Total Money Makeover

In the spirit of "paying it forward" I'd like to share a personal story of me and my husband's journey through our Total Money Makeover with Dave Ramsey.  

A little over 2 years ago I was talking to a close girlfriend of mine when she mentioned Dave Ramsey.  My husband, Luke, and I had never heard of him before, nor did we know what he did for a living.  My friend mentioned his book, Total Money Makeover, and thought that my husband and I might benefit from reading through it together.  Come to find out, he's the author of several personal finance books, including Financial Peace University and EntreLeadership, his most recent publication.  

It only took us about a week to read through TMM (Total Money Makeover), and let me tell you something... I am not exaggerating when I say that it literally changed our lives!  Everything we knew about how to handle our personal finances was challenged and called into question.  This was not an easy 'pill' for us to swallow as we have always considered ourselves to be very responsible people when it comes to our money.  We quickly learned that we were, in fact, not.  

Dave takes you through his 6-step program to get you out of debt and living credit card free in TMM.  Currently, Luke and I are on step #2 - Debt Snowball, or pay off your debt (not including your mortgage, which is step #6).  Before I go any further, I want to stop here and let you know that I'm about ready to tell you JUST how in debt Luke and I were, and how much we've been able to pay off.  I want this to be an inspiration for anyone that may read this and a testimony to just how amazing this program really is.  What I am NOT trying to do is brag about our success or rub this in anyone's face about how 'awesome' we are (because trust me - we still have a long way to go!).  My sole purpose is to inspire someone who may be struggling financially to start taking control of their life!  

When Luke and I first started this program the current sum of our combined debt was over $50,000!!  YIKES!  In percentages, a whopping 77% belonged to student loans; 16% in car loans, 1% in credit card debt, and 6% in miscellaneous loans.  In 2.5 short years we have been able to pay off over $24,000 worth of debt!  This is over 43% of our total debt!!  

This is crazy considering Luke is a youth minister and I work 2 part-time jobs, but nevertheless, I truly believe that anyone can do this if they take Dave's advice and spend within their means, a concept that today's society knows nothing about.  If you don't have the cash to purchase those things considered "non-essential" then DON'T BUY THEM!  Hard work can get your farther than you ever thought it could, and trust me... it's worth it!  

Homemade Buffalo Chicken Panini's

Apparently I've been a busy person, because I haven't been able to post for awhile!  :(  This makes me sad.  So, to reward my 5 followers I'd like to share with you a new recipe that I created tonight.  I'm calling them my Homemade Buffalo Chicken Panini's.

I start with 2 slices of bread.  For these sandwiches I used english toasting bread, but I think next time I'll use Sourdough, which I have found to crisp nicely for panini's.

Next, I grilled some chicken breasts, and then mixed the buffalo sauce together using miracle whip, ranch dressing, hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, chipolte seasoning, and chili powder.

Set your oven to broil or pre-heat your panini maker.  In the meantime, assemble your sandwiches by buttering one side of each bread slice  (sorry, all you health nuts, but butter is the perfect ingredient when toasting!).  Place one slice butter side down on a baking stone or panini maker, top with grilled chicken, one slice pepperjack cheese, and one tablespoon of your buffalo sauce.  Place another slice of bread butter side up on top and cook for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.

Add lettuce for a cold crunch to your sandwich.

Or if you don't have chicken, you can always use some beef slices and cheddar cheese.

Hope you've enjoyed my latest food creation!  I will definitely be making these again!

Weekend Adventures

It's been awhile since my last post and a lot has happened!  I'm excited to update you all (all 5 of my followers) on some recent events as well as a few projects that I have completed.  

But first, I'm excited to share with you the fun weekend I had with the hubby and his Aunt and Uncle in Hebron, Kentucky.  It was great to catch-up with family that we haven't seen in over 2 years.  

Having lunch outside Newport Levee. 

One of the places we visited was St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Covington.  The place was gorgeous, to say the least, and is over 100 years old.  

Over 80 feet in height. 

Stone & wood carvings everywhere!

82 Stain Glass Windows in the Cathedral.

Then we went through the Newport Shark Aquarium where we met many interesting creatures of the sea! 

Mbu Pufferfish

Jellyfish

And, of course, sharks!  

I think the most important place we went, though, was to the Skyline Chili parlor to eat some delicious Skyline!!  Luke was thrilled to be there, to say the least.  

Overall, it was a great trip and we were happy to visit with family that we don't get to see very often!  

A Sweet Anniversary Getaway

The last vacation my husband and I took was our honeymoon 3 years ago.  Since then, we've been working our fingers to the bone.  So, we decided for our 3-year anniversary we would get out of town and enjoy some time together.  Our place of choice was Branson, Missouri since it's fairly close yet far enough away to constitute a "getaway".  Oh, we heard it was fun, too.  :)  

One of the first things we did was stop to eat dinner at Lambert's Cafe.  It was delicious (a huge understatement) to say the least.   

Besides for the fresh hot rolls, our favorite dish was the black raspberry cobbler!  

Luke is showing off his food baby as well as his new Lambert's mug!  

On Monday we decided to take a trip back in time to the Wild West Saloon!  

How do we look?  

Then it was off to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, where, unfortunately, Dolly did NOT make an appearance.  But it was fun, nontheless.  

This was outside the Dolly's big plantation-style ranch "house" (if you can call it that) where we ate our dinner and were entertained by the show.  I think our favorite part of the whole experience was seeing the buffalo and longhorn cattle gallop out in the middle of the rink!  (Unfortunately, they don't allow cameras in the arena so there are no pictures of these amazing creatures.)  

On Tuesday, we celebrated our official 3-Year anniversary by taking a lovely horseback trail ride.  

