I'm back!

Bet you all thought I was gone for good, didn't you!  Well... I'm back now!

Life got crazy busy for us there for awhile.  We were sick, which I why I wasn't blogging at first.  And then my piano studio went crazy.  I picked up a bunch more students (four last week alone) and now I have 16 students each week!  Yikes!

The adventures in gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free eating continue.  I just started a loaf of french bread in our bread maker.  This is the first time I've used the bread maker since last summer. I'm hoping the loaf turns out okay.  I'm still trying to figure out the best egg substitute for various items.  I'm using Ener-G egg replacer in this bread mix.  I guess we'll see what happens.  :)

Our car is getting older.  We're going to have to do some repairs on it next week.  We're hoping that will be it for awhile, but it sure is discouraging watching our savings disappear into yet ANOTHER repair bill.  :P

Speaking of savings... we're still trucking along, trying to get out of debt.  I think it has helped that we're getting really close to paying off the car, so it's giving us that extra little bit of excitement that we've been missing.  We'll probably have the car paid off by August, if not before.  Then it's on to the student loans!  :)

That's the update from us!  How are all of you doing?

Missed you all last week!

Sorry to disappear off the face of the blogosphere like that.  I ended up with a cold, and then spent the rest of the week trying to get my feet under me.  My piano studio is GROWING.  :)  I have five students now, and a trial lesson with one more tomorrow.  I'm still waiting to hear back from a mom I replied to last week (I think I will e-mail her again today), and that could be two more students!  I'm definitely keeping busy!  :)

How have you all been?

There's a First Time for Everything

Today I'm filing business taxes for the first time ever.  *gulp*  I'm a little nervous about it.  I was REALLY nervous about it until yesterday when I called the Department of Revenue and a nice lady there walked me through the e-file process and helped me to figure out exactly what categories I needed to file under.  I'm so proud of myself that it looks like I collected enough tax to cover what I owe!  :D

So, yep, first time filing business taxes.  Fun stuff.  :)

Almost done!

This has been a very.long.week.  Finally, Daniel is just about done inventory.  In the last 4 days, he's worked  nearly 44 hours, with another 8 to go tomorrow.  I'm excited to have him home for two days on Sunday and Monday!  :D

The Plan

2013 is going to be an exciting year for Daniel and I.  In mid-December, I won a free spot in Go Improve Yourself. Dustin, our fearless leader, graciously agreed to let Daniel join in on the fun.

Last night we worked through a six-page (double-sided) document, writing down our one year and five year goals in various categories.  It was a fun exercise, and sparked good conversation.  :)  We're looking forward to buckling down and tackling some of our goals right off the bat.

Dustin is encouraging us to pick just ONE goal, and focus on that for the 30 days we'll be in the Go Improve Yourself program. I've picked a goal to continue to grow my piano study. Ideally, I'd like to have 9 students by the end of the year.  I have four right now.  Over the next 30 days, I'll take steps to move closer to having 9 students. Daniel has been helping me out with that by setting up my new website. In the next few days, I will write, and post, a new Craigslist ad.

This afternoon, I have my first trial lesson and new student interview with a prospective student.  Tomorrow I have two more (brother/sister pair).  I'm very excited about getting this ball rolling!

One last post!

In 2012, that is.  :)

It feels surreal that this is the last day of 2012.  It feels anti-climactic actually. The 2013 budget is ready to go  (minus any adjustments for the fiscal cliff... :P), Daniel didn't have to work today, we don't have any invites to any parties tonight, so it just feels like a normal night at home!

One.more.day.

This holiday season has given me a new appreciation for the men and women whose spouses are serving tours overseas. My husband gets to come home every night, but it sure has felt like a long haul.  Daniel has had one day off over the last week and a half, and tomorrow is his last day of work before his two day weekend.  Next week they start inventory, so he'll probably be working long hours again.

And... next week I start teaching three new students!  *gulp*

I have one new student interview scheduled for the 1st, and two scheduled for the 2nd!  I'm excited.  Yesterday Daniel brought home the lesson books I'm hoping to use with two of my students, and I spent a bit of time playing through them, since I've never used them before.  Should be a good experience.

