money makeover

We had a great discussion with our small group this week on budgets.

It stemmed from a series of financial lessons we are doing in Sunday School right now.

All of this finance stuff has been something that has been near the top of our priority list for the last year or so...a little off and on...but now, completely ON! And no, it has NOTHING to do with the economy....it just happens to be falling at the same time.

I guess it's been about a year since our small group did a financial study...mostly based around Dave Ramsey...we LOVED it! Thanks Joel and Kendall...we can't imagine our lives now without someone bringing these lessons up for us! We had never thought of this stuff, never knew we were really doing anything wrong...or at least NOT right! We knew we wondered where our money always seemed to go and I knew it was NO fun hearing "don't spend any money" every time I left the house. And yes, I will admit....money always seems to bring about those ever so famous arguments in marriages...and they were definitely not absent at our house!

We tried so hard to put everything we learned into action and get on a budget. We were just beginning to figure it out when Mason was born...so that threw us all off. We gave up, and didn't want to give the time needed to get something working for us. So we just continued spending as usual. Some months passed and we decided we needed to give it a try again. This time it stuck! The hardest part was just learning the record keeping part of it. Thanks to Joel Smith and his wonderful excel sheet...we now have a system that works SO well for us. And it just so happened that right when we were beginning to make this a priority again...we began a financial study in Sunday School...with more Dave Ramsey and the Crown Ministries resources which helps us to keep biblical foundations on handling our finances. It was perfect timing for us!

BUDGET...this word SCARED me when we first started studying Dave Ramsey. I, had a very common response to that word...immediately thinking "budgets are BAD...they'll restrict me, it means I'm under someone else's controal, they're only for people who are struggling" The negative thoughts went on and on. Yes, I know, I was VERY nieve (sp?) to what this was all about. BOY WAS I EVER SO WRONG!

We LOVE telling our money where to go....every last dollar of it. Until we really got this budget down, we felt like our money controlled US...it caused stress. Now that we have gained control....it is SOOOO freeing! It's hard to explain until you experience it. I used to stress about the amount we spent on groceries...dreading hearing the total at the end. But now, we TELL ourselves how much we have....and when we spend it, WE'RE in control. It doesn't feel stressful at all. I used to shop for clothes, even when I shouldn't have been. I'd have a sense of guilt. Now, because we tell every dollar where to go BEFORE it is spent....when I buy that cute shirt that I'm eyeing...I have ZERO guilt! We put the money there to be spent. And if I just want $20 to blow....we just admit it...and put it on paper.

Saving was always a dreaded thing. We wanted to do it, we knew we weren't saving like we should. Well, DUH!!! That's because we had no idea where our money was going and we'd tell ourselves we'd save however much we had left over...HAHA!!! Now we name each dollar for each thing we want to save....before our money is spent! We have saved more money in the last 4 months than we have in the last 4 years we've been married! I just LOVE the control factor in this!!!

So I wouldn't say it was fun creating the budget, working out all the kinks, eliminating ALL spontaneous spending, figuring out how to keep records...but now that we have it down....it seriously is FUN! Does that make me a dork??? It's just so nice to be over the stresses of money....not that they'll never come again, because I'm sure we'll have things come up. But with this system, there's just nothing to stress about...your money goes EXACTLY where you tell it to go! Did I mention that I LOVE this control!??!!

So, if you can't tell...I'm a HUGE advocate for BUDGETS and for Dave Ramsey! He's funny, he's down to earth, he KNOWS what he's talking about...he covers all the myths that the world makes us believe about finances, credit cards, mortgages, etc. And teaches EXACTLY what to do to be different! And yes, we want to be different...because the world lives in debt, the world doesn't control their money...so being different is GOOD!

If you have never been through a financial study....you HAVE TO! Or at least get this book (and he has awesome DVDs too!) for yourself....

A quote that Dave Ramsey says is this "If you wanna be rich, you gotta do rich people things" We discussed this in Sunday School...and this comment can definitely be taken bad or good. Having a biblical foundation (which is SO important) with your finances doesn't really allow us to have the goal of being rich. But I'm not gonna look too deep into that comment...I think he's referring to the behavior we have to have with our money. I would say that most people who have lots of money, have it because of what they have DONE with their money...the control they have had on it. So that's the goal....the behavior. A change in behavior.

And the purpose for this post....not quite sure...I was just feeling energetic about this topic. Although I do know that if we had not been motivated by others...we would have never changed our behavior. So if this can motivate SOMEONE....that's the purpose.

attention all locals

YET another way we can help build Cora's Playground!!!

great grandpa

I'm very much behind on posts....

We got a call 2 weeks ago that my grandpa's kidneys were failing. He could definitely use prayers, for him to be comfortable and not experience too much pain through some of the other issues he's facing...and for his strength to get better.

