Jessica Kelso

After a long hot summer, we finally have our first day of relief. I know these first few cold fronts are just a huge tease that leave us wanting more so I’m loving today to the fullest. I’ve spent the morning making potato soup and cleaning the house thoroughly, with every window open soaking it all in. Tonight I’m planning to run the lake and I don’t think I have ever been so excited to exercise. I’m running another 5k this weekend and would love to work in the yard so I’m really hoping this weather sticks around for a couple more days. Picnics, sweaters, and boots. . . ahhhh, I can’t wait.

We’ve been pretty busy around here and I know we’re both ready for a much needed break soon. We’ll be leaving for the mountains in 10 days and we’ll have a whole week to enjoy ourselves. I’m thrilled about seeing the leaves change this fall because that’s definitely something we don’t get here in Florida. We’ve spent a lot of our time lately preparing the nursery for a BABY. That still seems crazy! The room has come together quickly and I’m completely in love with it. I think I could design nurseries for a living and be content. There is something so sweet about a baby’s room and I think it can make anyone happy in an instant. (Or is that just me?!) We have one more trip to Ikea, and a few things to purchase for the walls. . . then it should be picture worthy.

In preparation for me to be able to continue staying home when we become foster parents, we’ve had to figure out how to make things work financially. I’ve been receiving unemployment and should be getting that until at least December which has been a HUGE help with me still not working. It’s been 9 months now! Craziness. We’ve been learning how to be creative and find new ways to cut expenses. I never knew how much money we were just throwing away until we really sat down and looked at everything. We canceled the data service off of both our cell phones and have been saving a lot just not being able to use internet on our phone everywhere we might want it. We’re still able to use the internet anywhere there is wireless (including at home) and everything else on the phone still works exactly the same. It was amazing to find out how much money was going to waste just on our cell phones. With Kevin being the genius tech-guy that he is, we’ve also found ways of canceling our DVR service but still being able to record our favorite shows. After noticing how little television we actually watch, we’ve also decided to go ahead and cancel our cable. Most of the shows we like we are able to watch on Hulu or Netflix, and Kevin has all of that hooked up to our television. I’m glad we’re going ahead and making this decision now, because I’ve always said I don’t want to raise my children hooked to the TV. . . so it’s a pretty good start in that direction. All of this along with trying to be better about using coupons and just being more cautious where we spend our money. . . is hopefully going to make it possible for me to stay home and I’m very excited about that!