Feeling kind of lost

The past few days have been an emotional roller coaster for me. Between the stress of building the house (which is exciting but also financially draining), checking my electric bill, trying to motivate myself to stay OP, school, and everything else... I'm just a little bummed. I got a real shocker a few weeks ago with school. Because I dropped a class back in April, I now owe a bunch of money because they sent some of my financial aid funds back to my lender (which was never properly explained to me). They sent it to campus collections because I'm past due (and mind you it was only 5 days past due and I didn't get any notification about it until the day they sent it to campus collections) and I can't go back until the past due balance is paid for. It's a big run around because my funds are sitting with my lender and they are more than willing to release them to the school; however, school is saying they can't request them until I'm back in attendance. Ugh! Sooooo frustrating! It wouldn't be such a big deal but I only have a week to figure out how I'm coming up with the money to pay them off before they send it to an outside collection agency who will then start dinging my credit. That's the really frustrating part. I'm still trying to recover from my divorce and have been doing pretty well at clearing up my credit and this is the absolute last thing I need right now. I also had another shock a few weeks ago with a company who I've had a payment plan set up with for the last year and a half is now saying that the payment amounts aren't acceptable anymore. The company they used to handle the payment plans didn't follow the correct procedures and I was never supposed to only be paying what I agreed upon. So now, they want almost triple the amount I was originally paying and I just can't afford it. I swear everything hits all at once! Ugh!

Anyway... So the house is completely framed! That's definitely exciting. We got to go inside and look at everything. It seems much smaller than I remember but it'll be so nice to be in the house. I can't wait!! Here's a few pics of the inside:

 

 Formal living room

 Dining room and kitchen

Kristi's bathroom

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Great room

Great room

Great room

Garage

On the business front, things are going pretty well. I don't have as many clients as I would like but I'm slowly working up to getting the amount needed before we move in. I only need about 6 more to hit my goal of 15! Last night we had a training session about the release of "Generation H" and it was totally amazing! Kelly Rife is such an amazing and inspiring woman! Every time I get to hear her speak and train it revs me up and gets me so excited for what we're doing! I can't wait to implement some of the new materials that were released at National Convention. :-) It's definitely a great time to start this endeavor! I don't really have too much else to talk about so until next time:

♥Health & Blessings♥

P.S. Check my other blog, On My Needles, to find out what I'm currently working on!

Just Another Ordinary Day

So what's been happening here? Oh a lot! I can't get into everything but let's just say that it's been a stressful few weeks! On the house front, the framing has begun!!! I went over to the house on Tuesday and all that was completed was the foundation.

From Tuesday until Friday, they got the entire downstairs framed and half the upstairs! It's amazing! Here's the pics I have so far:

Garage, LR, DR, & Kitchen

 Great room downstairs, bedrooms upstairs

 

Back view

I am just so excited! Andy and I stood inside the great room in awe. We just can't believe that it's finally coming together. I mean, just a week ago, all that was down was stone. Now, there's actually a house. We are so excited to be able to watch the progress of the building process. It's amazing and God has truly blessed us!

The not so fun part of moving has officially begun. I decided that I have just about 2 1/2 months to get our entire house packed and all the stuff in our basement sorted. We just don't have the available storage room to take everything so it's time to pare down! I did actually start the packing process last week though. Things I'm not currently using and won't be using in the next few months like books and cd's. (Note for future reference: I could probably pare down some if I got rid of all my cd cases. I should buy a couple of those binder-type cases and put all my cd's in there instead of keeping the plastic ones you automatically get.) I decided that books would be the first thing to pack because I have a reading plan for the next few months already in place. I'm currently in the process of reading the newest Nora Roberts saga and am on book #2 of the Bride Quartet: Bed of Roses. It's amazing and I'm just about finished that one. Once I'm finished reading those, I'm going to read the Twilight Saga which I'm borrowing from a friend. Once those are complete, I'm going to re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. My goal is to have all those read by the time HPATDH movie is released. I noticed when watching the HBP that I couldn't remember what actually happened and how in the book (let's face it: movie's change certain elements from the books they portray) because it had been so long ago that I read them. I think the next thing I'll pack is our extra set of dishes. While I like having a few sets to choose from, we don't really need both sets out for the next few months. After that, it's time to dig into the basement. That, however, I need Andy's help. For those of you who know me, know that I have a terrible fear of bugs, especially spiders. Our basement is chock full of daddy long-leggers... And huge ones at that! Ugh (just talking about them is giving me the creeps)! I did have the notion that I could take my vacuum downstairs and suck them all into the sweeper. Well, it's a bag less one and while I'm sure they probably wouldn't survive the suction and routing, I'm not taking any chances! The other problem with trying to do the basement myself is 9/10 of it is Andy's; therefore, I cannot just get rid of stuff (although I'd REALLY like to) thus needing his help.

