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Katrina’s World is just that – it’s all about me and my world. I’m Katrina Rauch, and I’m a mompreneur that loves to help people! Katrina’s World is all about helping you be a better mom, wife, and entrepreneur! My posts include tips on cleaning, cooking, couponing, crafting, giving, gardening, ways to save money and make money, and so much more! Enter your email on the left and join me so I can keep in contact with you!
Top 20 Christmas Break Activites to do on a Budget With Your Family

Top 20 Christmas Break Activites to do on a Budget With Your Family

ChristmasActivONBudgetThis post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

It’s almost Christmas!  Yeah!  I look forward to the break that my kids get from school more than anything!  I love having them home…I really do!  Trust me, I have my days when I want to pull my hair out because they are home, but for the most part, I love to hang out with them.  Yesterday, I was sitting down to my computer to make a list (yes, confession time, I’m a HUGE list maker – anyone else out there make a cazillion lists just so you can cross stuff off them?!) of all the fun things we were going to do over Christmas Break.  Or should I say, a list of all the things I’m hoping we get to do over Christmas Break.  This year, my husband is going to take a week off – and we don’t plan to go anywhere – it will be a sort of “stay-cation” and I’m super excited!  We all know Christmas can be expensive enough, so we plan to do a lot of fun things, that make lasting memories, that don’t cost very much – which you all know is how we roll around here.  There are all sorts of fun things you can do that don’t cost much and I plan to have a blast doing them (and hopefully my family will too)!  Grab a pencil and make a list!  Here is my Top 20 List of Fun Christmas Break Activities To Do On A Budget With Your Family:

 

