Only two more day to enter my contest!

Hurry, buy some diapers and donate them to your local pregnancy center or donate an amount equivalent to a pack of diapers to your local pregnancy center. Then you will be entered to win a really cool key chain!

-Becky

DEADLINE IS MON!!!!!

Divided

My computer and my bed and some other stuff are at my new house, but we are still living in my old house. We still have the tv, but without cable, so we went to the library the other day and rented lots of movies.
It is weird to be divided between two houses.

Right now I am typing this at the new house, but have to go home to the old house to eat lunch in a few minutes.
What still has to be done so we can move in:
one or two more coats spackle in new rooms (1-2 days)
sand spackle (1 day)
put doors up in boys rooms
prime all new walls (1 day)
paint new walls (1 day)
4-5 more days until we can officially move in and actually sleep in the new house.

We had a great Thanksgiving at my moms. It was my mom, my stepfather, my sister, my brother, me, and my boys. It was a nice calm day. We all helped cook (but my mom did most of the cooking.) We also watched the parade, played games, did a puzzle, and went for a walk after dinner.
It was nice to be with my family, but also hard knowing Eric was not there. I couldn't even bring myself to take any pictures as I usually am obnoxiously doing on holidays. I am sure everyone was thankful for that.

How was your Thanksgiving?

-Becky

p.s. only 3 days left to get in on my contest

Moving

I have not been blogging too much as I am in the process of moving. Yesterday I brought my computer to the new house and set it up, so I could have the internet and phone hooked up. I am going with Cablevision which is also Optimum. They gave me a better rate than Verizon for those two services and they have no contract. I am a little leery of having the phone through the cable, but I will give it time. We are not getting cable at this time (can't justify the $40 a month right now.)

Today I had some men from my church along with my mom and sister help me move. We did the couch and chair from the living room, my bed and night stand, my grill, my outdoor glass table and metal chair set, all the boxes from my attic (which is all holiday decorations, my fake Christmas tree, and all the out of season and too big clothes for next year), most of our homeschooling stuff, Josh's books, toys, and games, and more.

It is so amazing that the people from my church love me so much because of God and are willing to help bless me time and again. I am so appreciative.

I also can not express the appreciation I have for my mom who brought us breakfast (she also brought some for the two contractors we had doing work on new house.) Then she helped me by supervising the stuff that came to the new house, while I was at old house. Next she cleaned out my shed so we could use it for all the stuff from my attic (after the contractor put a new floor down.) While cleaning she had a shelf fall on her head and she really got hurt, pray for a speedy recover.

My sister was also a huge help. She cleaned my bathroom and set it up so it looks nice. She also helped with cleaning the shed and bagging lots of garbage.

We got so much accomplished today.

While we were doing all that the contractor (who happens to be Eric's friend since they were teenagers) and his helper removed the leaky window, closed up the hole, sheet rocked all the water damage, and resided where the window was. It looks great. The new siding is almost an exact match of old.

Having Eric's friend doing the work was sort of was a comfort since he was not there helping. It was still hard though. Especially when I found boxes with my wedding pictures and other pictures with Eric in them. But I know Eric wanted me to get this house, so he is in this move with me. Even though he is no longer here on earth he is still with me.

Tomorrow after church we are going to Eric's to help clear more of his stuff out so my mom can put his house on the market. Then my mom invited all his friend's over for pizza. That will be nice.

He has been gone for over 5 months and still it can be so hard. We all miss him so.

But overall today was a good day, much was accomplished, and we are that much closer to actually moving in to our new house.

-Becky

Painting, packing, and leaking windows oh my

Today Monica and I started painting my bedroom. I also have been doing some packing. Scott has been busy converting one room upstairs into two bedrooms and a hallway.

Of course, it would be unrealistic to expect no problems along the way. The window upstairs has been leaking in like crazy since it has been raining the past few days. It has been leaky for years, but I was hopeful to wait until I get my income tax refund to fix it. But I don't think I can wait. The worst thing is we don't know if it the roof, or window. There is some roof damage, not enough overhang on the roof, and the window slopes in instead of out. These things were in my home inspection, so it is not a complete surprise.

Tomorrow I have someone coming to look at it to see what can be done.

Still I am so thankful for Scott and Alex for all the work they are doing upstairs, Monica for watching my boys and helping me paint, and my mom for all she is doing.

Tomorrow after church will be more painting and packing.

