Let's start this back up again!

Okay Sisters -- I'm ready to get back in the game.

A lot has changed for me starting in 2009. First, I just had a baby and second, I quit my full-time job. So I've got pounds to lose and money to be saved. When I was working full-time, Hans and I had a lot of extra income and a lot of it went to savings. I'm a little worried that our savings goals will be drastically reduced. But... every little bit helps. We want to buy a house this summer, and though I don't think we'll have the full 20% down payment for our price range, we will be able to swing a 15% (I hope.)

I also started Weight Watchers again. It worked so well for me a couple of years ago that it is worth trying again. And I have lost 4 pounds already -- which is pretty easy when you're nursing full time and were previously eating like a 300 pound sumo wrestler.

I've got lots of goals right now and I'll work on getting them organized and posted later on. How about you all do the same?

Really? Seriously? Are you kidding me? Really!

On the special Saturday Night Live episode on television last night, one of the news segments was called "Really? Seriously? Are you kidding me? Really?" Basically the anchors would say something about the economy and then say, "Really? Seriously, really?" You get the idea.

But come on, really? Is this really the second Great Depression we're heading into? Really? I'm posting this over here and not on my family blog because Kulani is, well, depressed about all this talk on the economy, and I don't blame him. He said this has been his least productive week of work in a year, and it's likely because this underlying grief over the world's economic state. I think we're all feeling it. But wouldn't it have been great to be able to read what our grandmothers and great-grandmothers felt and dealt with during the first Great Depression? What were their thoughts the months leading up to it? How did their families survive it?

Currently, I haven't seen any personal signs of the economic downfall. Life seems to be going on as it always has. I haven't bothered to look at our 401K, and I don't think I will until things turn around. For history's sake, the stock market has dropped some 35% over the past year going from a high of 14,000 down to below 8,000. We don't know if this is the bottom yet. During the Great Depression of the 1920s, stocks lost over 80% of value. The Federal Reserve cut interests rates by 1/2 a percentage point trying to entice people to invest. Even though we could re-mortgage our home from 6.2% to 5.8%, we're not biting. For one, our home would likely not appraise for as much as it did a year ago, thereby requiring us to pay PMI. Secondly, we're unsure banks would lend us the money. Lending is tight.

Kulani's job seems stable as of now. I still work from home part-time for a very stable company, but we specialize in banking software, which could mean good or bad things for my company. We're on the cheaper side of banking software and services, so maybe we'll pick up new banks who are trying to save money. But we may also lose banks going out of business. If either of us loses our job, we have some backup plans that could include land surveying (Kulani), pizza delivering (Cindy), bike mechanic (Kulani), babysitting (Cindy), etc.

But it's all about perspective as well. As I've said before, listening to Dave Ramsey really calms the nerves. Stay far-far away from listening to Glen Beck: doom, doom, and more doom. No matter what the situation, I'm confident we'll get through this. I survived the recession of the early 90s. I remember times being tough. I remember the feelings in my heart of not wanting to ask Mom and Dad for anything, because I knew they didn't have a lot of money, and I didn't want to make them feel bad about not having the money--or guilt them into buying me something.

I'm guessing that people during the Great Depression cheered each other up by saying, "Well, at least we don't have it as bad as the pioneers had it." And I'm sure the pioneers said, "Well, at least we don't have to sail across the ocean and start anew like the pilgrims." And the pilgrims probably pointed to how hard the Jewish people had it. And so on.

So maybe we're heading into the times foretold for the last 50 years where our food storage will feed us for a year. I know my mother-in-law has been predicting the end of times since the 80s, so it may be another false alarm. Our ward's emergency preparedness lady sent us out an e-mail the other day with the following quote from Brigham Young:

The first year that I came into this valley I had not flour enough to last
my family until harvest, and that I had brought with me, and persons were coming
to my house every day for bread. I had the blues about one day; I went down to
the old fort, and by the time I got back to my house I was completely cured. I
said to my wife, "Do not let a person come here for food and go away empty
handed, for if you do we shall suffer before harvest; but if you give to every
individual that comes we shall have enough to last us through." I have proven
this many a time, and we have again proven it this year. I have plenty on hand,
and shall have plenty, if I keep giving away. More than two hundred persons eat
from my provisions every day, besides my own family and those who work for me. I
intend to keep doing so, that my bread may hold out, for if I do not I shall
come short. Do you believe that principle? I know it is true, because I have
proven it so many times.