  1. Make a Dollar Store Ornament:  I found clear plastic bulbs at my local Dollar Store and we plan to make these cute Time Capsule ornaments that I found on Pinterest.  If you can’t find any clear plastic bulbs at your local Dollar Store – try these instead.
  2. Gingerbread House Competition: Every year we have a Gingerbread House competition – usually boys vs. girls and we set a time limit and use these store bought gingerbread house kits and get crafting!  If you love to bake, you can make your own gingerbread ahead of time like this recipe from tikkido.com to use, or do what I do, buy the kits the day after Christmas and use them the following year!  The kits are everywhere after Christmas and are usually 70-80% off!  I always pick up a few and pack them away with our Christmas decor to use the following year!
  3. Play a Family Board Game: One of our family favorites is Headbandz!  We giggle and laugh like crazy when we play this silly game – especially at our youngest son who loves to cheat!  Actually, he loves to win at all costs so he tries to find creative ways to cheat!  Silly kid!  I picked up my copy of Headbandz on VarageSale for only $2!  You can also check your local Goodwill, or Thrift Store and even a kids second-hand thrift store.  Or you can buy Headbandz now!
  4. After Christmas Clearance Sales: Our family loves to hunt for good deals the day after Christmas!  While this may not sound like a family activity, it sure is in our house!  Or family gets very into decorating our house with Christmas Lights!  We all love to help and we have a tradition of going shopping for clearance deals on lights and decor the day after Christmas!  All three of our kids think it’s an adventure to find the best deals on decor for the yard and we spend a good portion of the day after Christmas out hunting for deals!  Of course, we usually go out for lunch too!
  5. Go to a Cheap Holiday Movie:  Our local movie theater shows early movies before noon on Saturday mornings for only $5!  When you are taking a family of 5 to see a movie this is a doable deal every once and while!  There always seems to be a good holiday movie that comes out around Christmas time and so this is a cheaper, fun thing to do, especially if your kids don’t get to go to the movies very often.  I have a movie gift card that I was given last Christmas that we still have not used, so we plan to use that and with the money we save we might spring for popcorn!  Of course we will get the BIG one and share it, and our theater gives free refills on the BIG popcorn!  Score!
  6. Go Out to Eat:  Find some local restaurants that have Kids Eat Free or Kids Eat for $1.99 and have a special meal out!  One of my local favorites is Newks and right now they are offering Kids Eat for $1.99!  Not too bad for a meal out!
  7. Play Snow Soccer:  We recently did this in Montana over Thanksgiving when we were visiting family.  Our family LOVES soccer and what better way to play it than on a field of snow?!  Sounds crazy, well, it was a blast!  We had a decent snowfall, and we cleared off some of the snow on a much smaller field, but left enough snow to run across it and kick a soccer ball.  We set up 2 pop-up soccer goals and put on all our snow gear and played a soccer game!  It was so much fun!
  8. Have a Snowball Fight:  If you have snow, then have a snowball fight!  Use these tools to help you make snowballs or just go ‘old school’ and make them yourself.  I’m praying for some snow here in Colorado, but it’s almost Christmas and we have had 60 degree weather all week.
  9. Go Sledding:  We love to go sledding in our neighborhood and have recently found a great hill not far from our house that is perfect for sledding!  I found all our sleds at garage sales and am thankful, because we seem to go through a lot of them!  If you need some sleds, you can buy them here.  Call some neighbors to join you in the fun!
  10. Go Look at Christmas Lights:  Looking at Christmas lights has to be one of my absolute favorite Christmas traditions!  I love it so much that I make our family go look at lights on Christmas night!  Thankfully, my family loves this activity about as much as I do and will go look at light multiple nights in a row!  Living in a big city helps as well, there are so many lights to go see!  We usually start in our town and work our way out from there!  We have been doing this for so many years now that we have some of our favorite houses that put up lights every year that we go see and then we love finding new ones!   We don’t just jump in the car and start driving around, we ALWAYS splurge and stop at McDonalds (which is right around the corner from our house) and get $1 drinks to sip along the way!  You can always make your own hot cocoa and take it along with you.  My kids love to put their PJs on as well!  I’ve also learned that if I want this activity to last awhile, I need to bring snacks too!  I usually get a BIG bag of Smartfoods Popcorn to take along and that seems to keep everyone happy for quite some time!
  11. Christmas Color-By-Number:  Even though my kids are getting a bit older, they still love a good Christmas craft and I stumbled upon some Color-By-Number sheets that I could just print off from Pinterest.  I’ve been surprised how long they sat their together and colored the sheets.  There are lots of them online and on Pinterest and this makes for a frugal activity you can do with your whole family!  These are the ones I found on Pinterest.
  12. Bake Cookies:  Get the whole family together and spend some time baking!  I realize this may not be fun for some people, but goodness, in our family we all love to bake! I have a ton of great recipes on my KatrinasWorld Pinterest page you can check out!  A few of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes are: Peppermint Meltaways from CookingClassy.com and  Cherry Chocolate Kisses from CurvyCarrot.com.  We make both of these every Christmas and then hand them out to all our neighbors!
  13. Watch The Grinch: Rent from your local library or buy, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and bake these Grinch cookies from inKatrinasKitchen.com!  Then, you must also make Grinch Punch and sit down and watch the movie and eat your yummy treats! It’s a silly tradition, but one that our family does every year and we just love it!  It’s a great night-time activity to do and is so much fun!
  14. Home Alone + Breakfast:  This activity may sound silly, but somehow it’s grown to be one of our family favorites.   Have friends over for breakfast and watch the original Home Alone movie – or have breakfast for dinner and watch the movie at night!  I’m not sure why we picked Home Alone, but it’s a classic that our family loves to watch, plus we have dear friends that we’ve made this a tradition to do every Christmas break and it’s something I look forward to each year!  This year we are planning to have our friends come over for dinner instead of breakfast, but we still plan to eat breakfast for dinner!
  15. Read the Christmas Story:  On Christmas Eve, act out the Christmas Story directly from the Bible – you can find it in Luke 2:1-20.  If you have young kids, have them dress up and act out the parts as you read.  We have done this since I was a little girl and I even have a rocking horse that is perfect for the Donkey that Mary rides on!
  16. Birthday Party for Jesus:  On Christmas Eve we throw a birthday party for Jesus!  After we read and act out the Christmas story from the Bible (this can be found in Luke 2:1-20), we have birthday cake and celebrate Jesus’ birth!  Get creative with your kids and have them help you make the birthday cake earlier in the day – it can look like whatever you want!  We even put candles on our cake and sing Him “Happy Birthday!”
  17. Friends + Chili + Board Games:  Invite a family over to share chili and cornbread and play board games.  We have a couple favorite family board games right now, Qwirkle and Wits and Wagers!  Both are great family-friendly games!  Wits and Wagers is so much fun for a larger group and even younger kids can play along!
  18. Volunteer:  Volunteer your time as a family helping at your church for all the extra Christmas Eve services they will be having.  Our family helps out in the Children’s department with the 4year olds so the adults can attend the Christmas Eve Candlelight service.  If watching kids is not your thing, I’m sure there are lots of other things your family can help out with, like: serving coffee and cookies, greeting at the door, handing out bulletins, cleaning, helping set up extra chairs, etc.
  19. Go Look at Lights Again:  In my area our local newspaper puts out a list of addresses of the best Christmas lights to see all over our city – look up the addresses and go see some more lights!  We also have a lot of local Facebook groups in my area that keep a running list of great places to see lights.  Don’t forget to stop and get drinks along the way!
  20. Go Caroling:  This is completely FREE!  Gather some friends together and go sing Christmas carols to your neighbors!  I’m horrible at singing, but goodness, how fun is this to do?!   I know in my neighborhood, it would shock my neighbors to have me ring the doorbell and then start singing!  We’ve never done this before as a family, but we just might give it a try this year!

This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

ChristmasActivONBudget

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December 19, 20180 commentsRead More
The Gift To Choose

The Gift To Choose

GodsGiftI was stunned this morning when I was doing my CBS (Community Bible Study) Bible Study on the book of Acts by a quote:

“Your ability to choose is God’s gift to you; what you become as a result of your choice is your gift to God.”

You should stop and consider this quote for a moment. Does it hit you square in the face just like it did me? Well, maybe it won’t, but lately I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching about my future.  Sounds deep right? Well, for me, at this time in my life, my future is deeply personal and close to my heart.  I’ve been struggling for a few years about what I’m supposed to do with my life, career-wise, now that all 3 of my kids are in school full-time. I long to contribute financially to my household and feel that God has gifted me in many ways to do so. I don’t just want a paycheck, I want a real ‘calling’ to pour my heart into…that produces an income that blesses my family and allows us to bless others. That’s what I’m looking for. Problem is, I have no idea what that looks like.  I have been praying earnestly that God shows up in a mighty way and provide clear answers for me, as I’m totally lost as to what my calling looks like.  And, you guys, I’ve been struggling with this for a couple years – not just the last few weeks.  I get stuck in thinking that because I don’t have it figured out that God is not a work behind the scenes.  But He IS!!!  I just know it!