What are you doing this weekend?

-Becky

YIPPEE

I got a valid c of o today.
We can officially move in.
But we are waiting until we convert room upstairs into two bedrooms for the boys (my stepfather has agreed to do this- he really is great!)

Yippee!! (is yippee one p or two?)

-Becky

Not even a dent

I just packed 8 boxes, threw away a huge carpenter bag size of junk, and have another huge bag of stuff to give away. Most was from going into my kids rooms. And right now it barely looks like I got rid of anything. Ahhhh! Plus I packed two huge bins.

What we packed:
1 box Josh's toys
1 box Josh's games
1 box Josh's stuffed animals
2 boxes Josh's books
1 box Josh's radio, alarm clock, and cds (he has like 4 cds)

1 box Jason's stuffed animals

1 box my books

1 bin fall / winter clothes that are still too big to fit Jason or Joshua
1 bin summer clothes for next year

I am going to have alot of work to do over the next two weeks.

My goal is to move into the new house on Nov. 21st and Nov. 22nd.

-Becky

Donate a Pack of Diapers-Win a Prize-Help Me Honor Eric

My local pregnancy center, called Solutions is in desperate need of diapers. They give these out free to those in need all year long. I have a real heart for this ministry as I came to know the Lord there 11 years ago.

So I thought I would have another contest.

I was thinking that you all probably have local pregnancy crisis center's as well. I thought many of us CVS and coupon and such. Maybe this week we could all buy a package of diapers (with savings, coupons, CVS bucks, etc) and donate them to a local pregnancy center. Actually this is my contest. Buy diapers and be entered to win a prize.

Could you imagine not even being able to buy diapers for your baby? I am glad I am not in that situation anymore. But many woman are. Let's help them this week. When you buy the diapers also pray for the mom who will receive them.

If you can't find a local pregnancy center maybe you can donate online to Solutions or another center closer to you.

Go to Carenet to find a Christian based pregnancy center near you!

So to recap:

1) find local pregnancy center in your area
2) buy a package of diapers or donate an amount equivalent to a pack of diapers to your local pregnancy center
3) leave a comment telling me that you donated the diapers or amount equivalent to diapers

Bonus: To earn an extra chance blog about my contest and link this post on your blog.

Then I will pick one of you (who participated) to win a prize.

The prize is a really cool Swiss Tech key chain. It is brand new in a cool case, all ready for gift giving. It is a safety key chain.





It has:
seat belt cutter
automatic glass breaker
sonic alarm
and
led flashlight

It retails for $10-$15. So it is worth more than a package of diapers. This would make a great gift for everyone on your list (who drives.) I bought this for my brother Eric for Christmas, so I want it to do more than just collect dust (since he passed away and can not use it.) I want this gift to give forward this Christmas.

So leave me a comment once you've bought the diapers, and you will be entered into the contest. The more packs of diapers you buy the more entries you will have to win. This will be on the honor system.

DEADLINE TO BUY DIAPERS AND COMMENT IS MON. NOV. 30th, 2009

MY GOAL IS 100 PACKS OF DIAPERS!!!

-Becky

Sunday

Sunday I overslept and missed church. After finally getting up and getting a shower Jason and I stopped at the bank on our way to get Josh. The bank was very crowded so we did not wait. We went to get Josh from my mom and then went back to the bank. I had to close out a checking account. The bank kept charging me $15 a month if my account was under $100 at all that month. Yikes. After paying that fee for three months I didn't want to do it anymore. I have two other checking accounts that have no minimum balance and no monthly fees at all.

Then we went to see Astro Boy with my brother, Kevin. It was cute. After the movie we had to stop at Lowe's to get some stuff for the new house. Josh had a melt down because I required him to hold my hand. I know I an SO mean.

After Lowe's we went food shopping. The boys picked fish sticks for dinner and the smell of them in my house was making me feel sick. Yuck processed food. Tonight we are making tacos. I will be putting fresh peppers that Josh just picked the last batch from my garden.

Once home we all relaxed together. I put both boys to bed by 9:00pm. Josh was actually asleep by 10pm. Then I folded all clean laundry and wrote out the instructions for our bearded dragon, as today we donate her to a middle school that will appreciate her much more than we do.

I actually went to bed before 12:00am. Go me!

That was our Sunday, how was yours?