Then this from Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone:

I should like to address a few remarks to those who ask, "Do I share with my
neighbors who have not followed the counsel? And what about the nonmembers who
do not have a year's supply? Do we have to share with them?" No, we don't have
to share--we get to share! Let us not be concerned about silly thoughts of
whether we would share or not. Of course we would share! What would Jesus do? I
could not possibly eat food and see my neighbors starving. And if you starve to
death after sharing, "greater love hath no man than this …" (John 15:13.)

And with that, I begin this discussion with you, my sisters. What are your thoughts, experiences?

Financial Meltdown

I admit, I have had a partial hand in this financial meltdown. Admitting it gives me power. In the end, the rise and fall of Wall Street is due to our (the American people) ability to pay our bills. We have paid our bills, but we've also made some dumb choices.

About a year and a half ago, when things were really good, a builder friend of ours asked us if he could borrow our "good credit" to take out a loan, he would build a couple of houses and sell them, and then we'd get a cool $5,000 for the use of our credit. He's a good friend. He promised us that he could build the houses in four months to six months, and he said he couldn't build houses fast enough to keep up with the demand. So we did it. The construction loan came due. Nothing had been built on the lots our credit had purchased. The builder friend pulled some heavy leverage, and we were able to get out from under the loans, but it was a close shave. That gamble seems incredibly dumb in hindsight.

For now we have been lucky. We still have jobs. We have health insurance and life insurance. But like most people, we need to build up a better safety net. We're getting there. What's going on with you all?

Anybody still trying to lose weight?

Ok, I am still trying to lose weight (despite the three chocolate cookies I ate tonight). I did lose about a pound last week and I am doing well with exercise. I run at least 3 miles at least 4 times a week, so I guess that is something. How about the rest of you? Any progress? (Except Mary who may gain weight -- dang it!)

Also, any savings achievements? I am hoping to prevent the rest of my family (husband) from spending our tax refund so I can pay off most of our debt. I tried to keep it a secret, but he found out about the federal refund so I saw the things he wants to buy flash before his eyes. Actually, he even said he wanted to pay off bills, so we shall see. We just need to get it and pay the bills and call it good!

I need to add up what we spent at the grocery store the last two months to see if we did any better with staying within the budget. Likely -- NOT! It doesn't help that everything seems to cost so much more -- time to break out the food storage wheat! No, I don't have any, but Mom does!

A New Challenge!

So did anyone else get the Valentine's package from Mom and Dad? Or are we the lucky ones? And if you did, did your kids get the DVD and CD package? If so, do you remember these faces?

The DVD has a bunch of songs on it and most of them come from the Sharon, Lois and Bram show. Minnie loves it and Cindy probably remembers the show. Sadly though, no "Skinnamarinky dink a dink..."

Well, I've fallen off the weight watching wagon because I keep stuffing my face to keep from throwing up... that's right, I'm pregnant. I'm only 6w5d along but the morning (all day) sickness has already started. Because I know how awful it was with Minnie, I'm dreading the next seven weeks or so, so much that it has me in tears. I go to bed upset at night, knowing I'm going to have to wake up and do the "yuckies" all day the next day. You'd think work would keep my mind off of it, but it doesn't. Please pray that I can deal with the sickness -- it has me seriously depressed -- maybe so much so because everytime I get sick, I pee my pants. Yuck!