That is why this quote hit me so hard this morning. “Your ability to choose is God’s gift to you; what you become as a result of your choice is your gift to God.” You see, I’ve been so caught up in trying to find the exact, ONE, job that God wants me to have that I’ve forgotten that there are probably many jobs that I can do that God would be pleased with and that fit my personality. What God is after is my heart and what I become based off the job I choose. This way of thinking about my situation sure removes a lot of the pressure of finding the “perfect fit” and instead gives me a lot of grace. What about you? Are you facing a big decision that is super hard to make because you have too many options that all seem pretty good? I covet your prayers for my job situation and I’d be honored to pray for you as well – comment below and let me know how I can pray for you and I’ll do it!

Hugs to you all!

GodsGift

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December 6, 20180 commentsRead More
How Can I Pray For You?

How Can I Pray For You?

WhoCanIprayfor_God has really teaching me a lot about the power of prayer and how fervent prayers from a humble heart can move the heart of God.  I’ve been so touched by this and truly just how powerful prayer is, that I’d be honored to pray for you.  Please comment below on any way that I can pray for you today and I will!

Hugs!

 

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December 3, 20180 commentsRead More
10 Easy Ways to Make Extra Money From Home

10 Easy Ways to Make Extra Money From Home

10waysSAHMearnmoney

This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

I’ve been a stay-at-home-mom for 12 years! 12 years! Wow! I love being home with my kids, but it’s not always easy and anyone who says it is, well, they are lying!  If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I’m a true entrepreneur at heart – I’m always trying to think of ways to make money in my everyday life. I’m so thankful I get the pleasure (although like I said, it’s not always a pleasure) of being at home with my kids and taking care of our household. But, let’s be honest, being at home all day taking care of laundry and kids doesn’t pay the bills.

We chose to wait to have kids until we were ready and able to have me stay at home to take care of them, knowing that I would not bring in an income. While I know that a lot of couples do not have this choice, it was our desire for our family.  After reading Dave Ramsey’s book, Total Money Makeover, we decided to work extra jobs for the first 5 years of our marriage to pay off all our debt and that sure made it easier for me to be home not working.
I’ve tried over the years to find ways to make money, but most of my efforts are on the money-saving side instead of the money-making side. I use coupons for everything, I try to make a lot of the products we use such as all-purpose cleaner, food items like taco seasoning and granola (find my granola recipe here – it’s yummy and healthy – WIN WIN), my kids take their lunch to school every day and we like to use plastic lunch box containers that we can reuse to save on those little plastic baggies, and much more. I know many moms are in my same spot – they are at home, trying to save as much as they can, and longing to also earn money doing it! Well, here ya go – my top 10 ways you can make money being at stay-at-home-mom and I have personally tried all 10 of these things and currently do a few of them right now:

