January Recap- blog and otherwise!

So February is already started, but I never got to do the recap of my goals and my blog- oh, did I mention I want to do this each month? No? Well here goes! Off to a good start- a few days late on the first go-around already. 🙂 I do have a good excuse though- we mad a mad-rush trip to my hometown on Tueday to visit my hubby’s granny. We really, really thought we were going to say good-bye, but God’s plans are different than ours! We were so happy to get some sweet time with her, including my son singing to her and stroking her face until she fell asleep. Priceless. When we left to come home today, she was sitting up drinking coffee!

Anyway, our big goal this month (read: the goal I made and imposed on the whole family- oh the privileges of a mama!) was to not eat out, with the exception of our daughter’s 5th birthday if she chose to eat at a restaurant. I really felt God laying on my heart to do this for January, and he knew what he was doing! This was a hard month for us financially. Enough for the bills, but no, and I mean NO extra. (unless you count the kids’ allowance, and I don’t think it’s nice to steal from your kids, is it? 😉 )

So how did we do?

-We did eat out for Allie’s birthday-at her favorite, Texas Roadhouse. We went a few days early though so we could take advantage of Kids-Eat-Free night at Roadhouse. We also went early for their early-dine so with an appetizer, two adult meals, and three kids meals, and tip, we got out for $25. Not bad for a family of five! Plus, we had enough leftovers for the kids and I to have lunch the next day.

Allie’s birthday cake we made together. It’s getting featured! So excited.

-When my sister came to town, we went for Mexican food (hey, she’s pregnant, she gets to choose!) but I had a gift card. Total cost- $0.

-My parents also took us to eat when they were in town. (Thanks mom and dad!) Total cost for us- $0.

So we ate out two more times than intended, but didn’t spend any extra money. We spent a total of $25 on eating out for the month of January. I don’t even want to know at what we spent in December!

As for the blog, here’s what went down:

I started a new series on marriage, which I am WAY excited about! I already have bloggers lined up for each Tuesday until March 20th! Already, I have had Joann share a wonderful post geared towards military wives (and others who are separated frequently), and Amanda sharing on what defines a successful marriage. Please check back every Tuesday- I have some great bloggers sharing!

I also started a new series where I think I confused everyone! I intended to do a Recipe Roundup (Linky party), but in addition I started challenging myself to learn new veggie dishes. So if you join me on Wednesdays, please feel free to join in, adding ANY recipe, not just veggies! 🙂

Here are the recipes I’ve done already:

And, because I didn’t have time to get a recipe together yesterday, a re-publish of a recipe from this summer, Fried Rice. It’s not too late to link up for this week!
January was a good month- looking forward to February! It’s my favorite- my birthday and Valentine’s Day two days in a row. 🙂
PS Have you liked my page on FaceBook? I’m going to do a FB fans-only giveaway soon! 
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About Kelli Hays

Kelli Hays is a wife, mother, writer, and friend. She has been blogging since 2008 and loves sharing inspiration for the everyday woman!

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