Summer Adventure, Day 2

Summer Adventure, Day 1

Family adventure night one

The moment I got off work I drove home.

Adventure starts now!

It was so good to get out of the office and know I wouldn’t be back until Tuesday!

Chad was ready when I got home so we grabbed out bags and flew  off.

We drove past Rolla and it brought back redneck memories.

There was a man driving down the road on a lawn mower smoking a cigarette.

And a guy peeing on the side of the road.

Only in Rolla.

Sigh.

Then we drove past the area that flooded out the past few days and I was able to get this picture.

Then the highlight of my night, TWIN CALLED ME!

And we were able to talk for a good 45 minutes.

Man, I miss her!

Dinner was on the grill by the time we got to Happy Trails just south of Lebanon.

So we ate and cleaned up and then played Uno, including one game that was so long that we had to re-shuffle the deck FIVE TIMES!

Then it was time to sleep with the rain hitting the roof.

I am so glad we are staying in the RV and not a tent.

I don’t know if this princess can handle it.

Yeah, I am a wimp. And I embrace it.

As I write we are now on our way to Eureka Springs.

The plan is to take the trolley around town and see the passion play tonight, and then head back to Branson tomorrow. 

Malehloa Update

We have been SO blessed the past few weeks to get not one but two updates about our sweet girl.

She sent us a picture of her pudgy little hand and my heart just about melted.

Her letter to us was written by her mama.

I am glad to know her mama can read and write.

This is what the letter said:

“Dear Chad and Amy, I am still living well with my family. How do you do? I am very happy to receive your letter. In the letter I found a t-shirt, gloves, card, picture, and stickers. Your letter reached me on the 14^th July 2012, (Her b-day gift) but we celebrated Christmas well with my family. It is winter and very cold now. Snow sometimes falls on the mountains. I like to play house modern. I like the red colour. As for now I walk and talk. I have sent you my annual progress report last month with a photo inside (last month’s update). I thank you with everything you are doing for me. Greet all your family.

                                Yours, Malehloa.

This letter was written by Mabafoleng Letsatsi, Malehloa’s mother and translated by Hilda, volunteer.”

My heart is full.

How can you adore someone so much that you have never met and only seen two photos of? 

Malehloa Update!

We just got an update on Malehloa! 

And a new photo!

She's two years and three months old now!

And boy, has she grown!

Possibly my favorite part of this picture is the hip popped out, hand on her hip that shows once again that baby girl has some sass to her.

And I LOVE it. 

Here is some updated info:

She is in good health,

Although barefoot in this picture, she was given a pair of TOMS!

(I'm thinking it may be time to start wearing mine more!)

She says her favorite day is Sunday because she goes to church.

She also likes telling stories, and at that age I can only imagine the ideas that come out of her head!

She says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

ISN'T SHE THE CUTEST THING EVER?!

(I'm a proud sponsor mama!)

As far as her community, 5 men in her community have been trained as pastors, they are teaching the people to cultivate crops, (part of which will be shared with the orphaned children in the area!), and they built a new and bigger school that Malehloa will someday attend.

I am thrilled.

This is what Malehloa thinks snow looks like. It's so cute!

Only Me...

You know when you have something happen and in those moments where you think, "Sheesh. This would only happen to me, no one else, only me."

I had one of those today.

Today was your typical casual Friday in corporate world.

I got up, got ready, and actually managed a cute outfit to wear.

I had the usual commute, the usual coffee, the usual phone problems, everything like normal.

At about 9:30 the pest control guy showed up in the lobby.

He comes quarterly, so this was my first time seeing him.

I let him go about his job as I went back to mine.

He started by spraying around the lobby and my desk.

A few minutes later, my eyes started to water, and my chest got a little burning sensation, and I began to itch. So I took a allergy pill and tried to go back to work.

But then it started to get worse and I started to feel the adrenaline waves.

Crap. I was having a reaction to the pesticide.

I talked to my branch manager and he told me to go take 20 minutes and get some air to see if it would help.

