Friday, January 30, 2009

Wow, I've Got The Blessings!

I woke up this morning feeling incredibly optimistic. This is after spending this week down in the dumps, having no motivation to do anything, having a less than wonderful conversation (AGAIN) with Bank of America, having no desire whatsoever to get up and go to the gym, having no desire to stick to my diet, having no desire to be pleasant to anyone, not having much desire to even get out of bed.

But this morning, when my eyes popped open around 5:30 (and I SO should have gotten up then to run to the gym, but bad habits are horribly hard to break), I laid there thinking about the week, thinking about the future, and realizing I am so lucky and so incredibly blessed and to just get over myself. Yes, I'm in an unbelievable amount of debt, but the problem was recognized, a plan was made, and I have been working on it for well over a year now and now is not the time to just forget about everything I've done.

I have so many people rooting for me, praying for me, loving me through this and it has made it bearable. I have a fantastic job at a fantastic company that supports me and pays me well and helps me pay my bills every month. I love going to work every morning and how many people can actually say that?

My family are my favorite people. I have lots of sisters, lots of brothers-in-law, two fantastic parents and lots of nieces and nephews who are just plain cool and funny and talented and pretty dang awesome. People I am thrilled to be related to. My best friend is my sister. How many people can say that?

I live with a roommate who is pretty terrific. She's such a good friend and confidant and she doesn't charge me an arm and a leg to live under her roof, making it possible for me to really work on this debt problem. She's incredibly supportive of this adventure for me, and has total empathy for me as I'm going through this.

My friends are phenomenal. I don't know how many of you are Facebook users, but I can't believe the amount of friends, old friends that I've known for most of my life, that I have found or who have found me on Facebook and how wonderful it has been in reconnecting with them. It's incredible! Thank you friends (past, present, and future) for enriching and blessing and touching my life. I am grateful for you.

This is fairly random after what I wrote above, but I need to mention that Dave Ramsay's latest post is awesome: Thoughts on Obama's plan - a great read for a great day.

Lastly, I'm grateful I got to wear my cute shoes I bought in Chinatown in San Francisco last summer:

How fun are they?

(Smile) I had to end on a fun note, but seriously, THANK YOU to everyone for being my blessings and being my support and strength through this frustrating and obnoxiously difficult time. I couldn't do it without you! I wouldn't want to do it without you.

For those of you that I don't know that blog stalk me, thank you too. It's fun to think that perfect strangers can related to what I'm going through. That in and of itself is also a strength to me.

Love to you all!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

STILL

I am still alive.

I am still in debt.

I am still trying desperately to get out of debt.

I still despise Bank of America more today than ever.

I still fight discouragement every single day.

I still believe I will conquer this!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

It's Recipe Time

Happy 2009 everyone! I apologize for not blogging sooner and I'm certain I'm probably not busier than any of the rest of you out there, but this is the first time I can actually think about writing anything. So I thought I'd start the year off with a good recipe that's not too expensive to make. I'm all about being cheap as you well know by now.

I have to tell you about a wunnerful recipe I tried last night that turned out divine.

You take a roast (I used eye of round - not a lot of fat on it) and put it in the crock pot. Next I added two small jars of whole peperoncinis to the crock pot (if you can find a 32-ounce jar, then only one is needed). Dump in the peppers and juice. Next add a single packet of dry Good Seasons Italian salad dressing. THAT'S IT. You don't need to add water or anything else.

Turn on the crock pot to low and let it cook for 12 hours. I started it last night and when I woke up this morning it was done (and the house smelled amazing).

The peperoncinis and juice give it a great flavor, it's not too spicy, but it has a nice kick.

I shredded the beef with two forks, added some of the "juice" to it to make it moist (the whole peperoncinis are too rubbery to use at this point because they've been cooking too long - I wouldn't recommend adding them to your meat), and it filled a large bowl. I plan on freezing some of it to have at a later time.

It's really good on rolls that are toasted (even better when they're garlic toasted). For the "glue," mix equal parts mayonnaise, mustard, and sour cream (just a spoonful of each one will go far and low fat mayo and sour cream will work just fine) and a lot of cracked black pepper. Spread just a little bit on the roll, add the shredded beef, and enjoy. Andrea tried the meat on tortillas with a little cheese and it makes for a tasty wrap.

So much cheaper than eating out, it makes lots of leftovers (at least for a singleton like me) that I actually will eat (not a fan of leftovers in general), and it just tastes better than anything out there.

Try it. Let me know what you think!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A personal note to 2008:

GO AWAY!

GOOD RIDDANCE!

YOU WILL NOT BE MISSED.