  1. Nannying 
    Nannying is an excellent way to bring in extra income while staying at home. The best part of nannying is that it goes right along with what you already do as a stay-at-home-mom, especially if you are able to nanny a child around the same age as your own kids. Plus, having another child around to play with your child is also a bonus! I nannied a little girl last year for the duration of the school year. She was with me 3-4 days a week and she fit right into our daily schedule of kid activities. Plus, my kids loved having her around the house and always wanted to play with her.
  2. Make Your Own Product
    I have been making my own all-purpose cleaner for years and recently while sitting at church I had a bright idea that I should bottle it and sell it for all the people who just don’t have time to make it themselves.  It’s called CLEAN MOM Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner. Plus because I’m making it myself, it’s pure, natural and has no harsh chemicals. If you have a product you can make and sell, go for it! I’ve chosen to advertise my cleaner on a local Facebook page dedicated to Homemade products, as well as my own Facebook page, my Katrina’s World facebook page and my Katrina’s World blog. The sky is the limit on where you can post your products to sell them. Use local online pages, or consider setting up a booth a local Farmer’s Market or craft show on a weekend to display and sell your products. If you know any business owners with a storefront, consider approaching them about possibly setting up a little point-of-sale spot in their business.
  3. Start a Blog
    I’m working on this now!   I’ve had my blog for about 4 years now and it’s never made a single dime of income for me. I’ve taken it very slow, built it from scratch, spent countless hours pouring my heart into my posts, and have loved it. I take a lot of breaks from my blog to focus on other things especially when life just get really stressful. For me, that’s ok. I never started my blog to be popular – I really don’t know why God lead me to start my blog…I still wonder. I can tell you this, I like working on it, it’s a lot of work, but I know from all the other blogs out there that I follow that you CAN make money with your blog. I would love for my blog to make a real income for our family – even just a little bit would be helpful, but it’s all in God’s time and I’m willing to go along for the ride. Most of the money made on blogs comes from advertising income, guest posts, sponsored posts, etc. It all comes down to page views on your site and how many people are active on your blog. I’m currently working on that aspect right now.
  4. Take a Work At Home Job
    The sky is the limit on the work-at-home jobs that are out there, you just have to get creative on where to find them.  A few of them that I have done are: Data Entry, Virtual Assistant, Lead Processor, Appointment Scheduler, and Research Assistant. When I really think about it, most of these jobs have just come along when I’ve been in the right place at the right time. I never really went out looking for them. I did some data entry – but I did struggle with this, as I’m not good with numbers. I’ve been a virtual assistant many times over the years, but mostly for friends. I also recently spent a few months doing some lead processing which tied right in with appointment scheduling for a local doctor and loved the job! It was simple to do, didn’t take very much time, and made great money! I got paid every time I called a lead and got them scheduled for an appointment. If they showed up to their appointment, I was paid. It was a perfect job to do at at home, I just needed a phone and my computer. Again, this was another job I did that found me.   I really liked it, much more than I thought would and hope to do it again soon! For work-at-home jobs, sometimes you just need to jump on Facebook and tell your friends and family that you are looking for something you can do from home and then list off all your skills and see what comes back to you!
  5. Freelance
    I’ve done lots of freelance design jobs over the years. Since I have a degree in graphic design, all my work 20 years ago centered around design. I worked full-time doing design for other people and then for my own business for many years! When I stepped away from my design business I still would do all sorts of freelance design jobs on the side for different people. I still do – especially for close friends and family and a few local doctor offices. If you are able to do any type of freelance work, it’s a great way to make extra money. I have friends who code apps, space plan, or stage houses – the sky is the limit for what type of freelance work you can do!
  6. Multi-level Marketing/Network Marketing
    Join a network marketing company or multi-level marketing company. There are so many of them out there – find something you are passionate about like lipstick, makeup, health products, vitamins, candles, essential oils, etc. Instead of just consuming the products, sign up as a consultant and sell the products to your friends and family and then you can earn what you consume for free usually! It’s a win-win! I’ve had my own network marketing company and boy does it come with it’s ups and downs – be ready for a LOT of rejection, and a lot of triumph! I’ll be honest, it just wasn’t for me – but that’s a whole other post to write some day!
  7. Teach Classes
    There are 2 ways to do this – if you have a 4 year degree you can teach in many different ways – Community College, Substitute Teaching, Online Classes to foreign kids (and I’m sure there are many more).  A long time ago, before we had kids, I was working full-time as a graphic designer and we had just finished Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course and we were committed to get out of debt as soon as possible. We both worked extra jobs and for a while I started teaching at our local community college. I taught basic graphic design classes at night and it was hard! The workload was a lot because I taught 2 classes a week , but it was so worth it! We made some great extra money and payed off all our debt in one year! I’ve never done substitute teaching or online teaching, but I’ve considered it. I have quite a few friends who teach online classes to Chinese kids and they love it! I’m not a fan of the hours though – it’s typically an early morning job – which is one reason I’ve not wanted to give this a try. I’ve also never tried substitute teaching at any of my local schools, but have considered it as well!
  8. Public Speaking
    I love to speak to large groups! If you are passionate about a topic, find a way to brush up on your speaking skills and share your knowledge with others! Join your local Chamber of Commerce and start out small by speaking for free to a small group. I used to speak about inexpensive ways to market your business with my local Chamber at a monthly luncheon and it was a great way to share my knowledge and also get my company name out there. I loved it and would love to do more speaking! I’ve also spoken at my local MOPS group about couponing, as well as how to raise kids with God’s grace. While I never made a lot of direct money from speaking – I did make money in other ways from it – such as I grew my graphic design business by gaining new clients by just putting myself out there and I also was given gift cards as payment for speaking for a my MOPS group.
  9. Dog Walking
    I don’t do this as much as I’d like to!  I love dogs, especially mine, and I walk her ALL the time – usually about 6 miles a day broken up into 3-4 smaller walks.  Sometimes I think she’s taking me for a walk more than I am walking her. I need some breaks all day long to stay focused and walking her is the perfect way to do it! She’s still a puppy and is FULL of energy, so walking her is a perfect way to give us both a break. I’m walking so much all the time, that I sure thought it would be nice to find a few other neighborhood dogs that needed walking as well and make some money getting exercise! I’m still open to this idea and hoping to find the right pups to walk!
  10. Bake Sale
    Have a bake sale with your kids on your front lawn! I do this with my kids every summer and it’s a blast! We bake up a whole bunch of treats and make a festive table in my front yard. We stick up signs around the neighborhood and viola! It’s great to pair a bake sale with a garage sale if you really feel like doing some work!

This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

10waysSAHMearnmoney

 

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September 25, 2018Comments are DisabledRead More
CLEAN MOM – Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

CLEAN MOM – Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

CleanMOM_KWYou all know me, I love to make things at home that I can make cheaper than buying at the store.  A few weeks ago I shared with you all my recipe for Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner that I like to use at home – it’s cheap to make, easy to make and has NO harsh chemicals!  The best thing about this cleaner is that it smells great and is super easy to make with things around your house!  I know our lives get super busy, I mean seriously, we are moms – so I’ve decided to bottle my cleaner and sell it in case you are too busy to make it yourself!  :) Yep, you got it – I now offer my Homemade Cleaner to any Parker, Colorado locals.  If you would like to buy a bottle of my CLEAN MOM All-Purpose Cleaner – please email me.

CLEAN MOM All-Purpose Cleaner is pure, natural, and cleans better than anything you can get at the store – without the harsh chemicals!

It works awesome on mirrors and glass leaving a streak free shine! Use also in your kitchen, bathroom, countertops and even on carpet stains!

*Ingredients: Water, Vinegar, Pure Lavender Castile Soap, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Hemp Oil, Lavender Oil and Jojoba Oil.

