Found a new to us car

So, Saturday morning we went car hunting. The very first car we looked at was a 1997 Buick Park Avenue. We both really liked it, the lady was willing to come down to $1800, and we wanted to buy it right then, but felt like we needed to look around more. So, we did. Well, we ended up contacting the lady on Sunday and buying it. Here it is:

Car Hunting

Well, if you haven't heard yet, the car was totaled. I am sad, but not surprised. We got $2500 from the insurance company after they paid off the lien at the bank. We had let our son use it as collateral on a loan a few months ago. So now we are car hunting. I believe with all my heart that God has a car out there for us right now. Just as he provided the Mitsubishi when we needed it , He will provide us a nice car now.

 The Mitsubishi right after we bought it. (see the original post: Our New-to-us vehicles)

The Mitsubishi after it "met" the cow"

On that note, if you know of anyone who has a good, reliable car for sale, please let us know!

We are so blessed

Last night on the way back from church, I hit a cow and really did a number on our car. You know, our only car.So why am I posting today that we are blessed?

Well, number one, no one was hurt. Not Tom, not the two boys in the back seat, and not me. I was covered from head to toe in glass from the driver's side window shattering and didn't have a cut on me. I am sore, but not unbearably so.

Number two, before 9:00 last night, 4 people from church had offered us a car to borrow plus our oldest daughter offered to let us borrow hers! The first person that called brought the car right over so Tom had a way to work this morning.

Number three, we have full coverage insurance. So it will either pay for the repairs or if it's totaled, we'll get the money to find something else. And our deductible on that car was only $250.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the cow. It walked away. There wasn't even any blood or hair on our car. My son made the comment "Well of course not, Mom. That cow probably weighed more than your car" LOL.

Am I stressed out? You bet. Am I still shaken up? Yes. Did I dream about cows last night? LOL, yes.  But mostly I feel peaceful and blessed. God is good. All.The.Time!

Goal update for this week & goals for next week

Earlier this week I posted about how I think goals are important and about my goals for this week.

Tom and I finally had a brief budget meeting over supper Friday night. I got a menu plan done for the next couple of weeks and my shopping lists made (and shopping done). Other than milk, we should be good to go for a while. If you want to see some of the deals I got, check out my posts over at Cruising with Coupons. I worked on the preliminary budget for February and on the bathroom/office. I was down in the back a bit so I didn't get as much done as I had hoped,but I'm making progress.

My goals for next week:
1. Finish the February budget
2. Work in the office and our bedroom cleaning and de-cluttering.
3. Eat at home all week.

Goals are important

Today I've been thinking about goals and how important they are. They can help keep us focused and encourage us. Without goals, I tend to get overwhelmed and spin my wheels.

Last Friday I set the goal to make a menu for this week and to do a budget for the rest of this month. I am happy to report that I have done both. Tom and I still need to go over the budget, my goal is to do that tonight. My meals were so well planned that we didn't even eat out once over the weekend! My goals for this week (to be done by Friday)

1. Have the budget meeting with Tom.
2. Prepared a preliminary budget for February
3. Plan menus and shopping list for next two weeks.
4. I have been working on my house. My focus this week is the bathroom and the office. I will continue working in these areas.

5 year blogiversary!

Well, it all started 5 years ago today with this post:
Day One-introduction and goals

Hard to believe I've been doing this for 5 years! I'm not as good at writing here as I once was, but I'm trying.  

We've gone through a lot in those 5 years. Graduated two more kids from high school, Graduated a kid from college. Married a kid off. Graduated myself from college. Went through 15 months of Tom working 32 hour weeks. Tom had shoulder surgery, I had tracheal re-section surgery. Through it all we've become discouraged and depressed, but we've kept trying. We haven't given up. That's all we can do right? Keep trying.

Hope that all my friends and family out there have a blessed week. I am praying for each of you and ask for prayers for us as we continue into this journey. Eventually one day I WILL be posting on here that all of our debt is paid off!

And life happens

Last Saturday, Tom woke up running a high fever, coughing, chills, aches, and generally feeling like poo. We ended up gong to the ER on Sunday only to be told that since the flu is a virus, they couldn't really do anything. They did give him a prescription for some cough medicine. He stayed home Monday (his fever finally broke late Sunday) and has been able to work the rest of the week, although he's been pretty run down. So far (thanks to mega-prayers, I am sure), I have stayed healthy other than fighting a cold (but no fever, aches, etc). I am grateful for that since it was a busy week; I had somewhere to go Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights.

So all that to say, I haven't had much time to think/work on goals this week. But I am setting some now for the weekend.

By Monday, I will have:
made a budget for the rest of this month
made a menu for next week