This is WONDERFUL!!

If you have read my previous post, you may find this interesting. Absolutely wonderful.
Mitch Mayne

A Lesson Learned

A friend posted a link on Facebook that I took an objection to (the link can be found here), and I found myself posting something I had been afraid to say for years:
"I think there is way too much focus on condemning the gay community and its supposed agenda. I keep hearing how gay marriage is going to destroy traditional marriage, and how this is all part of Satan's plan. Really? It wasn't the gay community who introduced infidelity, physical and emotional abuse, financial stress, pornography and substance addiction, etc, etc, into traditional marriage. We're doing a pretty good job of killing the notion of "marriage" ourselves. This is just a "Me-ism," but I believe that Satan is encouraging people to focus on the gay community instead of actually focusing on ourselves, and THAT is how marriage is getting destroyed. People are too focused on the "agenda" of the LGBT community instead of caring about their own homes, marriages, and what their children are doing. I have been afraid to say this for years because of the fall-out, but I will say it now, as a Mormon, I will not take away ANY rights, marriage included, of an LGBT person because what I believe is not what they have to believe, and I will focus on my own house before I condemn someone else's. Let God deal with people as he wants to. We don't know someone else's heart. I have loved ones, both friends and direct family, who are LGBT, and I love them too much to condemn their actions. Some of my gay friends were the MAIN ones to support my Mormon temple marriage and what I chose to do...how do I, in good conscience, take away what THEY believe in, just 'cause I feel differently? I'm sorry to go on a rant on here, but I have been afraid to say this for a long time b/c of what my Mormon friends would say, but I'm not afraid anymore. I am a Mormon, I believe in the tenets of my church, but I also believe in not taking away the rights of others, and I will never actively choose to hurt or condemn a community that has been so willing and accepting of me and what I believe, even when it is contrary to what I might feel."
Another person made a comment saying they didn't feel it was the school system's place to teach the concept of character, and that it is the family's job. I did make mention that some children don't have good families to rely on (look at the school shooting in Chardon, Oh. a few days ago; that child had a father in prison), and that the school can function as a family for some students, and referenced a few examples from my teaching career.
This woman started picking apart my thoughts, and I found myself picking apart hers. It got quite heated, and when I tried to bow out and said I was done talking, the woman said that it was because she was right, and I couldn't beat her, which set me off. This woman was a very stereotypical Mormon, a bajillion kids, and stuff on her profile referencing how Christ-like she is, and I made a very mean comment about how exactly NOT Christ-like she was, and it went downhill from there. She did insult me first, but I started laying it on.
By the end of it, insult after insult, I found myself shaking, with tears in my eyes. I was livid, hurt, this woman was everything I hated about Mormon stereotypes, and yet, I realized........I was stooping to her level.
So, I apologized to my friend who posted the article, apologized to the woman I was arguing with, and removed the derogatory comments, while leaving up what I believed in. I was insulted mercilessly yet again, and I simply blocked her. I couldn't take it anymore.
It dawned on me...you can't discuss love and tolerance and be hateful in your heart. I made apologies to those involved, and posted about the discussion, and my thoughts on gay rights' issues on my own page, and SUCH a wonderful discussion has taken place that has made my heart so happy. For years, I have felt like I was doing something wrong for supporting gay marriage, even going to one of my Bishops in fear I was erring (he assured me my thoughts were OK, and that I was still a good church member). And to get slammed so badly for believing that bullying is not OK in any situation, and that I felt, as a teacher, I should help my students develop character...I just didn't understand it. But, MY reaction was not any better, and I have done what I can to remedy it.
The lessons learned? I'm not alone in my beliefs. It's OK to stand up for something you feel is right. It is NOT OK to be nasty to someone just to get a point across; the more you have to fight a different opinion, the less secure you are in your own, and it made me realize I don't need to be "right" with everyone else to feel "right" in my heart about something. And I am proud of myself for taking a stand that I have been afraid to say for years now. I am grateful such a positive secondary discussion has resulted from this. I hope it continues.

What We Store and How We Prep: 72 Hour Kits

(Our 72 hour kit is growing...I think we need a second tote!!)

I have posted about this subject recently, but one of the ways in which we are attempting to become more "prepared" is by creating a 72 hour kit. My husband has been wanting to work on this project for a while as a family, and I kept stalling because I thought it would be too time-consuming, too expensive, unnecessary, yadda yadda. I made up a lot of excuses.
But, thanks to a few minor emergencies, and the realization that I have more to care about than simply myself, I managed to get inspired after doing some searches on Pinterest, and found a post that encouraged me to get started. I modified the list a bit, since we have an infant in the house, as well as a dog, and I tweaked some amounts to work for our own family, but the premise is still very much the same.
Our kit isn't complete, not by a long shot, but we're getting there. I still need to pack food for the baby and the dog. We need to add in some lists of important information, phone numbers, etc, as well as adding in some money and change. I need a few more various supplies, like a spare leash for the dog, a copy of his rabies certificate (in the event a shelter requires one), matches, bug spray...you get the idea. There are some small gaps to fill.
But the thing that intrigued me the most is how much of the stuff we already had on hand, since we believe in buying in bulk and stockpiling. And I think that preparing our 72 hour kit has inspired me to stockpile even more. Last night, I managed to snag 8 hand soaps and 10 boxes of bandaids to stockpile, and we went to Sam's Club to get things like regular soap and toothbrushes. The hubby wants to get some MREs to put in so we can have meals that are more filling. I think that, with any kit, there are always things you can keep adding. We have added a lot since my last post on this concept. And there's still plenty more that can be done.
We also have an unfulfilled goal to create a kit for each car. We have a semblance of one in one of our cars, but it's a bit pitiful. Our idea list is:

In addition to two car roadside emergency kits with jumper cables and such—

-a small first aid kit for each car

-spare shoes for me

-a blanket or space blankets

-clothing for kids (pj’s) and pants for me

-diapers/wipes/underwear for Goob

-a couple portable baby food containers, granola bars, and a baby spoon

-four bottles of water per car

-flashlight per car

-very basic tool kit

-duffel as containers

We contemplated getting premade 72 hour kits for both the home and the car, but at the end of the day, we actually felt it was cheaper to raid our stockpile first and make our own, than to add to an already created kit. The kits for the cars are our next priority, and we need to get started on them.

What do you have in your 72 hour kits, if you have them?

What We Store and How We Prep: Sugars/Sweeteners

I find that, with the downturn in the economy and as I grow into my role as wife and mother, I have developed a real passion for food storage and emergency preparedness (in case you haven't gleaned this from my previous posts).
But, much like my goals when it comes to my marriage, parenting, finances, etc, storing food and preparing for "what-ifs" are a work in progress. Our food storage and our emergency kits are NOWHERE near complete; please don't get me wrong about this. But, I do have a developing love for this subject, and I figured it would be helpful for me and my readers to follow me on my journey to self-reliance. So, I decided to start a series in my blog on what we have chosen to store in our household, the ways we "prep," and also, our progress (are we meeting our goals, how have our goals/aspirations changed, and so forth).
In my introductory entry, I think I want to talk about one of my favorite things as a sugar junkie: sweeteners. In my opinion, if an emergency ever takes place, or if we need to rely on our food storage for a time, I don't want my food to be boring and bland.
The obvious solution to this would be to have sugar on hand, which we do. We currently have several #10 cans of white sugar, a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff, two 7 pound bags of brown sugar, and a very small amount of powdered sugar (which, admittedly, I don't use very often, and don't keep in good supply). We buy our sugar at warehouse clubs, mainly. I like buying the 25 lbs. bags of white sugar and placing the contents in a bucket you can buy at Lowe's or other home improvement stores. Admittedly, I don't buy food grade buckets (and I should), but we use the stuff so fast that I'm not overly concerned about anything leaching out from the plastic. We also buy our brown sugar at warehouse clubs, and brown sugar freezes WONDERFULLY. It thaws in about a half an hour on a table, if that, and you're good to go. Dump it into a big Tupperware container or something comparable that is air tight, and you're set. I probably should buy some more powdered sugar, but am not sure of a good way to store it, so if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears. In terms of shelf life, sugar can last for years, if stored correctly.
An alternative sweetener is honey, which we buy locally and in bulk. We are lucky to have resources available to us in our area to buy inexpensive, local, pure honey, and I typically buy it in 3 lb. or more jars. It doesn't go bad easily, though it does crystallize, which you can remedy by placing a jar under warm/hot water for a bit. Honey also has a lengthy shelf life.
We also buy Karo corn syrup. I'm not sure why there is so much hatred of corn syrup, but I have yet to buy into all of the ire, so we keep some on hand. We just buy small bottles of the light and the dark both to keep on hand--we do use it, but not often enough for me to want to keep more than maybe 4 jars on hand at any given time. Also stores well.
Molasses...I keep a jar of this on hand, but don't use it very much. I have heard that the shelf life is poor, so that is a deterrent for me, though I haven't researched it much because, well, we don't really use it.
Agave nectar--just bought our first jar of it, and have not tried it, but have heard that a little goes a long way, and that a small amount can replace sugar in some recipes. If anyone has any information to share about this, please feel free to comment.
Maple syrup is a sweetener that I absolutely adore. I'm talking real deal, pure maple syrup, and this is something that I just recently started using. I use it in lots of applications, but most often, as a glaze for meat, oddly enough. Has a shelf life of a year or two on the shelf, and about six months to a year in the fridge, judging from the research I have done. I have been told that occasionally a harmless mold can grow on the syrup, but you can boil the syrup, skim the skin, and replace it into the bottle, and you've fixed the issue.
I do also store other syrups, like commercial artificial maple syrup (like Mrs. Butterworth, for example), and fruit syrups that we have come across on sale at discount stores in our town.
Jams and jellies are an easy sweetener alternative. They are inexpensive, come in all sorts of varieties, and have a lengthy shelf life. Plus, you can make your own if you're canning inclined or like making freezer jam. Between our jams and jellies, as well as our fruit butters that we have on hand, I would say we have easily a dozen to a dozen and a half jars on our food storage shelves. I canned homemade apple butter with a friend a couple years ago, and it turned out OK, but the majority of our jams are commercially produced, or made locally by a small producer. I really like what preserves have to offer in the way of variety and shelf life, and they can be a very appealing option when looking to add to your food storage without breaking the budget.
I think my goals would be to 1) widen our repertoire of sweeteners and know how to use and store them (like molasses and powdered sugar), 2) to not go overboard in this category seeing as I love jam, for example, and could buy unlimited quantities if given the option, and 3) I would still like to have more white sugar on hand, as well as a better means to store it--maybe keeping some in actual food grade buckets, buying more #10 cans of it, etc.
So, what do you do to make your kitchen/food storage a bit "sweeter?"