-Becky

Saturday

This Sat. I slept in till 9:00am. Then we stopped at new house as my stepfather and friend, Peter were doing work that failed the c of o. Next, we ran to food store to get half time game snacks for Josh's soccer game. Then we went to Josh's soccer game at noon. I had to work snack stand, so I watched from there. Josh's team did well and won the game.

After soccer we went to the new house. The boys raked leaves with a friend. My stepfather, Scott was working on giving me a bedroom door. Peter was fixing outlets and the dryer vent. I straightened up and then made lunch for everyone (hot dogs, grapes, and store bought cookies.) It was nice cooking in my new kitchen. After lunch I cleaned out the shed. It is still full of my grandmother and aunt's stuff. I got everything out of one room of the shed (it is a two room shed. Half for storage, half for the lawn mower and yard stuff) except four boxes my aunt still has to go through.

So as of now everything should pass for the c of o. Please pray it does as the inspector is coming back tomorrow (Tues.)

Sat. night Jason came to work with me and Josh went to my mom's. I worked from 5:00pm-11:30pm. It was good I worked late as I so could use the extra money.

So that was our Saturday. It was a good, productive day.

What did you do on Saturday?

-Becky

Guest Post by Sylvia

This is a guest post from Sylvia, who is on another blog my mom started:

I am 57, almost 58. I was married for 35 years to a man 17 years older, was with him since I turned 21. He died in 2008. I have stepdaughters very close to my own age, and their kids range from 6 to 31. Also more steps and stepgrandkids. It's not a family tree, it's a family forest.

I have worked in service jobs my whole life, either retail or food service, sometimes both at once. Currently I work in food service at a private women's college on the east coast. And for now, it is the only job I have, lol.

When my husband died, an event I thought I was well prepared for, since he was ill for quite some time, I found myself planning for the end of my own life. I don't mean I wanted it to end, I mean I set up my trust, started simplifying my assets, started to write my end of life plan. And then I stopped. And I had no idea why I stopped. It all just got to be too much, but I wasn't really aware of that.

I started doing more things at church, seeing different people, keeping up with my hospice support groups, etc. And then December 2008 our section of the world was hit by the worst ice storm in a hundred years. I had no power for 7 days. I moved into a motel, told my work I was staying with family, told my family I was staying at the college where I work, and only told my brother where I really was. Everyday before work I drove up into the hills to make sure my house was okay. And after work I sat in the motel and cried, thinking I was going to lose my house. Up to that point I had started listening to people who hammered at me to think about getting the heck out of the hills and moving down into city. Yeah, as if I could afford that. I didn't know how I could afford my mortgage payment, [too young to get my husband's social security], but I darn sure knew I couldn't afford anything in the city, rents are $1200 and up for an apartment!!

So this ice storm and coming close to losing my house proved to me I wanted to stay here. So, how to do that. I had heard that this man at church who I knew slightly, was pretty smart about electronics and plumbing, and had helped some other widows from church set up generators. So as soon as I got a Sunday off from work I went to church and walked up to him and started asking questions about generators. I knew nothing about this man.......but now know that he had in fact asked people about me months ago and was told I was married, but my husband was dying. So he never pursued me. And then he was away from the church for a few months when my husband died so he didn't know that.

Long story short, we are now deeply in love. It took me a long time to get over feeling like I was somehow cheating on my late husband. I told all the kids, and frankly the stepkids were not so good about it, but the grandkids, after checking him out, lol, are delighted. I laugh and tell them they are just glad they won't have to take care of me in my old age. We are in love "with God", and so far have chosen to not live together. Hardest thing I have ever done to be truthful. But good things are worth waiting for. I needed the one year point of Bob's passing to happen, which it did at the end of the summer. Now we talk about a future together, but we are spending this time learning about each other and spending time in the Word. Gosh, I had a lot of baggage I was unaware of, I had never thought about a relationship this late in life, and all the stuff people bring with them.

Anyway, I now have a second set of step-kids so to speak, who think I am a gift from God, their dad was so lonely and miserable for so long. His ex-wife has a mental illness that went undetected for years, and they have all spent time in therapy. Some of the stories make me wonder how this man and his kids survived, but they did. He got them out of the situation, got custody of them, took care of her two from a previous marriage....as he puts it, he's 55, been through Hell, and it's his time now. How wonderful that our Lord set us together. We live 2.2 miles away from each other. Honestly, even if I were not a believer, I would have to know this is from God.

