Teacher by Day

I am a wife and mom far above being a teacher.  I want to be home full time.  I want to keep a clean home.  I want to take my children on day trips.  I want to create new recipes.  I want to learn how to sew.  I want to have time to do projects with my children.  I want to home school my children.  I want to be everything my children need me to be.  More importantly, I want to be everything my husband needs me to be.  I want to work out and stay fit for my husband.  I want to make him three meals a day.  I want to have time to write him love notes and hide them in his lunch.  I want to surprise him with lunch at work.   

With my heart at home, how do I enter my classroom in a few short days and be everything my students need me to be?  I certainly can not leave these thoughts of home at home.  They are too much a part of who I am.  I have to redirect them.  I have to focus on each of my students.  I have to love them as I want my own children to be loved while I am away from them.

I could certainly sit in my classroom and be bitter about my job.  Where would that get me?  Where would that get my students?  I choose to love my job.  I choose to be the best teacher I can be to each of my students.  I choose to be at work 100%.  I choose this because I love my students.  I choose this because it makes my hours at work go by faster.  I choose this because to be the best mom and wife, I have to be the best teacher too.  I choose this because God wants me to. 

I do love my job.  If I had to be anywhere other than home with my children, I would be in my classroom.  I am very blessed to have this career.  Many mamas who wish they were home, trudge off to work for a boss they don't like.  My boss is amazing.  My boss understands my desire to be with my children.  Many mamas go off to a job that feels pointless.  My job isn't always glamorous, but it is always rewarding.  My job makes a difference.  Many mamas barely make enough money to justify paying for a sitter.  My job pays me well and allows us to work through our financial goals.  Someday my job will bring me home.

If you wish you were home with your children, take a new perspective to work with you this year.  Plan to be the best employee and coworker possible.  Plan to enjoy your job.  When you get home, you will feel more fulfilled in your day.  You will be emotionally more stable for your husband and children.  Use those few short hours between work and sleep to really BE with your family. 

(As I head back into the working world my posts will be once a week instead of daily.  Stay with us to hear about how we balance life and continue working towards Bringin' Mama Home!  Happy New Year.)

Picturing Our Dream

It is so important to dream and plan together.  Especially when giving yourselves such tight restrictions.   As you are motivating yourself to start or continue overcoming debt, sit down with your spouse.  It is time to start dreaming.  We already discussed dreaming about big giving.  It is also time to dream about what you want your life to look like when it is no longer strapped by debt.  Albert and I sat down a few months ago and made our list.  We had discussed it numerous times in the past.  This time we made a record of it.  It is something to revisit often.  It keeps us focused on our goal.  It keeps us motivated to trudge on!

Some of our list has special treats.  Going on that Alaska cruise we dreamed about for our honeymoon.  Walking into a store with an outrageous amount of money and going on a cash shopping spree.  For me, having a standing appointment at a day spa.  For Albert, having a regularly set tee time.  Hiring an interior designer to turn our home into a dream.  Or at least have matching furniture!

Other items on our list include changes in our lifestyle.  Buying all organic, farm fresh food.  Mama being home with the kids all day.  Of course, skyrocketing our giving!  Having company over for lunch every Sunday afternoon.  Driving better vehicles.



Our biggest financial dream is our home.  Other than me being a stay at home mom, this is the dream we talk about the most.  Picture this with us.  Many acres of beautiful, gently rolling hills.  A ranch style home that we have either built or modified.  On our land you will find countless picturesque backdrops.  Our own private outdoor studio.  The most stunning backdrop will be the location of a wedding venue.  Including a gorgeous barn in case of poor weather.  We will be your one stop shop for all of your wedding needs. 


We will provide all inclusive wedding packages with people we have partnered with.  Our dream will make other people's dreams come true.  We will both be home full time with our children, doing what we love.



That is our dream.  What is yours?    

