Busyness Almost Done?!

This weekend was filled with lots of fun and excitement... and cold air!  :)  Aunt Bonnie is back from Nashville, it was Montana's football senior night, I had my Southeast Iowa Walk to End Alzheimer's for work, we wrapped up our 2012 race season, went to visit an old friend's church to worship, and had a wonderful cookout with our family.  Although it was the coldest weekend this fall, we didn't let the weather put a damper on our fun!  I sure am glad this weekend is over, though!  :)  Running from one event to the next can be draining and tiring, despite being things we love doing. 

Now that my final Walk is over, my work schedule will begin to slow down some, which will be a relief for our family.  And we now have our Saturday evenings back, since race season has ended.  But the holiday time is quickly approaching and I pray for strength and much patience to get through another holiday season, with our many family functions and juggling of schedules.  Trying to stay positive, though!  :) 

My 24th birthday is also quickly approaching.  This birthday isn't a big one or anything, so I'm not really too excited about it or anything.  I did decide what I want to do, though; I will be spending Friday, October 19th scrapbooking with a group of ladies at a scrapbook shop.  I'm super excited to spend some alone time with my scrapbook, getting Lucas' 1st Year Book done!  :) 

Have a wonderful October, friends! 
God bless,
Alicia

Help Me Organize My Life!

Lately, I have been working long hours and I am feeling extra stress.  Juggling a toddler, husband, friends, a 50 hour work week, church commitments, keeping up with the house, and participating in all my other activities... It's all starting to take a toll on me both physically and mentally.  I need rest.  But I also need to get organized.  I think I could handle all of my life roles lots better if I had organizational tools to keep me on the right track.  My time management tools are working quite effectively; I have two google calendars, one for work and one for personal.  Both calendars are synced up with my phone and I do a great job of putting all of my activities and commitments into my phone!  :)  So that's one part of my life that is very well managed and I don't know what I would do without great time management tools!

A part of my life that isn't so well managed, however, is my home.  We have piles of clothes in the bathroom, in the dining room, by the bed, in the kitchen, in the fridge.. lol.  Just kidding about that last one.  But literally, our house is covered in clutter and junk and I'm getting fed up of coming home to a messy house!!  I'm not sure if it would work, but I feel like if I would just take the time to put the organizational tools in place, our home would run much more effectively and we would have no excuse to not keep it organized.  Right?! 

But I need help... I don't have much time, extra energy, or money to put into this effort.  But I know that you all are very creative, so I will start putting up pictures of my home in the coming posts and what I would like for you to do is give me suggestions on how to better manage that area.  Bookshelf, bathroom, nursery closet, upstairs storage rooms, tiny bedroom closets, tops of dressers, kitchen table, etc.  Help me, please!!! 

Stay posted...

Let's Go Racing

Picture by Brittany Brunswig

The smell of alcohol fuel, the fresh air, the powder of dirt you receive as the cars pass by, the bonds of friendship; tonight we spend another wonderful evening at Avcom Park Speedway.  Travis and I assist each night by flagging and scoring, respectively.  I thoroughly enjoy spending the evening at the track and we are so blessed to have these great men and women in our lives to laugh and have fun with.  Why, you ask, do you enjoy racing?  What's so great about a bunch of cars making left hand turns?!  So, let me explain why we love dirt track racing:

- Drivers are in a constant battle not only to beat others, but to beat their personal best.  Drivers are constantly working to improve things on their car and improve their skill.  Again, back to my theory that you either progress or regress.. :)
- The bond between the men in our club is fantastic.  At some tracks, of course, it's all about money, prestige, and beating everyone at all costs.  Not in our club, though.  The men truly get to know each other and are willing to help out their buddies.  It's all for good, competitive fun.
- Racing is a hobby that can get the whole family together.  I can't wait until Lucas is old enough to get out in the garage to fix cars with Daddy.  I'm sure we will spend many evenings together engaging in racing, whether that's fixing cars or at the track cheering on our favorite drivers. 
- Racing is a competitive sport which lasts past your high school and college years.  You can start racing at a young age, like many sports; but you can continue racing cars into your fifties and sixties, if you desire. 
- It's such a thrill!  Our race cars come around the front stretch of our fifth-of-a-mile track and can be a matter of inches from each other, going 60-70 mph.  How exhilarating! 

