$tre$$ Management

In the United States, the average household credit card debt totals a whopping $10,691!

Many of these households are only paying the minimum payments on their credit cards too. If that sounds like you, here’s some food for thought: If you carry the average credit card debt of $10,691 and only pay the minimum payments each month, it will take you nearly 33 years to pay off your balances!
according to CardTrak.com

Is it just me, or does this just seem CRAZY? When I hear the word "debt" my blood pressure automatically rises. Its stressful...to say the least!
What am I getting at (you may be thinking), well this last sunday at church, John gave a great message titled $tre$ Management, about finances, debt, getting out of debt, etc.

For those of you that are even the slightest bit interested (ie: those of you who have any debt at all), I strongly encourage you to check out this message. You can click HERE to watch the video or listen to the audio. Just so you know, its 40 minutes long, so you may want to grab a cup of coffee and get comfy before you get started.

Here is just one of the staggering statistics that John gave in this message:
The average American spends $1.22 for every $1.00 earned.
That means we, as a culture, are spending 122% of our income!

For those of you who do decide to check it out, leave a comment below after you've watched it. I'd love to know what you thought about it!
If you want the Snowball spread sheet that John referenced in his message, click HERE.

L.O.V.E.

Its part of my daily routine (or at least every other day) to look through several of my favorite design/decorating blogs.

Well, this morning as I was doing my browsing I saw this picture.

I am in love!
L.O.V.E.
Not with the tree stump ottomans, or the furniture, or the hangy light bulb thing...although that is quite interesting...just not really my taste.

But I am loving the wall treatment!
I love the wall paper!
I love the moldings!

Hunny, are you in the mood for a little DIY project? I think this would look DIVINE in our bedroom!

A memorable weekend

I had a LONG commute on Monday morning.
Typically I drive about 30 miles to work. However, on Monday I drove to the airport in Roswell, NM (when it was still dark outside), flew over 900 miles, landed in LAX, took a shuttle to my car, and drove from LAX to work (in Riverside).
It was a long day, to say the least...but I was SO happy to see the 3 beautiful, smiling faces of my Sullivan Sweeties later that afternoon.
Michael did such an awesome job of taking care of the kids while I was gone!
He was so proud of himself for doing Audrey's hair that he even took a picture to document the occasion :) ...check it out!

On Saturday Michael took Audrey on a "daddy-daughter date."
After they dropped Wylie off at his parent's house for his afternoon nap...
they went to the duck pond, played at the park, went to lunch, made a quick stop at the Disney Store, and saw the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

Here are pictures showing some of their fun...
What a special day! I know they had a blast!

But while Michael and Audrey were enjoying their day, my mom and I were having some fun of our own! On Saturday morning, we took a trip to Starbucks for a quick morning pick-me-up...and then I went with my mom to her water aerobics class.
I must admit that I thought this "workout" was gonna be a walk in the park. I pictured a pool full of gray-haired 50, 60, and 70 year olds...and while there were quite a few, shall we say "mature" women there, I really did get a great workout! It was full of intense cardio and strength-training combined...phew! Not to mention that my mom does this like 5 times/week...dang! You go, Mom! I'm impressed!
So after we went home for a quick shower, we headed up to Ruidoso, a beautiful mountain community, about 1.5 hrs from Roswell. We had the pleasure of meeting up with our wonderful friends Pat and Kerry for a Ladies Lunch. Here's a picture from our outing.
Pat (far left) and my mom grew up together in Carlsbad, NM...then after college, weddings, etc. they both ended up in the same town and church in southern california. Ever since, the lives of our 2 families have been tightly intertwined. Pat has always been a second mom to me, and her kids are like my other siblings. My life has been so blessed by this woman. Pat is the person you want to have at every party or get-together. She is so full of life and laughter, even through the toughest circumstances. (you can read about her battle with cancer here) As you'll see in her blog, she always makes the best of every situation!
Kerry (second from left) met me when I was about 13 or so. I'll refer to that phase in my life as my "bratty period." Kerry became close friends with my parents after meeting at church, and I guess something just clicked between Kerry and I too. Over the past 15 years, she has served many roles in my life...friend, mentor, and Nana (to my kids). Despite the 30+ year age gap , she has been one of my closest friends for as long as I remember. Not to mention, she is one of the funniest people I know!
So obviously, with all that history, we had a great time as we sat together, reminisced, laughed and enjoyed our yummy food!

The rest of my time in New Mexico was spent enjoying the company of my dad, brother, Mema and Papa, aunt, uncle, cousins, other Papa, and of course my mom.
We even got quite a bit of decorating done in my mom's piano room. Here's a picture of my dad with my Mema while she's sewing pillows.

Thank you Michael, for taking on the task of being a single parent for the weekend...and doing such a great job!
And thank you Mom and Dad for a very memorable weekend!

Surprise!

Yesterday I left sunny Southern California for the blistery cold weather here in New Mexico.
I left work at noon, drove to LAX and caught my plane (all by myself...no kids or hubby). FREEDOM!
I couldn't believe how quiet my flight was! No diapers to change, no noses to wipe, no whiny kids...it really was foreign to me! In a way I felt like I was missing a few appendages.

I came to surprise my mom at her 60th birthday party!

My dad and I had been scheming for months to pull this off. We have been SO excited!
My uncle picked me up from the airport, then we were off to the party.
My aunt made a delicious dinner, there were about 18 close friends and family there...and a BIG box on the front porch.
Check out what happened next!


It was a WONDERFUL surprise! I think it almost knocked her socks off!
I asked her later if she was disappointed that I wasn't a new dog...she wasn't :)
We had SO much fun with all our family and friends! What a great celebration. Lots of old funny stories were told, LOTS of laughs!
I'm here through the weekend. I'm looking forward to stealing my mom away for some special mother/daughter time, and other than that, just relaxing and enjoying my family.
Oh, I forgot to mention...my mom came in my room this morning to wake me up (she was making french toast...mmm) and she opened the blinds and there was a light dusting of snow all over the back yard...so pretty!
We're not in So. Cal. anymore, Todo!

Shhh...

I'm sure she wouldn't want anyone to know its her birthday,

especially her 60th,

so shhh, don't tell her I told you!