#thedertings

It is hard to imagine what life was a week ago.....think back it was Tuesday, some of us were on Spring Break, some were working a normal workday,  life was good, no chaos, no panic.....and now 7 short days later, there is chaos, there are many unknowns, life is changed forever from the way we lived 7 days ago....yes, things will hopefully return to normal, sooner than later (we pray), but we are changed by this, this is a new life.... I feel the need to document the current events because its like nothing I have ever lived, my kids have never encountered, most of my go to people are living this day to day just like me.....we are in uncharted waters.....the plans we even made Saturday are changed...last week we thought we could schedule weeks to months out, but now our lives are changing quickly.....we can no longer plan for days, we are living in minutes at the moment. We were supposed to have a teacher workday yesterday, which we did, but it went nothing like it was supposed ...

14 years ago, we (#theOGdertings) were very young, naive mid 20 year olds. we had been together for 9 years, but only married for 8 months.....we got pregnant in Hawaii on our honeymoon and Bryson arrived exactly 30 days early! the weeks leading up to valentines I was being monitored for high blood pressure, I am certain it was stress related......Brooks at the time raced RC cars (he would still love to do that and the basement still has several, but instead he pours his "spare time" into soccer).....in FL in Feb they host some big "national" RC event.....we decided it was best if he went and I stayed back (that was dumb thinking about it now)....he left late one afternoon drove all the way through the night to get there, I had an appt the next day, and my blood pressure was worse, so I had to have a stress test.....Brooks drove right back home from Orlando.....I am pretty sure he was gone less than 24 hours (oops) they let me go home, but I was closely monitor...

envy rots the bones  proverbs 14:30 lately, I have been bothered by entitlement and status that is taking over our world and most importantly our children...I guess because I am really trying to find peacefulness and contentment in living a minimalist life. yall know my dream is a tiny house on an island without THINGS....we have lived the life of living out of our means and it just kills me that people feel the need to keep up with the joneses. I want nice things for us and our kids especially (please don't think I don't), but I can not stop my thoughts of who really, really cares at the end of day....do you really remember what I wore last week? I barely do....and if you do, does it mean anything to my life or your life! dont get me wrong Bryson is happy to wear nike, UA, etc and brit loves some justice stuff....but heres a little secret, everything that has those "name" brands across the front of them came from tj maxx...we dont shop those stores unless its a gr...

back to basics.....I started this blog to share sorrow in a time (way before blogging was popular) to deal with grief.... I continued writing for a purpose of sharing a testimony I feel very strongly tied to-debt-hiding the secret of debt.... lately, I would say over the last few years....the basics have left me, its probably because of life....you know it, you're living it too----married, kids, a house, a job and if you are like me your kids schedules supersede yours! I really am enjoying this part of life, mostly because I know that it will be over too soon...Bryson is less than a year from high school and I just did 3rd grade homework with Brit....who was not even with us when I started this blog journey!  but, something keeps pulling at me....a friend posted the other day, that you need to take time to do something for yourself....its so very true----we spend majority of our day doing for many others----so last week I started running again, I have always had a love/ha...

.......its been almost 2 years since i jotted down my thoughts. but this subject, this time of year always urges me to write....i think because there is someone out there that needs some encouragement. most know i had a secret addiction to credit cards and 7 years ago it was discovered! for those that dont recall it was $37,000 all on credit cards (that sounds ridiculous to say out loud). money (and debt) are scary words that drive peoples emotions, can make or break relationships, it can bring happiness and can bring even more sadness. we all know it makes the world go round.... i have to say a budget is not the most fun in the world, but a budget has turned our (my) debt into financial freedom. as a matter of fact i said to brooks last night how much i despise our budget. his response, DO YOU REALLY MEAN THAT? and honestly, i dont. it seems like a pain and hard work, but it also gives us the ability to do and provide for our kids and ourselves in a way that debt never could. the ...

The groceries in this cart cost $54 (and I added some frozen broccoli after the pic)....in the cart is breakfast for 7 days (eggs, bacon and of course chocolate chip muffins). Brooks makes breakfast every morning unless its a special occasion. Betty Crocker muffin packs are .99$ at Food Lion so several packs feed the 4 of us a few days a week. Sometimes we eat eggs and bacon or bagels (which are purchased at the bread store for the discounted price) or pancakes or waffles (I get the Food Lion brand of pancake mix for about a $1.80 and it last a few weeks). Lunch is also in cart....Brit is into lunchables at the moment (and they were 10 for $10 the past 2 weeks so I stocked up), Bryson prefers Chef Boyardee which are usually 10 for $10. Brit likes cheese and yogurt, Bryson prefers gold fish, granola bars, gummies.  Brooks and I do leftovers for lunch or grab something with our own allowance. If we are home on Saturdays we usually snack and we have Salsaritas after church on Su...

I have been trying to write for over a month.....my goal was to write one post a month and you see I missed January. I have lots to say, but its just finding the time to get it down and then making it have some sort of main idea has been hard for me.....BUT I do have a topic to discuss this month because I feel like it is a testimony #thedertings need to share.....we all have a story, we just have to tell it!! It is once again our debt anniversary.....I tell this story a few times a year to random people because there is hope to be debt free, there is a chance to live a life without living pay check to pay check, I dont promise or pretend to promise that it is easy because it, in no way is....BUT I do have promises in this.... As I am getting older (because lets face it, I am getting older) it is becoming more and more evident that I don't care about pleasing others, making others happy, having what others have, etc....I read in a magazine just last week that 68% of people say ...