(2009 don't let me down!)

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

You grew up in the 80s in Phoenix if you...

1) Would have done anything for a Ladmo bag.
2) Tired to fry an egg on the sidewalk.
3) Can still remember the words to the hepatitis song.
4) Spent way too many summer days in a mall.
5) Remember KZZP.
6) Went ice skating at Metrocenter.
7) Get irritated when people say "yeah, but it's a dry heat."
8) Have red burnt cheeks in ever childhood picture.
9) Had a pool in your backyard.
10) Vacationed in San Diego or Rocky Point.
11) Know what it feel like to come out of an icy cold movie theater into 110 degree heat - I miss that feeling!
12) Saw your mom drive with potholders.
13) Know what "tubing" means.
14) Have been "ice blocking."
15) Have a T-shirt that says "I survived the hottest day in Phoenix history" referring to that summer day in 1990 when it got up to 122 degree in the shade.
16) Consider yourself a "Zonie."
17) Ever put Christmas lights on a cactus.
19) Burnt the bottom of your feet running out to get the mail because you were too lazy to put on shoes.
20) Know some Spanish even though you never studied it.
21) Won hot pink scrunchies at Metro Midway!
22) Enjoyed making song requests at Organ Stop Pizza.
23) Got in trouble for leaving crayons in the back seat of the car.
24) Are not intimidated by a Super Big Gulp.
25) Your heroes were Kevin Johnson (KJ), Mark West, and Tom Chambers.
26) Had to pay full replacement price for the rented VCR tape you left in your car.
27) Shopped at Goldwaters, Broadway Southwest, Federated or Diamonds.
28) Remember Dave Pratt the Morning Mayor on 98 KUPD.
29) Can count the number of times it snowed in Phoenix on one hand.
30) Stood in line to watch movies at the original Cine Capri.
31) Snow Cones and brain freezes made summer worthwhile.
32) Cried when Wallace and Ladmo went off the air
33) Went to Pistol Pete's pizza, ShowBiz pizza, and can recall Tex Critters at MetroCenter
34) Thought Streets of New York had the best pizza in Phoenix at 19th and Northern
35) Remember Gemco
36) Ate at Furr's Cafeteria
37) Shopped at Mervyn's
38) Saw your first concert at the Arizona State Fair
39) Remember the Madhouse Macdowell (Purple Palace)
40) Remember Suns Fever
41) Recall Thunder Dan
42) Mourned the loss of Cotton Fitzsimmons
43) Believed in the 100 year flood
44) Did the hokey pokey at Great Skate.
45) Cruised Central, Metro or Mill Avenue.
46) Worried about drive by shootings at school.
47) Remember only TWO freeways either the I-10 or I-17.
48) Remember who Rose Mofford or Evan Mecham is.
49) Know what Sonoyta Motors is.
50) Know what Price Club is (and when there was only 1).
51) Had Dimension Cable.
52) Know what the Phoenix Gazette is.
53) Went to Legend City or Compton Terrace.
54) Know what Yellow Front, Lucky's, Smittys, AJ Bayless, are.
55) Suffered with a swamp cooler.
56) Went boogie boarding on irrigation day.
57) Fished in the canal.
58) Went to the hot air balloon races at Thunderbird.
59) Thought 19th Ave and Cactus was in the boonies.
60) Speaking of the boonies - drank in the desert with the rest of your high school friends until the bright light of the helicopter came blaring down.
61) Were ever excited about your appearance on "Pets on Parade."
62) Suffered the consequences of leaving your sister's favorite vinyl record in the car.
63) Remember your parents voting (or not voting for) for the monorail.
64) Thought Big Surf was Rad!
65) Danced at Club Rio.
66) Remember Tex Earnhardt and his "No Bull commercials"
67) Attended a birthday party in a railroad car at the McDonald's on Bethany Home and 23rd Ave.
68) Remember the Dr. Demento show on KZZP every Sunday night.
69) Burned your hand trying to open your locker at school.
70) Locking your car doors as soon as you got south of Bethany Home.
71) Wished you lived in California.
72) Didn't believe that High schools actually had indoor halls and full size lockers like they do on TV.
73) Didn't go to the park until AFTER dark.
74) Sweatband were not just a fashion statement.
75) Your Hypercolor T-shirt was permanently a different color under your arms.
76) Knew not to shoot at a Saguaro because it could fall over on you and kill you.
77) Thought Flagstaff was REALLY cold.
78) Always saw at least 10 people you knew on Mission Beach (San Diego)
79) Knew who worked on Van Buren.
80) Remember when the Roadrunners were the only hockey game in town
81) Remember when Buckeye was BFE
82) Wore jellies in the summer even though you had really bad feet sweat.
83) Went to see Santa @ Westridge Mall (that was the best one with the whole set up).
84) Remember when Ahwatukee was a retirement community half way to Tucson.
85) Remember 50 cent movie Tuesdays at Valley West Mall
86) Have a scar on the back of your thighs from the 3rd degree burns sustained from the metal clip your seat belt clicked in to. No protection given from the OP short ,shorts.
87) Remember the orange trees planted all the way down the middle of Black Canyon Freeway (Now called I-17).
88) Ever get your butt and legs burned by metal slides at the Whataburger across from Metrocenter? (What sadist would put metal slides on a kids playground in Phoenix????!!)
89) Remember when Sun City wasn't connected to the rest of the valley?
90) Ever have brunch at Mother Tuckers?
91) Remember when it only took 2 hours to drive to Flagstaff
92) Going to slide rock in Sedona and hoping it wasn't closed due to high levels of bacteria in the water!
93) Remember when Terminal 2 was the only passenger terminal at Sky Harbor and you had to walk on the tarmac.
94) Got free tokens at the Valley West Mall arcade for good grades on your report card
95) Celebrated a birthday at Ed Debevick's
96) Thought Bobby McGee's was the coolest restaurant ever
97) Ever rode the "crack the whip" ride at Encanto Park.
98) Ever got attached by a jumping cactus
99) Know what to do when you hear a rattle in the desert.
100) Used to shop at LaBelles, eat lunch at Liberty Bell Pizza or get soda at the U-TOTEM on Cactus.
101) Remember the commercial about Valley Fever..."Dustyyyy, dustyyyy, dustyyyy"!
101) Remember when you could get 2 tacos and a small drink at Taco Bell for $2
102) Had hot air balloons land in your backyard when you lived on 75th Ave and Bell by the orange groves known now as "Arrowhead Mall"
103) Witnessed the shock when the "art" on the 51 when installed. (Referring to the lovely toilet and large silver sphere.)
104) Had the bell run for their birthday at Farrell's (Christown)
105) Remember going to the Phoenix Firebirds baseball games
106) Remember Dewey Hopper-the weather guy who always wore school t-shirts,
107) Watched World Beyond on Sat. mornings.
108) Ate at Bob's Big Boy.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

