Life Change

Something that has been weighing heavily on my heart lately...Pregnancy and fertility. I have a story to tell that I haven't told many people. I know there are people out there going through similar things that I have so hopefully, I can help someone else...at least to know that there is hope!

Evan and I have always taken the mind set that we will not TRY to get pregnant. There is just something stressful about trying to get knocked up that did not appeal to me. I watched several friends go through it and decided it was just not something I wanted for our relationship. I was, however, worried that we might not have an option...

And so our story begins.

Ever since I was younger, dreaming about my future life, dreams, ideals, and goals, I was worried that I would have trouble getting pregnant. I have no idea how, why, or when I developed this fear, but I did. I suspect it was around the same time I had a friend whose sister just found out she had scarring on her fallopian tubes...or maybe it was when a dear friend of mine found out she had Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. Hypochondriac me found myself to have a lot of the same symptoms. So I began to worry. I wasn't stressing myself out or anything, it was just always at the back of my mind that when I wanted to be pregnant, I would probably be infertile. For some reason, I was at peace with this. I knew that if we found out that was the case, we would adopt and we would be perfectly fine. Not having children has never been an option for us.

Fast forward to where life start for Evan and me....

Evan and I got married and I decided I hated birth control after about a month of taking it. I stopped taking it and we decided to place things in God's hands. I read up on Natural Family Planning as a way to prevent pregnancy and followed it...kinda. :) I'm just not very good at routine! We always said that "if it's God's plan for us, it will happen whether we are trying to prevent or not..." so, we just quit worrying about it! After about 2.5 of absolutely no oopsies, I really began to worry that my fears from before were really true. I was afraid that I was infertile. But still, I wasn't all too concerned. Life was not in the right time for us to be bringing a child in to the world anyway. I quit my job at the school, I was on my parent's insurance...It just wasn't the right time.

In the summer of 2012 Brenna (my middle sister) moved to Washington. She and I drove out there together and had an AWESOME road trip. I wasn't worried about anything, not even my period....until I got home and realized that Aunt Flow never showed up. I happened to be reading 50 Shades of Grey at the time and (**SPOILER ALERT** Skip the next line if you haven't read the book!) she just found out she was pregnant.

Something inside me stirred and I just knew I needed to take a test. We were on our way home from buying our new grill at Sam's in Decatur so, we stopped at Walmart and picked up a test and rushed home. I took it that night while Evan was in the garage putting his new grill together. It almost immediately had two lines show up. My heart dropped and started racing at the same time. I was feeling so many emotions. Panic because I didn't really have a job or insurance, but excitement because I WASN'T infertile!!! I immediately rushed outside and showed Evan! He was in shock I think.... :)

I called the next day to set up an appointment with the doctor. They couldn't get me in for a few weeks so I just had to wait around. Of course. That's the last thing you want to do what you're newly expecting! I finally got it for an ultra sound and of course, they had trouble. They tried and tried to find the little one. At this point, the doctor looked at us and said, I'm not seeing a baby. This could mean one of two things, there is no baby or you just aren't far enough along yet. They could see the sack, but not a baby. I wasn't worried about it though! I knew God would take care of me. They scheduled us to come back in a week and check things out again. That was a long week. I tried so hard not to read on the internet, but I still did a little! I found some really positive things about people who had the same issue and went on to have very healthy pregnancies. I remained optimistic. We went in for our next appointment where they tried the in office ultrasound again and again, they couldn't find anything. At this point, they told us it was probably not good. They sent us downstairs to the high tech lab to confirm what they were seeing. When the doctor came in to talk to us, she said the news was grim. There was no baby to be found, only a sack. We were devastated. She told us that I would probably have a miscarriage in the next week or we could schedule a D&C. We scheduled the D&C (reluctantly but she told us that it would be best and when I did miscarry, I would end up having to have one anyway). I had read online that some women have been told the same things and don't schedule the D&C and end up getting an ultrasound a few weeks later and find the baby....I didn't want that to happen to me so I scheduled it out a few days. We told our friends and family what was going on but I specifically asked that people not feel sorry for me. I didn't want that. I don't want people to pitty me because of something out of my control. Pitty and people saying "I'm so so sorry" make it harder to deal with.

