So, Sam and I are going to pay off some debts with our tax return instead of doing other things. We're HOPING that we can continue on with the track that we have set for ourselves for the next year and things will stay relatively the same. (Tho a better paying job would be nice!)
We have decided that we are going to use the "snowball effect" to pay off our debt. Together, we have quite a bit, but, it looks like in about 19 months from this tax return, that we will be free of debt, other than our house and cars!!
Well, okay, maybe not COMPLETELY debt free. I'm sure there are a few things on my credit that can be paid off so that way from there on out only good credit will be on my report!
Sam and I dug ourselves into quite a pit with credit card debt and the like. We come from the "instant gratification" generation, tho I think our kids will be "worse" than we are. In 18 months, I don't know what I'm going to do with an extra almost $1000 a month!! Well, yes I do. We're going to start fixing up our house, saving for retirement, and for college expenses for the kids. I think I can deal with the crappy red and brown walls for another year and a half.. hopefully! Once we are able to REALLY fix this place up, I'm positive that it will look FANTASTIC! I'll be able to get Sam the wood working tools that he really wants, we will be able to get the outbuilding that we really need, replace the fencing with wooden fencing, get a doggie door, build a porch, a new dinning room! Oh man! I can't WAIT till next spring/summer!!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Customer Service
Back when Sam and I first got married, we set out to make a life with each other. It wasn't easy. We didn't really have much of anything. We had our clothes, a TV, a laptop, and an Xbox. We lived with my friend Steph, and her husband Steve (RIP). When we got our first "married paycheck" from the military, we put our deposit down on our place, which was almost right next to Stephs house. It was a small 2 bedroom single wide trailer. I'll admit, it was kinda crappy, and the 2nd bedroom was barely big enough to hold a twin bed, but, it was our home for our first 6 months as a married couple. The landlady was a sweet old lady who lived with her husband and son until her husband passed away. It was very sad. :-(
Anyways!! When we got down to the nitty gritty, we didn't really have much of anything other than things that were borrowed, loaned, we bought off friends, or were given to us. We didn't have a church wedding, and it was so close to Christmas that we didn't really expect anyone to really buy us anything anyways. So, we needed pots and pans. We went to WalMart and found a really nice set of inexpensive pots and pans that we liked. It was the Eco-Friendly Tramontina set. It had everything that we needed for just us. It was a nice set! We really liked it, until all of the non-stick coating started coming off. Well, we bought our house, and we packed everything up, and then when the coating started to REALLY come off, we couldn't find the product warranty. We just decided that we would eventually get a different set of pots and pans.
Well, right around Christmas time, we'd had the set for about 2 years, and every single one of them had some varying degree of the non-stick coating coming off, I decided that I was going to write an email to Tramontina, and let them know how dissatisfied I was with their product. A few days later, I received an email back, letting me know that they would be happy to exchange my pots and pans for a different set, and gave me 2 different sets to choose from. I stewed on this for a while. Both sets were very nice. One set had a big saute pan, like we have now, and 2 skillets, as well as one stock pot and 2 smaller pots. That's the one we chose. The other one, was stainless steel, and had no saute pan but came with a spoon and a slotted spatula. While I like the look of these, I wanted my saute pan! I hope I don't regret that choice!
Well, here is the part that I really liked. When I contacted them, she said that she would send me a label to send our current set back to them and they would be destroyed. I contacted her back, and I let her know that I couldn't really send the entire set back to them, because we wouldn't really have anything to cook with. We do have a couple odds and ends, but, not really enough to consider it functional without my "main 3" my saute pan, my stock pot, and my 2qt pot. So, she told me that what she would do, would be send me a label, I could send 2 or 3 of the ones that I didn't use as much back to them, they would ship out the new set with a label inside the box and then I would just simply send the rest back to them when we get the new set! How cool is that?!
Overall, I wasn't overly impressed with the Eco-Friendly cookware set, but I am SUPER impressed with the customer service! The cookware did come with a lifetime guarantee, so, they are living up to that. Overall, I think that Tramontina is a pretty good company. They do have some nice products, as well as less expensive products for those that are just starting out. (Or starting over) I give the Charwood Seal of Approval to the Tramontina company!!
Tramontina is not paying me to make these statements. Tramontina, other than knowing I have faulty cookware doesn't know anything about me. I just simply thought that my readers would enjoy hearing about a company that gives great customer service! :-)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Day 3....