$3/bottle (28oz) or $10/4 bottles
Pickup in Parker, CO.  I accept Cash, or PayPal.

Order NOW!

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February 14, 20180 commentsRead More
Quotes By Katrina #5 – God, What Are You Doing?

Quotes By Katrina #5 – God, What Are You Doing?


GodWhatAreYouDoing Have you ever wanted to just shake your fist and scream at God, “What are you doing God?!”  I know I have.  Many, many, many times – over both big and small things.  You know, when your son just won’t listen even though you have told him at least 10 times not to pick up the new puppy.  Or, why didn’t I land that job I interviewed for that I wanted to badly?  Or, how come her stay-at-home business is growing and thriving and mine isn’t?  Or, will this sickness for my kids ever end?

I totally understand and have walked in your shoes and am currently walking that road right now.  God is doing all sorts of things in my life that don’t make sense to me at all.  I have many moments of being so frustrated that I want to shake my fists at him and scream!  I had a realization the other day, who am I to question what God is doing?  He’s got me in the palm of His hand and has all the details of my life worked out long before they even happen.  He knows why questions go unanswered, why illnesses don’t heal and why relationships go sour.  AND, He’s working them all out for my good and instead of being angry at Him, I choose to Trust.  I encourage you to do so also.  Trust Him!

” I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. ” – Jeremiah 29:11

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January 30, 20180 commentsRead More
#1 Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

#1 Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

BestAllPurposeCleanerMy favorite scent is Clean.  I’m serious, I love the smell of Clean.  No real scent needed, just Clean.  For me, that’s the smell of vinegar and a little water!  :) I’ve made this amazing Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner for years and never thought to share it until now.  It’s super simple, cheap, easy and you can vary it a little bit if you want.  All you need is a spray bottle – either go buy a new one, or save one of your old Windex cleaner spray bottles – I promise you will love this cleaner so much better than anything you can buy at the store for double the price!  Get your spray bottle and mix:

  • 4 Cups Water
  • 1/2 Cup White Vinegar
  • 1tsp (I like Palmolive or Dawn, or 100% Pure Castile Soap)
  • Squeeze of Lemon Or Couple Drops Lemon Essential Oil (Optional)

Shake and viola!  It smells great and works so much better on glass and mirrors than anything else you can buy!  I don’t always add lemon, but you can if you want to make it smell even better.

USE FOR:

  • Kitchen Counters
  • Glass
  • Mirrors
  • Bathroom Sinks, Counters, Toliets
  • Carpet Stains
  • Tile Floors

It’s awesome, cheap, easy, and smells so Clean!

**UPDATE – I now offer Katrina’s World readers the option to buy a bottle of CLEAN MOM All-Purpose Cleaner directly from me!  Click Here to find out more!

BestAllPurposeCleaner

 

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December 4, 20170 commentsRead More
My 48 Day Journey – Change Is Hard

My 48 Day Journey – Change Is Hard

48Days-4I hate Change. Period.

I really do.  It’s super hard for me, always has been, hopefully it won’t always be that way. I’ve had a major dislike for change since I was a little kid. I would keep doing the exact same thing repeatedly just because it was comfortable and a lot of times I would hope for a different result. How dumb is that?! It’s like a diet – you have great intentions and think, oh this time I’m going to really get skinny! Then you find yourself doing the exact same things you have always done to try to lose weight.  You get up early and work out, you “try” to eat healthier, but in the moment, you find yourself still choosing the exact same food choices.   As a result you never really lose any weight, even though you keep hoping that you will still get skinny because you are trying so hard.  Why do we keep doing the same things and expect a different result?  If you want a different result you must change and not freak out about the process it takes to make the change.

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” –Robert G. Allen.

This whole concept of trying to find the work that I love is so hard for me. I love it, but I hate it. I feel like I’m on a journey of change and I find myself wanting to look back at what I’ve always done and keep hoping I’ll enjoy the result. Seriously, Katrina – get a grip! What is wrong with me? Are you like this? Do you hold on to a horrible job just because the idea of looking for another job seems too hard or too scary? Or the idea of having to change your work environment to something you are unfamiliar with, is worse than just sticking with the awful work environment. That’s me. I will keep doing the same thing, even if I hate it, or even if it’s not getting me anywhere just so that I don’t have to actually change. The fear of change is worse than the actual change itself. It’s just so silly. And who knows, what if there was something great on the other side of the change?! Like new friends, or a pay increase, or better benefits?

Dan Miller in his book 48 Days to the Work You Love, gave a great example of this. He talked about how a king put a big boulder in the middle of the main road leading to the city. Some people just walked around it. Others grumbled and blamed the king for making their commute hard. No one tried to remove the big boulder. Then one day a peasant came along carrying a giant load of vegetables. He set his veggies to the side and after much work he was able to move the boulder off to the side of the road. As he began to leave he noticed a purse containing gold coins and a note from the king indicating the gold coins were for the person who removed the boulder from the road. What is the moral of this story?! Taking risk can lead to great reward.