The night before my surgery, I couldn't eat or drink anything. I went to bed like normal but woke up in severe pain around 2:00am. I was having a miscarriage. It was the most excruciating two hours of my life. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. :( We headed to the hospital a few hours later and I had my scheduled D&C. Again, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy...

It was a tough time but we made it through. I was sad, yes, but I was not devastated. I chose to look at it as God's way of saying, in time, this CAN happen. This just isn't the right time. After this, I stopped worrying about it. I stopped thinking about it. I just chose to live my life.

2013 came along and was a HUGE year for us! We decided to move to TEXAS! It must've been the right thing because, well, here we are!  Everything worked out so smoothly. We both got jobs, health insurance, bought a house, etc. Life couldn't be any better....Until February 3, 2014. We got a big FAT positive on a home pregnancy test! :-D I called the DR right away since we had issues in the past and they got me in almost immediately. The doctor confirmed the pregnancy and scheduled an ultrasound for 8 weeks.

Baby Shamus, as my mom has named him/her. haha.

Welp, here we are...starting week 12. :) Things are looking pretty good, and I'm feeling tired and sick. Life is good. :-D

Due October 15, 2014

 I'm not going to "Make it Facebook Official" so, if all ya'll baby stalkers want info, you're going to have to come to my blog to get it! :) 

I'm hoping to post about having a baby on a budget (I promise it is possible, you don't need all the crap that Babies-R-Us makes you think you need!) or at least how we manage with a baby on a budget. As well as talk about how we plan to work and manage child care. I will blog about getting ready for baby, cloth diapering, making my own baby food, etc.Of course, these are all hopes and dreams and aspirations....We'll see how much blogging I actually get done. I would like to grow and build my blog so I can work from home! How awesome would that be?! ;)

Peace out ya'll...

xoxox
Michala

So, my blog stalker who I shall not name... (Mandie Kellerman) Informed me that I was failing as a blogger! :) Thanks for holding me accountable, friend! This is kind of a random post chalk full of some A.D.D. thoughts....

Some things that I didn't know about Houston that I wish I would have known ahead of time-

1.  The ghetto could be RIGHT next door to multi-million dollar homes
2.  homeowners insurance is ASTRONOMICALLY higher.
3.  You use a realtor for everything around here (renting and buying)
4.  Car insurance is double what it is in Illinois
5.  I have HEARD that insurance is not included in a teacher's compensation package...Not completely sure about this one as I'm not teaching here.
6.  Traffic is HORRIBLE, it will take you at least 45 minutes to go ANYWHERE, even if anywhere is only 6 miles away.
7.  "You Guys" is not an acceptable phrase and MUST be substituted with "ya'll". This must be inserted into every conversation as many times as possible, ya'll.
8.  Every neighborhood comes with HOA fees.
9.  Katy is SO FAR AWAY. When you tell people you live in Katy while you are in the city(Which we don't even live close to Katy, that is just where our address is. We actually live closer to Cypress....) they freak out thinking that you just traveled across the entire earth to get there.
10.  Buying a house here is almost impossible. Some houses don't stay on the market for more than a few hours...if the house has been on the market more than 72 hours, there is probably something wrong with it!
11.  Bidding wars are FOR REAL. You cannot "offer low and negotiate" you pretty much pay what they are asking for, if you really want the house.
12. It really does get cold down here. And once you get used to 110 degree summers, 40 degrees feels like Antarctica.

And then sometimes, it is warm... :)

Moral of the story---
Buying a house was a nightmare.  We found some houses we liked and ended up putting an offer on one. Well, to save you the details and make a month long story of excruciating house hunting shorter (House Hunters makes it look so easy!) we looked at probably 50 different houses and put offers in on 6 of them. We were always outbid. We just so happened to hear about a house sale falling through that our agent was listing. We looked at it the day before it went back on the market,  put an offer on it right away and they accepted. We closed 21 days later. Yea, Texas is awesome about closing quickly! This was a fluke ya'll (<--told you, it's a requirement to use it.) But God was looking out for us. He knew that I was about ready to just be homeless because I was NOT about to move all my junk back to Illinois. I was tired of looking. We were spending every extra waking second with our realtor. I mean, I like them a lot, but I was ready to do something fun! :) And I was tired of eating KFC for dinner!