He's been so healthy as he is approaching 90 years old.

He lives in Independence, KS but had to come to St. Francis in Wichita. Which means we could easily go visit. He and my grandma hadn't seen any of us since last Feb. when Mason was born. So we were very excited to visit, although we wish it was under better circumstances.



I realize these aren't the most appropriate of pictures...but I asked his permission and he didn't care one bit. Okay, so I may have forgot to mention they were going on my blog...but I'm pretty sure that could have taken hours to try to explain to him what my blog was.

Regardless....these are special pictures.

Grandpa was actually doing very well. He didn't seem much different at all, so it was nice to see him and chat.

Taylor spotted this Dora balloon in the hospital gift shop. Of course my mom, was happy to buy it for us. So Dora went home with us and has been floating around the house.


She doesn't really like Dora in her room at night when she goes to bed. So we stick her in the hallway. Last night, I rolled over in bed, to see the shadow of Dora high in the doorway of our bedroom, just a black outline of a very large person...a little scary.

It' so neat for our kids to know their great grandparents, this is the only set left. Even if they don't know them WELL, the times we have are special.

more on jewels for cora

Check out my friend Megan's blog!!!

She was our official photographer for Jewels for Cora and she just did an awesome post with AWESOME pictures from the night!

This is me and my sister-in-law, Stef, the other jewelry lady....who did a FABULOUS job and was so much fun!

I spent the last 3 hours, with the help of my friend Sarah, entering jewelry orders!!!! We have a few more orders coming in tomorrow and Jess is in the process of picking out $1400 in free jewelry from the hostess benefits!

I will announce the total amount raised for them soon!!

Cora's night

Jewels for Cora, just amazed me. It seems everything that is going on right now is turning WAY bigger than we imagine. That's God, not us.

I don't have any pictures yet.

So for now....check out THIS blog....I met Beki for the first time at the event, such a sweet gal!

She took some great pics to give you a little idea of what the night was like. I'm stealing one. Here's one of Julie...she taught us so much about who Joel and Jess are, beyond what we already know. Julie, you were AMAZING....thank you for sharing those stories and feelings about Jess and Joel. We all know how amazing Jess is...but now we know even more!

If others post about the night before I get around to it, I'll send you there.

And yes, I will announce the totals SOON...I just want to wait till it's more official, rather than it changing each day as we have more and more orders coming in. I will just say that it VERY MUCH exceeded my expectations.

I called Jess to tell her that we were giving her all the free jewelry benefits that my hostesses normally earn themselves. She said "but I wasn't even there"....oh my Jess, you were there...you were SO there! So was Cora.

She stopped by to pick up a catalog and start picking out $1300 in free jewelry....soon to be more. I told her I hoped she even liked Premier jewelry (although how could you NOT!)...because she's going to have more than she knows what to do with!

There will be more to come on Jewels for Cora, for all of you who couldn't be there. Go here to my past post, if you want to know more about what the Jewels for Cora event was.

For now, I'm going to work on getting these orders entered...which seriously may take a year....but this time, entering these orders means so much than it has ever meant before!

test picture size

blog makeover!

TA DA!!!
My blog got a makeover!

Thanks to Bethany and of course, her husband Chris, for my new layout and design! She is SO good with photoshop and her husband knows all the html stuff. I SO want to know this stuff, but I think it's going to be a long learning process. I've been wanting a new look for awhile...I wanted a bigger posting area, for bigger pictures and longer lines of text (which surprisingly I DO know how to do, but just couldn't make it work with any cute background I was wanting)....and I was really wanting a customized header, so I figured just going completely customized would give me just what I wanted.

Bethany is the sister of one of my good friends from middle school and high school. I connected with her through her blog sometime last year....she lives in Arizona. It's been so fun keeping up with her blog...she is the ULTIMATE party planner and it's so fun to see what she has in store for her kids' birthday parties. She's a super writer...and a SUPER photographer! She's even starting her own photography business! AND, she can even do customized blog looks!!! Amazing talents!

If you see a blog makeover in your future...hop on over to her blog and leave her a comment or email her at bethany.m.graham@gmail.com and she'll give you all the details!

Thanks Bethany and Chris...I love it!

happy birthday

Happy Birthday sweet little Cora.
We love you and we miss you.I'm sure Jesus throws one AMAZING birthday party...wish we could all be there!
Ymmmmm.....birthday cake in heaven....that would be heavenly!

Even though you are gone, the celebrations are not falling short.
There is so much going on for you today. We hope you enjoy it all.

It's all for you...and your amazing mommy and daddy.

the party

Well, here he is....our baby.....who's now ONE!

Thanks Megan for the inspiration for the shirt! That may be a tradition at our house now for birthday parties! It was so easy to make!

Here are the cakes....

