Valuable life lesson

In our local area, a tragic acccident occurred. A family of 6 people were in a minivan driving back home from a family gathering. It was around 11pm on a Saturday night. In a matter of seconds, life would change forever. A drunk driver two times over the legal limit fell asleep at the wheel, blowing through a stop sign, crossing 2 lanes of traffic before hitting the van broadsiding it. It killed 4 people-a dad, his newborn son, his step-daughter (19 year old mom of two), and her friend. It would also a few days later take the life of the 19 year old's 2 year old son. The only survivor was the mom. She lost her newly wedded husband, their newborn son, her 19 year old daughter, her 2 year old grandson and the friend of her daughter. Instantly lives were turned upset down. The 19 year old girl was to graduate from a challenging year of high school. Many excited for her accomplishments of being a teen mom and completing her schooling. People that know this family and the lives lost are shocked at the lesson-life can end just like that. You may never get a second chance to sit down and play with your child, take a walk, hug them good night and say "I love you". We all forget about those so dear to us and how quickly the things we take for granted daily can quickly leave us. Be greatful for each day you have. Live as though there is no tomorrow and live with no regrets. This is easier said then done as many of us expect to be here tomorrow. Just remember this family though. They all thought they'd have a tomorrow and tomorrow never came!

Economic Hardship (continued)

In my last post, I gave some ideas on how to help your finances in difficult times. In reviewing, know where your money is going and some suggestions on how to save when going out to eat.

Once you know where your spending money, it's time to work on decreasing the spending. Try setting a budget. I know many of us attempt this, but things always come up....someone's birthday, someone needs a new pair of shoes, etc. Try planning ahead and find things on sale. Maybe decrease your maximum amount that you normally spend on, for example, birthday gifts. Look in places you maybe haven't thought of and get creative. It's amazing what kind of things you may be able to find at a dollar store. A child's birthday, you could easily put a basket of creative play together-some coloring books, crayons, etc can be purchased very cheap at a dollar store. You could also change your budget for gifts. If you normally spend $20 on a gift, try reducing it to $15. Cards are incredibly expensive these days. Try having your kids make a card for a special occassion. It'll mean more as they put thought and time in to it. Try making gifts. If you're lucky enough to be a great photographer, you can do alot with ordering pictures and framing them for some great art to hang in someone's house. A nice fram can be purchased for under $3 at Walmart. It's not how much money you spend on a gift that makes it nice, but the thought you put into it.

It's these little things that can add quickly add up debt and put little money back in your pocket. Plan ahead, be creative, and look for deals.

Economic hardship

In these times of economic struggle, I think I'm probably not alone in wishing I had a lucky lottery ticket or a winning power ball ticket. Prices of goods increase while our wages stay steady or in some cases decrease. Over the next few blogs, some suggestions on how to get through difficult economic times. Like a tip of the day to take home and try it out. I'm by no means an expert as my family is right there with the next in figuring out how to juggle the money or the bills. If anyone has ever seen the t.v. show from the past, "Roseanne"...excellent tv show on your normal run of the mill family. I think the most important tip is to know where your money is going. Once you keep track of your spending, you may find areas that you can slim down. It's amazing how quickly going out to eat, even the quick fast food, can add up during the month. That extra money spent on that could have gone towards a phone bill for example. If dining out is a must, try eating off the dollar menu, using coupons, and if you have kids, know which restaurants have kids eat free night. It's amazing how much you can save by being aware of those things.

Changing one's lifestyle to accommodate the budget is a lifestyle change. Almost like going on a diet. You have to be committed to doing it, not for a month and call it good. All of the ideas for saving a little money will help in the future to put into savings, or start your child's college fund, or retirement. Honestly, unless you're a millionaire, one can never have too much money.

I find this topic of interest because I think most of us are struggling with it and can share ideas on what we've found helpful. It's also a huge stressor in life when you work all day and feel like it's just not enough. It's part of life's journey that can be difficult to overcome.

Part 2 Give it Time!

So I just found out I had a miscarriage. I was about 10 weeks along. Devestated at the news and angry as to why God would do this to me, I realized in just a couple short weeks why. That old addage "everything happens for a reason" is true. We may not always like the reason it has happened, but it did happen to teach us a lesson or help steer our path down life's lane.

I soon received a call from the clinic. My prenatal tests (pap smear)came back with an abnormal result. Since being out of college, I hadn't made yearly doctor appointments. I actually don't recall my last doctor visit or even had future plans of visiting the doctor up to starting the prenatal appointments. I just thought if I was healthy, no need. After 2 more pap smears came back abnormal, I was ordered for a biopsy. The biopsy came back with precancerous cells-early onset of cervical cancer if I didn't get those cells removed. I was 23 years old and scared. I had never been sick before. I was about 2 hours away from home (my parents, siblings). I couldn't dare tell them. They had worried so much when I had a miscarriage that dealing with this on top of it would be too much. I decided to deal with it head on and have cryosurgery to remove the cells. After the painful procedure, I then had to follow up for testing every 3 months. All of those showed normal. I then had to get tested for cervical cancer every year. Last year I was finally cleared to not require yearly testing. I could go up to 3 years now. It may some day surface, but I had learned a valuable life lesson....get annual check ups and be proactive with your health. If it hadn't been for the pregnancy to begin with, I wouldn't have gone to the doctor for quite some time, possibly years. By that time, I could have developed cervical cancer. In a way, the unborn baby I lost saved my life. I will always remember how fortunate I was for that bumpy road I went down. It could have turned out much different.

What's important to take away from this, is that everything does happen for a reason and you must trust that it will work out the way it should. Learn from the experience so you don't repeat the problem again.

This "loss of life" blog deals with the loss of a miscarriage. I know many people out there have experienced loss of a loved one (not an unborn one). In future blogs, I'll share my experiences with how to deal with that as well. Out of everything that I've had to overcome and face, the loss of a loved one is one of the most difficult challenges ever. It's one of the ultimate tests of faith that anyone will encounter.

Remember, we're never given more then we can handle:-)

Give it time! Loss of life

How many times have we heard that famous line, "Give it time!" And you just want to scream at the person who says it. Like they know from their personal experiences what you're going through and how sometimes that just doesn't apply. Some day or several days, months, or maybe even years, you'll look back and realize that by giving something time, you can make heads or tails of what happened and the reason for it.

Real life example: I had just graduated from college with a BS in elementary education. Applying for jobs and eager to start my life. A twist in the road, I soon was pregnant. I had been with the baby's father for a couple of years and were looking to settle down. It just didn't quite happen in the order I had wanted. A blessing from above nonetheless. The pregnancy started out tough. Extreme cramping soon found it's way to me and brought a visit into the ER. Pregnant and my body's way of dealing with it. I continued with the normal prenatal visits and tests. The first appointment to confirm my baby's due date should have been a joyous experience. It soon turned into something much scarier. The doctor couldn't find the baby. Blood tests soon showed the pregnancy hormone had decreased. I had lost the baby. I went into a deep depression, wondering what I had done to cause the death of this tiny being. I didn't smoke, drink, or do drugs. Maybe not the healthiest of eaters and exercising wasn't a high priority at the time. I couldn't help but to wonder what I did wrong. Why would this happen to me. Why would anyone have to go through the joyous experience of being pregnant, to only have it end so abruptly? I didn't know it at the time, but I would soon get my answer. Not years away, but a few short weeks I would start to get my answers. Stay tuned for part 2.