I have a pretty fun post in the making right now that I'm hoping to post in the next week or two...it's about some of our struggles since I escaped hell (AKA Sullivan High School) and a lot of the challenges that we faced and how we were able to overcome them! Also, hopefully I can get a maxi skirt tutorial put together. Lizzie and I just bought material to make some, maybe we will get it done this weekend. :) Stay tuned.

Aren't they just so cute?

I think I have covered enough randomness for the day! :)

Houston, the promised land.

Well, we made it. But you guys already knew that!!! This blog post will cover the move and how we got here. It was entertaining to say the least.

One we found out we were moving, I started researching. Moving is NOT cheap, folks. Movers were quoting me anywhere from $2799-3500. Renting a small uhaul truck was about $1500 for the distance we were going. Now, I don't know if y'all remember, but when my sister, Brenna, moved to Washington, she drove her mini van loaded with everything she could fit. Well, we've been married for 4 years and have far more than a mini van full. I did purge a lot and got rid of about half of my closet, but even then, we have a ton of stuff.

Evan came down about three weeks before I did. My dad came down on Wednesday evening and we got the trailer and fifteen passenger van we borrowed from Matt Kracht. I had been packing pretty much since we found out we were moving so we didn't have to do it all that night. Thursday morning we got up early and started loading up. My dad and I are both pretty stubborn, strong willed, independent people that like things done OUR WAY. Needless to say, there was A LOT of frustration. The one thing I remember vividly is me telling him that my side tables needed to go in AFTER they were packed full of stuff. Well, I walk out to the van later and notice that the tables are not in the garage and all the stuff that had been in them was all over the floor. For whatever reason, his crazy man brain thought that he should take ALL the stuff out of the tables (which are like 2'x2') and pack them in the van, completely empty. I nearly lost it with him at this point but bit my tongue as I was happy for the help. Any who, the only other instance I remember is when we got to the very end of the stuff (which was really just the end to what we could still fit) my dad started SHOVING things into the trailer. I ended up with a lot of scratched stuff...but oh well, it's just stuff! :) We ended up taking two Jeepfuls to the thrift store (totally over $2,000 worth of tax deductions! SAWEEEEEET!) I still had so much stuff left...it got to the point that I just had to decide what I needed right away and what I would get later. We decided that once the trailer came back to Illinois, my parents would load it up AGAIN and send it with Evan's parents in November along with the poochies. What a trip that was! :) I'm sure had they known what they were in for, they wouldn't have agreed! 

My mom came down after work on Thursday and helped us try to finish up, the plan was to leave Thursday night and drive half way....but there was SOOOO much work to do still, we stayed up until about midnight and finally went to bed, deciding we would leave around 3:30am. My parents had a bed to sleep in because they were coming back to finish packing up my stuff and clean my house....I slept on a sleeping bag on my floor! What fun. They deserved the bed! We got up at 3:30, tired as ever and got on the road...with one taillight on the trailer! 

Anyway, when my parents and I got here with the first load (17 hours later) we unloaded most stuff into a storage unit. We were staying with some really great friends that were missionaries in Mexico at the orphanage we used to go to. They recently moved back to Houston because of the drug wars in Mexico. We had a small bedroom and our own bathroom and couldn't have been happier! We were with friends, in a new city on a new adventure! I had kind of sorted my clothes and was able to hang everything up and get settled. I started my new job that next Monday (I ended up having to go shopping because I under estimated how chilly it can get here and I had kept most of my winter clothes in storage)

My parents headed home that Saturday or Sunday (I can't remember which....) but they decided to break the trip up on the way home. Have I mentioned how amazing my parents are?! They drove all the way back home, FINISHED packing up my house, then cleaned it....my mom even cleaned the carpets. As the in-laws said, "you need to give them a gold medal..." I ordered it, mom, you should get it any day now!!! ;)

Moral of the moving story- HIRE THE MOVERS---THEY ARE SOOOOOOOOOO WORTH THE MONEY!!! :)

Ok, I think this post is drawn out enough. Next up, BUYING A HOUSE IN HOUSTON- The most difficult thing you will ever do and The Things They DON'T Tell You About Moving to Texas......Stay tuned.