Another "Life in Little Hispaniola" Moment

I don't usually blog on Saturdays, but this was just so unexpected that I have to blog about it, and I didn't want to leave it until Monday when the whole thing will hopefully be settled.  :P

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm looking for a place with an acoustic piano that I could use one afternoon a week to teach piano.  There's a little Spanish church next door, so I contacted their local association office to see what the best way to get in touch with someone who speaks English would be.  They gave me the name and number of the church treasurer, who I called almost immediately.

I told him what I was looking for, and he sounded genuinely interested.  I wasn't really sure I would hear back from him though.  Today, my phone rang, and it was him, calling to see if I wanted to come over to the church and check out the piano!

So I did!

It's a Wurlitzer, pretty old, but all 88 keys and the damper pedal work.  It's definitely out of tune, but if I can get a few students, I think I might be able to offer to pitch in toward the cost of getting it tuned.

The church treasurer said he'd talk to the pastor tonight, and call me either tonight or tomorrow morning. If the pastor says it's okay, then I'll go over in the morning to meet him.

Here's the fun part... the treasurer's wife said they're having a potluck after church tomorrow and invited me to join them!  :)  Daniel might have to work tomorrow morning, and if he does... I think I just might go!  :)

Welcome ICLW!

Hi!  I'm Stephanie, I'm 28, and I'm a scattered blogger.  We've been TTC for nearly four and a half years, with no success.  You can read more about our journey under my "TTC Timeline" at the top.

For now, I just mostly blog about day to day life and the things that are going on at our place.  Up until September, I was solely a (mostly) volunteer online community manager, but now I'm also a mother's helper, and a piano teacher.  In 2013, I've decided to get a little more serious about the piano teaching side of things, so I'm working on finding a place to hold lessons, because my keyboard is not adequate.

So... that's my last month or so in a nutshell.  :)

New Students!

I never would have expected I would say this... but I'm a piano teacher!  I've been teaching one student since the fall, but I have two more starting in January. I'm a little apprehensive about starting with new students, since I've had such a good experience with my first student. One of my new students has never taken lessons before, so that's familiar. The other new student took three years of lessons, ending about three years ago.  I'm planning to start them both off very basic, but I'm hoping I'll be able to push the older, more experienced student a little faster.  I think I will be able to.  He seems like a bright kid.

Another leap I took today was e-mailing our facilities manager at our (rather large) church to see if I might be able to utilize the acoustic piano at our church to teach lessons one afternoon a week.  I don't know when I'll hear back from her, since it's so close to Christmas.  If I don't hear from her pretty quick into the new year, I'll contact her again.  Being able to use that piano would enable me to expand my studio and take on new students.

I'm also hoping that if I can get enough students, that I might be able to afford to re-start lessons myself.  I haven't taken lessons since high school.  I think that if I want to be a really good teacher, I should be in lessons too, and constantly challenging myself.  (Plus... maybe if I can take lessons from one of the more advanced teachers in town, they'll be willing to refer their beginner inquiries to me, allowing them to focus on their advanced students, and helping me further develop my studio!)

Delightful Dinner!

We had a lovely time last night with a family we hadn't seen in several years.  They made a great gluten-free, casein-free dinner, and then we all played bingo!  :)

Today I got off to a very slow start (I won't tell you how slow...) so now I have just a little bit of time to get the shopping list down and get it to Daniel so he can buy some food on his way home.  One meal that is DEFINITELY going on our menu is the one we served our company on Saturday evening.  It was a delicious microwave meatloaf that has turned out perfect all three times I have made it.  I think we're going to try doubling the sauce, browning the beef on the stove, and putting it over quinoa to make it stretch a bit further though, since we can't put beans in it (Daniel's allergies...).  Ohhhh... just thinking about it is making me hungry!  :P

Follow-Up From Yesterday....

If you haven't read yesterday's post, you can do so here.