On my way out the door he mentioned to the pest control guy that I was reacting and the guy said I was the FIRST PERSON he had ever heard of reacting to it in all of his years in the industry.

Awesome. Only me.

So I spent 20 minutes browsing the local QT and consulting with my mom and Hubs about anything else I could do to remedy this thing.

After popping some Benadryl, I went back to work.

In the time it took for me to walk in the door and to the back room, the symptoms started back, this time accompanied by splotchy skin.

I tired to go back to work and started to shake a little, so when the branch manager walked by my desk, he asked if I needed to go home.

Yeah, I gave up fighting this thing.

I told him I was going to email HR really quick, and he told me not to worry and to leave.

And asked if I was ok to drive or needed him to follow me home.

I declined but he made me promise to call to tell him I got home okay.

I guess I gave him a little scare.

So now I am at home ready to nap since this Benadryl is making me drowsy.

"The only one in all of his years in the industry to ever react to this pesticide."

The dude was probably in his fifties.

And said he had roughly 25 years in the industry.

And I was the first one to report a reaction.

Yep, only me.

TMM: Mutual Fund Fun (?)

Chad and I were reading the Total Money Makeover (TMM) book again last night.

Remember how I had mentioned that having a spouse who works in Finance makes for an interesting time reading this book?

Ummm...yeah...about that...

Last night, Ramsey wrote that instead of going into debt over buying a car, you should save up enough to purchase a lower value car, save up again and trace that car in and with the two get a better car, etc.

He cited how if that money was put in a mutual fund gaining 12% interest, you would make "x" dollars rather than paying interest.

At that point, Chad stopped me from going on and gave me a several minute lecture on how he was going to have to do more research on that number to see what the current going rate was.

He then proceeded to discuss rate of inflation vs. rate of interest gained, average rate of money gain over the years the money sits in the mutual fund, and some other stuff that I don't totally remember because I am pretty sure my eyes glazed over when I heard the term "mutual fund."

Just kidding, Chad!

....well...mostly kidding...

I am really giving this thing my best effort.

However, if there's one thing I have learned through my 4 years at college that only got me a two year degree (and the debt that we are reading this book to help pay off!), I am a "do-er".

And Chad is a learner.

So he is probably loving the theory behind all of Dave's teaching, however, I am not so much a fan of this part as I am sure I will be of the "okay this is how we practically put this into action" part.

But we are still reading on and putting our very best effort into it!

A Total Money Makeover: Rucker Style

 "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else."

If you know who said this, you know the journey Chad and I are embarking on. If you don’t, here’s a hint:

Its Dave Ramsey.

If you don’t know who he is, you’ve probably not been watching much news.

Dave Ramsey is the writer of “The Total Money Makeover”.

He wrote it to show his plan (tested by his very family) to get out of debt and build wealth.

Have I lost you yet?

No? Ok good.

Chad and I are still newly married. We are also newly out of college as of May, meaning that November is looming ahead of us.

What’s in November?

The end of our student load “grace periods”.

Meaning a LOT of our take home pay is going towards paying off the debt we acquired while attending college.

Let me say that again…

A LOT of our take home.

As in, half of my yearly paycheck is going to pay off money we owe.

In case you haven’t guessed, that’s not exactly a comfortable place to be in.

It’s actually quite a bummer.

We have a LOT of things we want to do and places we want to go, but until at least a big chunk of that is gone, there will be no vacationing and no home purchasing.

Which brings us back to the Total Money Makeover.

This book outlines Dave’s plan to get towards our goals of adoption, travel and owning a home.

Which involves first some pretty “radical” principles, if you think in today’s world view, of money management.

We are only through the Intro and first two chapters, and I can already tell we are in for quite a ride.

With a spouse who has degrees in Business AND Economics, I can already see him and Dave butting heads.

Since he has already refuted some of the things we have read.

Neither of us are discounting Dave’s principles, but I would say Chad is a little more skeptical than myself.

So, keep us in mind the next few weeks as we read and wrestle with this thing called money.

So what about you?

Have you done the makeover?

Does it work?

Do you have any tips for us as we take this ride?