If there's a road I should walk help me find it!

Whelp, it's official! We live in Texas. This blog post could prove to be pretty long so, stick with me!

First, I would like to start off by explaining why I left Facebook. I know a lot of people supported me in doing that, but, it was still a difficult decision. I have had Facebook since the beginning of time...well, pretty much since Facebook's time (2004ish) That's almost 10 years people. I have had Facebook for nearly 10 years. wow. It had become a  part of my daily life and routine. If I was bored, I would check facebook, if I had a minute to spare, I would check Facebook. I really feel like it had me started to take time with real people for granted. I mean, hey, I could ALWAYS catch up with them on Facebook. Another reason, I got a PHONE CALL from a dear friend from high school that heard through the grapevine that I was moving. She wanted to meet up before I left. She doesn't have facebook so we soley keep up by going out to see each other face-to-face. I really started to get the feeling that a lot of the people that I called "friends" just assumed that they could keep up with me on Facebook, eliminating the need to call me or see me. I don't fly like that people. Linnea Olson knows how much it drives me crazy that she will answer a text but not a phone call! (she answers my phone calls from time to time even though it pains her!!! It must be because she loves me so much.) It's the same with Facebook. It drives me crazy that people don't take the time to call one another any more. So, I decided to drop off Facebook and the people that really care will still find a way to contact me. All ya'll are welcome here whenever you want! (once we are no longer homeless!)

A lot of people have been asking where we are living and what our plans are here. We have some really AMAZINGLY GREAT friends here in Houston whom have generously opened their home and allowed us to live with them. Kathryn and Victor are a beautiful couple that we were blessed enough to meet during our time in Mexico. Kathryn was a missionary there for a long time and married a Mexican man named Victor. They moved back to the states when things started to get rough down in Mexico. It's super awesome because Victor is learning English but gets tired of practicing and tells me I need to practice my Spanish so we switch languages. It's a bilingual household and I love every second of it!!! Plus, they eat ice cream every night. It's pretty great. :)

Currently, Evan and I are trying to buy another house here but have run into several snags. I do believe that the Lord has led us here, things have gone too smoothly for the most part, but it has definitely been a challenge. It has tested our faith, our relationship, and our belief in ourselves but has made us so much stronger.

Our house in Sullivan sold in 24 days for sale by owner. We were blessed; and then, things started going wrong! Some electrical issues showed up in the inspection which caused the realtor and an electrician to get under the house and find mold....that was black...Due to his legal obligation, he informed us and the buyer of the organic substance. The buyer freaked, I freaked, and the tension got hot. I had ServPro come estimate it which turned into a huge expense. Then I insisted on having it tested to be sure that it was in fact black mold (stachybotrys)... turns out it's just penicillin (very common) but still going to be a large expense and sets us back in the closing of our house. Keep in  mind, I dealt with all this while Evan was living in Houston and was unable to help me....that means I was down crawling around in the crawl space and doing all the things he would normally do....ick.

The market here in Houston is a lot different than Illinois. Houses sell in days, not months. If you find a house you like, you better put an offer in on it before you leave because chances are, if you wait until you get home, it will be sold. We put an offer in on a house, offered $5,000 less than asking price and asked for closing costs. The next day they got an offer for full asking price with no closing....needless to say, our offer got tossed into the wind. Now, we are back at square one. It's frustrating.

As far as what we are doing....Evan is working at the University of Houston as a Systems Analyst. He pretty much makes sure nothing breaks and then when it does, he notifies the right people. He monitors all the systems for the University...and because he gets free tuition, we are taking ideas on what he should get his PhD in!  :)  I am working for an awesome company in Houston too! I am going to be taking over for a gal in the HR department at Recon Remedial Construction that is about to go on maternity leave. I have only been there two days but I LOVE it. The hope is that there will be a full time position for me when she comes back from leave. We shall see!!!

As I write this, I realize how long it is and how RANDOM it is....I apologize. I have been thinking about all the stuff I need to write for about 3 weeks....It's just now getting done because I don't feel like doing my homework!

I think this is probably long enough for now. I will write about the move down here (and tips for a cross country move...WHAT NOT TO DO!!!) and a few other things...