So, yesterday was really REALLY bad. At one point, my head hurt so bad I actually text my friend Keona and told her to come kill me because I couldn't take the pain any more. I'm glad that I have slightly older children, and that I can trust them not to get into anything or burn the house down because I think I actually passed out from the pain. I admit that I did take a Vicodin in the middle of the day, but, it wouldn't have come into play at 7pm.
I'm not sure what's causing these headaches. I'm not sure if it's the MASSIVE storm front we had move in the other day, or if it's the new medications that I'm on. Both of which list "headache" as the #1 side effect. I took it again this morning, and I can already feel my headache coming back. This is not a good sign.
In other news, happier news! Sam went to our community service growth group last night (alone because I couldn't drag myself outta bed). Apparently they were looking for volunteers for a place called Miracle Meadows here in town. An old friend of mine had told me about it a long time ago, but I never had time to volunteer. It's a place where handicapped children learn to ride horses. It's a great program, basically run by all volunteers. Sam didn't think I would mind and signed me up. What a great man I have! Of course, now that I'm not working, I DO have time to volunteer for this great program. Sam also said that he was a bit intimidated because he was the only guy there! He then said that they all made him feel welcome tho, and he even cracked a joke about how all the other guys were missing out.
Okay! I'm off to crawl back under my covers and nurse this headache again. *sigh* PLEASE Lord, take this headache away! Oh, and thank you all for the get well wishes! Tho I didn't get to reply to each of you individually, it did make me feel good that you all were thinking about me. :-)
I'm not sure what's causing these headaches. I'm not sure if it's the MASSIVE storm front we had move in the other day, or if it's the new medications that I'm on. Both of which list "headache" as the #1 side effect. I took it again this morning, and I can already feel my headache coming back. This is not a good sign.
In other news, happier news! Sam went to our community service growth group last night (alone because I couldn't drag myself outta bed). Apparently they were looking for volunteers for a place called Miracle Meadows here in town. An old friend of mine had told me about it a long time ago, but I never had time to volunteer. It's a place where handicapped children learn to ride horses. It's a great program, basically run by all volunteers. Sam didn't think I would mind and signed me up. What a great man I have! Of course, now that I'm not working, I DO have time to volunteer for this great program. Sam also said that he was a bit intimidated because he was the only guy there! He then said that they all made him feel welcome tho, and he even cracked a joke about how all the other guys were missing out.
Okay! I'm off to crawl back under my covers and nurse this headache again. *sigh* PLEASE Lord, take this headache away! Oh, and thank you all for the get well wishes! Tho I didn't get to reply to each of you individually, it did make me feel good that you all were thinking about me. :-)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Day 2....
So... I'm taking some new medication... and yesterday started a migraine. Coincidence or just a weather change in the near future? It IS supposed to rain ALL DAY LONG today... so here's to hoping that's what it is and not these new medications. :-/
Yesterday my head hurt so badly that all I had to eat all day was a couple of slices of bread. As soon as I heard Sam pull into the driveway I took 2 Vicodin and went to lay in my dark room. I woke up one time from a crazy dream where my dog had gotten out of the fence and gotten hit on the road. Out of bed I came, still groggy and wobbly from the drugs and flung open the door to find her laying right in front of my door. I pulled her in my room and shut the door again. Sam also made the dinner that I laid out. Bowtie Lasagna. I took a couple bites and I couldn't eat any more. It tasted delicious but I had absolutely no appetite at all. I took another Vicodin and went back to bed.
Bug also didn't feel well yesterday. She was all snotty and stuffy so I let her stay home to rest. She complained about not feeling well and not being able to move almost all day. Monkey had a friend come over, and she felt well enough to play with them! She climbed in bed with me and felt a little warm so I took her temp. 98.9 just slightly elevated, but, nothing really to worry about. I hope she feels better today tho. I woke up in the middle of the night and Monkey was sleeping on my side of the bed. He's such a tender hearted boy. Always making sure that I'm okay. I had a warm gel pad (the kind that can be used for heat or cold) and when Monk came home he heated it up again, wrapped it back up, and brought it back to me so it would stay warm longer. Such a good kid.
In other news! Charwood Candle Co is almost ready to launch!! Got just a few small details to work out, and the funding to finalize, and we will be rockin' and rollin'!! I can't wait!
Anyways, I already got one kid off to school, I need to wake the other up and see how she feels.