Simple Soap

I love inexpensive.  I also love natural, healthy choices for my family. Rarely do these two worlds collide.  When they do, I hop on the bandwagon!

My friend gave me a simple recipe for laundry soap. I only have 2 pods left of my Sam's club soap.  I decided it was time to try it out.  I ordered my supplies on Amazon with free two day shipping. Amazon prime is so good to me!  It only cost about $40 to get started, including the storage container. I have enough supplies for at least 4 batches. 

Start by boiling one gallon of water in a large stock pot. Add one bar of grated soap. 

Stir until soap dissolves.  Then turn off stove. 

Add two gallons of cold water.  Stir to cool soap. 

Add one cup of laundry soda.  

Add one cup of borax. Stir it one more time. 

Transfer to a five gallon bucket with lid for storage. That's it!!  Super easy and fast. Use about one half of a cup with each large load. 

I also read the back of the borax box. I am excited to try it for other cleaning purposes.  Cleaning the disposal made it to the top of the list. 

Saving money is awesome!  One step closer to bringin' Mama home.

Do You Have One Yet?

If you are like most people, you don't have one.  You want one.  You have promised yourself you will get one.  Why don't you have one?  It is too much work.  It is too scary.  It isn't important...yet.  Unfortunately, when it is important, it is too late!  Who should have one?  Everyone.  When should they get one?  Now. 

Writing a will can be a lot of work.  Albert and I postponed writing our own will.  We were worried it would be a lot  of work.  We finally buckled down and did it earlier this year.  We ordered a kit (recommended by Dave Ramsey).  We set a date.  We sat down during Harli's nap time.  We wrote our will, together.  It is not perfect.  It was more important to have a draft than for it to be perfect.  We set reminders to update the will every year so that it will gradually become more perfect.  We also told our family members what was in our will and how to find it.  We don't want any surprises.

 Writing a will can be scary.  It can be terrifying.  It forces you to think about things that most of us prefer not to think about.  It forces us to think about our children growing up without one or both of us. 

It forces us to think about losing each other.  Albert took this time to write a letter to Harli for when he dies.  I wept when I read it.  I have yet to bring myself to write letters to loved ones.  I know I should.  Just like you know you should write a will.  However, it IS terrifying.

We put things off when we think we have more time.  Very few of us are willing to admit that we may be gone tomorrow.  You may think a will isn't important because you don't have money or things to pass down to loved ones.  Maybe you don't have children yet.  Maybe you are so young you don't think it matters yet.  Maybe you are so old you think it doesn't matter anymore.  It doesn't matter how old you are.  It doesn't matter how many or how few assets you have.  A will is important for everyone to have. 

It is not for YOU.  It is for your family.  It helps your family know what to do with your physical body.  If your spirit has already left your body, why does it matter what happens to the shell?  Your family is grieving.  Let them grieve.  Don't make them have to decide (or fight about) what to do.  Your family should not be given such a heavy burden.  Clearly lay out what to do with you, your possessions and especially your children (if you have children).  Give them this gift.

As you make your goals and resolutions for the new year, deeply consider writing a will.  It is a true testament of your love for your family and it is the responsible thing to do.

Our Family Christmas Letter

... on a budget.

Our 2013 began uneventfully.  Then the whirlwind hit.  Surprise!  We found out in the beginning of March that baby number two was a part of our lives.  We had the joy of celebrating our beautiful Harli Grayce's first birthday with loved ones.  We had planned to live with mom and dad for the rest of the year and work like crazy to become debt free.  Knowing baby was on the way encouraged us to move out early and put a pause on our debt snowball.  However, we continued to keep Dave Ramsey in our lives by hosting our first FPU course.

In April we were able to sell and pay off the F250.  Our debt reduced to $44,000.  We also made our very first vehicle purchase with cash.  It was an awesome feeling.  May was a big month for Harli.  She began walking on her own.  She also got to hear baby's heartbeat for the first time.  We ended May celebrating my twenty-eighth birthday.