Don't worry about us, folks! It's 80+ degrees and life is good. These Texans keep talking about the cool weather coming (70s....) haha They have NO IDEA what cool weather means. I just laugh when they say that.

Stay tuned for more...and for a few pictures!!!

My Own Little World. Part 1

This song has burrowed deep in my soul. The first time I heard it, all I could think of was "what have I become?"

This song couldn't be more perfect for where I am at right now...see the breakdown below:

In my own little world it hardly ever rains This summer MIGHT be the exception!
I've never gone hungry, always felt safe Couldn't be more true.
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet I have SEVERAL choices of shoes to put on my feet and enough money in my pocket to make it. More than a lot of people have.
In my own little world: population -- me  Pretty much. ME. ME. ME.

I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church Or try to pay attention.
I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give 'til it hurts SO TRUE. 
And I turn off the news when I don't like what I see These days, I don't even turn on the news.
It's easy to do when its population -- me

What if there's a bigger picture? THERE IS A BIGGER PICTURE! I've SEEN IT!
What if I'm missing out? I KNOW I AM!
What if there's a greater purpose? "you are meant for great things, Michala." That does NOT mean great things like a huge closet full of stuff I don't need.
I could be living right now YES!
Outside my own little world PLEASE!

Stopped till the red light, looked out my window
I saw a cardboard sign said, "Help this homeless widow" Remember the lady with no shoes, mom?
And just above that sign was the face of a human
I thought to myself, "God, what have I been doing?" SERIOUSLY! What HAVE I been doing?
So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye
Oh, how many times have I just passed her by?
I gave her some money then I drove on through I gave to a homeless man for the first time in a VERY long time the other day. It was only $2 (all I had in my purse) but to him, it made a difference. 
And my own little world reached population two Making progress.

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world, ooh, my own little world, ooh

Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours Lord, I know you have already done this, but my heart has hardened. Break it! I'm SO ready.
Give me open hands and open doors
Put Your light in my eyes and let me see He made the lame walk and the dumb talk
And He opened blinded eyes to see- I've been blind, help me see!!!
That my own little world is not about me

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
That I could be living right now

I don't wanna miss what matters  This scares me! I don't want to reach the end of my life and realize that I have done nothing but live for myself. 
I wanna be reaching out I've known this since 2005.
Show me the greater purpose Show me where I belong.
So I can start living right now I don't want to waste another minute! 
Outside my own little world, my own little world, my own little world

This song is everything I believe. It is powerful, moving, and so inspiring. It has been several years since I have been on a mission trip. I think that has caused my selfishness. I haven't experienced the poverty, I haven't LIVED it. I've been doing a lot of soul searching, trying to figure out where the Lord is leading us next. It's all so confusing. I know I am meant to help and minister to people...just not sure where. I know that I am meant to change lives, to make a difference. There can be no other explanation for my compassion for the people of Latin America and the gift of Spanish that I have been blessed with.

The Vineyard always talks about praying for people and the importance of it. Well, nothing scares me more. I am so afraid that people will judge me if I ask if I can pray for them. Plus, I am not comfortable praying aloud with my own family- Something I am really trying to work on. Just recently, Evan and I were on a plane home from Chicago to Champaign. We were stuck on the runway in Chicago for about 45 minutes because of some storms. We started chatting with the girl in front of us and she told us that she was on her way home  from her physical for bone marrow donation. She was about to go through an excruciating operation to hopefully save the life of a 6 year old stranger. How AWESOME! And then I heard it..."Ask to pray for her." WHATTTTTTTT?!?!?!? Who just said that?! I look at Evan and he DEFINITELY had not said it...And then I heard it again, "Michala, ask her if you can pray for her and her surgery." "God?! Is that you? I can't do that. I'm not comfortable with that. She will think I am crazy!!!" Well, I'm sad to say that I denied God that day and did not pray for the girl. I think about this quite a bit and wonder how it might have been different, had I listened. I will never know, but I DO know that from now on, when God tells me to pray, I will. If they think I am crazy, they will say "no thanks!" I don't want to care what people think of me anymore. I want to care what ONE person thinks. No one else matters. As long as I am pleasing to him, what else is there?

