I made Chicken and Dumplins last night

Yes, the real deal Mike Steel of Chicken and Dumplins. Grandmaw Dugger Chicken and Dumplins, and I am so proud. Thank goodness someone was kind enough to write the recipe down when Bills family made him a recipe box many years back. I am so grateful to be able to do something that the great women from years back did so well! After we got done eating and I knew they were a success I had to call Jan and tell her. Well, it was more like bragging but she understood why I was so excited, because it's not the easiest thing in the world to make good Chicken and Dumplins. I will come down from this high one day, but not yet.

So tomorrow is Christmas Eve! I am ready, well except for a very few things that I need to pick up from the grocery store today. I am making McGuire macaroni, Paula Deens Pecan Pie and (you guessed it) Chicken and Dumplins for Ross Christmas Eve tomorrow night. We have a downright feast that would rival the Who's of Whoovilles feast!! In years past we had a $20 or less gift exchange that usually turned out to be a disaster, because people would end up with a gift that they just couldn't use. So last year we started our "Chinese Christmas" where we all bring a $1-$5 gift. We all sit in a huge circle (at last count there were about fifty of us) and draw numbers. The first person picks a gift, opens it and holds it. Then all the people that come after them get to either pick a gift from the pile or take what the person before them has. It is really fun and last year we laughed until we cried. The big item was a straw hat, imagine that! This year I'm wrapping up a huge Snickers bar and some other odds and ends. I'm curious to see how well my Snickers bar does!

I am really looking forward to spending time in the mountains too, with Jan and Tina. I feel like I've really been somewhere after being up there for a spell. I can only hope for about 3 ft of snow. That would be the icing on my cake.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to everyone! Let us always thank God for the nativity story, and for the humblest of births.

Back to the routine!

As everyone is probably aware, Bill got laid off in late July, I found out I was pregnant the day after, and it has been a whirlwind ever since!

Well, he got a job at a new company that refurbishes wireless phones and supplies them back to the industry. He will be a "data specialist" and creating reports for their financial sector (at least that is how I understand it). It is a great relief to us both, as we have been living on unemployment since August. Yes, believe it or not it can be done, we proved it! It didn't hurt that we had planned for hard days ahead and had money saved up and also became debt free within the same time frame. Without these things in our favor I don't know how we would have made it, I am thankful to God for giving us the wisdom and know-how to put ourselves in this position.

So in addition to living on unemployment, we've been paying $100+ in medical bills a month due to my prenatal care, then the price of gas went through the roof and the stock market all but crashed. When it gets bad, it gets really bad! But you know, God always provides for His children and Lord knows I haven't went hungry. I am completely grateful for the family that we have, because I know that they are always there for us when we need them. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! So after all of these struggles, I am glad he found a job. It was like an anvil lifted off our shoulders.

Now that he is back at work, I am starting to miss him. We had some great times here at home while he was off work. We slept in almost every morning, he was able to go to all of my doctors appointments with me, he helped me with the housework, we canned and froze a bunch of food for the winter, we got our building cleaned out and organized, he built a workbench inside it, put up a new door in our bathroom, and other very handy things! I sure enjoyed having my handyman around!

And on the other hand I am glad to be back to my normal routine. I get distracted with him at home and cannot get as many things accomplished as I can otherwise. Since I waited until I was 30 to get married I was a little spoiled as far as my "alone time" went. I got used to being by myself when I wanted to be, and didn't have someone with me all the time. So this is what I am used to, and this is how I like it. I like him being at work all day so I can miss him, when he comes home at night it sure makes the reunion sweeter!

A huge goal, ACCOMPLISHED!

When I worked at Cingular, a guy that worked close by my desk told me about this radio show that I might be interested in. He said the guy is a financial whiz and has a Christian based approach to money. In addition to being informative, his radio show was entertaining because the guy told people the truth and he didn't beat around the bush about it. The radio show was The Dave Ramsey show, and it changed my life.

When Bill and I got married, we had quite a bit of debt between us. Not exactly the way we wanted our marriage to start, but it was within our power to change it. A few days after we came back from our honeymoon, we cut up any and all credit cards that we had. We started throwing as much money as possible into our savings account and put ourselves on a budget. Now I will be the first to tell you, this wasn't easy for me. Before I met Bill, I spent my money as fast as I earned it. I didn't inherit that "frugal-money-saving" gene that he did, and I was a little doubtful that we could ever actually be without any debt. Yes, I loved listening to Dave and I loved his ideas, but actually putting them into action was another thing.

I bought his Total Money Makeover book and decided that the envelope system was something I would like to try. So after we made our budget, I would go to the bank on the first of every month to withdraw our cash. That cash paid for everything except monthly bills and gas at the pump. We tried to pay for our gasoline with cash, once, but when we were in a hurry to get to Hot Springs on a camping trip, and it took about twenty minutes waiting in line at the gas station to pay them. We decided that just wasn't worth it. So from then on it was pay-at-the-pump with the good ol' check card.

The first major thing that we paid off was my fourwheeler, that was about June of 2006. And I will never forget how good that felt. Then month after month we were making huge dents in our debt and saving money at the same time. Anybody who tells you that you can't live good while paying off debt is crazy, either that or they ain't doin' it right!

