Why a blog?

We have recently had our lives turned upside down - this has not been at all a bad thing - but does require change all the same. With the loss of my job 13 days after the birth of my son in January I became a SAHM. I am loving staying home with my children (step-son-4 1/2, daughter-19 months, son-2 months) and being away from a stressful job. Don't get me wrong, there are days when my children stress me out, but it isn't nearly as bad as working customer service during a time of recession. However, starting out I have a GIANT mountain to climb just to get our lives out of chaos. So, this blog is intended to keep me on track and let me see our progress. We have a lot of things to do!

The first area we will be tackling is our house. We moved into our house 3 weeks after the birth of my daughter and have yet to finish unpacking in the 18 months we have lived here. We have, however, acquired more junk. We have stuff "hiding" everywhere. We also have many unfinished projects. The house was drywall and plywood floors when we moved in and our contractor finished the biggest projects, but there are many "little" projects we need to finish up. It has been so hard to accomplish all the things we want to accomplish with so much clutter and chaos surrounding us day in and day out. I have joined Flylady and that has really helped to get me started. By the end of the year (hopefully sooner) I hope to have turned my house into a HOME.

The next area of interest is my children. My children are my pride and joy and I want to be able to provide them with the things they need. Having a clean and clutter free place for them to play and live life is being accomplished with the goals for the house. I'm also trying to get involved in mom's groups and things that allow me to gain resources, give the kids other children to play with, and give me the adult interactions I need to maintain some sanity. I am also working on getting all of our games, crafts, etc together and accessible so that the kids and I can do more fun and educational activities.

Then comes the finances! We hit a hard spot in our finances with having two kids in such a short time and me being so sick during both pregnancies and missing work. Add to that me being laid off and you can see the problem. We are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and are working hard to get where we need to be. I'm learning to be a better couponer and stockpile as well as changing our lifestyle by eating at home more and less convenience foods.

Last, but certainly not least, I'll be focusing on our health. In addition to changing our eating habits I am looking for creative and fun activities to get us out and moving. I am trying to not only focus on my physical health and losing the baby weight (42 lbs + the weight I needed to lose before getting pregnant), but also to be sure I'm getting enough "me" time. I am not used to being home with young children all the time and am a very social person, so it is vital for my well being to have time with adults away from my children and also time to myself.

Whew! That is a lot to tackle, but I know I can do it. I'll be posting my progress here to keep accountable. Look for posts about Coupons/Saving Money, Children's crafts/activities/toys, room makeovers and cleaning tips, and fun exercise and food options. I am doing this mainly for me, but hope that someone else might get something out of it too.