 June was a special month.  Albert and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary by enjoying a romantic evening in old Folsom.  We found out that baby number two is a boy!!  I spent a wonderful summer with my baby girl, including her first camping trip. Then I started my sixth year of teaching in August.






September hit us like bulldozer and flipped our lives upside down.  This is the month we found out cousin Andrew has tumor in his brain.  It was a month full of weeping and praying.  The praying continues daily.  I busied myself with preparing the nursery for Levi Harrison.  While the weight of this news was still in our lives, October was a more joyous month as we celebrated Albert.  Albert became a Senior Payroll Specialist.  Albert also became thirty-one this month.





November and December have gone by incredibly fast.  In November we were blessed with a healthy, natural and beautiful birth at home! We finally got to kiss and love our handsome son.  Harli got to meet her Bubba!  In December we paid off Pepperdine, bringing us to only $40,000 in debt.

2014 will be another busy year as we work even harder to bring Mama home!!  Follow along as we journey through more ups and downs and pay down our final debt.  We will continue to move towards more natural cooking and cleaning in our home.  We will be doing fun projects to help Harli learn and grow.  We will be hosting our second FPU course.  Most importantly, we will be striving for Heaven!   

Christmas Gift Gone Wrong

We made it!  Christmas is THIS week!  I love everything about Christmas.  I love the hunt for the perfect tree.  I love hot chocolate and egg nog.  I love kissing under the mistletoe.  I love getting a new ornament from my parents every year. I love picking out ornaments for my children every year. I love matching pajamas. I love playing games with family.  I LOVE Christmas music. I love picking out and giving the perfect gifts.  This is perhaps my favorite part of Christmas.

This year I got the BEST gift for Albert!  I was so excited to give it to him. I spent several hours scoping out the best place to make this special order and emailing different companies.  After I ordered his perfect gift I checked the shipping status daily.  I was so excited to see the finished product.  I was even more excited for him to see it!  

The gift was due to arrive while we were in Ridgecrest.  I anxiously awaited the text from my sister to know it had arrived safely.  No text. I checked the shipping status again. It was marked delivered. Chantalle went out with a flashlite to double check.  There it was!  The long awaited for gift. But it wasn't the great surprise it was meant to be. 

Have you seen the old version of 'The Sandlot'?  Remember the beast?  That is our dogs. The package had been delivered over the fence. The dogs found it first. All of that money and time had been lost. I cried.  The joy of the anticipated gift was gone. 

The gift has been reordered. It won't be here for Christmas. It wont be a surprise. But It is still the BEST gift!  This will still be the best Christmas I have ever had. It is our first Christmas as a family.  We have a beautiful tree.  We have mistletoe in all the right places.  Steaming hot chocolate.  Ice cold egg nog. Christmas movies and music!  

What's your Christmas story?

In Case of Emergency

We have an emergency fund.  It serves exactly that purpose.  We turn to our emergency fund whenever we have a financial burden we have not planned.  Sometimes there isn't enough in the car maintenance budget for a big repair. We turn to our emergency fund. Our rental may need more work than we have expected.  We turn to our emergency fund. Unplanned medical bills may creep in to our lives. The emergency fund is there for us.

It doesn't just provide cash if needed.  It provides peace.  It provides security.  We always know that we have that extra little bit to fall back on.  When we do, our number one priority changes to building it back up. Since creating the emergency fund we have never needed to borrow more money.  We have never regretted cutting up those credit cards.  We have never had to ask for financial help.  Now that we have paid off much of our debt, many emergencies can even be cash flowed. 

An emergency can feel like a mountain that was thrown in your path. You don't have to turn to mom and dad.  You don't need to use a credit card. Going into more debt causes an emergency within an emergency. Create your emergency fund as quickly as possible so that your next emergency is merely a bump in the road.