Yesterday my head hurt so badly that all I had to eat all day was a couple of slices of bread. As soon as I heard Sam pull into the driveway I took 2 Vicodin and went to lay in my dark room. I woke up one time from a crazy dream where my dog had gotten out of the fence and gotten hit on the road. Out of bed I came, still groggy and wobbly from the drugs and flung open the door to find her laying right in front of my door. I pulled her in my room and shut the door again. Sam also made the dinner that I laid out. Bowtie Lasagna. I took a couple bites and I couldn't eat any more. It tasted delicious but I had absolutely no appetite at all. I took another Vicodin and went back to bed.
Bug also didn't feel well yesterday. She was all snotty and stuffy so I let her stay home to rest. She complained about not feeling well and not being able to move almost all day. Monkey had a friend come over, and she felt well enough to play with them! She climbed in bed with me and felt a little warm so I took her temp. 98.9 just slightly elevated, but, nothing really to worry about. I hope she feels better today tho. I woke up in the middle of the night and Monkey was sleeping on my side of the bed. He's such a tender hearted boy. Always making sure that I'm okay. I had a warm gel pad (the kind that can be used for heat or cold) and when Monk came home he heated it up again, wrapped it back up, and brought it back to me so it would stay warm longer. Such a good kid.
In other news! Charwood Candle Co is almost ready to launch!! Got just a few small details to work out, and the funding to finalize, and we will be rockin' and rollin'!! I can't wait!
Anyways, I already got one kid off to school, I need to wake the other up and see how she feels.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Our Life In Pictures - Project365 Week 3
BIG WEEK!!! *shew* Okay... I know you're not here to listen to me yammer....
Sunday 16 January - Sam cooked again. He made Talapia with some peppers and onions, and garlic and lemon and white wine! His choice of sides is a bit weird... but... whatever! It tasted really good despite how strange it looked!
Monday 17 January - Bug spend most of the weekend away, and since Monday was a holiday, they didn't have school (no, our school district didn't make them go on MLK Day, how disrespectful to make them go!) and so she got to spend two days with one of her friends. By Monday I was kind of missing my little chatterbox!
Tuesday 18 January - I had a woman purchase some snails from me before Christmas. Then everything went WAY down hill!! It was terrible! I just could not seem to make it to the post office before then. So, I included some extras and shipped them off to Washington state. All the way from Jacksonville, NC to Washington and only 1 died. I musta done something right!
Wednesday 19 January - Tuesday my friend Keona and I picked up some freecrap items from a nice lady out in the middle of nowhere. In it was a bag of boys clothes. These pajamas were in there, but, I think they smoked or something because, while the clothes smelled clean, the had an odor to them, so we washed them again. (We would have anyways tho) Monkey LOVES pajamas. He's always saying he wants new/more pajamas. This was his favorite thing in the entire bag.
Thursday 20 January - I know this looks strange... but! It's really just sourdough starter! Remember how I said I was going to the fondue party on Friday?? Yeah... I made sourdough... *buffs fingernails*
Friday 21 January - SOURDOUGH!!!!!!!! Oh man... I teased Nicole the entire day about this loaf of bread. Was it worth the wait Nicole?? ;-) I think it was. Everyone seemed to like it a whole lot. I also made a loaf of Amish bread as well, but I didn't take a picture of it because it was ugly. It stuck to the pan and ripped the bottom crust off. :-( Nicole said it tasted fantastic tho. :-D
Saturday 22 January - What's that? I forgot the picture? No... no I didn't take a picture. I completely forgot I had a doctors appointment for some medications, so we were an hour late for that. The doctor still seen me tho, so that was a good thing, even if it was a very quick session. From there we went on base, and it was lightly snowing, to fill Monkey and I's prescriptions at the pharmacy. We were there for a couple of hours. We had lunch, walked around looking at furniture and different housewares, and then had to go back and stand in line and wait again to pick them up. From there we left to come home. There was about an inch of snow on the ground!No big deal as long as the roads aren't slick. Sam assured me that they weren't bad and we took off. No sooner did we get out on the main road to leave base that the roads turned to complete ice! I FREAKED out! I don't handle ice well. When I was 17, my sister and I were involved in an accident, and we rolled the truck we were in about 3 times because of some black ice. Scary stuff. Ever since then, I don't do icy roads. They shut the front gate down shortly after we were off base. It was a mess! Needless to say, I spent the majority of the rest of the evening freaking out, and avoiding housework. :-D
Sunday 16 January - Sam cooked again. He made Talapia with some peppers and onions, and garlic and lemon and white wine! His choice of sides is a bit weird... but... whatever! It tasted really good despite how strange it looked!