On the custody front, Jay and I have been able to more or less come to an acceptable agreement without having to go to court (praise the Lord!) and much thanks to Mel for mediating. :-) The only thing left is to finish hashing out the nitty gritty details and send it off to the courts. That's definitely another blessing from God! :-) I didn't think it would ever be possible! 

So onto goals for this week. Specifically today, I want to get the kitchen completely finished being cleaned and hopefully that will rid us of the ants by the sink. I don't know where they are coming from and even though we rinse all the dishes clean after using them, I'm really thinking that maybe I should just wash our dishes by hand. That way, no piles in the sink and that would rid us of the dishwasher problem. I swear, no matter what we try including every type of dish washer soap available and jet dry, our dishes never seem to get clean. It just doesn't make sense to me. We run them two to three times (which is killing our water bill) and that doesn't seem to help; hence, why there are usually piles of dishes in our sink. IDK... That was a little off topic: sorry! LoL! What was I talking about? Oh yeah, goals for this week. So after the kitchen is finished, my plan is to pack away some of the kitchen/dining room knick knacks and the dishes. Then I'm going to move into the living room. I really need to pack away some of the extra stuff that we don't need out right now like knitting magazines and whatnot. My plan at the new place is to have shelves lining an entire wall for books (if you haven't already guessed it I'm an avid reader) and knitting magazine's. I subscribe to like 4 different ones (and yes, I NEED every one of them) so I have a million sitting around. Other goals are to stay on top of the laundry. I finally got caught up today! The last load is in the washer now. Yay! Last goal for this week is working alongside of Kristi to clean up after herself after each activity. She has a habit of getting a million things out and not putting anything away. My hope is to teach her to clean up after each activity so there's less to do each night before bed. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one because I know that's going to be a hard habit to break! Well, I have a few things I need to finish up while Kris finishes her nap and then it's off to the doctor's!

♥Many blessings!♥

P.S. If you want to know what is currently On My Needles, check out my other page!

A Day of Reflection

Today is July 6th and 5 years ago at 7:54 a.m., Kristi Michele-Annette Ruggiano was brought into this world! 5 years ago... Wow! It's so hard to believe that it was 5 years ago... It seems like just yesterday, Jay and I were bringing her home from the hospital! I still remember exactly what I wore and exactly how I was feeling. It is amazing to me how much my little bundle of joy has grown. I look at her each and everyday she is with me and thank God for the amazing gift He has bestowed upon me of being her parent. There have been many smiles, tears, tantrums, cries, laughs, hugs, and kisses throughout these years and I know that there will be a zillion more. :-) Nothing in this world compares to the love I feel for her. She is the sweetest, most caring human being on Earth!

I remember the very first time she smiled... It was one of the most rewarding days of my life! We were on vacation in Virginia with Jay's family and he was giving her a bath. She used to love kicking and flailing her legs and arms in the water when we would hold her. I just happen to be recording her taking a bath when she looked right at the camera and gave a HUGE smile! Thankfully, I was able to pull a picture from the video:

This is one of my most precious memories. I look back on some of her baby pictures and can't believe that it's her. She looks so different! She grows more and more beautiful everyday! Here are a couple of my other favorite baby shots:

 Kristi right after delivery

First picture of mommy and Kristi

 First picture of daddy and Kristi

 In the bassinet at the hospital

 Dressed to come home from hosptial

First ride in her car seat

 First feeding at home

First dress for church

Bath time!

All-time favorite picture of Kristi and daddy

 Sticking her tongue out

Smiles

Laughing 

Sleeping on daddy

Playing in her bouncer

I loved taking pictures of her in her bouncer. For some reason, she would always try to pull Pooh off (most times she did) and chew on him. And not really chew on him, per say, just his leg. LoL! She never wanted Eeyore or the honey pot, just Pooh. :-) 

I know that the next time I blink she'll be 10 and then moving out of the house to go to college. It amazes me how much time flies. Here's a few pictures of her growing up:

 Kristi's first Christmas

I love her face in this picture

Mommy and Kristi Christmas morning

Christmas 06'

Christmas Day 07' (with a milk mustache)

Christmas 07' (professional)

Sesame Place 2007

Summer 09'

Spring 10'

Summer 10'

As the years go on I'm sure there will be a million more pictures, a million more smiles, and million more laughs. I will cherish each and every day that Kristi is with me! Happy birthday my little love!! <3<3<3