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WE'RE DEBT FREE!! How We Paid Off $55,000 in 23 months- Part 2

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Part 1 here After we moved to Southern Maryland, my parents generously offered for us to live with them until we could get on our feet. Those first 6 months were hard with a newborn, a toddler, and new town. During that time, we began to realize that the salary at Behn's new job, though much better than his old job, wasn't as amazing as it seemed. Taxes and health insurance came out, of course; and now we were in a very high cost of living area. I was staying home with now 2 boys. The rent in Southern Maryland is crazy- technically it is a D.C. suburb and there's also a Navy base there adding to the high cost of living. Rent was incredibly higher than it had been in Lexington. The natural choice was to buy. Interest rates were low and there were lots of short sales and foreclosures. It seemed like a dream come true- we were buying a house. Meanwhile, Behn needed a commuter car and knowing that we truly couldn't handle a second car payment, we scraped up the cash for a

WE'RE DEBT FREE! How We Paid Off $55,000 in 23 months- Part 1

Flashback to 6.5 years ago: ***I stood in the Kroger grocery store line, glancing around nervously, hoping no one I knew would see my WIC food vouchers. I watched the cashier ringing up the food and held my breath- hoping, praying- the number would not more than we had in our account. "That will be $200, ma'am," the cashier says. "But, but, I don't have that much money...can I put some things back?" The line is long behind me and I'm sweating nervously.  I hate this.*** And then I wake up. It's just a dream- actually my recurring nightmare about not having enough money in our account for groceries. Except it's not all a dream, really. We did use WIC checks (government assistance for food) when I was pregnant with Patrick. I really did sweat and hold my breath in the grocery line, praying the number would be low. Much of our furniture and clothing and other goods have come from second hand shops. But for the first time in our 10 1/2 yea

Homeschool Days

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Of the many decisions we have to make as parents, I think education is absolutely one of the hardest. Once Graham was approaching Kindergarten age, I felt the anxiety creeping up. He had gone to a little church preschool for 2 years. I was overwhelmed, lonely, and probably somewhat depressed and this son and I tend to need some space from one another. So, we made the best decision at the time and Graham spent 2 years at our wonderful, little, local public school. His first grade teacher was especially amazing and G thrived on the structure in a classroom, learning and playing well. But high quality education is very important to Behn and I. We were both extremely blessed by Christian and private education in our childhoods. Public school can, of course, be high quality in many ways. They have resources and teachers with gifts that I do not have- true blessings and wonderful teachers! But let me provide what I mean by 'high quality.' Everyone has different priorities, but fo

On Going To The Store With 3 Kids (continuation of the original series)

Hi. Welcome back to all of us. No real reason for me to appear here today, except that we an one of "those" fun trips to the store and it reminded me of days of yore when I used to write stories about how freaking  difficult it is to take kids places. See original posts here and here. So at this point we have an almost 8 year old, a 6 year old, and a 2.5 year old. Just when things maybe could be getting easier in the parenting department, we choose homeschool this year. And so, I make a choice. Go to the store on a weeknight or weekend kid-free (favorite choice) or take the kids. Now, as a homeschool mom, taking the kids out is normal. It's a lesson in economics, organization, and socialization. ("But waaaiiit, homeschooled kids aren't socialized!" I heard you; be quiet in the back.) It was finally payday, so with no milk or bread in the house, things were dire. Off we skipped to the nearest real town (we live in the cornfields and it is the best). W

Our New Home

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Well, we did it. We moved to northern Maryland, about 2 hours away from our old home. We now live in a completely new to us community. We are about 30- 60 minutes away from much of our family (as opposed to 3 hours) and we are settling in well. We live in a cute neighborhood in a tiny, one-stop light town which is surrounded by miles and miles of farms. I'm surprised and thrilled with how quickly we've made friends. We plugged into a church 20 minutes away. The boys and I started homeschooling, and have new friends within the homeschool community. We've reconnected with old friends and already hosted a birthday party with family. Our neighbors are fantastic so far, and the boys love riding their bikes in the evenings with new friends. (Note- they learned to ride their bikes!). We enjoyed the tiny, free pool in our town until it closed for the season. It's quite literally a 2 minute drive to get there, and I'm already looking forward to it re-opening next summer. W

Let's Go

It has not rained in weeks and the garden needs water, so I tend to it with the hose. I know full well that in less than 2 weeks it will not be my garden anymore, and I hope the new home owners care for it as I do, but I also know that cannot because they did not toil and watch everything grow as I did. .......... It's our last Saturday here, and it's crunch time. There is still much to be packed. I worked hard this week, bustling around with Sammy on my legs, undoing half of what I had packed until the boxes were sealed. Graham went to VBS, Patrick hung around the house, and I listened to an audiobook to help the time pass. Yesterday, instead of packing, I collapsed into bed for an afternoon nap as soon as Samuel was down for his nap. I'm tired, and eager to be in our new house. ............ We are north bound, moving near more family. We are sad to be leaving my parents, brother, and Grandma. I will miss dinners on the deck and swinging by Grandma's or Mom and

Spring 2018

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Lately, I've been missing writing. I haven't written on here consistently in a couple of years and I'm rusty. The keyboard feels strange. And I don't have anything to write about, exactly. But the other day I pulled out my journals- the private, handwritten journals I've kept for 10 years now- and remembered why it's so important for me to write. In those books, I saw myself and God. I could tangibly read about all the struggles and victories that God has brought me through. There are thousands of lines of thanksgivings. There are pages detailing anxiety. There is God's good  faithfulness through it all. It's the story He's written and so I'm going to try to get my tired hands back here more often. Before anything deep, I think I just need to update this blog on general well beings... Our family is well. Happy, loud, full of life. Of course, there's bickering and exhaustion and lack of patience and wisdom. Such is human life. Behn

On A Cold March Day

I'm giving myself 5 minutes to write. I haven't written in so long, months. Today is cold and dreary, and I put cabbage in the crock pot and brewed more tea, which is much more romantic in November than in March. In March, I want to throw open windows and play in the dirt, but today it's flurrying so I'll settle for cabbage and tea. The faint red hue of unfurled new leaves barely holds in the trees. Waiting. The spring peepers in the creek beds, who we heard a couple weeks ago, have quieted again. Waiting. Patrick and I will play another game of Uno, since he finished school for the day. Samuel is napping, piled under blankets in his cozy crib. Graham's off learning at school, and Behn is running his department at work. I alternate between sorting through toys (and piling them off to purge to the thrift store) and cooking and folding laundry. We each have our tasks, and I'm achey today but the work feels good, too, especially while listening to an audi