From me to you:

I won't have access to the Internet for the rest of the week, so I just wanted to say:

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Monday, December 22, 2008

My Favorite Radio DJ


I am one of those people who enjoy listening to the radio in the mornings for the TALK portion of it, not necessarily the music portion of it

Every morning I have looked forward to Dave Pratt and his cronies on KMLE Country 108. They were funny, he's been in Arizona in forever (so he had great stories that I could relate to growing up here myself) and I just enjoyed him and his humor and everything about their morning show.

KMLE fired their entire morning show on Thursday (12/18) afternoon. Merry Christmas to them, huh?

I think the timing was pretty rotten and am severely disappointed in KMLE for their thoughtlessness. And I'm royally bummed that I don't have a morning crew to listen to any longer. I really and truly liked and thoroughly enjoyed these guys.

Dave Pratt, Stacey Brooks, Shappy, Dooley, et. al., you are awesome and I hope to find you on the air again soon.

In the meantime, any suggestions on who to listen to for my morning ride to work each day? KMLE has lost a long-time listener. Shame on them.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

To Billy or not to Billy:

If you know me at all, you know that I love, Love, LOVE Billy Joel.

(Love him.)

He's coming to Phoenix with Elton John on March 26, 2009, for their Face-To-Face tour. I saw this show in Las Vegas (with Thelissa and Holly) in 1995 and loved it. Watching them together on stage was incredible, especially when they were sitting at their pianos - man I LOVE the way they play their pianos. I do remember thinking there was too much Elton, not enough Billy, but I'm certain a lot of that was because I love Billy so much.


I've been in a quandary since I saw this ad. Tickets go on sale this Saturday the 13th. I've never missed a Billy concert since I "discovered" how much I loved him (late 80s, early 90s).

Getting out of debt doesn't really allow for non-important things such as concert tickets. I've been incredibly good at avoiding presents for myself for the most part, and find myself talking me out of things I would normally absolutely buy all in the name of "but I'm being so good."

Just today, several people have told me I should get a ticket for myself for Christmas. I deserved it and would truly enjoy/appreciate it. And I really would. Man, I REALLY would.

But I'm still in debt. I got myself into this mess because for my entire adult life, I've always had the attitude of, "But I deserve it because [insert excuse here]." I don't deserve it. Not this time.

