Wordless Wednesday

The 15th day of the 4th month

April 15th is not my favorite day of the year! 

My first job was when I was 15. My grandfather had his own business and he made me get a work permit so I could start working on Saturdays. I got paid "under the table" and made less than $50 a week. At some point, maybe when I was 17 or 18, I got paid for real, which meant taxes came out. Taxes weren't fun then, and they're not fun 13 years later. Although when I was a teenager and in college, my family's accountant did all the leg work for my taxes and that was a lot more fun than all the forms I fill out now. 

I hear of some people who do their taxes on February 1st in hopes of getting their refund ASAP. I hear of others who file somewhere between that time frame and the dreaded day of April 15 in hopes of getting their refund. They buy elaborate things (that may or may not be more than their refund), plan their summer's vacation, pay off a loan, etc. And then there are people like J and I who file on April 15 because somehow we end up owing the government money each and every year. I'd be lying if I said I'm not jealous of those people I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph. 

When it comes to taxes, there are several things that are stacked against us. J is a minister which puts him in the self-employment category (#1). Then we rent and don't own a house (#2). Renting isn't necessary a bad thing, but there are several additional things we could write off should we own a house and not rent. Owning a house is an entirely different post in itself. In addition, it's just J and I - children and their expenses are yet a few other things we could write off (#3). When you add all those things together, it means I write a big fat check to the federal government each and every year - and sometimes I even write several checks because I have to use a payment plan. In addition, I write a smaller check (but a check nonetheless) to the state government each and every year.

I appreciate living in America, home of the brave and land of the free. I realize the importance of taxes and I refuse to discuss politics on this blog, so we won't talk about all the ways taxes could be different in this country. However, every when April 15 approaches, I usually break out in hives because I must analyze every receipt, every penny spent, and count every penny to pay. I sometimes wonder would things be different if we owned a house, had a gaggle of kids, or weren't in ministry. However, each and every time I think upon those decisions and where we are at in life, I realize that obedience to my Creator is worth so much more than paying taxes. People often ask us when we'll buy a house, when/if we'll have children, why don't we have different jobs, and each and every time, the answer is the same - obedience to my Creator is worth far more than paying out taxes or receiving a refund revolving around that ill-fated day of April 15. In His time, He consistently tells us where to take a step and how many steps to take. Those steps aren't always easy (like paying taxes), but completely worth it along the way and completely worth it in the end. 

Projects for March

• A new recipe: flourless chocolate cake, made for a friend with wheat/gluten allergies. Read more about it here. 

• Sugar Block of the Month - Forget Me Not Block

• Craftsy Block of the Month 2012 - 

String Block

Broken Spider Web

• Craftsy Block of the Month 2013 - Economy Block

Projects for February

February is a shorter month with only 28 days - I blame the lack of days on my lack of projects. :)

Chocolate ravioli became a favorite recipe during the month of February. Pie Crust + gooey chocolate center = deliciousness! I found the recipe here

 J moved into a new office at his work. We bought 2 end tables at Ikea and I added a little flair to one by creating a checkboard with vinyl pieces I cut on my Cricut. A few matching bottlecaps and we've got ourselves a gameboard. 

I'm continuing my online quilting classes:

• Sugar Block of the Month. 

This was a tougher block this month and I became best friends with my seam ripper. I didn't think paper piecing was incredibly hard until this block. It's not perfect, but a wise friend taught me the galloping horse theory. If a galloping horse can't see your mistakes, then decide not to worry about it and move on. I do have plans to remake this block before putting all the squares together and making the final quilt.

• Craftsy Block of the Month 2012

I'm continuing my efforts to make better on last year's quilting class.

Chunky Chevron Block

Balkan Puzzle Block

• Craftsy Block of the Month 2013

New February blocks on the left called Spring Blossoms, January blocks from last month on the right.

Dinner for a Friend

A couple in our Sunday School class had a baby. We signed up to take them dinner one night. There was one problem, all the recipes needed to be wheat/gluten free. I have high anxiety when there are food allergies involved - it just stresses me out. It's completely my problem! For dinner, I decided to order pizza from a great new pizza restaurant in our time - they have gluten free crust - score! I then prepared a salad with all the fixin's and all that was left was dessert. I asked a friend who is a great cook if she had any what/gluten free recipes and she didn't have a one. She told me to check Pinterest but sometimes I become so overwhelmed with all the options of Pinterest it stresses me out more than I already am! I searched the grocery store and found that Betty Crocker makes a gluten-free cake mix (warning: gluten-free cake mix is triple the cost of regular cake mix). I decided on yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing. I got home to make the cupcakes and realized that I didn't have gluten-free vanilla extract (it is about twice the cost of regular vanilla extract).

I then remembered about my Sugar Block of the Month class - every month's lesson comes with a recipe. It just "so happens" that February's lesson came with a recipe for flourless chocolate cake. I made the cake, added some gluten-free chocolate icing and dipped strawberries. It came out much better than I thought...too bad I couldn't try a bite!

Favorite Things

Wordless Wednesday