As I prepare for my blog redesign that was supposed to be done forever ago, I’ve been getting side tracked quite often. Completely my fault, as I’ve been taking a step back in time to read over old posts.
So much has changed over the last two and a half years, some good, some bad. In certain areas we’ve grown leaps and bounds, in other areas, our family has taken a few steps backward.
Life evolves. We learn. We grow, and we remember. We remember mistakes, milestones, and life changing events.
I thought it might be fun to give you a sneak peak into a Fox interview I did two years ago since most of you would never have seen it. They were fascinated by my frugal living ways, but somewhere the interview took a turn into homeschooling. I am not sure how that happened, since that was not the focus of the interview, but it’s definitely a huge part of our life.
As my daughter and I watched the interview, we noted quite a few changes, and many more not for this post. 😉
- We changed the home decor just a bit.
- We received new Frigidaire appliances.
- The boys have all grown a minimum of five inches, and one son actually weighs sixty pounds more then when this video was shot.
- The kids were nicer to each other two years ago. 😉
- Mommy was skinnier two years ago. (The 30 Day Shred needs to make its come back.)
- We haven’t done school together at the table once this whole year.
- The main thing that jumps out is that this was a time when couponing was an enjoyable way of life for my family, not an extreme couponing sport, where people take advantage of a way of life that has been developed over decades. Their desire to interview me came from my money saving lifestyle ideas that everyone can implement, and keep up long term. But again, I guess living debt free, without hoarding mustard isn’t extreme enough for some shows. 😉 (Yes, very tongue and cheek after viewing this past episode of Extreme Couponing where coupon fraud was in abundance.)
So enjoying meeting a “smaller” version of my family. Take a peek around a bit of our home and a small glimpse of our property…it was fun to remember.
(If viewing this by reader or email, you will need to click over to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam to watch the video.
It was fun to get a visual glimpse into your life, even from two years ago. I haven’t seen Extreme Couponing, but I’ve seen a lot of talk about it around the blogosphere. In my mind, there is a place for couponing, but ethics and common sense take you farther toward your financial goals than cheating at the grocery store. 😉
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We need to put you in charge of the National budget.
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Jen Reply:
April 10th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
HAHAH – don’t get me started on that topic. Do you notice I don’t blog about politics…ever? I am a little too opinionated to put it in print. lol
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The thing that struck me most about this interview is how much your kids have grown! 🙂 Yep…it’s a mom thing! LOL!
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It was fun watching the video and getting a small glimpse of your life.
And it is true, families do evolve and change. As my children have gotten older I see them pulling away (in a good way) and doing more things on their own. We use to do alot of unit studies in our schooling where we would all be working on the same thing, just at different levels. Now, I feel like I’m really only schooling 2 children as my teenagers are doing most of their stuff on their own or with other teachers (through our co-op and other classes) and I’ve become more of a mentor to them instead of a teacher. It’s bittersweet. What matters most is that we are doing what God wants us to do at a given time.
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Love your blog, love you, but I cannot watch Fox news under any circumstances ;o)
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Jen Reply:
April 12th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
haha..well, if it makes you feel any better, it’s not Fox national news, just our local station. Although, Fox news would have given me a lot more publicity. 😉
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