bring joy

debt snowball update (part 1): the good, the bad, the ugly

debt-free

Read part 2, here.

I mean, who wants to bear their financial soul to the world?

(Not me.)

But you know, I share this update with the intent to be honest, to be real with you. I know how much it sucks to have to pull yourself out of debt, even in the best of circumstances. I know how lame it feels to see those numbers, & realize what the cost will be to make them (eventually) go away.

Forgive me if I may be sharing too much detail, & for all I know this all may be very dull to you. But know that I share this with the very sincere hope that this will be helpful & informative, especially if you happen to be like us, & are digging yourself out of debts.

It has been 3 years since this post, meaning 3 years since we began working towards being debt-free.

I laugh when I read that...

I wasn’t sure if I could breastfeed: Tiffany’s story (part 1)

guest post, breastfeeding

For all long time readers of , you know how much I believe in breastfeeding. With five kids, I have racked up a cumulative 82 months (or 6.83 years!) of breastfeeding (I am still currently breastfeeding my 20 month old son).

Though breastfeeding has certainly come back into vogue in recent years, there remains some misconceptions around nursing in general. I hope that through sharing my story & as well as the stories of other women, women can be empowered to give breastfeeding a chance.

Today Tiffany, a long time reader & commenter, shares her story. She & I were fortunate to meet in person a few years back as our US Air Force husbands were stationed in the same place for a brief period of time.

Inspired by her commitment to breastfeeding, I asked Tiffany to share her...

5 tips & reasons to eat more lentils + curried lentil soup {RECIPE}

salad & soup, simple cooking

I know I haven’t talked about our debt snowball in awhile (in fact, it’s been a year since our last update).

But, we nevertheless are chugging away, inching closer (albeit at what seems like a snail’s pace) to our debt-free goal (spring 2016!).

(You know how I’ve tinkered with the grocery budget over the years–sometimes ridicuously, naively so.)

Now that we live in Okinawa, many of the foods that we were able to get rather cheaply in the states either are no longer an option (cauliflower, broccoli, jicama, chard) or are crazy expensive (watermelon is anywhere from $10-$15 PER melon, potatoes are about $8 for a small bag). And of course, I can longer rely on Costco for bulk, organic produce at a reasonable price (though all of the local produce here is non-GMO because GMO crops aren’t...