Let that sink in. Taking a risk, going for it, making a change – can lead to an unexpected reward. And that reward will never be a reality unless you try.  Phew! That’s a hard one for me.   A lot of time my fear gets in the way. Almost all the time my fear of the unknown gets in the way. This may surprise you, but it’s true. I’m such a wimp. I’m not a thrill-seeker at all. I don’t like change. I fear the unknown. I like control and feeling like I’m in control of what I’m doing – after all the only person I truly can control is myself. I like my feet on the ground, I like to know what I’m doing and what’s coming up. This love for control keeps me in a safe place a lot of the time and being safe is sometimes very boring. The love for control means I over-think and dismiss my abilities a lot to the time. I’m great at thinking of ideas for other people, but when it comes to myself I’m great at dismissing the opportunity. So silly and so sad.

A lot of people moan about their place in life or how they are stuck at their current job – but what are they doing about it? If you really want to change your circumstances, take a good look at yourself and your current situation. Then, decide where you want to be and take action!

I’ve had a lot of people ask me lately where I’m at on my 48 Days Journey. Have I figured anything out? I’m pretty sure my 48 Day Journey has gone past 48 actual days. And have I figured anything out? Sort of. Here is what I know so far:

  1. I NEED to work with people. I’m energized by people and relationships.
  2. For me “Work” is all about the people I’m working with – I think I can make just about any job fun if it’s with the right people. I’m more attracted to the people than the actual work.
  3. I need to be me – full of glitter and spunkiness, and I need to share it.
  4. I’m not afraid to be on stage in front of people, I enjoy commanding a room, I like attention, I like public speaking.
  5. I don’t want to sell – even though I can.
  6. I would like to work with my spouse again.
  7. I like the unconventional jobs – entrepreneurial in nature.
  8. I like to lead, but am not a visionary.
  9. I’m a great helper to someone who can take risk.
  10. I want a job with a deeper and higher purpose.
  11. I don’t want to go back to school.

It’s a frustrating list to write. I feel like it should be much clearer as to what I’m supposed to be doing with my life. I’m annoyed that after all this time and work on this book that I still don’t have a very clear picture of what my life’s work should be. I feel like I’ve figured out more of what I don’t want to be doing than what I do want to be doing. Maybe that’s a good thing though. I can think of a lot of careers that I just don’t want to do. I do know that for me, work is all about the people I’m working with – I think I can make just about any job fun if it’s with the right people. I’m more attracted to the people than the actual work. I’m not sure what this says about me, but that I put a very high importance on relationships. I already know that people are energizing to me and when I’m home alone for too long (like an hour or so) I start to lose my mind. What does that say about me Lord? Really?! Gosh when I look back at jobs I’ve had in the past I don’t remember the job for the job – I remember and love the job for the people I worked with at the job. Wow. Seriously, what does that say?  How do I turn that into a vocation with a direction of where to go and what to do? I feel desperate to have a direction…

So that’s where I’m at. I still dislike change and probably always will, but change is good and healthy and necessary to growth. I need to stop resisting it and search for it. I know I love people and need to be around them. I miss my spouse and would love to work with him again. I like high energy and fun environments, I love to make people happy and see them smile. I’m an excellent leader and self-starter. I love people that take risks and will support and help them take those risks. I love to help.

Seriously, this is so much harder than I thought it would be!

Thank you Lord that you have me on this journey and I pray you help me understand myself even better every day…I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me!

 48Days-4

 

 

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October 25, 20170 commentsRead More
My 48 Day Journey – “Ah Ha Moments”

My 48 Day Journey – “Ah Ha Moments”

48Days-3“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” – 1 Peter 4:10

I call them Ah Ha Moments – like a light bulb appearing over a cartoon head on TV – all of a sudden that moment of realization hits you – that’s exactly what happened a few weeks ago when I was sitting in the 5th row of seats at church.  We were a few minutes early and made it in time for the on-screen announcements.   To my surprise Dave Ramsey appeared on the jumbo screen.  Everything in life paused for a moment and my face lit up like a candle!  I caught myself instantly being filled with an overwhelming sense of longing to Dave’s energy and passion for what he does.  I’ve always liked Dave Ramsey – his personality, his passion, his energy, his drive, his overall message, his love for the Lord – all of it.  He even reminds me of my dad and I catch myself calling him “Uncle Dave” – even though I don’t have any relation to him at all (deep down I really wish I did though).

Dan says in his book, 48 Days to the Work You Love, that everyone has a vocation or a calling and you need to take notice of Ah Ha Moments in your life – this may give you a strong indication of your calling.  Those moments of deep longing, or when you are doing something and realize in that moment that you are doing exactly what you were born to do.  A calling is not something reserved just for pastors, priests and monks.  God places a calling inside each one of us with special gifts and talents reserved just for us as individuals.  We fulfill our calling simply by being exactly what God created us to be and by being excellent at it.

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  I’ve struggled with this idea for such a long time – trying to figure out my true calling in life and never really understanding what it is.  Half the time I always felt like people are “called” into ministry – but rarely  do you hear someone say, I’m called to be a mom or an IT professional.  Seems like you can only be “called” when it has to do with devoting your life to full-time ministry, but that’s flawed thinking – 100% flawed.  Think about it – God created everything and everyone and each has a unique purpose – God created trees to be trees and by that tree being a tree it gives glory to God.  The same is true for us – God created each of us unique and by being ourselves and doing to the best of our ability exactly what God intended for us to do, we will find ultimate fulfillment.  Whoa!  That was profound – even for me!