Grow Your Giving

The desire to give can be a blessing.  The desire to give can also be a challenge.  Many people purchase gifts using a credit card.  Many people do random acts of kindness on someone else's dollar.  Some people are even going into debt when giving their weekly contribution.  I would never want to tell someone to put a reign on giving!  There are many ways to give.  Why is monetary giving the main way we give?  Most have struggled with money at one time or another.  We know how valuable it is in many situations.  We know it will be appreciated.   

Giving keeps us grounded.  It keeps our heart open.  Albert and I keep giving at the top of our budget.  Before we pay for anything else we allot a certain amount to give.  It is so important to include giving in your budget.  We need to plan for giving.  That does not mean we need to plan who and where we are giving.  We need to plan how much we are giving.    When we began our budgeting process we kept this number very small.  We had to.  We didn't have the money to pay our bills and make a dent in our debt.  We have rewarded ourselves with each debt payoff by increasing the amount that we give.  It has been an amazing incentive.  If you have the heart of a giver, use this tactic for motivation!

As you reign in your monetary giving, dream.  Dream bigger than you ever have.  Dream about the day you have no debt.  Dream about the day you have no mortgage payment.  Dream about what you can do when you don't have those extra bills.  Dream about the lives you can change.  Dream about the $1,000 tip you can give to a waitress.  Dream about the new tires you can purchase for the single mom at church.  Dream about the groceries you can have delivered to your elderly neighbor.

If you don't have giving in your budget, start now.  Start small.

I Heart Budgeting

I love to budget.  That makes me weird.  I like being weird. Weird means not pretending to be like everyone else. Weird means no debt.  I partly love it because the nerd in me loves a good puzzle. Budgets are basically huge puzzles. I mostly love it because after I pay the bills I pay down the debt. Excess money from each paycheck goes straight to debt.  As the debt decreases, our peace increases. 

Is budgeting always easy?  Of course not!  It takes a few months to work out the kinks. When we began our budget we forgot a few small things that felt big!  We forgot to budget for the yearly truck registration. We forgot to budget for our contribution on the sneaky fifth Sunday. Before long, we stopped forgetting things. After a full year of budgeting our budget chugged along like a well oiled machine. We now do very little before each month begins to fine tune our budget. 

I always look forward to payday!  I know, everyone loves payday.  But I love payday because that means I get to pay bills. Yes, get to. Everything has a cost and I am certainly not entitled to live for free. Getting to pay bills means I get to see my plan in action!  I get to watch my machine work through all those numbers.  

Many people are afraid of the word budget. They see it as restrictive.  They feel it will eliminate spontainaity.  I suppose that could be true if someone else budgeted your life.  But you are creating a budget to fit you.  A budget is more freeing than confining. It frees you from worrying about your splurge at Target dipping into your mortgage payment. If you enjoy splurging at Target, have a Target budget each month. If you always go out to eat on Tuesdays for lunch, have a specific amount allottted. for Tuesday lunches. If you are trying to pay off debt, you may want reconsider some of these budgeted items, but that is your choice. Know where your money goes. 

Where Do You Call Home?

We visited one of the places we call home this weekend. It is in the middle of the desert. It is a dry, brown, ugly place.  Why is it home?  For Albert, it is the place he grew from a boy to a man. It was his only home on earth for 26 years.  It was only my physical home for 2 years, but it was home. It was our first home together. It was the home where we built the beginning of our marriage.  It was the home of our first shared church family. It was the home where our miss Harli Grayce made us three. It was the home where we decided to change our family tree. It will always be our home. 

We get to visit our Ridgecrest home twice a year.  How can we do this while pinching pennies?  The trip is not a surprise. It is not an emergency. We simply add it to our budget twice a year.  In the early stages of our debt snowball it would take a few months of piling cash before taking a trip. We are now in a place where we can cash flow a trip with one paycheck. I mean real CASH. I write a check to ourselves after we have budgeted the trip into our allocated spending. We put the cash in an envelope before we leave.  We never touch plastic. We never worry about money during our trip. More importantly, we never worry about it when we get home. 

