Wow, Really? How the month of March passed me by...

In the past, when I've attempted to get into blogging, this is about the time that I would give up. I've got about a dozen posts in the can and a month long hiatus. But I will. not. let. this. die! Especially because I have so much content in my head that I WANT to write about. I think my downfall is the lack of time.

Anyway, so much for March . . . let's celebrate APRIL (Sure, we are already 1/3 of the way through but....better late than never!)

But first, how about a quick round of March?

In March we . . .

- Made progress on buying our house! A VA appraisal took place and the house was valued over our loan amount which is amazing! I heard on the radio this morning that home values went up 5% last month in San Diego so this may have contributed to the high appraisal. Apparently the average home price in the County is $430K . . . ours is slightly higher than that but I do wish that we lived in areas where homes were priced in the $100Ks! When I watch House Hunters and people say their budget is $120K I shake my fist in jealousy. But I wouldn't want to live anywhere that has snow . . . so I guess that's part of the trade off!

Other things that happened with regard to the house: general inspection (everything looks great), pest inspection, loan approval, lots of paperwork and signatures. We have our closing date now . . . the home is ours as of April 30 at 5 p.m.! I'm so excited!

- Flew to the Big Island of Hawai'i for a four-day whirlwind weekend for my brother's wedding. It was beautiful and relaxing and so much more than I expected. I wish we had more time to spend there but the few days that we had were perfect. One of the highlights was the villa that we stayed at - which was gorgeous. It had an outdoor shower and I took every opportunity to shower out there (it was very private - no chance of anyone seeing me in my birthday suit. :-) But probably what I loved most - aside from sharing in the love of happiness of the beautiful marriage - was remembering my own wedding to my husband. We had a great time dancing together at the reception - it brought back so many wonderful memories for us. I love weddings!

As for my goals in March - I guess I'd say I did OK. Not great . . . but okay. Could have drank more water . . . could have been more sweet and loving to my hubby in general . . . could have been better at spending. I feel like I got derailed about mid-month and never got back on track. I unexpectedly got a flat tire and had to spend $100 on a new one (it was too damaged to fix).I spent way too much on eating out and convenience foods at work. I also spent too much on groceries.

But I already feel really great about April. My spending feels very controlled and I am thinking outside of the box for new solutions to problems that previously I would have just thrown money at.

 

 

-Keep the TV off in the mornings before work and bring peacefulness back into my routine. We'll be canceling cable when we move and I'm actually looking forward to it.
-Read more
-Blog more
-Minimize spending on breakfast and lunch foods during the work week.
-Make it through the month without touching my credit cards.
-File our taxes.
-Romance my husband.
-Begin decluttering and minimizing unneeded and unwanted items in our apartment in anticipation of our move.
-Begin preparing for moving into our new house: successfully close escrow, select a move date, hire movers, schedule estimates for flooring, purchase appliances, switch over utilities, etc., etc., etc. Oh there is so much to do!!

If there is anyone out there actually reading, thank you for sticking with me!

March Goals

 

Yay for March! So many good things are happening this month.  Good things like . . . my brother is getting married!  In Hawaii! And the whole family is going! Whoot!

Also . . . as of today, my car is paid OFF!  I'm so excited not to be living with a car payment anymore. Buying my car was probably one of the dumbest things I ever did. I didn't "need" a car and I certainly couldn't really afford the $507/mo payment. Further more, at the time (2007) that I bought my car I had terrible credit so my interest rate was sky high. I definitely paid my share of stupid tax on this car. But now it's ALL mine.

Beginning next month, I'll be dividing that payment between paying off additional consumer debt and savings.

And now for my goals for March:

1. Clean out my pantry and take inventory of what we have. "Shop" the pantry and meal plan around it prior to going to the grocery store.

2. Romance my husband - continue to be sweet, flirty, thoughtful and positive with him.

3. Drink more water.

4. Be patient and positive about the home buying process.

5. Finish "Game of Thrones" book 4 - I'm 55% of the way through right now.

6. Succeed with my March no/low spending challenge

What about you - what's on your list for this month? 

 

Hello February!

(photo credit)

 

 

I love January (it's my birthday month!) but I'm always sort of relieved when it's over and the year starts to really get going. After the holiday excitement and time-off in December, January just seems to be long and sort of boring. I'm looking forward to spring and summer (warm weather, picnics at the beach/park, cold beers, etc.) and February is a step in the right direction.

 

I do really well when I have lists and goals so I'm going to do that with my blog. I also have a 43things account for keeping track of my goals - if you are interested it is here. And yes, my nickname in real life (with some people anyway) is Margie May. I guess you can know that. (I'm still trying to figure out that balance of what to share or not share on the Internet. . . . any other bloggers have thoughts on that that you'd like to share? Just curious...).

 

So, back to February goals.  Here they are:

 

 

 

(Thank you to My Pretty Pennies for hosting - I am a long time reader of her blog, I love it.)



 

1. Bake and frost sugar cookies. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I have these really lovely memories of the Christmas sugar cookies my grandmother used to make. They were something my entire family looked forward to each year. She passed away when I was in college but I often have thought that I'd like to try to become the resident sugar cookie expert in our family. Furthermore, for Christmas I received a package of Martha Stewart cookie cutters that represent every major holiday (I tried to find a picture online but Google failed me!). Yesterday I went online and found a recipe because I don't know what became of my grandma's recipe (sad face) and I watched a video on YouTube on how to frost with a paint brush. So now I just need to buy a few baking supplies and I'll be ready to go! 

 

2. Drink more water. This week I started bringing sliced lemon for my water cup at work and I've noticed that I drink so much more now.  I'd like to keep this up!

 

3. Stick to my budget. This means that I'll be on a very strict no/low spending challenge for the month. Luckily I am building off excellent momentum from January so I feel that this is going to be EASY. Yeah!

 

4. Have patience with the home buying process. I'm starting to feel frustrated because there aren't a lot of homes in our price range that I like . . . and those that I do love (at least online from what I can tell via photos and descriptions) are getting snapped up in days before we have a chance to even get out there and look at them. I know that I just need to have patience and the right home will come at the right time. It's just harder to practice that patience in reality. :(

 

5. Organize and declutter. I'm getting the bug to spring clean. And if we are going to move in a few months I might as well start thinking about getting things in order. My goal will be to organize/clean-out my closet and dresser drawers and my daughters'.

 

6. Romance my husband. It the month of love and his birthday month so this is a natural fit . . . but I've been consciously working on "romancing" him for about a week now.  By "romance" I just mean doing those little things that let him know how much I love and value him. I want to be more mindful of the looks I give, the words I use and the actions I make. We have very busy lives and often my attention is directed toward our 17-month-old daughter. I just don't want to look back 10 years from now and wonder what happened to our marriage. I want our connection to stay strong and that starts with me.

 

So, those are my goals for the month . . . what are yours?!