This past weekend we celebrated Peyton's 4th birthday and David's 30th birthday. We made a "birthday budget" and worked hard to stay within it, but I am beginning to think that birthdays on a budget are impossible!! We had Peyton's party at the Tallahassee Rock Gym (which I highly recommend for birthdays aged 4 and older!). The fee was reasonable for 10 kids to climb, but on top of that was cake, invitations, a present (Peyton picked out a new bike), paper goods, the list goes on and on....

The following day we went to Atlanta to attend the Braves v. Marlins game for David's birthday. Tickets were $11/piece so not too big of a bite out of our budget.What I didn't bargain for was $11 hot dogs and $5 bottles of water. Needless to say we tried to share food and wait out our hunger until we left the stadium. We had a great time but MAN that place is expensive once you get in the door! :-)

Overall we spent less than we would have last year (when we weren't in the challenge) but I was still amazed that we ended up going over budget on both birthdays!! Oh well, I guess we will have to make up for it on my birthday in October... :-(

David got a letter from the Appraisal Institute today that said - he passed his class!! We are so excited that David's hard work is paying off. He only has one more class to go (next week) and then his final exam at the end of the year. Whew, this has been a long journey but we SO close to the end.

In other news... Peyton's birthday party will be at the Tallahassee Rock Gym. They charge a reasonable fee for a 2 hour private birthday party for 10 kids. Peyton loves Spiderman, so climbing walls is super exciting to him! :-) David's 30th birthday is coming up too - this Sunday actually. I have a great surprise planned for him (and I got a great deal too!). I will fill you in next week with all the details of the birthday extravaganzas!! Chow!

David got home last night from a loooong week of class in Atlanta. We missed him terribly, but we know that this will all be worth it in the end. The good news is that he managed to spend very little money while he was gone, and he was able to get some work done while he was away so his check this month won't be teeny tiny. I am learning to adjust to having the kids by myself (typically I would be taking them out to eat and doing expensive activities). This past weekend we went to FSU Fan Day which was free and we ate lunches at home or at Mimi's house which is free too. :-)

Our next challenge is Peyton's birthday. He will be four on August 29th and I am trying to come up with a low budget party idea. He is old enough now to know what birthdays are and all of his friends have had BIG birthdays. Help! I welcome any suggestions...

Ugh! Our only form of television entertainment just broke last night!!

We don't have cable, so we watch DVDs if the need for TV strikes us. The boys have lots of movies to choose from, and David and I have all the episodes of Friends on DVD. I went to play a movie for the boys last night, and would you believe the darn DVD player wouldn't work. The boys were most upset and couldn't understand why they weren't able to watch their movie, and I was bummed because I really needed a few minutes of quiet to get the house cleaned up. :-)

Needless to say, WE NEED A BLU-RAY PLAYER!! The timing of the cheer contest couldn't be better because I can't afford to buy a new DVD player, and it would probably cost just as much to get our old one fixed.

Soooo, please help the Paske family and vote for our cheer!!!

David is in Atlanta this week for MAI classes. While it stinks to have him gone, we know that all of his hard work will pay off when he gets his MAI designation (Member of the Appraisal Institute).

Having your MAI is sort of like having a PhD in appraisal or having a CPA designation as an accountant. There are LOTS of classes to take, you have to have many many hours logged as an appriaser, you have to submit a thesis-like demo appraisal, and you have to pass a huge comprehensive test at the end of it all. David has one class left after this week and he is scheduled to take his comp exam in October.

If we can make it through the next few months it will make a huge difference in his career possibilities going forward. This process has been a huge sacrifice for us both in time away from each other and in financial outlay for the class fees ($1000s of dollars) and the travel expenses. Not to mention the fact that he can't work while he is gone. When you're on 100% commission - no work = no pay.

I mentioned in my last post that David is traveling to these classes on a shoe-string budget and this trip is no different. Luckily we have family in Atlanta so the accommodations are free. They even offered to feed him dinner - nice! Bottom line is: we are hopeful that our big sacrifice will have an even bigger payoff.

At this point, only time will tell... I can say that I miss him terribly and I can't wait for him to get home!!! :-)

YAY! We are so excited to be in the top 3 families at the half way point. David and I are proud of all that we have done so far, but we have to stay focused until the bitter end. I almost wish we still didn't know the standings so that we would not have the temptation of feeling complacent in the competition and getting lazy. The thing I keep telling myself is that this is not just a 10 month competition, it is a total lifestyle change. It's not like we can do this for 10 months and then next January go back to spending willy-nilly. I am glad the competition has taken place over a long period of time beacuse the longer we "live Fit" the more likely it will become a part of who we are and how we operate as a family. For example, David just attended a week long class in Orlando for his MAI designation. He truly traveled the "We Live Fit" way. We found a hotel on travelzoo for $30/night and he packed a cooler full of milk, cereal, lunchmeat and bread so he wouldn't have to eat out. Last year, he would have stayed at a nice hotel and eaten out for every meal. These little changes are paying off in a big way and we have "the challenge" to thank for that. Here's to keeping up the good work... :-)

I got a new JOB!! And that's not all... I got a company car!!! It really couldn't have come at a better time. David and I have been sharing one car for almost a year and it has been a tremendous burden on our family. This new job opportunity presented itself and I was interested, but hesitant to make such a big change. When I found out there would be a company car available I was sold! I am still working in the forensic engineering industry but with much less travel and a more flexible schedule. This truly is a blessing all around for our family. The salary is comparable to my old job, so no major changes to our budget, but there will be welcomed changes to our lifestyle!! :-)

Today David had to write a check for the boys school tuition. As he was writing the check I asked fearfully, "Do we have enough money to cover that check?" The good news is that YES we had plenty of money to cover the check, the bad news is that I didn't know the state of our account. I have been operating on the "spend no money because we don't have any money" plan, but in doing that I have stopped checking our account regularly. David has been taking care of the bills with the online service and I have been using cash only for purchases. It really is a good thing that we are in great financial shape this month, but this served as a reminder that I need to keep myself involved in the process whether I am spending money or not.

I got my copy hot off the presses yesterday. That's right, one of the weddings I photographed is featured in the Tallahassee Magazine this month. I am SO excited and hopeful that this will mean more business for my little side venture. I also bit the bullet and bought an ad in the magazine this issue so that readers would know how to contact me after seeing my pictures in the article. FYI, I paid for the ad with money that I have made doing photo shoots, so no worries about messing up our budget. :-)

I really have my fingers crossed that this could be a way for me to make some extra income to put towards our "debt snowball". The only problem is that I have a wish list a mile long of photography equipment that I want to add to my collection. Can you say cha-ching?!? I guess it will have to wait...

Please visit my new website if you get a chance and let me know what you think (keep in mind it is still a work in progress and you will need flash to view it). The address is http://www.linleypaske.com. Hope you like what you see!!

~Linley

Linley's job requires her to travel from time to time and sometimes the boys and I get the priviledge of tagging along. Well this time, Linley was due for the Shark Tooth Capital of the World, again. Well it just so happened that a friend of mine, had some extra tickets to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure that he graciously offered to us. Now, that makes for a little bit of a side trip, but for free tickets, we are all over that! So its, a couple days of work for mom and the boys get to enjoy the pool and playground and then plan for one very long, hot day at the theme parks. My goal is to spend as little as possible at the parks, sneak packed lunches, waters, as much as we can to avoid paying $10 for a bottle of water. I hope we can make it fun and worth it while trying to beat the heat and keep money in our pocket.