This was the first time I've ever used tips. Thanks to my friend Mallory who let me borrow her cake mold and tips! She gave me some helpful tips on how to make the little cake too....I just cut the shape out of a paper pattern.

There was a moment in the day I thought I was going to LOSE IT. Dave walked into the kitchen/dining room where the cake was finished and sitting on the table. I heard him GASP loudly. I just KNEW it was the cake.....and the culprit was either the little 2 year old running around in the house, or the dog. It was hard to tell...we think it was the dog. Luckily it was just the corner...and JUST the frosting (wait, now that I say that, that sounds more like a 2 year old's doings!)....we patched it up and no one could even tell.

We had lots of food and lots of guests! 14 adults and 5 kiddos. Our house was quite packed and crazy!

Here's the birthday boy with his sister and cousins!


Onto presents!
Actually, due to a 30 minute nap (go figure on a day like this, he'd choose to do this to us!)...he was a little more reserved than his usual self. Daddy had to hold him for a little bit before he was ready to go at it himself.



And of course there is ALWAYS lots of help opening presents!


And now, for the highlight of the night...


A few days before, I said "I doubt he'll touch his cake much at all...he's been so weird about touching his foods, I don't see him wanting to dig into a cake."




I was OBVIOUSLY wrong....


Way to entertain little man!

He kept going and going and going. He ate the entire little cake...probably equal to 2-3 adult servings.

Needless to say, he went straight to the bathtub....in which he did NOT want to get out of!

It was such a fun night! Thanks to everyone who came....Nana and Papa, Mima and Papa Dippel, Aunt Stef, Tyler, Jaden and Paige (Uncle Steve thought the KSU bball game was more important than a one year old bday party!), Aunt Rebekah and Uncle Steve who came from Texas, Great Aunt Barb and Uncle Jim, Cousin Terry, and our good friends Dwayne and Ginny who are kind of like another set of grandparents! Thank you for ALL the wonderful gifts...Mason was very much spoiled...or shall we say, VERY MUCH LOVED!

Here's the video we showed at the party...since I didn't have a scrapbook for him, I figured I should have SOMETHING of his first year in pictures. It was fun making a video...maybe this will be another new tradition! (make sure to go to the very bottom of my blog and pause my playlist so you can hear the songs on the video)

It ends with a verse that has been a huge part of the last month around here...a verse that will forever have a special meaning to us.





Happy Birthday Little Guy...you have been such a blessing to us this past year. Your smile and laugh melts our hearts every day. We love your shy little look as you bury your face when you're happy to see one of us. We love that you are showing us what it's like to have a boy. You love to throw your arms back and forth across your tray, making food fly everywhere. You love to bang your sippy cup as loud as you can on the table. You like to feed the dog, and you are getting very sneaky about it. You love balls and cars. You love to run the other way when you're trying escape with a cell phone or remote...and you don't really care how many times you're told no. We've found multiple items in the toilet, some of which can never be used again. You love to open cabinets...all of them. We will soon be putting locks on EVERYTHING...for the first time. You are adventursome and tough. You discovered there is a backyard beyond the deck right away...it took your sister MONTHS! Your chubby legs and chubby cheeks are PERFECT! We love you more than we can ever explain to you. We have learned this last month how to be a better mommy and daddy....after your sweet little friend, Cora, went to be with Jesus, we were reminded that you belong to God. And we are thankful he has entrusted us to raise you. We pray that you will grow to know him, love him and serve him. We love you Mason! Happy FIRST Birthday!

opinions please

Pictures of our birthday boy are coming soon...


For now, I need your opinions.

My friend Bethany is giving me a blog makeover! I've been thinking about getting a new, customized look for awhile now, and was SO excited when I found out that she'd help me! More on this later.

So here's what I need from you...

I am considering changing the name to my blog. When I first set my blog up, I just needed a name, fast. I'm all about songs....so for some reason "From our Front Porch Looking In" kept sticking in my mind. So I went with it. I don't LOVE it. Some days I like it. Some days I don't like it at all. But the problem is...WHAT ELSE!?!?! I am SO not creative in this category.

Bethany actually came up an idea for me...she seriously is one of the most creative people I know! "Having a BALL with the Balzers" It's fun...and definitely unique. I took a spin off it and came up with "Life's a BALL with the Balzers" But I'm just not sure.

So....give me your opinions....which blog name should I pick....OR do you have a new idea for me!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

So here are the option thus far:
1. Keep it the same "From our Front Porch Looking In"
2. Having a Ball with the Balzers
3. Life's a Ball with the Balzers
4. OTHER...I would love something that stems from a bible verse or something else with a deeper meaning.

So let me hear your opinions! I have to make a decision SOON!!!!

And just so I don't bore you with a post with no pictures...here's us with our ONE YEAR OLD!