No challenge too great

Last night I made creme brulee. Creme. Brulee. It's made of 95% fat and 5% cholesterol. It's delicious and delicate and decadent and deadly. I only make it on rare occasions, and last night we needed an excuse to call up my brother-in-law and sister-in-law to come play Settlers of Katan with us, so I whipped up some creme brulee as an excuse for them to come to our house for dessert and to play games. Creme brulee is made of four simple ingredients: cream, egg yolks, sugar, and either vanilla or chocolate. I made both varieties. To accompany the dessert, we decided to make shrimp scampi, garlic bread, spaghetti, and a healthy salad. Yeah, it was an awesome dinner. But today I was reminded of the slogan Mary came up with: "No challenge is too great for an Idaho gem." I have not seriously taken up the challenge of weight loss or paying off debt. What will it take to get my mind set on doing those two things? Like Mom said to me recently: "It seems the struggle for money never ceases, no matter how much you have." This life can be so testing, and it comes down to choice and accountability. So from now until my triathlon, I'll be choosing wisely.

Wednesday Weigh-In

So, the blog has been silent for a couple of weeks. Things here have been steady. No ups or downs.

Highlight of the day -- the ladies in my Relief Society sent me a bouquet of flowers at work. I must say the women in my ward rock.

Let us in on our challenges and successes this week.

Weigh In Wednesday

I didn't post one of these last week because I didn't have a great weigh-in. That kind of breaks the rules -- so this week I'm being more accountable.

In the comments share your successes and challenges for the week.

One of my challenges is when I have free time, not completely wasting it, say on playing Freecell. I rarely have time just to myself and so I end up staying up way too late just so I can de-stress. I either watch stupid movies or play Freecell on the computer while watching stupid movies. I think my life runs much better when I get enough sleep but it's a challenge. What are some of your techniques for getting more sleep? (And techniques for getting a toddler who started waking up in the middle of the night to stop?)

Favorite Memories of Pres. Hinckley

I was at my sister and brother-in-law's house last night playing Settlers of Katan (great game), and my nephew Alika got a text message that President Hinckley died. Being the ball-baby that I am, I cried. I loved President Hinckley! Who didn't? I always felt better after hearing one of his talks. I will never forget when they did the Hosannah shout while dedicating the new Conference Center, and seeing President Hinckley choke up with emotion. I will miss him sorely. What are your memories and thoughts?

Quote from GBH:

"What I am suggesting is that we have had missing from our society a buoyant spirit of optimism. What I am asking is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our culture and look for the remarkable good in the land and times in which we live; that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults; that optimism replace pessimism; that uncertainty and worry be pushed aside by an enduring feeling of hope."

Well, dear sisters, I have fallen off the wagon and it is not even the end of January. Last night, after feeling terrible for the past few days with a bad cold, I sent Nate to the store for treats: (1) a bag of Sweets candy, (2) Pepperidge Farms double chocolate cookies and (3) a chocolate milkshake. Then I went to bed. When he got home, I ate the candy and milkshake (he got the wrong cookies) and it made me feel much better!! Of course, today, I am feeling guilty. So, I have vowed, once again, to do better next week. B.J. has promised to come be my trainer one day next week so I hope to be a great exerciser. Last week I was in Houston and had barbecue at almost every meal (stinkin' Texans) so I am also going to eat more vegetables.

Nate and I have worked very hard to have a better date night each month. Tonight is our night and I am looking forward to it. We have been a bit disconnected this past year so our dates are helping us get back on the same path. We also have a date night once a month with the girls. Last week Sarah and I went and saw National Treasure and Nathan and Grace went shopping. Yep, the girls get to choose what we do. It actually is very fun and the girls look forward to it every month. It is nice to spend time with each of them one on one. We plan to add the boys after they turn 3.

Well, finally, please give me any tips you have for potty-training. Ty is still terrified of the toilet and screams and tries to get away whenever I put him on it. Steve will sit there, but that's about it. So -- any tips?

Cousins Welcome!

