Screaming in March

March was busy.  Really busy.  But there was one part of March that our whole family enjoyed, so I'll blog about that first because it was my favorite part of March.😃

Nashville / Dave Ramsey / Debt Free Scream🤑

We took a short trip and drove up to Nashville.  The reason for our trip was to do our debt free scream!

Some of you may not know what a debt free scream is, so I'll explain:

Every day, families call in or stop by Dave Ramsey's studio in Tennessee to celebrate debt freedom. These families have worked hard and sacrificed to pay off all their non-mortgage debt and/or mortgage debt.

Several of you know that our household are HUGE Dave Ramsey fans.  When we started our journey a few years ago and listened to Dave's radio show, we heard so many of these debt free screams. These screams not only encouraged us to stay on track, but we felt like when our journey was through we needed to go on the air and tell our story.  And so we did.

You can view it here, or click on the link below:

Doing this debt free scream was so life changing!  It was the perfect way to end the "debt chapter" of our lives.  Hannah continually talks about this experience with us, and with other people.  She has asked me several times "Mommy, can we listen to or watch our debt free scream?"  I'm telling ya folks -- more is definitely caught than taught.  Hannah will never forget the time we went to Dave Ramsey's studio and screamed!  Our family tree has changed, forever!

What we wrote down on the board (these boards are used as decorations all throughout Dave's office).
$280,000 paid off in 19 months
Mortgage: $215,000
Student Loans: $56,900
Van: $8,100
Nathan*Rachel*Hannah
March 17, 2017
Thanks Dave!  We're Free!

Here are a few pictures we took the day before our debt free scream (the day we arrived in Nashville).  We thought it would be a good idea to stop by and get Hannah adjusted to the studio before we went on the air the next day.

I loved this sign that was put in the glass enclosed room where Dave does his show.😂

And this was a shot Nathan took of Hannah.  She got to meet Dave the day before.  She was a little bashful on the first day, but not so much on the second day.

Well, I guess I should probably blog about the rest of the month.

Spring🌷

Spring is definitely alive in Alabama.  The weather is so gorgeous.  It's nice and warm, but not too warm.🌤

We've been enjoying walks along the Black Warrior River, and other places.

One major downer of the spring season is that the bugs are out and about!  We found a REALLY big spider in our home.  It was creepy!🕷  And then a few days later, I found an even bigger spider at work!  I'm loving the south, but I can do without the bugs.

The body of this spider was about the size of a quarter.  Eeeekk!!!

But we also found a really cool butterfly too!

Daddy-Daughter Date💘

Hannah and Nathan went on another Daddy-Daughter date.  She really looks forward to these every month.  I'm glad that they go on these.  It helps her learn how she should (and hopefully will) be treated on dates.

This month, they headed back to Chick-fil-A.  This is by far her favorite place to eat.  She got her standard meal: french fries and ice-cream.

Dr. Seuss📗

At the library, they had a some fun things in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday.  

Socks
When we were in Nashville, I found an AWESOME sock store called Socks and Soles.

They have some really fun socks there that covers a wide range of categories: kids, girls, boys, pro sports teams, college teams, presidents (old and new), former TV shows, etc.

I sported these socks on St. Patrick's day.  When I saw the Gumby socks, I was a goner and had to get them (which I could because I had money in my clothing budget).

Youth

We took the youth up one Sunday to visit a group in our ward.  On our way up, we passed this sign. The Young Men's president stopped and said "We have to take a picture."  So we did.

We have such a good group of kids, and I'm blessed to serve with them.

Clothing

All I need to say here, is like father like daughter.

Nathan has an old shirt that he LOVES.  He likes it because it's comfortable to wear (I get that). But the shirt is literally falling apart.  There is one part of his shirt that has duct tape on it.  It was his way of "patching the hole."

Well, Hannah has some shorts that she LOVES, but there was a whole in it that was starting to develop.  So, she ran into the guest bedroom, went into one of the drawers that has office supply stuff in it, and put some tape over her hole.

Nathan was so proud.  Me, well this was my reaction:

One evening, we were at the mall so I could try on a pair of high heels that I had been looking at. We were not there long when Hannah said "I want to try on this.  I want to try on this shoe.  Mommy: get these shoes!"  She was a kid in a candy store, and I think Hannah tried on almost every sample shoe there was available with a high heel.

Miscellaneous

We walked into Hannah's room one morning to wake her up, and found her like this.  

Hannah made a "kite" at school.  They took a grocery bag, and tied yarn to it to make kites. She loved it, and it kept her busy while we waited outside daddy's office one late afternoon.

In fact, while Hannah was busy flying her kite, I noticed these two tall, large, and pretty toned men pass right by me.  They were wearing Alabama shirts, pants, hats, etc. and they walked right into Nathan's work.  I thought to myself "I think those are football players."  And then I realized that one of them was Jalen Hurts (quarterback for Alabama).

Shortly after he and his friend walked into Nathan's building, they walked right back out.  I casually sat and observed the entourage of people that followed him with audible gasps of "Ah!  That's Jalen Hurts!  Oh my gosh!  Oh my gosh!  I can't believe it!"

It was as if they just saw Oprah or something.  It was fun to watch and observe the reactions. I'm still amazed at how serious Alabama football is here.  I wonder if I'll ever get used to it. I'm still trying to get accustomed to the phrase "Roll Tide!" being said all the time out here.



Well folks.  That was our month of March.  Honestly, I'm glad it's over with.  It was a busy month, and I'm ready for April.

Jalen Hurts picture courtesy of www.al.com