Well, Hello World...

If you've read my "About Me", then you know my back story.  Since I'm just starting this blog, I'll give you the 411 of what's happened so far.  And yes, I put the cart before the horse.  You'll soon learn this is a common trend with me.  One I'm sure you'll come to adore...

After H was diagnosed with TS, I had a small freak out in the bathroom stall outside the doctor's office.  But, I quickly calmed down, thanked God that he didn't have a terminal illness, and decide to make a lemontini out of these lemons.  I can get through this, I told myself, and so will Hayden.  All things happen according to God's will and I couldn't allow myself to forget that in a fit of self pity.  I've always been a believer in fate, and that certainly applies to the good and bad in life. 

As the weeks went by, I started to take mental inventory of our lives.  The doctor explained that his symptoms would wax and wane over the years and there would be times his tics would be very noticeable and other times that they could be barely detectable.  But, that it was almost inevitable that it would be bad as he was going through puberty and his teenage years.  As if being a teenager isn't hard enough!?  Sheesh.

Knowing that we were in the district for the worst elementary school in all of Norman, and living on a very busy street (absolutely no way he could ride his bike on our street), and the house was about 500 sq feet smaller than we really needed, I decide it was time to sell the house so we could upgrade.  My plan was to find our forever home that came with a better school.  Luckily, my house sold via Facebook and word of mouth.  My cousin approached me and I had a signed contract from him within the month.  But, HELLO, I wasn't ready to move yet!  I hadn't planned to even list my house for 3-4 months, and then I figured I had a good 1-3 months before I'd actually be moving out!  But, God had another plan.  So, I started packing.

Luckily, my Dad & Step-Mom have plenty of room in their house and said we could come stay with them for as long as we needed.  (Insert "WHOO" here.)  Since I wouldn't have to rent, I knew I'd have some extra money.  Time to pay off old debt.  (Insert "WHOO" here.)  When I got divorced, I took a cut in pay to move back to Norman from OKC.  Couple that with buying a major fixer-upper house, and you have yourself some serious credit card debt.  Debt that I hadn't added to in 3 years, but also hadn't paid down.  Ouch.  Going from an excellent to poor credit score was horrible.  I was so disappointed with myself (and embarrassed), but at least I had a plan to get out from under it all.  I buckled down, and had all my credit card debt (a whopping $23K!) paid off in 90 days.  But, that left me with zero savings.  So, now I save and window shop on realtor.com...because I enjoy torture.  Current plan should have me ready to start seriously house hunting in September 2011.

Saving.  That brings me to the title of this blog.  The more I researched living a frugal lifestyle, the more I realized I loved the idea of getting back to the grass roots of it all.  Self empowerment, self reliance, and less commercial imprisonment.  Hallelujah!  I could sit and listen to my Grandma talk for hours about growing up on a farm in Purcell and how they farmed, canned, lived modestly and were happy.  Happy.  What a novel idea.  The hustle and bustle of our life leaves me cranky and exhausted most days.  Wouldn't it be nice to sit down at the end of the day and be content instead of exhausted and pissed about all the things I ran out of time to get done?  Sign me up.  I like the sounds of this old school lifestyle.

Please know I'm not educated on homesteading, gardening, farming, frugal living, nor am I an environmentalist.  I have no plan to give up make-up, wear Birkenstock sandals, or eat an abundance of granola.  I'm just a 30 year old single Mom who realized the modern life I've been living might not be the best for me, or my son, and I'm trying out another option.  I'm performing a social experiment on myself (Well, and Hayden, but he's happy about it all so far.  And even if he wasn't, I'm his guardian so I can authorize it on his behalf, so it's all good!) and this blog will chronicle my trials and errors.

Buckle up butter-cup...it's gonna be a bumpy ride!