The only thing that follows us home are the memories. Watching our daughter play with her cousins. Singing with our church family.  Feeling the arms of our family around us. Hearing the joyful laughter of Mama Krabbe.  Playing cards with our dearest friends.  Visiting home should never be a burden. 

Dave Said, "Sell the Car"

I don't consider myself to be a materialistic person, but for some strange reason I get attached to vehicles.  They become part of the family. Perhaps it is because we rely on them so much.  Maybe it is because they are involved in so many memories.  The first time I recall selling a vehicle was my family's little jeep. One of those gems with the wood paneling. My sister and I loved that car!  We went to work with Dad the day he sold it.  We cried when it drove away.

I'm not the only one that feels this way. It is likely the most difficult part of completing Dave's plan.  It is also the most monumental. It reiterates your emotional commitment to Dave's plan.  It frees up several hundred dollars a month and many thousands of your total debt.

Did we sell our trucks?  You bet!  Was it easy?  No way.  Did we, like so many of Dave's callers, resist and make excuses?  Absolutely!!  Why?  Those trucks were a part of the family.

Cinnamon had to go first. We sold her while still living in Ridgecrest. I thought I felt about her the same way I feel about little dogs; little pickups just aren't trucks.  But the day she sold, I nearly cried. That little red pickup was the car I couldn't wait to see every other weekend during our six months of dating. I would wait longingly, like a child waits for Christmas, to see that truck pull into my driveway. Even after we got married I found myself looking out the window waiting to see that truck every lunch hour and at the end of the day. It was a symbol that my Love was within arms reach and not seven hours away. 

We survived nearly a year with only one vehicle. After moving back to Northern California we finally admitted that we needed to sell Pepper, our beautiful diesel F250.  My first truck. This was going to hurt. I survived. We survived.

We now proudly drive two beaters. The car doesn't have AC, only one window rolls down and the stereo doesn't work. The truck's AC is finicky, the paint is peeling off the hood and it smells like smoke. I doubt I will cry the day we sell (or donate) these cars, but I might.  They have become part of the family. They are reliable. They aren't accompanied by a large monthly car payment. They aren't contributing to the family debt. 

It isn't an easy step. It is an important step. It is life changing. If you have a car payment it is time to sell!  You too will survive.

Your Family has a Mission Statement?

Being on the same page with your spouse and your family is a must!  This is true for any goal in life.  Agree on everything?  Certainly not!  Agree on the important, life changing aspects?  Absolutely!  

Before our first child turned one, we sat down TOGETHER and made a plan. A plan for who we wanted to be as individuals and as a family. Our financial position certainly isn't our only aim, nor is it our main one!  We gave our family direction. A parent guide. A child guide.

We encourage you to do the same.  Where is your family headed?

The Krabbe Family Mission Statement

Papa’s promise:

I will always put God first and allow him to lead me as a man, as a husband and as a father.  I will be the spiritual leader of this family and take full responsibility for myself, my wife and my children.  I will be faithful to Mama, loving and honoring her and I will never leave her.  I will teach my children to love God, be faithful to His Word and live responsibly.  I will walk with integrity and teach my children to do the same.  I will protect my family and will diligently work to provide for their needs.

Mama’s promise:

I will always put God first.  I will always trust and respect Papa, and I promise to never leave him.  I will always love and serve my husband and my children, and I promise to keep our home a place of comfort and peace.  I will always be productive, and I will be joyful in my work.  I will keep my body and mind strong.  I will lead by example in teaching my children to care for those in need.  I will keep my family nourished and clothes, and I will do my part to provide for my family.  I will give my children an excellent education.  I will pray daily for my husband and my children, in thankfulness and supplication.  I will be praiseworthy of my husband and my children.

