Just Pure Lovely

Be the First to Try out Kraft Foods!

I ran into another fun program to pass along. You can join Kraft's First Taste program and become one of the taste testers, giving you a chance to review their products and share the results with Kraft and your friends.

I was recently asked to be in a product-review program for Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets (they're super cool), and thought it was pretty neat knowing all about the Next Thing (or not) before it was even in stores. This Kraft program may be like that!

Need a Vacation?

I love vacations.  Last year, we had the Summer Vacation of all Vacations, driving from the Gulf Coast to St. Louis, the length of Indiana, the length of Illinois including Chicago, Wisconsin, and Michigan.  At the end of the time, sure, I needed a vacation after our vacation, but the memories captured by my camera and on our children's faces made any trouble worth it all.

Have you heard about the campaign going on right now, petitioning Congress to name Friday, August 7 as a National Vacation Day?  You can be part of this campaign, too! In addition to campaigning for a National Vacation Day, HomeAway is searching for the person who is most deserving of a week-long summer vacation.

HomeAway Vacation Rentals is offering a $10,000 getaway to the winning entry that best answers the question:  Why do you deserve to have HomeAway save your summer vacation?  Entries may be submitted as a text entry, a photo essay or a video. The contest runs until July 2, 2009.  Go to Save Our Summer Vacation for more about the contest.  (psst, here is an article on how to write a good entry...you're so welcome!).

I need to enter this contest, too...I could definitely use a $10,000 getaway, but I'd especially like to name August 7th National Vacation Day since that's the day our ballerina was born, and although she's totally worth it, that day in 1997 was not in any way a vacation for me!

If I had a choice of any spot to go for my $10,000 getaway, I think I'd choose to visit a castle in Scotland. 

Where would you go?

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I'm Not Complaining About the Weather, But...

I read a book several years ago that includes a line I've never forgotten:

Never complain about anything, not even the weather. 

I remember that line often, but that doesn't mean it has absorbed yet.  I do complain sometimes...  Especially when we're breaking heat records here and God hasn't taken a turn watering the garden in weeks (careful now, I might get a flood for that!).

I'm not complaining when I say this, but...it's blasted hot down here these days!

Okay, so maybe I am complaining a little bit.  Finding some forgotten photos of Spring today didn't help me feel any cooler. 

Canadians, enjoy our most pleasant weather.  We want it back very soon!

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How to Save Money, Even While in Debt

Thanks to the School of Hard Knocks, our family has had a lot of experience on the Road to Debt and on the (hard, gravely) Road to Getting Out of Debt.  We are now, thankfully, a cash-only family, but we know that at any time our one income could become no income.  (Why, that would be downright familiar -- we were just there in the fall!) Even though credit cards are not something any of us love, they are sometimes, in our society, a necessary evil.

If you are realizing how badly you need to get out of credit card debt, but are under the burden of a high interest rate, this is a frustrating time, isn't it?  Credit card companies are lowering available balances and making it harder for us to find a 0% credit card deal.  This tightening of their corporate belts is due to the current economic crisis, but also thanks to the new credit card reform bill, straight from the White House (the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009).

The reform bill was designed to help us as consumers, but it also added a financial burden to credit card companies.  As a result, they are becoming more strict with balance allowances and with lower interest rates.

Don't lose hope!  We just need to do a little more homework than we had to do in past years.  Here are a couple of ways to get out of debt faster:

1. Don't use a credit card anymore.  I know, I know, that's easier said than done, and it may not be possible right now. But I'm telling you from experience that when you wait and pray for something (and, sigh, wait and pray some more) , it will often fall right into your lap for free or for super duper cheap.  You will be amazed!  Sometimes - often - you find that you really didn't need that thing after all.
2. Find the best balance transfer credit cards.  A "balance transfer credit card" is, yes, simply another credit card, but one that offers a perk for transfering your existing credit card balance to their company.  Often, that perk is a 0% interest rate for several months or so.  When you transfer balances to a 0% interest rate, you'll be able to breathe a little easier as you save money on interest rates, and, happily, the time it takes to get out of debt is reduced.

(If you want to know more about balance transfers, go to Smart Balance Tranfers, and read the helpful articles - listed at the bottom of the home page - including  "Tranfer Balances ASAP," and "Balance Transfers 101.")

There is so much more to be said about saving money while in debt!  Lately, I've had a lot of ideas swooshing around in my head about finances, but I haven't wanted to blog about it because this isn't a finance blog or a saving money blog.  But the nagging thought is, how can I live a "just, pure, lovely" life if my mind is overwhelmed with the debt load I carry?    I'm not sure where it all will go, but I'm jotting down notes as quickly as I think of tips and tricks regarding finances.  Maybe it will be a future blog series or an ebook (ack!).  Meanwhile, I'd love to learn from you, too...

Do you have any tips on getting out of debt or making debt easier to bear?

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A Mouse

I think this cute little mouse was probably inspired by The Tale of Despereaux, a book we've been reading during tea time most afternoons. The clay mouse was created by our ballerina, the little artist you saw at work yesterday.   We finally could not wait to see Despereaux the Movie, because I'm a slow out-loud reader, and, more honestly, we too often forget to have tea time (a pity!), but the movie was so different that it didn't ruin anything to have seen it before completing the book.

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Working with Clay

If you dig into our riverbank, under the white sand, past some brown sand, you might be lucky enough to find a handful of clay.  Not red clay like you'd find any old place in Alabama or Georgia, but smooth, pure clay worthy of an artist's kiln. 

We don't have a kiln.  Or an artist.  But we do have that nice clay, so every now and then the kids dig some up and get to working with it.  Here, our 11yo ballerina is making a palm tree ('scuze the chipped blue nail polish, would ya?  it's art.  you know.)...

She already has the woodland critters and the fairy person ready...

And now, a beautiful palm tree for the woodland creatures...

And a - huh? - why, this is a nest worthy of Horton! 

I didn't see that coming, but manage to swallow my snicker.  Our ballerina's big brother isn't so good at hiding his...

      

Once he stops laughing, he offers a suggestion, because he's sure - he's always absolutely sure - that his sister wants to hear every one of his suggestions.

I can't remember what our big fella suggested, but I'm glad our ballerina keeps the Horton-sized nest how it is.  I can't wait to see what hatches from those eggs!

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Busyness is the Enemy of Contentment

I read those words  - "Busyness is the Enemy of Contentment" - the other day, and have since been wrapping my mind around it, saying it over to myself, trying to figure it out and see if I agree or not.

What do you think?  Do you think busyness is the enemy of contentement?

~ Lori

So you can't read the posts I write in my head?

Here I am, looking at Just Pure Lovely, and seeing only a cowboy I posted about a week ago.  That's funny...I've written about slingshots and ballet recitals and spinning, and dyeing wool since then. I feel like I've been blogging a-plenty lately. I have, you know.  In my head.  It's the thing I do while I sweep, wash dishes, dig in the garden...any time my hands are busy with the things I know well (like cleaning!), my mind is then free and if it's not fretting (I do try to avoid that), it's blogging.  The thing is, obviously, that blogging in one's head is not the same as actually blogging.

Sorry. I must've forgotten that. 

 

I'm off to do school with the kids now (don't tell them that summers are for no school - we take off in the spring and fall when I like the weather better), so will post later.  I'll blog outside of my head next time, okay?

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