The Buerglers

It's hard to believe that in just two weeks it will be a full year since I said goodbye to my career and transitioned to full-time mom mode.  This decision had been weighing on my heart for some time, but I did not have the guts to say "yes" to the desires the Lord had been placing on my heart our of fear of the unknown. During my discernment phase I wanted to "know" more about being a stay-at-home-mom, so I asked several SAHM friends what they like about their "job" and what they don't like; what they do day-to-day with the children; what they do for their own sanity; etc.  The discussions were enlightening and gave me several talking points with my husband and my spiritual director on how I would prepare for some of the hurdles and roadblocks in making this transition. In no way shape or form do I think I have all the answers, but after my conversations with other moms and from this year's experience, I'd love to pass on a little advi...

One of the goals of the 7x7 challenge was to dig out drafts or half-baked blogging ideas...so for my third of seven posts, here's one I never got around to publishing! So, y'all, I had so much fun discussing cloth napkins and gardening with you after this post so I decided to do follow ups occasionally. It's often that "being green" and "being cheap" go hand in hand. Eric and I discovered most of these when we were gazelle intense in dumping debt.  Turns out they're also environmentally friend, and great for recovering pack rats like myself. Digital Media Level: Beginner Cost: Some start up fee, $-$$ The iTunes era really pioneered this. Ditch the CDs buy an iPod and digital music. I was hooked. Same with a Kindle. Same with our Roku.  Instead of hoarding books, movies, magazines, etc.  Small start up fees for these gadgets grant you an unlimited world of digital media for less than the hard copy.  No more transportation waste in obtaining...

I finally decided to compile my favorites from this pregnancy.  These are my most texted, tweeted, blogged, and bragged about items while expecting Baby Buergler #2.  Enjoy! ONE. Body Pillow Affectionately known in our house as "J-Lo" ...I don't even remember the story.  I bought this with Evie because I didn't want a body pillow that also served as a head pillow. This was all I could find at the time.  3 years and several washings later, I can't sleep without it! TWO*.   Honest Organic Belly Balm I wish this was available with Evie. It's an organic, all natural balm to slather up your belly and dry skin, especially in the Winter.  I wanted a more natural option than a lotion, and REAL cocoa butter is a pain to soften. It smells so yummy too! THREE*.  DHA/ Omega-3 Eric and I have been on the hunt for the perfect fish oil for 3-4 years. The cost/value/fish taste combination has left us empty handed.  When Honest Co release...

This weekend we traveled to Nashville for a long weekend visit.  We were fortunate to see some of Eric's friend, some of my friends, and to reunite with college house mates for the wedding of one of our own.  We knew it was going to be a fast trip, especially with 4 hours of travel, an hour time difference and me having to work Sunday night. We had some great successes with toddler travel and a hotel stay but also some epic failures.  I'd love to share with you but I also want to learn from you. Success! Travel at nap time -  We've learned from car trips that Evie doesn't do a 4am start or a bed time travel. Nap seems to be our best shot! Bring a favorite toy - Evie has this  LeapFrog My Discovery House  that she will play with for hours. I hid it for a few days so it was like brand-new self-contained fun for easy car and hotel play.  Of course, Delany travels everywhere with us. She made for great over the seat puppet shows, too! Bring...

Getting out of debt and having good money practices takes a lot of emotional and mental preparation.  By listening to TV, radio and Internet ads, we are constantly bombarded with financial myths, low-interest sales pitches, scarcity tactics, etc that are easy to buy into.  We did for years! Some of the emotional and mental tips we’re sharing come from Dave Ramsey, while some of the other come from other financial blogs GRS and SimpleDollar we read or from our own learning.  This isn’t a comprehensive list, just a few of the ones that really made an impact for us. Live Like No One Else so You Can Live Like No One Else :  Tattoo this to your forehead or monogram it on your wallet.  Remember every bit that you don’t spend now is only saving up for the future.  I know the future doesn’t seem real because it’s so far away / unknown, but I love knowing that at the very least we’ll be able to function for 6 months of one of us looses our job or becomes una...