Monday 17 January - Bug spend most of the weekend away, and since Monday was a holiday, they didn't have school (no, our school district didn't make them go on MLK Day, how disrespectful to make them go!) and so she got to spend two days with one of her friends. By Monday I was kind of missing my little chatterbox!
Tuesday 18 January - I had a woman purchase some snails from me before Christmas. Then everything went WAY down hill!! It was terrible! I just could not seem to make it to the post office before then. So, I included some extras and shipped them off to Washington state. All the way from Jacksonville, NC to Washington and only 1 died. I musta done something right!
Wednesday 19 January - Tuesday my friend Keona and I picked up some free
Thursday 20 January - I know this looks strange... but! It's really just sourdough starter! Remember how I said I was going to the fondue party on Friday?? Yeah... I made sourdough... *buffs fingernails*
Friday 21 January - SOURDOUGH!!!!!!!! Oh man... I teased Nicole the entire day about this loaf of bread. Was it worth the wait Nicole?? ;-) I think it was. Everyone seemed to like it a whole lot. I also made a loaf of Amish bread as well, but I didn't take a picture of it because it was ugly. It stuck to the pan and ripped the bottom crust off. :-( Nicole said it tasted fantastic tho. :-D
Saturday 22 January - What's that? I forgot the picture? No... no I didn't take a picture. I completely forgot I had a doctors appointment for some medications, so we were an hour late for that. The doctor still seen me tho, so that was a good thing, even if it was a very quick session. From there we went on base, and it was lightly snowing, to fill Monkey and I's prescriptions at the pharmacy. We were there for a couple of hours. We had lunch, walked around looking at furniture and different housewares, and then had to go back and stand in line and wait again to pick them up. From there we left to come home. There was about an inch of snow on the ground!No big deal as long as the roads aren't slick. Sam assured me that they weren't bad and we took off. No sooner did we get out on the main road to leave base that the roads turned to complete ice! I FREAKED out! I don't handle ice well. When I was 17, my sister and I were involved in an accident, and we rolled the truck we were in about 3 times because of some black ice. Scary stuff. Ever since then, I don't do icy roads. They shut the front gate down shortly after we were off base. It was a mess! Needless to say, I spent the majority of the rest of the evening freaking out, and avoiding housework. :-D
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Nothing like shopping to make you feel fat and pretty at the same time!
So, for the past couple of days, things have been a little tense at the Charwood household. I've not been feeling "pretty" and it sort of rubs off in the way of me causing petty arguments with Sam.
Yesterday I thought, while I was out, I would just pick up a clearance dress from Old Navy, which is my most favorite store. Now, any of you that know me, know that I don't wear dresses. I'm a t-shirt and jeans kinda girl! I'm not girly. I don't even brush my hair unless I have to! So, for me to say that I wanted to feel pretty so I went to buy a dress is something that shocked my closest friends. That's just not something that I do! Also, I'm not trendy. Not even a little bit. I look at some of the things that other ladies are wearing around the blogosphere and I think "Wow! That looks amazing! I wish I could wear that kind of stuff and be that cute!!"
Well, I ended up wandering around Old Navy for a while, going "Oh man... I don't really see anything I like that's on clearance!" Well, I finally found something that I REALLY REALLY liked! It was a grey dress, and it had goldenrod yellow and navy blue butterflies all over it for $7! I then found a goldenrod cardigan (only $10!) to put over the top. I picked up my size L and headed to the dressing room. The dressing room attendant says how nice it looks and that she would have never thought to put those two together. I was pretty impressed with myself! I picked something incredibly cute, all by myself (even tho it was sitting right next to each other, but that's besides the point!) and put it together to make an incredibly cute outfit! Go Jacque!! Wooo! I get in the dressing room, happy with myself, proceed to put it on, and... I hate it. It looks like I've put a giant tent on! I was so sad! And of course, because it was clearance, they didn't have a smaller size. I don't know that it would have looked right on me even if they would have had a smaller size. I ended up getting a cute pink shirt that's all ruffly and will go great with slacks or with jeans that was on clearance. But I still wanted a dress!
So, I went back out and perused a bit more. I did find a dress that I really like. It wasn't on clearance, which is why I didn't just grab it in the first place. It was on sale, but, it was more expensive than what I had originally picked up. I tried on my new wares, and I walk out of the dressing room to stand in front of the big mirrors so I can talk myself out of it. The attendant tells me that I look very nice and even another shopper tells me the same. I decide that I'm going to go ahead and purchase said dress.