As a family, we promise:

We will always put God first, and will only use His name with honor.  Our home will always be filled with laughter, music, and hospitality.  We will pray together and for one another, and treat each other with respect.  We will honor and love our parents.  We will love our enemies; we will be kind to them, pray for them and see them as Jesus would see them.  We will be wise stewards with what God blesses us with, and will be thankful and content.  We will take time to enjoy and be in awe of God’s nature.

          Together, we will strive for heaven

Becoming Weird

I grew up listening to talk radio and perfecting the art of tuning it out.  Some days I would actually try to follow along to Rush or Hugh in an attempt to have an "intellectual" conversation with my dad in the car.  Other days I would entertain myself with my own thoughts, only tuning in to the radio when they played bumper music.  This trend followed me into adulthood and one day I asked Albert what we were listening to. Dave Ramsey.   My life was forever changed. From that moment on I have listened intently to talk Radio.  Let's face it, I am addicted to Dave. 

We are passionate people.  When we believe in something we don't just dip our big toe in the water, we jump in.  So, we started working Dave's plan full force.  We took the class, we taught the class.  We always find a way to bring up "Uncle Dave" in conversation.  We obtained several copies of his books to give away as gifts when anyone shows the slightest bit of interest.  You have to be careful when asking us about Dave.  It's like when you ask your dad how to change the oil and he teaches you how to rebuild the engine.  We eat, sleep and breathe Dave.

Starting the baby steps was easy for us.  We already had more than the emergency fund in our bank account, so we set that aside and got to work.  Our first credit card had a balance of $0 so we were able to feel accomplished immediately from closing that account.  We had very little to go towards our debt snowball, but several of our debts were small and we were able to close 12 of them in the first 5 months.  Freeing up those minimum payments gave us a large enough snowball to start hurling at our other debts. 

Today we have only two debts.  We have zero credit cards.  We have two paid for cars.  We budget every penny, every month, together.  We love being weird!

We Used To Be Normal

For me, it started with a cell phone.  You have to build credit to have a cell phone or anything else of value, right?  So I got a dell credit card because they will give anyone a credit card.  I needed a lap top anyway!  Bank of America also generously gave me a nice little student credit card so I could buy my school books until my refund check came in.  A refund check seemed like such a glorious thing!! It was extra money to live off of while going to college.  Of course I knew I had to pay all of this back.  I was not ignorant... or was I?

You can't go to college without student loans and you certainly can't buy a car without a car loan. But I could afford the payments, I never worked less than three jobs while being a full time college student. Grad school was also a must.  I had to get my masters degree so that I could earn a higher paycheck. So, here I am age 24.  I have a wonderful job and I am temporarily living with my parents while my sister and I hunt for a house.  I think I'm doing great.  In the background I have three massive student loans, a truck loan and 4 credit cards (which I don't carry a balance on).  This is normal.  

Then I meet Albert and six months later we are married and now we have a total of 26 debts, not including our mortgage. This is normal. This is why I have to work.  We don't want to be NORMAL anymore!

Bringin' Mama Home

I am a total nerd, through and through.  Type “A” personality, logically minded nerd.  But, I’ve never been a strong speller and I am constantly making grammatical errors.  So, why in the world would I want to spend time writing in a format that potentially millions could read, and more importantly, why would anyone want to read my ramblings?  Well, I highly doubt millions of people will read this, but I do think my journey could be helpful to some.   

By day, I am a high school math teacher.  By night, I am a cook, a housekeeper, a diaper changer and a story reader.  To the world I live a normal, non-exciting life.  In my home, I am a superhero and a ten cow wife!  Some may not think that cleaning peanut butter off of EVERYTHING is a glamorous life, but wearing the title ‘Mama’ is by far the most glamorous crown I could ever put on!  I may not always be in the home, but I am a FULL-TIME MOM.  I hope that you will follow along as we laugh and cry, as we ponder and learn and as we work diligently to bring Mama home.  I will share both the big and the little things that Albert and I do each day to balance full time working with full time parenting.  

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