Jillster, this post is for you. You are a sista in almost every sense of the word. You are of course more than welcome to this site. I can add you as a writer, if you'd like. You are always the first to offer assistance in times of need, like when our dad had heart surgery. You are a credit to your mother and our nearly perfect grandmother. I think I'm my ward's "Aunt Norma." Every time I think I'm getting out of primary, they pull me back in. I am now the nursery leader. On top of that, I'm the neighborhood's babysitter. I probably watch kids two to three times a week for other women. But I think of your mom and persevere. I don't know how she's watched children for all of these years. And she always seemed to have a smile and caring way about her. And every time I hear primary songs, I tear up, just like your mom always did when she was the song leader. I wonder if Aunt Norma ever made it through a song without crying. She holds a very tender spot in my heart. At any rate, Jill, welcome, and invite your sisters or whoever else you think is a sister at heart.

My check in

Hey Sisters,
I finally got around to contributing to this awesome blog. First off, kudos to the creator.
Well, lets see. Me, Wayne, and Jeff are on the team for the spudman so my goal is to be in GREAT shape for it. My motto is "If I am prepared I won't fear." It seems that the case with me and the Spudman is my intense fear of getting kicked or drowned while in the snake river. I am on the lookour for a cheap but great wettsuit and I will be in great shape so that I can beat 19 min. So far I have worked out once....for about 20 min. uh.... I am going to do better once I get my classwork under control. This is my last semester, you know, and it isn't the easiest one. In fact it could be my hardest. So what I want to eventually do is like 2 weight workouts to get my muscles toned and 3 swim workouts per week. I haven't even thought of getting my eating habits under control. well to a point. Me and Jeff have our own sort of budget. We are not as good as Mary, but I do like that envelope idea. That keeps it more visual and I can keep up with what I am spending. We each have our own personal money which I use on food and dr.peppers. My dr.pepper addiction has gone up in the recent months, but I blame that on my job. Too much stress and you just have to have some caffeine.
My one big goal this year is to build some more self confidence. I tell you what, it is way to easy for me to get down on myself. Recently me and Jeff were called to move wards (they didn't like my sleeping in sunday school all the time) and with the ward move they always ask what your talents or hobbies are. I hate when I feel like I come up short. So I don't intend this blog to be like a "help build my self-esteem", but more of like a post to ask what you guys do to keep yourself out of the dumps during winter or any other time. It just seems like I don't develop myself enough. Do you ever feel that in your life you haven't accomplished much? Now I know all of you probably haven't felt that way, because I all my sisters have accomplished so much and I really look up to all of you. You are my inspiration and my hope that someday I will turn out half as great as you.
So let's hear it for the upbeats and staying positive of what we are getting done and what we are accomplishing.

Yes, I am a Dave Ramsey fan.

We have been talking a lot about physical fitness but here is a little post about financial fitness.

First, meet Dave:

Dave Ramsey is a call-in AM radio host/financial adviser. You can listen to his show online or listen to his archives here: http://www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/. People call in to ask questions about getting out of debt and investing. On Fridays, the show tries to feature people that have recently gotten completely out of debt and they get to scream, “I’m debt free!” over the airwaves. It can be pretty emotional and pretty inspiring.

Dave can get pretty extreme though and he doesn’t believe in credit at all, though he thinks it’s okay to get a mortgage for your house if you must. He advocates that you cut up all of your credit cards and only pay cash for cars. I don’t agree with all of his politics – he’s mostly anti income tax and anti social programs – but he makes a convincing argument for taking personal responsibility for your financial health and making choices that enable you to win. Anybody can do better if they follow his “Baby Steps.” I got his book, The Total Money Makeover for Christmas and I’ve been reading it up. So here are the Baby Steps.

1. Quickly save up a $1000 emergency fund. This fund is truly for emergencies.
2. Pay off all debt, except your mortgage, using the Debt Snowball. The Debt Snowball is listing your debts from smallest to largest and start with the small, pay it off and add what you were paying to the next largest debt and so on till it is all paid off.
3. Save up 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings for a full emergency fund.
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement.
5. College funding for children.
6. Pay off home early.
7. Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate.

