Spring Series

Spring Series I

Spring Series II


Spring Series III


Spring Series IV


Spring Series V


Spring Series VI


Spring Series VII


Spring Series VIII


Spring Series IX

Spring Art Shows

Spring Series IX

For this year's spring art shows I framed & matted nine flower photographs. The photographs were taken last spring at the Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Michigan & at Allerton Park here in the Champaign area. I am very excited about these pieces. They were all intimately framed. The largest image being 5" x 7" boldly matted in an 8" x 10" frame. If you have a chance please check them out at one of the following venues.

Boneyard Art Festival - April 16-19
Artwork will be displayed throughout Champaign & Urbana. Please check their website for maps of all the venues. My work will be displayed at the Lincoln Square Village in Urbana on Saturday, April 18th from 12-8pm.

Artists Against AIDS - April 27-30
Located downtown Champaign at the Orpheum Children's Science Museum. press release here.

TCBC's Youth Silent Auction - May 3, 10, 17 & 24
Located at TCBC in Urbana. The silent auction helps raise money for youth mission trips at our church, TCBC.

Baby Branded Cards

Cadence Rose's Birth Announcement

outside

inside

And the Thank You cards

outside shown. inside is blank.

What would Mr. Budget do? Part One

For three or four years now my friend, Kandra, & I have affectionately called our husbands Mr. Budget Sr. & Mr. Budget Jr. They received these names because they each have their own crazy money management skills. Plus each of them have magically been able to get Kandra & I abide by them - most of the time. Kandra & I both have wanted to pull our hair out at times because of the limitations these two men have put on our spending habits; however, I think I can speak for both of us when I say, we are happy to have money to use rather than going into debt when we make big purchases, go on vacation or decide to go out to dinner at an expensive restaurant.

I have posed the same five questions to both Mr. Budgets in hopes of helping my readers manage their own money. Below are the answers from Mr. Budget Jr.

What categories is your budget broken into?
budget categories: food, eat out, fun, household goods, gas, bills (rent, phone, elec, insurance, etc), school, baby, miscellaneous, business

How often do you review your budget?
every week, depending on time

How do you manage your debt?
the goal is to not amass any debt. some loans are necessary like school or home loans or medical bills but we strive to pay off loans as quickly as possible. we always pay extra on our loans if we have the money available. save your money and pay cash for as much as you can. the less that the banking systems own you, the better!

credit cards are the bane of our nation. my wife & i use them like debit cards so that we can collect "miles" to get rewards from the credit card companies. we subtract every credit card payment from our checkbook like a debit card. since we have been married we have resolved to pay off our credit cards every month. if we can't do this then we will discontinue using them. i feel there is no reason to pay 18% interest for anything.

patience is the key to getting the things that you want. Ecc. 5:10 "Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness."

Do you have a favorite money website for my readers to check out?
no website's... trust any book by Larry Burkett. some of his ideas would be very difficult to accomplish, but i encourage you to take a look at them and apply what you feel you can use.

And finally, what budgeting technique do you think drives your wife crazy?
jessie fights any constraint i put on her. :) but in the end she realizes the advantages. she likes good food and it is expensive, so she likes to test the food budget when she can.

Weigh In - Two Month Check Up

Our little hippy child, Cadence, has been sporting the greener choice in diapers, a combination of cloth & gDiapers, for awhile now. So we thought it was about time that she & the fuel efficient Corolla finally meet. So instead of loading her into Kyt, our Nissan Xterra, for today's doctor appointment we put her in the backseat of the Corolla. The Corolla was excited to finally hang out with the newest Scheunemann.

At the visit Cadence came in at 10lbs 1 oz & 22 1/2 inches long. She also got her first round of shots. Needless to say Cadence wasn't her happy self for the rest of the day. The poor girl has a bruise on her entire upper thigh. Sad. Her & Daddy are currently sleeping on the couch.

Operation Stimulus 2009 Program

Below are some sample spreads from this year's program. The most entertaining part of this project was that it was due to the printer by January 14th - six days after my due date. Well, little Cadence obviously wanted Mommy to finish what she started since she didn't arrive until the 19th. Why were we all worried about the deadline again?

Weigh In.

Cadence went in for her 3 week check up yesterday.
She weighed in at 7 lbs. 6.5 oz and was 21.5 inches long.
Grow Cadence, Grow!