michelejo.com

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  • Menu + Meal Planning

    We’ve been eating way too much delivery pizza (we had Pizza Hut twice and Papa John’s once in the past 10 days, blech!) and restaurant food over the past several months, so I decided I really need to do something about it since it kills. the. budget. Not really the whole budget per se, but you…

  • Homeschooling vs. Home Schooling vs. Home Educating

    I call myself a “home eductor” for many reasons.  The first is that there is somewhat of a stigma attached to the word “homeschooling.’   I’ve heard one too many times: “Oh….you hooooomeschooooool…”  Then the barrage of questions start.  Fellow home educators are probably all too familiar with these questions!  😉 The second reason, if you want…

  • Finding (and changing) the things I CAN control….

    A lot of things in our lives are within our control.  Sure, many aren’t, but when pressed to think very hard about what stresses me out, I was able to come up with a LONG list of changes I can (relatively) easily make to improve my emotional health and help me recover from my PTSD.…

  • Diagnosis: Madness!!!

    It’s official…I am indeed an oddball. Wait–I’m sorry. I’m not an oddball. I’m simply a “Highly Sensitive Person!” Apparently this is a personality trait, not some sort of major dysfunction. I’m NORMAL. Yay, me. Now, if only we’d figured this out say…I dunno…THIRTY SEVEN YEARS AGO? According to Elaine Aron et al about 15-20% of…

  • Spring Cleaning – Part 1 – The Plan

    Since we just moved in November, it really seems like there shouldn’t be tooooo much to do for spring cleaning, but no, that’s a faulty assumption. We moved a couple days before Thanksgiving and before I knew it, Chanukah was upon us. And then Christmas. And then hubby’s week off from work. And then New…

  • Berkey-Licious!

    In my post on ways to cut back monthly expenses, I mentioned that I planned on switching to a Berkey instead of continuing to use Pur filters and bottled water.  We’ve had our Berkey for about 6 weeks now, and I’m happy to report that we LOVE it.  Right before the Berkey arrived, I’d purchased…

  • Cutting back without much ouch!

    I talked a bit about this here but I’m checking in to update the progress I’ve actually made. 1)  Efax and Stamps.com — I totally blanked on canceling them but it’s on my to-do list for today.  I e-mailed Efax’s customer support several times about the double-billing, even sending them statement copies, and they no…

  • Succulent Snack

    Mmmmmm…I think kiwi is back in season.  YUM!  It’s insanely inexpensive right now in central AZ, so we’re enjoying the bounty.  (And remember, it’s zero WW PointsPlus! 🙂 )

  • No-Spend February Recap

    They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  That seems to sum up my efforts at frugality in February.  :/ I tried really, really hard but it’s been almost impossible to survive on income #1 (while saving income #2 like we’re supposed to). Jake’s B-Day…$50 Heelies, $50 Van’s, $125 dinner at…

  • Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

    I got lemons today–I just love using them in chicken and fish recipes.  They’re a quick way to add flavor and zing when I don’t feel like making something elaborate (i.e. I’m worn out).  No, I haven’t cooked anything lemony yet with this batch, but they were so pretty I couldn’t resist a little photoshoot.…