To keep from needing the emergency fund for non-emergency things like groceries, you need to budget. At the beginning of the month, create a budget with and include exactly what you will be spending for the month, not an ideal month, or an average month, but anticipate exactly what you’ll need for the month and budget it in. I have even started getting out the grocery and eating out money in cash and keeping them in envelopes at home. This insures I stay within my budget.

Here are some blogs I like to read about personal finance and living frugally:

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Mother Excuse

I'm in danger of falling back on the mother excuse. You know what it is: my kids need me today, therefore, no running and must eat McDonald's. Not only am I an emotional eater, I'm a "mother" eater and exerciser. I was talking with Kulani about this phenomenon. When you work out as a mother, if you don't do it early in the morning or during a time that doesn't impede on your mothering time, you sometimes feel guilty. Nohea is not the best sleeper, and I need to get work done in the morning, so morning runs are out. And so I take advantage of the Gold's Gym daycare. I tried running with the girls in the stroller the other night at our local rec. center, but they only lasted one mile before they broke down whining. And it seemed the nearby mental hospital patients were all at the track last night, so I didn't really want to leave them alone while I finished my run. Ugh! To make matters worse, this cold, cold air (under 20 degrees last night) is sapping my will to live, let alone my desire to exercise. So to make us "feel" better, we went out to Mexican last night. I'm afraid to step on the scale. But I will, tomorrow. Kulani and I have a date for the gym tonight, and I can't wait. Mary, good job on your good week. Can anyone relate to my "bad" week? But I did run 8 miles on Saturday, and I felt good nearly the whole time, especially since we watched some seriously dumb movies in the cardio-theater room: Stomp the Yard and Blue Surfer, or something like.

Wednesday Weigh-In

Well Sisters, it is that time of the week again. It is getting really cold here and that is sapping my motivation a little bit. But, I'm going to email some women who live in my apartment complex now to ask them if they want to work out with me in the apartment rec room tonight. That will give me some accountably and someone to talk to while running.

If you want to, share your successes and challenges for the week and weigh-in.

Our Het the Super Star

Just thought I'd share this link with you all. Keep your eyes open for the Queen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKeS7-dmcJQ

Goal Race, Anyone?

You probably heard that the Spudman filled up within a half hour. Kulani and I made it in, but we almost feel guilty because we know a lot of people who are first timers never got the chance. So I was wondering if any of you would like to join me for a "goal" race? It could be a 10K or a 5K, or maybe even a half marathon. I'm not interested in doing a full marathon until the girls are older. Also, if anyone is interested, Burley hosts a half-Ironman distance in June called "the Vikingman." It 's a little over double the length of the Spudman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run), but you could break it up into teams. It's a great weekend for families, because they have a "Skandidag" festival, which celebrates Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, etc. heritage. They have waffle cones and Swedish pancakes and lots of games for kids. The race might fill up, so if you are interested, you might want to sign up now. Mary, wouldn't you love to fly home for a guiltless weekend of waffle cones, because you know you burned off the calories during the race? Ah yeah!

Wednesday Weigh-In

It is that time of the week to check our progress and see how things are going. In the comments you can weigh-in and tell us about your successes and challenges for the week.

I thought I would post some of my favorite breakfasts that are healthy and filling. I will include the Weight Watcher point totals if you are Point Trackers like me.

Apple Oatmeal -- 5pts

• ½ cup old fashioned oatmeal (2pts) cooked with water. Don’t bother with instant, it doesn’t have as much fiber and this is just as fast.
• I add a sprinkle of Splenda (0pts), dash of cinnamon (0pts), and five squirts of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” spray (0pts).
• Then I core and dice up an entire small/medium apple (1pt) and stir it in.
• I drink 1 cup of skim or 1% milk (2pts) with it.

English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich – 5pts

• Open a whole wheat English muffin (2pts) and place it on a tin-foil lined cookie sheet.
• Lay 1 serving of sliced turkey or low fat ham (1pt) on the muffin and,
• Sprinkle ¼ cup reduced fat cheese (2pts) on the halves.
• Put it in the oven till the cheese melts and it is warmed up.
• Put the sides together and eat like a sandwich (in the car on the way to work as I often do.