This blog post did not turn out how I thought it would but it's pretty long already so....I will save the rest for another day. A little teaser-

Where my heart longs to be and what it longs to do

Revelation: The beginning of the end of my "American Dream"

Ever since I can remember, I have been told I am destined to do great things. Well, this past week, I realized this for myself. There have been several times in life that I have made the realization but for whatever reason, I seem to forget. This time, it has stuck and mine and Mr. Thrifter's (MT) life is about to change....DRASTICALLY and for the BEST. I am not quite ready to share with you what God has shown me...but SOON. I promise...I'm still working on getting MT to get on board. :)

The summer of my 8th grade year, we took a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico that rocked my soul. In this third world country, I felt so alive and at peace...I felt home. Fast forward a few summers to after I met an amazing man named Randy Stanton at church camp. He introduced us to two little towns in Mexico called Soto La Marina and La Pesca. The first summer I was here, I knew I had found my calling in life. Serving people- That is my calling. Being selfless for the greater good and to glorify God. Sadly, because of the extreme danger in their area, I haven't been able to go since Evan and I spent our first Christmas there. Yes, folks, he is a great guy! :) I love him so unconditionally, especially since he has put up with me and my "craziness" (obsession) this past week. He humors me and lets me go on these "phases" as he likes to call them. Well, honey, I have news for ya! This is NOT a phase! 

So, I guess you are all wondering what I am talking about at this point...Well....I have decided that I am a hoarder of things. Not so much a hoarder in the sense you might think: 

This is not QUITE my life...

I have however, been very centered and focused on the possession of things. Things have begun to define my life. I think "if only I could just have that, then I would be happy." Well, I have all this stuff and I am not satisfied. After I wrecked my car, I decided I  needed a newer,  nicer one...even though the last one was paid off. I didn't need it. When we first got married, we had a super cute little house for very cheap rent. I decided that I wanted my OWN house, so we bought one. I wish we would have stayed...This all comes back to one thing- STUDENT LOANS. They will be the death of me. Everyone really emphasizes the importance of education - which I TRULY believe in...if you can afford it. I, could not, and cannot afford those loans. If I continue to pay them, we will  be in poverty for the rest of our lives. It is the loans that keep us from doing the things we long to do. We want to have kids, we want to take vacations, we want to go do things! We just cannot afford it with almost $1,000 a month in loan payments. It is because of this and because I have developed this "need" to have things that I have decided to declutterize and simplify my life. This also, will help me be able to reach my calling in life which the loans are also holding me back from. I graduated from college in 2009, that was 4 years ago...the Bible talks quite a bit about debt and there is one verse in particular that really stands out to me....

Deuteronomy 15:1-2 says: “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.”

Now, I KNOW that Sallie Mae is not going to cancel my debts...HAHA. I KNOW the federal government won't do it either...I alone am responsible for paying it which means, I have less than three years to make this happen. It's time to start paying.

God and I have talked about this and decided that Evan and I need to get rid of EVERYTHING we don't need to survive. Starting today, I will be going through all of our things and selling them. Everything that we make will go towards student loans. We are going to be living HARDCORE Dave Ramsey style for the next year or so. This will probably involve selling our house and downsizing. It is going to be a REALLY hard year, but one for growth, learning, and change. I will have a hard time getting rid of my things, especially ones I have made, but they will go to a good home. And when this debt is paid, I can buy new stuff. I am so excited to start this challenge, especially with Mr. Thrifter AKA Evan Ervin by my side. He is totally on board with dumping our debt and living life like no one else so we can REALLY live like no one else later! 

So what does this mean?! For this blog, which I originally created as a place to share the things that I made, it will become a place where I will be blogging about our change in life style. I will talk about hardships, struggles, and miracles. It also means that we need PRAYER and LOTS of it! We are about to face one of the most difficult years of our lives. We ask that you pray for us that the Lord will bless us and encourage us to persevere to the end. It also means that we may have to say no, A LOT. Please understand that if we say no to going out for drinks or dinner, movies, etc, we are not being rude, we literally just can't afford it. Our priorities have shifted. If it involves spending money, we will probably not be able to do it. (Linnea, I'm not quite sure what this means for your wedding just yet.) Some of you are probably thinking I have gone off the deep end. I promise you, I have never been more here nor felt more alive! For those of you that know me, this next part will come as a total shock...

