2009 Financial Challenge

So, I will preface this by saying that I am not like a die hard Suze Orman fan. I think she has some smart advice, but it's not like I live by her every opinion (although maybe if I did I would have more money....hmmm.)

Anyway, on Oprah last week she had Suze Orman on talking about finances for 2009. A lot of the advice was about credit card debt (which we have none) so it didn't apply to me too much, but I thought this challenge was interesting, so I am posting it on here. I think it really can be a challenge to show each of us where we may need some help financially.

1. Do not spend any money for an entire day. (Note: this does not include using electricity, eating food that you already have in the house, etc. It is a challenge to not spend extra money. For my fellow LDS people, I would say Sunday doesn't count. )

2. Do not use your credit card for and entire week.

3. Do not go out to eat (fast food, sit down, take out or otherwise) for an entire month.

Honestly I can say #3 is the hardest one for me. as of right now, my goal to accomplish that is March. Febuary would have worked because it's a shorter month...but then there's Valentine's Day, and it's a tradition to go out for V-day! The other two I think I can accomplish easily.

So if you are willing and interested in participating in this challenge let me know, and we can be accountable to each other for our success. Good luck!

Conversation

Tyson and I had this conversation this afternoon and I thought it was worth repeating for all of you.

Stacey: Why am i so tired all the time?
Tyson: I blame Becca. She put some kind of black magic voodoo on us.

Rebecca is 9 Months Old!

Wow! I mean really, wow! She is as old as I was pregnant (well, give or take a week). But, WOW!


She had her wellness check today and she is 17 lbs 13 oz and 29 inches long (wow! almost 2 1/2 feet!). That puts her at....95th percentile for height (up from 90th) and 40th percentile for weight (down from 50th). The doctor said getting a little skinnier is normal now that she is crawling and being more active, and that since she is obviously still growing tons (the height) that there is nothing to worry about. That's my long skinny girl!

I am so proud to be her mom! She is such a sweetheart, so curious about the world and wanting to be a bigger part of it. I cannot wait to see what her life has in store for her. She already shows so much determination (and dare I say some stubborness she got from her mom) that I know great things are in store for her! Anywho, that's our big news today!

Congrats Bro!

So, I don't think my brother even really reads my blog, but I wanted to put out an official congradulations to my brother Casey and his new fiancee Quincy! We love you guys and are excited for your wedding. May 15th, Mesa...check!

New Year's in Ridgecrest!

So, after we were in Seal Beach for a week, we went to Tyson's hometown, Ridgecrest to see the Ratliff family. Here are the photos I have from that week...unfortunately I kept forgetting to pull out my camera as much as I should have and so I don't have very many. I need someone to send me pictures of the family pictures, and any they might have taken while playing Bunco on New Years Eve...hint hint. :) Anyway, enjoy what I do have!

Here is Rebecca being happy in the high chair. She was so done being in her car seat!

Becca had a blast playing with all of her Ratliff cousins. Including her there are 13 of them all 6 years old and under!

I thought this was a pretty cute shot of Rebecca trying to get Grandma Ratliff's Christmas tree from underneath. They had it up on a table but she could still reach the stuff on the bottom.

It's never truly a trip to Ridgecrest without tackling Uncle Taron! Becca joined in with Paige and it was so cute!


Don't worry, Taron got some lovin' too! This is Paige and Taron's girlfriend Sam who joined us for the week.

Then it was time to attack cousin Caden with the help of Victoria!

We went over the Thane and Cori's house for a while and got these great shots of Becca with her cousins Galen and Liam. They are such cuties!

This is Aunt Cori!

Tyson finally got his Christmas present from Becca! Mom didn't get it ordered soon enough. It's a calendar for his office with mostly pictures of Becca for each month. It's super cute!
Then we had new year's eve...which as I mentioned I totally was lame and didn't pull out my camera. We had a blast playing Bunco with the whole family, then some of the ladies played Nertz until midnight. Becca was in bed LONG before the new year arrived.

Then on Thursday we went over to Trevor and Aimee's. This is Becca and Andrew who are about 2 1/2 months apart. This was the first time they really had a chance to play together and it was super cute. I loved the combination of thier bright colors...one clearly boy and one clearly girl.

There you have it folks, when I get some copies of the Ratliff family photos I will post those too! We had such a blast and it was so great to see all of the family we got to see! I'm already looking forward to being able to see everyone again next year, if not sooner!

Christmas in Seal Beach!

I thought since I have so many pictures from our two week vacation that I would split them up. Here are all the fun shots from our Christmas in Seal Beach! (This is long...thus the two posts! Can you imagine this with another week of pictures?)

This is Mocha and Rebecca the morning we were leaving. It was too cute to see them standing side by side looking into the tub! Mocha sure missed us while we were gone, she has been very cuddly lately.

This is when we first arrived! (Finally!) Becca was a little disoriented after the long day in the car, but Grandpa was sure happy to see us!

This is on Sunday, Grandma Bowen's birthday!

Then on Monday we got to play with our cousins from Arizona! Kai is the oldest of the cousins (15) and is always thrilled when a new girl comes into the family! The next closest girl to her is only 4!