If you still don't believe me in that racing is the best sport around, get out there and see for yourself.  Go to a race; experience the sounds, the cars, and race day for yourself! 

Imperfect Progress

I came across a statement last year that I feel in love with and took it to be part of my personal mission statement and belief about living a Christian life; we either progress or regress.  We never stay where we are.  Life is constantly moving.  We can, however, make a choice as to which directions we take.  We can choose to either move forward (progress) or move backwards (regress). 

Recently, Lysa TerKeurst published the book Unglued:Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions and I fell in love with the idea of it right away.  We as women have such strong emotions.  We cry during commercials, yell at our husbands for the slightest of errors, get impatient with the teenage employee at our favorite fast food restaurant, and take comments too personally and blow the situation out of proportion. 

In her book, Lysa discusses the idea of "imperfect progress," which is just that; making progress despite havin setbacks and slipping now and then.  As long as we are moving forward instead of backwards.  I LOVE this concept!  It doesn't matter how slow you move, but as long as you are moving in the right direction then you are progressing.  That's all we are asked; love Jesus and work at being just like him.  Make imperfect progress towards being Christ-like.  So challenging but so real.. 

That's really what this blog is all about.  Through looking back at past posts, I am able to see progress in my life; financially, as a wife and mom, as a Christian woman.  I am trying to make imperfect progress in so many aspects of my life and this blog allows me to look back on my progression.  Thanks for joining me! 

I would encourage you to pick up a copy of Unglued for yourself and take the imperfect progress challenge! 

Second Round of Antibiotics

I took Lucas in for his one year checkup today, fully expecting shots and a healthy bill of approval from Dr. Larson.  Lucas woke up a bit grumpy this morning and his runny nose that he has had for a few weeks was oozing green.  Those symptoms, along with his coughing on the 30 minute ride to the Dr. office, made me think that something was up.  I didn't even have to mention it to Dr. Larson, though, before she noticed it and asked me how long he had been sick.  Come to find out, he has another round of double ear infection!  :(  I win the bad mom of the week award for not noticing that he is sick!!  He hasn't been all that fussy, though.  He's sleeping great and eating fine.. just the runny nose was all I had noticed.  Poor guy!  So, here we go again with another round of antibiotics.  Please pray that his body takes it better this time and that he is back to his normal crazy self soon.  I'm working from home this afternoon, due to the daycare's policy of having at least two doses of antibiotics before coming back.  I have lots on my to-do list for work, since we have our Walks right around the corner.  Please pray for my sanity in the coming weeks!  :)  To wrap this post up, I want to give a huge shout out to Grandma Sharon- "Happy birthday!!"  We love you Granny!  Have a wonderful day, all! 
God bless,
Alicia

Financial Peace

As you know, Travis and I have been working hard to become debt free.  This past month, we paid off our Menards credit card!!  Yay!  It's a small step, but feels so good!!  We now only have 3 more debts to pay off- my vehicle loan and two student loans.  If we stick to our budget (which we have done amazingly well at lately) then my vehicle will be paid off in January and then we will tackle those blasting student loans.  Financial peace, here we come!! 

Peace.. "Freedom from disturbance, quiet and tranquility" (Google Dictionary Definition).  Financial Peace.. No worries about making it to pay day.  Living up to our full potential due to not having financial restrictions.  I love this guy's definition of financial peace:

"- n. a condition where one does not have to continuously worry about their ability to meet their financial obligations; they have financial peace
- adj. a position where one is financially set; that couple has a financial peace mindset
- n. a financial position that allows one to pursue doing exactly what they were made to do regardless of its income potential; because he has financial peace, he is able to pursue his dream of being a major league baseball player even though he never even played high school or college baseball"

Amazing.  I can't wait until Travis and I are able to experience that kind of peace in our lives!  Please pray for our continued strength and determination in meeting our financial goals.  God bless,
Alicia

Our Family

Travis:
Thorough
Reliable
Adventurous
Veracious
Intelligent
Sarcastic

Alicia:
Approachable
Lively
Insightful
Cheerful
Inspirational
Agreeable

Lucas:
Lovable
Upbeat
Courageous
Active
Sociable