I'll give you a little sneak peak of my wares. I did have my lil Bug take a picture of me in my new outfit, which I posted on facebook, but, I would really like to have a NICE picture to put on here, so, I'll just show you the clothes!
The necklace isn't the exact same one that I got, but it's close! :-)
Yesterday I thought, while I was out, I would just pick up a clearance dress from Old Navy, which is my most favorite store. Now, any of you that know me, know that I don't wear dresses. I'm a t-shirt and jeans kinda girl! I'm not girly. I don't even brush my hair unless I have to! So, for me to say that I wanted to feel pretty so I went to buy a dress is something that shocked my closest friends. That's just not something that I do! Also, I'm not trendy. Not even a little bit. I look at some of the things that other ladies are wearing around the blogosphere and I think "Wow! That looks amazing! I wish I could wear that kind of stuff and be that cute!!"
Well, I ended up wandering around Old Navy for a while, going "Oh man... I don't really see anything I like that's on clearance!" Well, I finally found something that I REALLY REALLY liked! It was a grey dress, and it had goldenrod yellow and navy blue butterflies all over it for $7! I then found a goldenrod cardigan (only $10!) to put over the top. I picked up my size L and headed to the dressing room. The dressing room attendant says how nice it looks and that she would have never thought to put those two together. I was pretty impressed with myself! I picked something incredibly cute, all by myself (even tho it was sitting right next to each other, but that's besides the point!) and put it together to make an incredibly cute outfit! Go Jacque!! Wooo! I get in the dressing room, happy with myself, proceed to put it on, and... I hate it. It looks like I've put a giant tent on! I was so sad! And of course, because it was clearance, they didn't have a smaller size. I don't know that it would have looked right on me even if they would have had a smaller size. I ended up getting a cute pink shirt that's all ruffly and will go great with slacks or with jeans that was on clearance. But I still wanted a dress!
So, I went back out and perused a bit more. I did find a dress that I really like. It wasn't on clearance, which is why I didn't just grab it in the first place. It was on sale, but, it was more expensive than what I had originally picked up. I tried on my new wares, and I walk out of the dressing room to stand in front of the big mirrors so I can talk myself out of it. The attendant tells me that I look very nice and even another shopper tells me the same. I decide that I'm going to go ahead and purchase said dress.
I'll give you a little sneak peak of my wares. I did have my lil Bug take a picture of me in my new outfit, which I posted on facebook, but, I would really like to have a NICE picture to put on here, so, I'll just show you the clothes!
The necklace isn't the exact same one that I got, but it's close! :-)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Slacker!!
So, as you guys know, I've been doing Project365. I have to say... it is quite interesting finding pictures to show my life considering I'm like an Internet Addicted Hermit... I find that it's pretty hard to take pictures of things when you don't leave the house. And it's hard to remember that you're supposed to take your camera and take pictures when you do leave the house when you only leave the house like once a week! *giggle*
I do have some things planned! Like... uh... well.. ummmm... OH YES!! Girls night! Fondue at Nicoles!! I'm in charge of bringing strawberries... (homemade please) sourdough bread... and the stripper... haha! Not really... just the strawberries and bread. So, I will try and take a couple pictures of thaaaaat. I'm going to try and recreate Monday and Tuesday. It's not like anything really happened.. I live a boring life! *sigh* Yes.. a boring life filled to the gills with "Holy moley! We're opening a business and I've still got SO much to do!!!" *scream*
Okay. I think I'm over it now. I'll be okay! Now, it's time to get ready, go to the post office (again) and then head to Keonas house. I guess I need to not be a hermit today and help her wash her comforter at the laundry mat.
I do have some things planned! Like... uh... well.. ummmm... OH YES!! Girls night! Fondue at Nicoles!! I'm in charge of bringing strawberries... (homemade please) sourdough bread... and the stripper... haha! Not really... just the strawberries and bread. So, I will try and take a couple pictures of thaaaaat. I'm going to try and recreate Monday and Tuesday. It's not like anything really happened.. I live a boring life! *sigh* Yes.. a boring life filled to the gills with "Holy moley! We're opening a business and I've still got SO much to do!!!" *scream*
Okay. I think I'm over it now. I'll be okay! Now, it's time to get ready, go to the post office (again) and then head to Keonas house. I guess I need to not be a hermit today and help her wash her comforter at the laundry mat.
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