Sigh. Bye bye Billy.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Black Friday Confession...

I bought...

NOTHING!

You'd be so proud! I went shopping with all of my sisters and the only thing I bought was breakfast at Mimi's that morning. That's it. I even carried around a shirt I wanted to get and I asked my sister to tell me to not purchase it. She did. I put it back. No regrets (though it was a really cute shirt).

Can you believe it?!? I'm quite pleased if I do say so myself.

Now I gotta share with you some picture memories of Thanksgiving 2008:

(This is the first time I've seen my nephew Jackson [16] in a while. He gives the BEST hugs and I've really missed him.)

(I have the extreme privilege of living near Andrea and her family. She's always saying I'm her kids' second mom - which I absolutely love hearing. Because of this, I asked to get a picture with them and here it is. [Kymber is front and center, then from left to right is Porter, me, Taralee, and Ellie with Abby standing behind Ellie, then the back row is Bryndee and Torie.])

(Here are the original LaRues: Mom and Dad [Sharon and Allan], with from left to right Andrea [4th], Leslie [1st], Tara [3rd], Stacey [2nd], and Cassie [5th].)



(And finally the entire LaRue clan [minus oldest nephew James who lives in Virginia with his wife/child and couldn't make the trip, as well we Jake who is on a mission to the West Indies]: front row is Sydney; 2nd row is Torie and Raegan; 3rd row is Ellie, Jackson, Porter, Mom holding Taralee, Dad holding Max, Andrew, Tyler and Dylan; 4th row is Bryndee, Jonni, Abby, Kymber, Tara, Cassie, Kalli, and Travis; 5th row is Andrea, Ron, Leslie, Jason, Chad, Stacey, and Kirk.)

WHAT A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY! Happy Thanksgiving and now Christmas to you all!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The ugly, almost naked guy

I have a neighbor that works out in his yard, all day and night long, in only his underwear. Not sure why he thinks this is okay, but he does it and it brings all sorts of giggles and chuckling by anyone who either lives near him or has heard about him.

My friend/neighbor who has the privilege of living across the street from him got some pictures a while ago and posted them on her blog.

Take a look.

I'm all about saving money, so here's your free entertainment!

Needs vs. Wants

I've written in the past about need vs. want.

I just read a blog post by Seth Godin that I thoroughly enjoyed that brings that point to home a bit more. He writes for small businesses/entrepreneurs, but I think his words can be applied to all of us personally as well. Take a look: HUNGRY

Monday, November 17, 2008

A tip from me to you:

Are you one of those people who gets email after email about safety issues, ways to gas your car up properly, what to watch out for, etc.?

I get those kinds of emails ALL THE TIME. I usually don't read them (sorry if you are one of the ones that send me those kinds of things).

But I did end up reading one that gave suggestions on how to get better gas mileage for your car. For whatever reason, it "stuck" in my brain and the suggestions seemed good and made sense.

It says to fill your car up in the morning when it's still cool outside and to not put the "lock" on the highest setting - you know, the thing you set on the gas pump that makes it so you don't have to hold it the entire time. It tells you to put it on the slowest setting instead of the highest setting.

I tried this the other day and would you believe I got 75 more miles out of this tank of gas? Granted, because the gas pump was set on the slowest setting, it was REALLY slow (I was able to go into the convenience store, fill up a soda, wait in line to pay for it, pay for it, then walk back outside and it still wasn't finished) - but it didn't produce any vapors as a result and it filled my tank up completely. I have just a dumb little Ford sedan, so 75 miles is actually quite a bit more for this car.

Maybe the cars with bigger tanks will get even better gas mileage than I did if you try it. Let me know how it goes for you. Seriously - I wanna hear about it!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Book Recommendation

Anything by Shannon Hale is always great. I just read her book The Princess Academy and was completely satisfied with it.



Run to your library (don't buy it - save money and get it from the library) and check it out. It's fantastic!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Chad and Cassie on Rachael Ray

Most of you know my little sister spent some time on Rachael Ray as a guest tagged as the "Most embarrassing family in America!"



I don't know how to embed a video here (someone will have to show me some time), but here's the link to watch their segment. It's only about 5 minutes long but kinda fun to see them on National TV: Chad and Cassie on Rachael.

It's free entertainment, which is why I'm posting. I'm all about free everything these days.

Love to you all...

Monday, November 3, 2008

Don't forget to vote!

It's vitally important that each and every one of you vote. Please be sure to get out there and do it. The lines will be long and the wait will seem like forever, but it will be worth it (and next time consider the early mail-in ballot - it's awesome).