Rebecca had so much fun with her cousins and Aunt Ann and Uncle Derek. She stole thier hearts away. Derek calls her "Princess Eyeballs" and commented often that she is so curious and takes everything in! She gets that from her daddy.

Tuesday, we went down to Seal Beach and walked the pier. Becca had fun watching the waves crash underneath her!

Staring out into the great Pacific. Wow!

There we are. Such tourists, huh?

Can you tell who this is? None other than Santa Claus himself! Surfing at Seal Beach! Cool!

You have to get the picture with the seal!

Rebecca aparently really likes this seal....I'm going to have to watch this kid!

Um, ya, too cute for words!

That night we went caroling with the Jorgensen's!

Here's me Amy, Diana, and Diana's baby Grace. Tyson was holding Becca. She wasn't so sure about this walking around and singing thing, but I'm glad we took her.

Besides the fact that Becca's face is covered by her hat, here's us out caroling with someone's lawn Reindeer...he was too cute to pass up the photo op!

Christmas Eve means gathering in the living room listening to the Christmas story with family...here are (Left to Right) Christian, Devin, Jesse, and Kai.

Becca with mom and dad.

Then Becca got her new Christmas Jammies and looked awfully cute in them too!

This is Christian's stocking...I think it's a little big!

Becca slept soundly that night, and mom snuck down to take a picture of what Santa left for her. How fun!

She woke up excited and smiling!

Christian and Rebecca were bursting to get downstairs (okay Christian more than Becca. Santa brought him a Polar Express train that I think he didn't stop playing with for more than 10 mintes at a time!)

Oooh! What is it?

Becca in her Christmas bib waiting for her breakfast!

After Becca's nap, we put on some of the new clothes Grandma Bowen got Rebecca. This is her ADORABLE Roxy jacket and sparkly Jeans! She is a true CA girl regardless of where she lives! ;)

This singing box toy is from Aunt Wendy. Becca just LOVES it! Each side plays a different song!



Christmas night we had to take some pictures of family, so here are the sisters.

The aunts with the niece. Kai will always be special to us as the oldest. I was only 10 when she was born, and she introduced me to Twilight...you all know how much that changed my life! Ha ha! In fact, while we were down there Kai and I went to see the movie again, third time for both of us!

Here's our little family! Merry Christmas!

The lovebirds who started it all!

It was such a great trip and so much fun to see everyone! Tomorrow I'll post the pictures from Ridgecrest!

2009 Get to Know You!

1.What is your occupation right now?
Mother, part time Mary Kay Consultant

2.What color are your socks right now?
White

3.What are you listening to right now?
Grandma Ratliff playing with Becca.

4.What was the last thing that you ate?
Coffee Cake

5.Can you drive a stick shift?
Nope!

6.Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Aimee

7.Do you like the person who tagged you?
I suppose, since she didn't really tag me, how do I answer this question? ;) I just wanted to do it after reading it.

8.How old are you today?
25 for a few more months

9.What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
On TV...honestly not much. Games are much more interesting in person. I guess BYU football is what I watch the most.

10.What is your favorite drink?
Um...right now I'm going to say A&W Rootbeer from the tap.

11.Have you ever dyed your hair?
Me? Never! ;) I think my hair is a different color every 3 months or so.

12.Favorite food?
Honestly, a good spinach salad is always at the top of my list.

13.What is the last movie you watched?
Eagle Eye. It was better than I expected, and very intense, although a tad predictable.

14.Favorite day of the year?
My birthday, April 6th.

15.How do you vent anger?
Usually by yelling and then following it up with chocolate. ;)

16.What was your favorite toy as a child?
Oh gosh, I was blessed with so much it is hard to choose one. Although my Pound Kitty sure got loved. The tail was resewn and stitched up about 12 times.

17.What is your favorite season?
Spring and Fall are pretty close ties.

18.Cherries or Blueberries?
Depends. I LOVE fresh dark red cherries, but I don't eat them any other way. Cherry Pie and Marachino Cherries are disgusting. I like fresh blueberries, but I'd rather have them in something like blueberry muffins or as a berry mix in a parfait...so...take your pick.

19.Living arrangements?
Me, my love, our baby, and our kitty.

20.When was the last time you cried?
I've gotten teary a few times lately, but not full on crying...so I can't tell you.

21.What is on the floor of your closet?
Shoes, clothes, temple bag, belt...it's a mess acutally.

22.What did you do last night?
Went to Torri's new house for dinner and a movie with some of the Ratliff family.

23.What are you most afraid of?
Being without Tyson

24.Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
Cheeseburger

25.Favorite dog breed?
I'm really not a dog person, but I always said if I got one I would want a Cocker Spaniel

26.Favorite day of the week?
Saturday...Tyson isn't late from work on Saturdays. ;)

27.How many states have you lived in?
2

28.Diamonds or pearls?
No contest! My Birthstone, Diamonds!

29.What is your favorite flower?
Roses have always been my favorite (color of choice Sterling), but a close second is Gardenias. (These were the flowers in my bouquet at my wedding.)

I tag Diane, Sara, Diana, Courtney, the Lindseys, and anyone else who reads this who wants to!