Two and a half years later we still use the envelope system, I doubt we will ever stop, because I prefer it. We paid off our home last week, and sent our check to Ford the other day to pay off the truck. Thank you God for helping us out of this mess!

So in less than three years we made our dream happen. I can finally say the three words I have always longed to shout to the world.

WE'RE DEBT FREE !!!!

a baby in my belly

Pregnant! That is the news, although everyone already knows because I procrastinated in posting it here. I have a baby blog at www.shortymcguire.blogspot.com to keep my family in far away spots up to date on the progress of little McGuire. I hope it serves its purpose!

Well, one thing has changed since I last posted. And it changes a million other things!

I will write in detail soon, I promise.

It sure has been a great ride!

I love being at home and I love being a housewife, I've always known it is what I wanted to do when I grew up, well in addition to marrying a great man, having kids and traveling out west.



My days are my own, I set my own hours. I have the freedom to go walking when I want, pulling weeds when I want and tackling a big project when the urge hits me. I can wear my nightgown all day, and oftentimes do. I can lay in the sun with a good book. I don't have to deal with moody coworkers, coworkers don't have to deal with moody-me. I don't HAVE to get out in the blustery cold morning in the wintertime. Don't have to pack my lunch, or take a shower every morning, put make up on or fix my hair. Bill gets a homecooked meal every night, with the table fully set and his plate usually ready. All he has to do is sit down and enjoy it. Friday nights I LOVE because it is "date night" for us. I crack open a bottle of wine and get to cooking, I love trying new recipes and seeing if Bill really likes them, or if he is just being nice. Last night I made bruschetta for the first time, and I can honestly say it was awesome! I need to write that recipe down.

Me, washing my car when I first bought her, August of 1999

Being a housewife comes with sacrifices though. If I want to stay at home, I must be very frugal with our money. That means driving my old-paid-for Acura until the wheels fall off, which is actually my choice because I love my car! No frequent shopping trips to Bath and Body Works or Kohls. No frequent eating out, no fancy house, no fancy new furniture or rugs or curtains, no super nice camper or big truck to pull it with, and the one thing that I would kill to have, I can't, yet. A telephoto lens for my Nikon.

Gage and Pop sleeping in the camper in Myrtle Beach

I am able to watch my nephews so my sis can go to work. I love spending time with them and watching them grow. They amaze me more all the time! Gage is exactly like his Papaw Ross (my Daddy) and it cracks me up. I mean the same features, body build, hair color and interests. It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Gage is my garden helper, he plays in the dirt with his backhoes and dump trucks while I pull weeds and sucker tomatoes. He begs me every day that he is here to "make me some mud Appie" -- Thomas is more of the "inside" type. He loves tv and computers and playing with his action figures. He don't like to get dirty or sweaty. But he gets it from his Mom, he gets it honest.

Gage playing in the mud

He was trying to squirt me with a bottle while wearing my sunglasses, good thing it was empty

Mr Serious, aka Thomas

So I have enjoyed my time as a housewife. I have savored my moments and basked in the joy of a home cooked gourmet meal, I have washed more dishes than I ever cared to, swept the floors more than I ever needed to and made the bed most every morning. Rearranged the rooms, organized most everything, put pictures on the walls, planted billions of flowers and finally figured out a way to have a "guest bedroom/sewing room/nephews playroom". I have enjoyed every single minute. Even when the nephews are going nuts and wrestling each other to the ground, trying to choke each other, jumping on the furniture and asking a million questions. I will miss it terribly when I get a job, I know I will cry and miss them when they aren't coming to my house anymore. My heart will be broken.

But the time comes when your husband must go back to school to work towards the career he wants, and even without any debt, the utilities and groceries cost more than unemployment pay will provide. And it's time to go back to work to ease the financial worry for your husband.

I just hope maybe one day I will have the opportunity to stay home again.

Shall we gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river

I got baptized on June 8, 2008, along with Bill and my Moma and some other folks from our church.

I don't know why I haven't posted pictures yet, this is mucho important! I can't take credit for the pics either because I handed my Nikon over to my brother, because I was getting dunked. So here goes....



My Daddy chilling with two church congregations. Our Pastor Ricky invited his brothers church to join in the fun. It was super touching.



This is Brianna, our Pastor's daughter. Her uncle who is also a preacher was helping baptize and he had no idea she would be doing it. He cried, then we cried. It always happens that way.




Bill was the first one of us to go, age before beauty I guess :) He was baptized as a kid in a baptismal pool at Sugar Grove, but he wanted to do it again at our church. Wonderful!



This is me, I forgot to take a breath when they took me under so I 'bout drowned, but by golly I made it! I felt like a new woman, it is hard to describe the feeling you get from being baptized in the river. Absolutely REFRESHING! In more ways than one.



Finally it is Moma's turn, she has ALWAYS longed to be baptized in the river. This one is ten minutes from home in Bowmantown, and at a place we have played at and pic-nic'd at all through my childhood.



I meant to slip them a twenty to hold her under just a few seconds longer than everyone else, just to be funny. But I forgot. Good thing, cause she would have whooped me like I was five years old!

Thank you God for this, for saving us and for our warm and loving church.