) we joined Sams and purchase some things in bulk (juice boxes, yahoos, TP, paper towels) 4) we, kind of (oops), purchased PSLs to ...

#panthernation is on fire if you haven't heard and if you haven't heard you must be under a rock away from civilization. I just wanted to take a minute bc the "south is on lock" due to the weather to touch on all the "hype" surrounding our Carolina Panthers and #thedertings memory making experience..... There are many out there that have no faith or confidence in our special little team and even after a killing yesterday I am still not sure some are convinced.....and then you have that bandwagon overflowing with panther supporters..... It is really hard for me to determine, being right in the heart of panther nation, whether or not its this electric across the US or are we the only ones experiencing this history making event. It is truly amazing to me how in a crowd of 70,000+ people everyone manages to get along, give high fives and even talk a little smack to the "12th man" and cardinals fans over the last 2 weeks and everything still remain ...

So there is this lottery that has the potential to offer a billion dollars to someone....I honestly have to say I have never purchased a lottery ticket and probably never will... I am somewhat bothered by the fact that the lottery total is what is taking over the US right now.....aren't there bigger issues Americans should be focused on? I am also bothered because it makes me sad that some think money is what makes them happy....there are such better things out there!! I have a few reasons for not caring about the lottery..... 1) we have everything we need without a billion dollars...therefore, I have already won the "lottery"...... 2) I truly don't want the responsibility of feeling the need to distribute such a large amount of money with those I love....because someone would be mad, hurt and probably never speak to me again, because it would never end fairly..... 3) its too much to think about....way too stressful, to (I am assuming) enjoy! Would...

WOW! It's been too long, again...I annoy myself when I let this sit and don't do anything with it....there have been several topics enter my head over the past few months, but honestly who had the time?!?! Which is where I intend on going with this.... How was your Thanksgiving? How was your Christmas? How was your New Year's? Can you believe all of those holidays are G-O-N-E?!?! It was like December 26th hit and the air deflated from that magical holiday ride I had been riding for a while....DONE, RIDE OVER, EXIT TO THE LEFT! Next stop 2016! All the hard work (well it felt like hard work to me)..... was over so quickly and what did you get out of it.....I was a little mad at myself because I felt like I was just constantly marking things off of the endless list and now that list is trash :( Christmas cards-check, gift buying-check, gift wrapping-check, teacher gifts-check, student gifts-check, meal planning and preparing-check, cleaning the kitchen 110 times-check, oh ...