Doomsday

August 7th was a day I was dreading/was ready to get it over with. I am now officially a middle schooler again, I got braces on my top teeth. A few years ago I noticed my two front teeth moving and now they are overlapping each other again like they did before I got braces many years ago.

 Back in December I wanted to see what it would cost to get my teeth fixed. I went to my original orthodontist but in the first couple of minutes he told me I would have to get more teeth pulled and my jaw broke before he would fix my top teeth, needless to say he was out. Next I went to an orthodontist that does invisalign but when they told me it would cost $5,000 I thought I would not be getting my teeth fixed.

 A few months ago I got a call from the orthodontist that did invisalign saying I owed them for taking x-rays but after talking to them I was able to work it out where I got braces on my top teeth for $900. A big difference from the original $5,000. I have been dreading getting braces again. The sore mouth, not being able to eat certain foods, and the embarrassment of wearing metal in my mouth again are all things I'm going to deal with until February. I'm try to not complain but February could not get here soon enough. Maybe in a few weeks I will not mind my braces but right now they are not my fav.

 ***Sorry for the lack of blogging but I couldn't figure out how to add photos.

Too good to be true?

Back in July I went to Bridal Rama with my friend Brittany to help her get ideas for her wedding {which is one month away!}. While I was there I registered for a free trip. Out of the blue, I received a phone call for Smart Travel telling me they were doing a promotion and that I was picked to go on a three day Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas with a guest with air fare included. The only thing we would have to pay was port fees and taxes {which was about $200 usually}. I was skeptical at first since I did not really believe this could be free and the only catch was that we would have to go for a one hour meeting to hear about there company. I had saw a special on 20/20 where these people would register for all types of sweepstakes {like this was all they did in there spare time} and get all kinds of great gifts/trips. So in my mind I thought I was about to get this great trip to the Bahamas that we could use for our anniversary next year {to quote Kyle "so young, so naive"}. When Kyle got home he was completely skeptical and I convinced him to call to see if he believed it. After talking to the sales people he was still not sure but agreed to go to the meeting {which was suppose to be tonight} because I really wanted to go. He also called his mom to find out her opinion on the whole thing and she gave us some great tips about how we should know if it is a scam. When I got to work today I wanted to find out more about the company but all I found was bad info like this and this. So I decided that this really was a scam and I did not want to waste our night being lured into buying trips that we don't want.

Lesson learned: if it is too good to be true it usually is :) Kyle lovingly said "I told you so". Maybe one day we will make it to the Bahamas :)

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It was three months on Sunday. Since we have been married we have been working on our finances. Every time I think of money this song pops in my head. Since we dated for so long we knew what kind of spenders we are. Usually I would say that I am a saver and Kyle is a spender, but this is not usually a problem. We are learning how to balance our spending/saving since we now have to pay for grown-up things. I really think that our spending is not out-of-control and that we are living within our means, but we both would like to give more with our money. If I was being honest, I would say that giving our finances completely up to God is probably something we struggle with, but we want this to change. I don't think we treasure money but we do know that it gets us "stuff" and I think I have the mindset that if I give up that control I won't be able to get "stuff"  anymore.  Money is not something that we constantly worry about but I know if we do not give our finances to the Lord it will be something that consumes our minds and is something that stumbles us from keeping our focus on God.

At church on Sunday they talked about "Secrets to financial success" and one thing he mentioned is having money is not a problem but its "when money has you" their is a problem. Kyle & I are going to be making some changes in the way we spend/save our money in this upcoming year. We now have a better idea of what our monthly expenses are and will be able to figure out how much we can give, save, and spend.

Happy Three Months Babe!

Not really what I expected.....

Last night I opened our mailbox and to my surprise I saw "Jenny Crofford", my first piece of mail with my new name :) {technically, i am still legally Jenny Jackson since I have not had time with work to change my name due to their crazy hours that do not fit with my work hours} To my dismay it was a bill, {bummer} not a cute birthday card {which is coming up :)}or magazine, but something I have to pay {boo}

Dear Cincinnati Bell

You receive the award for being the first piece of mail

with my new name on it, but don't get too excited I was not thrilled to see you!

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