I, Michala McWhirter, being of sound mind, body, and soul, SOLEMNLY SWEAR that I will NOT buy ANYTHING for myself or my husband that is not a life necessity until this debt has been paid.  PLEASE feel free to hold me accountable and remind me of my mission. 

I want so badly to have this paid off....I have an end goal which hopefully, I will get to share in the next few months...Evan says I have to give it at LEAST 30 days... :)

If anyone would like to provide support for us as we embark on this wild and crazy journey, we need prayer, and lots of it. Please pray for patience on both of our parts. Pray for healing from this obsession of things. Pray for guidance and the direction we are being led. Pray for wisdom as we journey through the waters that are the "debt snow ball" but most of all, pray for conviction. This is supposed to be a journey for learning and growing as individuals.

Instead of being "I can make that" this blog will now be called "I can sell that!"

Let's get started!!! :)

Baking MACHINE!!!

I was a baking MACHINE yesterday. The internet was out...what do you do when the internet is out?! Evan and I talked about it because we were both chomping at the bit for it to come back on, we were going MAD. It made me realize something. Our accessibility to the internet as we know it now, has been around for less than ten years. Ten years ago, people were still using dial up because high speed wasn't available to them. So that leads me to my next question...if, in ten years time, we have allowed the internet to consume us and control us this much, what do we have to look forward to in the next ten years? I'm not so sure I am excited about that. This is something I really want to work on, to limit my internet time, which will be tough! I use it for EVERYTHING! I Skype with my sisters and sister-in-law a lot (several days a week) I look up recipes, I get on Facebook, I Blog Surf, I watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, and I am an AVID Amazon Prime shopper...it's a problem. 

So anyway, the whole lack of internet lead me to think about what to do...I turned on my Pandora (another internet user) on my phone and started doing laundry. Once you get laundry started though, you have to wait a while, so I was stuck again! I decided to start baking. We have some new neighbors in the area and thought it might be nice to take them some treats. We had some bananas that were on their last leg on the counter (those are the best for banana bread....but I prefer the black ones myself!)  I started with the banana bread. I made two loaves. I then decided that I wanted to keep a loaf of banana bread and I wanted to make some REAL bread to take to the neighbors. I got out my Betty Crocker Bread book we bought it on Amazon originally but they no longer have the hard copy. They only have the Kindle version. (sad day) This book is so amazing. If you have a bread maker, you NEED this book.

Ok, enough jabber, here is the beautimus picture of my LOVELY bread....I know right? It's BEAUTIFUL. And it was so easy.  And as the hubby stated, "it smells like Christmas!!!" 

The recipe is as follows (I made modifications, of course...because I am my father's daughter and can't ever follow a recipe as it states...I at least know what to change and what has to stay the same!) 

Here is the recipe!!!

Sweet Bread Wreath (my modified version)

1 wreath is 24 servings

For the bread:

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup sour cream (I used greek yogurt because I prefer it and it has less calories and fat!)

1 egg

3 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

For the topping:

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground anise (I don't like anise so I used cloves instead)

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Place all bread ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer (I put them in in the order they are listed in the recipe which happens to be how Breadman recommends (liquids first))

Turn you bread machine on and select Dough/Manual Cycle (you cannot use the delay feature here as it has eggs AND dairy in it!) Let the machine do its thing, then.....

Remove the dough (flour your hands because I some how managed to miss that key piece of advice...it's STICKY, folks!) You are supposed to cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes which I also happened to miss...I was just SO excited!

 Grease a large cookie sheet. Divide your dough into thirds. Roll each 1/3 into a 26" rope. Place ropes side by side; braid the ropes loosely together (I pinched the tops of my ropes together and then braided) Sorry I don't have pictures! I didn't know this would turn out so beautifully. Once you have it braided, pinch the ends together to form a circle. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes until doubled. Dough is ready if indentation remains. I accidentally got ahead of myself and brushed it with egg and the spices before I covered it and let it rise and it was just fine! :)

Once it has risen, place it in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. And...Just a couple more pictures for your enjoyment. This bread is so good, even without butter!

ENJOY!  

Maybe tomorrow I will blog about the most phenomenal Apple Cake that I made! :)