So, how in the world do we figure out our calling?  According to Dan it starts with understanding the difference between your vocation, your career, and your job.  I’d have to say I used the words vocation and career interchangeably – they seemed like the same thing, where in fact, they are not, and this understanding has again lifted a burden off me.  Your vocation is the big picture of your life – the overall direction and purpose, the thing you do in life that gives you meaning and leaves a legacy for generations to come.

The Dictionary defines Vocation as:

  1. a particular occupation, business, or profession; calling.
  2. a strong impulse or inclination to follow a particular activity or career.
  3. a divine call to God’s service or to the Christian life.
  4. a function or station in life to which one is called by God.

I define vocation as the overall direction of your life, your calling – that unique path for your life that only God could put you on – that “thing” that you were put on this earth to do.

Your career is an entirely different thing – it’s a line of work that you do for a certain amount of time and you can have many different careers in your lifetime.

The Dictionary defines Career as:

  1. an occupation or profession, especially one requiring special training, followed as one’s lifework.
  2. a person’s progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking.
  3. success in a profession, occupation, etc.
  4. a course, especially a swift one.

My favorite definition is #2 –  a person’s progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking.  “Through a phase of life” – this perfectly explains a career to me.  A phase of life – think on that.

When I figure out my vocation and the overall big picture of what I want to do with my life, then there will be many careers that I may choose to do that still fulfill my overall vocation, especially if I decide that the career path I choose when I was 18 is no longer the career I want today.  Take for example the vocation of “helping people” – that can translate into many different careers such as being a teacher, doctor, pastor, writer, entertainer, etc.  And that also translates into many different jobs within a chosen career path.  If you started out helping people by being a special education teacher in an elementary and then decided that teaching kids was not your thing at all, then you could change your career path by going on to teach college students instead or start a ministry where you are helping homeless people.  All of these careers still fall within the vocation of “helping people.”

I hope I haven’t lost you yet!  All of this is a like gold to me!  I feel like I’m learning about myself and living backwards – oh to go back to my younger years and do all of this in the correct order!  Oh well, I’m sure if I could go back in time, none of this would seem so profound.  Right?!  I’m hoping my journey can somehow offer hope to someone else in my shoes who is struggling with their calling as well.

Let’s also define a Job – the Dictionary defines Job as:

  1. a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one’s occupation or for an agreed price.
  2. a post of employment; full-time or part-time position.
  3. anything a person is expected or obliged to do; duty; responsibility.

A job is a job.  It can be big or small.  It can be fun, or awful.  It can be the best choice you ever made or the worst.  It’s all up to you!  And the best part, it’s just a job – so if you hate it, change it.  If you love it, turn it into your career and if it’s fulfilling to you, then most likely it’s right in line with your vocation and you can truly say it’s your calling in life!  I think most people live their entire lives never finding their true vocation or calling – not because they haven’t tried, but because they let life and circumstances get in the way.  There were bills to pay and kids to take care of and they took the first job they could make money doing so that their kids were taken care of.  Next thing they know, it’s 20 years down the road and they are wondering what happened to their life.  Maybe, it never occurred to them to look at their life’s purpose and seek to understand what is God’s best for them.  Please Lord, don’t ever let that be me!  I don’t want to be scared to dream, to wonder, to take a leap!

Dan says, “Jobs will come and go, but they should never derail you from the fulfillment of your calling.”

I think I’ve made it too hard for me to see my calling.  It’s probably right in front of me and has been all this time.   I must be making it complicated – as if my calling is not enough – like it must be more, or harder, or it’s not worthy of being the calling of my life.  Funny, when I consider who placed that calling on my life – who is the Master and Creator of ALL that I am?

“You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” – Psalm 139:16

Lord, help me see it – help me see my calling, my vocation, the overall direction of what you want me to be and do with my life.  Make it clear to me and give me a sense of Peace when it’s resonated in my heart.

I’m still working on this one you guys…. I’m thinking and praying about it and will be back with my thoughts soon.

48Days-3

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September 19, 20170 commentsRead More
My 48 Day Journey – Money Isn’t Everything

My 48 Day Journey – Money Isn’t Everything

48Days-2“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” -Confucius

As I dive into the 48 Days to Work You Love book by Dan Miller I’m struck with many “um hmmm” and “yes” and “oh you tell ‘em Dan” mumblings out of my mouth.  I read a page or two and wanted to highlight most of the words!  He has so many one-line truths that make me feel very hopeful and validated.  I even feel validated in my confusion of what I’m doing with my life, which is very encouraging.  I think I’ve always felt that your job is what defines your success in life – if you climb the corporate ladder just high enough, or if you start your own business and have a bunch of employees, or if you join a network marketing business and build your team to the top level, then that means you were successful in life.  With each of these, there would also be a big stream of money that came along with it.  Big fancy job, high level career, top earner and lots of money – to me, that was being successful.

I hate that I even put that on paper, I feel like it makes me sound shallow.  Yes, I had dreams too, and yes having money sure seems to be the best solution to a lot of life’s hardships.  How many times have you taken a job just because of the money?  Or better yet, how many times have you tried a job because of the promise of BIG money?  You know what I’m talking about.  We all have the one friend who is in a network marketing business – not too long ago I was also in one myself.  My husband and I got into the business because we loved the products and we wanted to share them with everyone!  Naturally, I assumed that every person in my life would want to try them, and I also assumed that the products would literally sell themselves.

