Budget Day :{

Today was budget review day at the Timmons house. We had not had one of these since moving to Amarillo. Typically when a major change like a move occurs we give ourselves a few months to let our expenses equalize. After doing a 3-month expense report on Sunday I felt that we were ready. I knew it was not going to be pretty; moving from a small town to 8 minutes from the mall never could be. Convenience and ease of shopping never trends toward a small and trim budget. So today was a true compromise of what are we going to give up, and what is unrealistic to trim back on.

Everyone has their fixed expenses on a monthly basis, those things that are there every month and are typically consistent. The bills: house payment, utilities, and in our household our monthly dining out and grocery allotment. These end up in the fixed column. Then there is our variable expenses. In the past several years I have been using Dave Ramsey's envelope system. This makes things much simpler for me: if the envelope is empty then you have to wait till next month for that categories next infusion.

Cody and I are both very reasonable when it comes to our budget. To tell you the truth we have had most of our categories set in stone since before JB was born. We did such a wonderful job on our budget post-JB and pre-Taylor that it is now an invited subject. We did so well in fact that we have been able to pay off loads of debt and save for a down payment on our house and retirement.

So what am I giving up in order to save, save, save? Our first cut back is clothing. We have decided to re-visit this category on a monthly basis. If there is a true need for someone in the family to get an article of clothing then that need will be addressed and met, but my days of a dress or shirt (typically for Taylor) each time I visit Target are over. Our family is very fortunate that both of the kids have older cousins meaning we get lots of hand-me-downs. Typically the kids only need something when they have grown out of PJ's or it is a special occasion. No more impulse, that is adorable, spending. The next agreed upon budget cut is household/ yard spending. It is summer so this one has been a big compromise. We are not going to completely cut this category, but we are going to give it a fixed amount of cash. When the cash is gone we have to wait until the next month for any more spending. Both of us agreed to significantly cut this category back from the 3-month review and discuss at the end of the month if an adjustment up or down needs to be made.

There are also categories that either Cody or I are just willing to give something up. For me I have decided to start dying my own hair at home again. This one has been pretty easy for me to give up. In Denver City, my dear sweet Holly was wonderful and also about half the price of an Amarillo salon. Since I have been used to spending much less on my personal hair care for the past 4 years I would much rather have that money to spend somewhere else. My next sacrifice was an easy one, 4 bottles of nail polish in exchange for a monthly pedicure. I will still be visiting the nail salon for special occasions, but in between I think I can paint my own toes. I have also discovered that Bath and Body Works has nifty little pedicure kits for a fraction of the cost of two professional pedicures a month. Don't think that I am the only one giving things up though. Cody spends less in a typical month anyway, so his cost cutting is more in areas of lawn and garden care and entertainment.

As Dave Ramsey says, we have to live on what we make. This is very important to both of us, and something we plan on teaching JB and Taylor. If we don't start now with teaching and spending habits we won't be as successful in the future.

Wish us luck, and have you looked at your budget lately?

Cowboy Day!

I think JB rode the horse 2 or 3 times.






Poor Kitty...

JB could not believe this was a Baby Duck.


JB & Madeline


The boy in the black was also named JB. His chaps had a JB brand on the side.




Taylor loved the Kittys.



Today was Cowboy Day at school. The kids all had a wonderful time, and I survived.

Little Miss Taylor

Princess, Tomboy or maybe both. I still have not completely figured out this little girl. She loves to be butiful, play dress-up, and her most favorite article of clothing is her princess jammies. On the other hand though, she loves everything Bubba loves too. If JB is doing it, she wants to be right in the middle. When she has had enough of following bubba around she locks herself in her bedroom for a little baby time.

My mother-in-love Vickie, or Gigi, and I are constantly telling each other about how much little missy reminds us of Cody's sister Holly. From overall apperance to actions, Taylor is her Aunt Lolly-Pop made over. She has a few of my characteristics, but she is overwhelmingly a Timmons. I don't mind though, I wouldn't change a thing about her. (I may regret that statment when she is a teen.)