Make your votes COUNT!

Monday, October 27, 2008

To Bryndee, Porter, and Torie:

I am very sorry I swore in an earlier post. It highly offended you and for that I apologize. I will try to be better in the future.

Thank you for keeping me on the straight and narrow...

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Mesa High Jackrabbits, Class of 1988

Yesterday I went to a picnic that was part of the Mesa High School Class of 1988 reunion weekend. It consisted of many of my classmates and their families. THANK YOU to Wende and Mindy and any and everyone else who helped to make this happen.

It was a blast to see so many good, old friends: Mistie, Heidi, Kim, Darce, Sean, Nick, JoNeal, Doug, Kenny, Kristie, Nikki, Mindy, and Wende, just to name a few. I missed seeing Cindy, Alice, Cory, Brian, Liselle, Candace, Brad, Brooks, Dennis, Damon, Bill, Stacy, Rowan and many others who couldn't make it this go round. I hope to catch you at the next one, maybe even before!

What a wonderful day yesterday was. I'm so grateful to have gone to Mesa High, to be able to make such fantastic friends, and to be able to still stay in touch with so many of them today.

Obviously this has nothing to do with getting out of debt, but it does have to do with blessings and I feel this is a good place as any to list my blessings publicly. Mesa High Class of 1988 was definitely a blessing in my life!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Happy One-year Anniversary!

My roommate reminded me the other day that it was exactly a year ago that I started this getting-out-of-debt mission. As I looked at my first post she was right - I wrote it on October 29, 2007. She suggested I do a year update and I always try to do what Jennifer says (wink and smile goes here).

Anyway, it's a good idea so here goes:

I started out at over $50,000 in debt (to type that number still sends pangs in my stomach) last year. Here is where I am today:

Bank of America LOC (still really HATE them): $33,031.51
Mastercard: $1,988.07
Car loan: $6,343.67
Dental loan: $1,777.50

GRAND TOTAL:
$43,140.75


It hasn't gone down much, but as several of you have said it took a really long time to amass this amount of debt and OF COURSE it's going to take a long time to get out of it and I just need to be patient.

So my constant thoughts are, "Be patient Tara. Be patient. Be patient. BE PATIENT (dammit)!" If you know me at all, this is NOT a strong virtue of mine and swear words usually are associated with it.

Anyway, thanks to all of you for your constant kind words and thoughts and even prayers. This has been quite the year for me and my family and the support my family and I have felt from all of you has been completely amazing and beyond words.

Thank you. Off to year #2!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Tender Mercies

Dad's surgery went really well today. They got 85% of the tumor (more than they thought they were going to get) and had to use only two units of blood (a lot less than what they thought they were going to have to use - I guess tumors use up a LOT of blood and with this tumor being over 11 centimeters long, well, you do the math). They plan on doing radiation in two weeks, chemotherapy in four weeks, and they get him using his hip tomorrow when they take him for a walk.

My sister Stacey said the doctor was rather pleased with the surgery and was very positive with the prognosis.

I'm so giddily relieved I don't know what to do with myself...

I am so grateful for tender mercies.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Another update:

Here is a quick update on what is going on with my dad and his cancer. Last week he had what is called a PET Scan and a Scope. The Scan is really the last test they can do on him to try and figure out what type of Cancer he has.

Yesterday (Monday) the doctors were able to show them the scan over the computer. It goes through his entire body, major organs and glands. The result of that was nothing that we don't already know. It is in his hip, lung and a few glands, but his Heart, Liver, Pancreas, Stomach and Kidneys all are clean and apparently they look great!

They still cannot figure out where the source of the cancer is. So right now his condition is labeled "Cancer of the Unknown Primary" which is only about 5% of all cancers - very rare.

They admit him today at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital to start his prep for his surgery on Wednesday. Today they are doing an Embolism which is where the doctors cut off all blood supply to his tumor in his hip (about a 2 1/2 hour procedure). Then on Wednesday he will be getting a full hip replacement and a removal of that yucky tumor. That procedure will be about 6 hours. Then he will have a recovery in the hospital anywhere from 5-10 days. His healing at home will be about 4 weeks.

After the 4 weeks then the doctors will discuss what type of Chemo he will be on. They only have two to choose from. They will try one type for about 2-3 months and then x-ray to see if the cancer is shrinking. If that doesn't work than they have one more to try.

We still have a long road of waiting. If you feel so inclined, please keep him in your prayers, especially on Wednesday.

Thanks everyone. My entire family and I have felt your prayers and are amazed at the love and kindness we've been shown. Love to you all...