Update on the Dave Ramsey Plan

I regularly crunch our numbers. I seriously think it’s so much fun. ha! It must come from my momma. Bran and I are doing SO good sticking to our budget. It is amazing to see our debt shrink little by little each month. We graduated from Financial Peace University in February…. 6 months ago. In March, I posted that we had around $17,000 in debt. I am happy to report that that number has shrunk to $10,000! Woohoo! We are on our way! And what is even better…. I am able to get $5,000 of that $10,000 forgiven thanks to a teacher loan forgiveness program. That is exciting!

However, since I am starting graduate school, I will be adding another $5,000 to the total. But that’s ok with me since I will be making more money after I graduate. Not only have we paid off a big chunk, we have saved a big chunk for a wonderful vacation next summer. Exciting times in the Motley household! God is so faithful!

Good Day

Why has it been a good day?
1. I have been accepted into graduate school!
2. We received a little over $30 from our dentist for overpaying.
3. Bran and I took our little refund to go eat BBQ tonight to celebrate my acceptance.
4. My SMARTboard worked today! You seriously have no idea how huge that is!!
5. One of my precious students informed me that they scared a starfish this summer, causing it to poop. bahahahaha! This would be absolutely hysterical  if you only knew this kid.
In other news, Mason loves ice cream. Frosty Paws is his new favorite treat!

Bran, on the other hand, doesn’t think that they are that tasty. (That was some great alliteration there! )

You Mean it’s Only Monday??

• Holy cow… I’m tired!
• I just went to Wal-Mart. The place was crawling with ATU students. Everything was gone. The girls were giggling with their friends and flirting with all the boys whistling at them. I rolled my eyes at first. Then…. I really started to miss my college days. They were so much fun. I just wish they wouldn’t have gone by so fast.
• My SMARTboard at school still isn’t working. Irritating.
• My class is seriously awesome. I have a great job.
• My job is exhausting.
• I had a turkey sandwich, 15 Sun Chips, and an apple for lunch.
• I had Mac-n-Cheese and a Klondike bar for supper. Grrr…. I have no self control!
• I really wish I had a camera. Hurry up Christmas!!
• We only have two quadruple payments left on Bran's truck!! woohoo!
• I'm going to bed. Yes I know it's only 8:00.

A Sea of Balls

Here they are! My new chair balls. I was nervous about how the kids would use them, but they did great! The first lesson I taught this year was how to sit on a chair ball. ha!

The first day of school was fantastic. I have another great group of kids. There are just so many of them! My line seemed to go on and on and on in the hallway.

My SMARTboard worked for about twenty minutes before it died. That is so incredibly frustrating! I had to go down and get a projector from the library. Hopefully that will be fixed sometime. It’s hard to teach without it.
I am working on my classroom website. I am pretty excited about that!! I will share the link with you as soon as it is finished.
I am completely exhausted. I always forget how hard the first day of school is. I wish I could post some pictures of my sweet students. It was so funny to see how frightened they were entering the room, the excitement when seeing the chair balls, and how exhausted they were by the end of the day. In a lot of ways, they mirrored my emotions! Can’t wait for tomorrow!

Relief

I presented today at our Co-op. I had a lot of really positive feedback from the participants. They all went back to their schools with some great teaching tools! All in all it was a great experience. I hope I can do more of that in the future!
My mother-in-law introduced me to Acai juice the other day. I have heard of it before, but didn’t know a lot about it. It’s six bucks a bottle at Wal-Mart. However it claims to promote weight-loss and improve your skin and hair. The biggest reason why I decided to try it though is because it is suppose to increase your energy level. I have absolutely no energy most of the time. I wonder if I am anemic or something. When I take a multi-vitamin, I feel so much better. The juice is so much easier to take and tastes a lot better. I have drank it for the past two days. I haven’t been able to tell a difference yet… My MIL said it took about a week or two to really feel the benefits. We shall see!

Faithful

My Lord is so very faithful. Bran and I have had a hard summer. Ever since starting Financial Peace, we have been hit with a lot of unexpected financial stuff. Well, this past week, our house was broken into. They took our computer, wii, camera, cell phone, and one of my husband’s guns that his late grandfather left him. They also took poor Bran’s deodorant, cologne, and tennis shoes. Wierdos. I felt so defeated. Why us? We are good people trying to do the right thing.
My mom was so great through all of this. She reminded me it’s just stuff that can be replaced, and of the fact that it could’ve been a whole lot worse. I had a lot of friends that offered so much encouragement as well. We have A LOT of great people that love us. I am so very grateful.
Well I am definitely out of my funk today!! My mom came down and completely surprised me! It was so nice to see her and get a hug. She brought me a little surprise too! I seriously have the best parents.
So, long story short, God is so good. And I know there was a lesson to be learned, or  many lessons, throughout this summer. 

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28