Progress

At the start of this year, we had five open credit cards. We plan on keeping two open (for now). One has a zero balance, and the other is maxed out, but has a low interest rate and is backed by our local credit union. The other three were burdens on our family, nicknamed "The Big Three" by the hubby and me. We have managed to negotiate the interest rate on one of the cards (which dropped it 20%), and today, on one of "The Big Three," we have managed to settle our account, pay less than what the balance was, and are officially paid off on that card. You see all of these companies on TV telling you to pay them big $$$ to settle your debts for you. I simply called this credit card company, told them what we were dealing with, and asked for a debt settlement on the card, knowing that it would hit my already abysmal credit, and they happily accepted and reduced the balance by $600. Normally, I would be opposed to paying less than what I owed out of ethics and principle, but we have been paying more than the minimum payment on this card for years now, and the balance never seems to drop, so I felt I was getting rooked, and quite honestly, didn't mind the idea of screwing them back a bit.
But, at the end of the day, I took matters into my own hands, bit the bullet, put on my big girl panties, and now officially have one of "The Big Three" paid in full (and also, all of those three cards are closed, as well).
If you know me at all, you have an idea how tremendous this is for me right now. :)

Randomosity

I feel like blogging, but don't really have any cohesive message to share, so I'm just gonna ramble and see where it takes us.
The other day, I was changing seven month old Bean on the bed in her room. She's rolling now, so I placed her perpendicular to the edge of the bed, thinking that, if she rolled, she'd roll down the bed, and not off of the bed. I took my eyes off of her for two seconds as I reached for some baby blue jeans in her dresser not more than a foot behind me, and I heard a sickening THUNK followed by a wail of epic proportions.
My baby gal fell off the bed.
I snatched her up, and once I calmed her down and checked her out, I called the doctor's office, where the nurse assured me Bean would be just fine, and that this happens to every mother. But, I was sobbing. I never thought it would happen to me because I was "smarter" than that. And yet, no matter the preparations, the good intentions, it happened anyway.
Which got me thinking about just life and motherhood and children in general. Life is like that when you're a parent. You can prepare kids, you can nurture them, you can have the best of intentions, and think you know it all. But, we don't. Parents goof up. Children go off the beaten path. They screw up, too. I think it's just the nature of parenting and growing up. As long as we do our best, and try to make it through slip ups, it'll work out somehow. Kids fall off the bed. Sometimes, stuff happens, and it's what you make of it.
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We registered the Goob for pre-K today. We tried to prepare him by telling him he was going to take a look at his new school this morning. When we got out of the car, he happily proclaimed that he wanted to hear a school bell, and his excitement made me both happy for him, and a bit misty eyed at the same time. When did he grow up? When did he stop being my little baby? I watched him as he looked around at all of the children, the gymnasium, the playground, and he was enthralled. I sat back as he played with other little kids waiting as their parents signed paperwork, and I knew that I was making the right choice for him and for what he needs at this point in his life, even if it does make me a bit teary-eyed and slightly sad inside. It will be a transition for both of us.
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In other less emotional news, I snagged some more freebies this week. Some of the haul includes more digital magazine subscriptions (stuff like Kiwi and Harper's Bazaar), three six-ounce tubes of Jason all-natural whitening toothpaste, which retails for just under seven bucks a tube, and I got three for free plus free shipping, a personalized travel mug, a photo calendar for my desk at work with pictures of the children, two more personalized humorous birthday cards, and I sent away for a free sample of body lotion from the Burt's Bees company. One of the lessons I have learned in scoring free stuff is that I don't need everything just because it says it is free, and also, if you want to get free stuff, but have to pay for shipping, it can start adding up fast, and before you know it, it isn't worth it anymore. So, like everything, it's a balance.
Cheers!

My Son Feels the Same Way About Twilight as I Do....

In my defense, it's not what it looks like. It's innocent. But, I'm not, for wishing he was....