That's where my life is at right now! I'm desperately trying to pay down my mortgage debt, because he is pretty much debt-free and I'm not anxious to bring my debt into a new marriage. Yes, we speak of that often!! And I know the bible preaches about getting out of debt.

So my daily concerns are the same as most of the people who read Becky's blog: stay in the Word, love our Lord, and live below my means.

I enjoy reading about other people's lives and struggles, knowing we're not alone. I hope my story shows people that when you least expect it, God knows your needs and supplies it for you.

Sylvia

Brrr, it's chilly

We just got home from a great day at the Camden Aquarium (where I forgot my camera.)

Upon arriving home, I discovered it was 55 degrees in my house. Brrrr!!! So I turned the heat on to 60 degrees to get the chill out. But I was trying to avoid turning on the heat since we are moving so soon.

Fortunately it is supposed to be nice tomorrow, so I will turn it off before we go to bed (since we all have nice warm blankets on our bed.)

Tomorrow we will sleep in, then Joshua has a soccer game at 12:00pm, next we are going to new house to rake all the leaves (there is SO many.) Finally, at 5:00pm tomorrow I have to work.

Sunday after Sunday school and church we are going to Eric's to help Sam move all her stuff out and back into my mom's. Then get some more of Eric's stuff sorted and into another place, as we need to get out of Eric's house soon (I think it is going on the market.)

I also have to food shop sometime before Monday.

Yikes!!!

This up coming week (in addition to regular life and homeschooling) I have to:
1) arrange to get stuff for c of o to pass finished
2) get the c of o guy back to pass me
3) pack (I have only packed one box so far)
4) get new house ready to be painted (Ideally I want to paint my room, bathroom, kitchen, and living room BEFORE I move in. Realistically I will probably only get my room done.)
5) rake leaves in house I still live in

Thanks Eric

Part of the reason I have this house is because of my brother Eric. He wanted me to get this house. He was there the day we got the assessment. I can still see him standing in my Grandma's kitchen that day. I just wish he were here now to see that it happened.

One thing I am really sad about leaving though is the custom closet he and Scott built for me in my current house (that I rent.) But no matter where I am Eric will always be with me.

Thanks Eric, you helped make one of my dreams of owning a home come true.

-Becky

My new house

front of my house
my deck (in back of house), my shed, and some of my yard









My house was built in 1924. I so love that it has history. The house is on a nice lot that is 85' x 100'. The house is about 825 square feet. It has a big wrap around gravel driveway. The yard has a nice wood deck, and a two room shed. It has a few pretty trees as well. The house has light yellow siding. It also has a dirt crawl space.

Inside the front door you walk into the living room, which has enclosed utility room to right, with washer and dryer, furnace and hot water heater in it. If you walk through living room next to right is stairs, to left is my room. Then hallway to the kitchen. Past the kitchen is bathroom, coat closet, and other small closet, and then the back door. If you go up the stairs (to the right past living room) there is one room and a closet up there. We plan on turning it into two small rooms for the boys.

My kitchen has a dishwasher, which I do not have now. Plus my new kitchen is slightly larger than my current one. Also I have a skylight, which I love!!! (I hope my kids do not put their hand print on the outside of it though, as I did as a kid to my skylight. LOL!)

It is all so exciting!!!

-Becky

IT'S OFFICIAL

The secret is we bought a ...

kitten?
puppy?
new pj's?

No silly it's a ...


















HOUSE!!!


I am literally dancing I am so happy!!!
My mom bought me dinner and chocolate covered strawberries and apples to celebrate. My mom is the BEST!!!

Today is a good day.
-Becky

I need prayer today

Please pray as I am trying to straighten the house, get caught up on homeschooling, and get ready for today. Also I am trying not to yell and to be calm.

At 12:00 we have a doctor's appointment
At 1:15 we have homeschool gym class
At 4:00 I have a secret appointment

I am very excited and stressed at the same time. Also my lower back and right leg is aching so I can barely walk. I am going to take some medicine for it and a hot shower and hope it goes away asap.

I so appreciate your prayers today!

-Becky

Poll Results

It appears as if you all enjoy reading the types of things I am already blogging about. Thanks for participating in my poll. I will try to post a bit more about my walk with God and a bit less about my budgeting and finances (which I actually have already been doing less financial stuff.)


Thanks! -Becky

please pray

tomorrow is a big day for me. please pray all goes smoothly. thanks! -Becky