We Ditched the Dish

Well, We did it.

We ditched the dish.

The days of recording our favorite shows and complaining about having to watch live tv are through.

With my husband's new job came new financial challenges.  You may remember from this post that he is currently living in two places.  An apartment that we were SO blessed to have been hooked up with, and here at home with us, 1.5 hours away from work.  This new chapter in our lives has presented some new challenges, and reminded us of some old ones, not the least of which is the pay cut that we took for this job.
When I tell people how significant the pay cut was to take this new job people think that we are nuts, but let me explain:  The schools here in the county we have been living in are rated between 2 and 3.... and that's out of TEN mind you!  That's horrible!  Don't get me wrong, this place had its uses and charms, and we are all too grateful for the opportunities that we have had here, but we have always known that this place was just a pitstop for us.  The schools in our new county are rated up in the 8 and 9 range!  Good gracious, what a glorious change!  I know that leaving the good money and taking less all for the sake of providing our children a better education and a better community and really, a better quality of life was the righteous choice for us to make for our family, and I am proud of and stand behind that decision, no matter how hard this is. 

What we've gained...

In a way, ditching the dish is something I have been secretly wanting to do for a while.  Having "cable" hinders us from getting up and getting going.  It keeps us from interacting as much with each other.  It keeps us lazy, and it keeps us plugged into the TV when we should be plugged into each other and having quality time together.  

Cable is a trap.  Don't get me wrong, I am  having withdrawals (to a certain extent).  I hate that I missed Sister Wives on Sunday, and the finale of Top Shot All-Stars, and Futurama, and Adventure Time (lol, that's an odd collection, huh), But something I am definitely NOT going to miss is the $73 per month we were paying for it.  Having cable or satellite is a luxury and not a necessity, so we kicked the dish to the curb, and we aren't looking back!  

We aren't totally lost without it though, we still have tons of shows on DVD and enough movies to make your eyes bug out, and oh dear the video games!  We are still able to entertain ourselves, only none of those other sources of TV fun make you feel trapped the way satellite/cable seems to.  And frankly, it is so much easier to get lost in TV because there are so many choices, you can hardly step away.  But with all these other things, you can only be sucked in for so long, and then you get kind of bored.  

Another thing that rocks about ditching the dish is that I have gotten back into reading more.  I didn't realize how much I missed it.  So that's a bonus!  Right now I am speeding through the 3rd installment of the Fallen series, "Passion".  It's not too bad, and it's a pretty quick read.  who knows what is next, I'll probably read Catching Fire again so that I can refresh my memory before the movie comes out (<---so stoked about this!).  I'll probably throw the Twilight and Harry Potter books in the queue as well, I can never go too long without reading them through again.

What comes next...

I just found out this morning that another house we looked at a while back, which ended up going under contract, is back on the market.  Could this one be our house?? Who knows.  But Lord knows I'm on my knees daily praying for the opportunity for us all to live together again!  I want so badly for us all to be together, and to be homeowners for the first time!  

I know God will bless us in due time, and unfortunately for my nerves, I just need to keep praying and stay positive and most of all trust that when the right thing comes along God will set it aside for us! 

I hope y'all are having a PERFECTLY AWESOME long weekend and I look forward to hearing from you

(nudge nudge comments? nudge nudge) lol

Meeting Bloggers in REAL Life

I follow a good deal of blogs, as most bloggers do, and I will not hesitate to say I do not read every single post from every single blog I follow.  Sorry.  It's just not possible.  Between Wifing, Momming, and Studenting (lol, how much do you love my new verbs?) I have just a tad bit of time to sit and read blogs before I have to get back to business of one form or another.  That being said, a blog has to be especially  fantastic for me to subscribe via email.  To me, email subscription to a blog is like the most fangirl thing to do when you really love reading someone's content on the regs.  I say ALL of that to say this:

There is one blog, that no matter what, I always have and always will read every single post from, and that blog is Interiors by Kenz.

 I absolutely love this girl!  her writing style is so fun and light it really makes you feel like you are just having coffee with her, not reading through paragraphs on a monitor.  She is so creative and really versatile and extraordinarily skilled at what she does.  Not only is she an awesome writer and DIY-er, but she also is so extremely well-rounded and there is more than meets the eye with this girl!  She plays violin in a symphony, and she's a pilot!  Like, whowhat?!  When I read her about me page I was blown away, I thought, no, there is no way in heck that she is actually a real person!

As you may have read in a previous post, at the beginning of this month I got to meet my blogger idol, Mekenzie from said blog.  She is just as delightful in real life as she is on the interwebs.  Which brings me to my next point and back around to the title of this post.  

Meeting bloggers in REAL life makes you feel a little bit like a stalker.  

It's weird.

We had an awesome breakfast at the Flying Biscuit Cafe in Atlanta, over which we talked about all the things that had been going on for her at the Haven Conference that weekend and my much less exciting adventure of getting through the toll road with only $.43 thanks to an extra  nice cashier, and also about the vast differences in our climates (She lives in Utah).  But I found myself asking questions based on all the millions of little factoids I knew about her from reading her blog for months and months, and like I said, it makes ya feel a little bit stalkery.  I talked myself out of this weird little feeling and really enjoyed being able to connect on a personal level with someone I have admired from across the country for such a long time!  

Have you met a fellow blogger and felt this same sensation?  

please tell me I am not alone in this!   

A Walk in the Park... or Rather a Run and a Picnic

This past Saturday we went to Hamburg State Park in Warthen, GA to just spend the day and have a picnic.
We had such a good time, as usual.
You may remember we made a similar trip in September, if not here's the post  and you can see the pictures and how much has changed in the last 6 or so months.

This was an awesome day:

This is for my dad, who insisted I find a better pic of him to put on the blog.

My Introduction Vlog

So after being inspired MONTHS ago by one of my favorite bloggers,
 (Bre from Peacoats & Plaid) I have FINALLY gotten around to posting the vlog I made a couple weeks ago.  

It's short and sweet with just a little bit of info about me and a lot of distractions and interruptions throughout.

This however is how basically every moment of my life at home goes, so I left it in to keep it authentic.  

I honestly don't know how I get anything done....

Enjoy!

Have some suggestions or questions for my next vlog?  

Drop them in the comments below!  

Spring Brings Change...

the Bradford Pear in bloom in my front yard

Spring is not my favorite season, it never has been.  I can't really explain why, it's just always been kinda "meh" in my book.

My husband was telling me the other day why he loves spring so much and I realized I need to start looking for the beauty in spring. 

Tough Mudder GA 2013

So, The day finally came last Saturday 

The Tough Mudder.

We had been preparing ourselves for it since November and it was finally here

"probably the toughest even on the planet"

I found that I wasn't as nervous as I expected when we arrived.  

I was actually like CRAZY pumped for it!

The week before the mudder we were running and I just had a break down, my form wasn't good, and I couldn't find a groove and I was feeling really fat and basically all the negativity was mounting and I was subconsciously trying to convince myself I couldn't do it.  

That  sucked...

Team Schmow Zow! Tough Mudder here we come!

Most of you who read often or follow me on Instagram

know that my husband and I are participating in the Georgia Tough Mudder 2013 

and I just received this email the other day:

wow... this just got real...