Strawberry Rhubarb Jam! YUM

A little over a month ago we went and got a flat of strawberries from Grandpa's Farm and we decided to make jam! Yum! This was the first time that Madison had been home/awake for the entire canning process! She was a great helper and taste tester! The jam turned out amazing and Madison and I are already plotting what we should can next! She loved the process! 

Birthday Weekend....32 years young!

I know that these next few posts are a "little" late, considering my bday is January 14th. LOL We have had a busy few months.  But I still wanted to share all that we have been up to :)

Jeff had planned for a weekend at the coast for my 32nd birthday!! He found a hotel that allowed dogs so we brought Gunner too! It was a great stormy weekend, which we were hoping it would be since our room had an ocean few and we LOVE watching storms on the beach.  We had gotten a year long pass for the family to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not, the Underwater Museum and the Wax Museum from Auntie D and Uncle Jeff and used it that stormy Saturday! It was really fun! Madison wasn't a big fan of the Wax Museum....a little scary she thought.  Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky and mom and dad were at the coast as well that weekend celebrating Aunt Becky's bday so we meet up with them for dinner and went to a fancy restaurant for dessert! We had a great time swimming in the hotel pool and being a happy family! Until next year!!

So Far So Good!

We are 15 days in to our "nothing new" family challenge and I can honestly say we are doing amazing!! So far there is really no temptation.  The extra money we have after each paycheck (we kind of started not really buying anything new towards the end of December...) is so rewarding that I really do think twice before buying anything.  The temptation has not been there at all.  We went to the coast for the weekend and we went to a few places that typically I would want to shop around...but we didn't.  Madison was really good about just looking at stuff and saying how cool it was, she didn't ask for 1 thing! It was awesome!! I just wanted to give a shout out to my family on how well we are doing and to keep up the good work!! Go Team Juhls! 

Saving $$$ in 2014

So a while back I read a blog about a family of 4 that decided for a whole year they were not going to buy anything new.  Guess how much money they saved in that year?  $10,000!! So the Juhl's have jumped on board.  We have challenged our family to not buy anything new in 2014 and see how much money we can save and put towards becoming debt free.  There are some "rules" that we have set up for our family to help make it a little easier.  You can buy something if it was homemade/constructed, you can buy new supplies if you are going to hand make/construct anything, certain house project items and if Jeff or I need some specific work clothes. 

I had my first "buying" issue on January first LOL, the first day of our challenge.  I was taking down our Christmas decorations and realized that we needed another tote to store stuff in when we put it in the attic.  Soooo...instead of going out to Bi-Mart or True Value to buy a red and green tote, I went hunting around our house for a box.  Problem solved and $5.99 saved.

Madison's one question when we were discussing this family challenge was if we had to eat used food.  Good question if you ask me! :) We are allowed to buy new consumables...food, shampoo etc.  Phew :) 

I will keep everyone posted on our family challenge and what interesting things we purchase used or how we are able to work around buying something new.  

Does your families have any awesome New Years resolutions?

Christmas in Bend 2013

This past weekend we picked Madison up from her mom's and spent the weekend in Bend with Jeff's family. It was a great time in the Sunshine City! Thank goodness I remembered my sunglasses as we were pulling out of our driveway.  Jessica and Jared also were there visiting so it was full of fun.  Saturday we woke up and Mollie made us a delicious breakfast casserole and then we headed out to Great Grandpa's farm.  I am so excited for Jared and Jessica because they are newly engaged! Congrats!! I wanted to try out our new camera and work on some engagement photos. So that is what I set out to do. Nolan (Jeff's youngest brother) was my assistant, because as we all know a good photographer needs an assistant.  hehehe.  It was really fun and we  did get some great shots of the two of them! We spent the rest of Saturday running errands and getting ready for our Christmas that evening.  We all gathered back at the house and had a yummy meal and then opened presents! It was a great day and everyone loved everything they got.  Sunday we woke up to pancakes and bacon! Yum! Then we all went shooting out somewhere on a bumpy road.  As soon as we got there gunner was going bonkers! Running here and there and everywhere, the best part is his coloring helps him blend in with all the brush of central Oregon so he was like a ghost puppy!! It was a great weekend visiting family! I couldn't have asked for better in-laws! 

Jeff, Jared & Nolan Juhl

Jeff & Madison on the top of hay stack

Gunner & Jessica at the top of a hay stack

Cow

Family :)

Grandpa's new tractor

Nolan's Tree House...apparently Girls Are Allowed hehehe

Gunner blending in with the grass in Bend

I told Madison to smile and this is what I got LOL

Gunner is hunting up some deer in the field....don't worry deer Gunner is a scared-y-cat

Madison driving a tractor

South Sister...can you believed I hiked to the top of that?  Go Me!