At the beginning, lots of friends and family did support us and they gave the products a try.  Our business declined as soon as I ran out of friends and family to talk to.  I desperatlely wanted our business to succeed because we both wanted that promise of money, more time with the kids, and the cool car that came along with the higher levels of achievement (we did need a new car at the time, so this seemed like a win-win).  We stuck with it for two solid years.  We went to all the local meetings, and traveled to the BIG meetings out of state, and held our own meetings out of our house.

I wrote ebooks, blogged about the products, shared the products on all forms of social media, messaged and called all my contacts, and as time went on I started to notice a shift in my attitude.  I no longer saw people as people – they were a target.  I would consider every possible angle I could think of to somehow bring up how my products or business could fix any problems they had.  I no longer saw people for who they were – my friends, my family, people God placed in my path on a daily basis that needed His love – they were all possible business associates that could take us to our next level.  Ick!!! When I finally realized this I was ashamed of who I had become.  That’s not who I am.  I love being around people and being there for them when they need something.

I realized my new business that I started with the best intentions had turned into something that I didn’t want to be a part of anymore.   And you know what?  I didn’t see God’s blessing in it either – it was like  we were spinning our wheels and never getting any traction.  After the second year of trying to fit a square peg into a circle we finally walked away, and I’m not sorry we did.  Let me tell you, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders when I could finally love on my friends again without seeing a dollar sign.  For me the big selling part to joining a network marketing business was the amount of money and success you could achieve – all depending on how hard you work – I wanted to experience the American Dream of having lots of money, toys, and time.  While I think this business model is legit, it’s super hard, and so many of us try and don’t last very long.  For those that make it and enjoy it, I applaud you, but for me, I sure hated how much I thought about money and the constant push for more time, more meetings, more people, more…more..more…more.

In the pursuit of my dream, I was sacrificing so many other parts of my life.  I was focused too much on money and forgot about caring for people.  My good intentions of having a better and more fulfilling life were pushed way off to the side and eventually I lost myself.  I toiled so hard in working our business that I didn’t make physical exercise a daily habit, and I quit eating healthy because it took up too much time to prepare healthy food.  I only made coffee dates with potential clients instead of just meeting up with a friend to see how they were doing.  I stopped volunteering to make dinners for neighbors in need because I was “too busy working”.  I quit doing a lot of the things that God put me here on earth, in my state, in my neighborhood, on my street, to do for others.   Like I said, it was a big learning experience!

My journey of being a part of a network marketing company taught me many things about myself.  I don’t want to sell – period.  The funny thing about that is I totally can.  I have a personality for days – I can talk to just about anyone, but I hate the feeling of having to “sell” to someone or convince someone they need what I have.  It’s not who I am and I’m so glad I found Dan’s book because one thing I’ve learned is that just because I have the skills to do something really well, like selling, it doesn’t mean I have to do that for my job.

Until I figure out what I want to do for my “work” I’m happy that there is more to life than just job success.  I saw so many people in my network marketing business that seemed happy on the outside because of their top level achievement, but behind the scenes when no one was looking, they were over-worked, stressed out, and quite possibly unfulfilled.  I didn’t want to be one of those people who spent all my time, efforts and energies working on my business and neglected all other parts of my life.

I won’t ever take a job again where I have to convince people to buy something – it just feels wrong to me.  For those of you out there who are in a network marketing business and love it – ROCK ON!!!  Stick with it if you are loving it and can’t wait to get up every morning to work on it.  For me, I’m glad I now know that my job success is not the only piece to a successful life.  There are so many other parts to who we are as human beings, and the key is to keep it all in balance and to make deposits into all areas of your life – not just work.

Dan’s book has a whole new take on what really is a successful life.  A successful life is so much more than a job or a career.  Your work is only a small part of your overall life success, or at least it should be.  That’s the key.  In Dan’s book, 48 Days To The Work You Love he says, “Work cannot be the only component of a successful, fulfilling life, but it is a very useful tool.”  God made us to work and it’s a part of life, but why not have work that is fulfilling both physically, mentally, and spiritually? Yes!!

How in the world do you even figure this out?  That’s what I want, a J-O-B that earns money, is fun, exciting, fulfills my spiritual gifts, helps people, and doesn’t feel like work.  That’s what I’m looking for.  But I have to remind myself that work is not the only part of having a fulfilled life.  We need to stop being defined by what we do, but instead by who we are.   There are 6 areas of your life that need constant deposits made into them to keep them running – Work, Family, Personal Development, Community, Church, and Recreation.  If you spend all your waking hours working, then your family and kids suffer.  If you spend all your time with your friends in community – staying out too late then your job suffers and your home life falls apart.  If you spend too much time working on personal development by reading books and watching YouTube seminars never leaving your couch, then your health suffers.  If you give and give and give to your kids and family always meeting their needs first, then your health and personal development suffer.  It’s a nasty cycle of give and take.  You give too much to one thing, than everything else suffers.  I think a successful life is all about balance – which is so much easier said than done.  Am I right?!  Success cannot be defined by work alone.  Mind-blowing!!!

So…wrap it up Katrina…what do you mean?!  For right now, I feel like Dan has just lifted a burden off of me.  Work and money are not everything!  In our crazy, success-driven American lives, we give our souls to our work and there are lots of other areas of life that are worthy and are part of a successful and fulfilling life.  Just dwell on that for a few days…until I have more.

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September 7, 20172 commentsRead More