I don't see how you could possibly miss this resmeblance.

I have been told many times that the second child learns much faster than the first, and this is totally tru with Taylor. She is also a girl which also helps in the early years. One thing I have noticed though, is while my sweet boy JB is very smart, Taylor has become the brains behind most operations. JB loves his sister so he continually tries to be sweet and include and help his lil' sis. What does he get in return, most of the time trouble. We have all become a bit wiser though, and have realized that Taylor cries wolf quite often. When her bubba does not give her what she wants she screams like he has hurt her. In the beginning it worked, but even the brains has started to realize that she is not getting any sympathy.

Instagator, pest, or whatnot, I believe these two have something special. They are going to be best buddies for a while longer. One day JB will become too cool for his little sis, but until then there will be many fun times.

Timmons Family 2010

It has been a whirlwind of a year so far. Back in December, Cody and I made the decision to move our family back to the Amarillo area. After nearly four years in Denver City we felt that God was calling for us to make a change. It had been a blessing to be so close to both of our families when JB and Taylor were born, but God had something else planned for us.

When we moved to Amarillo in 2004 Cody started working for Maxor National Pharmacies flying their airplane with an old friend from high school. It was an extremely hard decision for us to leave the company and move to Denver City when we did. We loved the people and we especially loved Amarillo. In December, Cody received a phone call asking if he would be interested in coming back to work for Maxor at his old position. We knew in our hearts that this was the change God had planned for us. January 2nd Cody was off to school for two weeks of training. A week later on Friday, January 8th the kids and I headed to Amarillo with a u-haul in tow to sign papers on our new house. Cody was able to meet us Saturday afternoon to unload boxes and enjoy a little air mattress time. The next weekend the kids, me, and my in-laws brought two more trailers full of goodies to the new house. We had lots of boxes, but very little furniture to speak of. Cody was finally finished with school, and early the next week we made the biggest of our moving trips with the largest of u-hauls trucks. The furniture had arrived!

A few days later, we were snowed in. January and February brought lots of snow to the Panhandle, and I loved it. We enjoyed an outrageous number of fires in the fireplace and put our new Home-Sweet-Home together. In March, we headed back to Lubbock for me to have surgery. In December, I had blood drawn to test for the breast cancer genetic mutations. I tested positive for the BRCA 2 mutation. March 12th I went in and had a preventative double mastectomy to reduce my overall chances of having breast cancer. I am now continuing to recover from surgery and in the expansion process of breast reconstruction. If you would like more information on all of this, please see my blog, How Young is too Young?

April brought around the first Tornado of the season. Cody and I watched it come down several miles to the West of our house. We had been watching the storms from our back porch for a while.

We are settled in now, and it definitely feels like HOME!! God has continued to bless us, and has provided us with a wonderful new Church Family. We became members at the Church of Christ on Bushland Road in March. God has big plans for this growing little Church, and we are excited to be a part of them!

The Timmons Family is looking forward to the Summer and all of the adventures we will be having. At the end of last summer we were fortunate enough to be able to buy a Pop-up-camper. We had two wonderful camping trips with the kids before the summer ended. There are so many fun options to take the kids to and explore very close to Amarillo, so I know we will be very busy this summer.

Hope you have enjoyed the update! Talk to you soon...

Mother/Daughter Pedicures

Taylor and I had the most fabulous day today. After running several errands together I decided that I had put off my pedicure long enough. We found us a nail spa and went for it. While we were there Taylor decided to get her nails painted. She eventually warmed up to everyone and had her eyes on the cutest pedicure chairs I have ever seen. There were two of them one looked like a panda, and the other I believe was a rabbit. Taylor got down and wandered over to the chair and sat down. It was much smaller for children, and had a DVD player attached to the arm rest. She finally smiled and asked for water. I thought to myself why not. So Taylor got her first pedicure and manicure. By the time we left we had matching nails and toes.

I believe this will become a mother and daughter ritual for the Timmons house. At $15, it was a bargain for an afternoons worth of entertainment.