… I can’t help but share a bit about it.

This has been a full month, so here is a bit of what I have learned in March:

Budgeting is a skill to be practiced. 

We are almost through the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University, and while the concepts were not foreign to us, we had never applied them. Apparently applied knowledge is where the power is! (I’m loosely quoting Jamie Johnson there.)

[bctt tweet=”Applied knowledge is power. –Jamie Johnson” username=”cindymchen”]

Our first month of budgeting has gone decently. We are learning how to be deliberate with our money, and really have a plan for every dollar. So far we have a balanced budget for April. We’ll see if we can exercise our self control!

 

Speaking of practice…

So much practice has paid off and our younger daughter participated in her first violin recital. After almost a year of lessons and practicing, I have learned so much about this mysterious instrument and how to make it sing. We could not be more proud of our budding musician.

I can handle it and get it done.

Sam changed jobs earlier this year. There’s nothing that lets you exercise faith and practice some old fashioned self-control like committing to financial peace and then losing your income for several weeks!

Now that Sam’s been working a different (wonderful) job, he is gone all day. He used to work from home and only go into an office occasionally, scheduling appointments in a way that suited our family. I’m handling everything that happens here between 6 AM and 6 PM.

I know. This is what virtually every other stay-at-home mom does every day. But it was the first time I’d done it in over six years and the first time I’d done this with three kids, and their after-school activities 4 out of 5 days of the week.

Also, as stated above, we’re budgeting, so I have been planning our meals and not picking up take-out all the time. Guys, it was hard for me.

About a week in, I huffed and I puffed and I blew things all out of proportion. After the kids were in bed, we spent a good hour or so hashing things out–with all the emotions. We were able to express some of the frustrations we were each feeling, hear each other, and look at our situation together. Being able to understand the other’s point of view changed the way we looked at the whole situation.

We have learned that during seasons of transition we have to deliberately hear from each other, recognize false premises we have believed, be attentive to the other’s needs, and purposefully do our part, while asking God for his help to do what he’s called us to. In my case, I’ve learned all these things, and I’m also learning to “handle it.”

Also, I will be honest and say that some of my relief is in knowing that there are only about 7 more weeks of school, and most of the after-school activities end before then. Praise Jesus.

[bctt tweet=”During seasons of transition we have to deliberately hear from each other, be attentive to our needs, and purposefully do our part, while asking God for his help.” username=”cindymchen”]

Related, I get so much done now.

Truly, I loved having Sam work from home these last 6 years. But now that he leaves the house so early, I have accomplished so much more. I get up when he gets up (unless the baby was up a million times in the night) and start my day in the quiet. Ah, coffee and silence.

The house is clean. I am writing regularly. Little projects that I never thought would get done are getting checked off. I’ve rearranged the living room (again). The sink is not constantly full of dishes.

I’m not saying Sam put a cramp on my style, but it’s been kind of sweet to have just me, the baby, and the dogs for a while every day.

Digital Photography for Dummies is my friend.

I have a fancy pants camera that I am not really good at using yet. But I’m improving my photo game, and it is so much fun. The nice thing is, if I can bring the subject into focus, the camera is good enough that it makes me look good. Work in progress.

I only read if it’s on a hand-held device.

I had a reading goal this year. I was doing so good. I was reading like 3 books a month and on track to read like 30 books this year. Then January ended. And the library loans expired, and I didn’t want to read any of the books in my kindle, and again, the budget.

I really do enjoy a real book, with pages.

But I can’t read a real book. See, I have this thing called a thirteen-month-old. He still nurses. I find myself in his room in the dark a lot, trying to get him to sleep (see “naptime” above). And when he’s awake, if I’m sitting with a book for 2 seconds, he’s not interested in anything else but my lap.

So, the phone it is.

I love to read, though, so I need to get back on the library website and borrow some ebooks. I renewed the same 3 books at the library for 6 weeks and still haven’t finished even one of them. This morning I returned them to start fresh.

What have you read recently? Are you an e-reader or a book purist?

Also, I have discovered podcasts.

OK, I had listened to podcasts before, but I had to be so much more deliberate about them on my android phone. Now that I have an iPhone, and everything is so streamlined, it’s so much easier.

Thankfully since I haven’t read much in the way of books, I still have had fun voices to listen to during my down time, or while nursing, or meal prep time, or while folding the ever-present laundry.

Lately I am loving:

Mom Struggling Well – Emily is hilarious and real and has the best Instagram stories. Her sense of humor is my favorite. I enjoy this because I am both entertained and encouraged, while feeling like I’m not alone in the upward struggle of motherhood.

Risen Motherhood – These ladies are spot on in their mission to incorporate the gospel into parenting and life in our families every day. They provide links and show notes and really thought-provoking questions to help the truth of the word infiltrate daily living. Love them. They also have short(er) podcasts so I can usually listen to a whole episode at once.

Phil Vischer Podcast – Phil Vischer is the creator of VeggieTales. This podcast is something completely different from the other two listed, and while not every episode has been my very favorite, I still feel a little smarter or at least exercised in my mind.

What is your favorite thing to listen to? I am always looking for something new, interesting, and different.

I’m back in the email saddle.

Many years ago I sent a weekly email to well over 200 subscribers – this was before social media and having a “following” so it was kind of a big deal. So, yeah, it’s been a while. (Hi there, old “next e-mail” buddies!)

I’m kind of excited, because an email is more personal. I can write to you, not to the world wide web. Either way is good, but you’re way more fun to talk to than the Internet at large.

Since I know you want special emails, I won’t make you search for the link. Here’s the button to subscribe. How easy is that?

Thanks for hanging out. I’m linking with some fine folks over at Leigh Kramer’s What I’m Into who are also sharing what they’ve been up to this month.