Yesterday afternoon we stopped at the hospital and picked up Daniel's medical records from his ER visit, and wouldn't you know it... but there was NO mention of an IV at all, even though they told the insurance company that there was.  There was one form dedicated to medications, complete with an IV section, and there was nothing written in that section at all.  We're hoping that means it will be easy to contest the charge.  We also decided not to do anything about it until we actually get the bill from the hospital, but we will be contesting that charge.

Some Surprises are Good, Some.... Are Not.

Last week was a week of surprises for us.

Surprise #1--Discovering another young couple from our church wanted to get together with us.  That's a good surprise.  I could use a few more of those.

Surprise #2--Discovering that the claims for Daniel's ER visit have been processed. The hospital charged WAY more than we were expecting (even after insurance).  Not really sure yet how we're going to pay for it, but trusting that God will provide.

Surprise #3--Our postal worker knocked on our door on Friday with a package for me, from SereneTeaz, in Wheaton, IL.  I visited their shop in August with friends, and went home with their Vanilla Chai.  Turns out, one of the friends who took me there in August sent me their Chai of the Tiger!  So blessed by her generosity.  :)

Friends, I think?

I just looked at our calendar for December, and it's actually filling up!  Tomorrow we've having dinner with another young couple from church.  We're hosting them here, since we figured that might be easier on everyone as far as food allergies go.  I'm hoping it goes well.  It would be nice to have more friends who are married with no kids, and who are our age!

Then next week we're getting together with a family we met back in 2010.  We actually haven't seen them since then, so it should be fun to get together with them again.  Later in the week, we've been invited to a Christmas party at another young couple's house.  Then just a few days after that, my parents and my sister are coming for Christmas!  :)

Jury Duty!

We've been married five years.  In those five years, Daniel has never been summoned for jury duty.  However, I have now been summoned twice.  I must not look too threatening, because the first time I was summoned, I actually did get to serve.  It was an interesting experience, and I'm actually looking forward to having the opportunity to do it again.  Who knows if I'll get picked again though.  I guess we'll see in January!

Just about forgot to post today!

I just about forgot to post today.  Life has been... interesting, the last 24 hours or so.  We're planning an almost-impromptu dinner with another couple we've met... twice.  They're coming on Saturday night for dinner.  Monday we're meeting with a potential website client.  Somewhere in there we have to go by the hospital and visit with the billing department about a mistake on the claim they sent to our insurance company for Daniel's ER visit in July.

And in the midst of all that, Mama "T" is sick, so I won't be going over there tomorrow.  That's probably okay though, since I started a new supplement, and I'm detoxing pretty hard.  :P

Back to the Dentist!

Daniel went to the dentist today for the second half of his cleaning.  They gave him a different anesthetic this time, called mepivacaine, and it worked MUCH better than the septocaine.  It's been a little less than two hours since his appointment, and he's almost completely thawed out.  That's much better than the seven hours it took after the septocaine!  :)  So, it looks like he'll be using mepivacaine from now on.

I love my husband!

Just wanted to give my husband a big shout out today.  :)  He's been so good to me, and he loves me so much!  I'm very happy to have him in my life.  Looking forward to him coming home tonight, and being able to spend some time together.

Truthful Tuesday

Remember all the grand plans I had yesterday?  Well... the only thing on that list that ACTUALLY got done was the grocery list and the grocery shop.  I didn't write any cards and Daniel's meeting got cancelled.  Whoops!

But there you have it.  The truth about my Monday.  :)

Monday Morning Musings...

It's Monday morning.  That means it's a new week, a fresh slate.  And I messed up on my best-laid plans already.  :(  But... that's okay.  Because God forgives, and He knows my heart.

Today is going to be a busy day.  Daniel has a business meeting at a ranch on the other side of town this afternoon, and I'm tagging along for appearances.  After that, we'll go grocery shopping.  It's going to be a major shop this week because we pretty little in our cupboards and fridge right now.  :P  But of course... before we can do that, I have to write the grocery list.

Oh... and we're big on combining trips, so I have about 12 thank you cards, and 25+ Christmas cards to write before we leave.  Gotta run!  :)