January
*Found out when our Regional Convention will be...end of July! I'm kind of hoping to also go to the French one in California in June, but that probably won't happen. We'll see!
*I flew to Nebraska for a long weekend. It was great! I had a lot of fun.
My furry niece Ginger:
She's a sweetheart.
I got to spend time with my nieces and nephews:
And Mom, Dad, and Grandma of course:
My nephew Micah taught me how to play chess. I lost. Ha ha:
And before I knew it, the trip was over and I was flying back home.
When my Grandpa died, my mom had asked if there was anything I wanted of his. The first thing that popped into my head was the 'duck box'. When I was probably 10 years old, I bought my Grandpa an anniversary gift. It was a wooden box that held two decks of cards that had a brass duck attached to the top of it. My Grandpa played solitaire regularly his entire life.
He used this box exclusively. Which made my heart soar. I loved that he used it so much to hold his cards that he played with every single day.
I knew it was a long shot, but I asked my mom that if she happened to come across the duck box, I would love to have it.
She found it.
I was elated! When I got home from Nebraska, I promptly put it with our games (with Grandpa's cards still in it).
I love it and it makes me happy every time I look at it.
February
February was busy, but good. Husband and I started walking the trail near our house:
I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty. And a nice long walk.
We also went to a work function of his that was fancy and fun:
But the highlight of the month was the Circuit Overseer visiting. The last talk he gave was wonderful. I took tons of notes. Some in French, some in English.
March
I know it's just the beginning but it's been busy. I helped my mother-in-law clean out some rooms in her house. During that process, I stumbled across a bag full of little trinkets and things from her trip to Austria in 2009. I took them home, framed some of them and put the rest in a keepsake box:
She loved it!
And right now:
I have a goal this year to read 52 books (one per week). I've read 8 so far, which puts me one book behind. Not too bad! I keep track of them on Goodreads. I also renewed my library card. With the Albuquerque Public Library system, I get free access to Hoopla, a site with tons of free audible and ebooks. It works just like a library. You check them out and have them or 3 weeks and then turn them back in. I listen to the audible books in my car. It's so awesome! Right now I'm listening to 'Go Set a Watchman' by Harper Lee, read by Reece Witherspoon.
We are also currently in the VERY early stages of house hunting/selling/etc. Not sure when all that is going to happen, but we're thinking about it.
I've started bullet journaling again. There is just NO planner out there that has what I want. So I bought my own, made my own calendars, lists, etc. It is VERY simple. Meaning...my only decorations in it is washing tape. But I LOVE it. It feels right.
I have become obsessed with YNAB and budgeting again. I'm telling you....it is life changing. We have every penny planned. It sounds 'strict', but it's really not. Like today I bought a cute new pouch for my coupons, another moleskin book to track my food, and a couple other 'fun' things, but it's okay because it was in the 'Angie Spending Money' category. I just cannot say enough good things about this budgeting program. It's all web based so you can access it anywhere. It is $45 per year. It pays for itself almost immediately. Every day I get to work early and I budget and reconcile our bank account. I LOVE doing this. The amount of stress and anxiety that this relieves me is incredible. That alone is worth the $45 per year! Budgets are FREEING. If I would have known what a difference having (and sticking to) a budget would do for us, I would have started it years ago.
And that's the latest! Well, for now. I have some other blog topics, let's just hope I get to them sooner than once every 3 months!