Share your favorite breakfast recipes in the comments too.

MarySquare's turn to Weigh In

So Sisters I guess it is my time to weigh-in. Now I’m much shorter than the rest of you, only 5’ 5” so take that into account. On Wednesday I weighed in at 145.8 – up 15 pounds from my goal of 130 that I weighed this time last year. As I was running on the treadmill this morning, our blog here made me think of Mom when she used to do the exercise shows early in the morning that aired on PBS where the lady up front had two or three people behind her and they all did the exercises in different intensities. We’ve got a mix of body types and goals and are all working at different intensities so this will be cool.

I’ll also throw into the mix that I’m trying to get pregnant, so if that happens, I’ll switch my focus to staying as fit and as healthy as possible while gestating.

About finances, heck, my year long goal is to save $10,000 – and to get completely debt free, even Hans’ in-deferment student loans. Now some people would say that I should just put that money in a savings account until he has to pay the money back and accrue the interest but I’m following the Dave Ramsey plan like Cindy says and I’m getting rid of all of the debt. Hans and I are also thinking about buying a home if he gets the job he is interviewing for. So we’ll see how to add that to the mix over the course of the year. Lots of big goals but I’m aiming high! Like our fitness goals, our financial goals are different so it will be fun to see how this plays out.

Weekly/Monthly Budget for Food

Amy brings up a good topic about food. I am curious what everyone budgets for food, because we also budget on the high side of eating. I try not to spend over $600 per month ($150 per week), but we go over that every month to around $950. Included in the food budget is all the extra things like dog food, cat food, diapers, soaps, laundry soaps, etc. So for your families, do you have two budgets; one for miscellaneous care and one for food? How do you account for dining out? Is that included in the food budget like our family? And what are some tips for keeping it on the cheap side when going grocery shopping? In other words, what's a weekly grocery cart consist of in your household?

Weighing In: Rules of Accountability

Hello, Sisters! This site has been designed for you. You can either enter your thoughts in the comments, or you can log on to this blog and create your own entries. So here is the gist: Mary and I wanted a place where we could write down some "saving" goals. Our goals are to both save money and save calories, thereby losing weight and gaining a bigger savings account. Who was it that said you can never be too skinny or too rich? We're here to hopefully find a balance where we just feel better about our lives.

So here are my stats: The holidays were very bad to me, or rather, I was bad during the holidays. I am not a victim to my own choices, afterall, or rather, I am. Rather than use rather, I think I need to just own up to what I've done to myself. So, um ... big deep breath, I've gained more than 17 pounds over the holidays. I was at a low of 148, and now I'm up to 167. Ouch! I started my new lifestyle yesterday. I ran for 40 minutes and I could feel the extra pounds in my joints and muscles and knees. For me, I need a race or a goal to get me on the exercise habit, so Kulani and I signed up for the Moab Half-marathon in March. We're training on the extended 10K training schedule. It's fun to have Kulani as a training partner.

The budgetery restraints seem harder for me to meet. I hope Mary will be giving us some pep talks on how to save, as she's been a good budget maker and keeper. She is also a Dave Ramsey devotee, so hopefully she can help be our guide into the world of debt-free living.

So let's hear from the rest of my sisters. This blog is mostly for the Christenson sisters, but we also welcome sisters of sisters who aren't biological sisters but sisters in spirit. I can't wait to hear how the rest of you are doing.

If I become brave enough, perhaps I'll take a photo of myself in a swimsuit now, and then a swimsuit picture each month until I reach my goal. We'll see...

So my goal weight is 145 pounds. I like the way I look when I weigh that much. Supposedly, the best way to meet a goal is by writing it down, and it also helps to be accountable to others. You can use this blog site as your accountability marker or not. Just know I'll be here, and Mary will be here, and that's that.