It was very peaceful and scenic!  Then we did some kayaking on Table Rock Lake.

All in all, we had a great time together and loved getting out of town for a few days after a long and BUSY summer!  If you're wanting to get away, I would say that Branson is a great vacation spot.  It not only has tons of "touristy" shows and attraction that you can visit, but it's beautiful scenery everywhere you go and there are lots of free hiking trails and outdoor activities that you can do as well.  

Design On A Dime... Almost

Sometimes I get the itch to spice up the decor in my apartment, but I never seem to have the money to do it.  This week was one of those itches, so I took the opportunity while my husband is gone for a youth camp all week (I guess I'll find out if it's truly better to ask for forgiveness than permission when he returns) to do some redecorating on a budget.  My goal was $100 or less to redecorate my bedroom and bathroom.  

Here's the Before & After pictures of what my very drab bedroom looked like.  It needed some serious help (and some major color coordination)!  

My next obstacle was to tackle my bathroom.  It always seems like the main problem with bathrooms is storage, so I added the shelving unit which freed up the cubbies (not seen in this picture) for all our towels and  wash cloths (which, in turn, freed up some much needed space in my wardrobe).  

(Why yes, I did assemble that shelf all by myself!)

Let's see how my checkbook fared:

• New Comforter Set (includes bed skirt & 2 shams):  $64 (Because it was on sale, I ended up saving over $140 on this purchase.  Hooray for Kohl's!) 
• New rugs for bedroom (set of 2):  $12 (Thank You Bed Bath & Beyond.)
• Shelving Unit for bathroom:  $29.99 (a little expensive but it's the cheapest I could find.)
• 2 Wicker baskets for storing bathroom products:  $8 (Hobby Lobby is the best.)  

The final total was $113.99!  Ok, so I went over budget a LITTLE, but I'm extremely pleased with how everything turned out!  Plus, when I added it all up, I saved over $150 for everything!  You can't beat those savings!  

Goodbye, Harry!

I was in 6th grade when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published for the first time (1997), and I can honestly say that is when the love for "everything Harry" begin for me.  I have stood in line at every book release, gathered with the masses at every midnight showing of the movies, and have spent countless hours reading and re-reading the books!  I am rather fond of the little "Potter collection" that I now own.  

Before going any further, though, I have to stop here and say that it was the urging of my two little sisters that convinced me to start reading the books, but it was the wizarding world of Harry Potter that kept me enthralled.  From the countless adventures that Harry, Ron & Hermione found themselves in to the mysteries that would keep me questioning until the very end.  It was Harry that kept me coming back each time.  His endless quest to conquer evil, his dedication to his friends, and his love for humanity are just a few of his admirable traits.  I'll miss him very much.  


Therefore, it's needless to say that I pre-ordered tickets for HP&DH Part 2 (and by "pre-order" I really mean that I made my husband walk down to the theater and purchase them for me) and anxiously waited for midnight of July 14th to get here.  And it finally did...

Armed with our homemade t-shirts and replica "Potter glasses" that I received while waiting in line at Barnes & Noble in 2000 with my older sister for the book release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  

I will dearly miss reading of Harry's latest adventures, but I'm excited to share Harry with future generations (aka:  my children) as I'm sure they will love him just as much as I do!  

My Feline Family

Those of you that follow my blog (all 5 of you) won't be surprised by this post.  For what good is having a blog if you can't brag about your children!!  Mine just happen to walk on all 4 legs and sprout whiskers from their faces.  


For those of you that knew me growing up, you may be surprised to learn that I am now a very avid cat lover!  My family primarily consists of dog lovers (specifically black labs in my immediate family), so I'm sure you are wondering how it is that I became a lover of all things that meow.  Two words for you:  my husband, who I have forever deemed "The Cat Whisperer".   Entering into the Goodman family not only comes with a new set of parents and a different last name, it also stipulated that I become a cat lover.  It didn't take Luke long into our dating relationship to suggest that I adopt a cat.  Well, being the "people pleaser" that I am, I decided to hear him out, and off we went to Petco one Saturday where we met -and about 20 minutes later- adopted our first "child", Ralph.  

Ralph, who is part maine coon, will celebrate his 5th birthday this September by, I'm assuming, lounging around all day on the many blankets we have placed around the house for his leisurely comfort.  You see, Ralph suffers from not only being the only male child in the family but he's also got a bad case of "oldest child syndrome".  In his spare time, Ralph likes to torture his 2 little sisters by body slamming them to the ground and then stalking off to take whatever napping spot he lured them out of.  However mean he is to them, however, they would follow Ralph to the ends of the earth just to win his approval.  


Our second child, Edna, came to us one blistering cold autumn evening when we kept hearing a very sad and pathetic cry out our living room window.  

I instantly fell in love with her sweet personality and hazel/green eyes and she soon had a blanket lined box set-up on our back porch so that she'd stick around long enough for us to take her to the vet (which she did). She now loves to lounge on her very own 3-story cat tower where she can nap in peace, that is, until a certain black cat awakes from her nap.  


Speaking of black cats.... 


About a year ago I decided that I wanted to adopt a kitten and raise her (since we didn't adopt Ralph & Edna until they were fully grown).  Needless to say, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.  We received Lucy 8 weeks after she was born and she probably weighed about 8 ounces of pure black fuzz. 

However, she quickly grew very long legs and tail and is now content with running crazy throughout our house, chasing whatever brother or sister is closest.  

She is a HUGE fan of the red laser light as well as feet that are moving under the covers (she's gotten smacked a few times for this one).  Apart from being crazy, she has provided Ralph & Edna with a loving little sister, and in my opinion, a great work-out buddy since they are constantly running from her!  


So there you have it.  You have just met three of the most adorable (and sometimes crazy) creatures on earth!