An Outstanding October

October went by super fast, and it was an outstanding month.

Books📖

At the beginning of the year, I wrote down a goal to read 8 books this year.  As of today, I finished that goal.  Yay!  Go me!

I read TWO (yes, that's right) books this month!  I still can't believe I read two within 30 days, but these books were so good that I just couldn't put them down.

Retire Inspired is a book that breaks down all the jargon of retirement that many people find overwhelming and confusing.  And, it is a motivational book too!

The stories in there are eye opening (in a good, and in bad way).  It helped me see that in order to plan for our future, we need to take action today.  We are responsible for making our retirement dreams come true.  Not our employers.  Not the government.  Not winning money on a game show, or inheriting it from a relative. It's OUR responsibility.

Honestly, such a good book.

The Legacy Journey is I think my favorite book I have read this year.  I could not put this book down.

It's a book that teaches you how to manage money responsibly and in a Godly way when you start to build some wealth.  It opened my eyes to see what our future will look like when Nathan and I are in our 50s and beyond! And let me tell you, I'm so excited for that stage!😄

It talked about creating a legacy of giving and generosity, and the responsibility we have to teach our children about it as well.  Which, by the way, Hannah is already starting to understand.

Seriously, I think everyone should read this book. If we did, our world would look so different today.


AC unit

One day just after Hannah came home from school, she noticed that the carpet was a little damp in one area of the apartment.  I called management and they hopped right on over.  The AC unit (not ours, but from upstairs) was leaking.  YIKES!😱  That's one of the pros for renting.  Not my responsibility.

Unfortunately, we had to have two fans and a dehumidifier in our front room for a couple days to dry out the moisture.  It could have been worse, and I'm grateful that it wasn't.  Thank you Hannah for catching that early.

One of the plumbers had a really, and I mean REALLY, thick southern accent.  It took me a few seconds long to decipher what he was saying, but these guys were pros and did a fabulous job.



Bye bye (some) debt💰

We have some exciting news: we paid off LOTS of debt at the beginning of the month!  Nathan's masters degree is officially paid for! We are getting super close to having all of our debt paid.  Man, does this feel good.  It feels like we have lost a ton of weight.

Hannah was excited to color in one of our progress charts.

She often tells people "when we get out of debt, we'll go see Grandmas and Grandpas!"  That has been our goal, and we are oh so close!

Thank you to everyone in our families for helping us reach our goal.  It's been a sacrifice for us all.



Elsa castle❅

Hannah saved up some of her money for this LEGO Frozen castle.  She worked hard for this for 2 months (which is a long time for someone her age).

She played with it all day.  LEGOs are so stinking cool.  The way they have built these pieces for this castle is pure genius.



Rockfest🌴

Hannah's school had a scientific day, and learned all about the rain forest.  I went to help out with some of the food, but I managed to slip away some while people were eating to see what was at the school.

They had some live animals there.  A snake, a turtle, and very small alligator (that they covered up in a large tote, for which I was grateful.  It jumped and tried to get out of it's container😬).

One thing that I am still amazed at by people here in the south: They are dead serious about their love of sweet tea.  This is just a fraction of what they had available.

Working out🏃

I try to go do a 30 minute elliptical run each weekday morning at out little gym in the complex.  It depends on what my schedule is like.  Lately, one of the workouts I've been doing kicks my butt.  I come out of there so sweaty (and I'm not one that sweats too much during workouts).  Thank heavens for podcasts, good music, and water!  I drink about 20 oz. of water each time I cool down.

Touring the stadium

One of my first youth activities I got to participate in since being called to the church youth program, was that I got to tour some of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

One of the guys in our church here works for the sports department at the University, and his job is simply to go and get money/donations from people.  And, his office is inside the stadium.  It pays to have some connections.

I couldn't believe how much history (and superstition) there is here with football.🏈  The carpet here with the logo is roped off in the locker room so that no one walks on it.  Last time someone walked on it (it was several years ago), Alabama had a terrible season so from now on no one steps on it.  They take their football here very seriously.

Here is a photo of the visiting team's locker room.  It's called the "Fail locker room."  The man who donated money to this had the last name "Fail," which is why they call it the "Fail locker room." Pretty funny.

Here are some other shots I took throughout the stadium.  Roll Tide!

University of Alabama Halloween

Another awesome things about the University here is that the sports department opens up the practice field of the football team, and throws a Halloween party for the kids.

Every sports team they have here at the University was present, and they had some kind of game for the kids that was in relation to their sport (i.e., soccer team had a soccer section where the kids kicked the ball into the goal).

They also had a few of their key football players come out on the field to sign autographs and take pictures with the kids.  Some of these football players were GINORMOUS!  This is a shot of Alabama's quarterback.

We got to take some pictures with "Big Al" the mastcot.

Hannah came up to us and quietly told said "some of those girls are not modest."  That's right kiddo!  But she still wanted her pictures taken with Elsa and Anna (the sorority girls dressed up as Disney princesses).

And what kid doesn't love a jump house?

Hannah loved it!  On the way home she asked us "Can we come back again next year?"

We even got our picture in the local paper.

Halloween🎃

We went Trick-or-Treating in a friends neighborhood this year.  I could not believe how mobbed it was.  It looked like the Mall of America on Black Friday.  This neighborhood took Halloween very seriously.  I didn't take many pictures because we had to keep our eyes on Hannah, and also so that we could watch where we were going.  It was so crowded!

I will say this: It was nice this year not to have to worry about making sure she was going to be warm enough.  She was able to wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt underneath her costume.  Couldn't have done that where we used to live that's for sure.



Miscellaneous

Hannah got a hair cut ✄.  She was starting to have issues with tangles, so we chopped some of it off.

We discovered Lake Tuscaloosa, and it is really close to where we live.  Now we just need to find some friends that have a boat. (Just kidding😉)

We found a new playground that Hannah likes.  It's a rather large one, and it works best when Hannah finds a friend to play with her.

On our date night this month I saw a funny bumper sticker, and I think it sums up what many people in the country are thinking about the upcoming presidential election.

We got to go to the Temple.  It's so nice having a temple an hour away from where we live.

One morning I went to go wake Hannah up so that should could start getting ready for school.  This is how I found her:

Hannah has seen me read lots of books these last few months, and she was curious why I was "writing" in the books (I was highlighting passages).

She said to me "Mommy, you're not supposed to write in books."

So, we had a teaching moment of educating her on story books vs. educational books, and that it's ok to highlight in educational books that WE owe.  That didn't satisfy her too much, because she wanted to highlight in one of her books.  So, we told her that she could take one of her books and highlight any words she knew.

Within a matter of minutes, this girl was on the couch going to town.  She got so excited when she found words she knew.

Well y'all, that was our outstanding month of October.  See ya in November.